300 pounds to 200 pounds, one year, suggestions?

Factual Questions
1

I am a mid 30s male who wants to lose 100 pouns in the year 2004. I am going to indulge for the holiday season then diet, but I would like to know a clear path. maybe some of you have done this and can show me the way.

I love to eat. I have a saying, if it tastes good, it is bad for you. Fried food, steak, eggs, pork, pizza, anything sweet, bad. I do not eat a lot of vegetables, but I do love bell pepper, cooked mushrooms, onion, letttuce on a salad. Of course, I want the french/ranch dressing with croutons on it.

I enjoy drinking alcohol also. When '04 rolls around, I will abstain except for one night a week when I allow myself a good time out.

I do not exercise, but I enjoy walking, if the walk is interesting. I don’t play sports.

I think personally that my “hunger valve” is open too much. I am hungry a lot. Especially at night, late at night. I have to keep food out of the house during those periods, even though that is when I want to eat. I have already kept peanut butter and bread out because of this. I do not buy cereal because of this too. popcorn will be out next year, because I need butter to enjoy the flavor.

I am worried about my health. My wife and I are having trouble conceiving a baby, bacause aI believ my weight problem. I want to be able to lose this weight in 2004, but not be hungry, and wanting food that I cannot have. How many calories can I eat per day and what is OK to consume during this time? I would like to do this, so I do not develop diabetes or a heart attack.

HELP!

2

Subway…eat fresh :wink:
errm you might want to start eating healthier, eliminating baked goods…exercising…

3

Talk to your doctor. Really. Or go see a diet doctor, but I’d avoid those medical weight-loss type places. They may be okay, but being so profit-driven kind of makes me nervous (not that regular doctors don’t have a profit motive).

I really, really, ought to follow my own advice. :slight_smile:

In any case, it’s a noble goal, and not unlike what I’d like to do myself had I the mind to. So, for curiosity’s sake, here’s the math. To lose 100lbs in one year you are…

…losing 8.3 lbs/month
…losing .28 lbs/day
…losing 4.4 oz/day
…losing .28 oz/hour for the 16 hours you’re awake

That’s pretty ambitious.

4

Eat well, but sensibly. Stay away from “diet” and “fat-free” foods. Carbohydrates can be your enemy. The body processes carbs faster than other foods, therefore, you feel hungrier faster. If you don’t want to get hungry at night, eat foods high in protein at dinner, which take a lot longer to digest.

Before you begin any diet, see your doctor for a complete physical. Make sure there are no reasons why your diet should be more or less restrictive (i.e., colesterol, pressure, diabetes, etc.).

Eat proper portions, on a dinner plate, sitting at the dining table. Don’t take the box of cheezits or bag of chips with you to watch TV. Pour out a portion instead. If you eat at a restaurant, don’t feel you have to eat everything you’re served (even if you can). If necessary, ask for another plate, re-portion the meal, and ask the waiter to doggy-bag the rest.

You didn’t develop that beautiful body overnight, and it won’t go away overnight. Even if you don’t manage to lose 100 pounds in the next year, you should be far enough along to keep at it.

5

To start with, I am not a therapist and am totally unqualified in this area. However, I could easily weigh about 250 and have kept myself under 200 for years.

You seem to see eating and drinking as a reward. That’s going to be a big problem. You can’t sustain a loss if you binge once or twice a week. You’ve got to seriously change the way you look at food.

Also, the eating at night is a big problem. Go to bed earlier and get up earlier. Exercise at night. Exercise can actually take the craving away for some people.

Exercise, exercise, exercise. Bicycling, bowling, hiking, anything to keep moving and do something other than eat. Take up nature photography or gardening or anything to get outside as much as possible.

6

Medical Weight Loss and Jenny Craig can work well, but they’re expensive. What you mostly get from them is the support group.

My wife has had good luck with a Slim Fast type. She drinks her shake for breakfast and has a lean cuisine for lunch and dinner. Usually she suppliments her dinner with a salad (she usually uses cheese and baco bits so it’s not the healthies salad ever). She also drinks a lot of water, she somtimes drinks a Diet Pepsi, but not very often.

She’s lost 40 pounds in about 3 months.

Remember, the same diets don’t work the same for different people. You need to find one that works well for you.

7

Spend 27.4 pence a day.

8

do not exercise

then you are doomed.

Or, at least, you’re making things way hard on yourself.

