im new and need some advice

I need some guidance.

My currently living situation is - my husband and I currently live with his parents and family.
long story short, we bought a property an hour and a half away from the city (where we work) to open a business but the business is taking a while to set up, so to save money (but not sanity!!) we are living there.
My problem is....it would be rude for me to eat my own food at dinner, my husbands mum gets very offended if you dont eat her food.
There is never enough room in the frige for my own food (an no room in our bedroom for a small fridge). There is also never any room in the frezzer as there are 3 freezers and 7 people in one house!
I have complete control over what i eat at work - which is usually a hand full of nuts 2 x per day for snacks and 125 grams of brown rice and a small tin of tuna (sometimes of frozen veggies but they arent as nice as fresh veggies).
I really dont know much about nutrition to say it if what im going is any good. I LOVE veegies and salad and fresh foods and meats.
We dont have a stove at work for me to be able to cook things.

I have lost 10 kg over the past 2 years. But I am so unhappy with my body and lifestyle, i have been able to change my life style, i barely drink anymore and i hardly eat take out or fatty foods.
I am consious of my meal portions and i make sure to dirnk lots of water.

It would mean so much to be to be able to achieve my goal of becoming fit and healthy and have a body to be proud of! I recently completed a Cert to become a Personal trainer as i felt this woudl help educated myself about fitness and health. I dont want to be one of those fat unhealthy trainers, i want to be an inspiration to my clients.

My other question is, there is very little cardio in the first Phase, does this mean i cant or shouldnt do cardio? I am headed to Thailand in 6 weeks and i would like to have lost some weight so i dont cringe looking bad at photos in 6 months time.
I know i have left it late and i am very dissapointed in myself but i have made the choice to do something about it now (better late than never!)
I am currently walking to work each day - 4.5km in 45mins (not sure if thats any good?) i would run but my bag is too heavy and comfortable to run with.
i also do a small amount of weights and things like sit ups and push up and squats (50/10 intervals x 2-3) and a few dumbell exercises.
I prefer working out at home and out doors, note a huge fan of gyms We have equipment at home similar to a gym set up (bike, treadmil, dumbells, bosu, exercise ball and weight machine)

So... i would like to know do you think it is possible for me to reach my goals, given what im up againist?
Do you have any suggestions or tips to help me reach my goals.
I am 110% commited to feeling great and looking hot!

Thanks in advance

Eat your mother in laws food, it won't make you fat. Portion control it and adjust your intake throughout the rest of the day for that food.

Go read some of Alan Aragon's work for a good education on nutrition.

Your walking cardio is fine just add more throughout the day if you have the time OR decrease food intake.

Nice work on the consistent and patient weight loss.

Can you get your mil to train with you ?
Get her on the health kick and get everyone eating better ?

dave said:

Eat your mother in laws food, it won't make you fat. Portion control it and adjust your intake throughout the rest of the day for that food.

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this is exactly right. you can eat whatever you like just so long as it fits your macros. I low carb and eat <2000calories/day yet somehow i still manage to eat chocolate on a daily basis. portion control is massive, especially for you since you can't choose your meal types.

fyi, the nuts you're eating, while delicious and nutritious, are very calorie dense (they contain a lot of fat). the difference between 50g and 100g is ~300calories and over a month (ie, 20 business days assuming you only eat them at work) that's the difference of almost 2lbs of fat. I'm not saying don't eat them, i'm just trying to make sure you're aware of the impact of individual items in your daily diet.

Thanks for the advice!

i would like to loose as much as i possibly can in the next 6 weeks as we are off to sun bath in thailand!! (once i get back i would like to look more seriously into BB)

My MIL and i do, do some exercise together but she is about 65 and finds it harder to do the same things that i do.

I have tried calorie countingand have found it a pain in the ass to get right, what with weighing everything!! but i was good wiht it for about a year now i dont so much calorie count but i am more aware of how many calories blah blah has and portion sizing.

i am on another BB forum and they have also mentioned macros (i have NO idea what this is, i was passed onto another thread to explain it, but it just hurt my brain!!)

Thanks for the advice about the nuts - i was aware they were very high in calories but i was told they are super good for you, i really have no idea what im doing - someone help mee!!! im not sure what to snack on, i try to be good and eat every few hours to ensure my body is happy and (from somethign i read...it says) eat every 2 hours, your body will think it is getting constant food so it cna release fat instead of storing it. Its hard to beleive what is and isnt true. Im not sure what else to eat as a snack other than nuts. the thing about living in a huge house with 7 people is if i buy something and put ti away it gets eaten, same thign at work if i put somethign inthe fridge, nuts are just handy to have in my drawer.

