No one I know who is healthy and fit eats out all the time. It’s an important skill you should develop. Not so hard. Plenty of videos on YouTube on what to eat.
It’s easy. If you can’t follow it, you won’t be able to do any diet. I skip breakfast, I feel 100x better and more focus with lots of energy. I do the 16 hour fast and 8 hour eating window and eat 2 meals in that time window. Some people even do 1 single big meal which could work for you as well. The skipping breakfast is bad is an outdated idea.
Learning to cook is not so hard on it’s own, perhaps, but making it a lifestyle, especially in Taiwan where eating out is often cheaper is. The fridge in my group-house apartment is so stuffed, there’s barely anywhere for me to put ingredients for myself, and if I move, I might not have a kitchen at all. Again, I know these are excuses, but in my experience, trying to develop several new habits all at the same time never works out well.
When it comes to intermittent fasting… did you read what I said? I literally used to do it, just not knowing it could be called that. Good for you that you feel so much better for not eating breakfast, but for me it’s the opposite. I’ve discovered that I feel better in the morning if I eat breakfast. I don’t think diets are a one size fits all deal. Just because it works for you does not mean it will work for me.
It honestly doesn’t sound like you actually want to lose body fat. I used to charge a lot of money for advice on fat loss and fitness and I’m trying to work with you on things that can help you. If you can’t make simple changes and commit to making a meal. I can’t help you. Nor do I wish to waste my valuable time.
Probably didn’t eat well enough if you just eat out all the time tbh. But it’s certainly not the only way to lose weight. I used to feel like shit if I don’t eat breakfast as well. It’s more to do with what I ate, sleep, and outside factors like stress.
You wouldn’t be alive if you weren’t built to function not eating 3 meals a day. Humans probably ate 1-2 times at most long ago.
Sorry, I guess I’m just venting my frustration about this right now. I see a long term solution to this as I gradually develop a set of habits to improve my life. But I know I cant do it all just in the short term, and I find it really frustrating.
Edit
Next year when I change my living situation, I will be in a much better position to do cooking for myself. I’m not unwilling to change my eating habits, and I do NOT intend to have this kind of lifestyle forever.
On the other hand, another thing that needs to be taken into account is the psychology of habit making. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and give up if you try to establish too many habits at once, because humans have a limited amount of willpower.
Also, honestly, if it weren’t for my boyfriend, I really wouldn’t be all that focused on losing fat. I don’t even have love handles and I care a lot more about regaining the leg muscle and flexibility that I had back when I was a dancer in high school.
You won’t be doing it short term. Losing fat is hard. Even more so for women. I’ve worked with some women but mostly men for fitness goals. It just take so much more effort and dietary changes for women.
It took me about 7 months to drop from 16-17% bf to 8-9%. I was about 110KG and got down to 95KG. This was with working out between 1-3 hours 5-6 times a week. Even 5 hours a day sometimes. And I ate pretty healthy during this time. And I’m a young guy full of testosterone.
QUick diets don’t work because you’ll always bounce back to what got you into the situation before.
And you are not in a weight that makes it an absolute must to lose fat anyways. But tbh, it doesn’t sound like you workout much and don’t eat all that healthy. If that’s the case, I assume you are under 35, 130lbs probably means you could lose a bit of fat and be healthier.
I don’t really see why losing fat in itself would be healthier. I understand why developing healthier life habits would be better, but if I’m literally in a healthy range, I don’t know why it’s that big of a deal outside of personal aesthetics. On another side of things, I don’t even feel like weight is a good measurement anyway, when there’s so much variability with fat and muscle.
No it’s not. My BMI tells me I’m obese when I’m under 10% BF. But I am assuming you’re not active and actively seeking muscle gain from the things you’ve told me. If that assumption is true, you most likely have more than necessary bf on you. But you should go get it tested if you want to be sure.
You are in the “normal” or average range, I would not call it a healthy range. As many healthy people are not even in this range and plenty of unhealthy people are in that range. What normal and average is doesn’t take into account your bf% and such.
To make it simple for you if you’re serious and don’t see to want to cook at all.
Check out one of my former colleague’s business.
I have personally used them before and had great results. I have also had clients use them with good results. I believe in their product and service. They don’t make a diet meal but one that is able to sustain you when you are actively working out. Which will in help you lose some unwanted bf.