If nothing else, you MUST hit the iron, preferably each day. The muscle mass you create will make every other bit of random activity pay off in multiple’s of normal metabolic calorie burn
’

9

Check out this guy. He lost something like 200 pounds through diet and exercise, no fancy gimmicks, just slowly and steadily lost it. Good Web page, good ideas.

10

well. do you know how many calories you normally eat? like in a normal day have you measured out how many you eat? you’d need to know that to determine how far you should cut your calories down.

If you only cut your calories down about 1000 or so below what you need then you shouldn’t feel hungry (i didn’t).

Also you’d need to exercise regularly. maybe 4 times a week at 40 minutes each of moderate intensity. plus weight training to build your metabolism.

There are also OTC drugs that may help. 1600 mg Calcium a day can help your body use fat for energy. There are other studies on the internet that are more reliable than this one though.

Might want to read this too

http://www.naturalhealth1.com/health/117?page=1

Satietrol is another ‘drug’ that supposedly works. i dont know if it does or not thought but i bought some just to try it out.

http://www.hungeroff.com/satietrol_clinical_studies.htm

If hunger is your biggest fear than satietrol, fiber, protein, ephedra and green tea combined should help repress hunger.

Also you may need a ‘refeed’ day once a week. Some people who diet have refeed days where on that day they eat more than maintenance.

for example if you need 3500 calories a day and eat 2700, then one day a week you’d eat about 4000. Supposedly this helps not only to keep motivation up but to keep your metabolism functioning.

I agree with alaricthegoth that you should lift weights. not only will it build muscle but you can do harder cardio with it. I have more muscle mass than most people so when im on a cardio machine i have to set the intensity level to about 20 (most people put it at 9) just to get any resistance. So i end up burning 950 calories an hour while everyone else burns 400/hr because i have more muscle to use while doing cardio.

11

I don’t see what’s so ambitious here … I’ve always heard, and found to be true, that you can expect to lose 1-2 lbs a week on a fairly standard, non-extreme diet of around 1500 kcals per day for women, and 2000 kcals per day for men.

I once lost 84 lbs in six months on a steady, well-balanced 1500 kcals per day diet … and due to disability no exercise was involved (not that I’m recommending that …). I also had every third Saturday “off” and could eat what the hell I wanted (but you didn’t hear me say that :wink: ).
Go for it ET … it’s very do-able, and you’ll feel so much better for it! :slight_smile:

Julie

12

in retrospect, recommending ephedra to someone who weights 300 and probably doesn’t get regular exercise isn’t a good idea. scratch that.

13

You can lose weight quite easily - I’ve done it. But boy is it a skanky diet - especially after 3 months of nothing but Potatoes, Fish and Milk.

Anyhoo, here’s the diet for 365 consecutive days:

Boiled potatoes - as many as you want
Steamed Cod - one regular size portion per day
Full fat cows milk - as much as you want

And that’s it. Not what you’d call a really healthy diet, but one that will keep you in fairly good health while you lose weight.

The secret is not really the diet - it’s just that you get so fucking sick of the food that you don’t want to eat…

Hope that helps.

14

Montignac diet recommendation.

This has worked for me and a number of other people who I have introduced to it. There are various aspects to it and I would not recommend trying it without reading about it properly. However I will try to convey the basic principles to give you an idea.

  1. This is a diet for life, not just to lose weight. There are two phases, one for weight loss, and a second for weight maintenance and healthy living. Phase one requires some discipline and the abstinence from certain foods, which can be difficult but if you are going to lose 100 lbs you are going to have to make some sacrifices. In phase two nothing, repeat nothing, is forbidden if you follow the basic principles.
  2. The (very simplified) basis behind the diet is that people in the Western world tend towards hyper-glycaemia (the over-production of insulin) because we consume far too many ‘bad’ carbohydrates (those with a high glycaemic index eg sugar, potatoes, white bread, white pasta, white rice, etc.). An excess of insulin in the blood makes the body much more receptive to laying down fat reserves, thus the combination of ‘bad’ carbs and fatty foods in a meal leads to weight gain.
  3. How does the diet work? In Phase one (a) eliminate all ‘bad’ carbs (that includes alcohol I’m afraid) - the idea is to ‘retrain’ your pancreas to be more efficient in its production of insulin, and (b) avoid the consumption of ‘good’ carbs and fats in the same meal. In Phase two you can reintroduce bad carbs and some fat/carb combinations in moderation (basically you try to avoid having more than one ‘bad’ thing in any meal).