Anyway, any advice of how to loss lots and get hot and muscley!!! in 6 weeks (and help with a plan for after thailand) would be so very very very very very very very much appreicated!!

Eating every 2 hours does nothing for you and in your case probably makes it harder to eat due to low total calories needed. Eat when you like 3 meals is fine so is 1 so is 6, do what suits your life. There are no metabolic benefits to eating that often though the internet and media love to state there is.

In regards to macronutrients there are three Protein (4), Carbohydrates(4) and Fats(9). I have put the calorie value of 1g of each next to their name. If you are not calorie counting that is fine it is just a more accurate and anal form of portion control. Know how to judge portion sizes and if you are not losing a minimum of 0.5kg of weight per fortnight then you definitely need to reduce your portion sizes by about 10%.

Nuts, whilst good for you, can easily make you overeat and make it harder to lose fat. Just because something is good for you or "healthy" does not mean it will make you less fat than something of equivalent calories, it just provides other benefits to your health (not fat vs lean mass otherwise known as your body composition).

Not knowing your current body composition I could not tell you if you could make it to what you think is hot in 6 weeks. Though you could drop the calories or increase energy expenditure enough in that time to drop 5-6kg if you are dedicated and consistent. It just would mean either increasing exercise, decreasing portion sizes by about 10-20% or by doing both (10% drop plus more cardio). It all depends on where you are at now and commitment.

Thanks for your reply, i was going to PM you and see if you can help me but it wont let me til i have 10 posts?

anyway.. just wondering if you can suggest a good snack and training plan i can use?

i am debting between -

Bodybuilding.com - Female 20 to 39 Fat Loss Video Guide

and Bodybuilding.com - Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer - Bodybuilding.com

any other suggestions?

I have tried to reduce my meal sizes to half of what i was having in few months ago (which was big!) and im trying to snack cause i do get hungry every few hours. (just need a new snack?)
i drink lots of water!!

I walk to work 4-5 times per week
i do some weights and about 15-20mins on the bike and a moderate pace.

Im open to suggestions to better this!

Log your food and calories for.a typical day and also log your energy expenditure. Use MyFitnessPal, easiest way to do it. See if your normal food intake matches your maintenance calories as calculated on MFP and write the numbers in here. If you're overeating for what you want to lose you will find out easily that way. Logging a week is better but takes longer, it is your choice.

Exercise is fine but you just need to eat less than that by ~1000 calories for a 1kg a week loss. Use exercise as a way to increase food intake, use weight training as a method to keep/build lean mass.

Actions verify priorities

i'm currently snacking on instant miso with extra salt and yaki nori for a total of 3/1/3 = 33 calories. the seaweed is like 1g of protein per sheet, it's salty and tasty and tbh gives me the same perceived level of satiety as a piece of cheese that is more like 100 calories.

for me though, learning to live without snacks was a big step forward. snacking is (for me anyway) about satisfying a mental desire rather than a dietary need. i try to keep to low/zero calorie stuff like unsweetened cocoa and black coffee (i'm a massive coffee nerd so i drink a lot of espresso and black filtered coffee).

personally, if i were just trying to look as skinny as possible in 6 weeks i'd just do a low calorie, low carb diet to the tune of 20% below maintenance calories and <30g carbs and watch the water weight just drop off. you'd drop some fat too, and assuming you're a little bit trained then muscle mass would also start to disappear.

it's not exactly sustainable though. the general fatigue level would be high, any training goals would take a back seat, then there's the hormonal rollercoaster to enjoy and you'll probably put it all back on within a couple of months... so yeah, don't do that.

Dave, thanks for the advice i will give that a go i have no idea what MFP is though? sodont weight train to "tone" and loss weight? sorry a little confused

Goosey - no idea what that means?


March83 - im not a huge fan os seaweed (unless it sushi!!) i never used to snack but i woudl find that i was starving by the time i would get to lunch.
I used to love coffee but i got really sick a e wmonths ago and i havent been able to drink it for a while, i really like hot water and lemon juice (as im not a fan really of tea) but i have found that its starting to stain my teeth
I dont think i have much water weight to loss, i think that went when i started exercising.
any suggestions on what to do, i understand that loosing too much in 6 weeks is silly! i woudl like to loose something though but i understand its not healthy

again.. im open to suggestions?

dave has given lots of suggestions so far, but the gist is, either exercise more or eat less...
or both.. or less of each, as logn as the difference between what you eat and what you need, is big enough to lose the amoutn of weight you want to lose in 6 weeks.

