Dieting Dopers and other Healthy Lifestylers...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Back by popular demand!! (okay, well one person said something, anyway…)

It’s been a while since the weekly thread thing. Not as many people were posting, I got lazy, you know the drill.

So how are weight loss and lifestyle change efforts coming for you folks?

A summary of my status:

I’ve been doing weight training 2-3 times per week for about a month now. That was my big goal for the year, to start doing that. I don’t do much, but it’s better than nothing. It makes me feel good to work out muscles I don’t normally use (can you say upper body???). I can’t see results yet, obviously, but I’m at least using that gym membership I’m paying for.

I am currently between goals in my other exercise (distance running), and am therefore lacking a little motivation. I blew off a long run on Saturday, which is unheard of for me. I need to pick a race to train for, so that I feel the need to get out there and practice every week. So far it looks like it might be a July 4th 15K battle with a few coworkers. :smiley:

Eating wise, I’m definitely eating lots of veggies lately. My lunch the past few weeks has consisted of a frozen entree that gets mixed with a bunch of sauteed veggies. I’ve taken to sauteeing a boatload of vegetables on Sunday evenings, freezing them in daily portions, and grabbing one out of the freezer each day to add to the entree. Just the frozen dinner by itself is horribly unsatisfying, so this helps a lot.

I am still maintaining my weight (it will be 5 years at goal weight come August), but would like to be a couple of pounds lighter (3-5) so that I have a little cushion and have no snug clothing.

So…what’s up with you? How is the progress? Do you need a kick in the ass? Let us know.

2

Woo hoo! The thread is back!

I have pretty much stayed the same since the last thread died. However, I had always planned on really starting to concentrate on exercise and eating healthy when this semester was over, which will be in about a week and a half. Then I will have afternoons off.

I’v been eating a bit better for the past few days, I’m I’ve been starting to keep track on fitday.com. I haven’t had much time to exercise yet, but as soon as I’m done exams, I plan to use the stationary bike in my basement as well as the real one that currently resides in the garage. My mom has said she has a few guest passes with which she can take me to the gym, and if I lik it and would actually go, maybe I’ll get a membership. It’s really near my house, but I’m lazy.

Here’s a weird thing I’ve noticed in the past few days though. Two days ago, I only ate about 1000 calories. Which I know is way below what I should be eating, but I wasn’t actually starving myself.

I woke up at around 12, had breakfast at around 1, a snack at 3:30, dinner at 7:00, a snack at around 9 and went to bed at around 2. I was really never hungry. Should I have been concerned about taking in more calories? Except for my snacks being vegetables rather than chocolate, I didn’t change my eating habits much at all that day.

3

Yes! I didn’t participate in the weekly threads, but I’d like to join in now.

Basically, I need a kick in the ass. Last year I lost 35lbs with Weightwatchers but I just kinda… stopped going. I didn’t get along with the leader and found her patronising, so I became disillusioned. But I heard today that she’s left and I’m thinking I’m going to give it another try. I haven’t weighed myself recently but at a guess, I would say I’ve put back on half of what I lost. The points system in the UK is different to the US system - it’s calculated purely on calories and saturated fat content and you’re not required to each a certain amount of any food group, although of course the 5 fruit & veg is encouraged.

I go to the gym about once a week on average, doing the normal gym stuff - elliptical machine, bikes, treadmill. I know I like it when I’m there, but I have to <i>drag</i> my ass down there every time. Heh. I’m lucky to have a super-supportive boyfriend who occasionally kicks my ass for me, but I’d like to do this because I want to.

So, I probably have about 35lbs to lose. My goal is 2lbs loss a week. My weaknesses are alcohol, pizza, cheese and bread. I crave carbs like you wouldn’t believe.

Cooking is a major hobby of mine and I’m a foodie, so it pains me to use oil or marge instead of butter, but what must be done must be done. I do have a Weightwatchers cookbook (in fact, I made a seafood chowder out of it this evening (but must admit to using full-cream milk instead of skimmed)).