That is about the gist of it….

Some good points about this diet that made it easier to maintain than anything else that I have tried (and failed at):

  1. Portion control. There isn’t one. The Calorie diet is a myth based on bad science (we have remarkable bodies that will adapt our energy use and storage to our intake). Even in the weight-loss phase, as long as you are eating the right foods and avoiding the fat/carb combo you can eat as much as you like. In fact, it is recommended that you eat regular meals and in between meals too. I know this sounds ridiculous and I was very sceptical before hand but I am now a total believer because it has worked for me and for others I know.
  2. Unlike other diets (such as Atkins) this does not avoid carbs (or any food group) altogether and thus there are no health concerns (that I have encountered or am aware of). In fact one of the side effects of this diet that everyone notices is a massive boost in energy levels and general well-being.
  3. You don’t have to avoid lots of yummy foods. For instance, I love English breakfasts, and in this diet I can have a plate of sausage, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, etc. (just have to leave out the toast and hash browns). I eat steaks quite a bit (but leave the potatoes), I snack on cheese (which I love and has been forbidden on all other diets I’ve tried) and cold meats between meals.
  4. You do not need to change you exercise habits. In fact I actually eased off a little when losing weight.
  5. You get results quickly. This is no joke; you will start to see the benefits in days (for some reason guys seem to shed the early pounds quicker than women out of the people I know).

Difficulties with it:

  1. Abstinence from alcohol in the weight-loss phase. Funnily enough I found this a lot harder than giving up potatoes and refined foods (white bread, white pasta, etc.). In truth I cheated quite a lot but did manage a few 2 or 3 week stints without drinking (and felt better for it too). The best thing to do is avoid binges – much better to have a couple of glasses of wine 2 or 3 nights a week than your big one night a week ‘reward.’
  2. Finding ready-prepared foods that comply. Do you realise how much sugar we put in things? Look at the label on pretty much anything that comes in a jar or can and it has sugar in it. I found that I had to prepare a lot more fresh food than before – but then I enjoy it all the more and it (usually!) tastes better too.
    I’ve left out lots of important stuff about the importance of fibre, digestion and so on but if it sounds interesting I heartily recommend reading Michel Montignac’s Dine Out And Lose Weight (I think in the US it is published as ‘Eat Yourself Slim’).

I do not follow this religiously (you have to let go sometimes!) but it has formed the basis of my eating habits for about 4 years. In that time when I have strayed and put on a bit of weight I return to phase one for a week or two and the weight drops off again. I have never been more than 12 lbs above my ‘target’ weight since initially losing 32 lbs when I started.

I am willing to bet that if you stuck with this you would lose the 100 lbs in a year, while never going hungry and eating lots of food that you like!

15

I’m a few months ahead of you, so here’s a real life scenario. I’m also in my mid thirties.
May 10th 03 I was at 279 lbs, and finally woke up to the fact that I was slowly but quite deliberately killing myself. No excercise to speak of ('cause it’s boring, right?) eating the wrong things and too much of them. In addition, I was on a cocktail of meds for Diabetes II as well as for high cholesterol. To complete the high risk trifecta, I used to smoke 2-3 packs of cowboy killers for about ten years (stopped in 1996). This May, some very unfortunate events forced me to re-evaluate everything about my life, part of which was my lifestyle. So… I prioritized. living seemed important to me, more so than chores, money, entertainment - anything. So now diet and excersize comes first. If there’s a time crunch, it doesn’t get cut. period.
That day I saw my doctor. By some stroke of fortune I had not yet done such damage to my body that I couldn’t do vigorous excersize.
That day I also joined a gym. Something I’d never thought I’d do.
I contracted with a personal trainer at that gym, so I now had to go. Started working out 3 times a week. (now it’s between 3 and 5)
I started drinking water, instead of diet coke.
That day I started planning and preparing my own food.
I had my resting metabolic rate RMR determined (the rate at which you burn calories when you do noting else but exist) and kept track of the calories I burned excersizing, as well as the calories i took in (I used a computer program to track this)
At first, things went very well, I steadily lost about 2 lbs/week, some weeks 3. Then, late September, the weightloss stopped. The lowest point I reached was 248 lbs. Motivation waned, excersize dropped to maybe once or twice a week, I “deserved” some “nice” (read bad) food. I had stopped drinking water. Weight came back to 268. (And that’s dangerous, because typically that means that with all this you managed to exchange muscle tissue for fat tissue - making weight training very important). About 3 weeks ago I got back on track. I’ve lost a few pounds since. And I know this is going to take a long, long time. Good news is that my diabetes II is under control with a minimum of meds, and I’m off my cholesterol medication. And I feel pretty good. I don’t get out of breath. And somewhere under the remaining lard still adorning my body is some seriously build-up muscle, aching to show itself to the world
My advice:

