I don’t know what inspired me to post this, but I guess I feel like maybe it could help some people.
As of today, I am officially 33 pounds lighter than I was on Feb. 7. How? By eating less and eating smarter.
My wife basically pushed me into it. “You need to lose weight to be healthy for our baby.” Now, I wasn’t in immediate danger of needing to be removed via crane or anything (6’1", 266 at the time) but I do have a history of knee problems so losing some would be good. I was also bordering on pre-hypertensive, which is pretty bad at 24.
I didn’t do some fancy diet. There weren’t any books, any tapes, any programs. I don’t have to carry around charts and diagrams to calculate “points” or anything. I just started limiting myself to 1,800 calories, which I track using FitDay.
Here’s the basics of what worked for me:
Start thinking about how calorie-laden foods are. I used to pay no attention to calorie counts. Now I am so conscious of them that I will study labels to compare my options.
Eat less. I used to think nothing of having three hot dogs and a big pile of French fries for dinner, or two McDonald’s double cheeseburgers and large fries or a steak the size of a dinner plate. Now I eat less and choose smarter snacks. You wouldn’t believe how low-calorie but filling frozen cocktail shrimp can be as a snack. Those 100-calorie packs of cookies and crackers are great too.
Stop wasting calories on beverages. Being a good Southern boy, I love sweet tea. However, 12 ounces of sweet tea is 70 calories, so drinking less and having more water is helpful. I switched from regular sodas to diet, as well, which is impressive because I hate artificial sweeteners. Coke Zero, Diet Barq’s and Diet Dr. Pepper are all close enough to their regular counterparts for me to drink, and Splenda works well in coffee if you transition off sugar with it gradually.
My goal is to get down to an even 200 by the end of the year, so I still have a long way to go (and I know it will get harder.) I’m going to have to build more exercise in, which will be hard because I really hate exercising. I know that I can do it, though, because I’ve already hit the halfway point in just two months.
That’s a very impressive rate of weight loss. And it’s good that you found the genuine Magic Pill – that there is no Magic Pill.
It make take a bit of trial and error, but it’s vital that you find a form of exercise that you love. If you don’t love it you won’t do it. (At the same time, don’t use the fact that you don’t love it as an excuse. Get your ass up off the couch and suffer for a bit, soldier.)
I was almost exactly 266 at my heaviest as well (I’m 6’3"). By basically doing exactly what you’re doing, I worked my fat ass down to 175 at my thinnest. This was when I was training for a marathon, running 8-10 miles per day and riding my bike to work. (175 is probably too light for my frame, and I think I look/feel the best at around 190)
Anyway, this is the hard way to lose weight, but it’s also the healthy way and, as far as I’m concerned, the best way. Like tdn said, it’s vital to start exercising. Its awful at first, but eventually you’ll miss it when you don’t do it. Running is my exercise. I’m not the most coordinated or competitive person, and running is a lot more social than it is competitive.
I lost all the weight when I was 23-24 (28 now), and unfortunately I’ve fallen victim to the gain weight/lose weight/gain weight game. This summer I bought a new house, and didn’t have time between the move and renovations to stick with my running schedule. I also didn’t have a kitchen for about 3 months while I stripped it down to the studs and redid it, so I ate out a lot and wasn’t exercising. I got back up to 225, and I feel miserable about it. I’m running again and dropping the weight again, but it’s still pretty demoralizing when you have to re-lose weight you’ve already lost. Try your best not to fall into that trap.
I know I need to exercise. I’ve been working on running/walking, but the weather’s been awful lately (a lot of rain) and the only indoor track I have access to is in the local university’s basketball arena, which has hosted two high school basketball tournaments, a bridal show and a consignment sale over the past month and was closed for walking.
And yes, 90, I do have a wife now, and a kid on the way. I haven’t been on IRC in forever because of it.
If I can get below 220, I’ll be happy. 200 is just sort of a big goal because it gets me back to the moderately overweight BMI category.
Congratulations! Now keep at it. That’s the hard part!
A few weeks ago, my husband and I embarked on trying to get smaller and healthier. We started walking our dogs for an hour or so a day. We have pretty hilly terrain up around my place, so it’s good walking and builds up a sweat. The motivation there is that it makes my doggies happy. The old guy, Beau, well, the moving around helps him, I think. Marley, the young guy just loves to do anything. It doesn’t matter. We’ve been training him steadily on “heel” and “stay” And he’s doing great.
The other thing we did was install a heavy bag in the garage. On days when we’re not walking, we go in there and do around 30 minutes. It’s nice to hit stuff, but it’s hard.
Anyway, the point is that my total for this week was -4lbs and 2% body fat. That’s kind of a “meh” result as far as I’m concerned, but what really pisses me off is that my husband, while doing the exact same thing I am, lost 13 lbs last week. I can’t remember what % body fat, but it was equitable to the weight lost.
That sonofabitch always loses more than twice as fast as I do. It’s maddening.
Where was I? Oh yes…
So proud of you!
Nope. That’s just always how he starts out. I swear we’re not on a crash starvation or anything. We’ve just been very damn sedentery for a long time. I agree, it may seem wrong, but we’ve always been heavy off and on and whenever we change our diet to a more healthful style, this is what happens in the very beginning.
Being fat for us is like quitting smoking. We can be thin for periods of time, but we always wind up back at fat camp.
Mostly, we’ve cut out refined sugar and very processed foods. Lots of whole grain things and vegetables, watching the fat content and keeping mindful of calorie consumption. That, paired with the change in excersise is the thing.
Have I mentioned that I fucking despise cucumbers? Bleah.
Quitting smoking is next. Chantix is on order from the pharmacy.
I’d also like to add that “thin” for me is different than many people of my weight. I’m considered thin at about 145lbs. I’m somewhere around 215 now, and I carry it very well. My mom says I’m “a very solid person”. :rolleyes: I’m 5’4"