Which brings me to the next thing. Got to go to the gym at least 4 times a week with a training plan or it’s a waste. I see way to many go to the gym for 2 hours and still get worse results than me in 30min a day. You need a plan. Look online, do not look at any popular sites and magazines as they have BS advice.
There is also another meal service company I like which is called Eat Smart. Although I prefer Up.
If you need some knowledge for working out and nutritional tips. Check out Jeff Cavaliere at Best Workout & Nutrition Plans for Women - ATHLEAN-XX He has programs for women. I’ve done 3 of his programs for great results and I know a thing or 2 about working out.
Jeff is legit and well respected. No fitness guru BS like 99% of the guys out there. He knows his shit and I’ve never met a more knowledgeable person in the industry that I used to work in. He also has many free videos on YouTube along with articles to check out before you make any decisions on buying his program. I 100% back this guy. Would love an opportunity for him to train me.
Exactly. Intermittent fasting is just another fad diet. If you skip meals, you lose weight… Of course, but you feel miserable not eating like a regular person. I don’t think it’s healthy. Losing weight doesn’t always mean you’re healthy
Why are you going to rearrange your whole life, like get a new apartment so you can cook, just for a few pounds. Just tell the bf about your plan to cook next year and to lay off.
If he doesn’t that’s his problem and it might be time to move on
I really feel it’s like an eating disorder. As a high school teacher, if one of my students told me they decided to skip meals, I would be worried about their health.
@Andrew0409 I’m sure you’ve done your research and it works for you. That doesn’t mean it will work for the OP
It’s not about skipping meals. It’s about getting your nutrition in a time window. You can choose to eat 3 meals in that time window if you wanted. In theory, you can see benefits eating the same exact amount of calories/fat/ and whatever in that time window.
Skipping meals for the sake of not eating is bad. Restricting and controlling your nutritional timing is not the same thing as not eating and skipping meals.
I’m not saying it’s a miracle diet and you’ll see major changes in a month. You won’t. It’s slow and easy. Nutritional timing is the next stage of diet. Bodybuilders have been ahead of the curb on this aspect. It’s amazing how they’re ahead of the medical industry in a lot of aspects in regards to fat loss and muscle gain.
Nutritional timing works for insulin manipulation. Which is a major benefit of health and fitness. Pro bodybuilders have known this for a while now.
IF is just a easy way for the average person to simplify these things.
I’m not sold on the science of cell regeneration and some of the more bold claims. But I understand how nutritional timing and insulin manipulation work.
The other aspects is GH levels seems to increase during fasting cycles. GH helps with fat burning and is also anabolic. Even seems to target belly fat in studies I’ve read.
Insulin and GH are proven things to manipulate for fat loss and muscle gain. Taking them synthetically has made bodybuilders so much bigger while staying ridiculously lean compared to the past. I’ve seen sufficient studies to show fasting does change both.
First off, your boyfriend can suck it. He wants you to lose some weight, I’m sure he’s not ripped either, so very kilo you lose, he must reciprocate.
That said, I lost 10kg eating 7-11 and familymart meals. They have low calorie foods like salads, soups, and steamed chicken with rice plates. ALWAYS check your calories.
I do agree with a few posters in that it seems as though you don’t actually seem to want to lose weight and you may just be looking for some kind of validation. Do you want us to tell you that you’re beautiful just the way you are? If so, you’re beautiful just the way you are.
If you genuinely want to lose weight, go for walks three times a day, morning, lunch, after dinner. Don’t make excuses about how you don’t have time or that you’re tired. Losing weight is hard AF and once you plateau, it’s going to be harder.
Try using an Intermittent Fasting app to help you keep track. The one I’m using let’s you pick if you want to skip breakfast or dinner. Honestly, for me, skipping dinner seems to be harder than skipping breakfast because of the impact it has on eating with family.
Also, get rid of junk food. Don’t stock it at home.
You won’t have to “cook” much if you just focus on making salads.
Then put your focus on building your leg muscles and regaining flexibility.
Personally, I feel that a girl with a little bit of body fat makes her look softer. Maybe you can tell your boyfriend you don’t like his hairstyle. (If that’s a truth.)
They are absolute pricks to each other doing this .