  1. talk to your doctor.
  2. make this stuff an absolute priority
  3. drink water, it’s magic.
  4. Join a gym. (aside from the gymrats and aerobic junkies there are plenty of lard-asses like you and me there, especially this time of year)
  5. spring for a trainer, especially at first, so you don’t sweat for nothing, and so you will show up.
  6. Make weight training an important part of your excersize routine, because it reduces the negative effect of jo-jo weight loss, because it speeds your weight loss (more active tissue) and because it feels good to know that Hanz and Franz are not talking to you when they speak of Girlie-man!
  7. realize that weight loss is only possible if calories in<calories out, so keep track of both.
  8. Be in charge of your own food.
  9. see your doctor again a few weeks into your new program.
    Good luck!
16

I’m no expert, but I’m working my way down to 199 lbs from 277 lbs right now.

Here’s what I’m doing:

-My wife is doing it as well…this helps. We support each other, and ride each other when it gets tough.

-I had to go through an adjustment that turned out to be really not that bad. First, I was eating way too much, so I had to get used to smaller portions. -And I did. Drinking lots of water helped with this. Now, I feel full after eating a normal anount of food, and don’t get hungry outside of normal eating times.

-Soda. I was a pop junkie. Without even realizing it, I would go through 3 or 4 cans of Coke while eating dinner. Just dinner! This had to stop. I originally put it down cold to start, to break it. Then I slowly had different diet sodas. Ginger Ale tastes almost like it’s non-diet counterpart. Then after a while, I now prefer Diet Coke to regular Coke.

-Food Type. I was eating the wrong stuff! Pizza, Chicken Wings, Chinese Food, Fried Chicken…everything you know you shouldn’t be eating. That had to change as well. I got into salads, various kinds of vegetable stir-frys, explored new things I’d never eaten before. The key here (for me at least) is to discover that “good food” doesn’t equal “bland food”. A salad can be a wonderful, flavourful (and filling) food! You just have to always think about what you’re going to eat now, what you ate last, and what you plan to eat next.

-Alchohol. This was the hardest. I love Beer, Whiskey, Vodka, you name it. I haven’t had a drop since I started. I may go back to the odd drink here or there when I hit my final goal, but I’m just not ready to do it yet. It really sneaks up on you this stuff!

-Vitamins. To be sure I’m getting my full intake of vitamins, I’ve started daily suppliments. Nothing fancy, nothing ‘new age’…just your plain old drug-store one-a-days.

-‘On the fly’ exercise. I haven’t started an actual exercise program yet, partly because I feared dying of a heart attack if trying to exercise when I was up around 277lbs. Instead I took every opportunity to take the stairs instead of elevators, or walk the dog an extra couple of blocks. Maybe park the car at the back of the mall parking lot, or take the stairs instead of the escalator…just those little things as I see them present themselves.

-Eat Chips. Not often, and not a lot (portion-wise), but you have to have a little something every once in a while or you’ll break. It’s as simple as that. It doesn’t have to be chips per se. Whatever you like, but you have to do it.

Not everything works for the same people, and lots of people will tell you different things and give different advice. All that aside, there are only 2 things you need. 1) Is to sort it out yourself. Do different things, and figure out what works for YOU. 2) Keep at it. It won’t happen right away, and people may not notice when you think they should. You may get discouraged, or upset, but you have to want it. You have to work for it, and you have to totally change the way you think about food.

Once you’ve got that, it’s easy.

PS: Always weigh yourself at the same time every day (if you decide to monitor your actual pounds). Weight can fluctuate wildy during the day, causing inaccurate results. Always weigh before you step into the shower in the morning.
Oh, and since I didn’t say at the top, but the more curious might want to know:

Old weight: 277 lbs.
Today’s weight: 217 lbs.
Goal weight: 199 lbs.
Old pants size: 44
Current pants size: 36
Goal pants size: 34

17

Try to become a Vegan. It might feel limiting if you are used to eating meat and dairy, but there are many substitutes for these ingredients that are low in fat and cholesterol. Everyone I know who eats a vegan diet loses weight quickly and keeps it off. It is not a short term diet however, it is a lifetsyle change. But if you stick to the basics of not eating meat, fish, chicken, eggs and dairy you can eat as often and as much as you’d like at every meal (and in between meals too). You might think - what is left to eat if I exclude all of those items - but there is actually quite a bit. Bread, pasta, vegetables and many meat and dairy alternatives including seitan, tofu, tempeh, soy milk, almond milk, and non dairy cheese.
If you are interested in some great Vegan reciepies, check out Vegan Vittles and the UnCheese Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak.