So anyway - that’s me. Am I expected to post current weight etc? Because I’m happy to, I just don’t know the protocol.

Thanks for starting this up again Scout.

4

Fran, you don’t need to post any vital stats, but if you wanted to (for accountability or for general info), you certainly can.

Here in the US I think we’re about a year behind in how we calculate POINTS. Thanks for the heads up! I had heard (I work PT for WW in California) that the plan might be changing - I’d wager this is probably what we’ll be transitioning to.

I’d encourage you to check out the new leader. I found it can really make or break the experience. I started out with a great leader, she left & was replaced by someone I hated. Then I moved and attended another meeting with an EXCELLENT leader. She made the meetings a lot of fun, and never made anyone seem stupid or a failure. That’s real important.
Oh, and FWIW, I lost 28 pounds, and my current goal weight is 134. (I’m 5’4") Just so’s you know…if you care…
:: gives Francesca a kick to the ass :wink: ::

5

Doing the Weight Watchers thing for 7 weeks now. Lost 16lbs so far. I will be joining the Y for thrice weekly swims as soon as the familial drama has ended.

And I will not be posting my weight, no matter what the protocol!

6

I’m not trying to lose weight as such - I’m not everweight. I’m somewhat under if anything. I’m just in general aiming towards a more healthy lifestyle, and trying to redistribute more of the weight I have into muscle and generally work on my overall fitness. I also wouldn’t mind losing a little weight off my legs, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t. I went vegetarian initially for health reasons (granted I’ve stuck with it for different reasons), and am experimenting with being vegan for one month (dairy products being generally Not Good for your health).
I also gave up caffeine recently, to which I was something of an addict (Not that much really. I only had 2 cups of coffee per day tops, but I couldn’t go without those two cups).
I’ve been practicing some minor elements of buteyko and need to learn more about it - At the moment I’ve got the breathing pattern more or less right (I think) but don’t know much more.
At the moment what I really need to do is go to the Gym more, work out for longer - I don’t do weights much. Mostly treadmill, steps, cycling, situps, etc. I also need to snack less - A state which I will now achieve more easily as I have no snacks left :slight_smile:
All in all though, doing good.

7

Excellent, kitarak, no reason why we can’t have just general healthy folks around here!

By the way, what is buteyko? I’ve never heard of it.

8

It’s mostly a style of breathing, with some other aspects to it. You can find out a little about it (not much more than I know - i.e. not a great deal) at www.buteyko.com . It’s mostly for helping asthma sufferers - I have a friend who was completely cured of asthma this way, he’s the one who told me about it - but also helps athletes a lot, improves your ability to hold your breath, and generally improves your health. I’ve been told you can use it to reach quite ridiculous fitness levels, but have seen no evidence for or against this at the moment.
It’s apparently quite popular in australia, particularily in their olympic team.

9

Okay. Now I’m getting concerned.

One website I saw said that women 25-50 who were 5’4 should have an intake of 2200-2500 calories per day. Though this is high, another site said that you should be absolutely not eating under 1200 calories per day.

From my tabulation on fitday, on Saturday I only ate 1000. Yesterday I had 1300, and today 1400, but I had pieces of cake both days that hopefully will not be a part of a normal day.

Am I starving myself? And how the heck am I managing that? I’m eating when I’m hungry until I stop feeling hungry, and a little more besides!

10

Sorry about that. Upon reading the website in more detail, it’s actually a very bad example to use. Probably better to ignore it :slight_smile: Unfortunately, most of what I know has been passed on to me by someone who took an actual course in it, so I can’t really reccomend any good resources for finding out.

The tips to follow section seems at least to be reasonably accurate, but a lot of the numerical data looks like it’s wildly wrong.

Apologies for that - In future I will check the sources I’m referencing more carefully.