It doesn’t happen half as much as it used to, but it’s still bang out of order, and exactly as you said, it’s used to assert dominance because they are exclusively trying to make you feel worse/look worse in front of others.
Shitty cultural trait that many have poor awareness of.
Have you communicated everything you’ve said to us to your boyfriend?
Including this. I’d challenge his ideas of what he expects a woman’s body to look like based on the images he’s been exposed to his whole life. It’s a worthwhile conversation.
Pressuring someone to make changes just to please someone else is a catalyst for resentment, which kills relationships. Don’t let him make you feel like you can no longer be comfortable in your own skin. Any changes you make in terms of diet or exercise should be made by, and for, you and you only. That’s the best path forward for both your mental health and your relationship. Go to the gym to get those muscular legs that you want. If you lose belly fat in the meantime, that’s nice. But go with your goals in mind.
Also, tell your boyfriend point blank to refrain from criticizing your appearance because you’re happy with it and you do not want him dragging you down. Taiwanese people tend to do this thinking it’s okay and not damaging when it’s actually completely fucking unacceptable.
Well done. Now I can also boast I’ve lost over 10Kg over the last year.
I cut out almost all rice, reduced noodles, most beer, toasts half size or none.
When I eat outside I go for soupy stuff to make me feel full and less starch. I mainly eat nuts as a snack or pick me up.
I also check calories of all food to get an idea of what I need to absolutely avoid or reduce . 30 mins on a treadmill will burn 300 cals. It makes your think carefully .
When I go to the gym I always do 30mins at high intensity , usually on the treadmill and then I do weights . I go to the gym at least four times a week. I also try to fit in a cycle, a swim and walk as much as possible.
My weight has now plateaued , my wife has warned me don’t lose all my belly . I have the exact opposite problem of the OP lol.
I’d also like to boast a bit. Over the past three months I’ve gone from 83 to 77 kg and my waist went from 101 to 96 cm. I’m not so concerned about the weight but it’s my belly fat I’m working on. I’ve been able to do this by consistently tracking my calorie intake, by fast-walking 40 minutes on the treadmill 3-5 times a week, and by other casual exercise like always taking the stairs instead of escalators.
It hasn’t been the easiest, but after 3 months it’s become habit and more a lifestyle, which I’m excited about.
Short version: exercise is great. Don’t worry about losing weight unless you want to.
You’re right, he’s wrong, but persuading people on this is about as difficult as making them realize that cold weather doesn’t cause colds.
If you have a history with eating disorders, then yes, that’s something to worry about. But in general skipping meals isn’t a big deal, as long as your body’s OK with it. Some people are, some aren’t. For example, if I skip lunch I don’t really feel hungry, but I notice I get really cranky in mid-afternoon, so I make sure I eat something at lunchtime.
I dunno … taking someone out for dinner is a nice gesture. Planning a trip is a nice gesture. Working out together because it’s fun and you went to spend time together is a nice gesture. Losing weight because someone complains about your weight is more in a creepy vein to me.
That’s going to make cooking tough. Salad dressing is relatively easy - you can keep olive oil and vinegars in a cupboard. But salad greens can’t be stored for very long in their bags, and are best stored in a salad spinner in the fridge. Probably no chance of that. A healthy diet is far easier if you’re cooking for yourself, but yeah, that’s very hard with a shared kitchen - never mind no kitchen at all. When eating out here, do your best to get less rice, less bread. Even try leaving half the rice on your plate - if you don’t feel too hungry later, maintain that habit. But if you’re already losing weight here, I don’t think I’d even worry about that.
This x1000. You may be told “Oh, but that’s how we show affection in Taiwan!”, and who knows, maybe for some people it works: “They told me what’s wrong with me, proving how much they love me!” But it’s certainly not a trait that carries well across cultures.
Actually, he IS ripped. Pretty massive guns haha.
And yeah, I’m not really that interested in losing weight, although I am quite interested in building better habits that could possibly facilitate that. When it comes to fitness, I’m just personally more interested in the practical side of things… improving my stamina, having a stronger back so I have better posture, just feeling better everyday. When I was doing sports in high school, the girls I saw in the locker room all had about the same amount of tummy fat that I do unless they had a skinny figure, so that just led me to feel like it’s something normal and not something I need to work to get rid of.
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