Good Luck! And whatever you choose, if you it make your priority to become healthy instead of to just lose weight you will have lasting results.

18

I’ve been doing Atkins since June, and I’ve lost almost 50 pounds. Since you are a male, you might even lose faster.

It is a very satisfying way to eat, the first two weeks are induction and you would need to cut out alcohol, but what is two weeks out of the rest of your life? Induction will get you into ketosis, and when you are in ketosis your appetite will decrease greatly, and give you added energy. You can have full fat salad dressings. You do have to eat vegetables, I fulfill that by having a salad for lunch and cooked vegetables for dinner. A daily walk is perfectly fine for exercise. Drink lots of water.

If you are interested, get the book “Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution” and read it cover to cover. There are no monthly or weekly fees, no special food to buy, no groups to join. All it will cost is the price of the book.

I’m not saying Atkins will work for everyone, but it has worked extremely well for me.

19

E.T. Bass, I’ve managed to drop about 65 pounds since last Jan. 1st. Of course, with me being a woman and you being a man, you may be able to manage the 100 if you wish to follow the kind of plan I’ve been on. See, I’m addicted to sweets. Once I start eating them, I can’t stop. White bread, pasta, white rice and white potatoes all start the cravings going, because they convert to sugar in the blood stream so quickly. I only eat whole wheat breads and pastas, sweet potatoes, long grain and brown rice, and sweeten just about everything with Splenda (in fact, I’ve been baking Christmas cookies with whole wheat flour and Splenda). I do eat fried foods, but we make the batter with whole wheat flour, eggs, buttermilk and seasonings. If we make a liquid batter like this for our chicken, and then dredge it in dry, seasoned whole wheat flour before deep frying, it comes out extra-crispy. We also deep fry steak (like chicken-fried steak), mushrooms and onion rings. We use full-fat dressings and real butter (much better for you than margarine). My husband’s dropped about 25 pounds, and 6 inces off his waist (but he started out with less to lose than I did). My oldes daughter (16) had lost about 25 lbs. and was almost to goal weight when she started “cheating”. A little here, and a little there, and before you know it the cravings had come back full force and she couldn’t stand to do it anymore. Hubby cheats from time to time, esp. when he’s travelling, but then again, he’s not addicted to sugar like I am. I haven’t cheated even once. I do drink alcohol, though. I limit myself to dark beers (lower in carbs than lager), hard liquor mixed with diet sodas, or dry wines. None of the sweet stuff, like Bailey’s Irish Cream or Schnapps. Moderate exercise several times a week (sex counts if you do it right;) . This is a lifestyle change. I consider it to be permanent.

Oh, and I drink an insane amount of water. When I slack off the water, weight-loss comes to a screeching halt.

Best of luck, and keep us posted.

20

It can be done but you’ve got to go into this determined that you’re going to do it regardless of how long it takes you. What are you going to do if you give it your best shot and only lose, say, 25 pounds by the 4th of July? Give up?

Setting goals is good but your body may have other plans. If you are watching what you eat and exercising, and the weight isn’t coming off as quickly as you like, there is not a thing in the world you can do about it. All you can do is hang in there and eventually the weight does come off.

I never realized how FAST 2 pounds a week is until I started this thing back in 10/01. I’ve had about 2 big chunks of weight come off but the rest has been the tedious 1 pound (or less) a week routine.

Now, you’re a man and your body isn’t trying to keep you fat in case you get pregnant, so you may have a much easier time of it.

The way I have lost weight is by taking up exercise and eating only when hungry, and stopping when full. I eat whatever I want, and once I stopped eating constantly, my body started wanting variety. Some days I crave salad. Other days I have to have a piece of cheesecake. It’s all about moderation.

You absolutely MUST exercise, though. Start off slow. When I started back in April I walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes at about 2.6 miles an hour. You’ll be amazed at how fast your fitness level will improve.