Help starting a diet

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone could help me start a diet I'm 280 pounds about 6'2. I am a manager at a Wendys and a curret full time college student. So most the time I have to grab something and eat on the go. What foods should I watch for not to eat. I'd like to eat more Salads but its hard to sit down and eat one. So are there anything I could buy at the store which would be fast to make and easy to eat at work. Also if you know any foods I could eat at Wendys while I'm there it would help a lot. My physical therapist told me to stay away from red meats and eat more greens. So any help is welcomed thanks.

Sit down and eat. If you don't have the time, *make the time*, even if it goes over something else, like watching TV or getting to the beer keg party on time.

Stick to clean and lean foods, meaning stay away from the fast food.

You have been 'on a diet' since the day you were born. What you need is to change your eating habits so as to have a healthy diet you can maintain for your whole life. Thats a big change in your life, not a short term 'fix'.

your therapists advice is good. Plenty of lean meats (poultry and fish), fresh fruit and veg, and complex carbohydrates (rice,pasta,potatoes,and,cereals). Grill meats where possible, and avoid processed food/ready meals- they tend to be full of salt and fats.

If such natural foods are not easily available to you, then you will need to spend some of your free time preparing meals to carry with you. It is not as convenient as eating on the go, but doing that has made you 280lbs and seek the advice of a physical therapist, so I would suggest the extra effort would be worth it

The best eating plan in the world will not give you optimal results alone, you will need to exercise regularly to get the best results. This also is a lifelong commitment.

Big changes, and a lot of effort, but this really is the only way to get in-and stay in shape. If it were easy we would all be walking around in a state of perpetual Buffness, sadly this is far from the case

I completely understand the plight of the fast food worker. I have been working at a pizza hut for about 2 years and the food I found myself eating when I first started working there was rediculous! But I adapted and have actually found some pretty healthy meals I can make there, or supplement with other foods I bring in. You can make a great salad with pizza toppings, and a low fat cheese on whole grain bread tastes wonderful after a trip through the pizza oven! I bet there are a lot of similar things you can find working at Wendy's. They even have awesome salads on their menu, don't they? With some creativity you should be able to improve what is available to eat at work. Just make smarter choices when you don't have time to sit down for dinner.

The only bad thing at work is I'm a Manager and I dont get time to sit down and eat. so most the time its what I can grab. I have done really good at home its just at work trying to find stuff. I do work out I do Karate and have a bow felx and tread mill at the house. I just need to adapt some better habits and I want to thank you all for your advice. Do you know any good links for meal to make and take with you?

I don't know much about diets but I know they don't normally work, at least not for long. Life style changes however are the only way to truly go.

Eating 5 to 6 proportioned meals per day is the best thing so that you are not eating too much and storing fat. Make these up at home and take them to work and "make yourself" stick to eating these only. Also get yourself an insolated water bottle and drink that throughout the day. This will keep you full when you get those hunger pains. As for what foods to eat, well mostly common sense should kick in but if need be there are plenty of sites that will show you the good things to eat like chicken, fruits and vegetables, whole wheat bread, almonds, etc. Stay away from as many boxed items as these are usually packed with the things you don't need.

You have a BowFlex and a threadmill ... awesome. With the BowFlex look at starting with small full body exercises with high reps and low weights. Then increase the amount of time you are on it and start lowering the reps and increasing the weights slightly. Look at starting with 2 times a week and try working up to 3 days a week. If really heard then don't feel bad if you can only do it a day a week. The thing is to do something and then work into it. Also prior to the BowFlex you could warm up on the threadmill or on your off days do at least 20 minutes on it 2 days a week.

With a proper diet (as in how you eat, not going on a diet), adequate water and and exercise plan you should see some good results ... but don't expect them over night and realize you have to work for them. If you want them bad enough you will get them. And know that when building muscle that this will help to looses weight as muscles need more energy. And also know this, if you work out at night that hours after you are done even while you sleep, your body is still burning calories which is a plus for you.

Then if you are seeing results you may wish to take up skipping, running or swimming. These will really help to burn that fat, but again you have to work at it and really want it. AND you have to stick with it making a life time decision.

Good luck to you.

I too am a full time student, and I work close to 30hrs a week, so I understand your situation. What I do is I pack all of my food the night before as I have a hard time waking up early enough in the morning to do this. I eat pretty often, so I have to pack a lot of food. If you have access to a fridge at work, I suggest you bring milk, smoothies and shakes. You can always have those while you work. Also, grapes, bananas, apples, and trail mix, are always good to have if you're ever hungry ie. between classes and work, or training. Granola bars are okay, but they usually have a lot of sugar. Make your own wraps, sandwiches, greek salads, bean salads, peanut butter and jam sandwiches. I normally try to eat a lot of fibre-rich foods, or dense foods because I can't always eat when I need to, and drinking what I mentioned in between meals helps when you can't sit down to eat.

An easy breakfast wrap I make, for which I use a horrible cooking method, is:spraying a bowl with Pam, and beating an egg with chopped, raw spinach. Then I nuke it for 1.5 minutes, and top it with salsa, and put it in a wrap. It's really fast to make at work on mornings, if the spinach is prechopped.

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Eating 5 to 6 proportioned meals per day is the best thing so that you are not eating too much and storing fat. Make these up at home and take them to work and "make yourself" stick to eating these only. Also get yourself an insolated water bottle and drink that throughout the day. This will keep you full when you get those hunger pains. As for what foods to eat, well mostly common sense should kick in but if need be there are plenty of sites that will show you the good things to eat like chicken, fruits and vegetables, whole wheat bread, almonds, etc. Stay away from as many boxed items as these are usually packed with the things you don't need.

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..., i've been told this many times. but the truth is, most people aren't given the opportunity to eat 5-6 meals a day. On average i eat 2 meals a day. And like he has said, he doesn't have a lot of time, especially not to eat 2 seperate meals at work.