0.5kg of fat a week is 500cal deficit per day.
500cal is maybe 2.5hrs of walking, or 1hr of hard bike riding.
is hard to keep up 500cal deficit (staring from scratch), and needs a LOT of willpower.

250cal/day is easier and would be 0.5kg/fortnight weight loss.

45min walk = about 150calories (or about 1.5 tim tams worth)

March83 said:

i'm currently snacking on instant miso with extra salt and yaki nori for a total of 3/1/3 = 33 calories. the seaweed is like 1g of protein per sheet, it's salty and tasty and tbh gives me the same perceived level of satiety as a piece of cheese that is more like 100 calories.

for me though, learning to live without snacks was a big step forward. snacking is (for me anyway) about satisfying a mental desire rather than a dietary need. i try to keep to low/zero calorie stuff like unsweetened cocoa and black coffee (i'm a massive coffee nerd so i drink a lot of espresso and black filtered coffee).

personally, if i were just trying to look as skinny as possible in 6 weeks i'd just do a low calorie, low carb diet to the tune of 20% below maintenance calories and <30g carbs and watch the water weight just drop off. you'd drop some fat too, and assuming you're a little bit trained then muscle mass would also start to disappear.

it's not exactly sustainable though. the general fatigue level would be high, any training goals would take a back seat, then there's the hormonal rollercoaster to enjoy and you'll probably put it all back on within a couple of months... so yeah, don't do that.

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Drinking myself some miso now great little stomach warmer before lunch haha

samd88 said:

Dave, thanks for the advice i will give that a go i have no idea what MFP is though? sodont weight train to "tone" and loss weight? sorry a little confused

Goosey - no idea what that means?


March83 - im not a huge fan os seaweed (unless it sushi!!) i never used to snack but i woudl find that i was starving by the time i would get to lunch.
I used to love coffee but i got really sick a e wmonths ago and i havent been able to drink it for a while, i really like hot water and lemon juice (as im not a fan really of tea) but i have found that its starting to stain my teeth
I dont think i have much water weight to loss, i think that went when i started exercising.
any suggestions on what to do, i understand that loosing too much in 6 weeks is silly! i woudl like to loose something though but i understand its not healthy

again.. im open to suggestions?

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I drink a cup/mug of green tea when I start to feel hungry instead of snacking (or snack on plain unsalted rice cakes)

tried any of the different green teas ? or puerh tea ? or oolong ?
These guys (at Brisbane Markets) Buy Oolong Tea, Buy Green Tea, Pu-erh Tea and Herbal Tea from Loose Leaf Tea Specialist are reasonably priced (a lot cheaper than tea 2) and have some good tea. I can recommend their puerh, ginseng oolong, jasmine dragon pearl , tie guang yin(another type of oolong) and my mother and niece like the rosebud tea.

puerh is a semi fermented green tea and tastes more like coffee than tea.
oolong can help breakdown fat but don't drink it on an empty stomache.

I also drink a fair bit of matcha (Japanese powdered green tea).
It can have more caffeine than coffee. The tea2 one is about the best you can easily get here. Matcha | T2 Tea
Their orange puerh is also rather good but pricey
Pu-erh Sweet Orange | T2 Tea

I usually buy puerh tea from these guys in China
Yunnan Sourcing Pu-erh Tea Shop - Your Ultimate Source for Yunnan Pu'er, Green and Black Tea!
Yunnan Sourcing Blog - Yunnan Sourcing Explorations in Tea
The Menghai Tea factory is reliable and pretty good.

Some people like rooibos tea but I'm not a fan.

Could try cutting out all dairy and processed meats for a month

Sydking said:

Drinking myself some miso now great little stomach warmer before lunch haha

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Can get chilli miso from some of the asian supermarkets or just add a few drops of tobasco

Get some hard tofu while you're there, good for protein snacks
Just avoid the dumplings - tasty but fattening

lex said:

Can get chilli miso from some of the asian supermarkets or just add a few drops of tobasco

Get some hard tofu while you're there, good for protein snacks
Just avoid the dumplings - tasty but fattening

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i freeking love all the dumpligs huh! buty i stay away

Also the chinese spring onion pancakes ( flatbred) always had them fresh for a family friend up the road. but found them in packs on the weekend.

so many good things- wheat chilli sticks are awsome- il post a pick when i can and hard to explain like a long bread stick- really no calories to them but taste sooo good