11

The minimum cal intake of 1200 is an average. It has to do with BMR (Basal Metabolism Rate). You use most of your daily cals just living. Basic life functions like breathing, growing new cells and regulating temperature take up, for the average individual, about 1200 cals a day.

The reason why doctors tell you you must consume at least 1200 cals is that anything under can disrupt your basic life functions.

1200 cals is an average. BMR can vary as much as 30% from person to person (so all those people who claim “I can live on lettuce and water, why can’t you?” or “Losing weight is the same for everybody, you’re just not trying hard enough” are full of it.) If you are not hungry LaurAnge averaging 1250 cals, then more power to you! Your body would complain bitterly if it was not getting enough cals to survive.

P.S. I wouldn’t make consuming less than 1200 cals a habit, though.

12

Here’s a site that explains BMR in quite thoroughly.

http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/Courses/ns421/BMR.html

13

I have been doing the WW thing for 11 weeks now. I have lost 42 pounds. I write down everything and stay at the low end of my daily point allowance. I started taking Karate (3 ½ hours of sweating a week). I am also playing racquetball 1 hour a week (more sweat). I seem to have hit a wall for the last three days and I have lost nothing. :frowning: I started out at 263 and want to get down to under 200. Keep on keeping on

14

Yay, thanks Scout for starting this again, especially now that I’m doing something!

I’m in my third week of WW. My first week I lost 8+ pounds, second week under 1. I figured that’s ok, an average of 4per is still pretty good.

I went to the gym yesterday too, recumbent stepper and treadmill. I like the sweating, not the soreness so much. I know that will go away after awhile. I, too, have to drag my ass there.

Has anyone who’s doing weight watchers tried to modify it into a more low-carb program? I suspect that would be good for me, but I’m concerned since there’s such a focus on low fat in WW that I figure I’d be over my points if I try to modify. Any suggestion?

15

So I went on the scale today, I don’t remember when Iwent on last, probably a week or two ago, and I have lost 3 pounds, even though I have only been sincerely trying for 3 days!

Okay, since I seem to be losing weight pretty quick, and my calories are on the low end, I’m just going to be very careful tom make sure that I’m never really hungry, I’ll snack on yogurt, or fruit, or veggies. I figure my body’ll tell me if I’m actually starving myself.

I am very encouraged! My goal is to get down to 140 (from 160 originally, 157 as of a few weeks ago and 154 as of today) and the date I’ve set is June 15, although that’s kinda arbitrary. I just wanna look good in the summer!

140 is my first goal, and if I get there, I’ll set another one at 120. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get down to 120, I don’t think I ever have been that skinny in my entire life. I will definitely settle (happily!) with 125 or 130.

16

Count me in. The Great Spring Weight Loss has started. I’ve lost about 4.5 pounds in the past three weeks, 2.5 of it in the first week. I’m hoping to do more than a pound a week, but if a pound a week is all I can manage I’ll take it. I’d like to lose another 10 pounds, but I’d be happy with 5.

I’m loosely following eDiet’s plans. I lost about 20 pounds with them a couple years ago, and at this point I can follow it without much trouble so I figure why not do it again? I’m at 1600-1700 cals/day at this point.

Exercise: running and biking. I try to do one or the other every other day. I wear a heart rate monitor, and shoot for at least 500 calories burned per workout. I run for 45 minute then walk for 5-10. Biking is usually longer - 1.5 hours or so. I expect once I start getting on the road bike there’ll be at least one long ride a week, 3 hours or so. Biking seems to burn about the same number of calories as running, so figure 500/hour.

Eating: like I said, I loosely follow ediets. My big problem is finding that delicate balance between eating little enough to lose weight and enough so that I don’t feel run down. If I eat what I want, I don’t lose weight. If I diet too much, I get run down and cranky. As it is, I figure at least 1, usually 2 run down and cranky days per week and I’m only dropping a pound a week. Grrrr… there IS a balance, and I’m trying to find it.

Also, I tend to say “screw this” about once a week and that usually involves drinking. Last week, we went out for sushi, and I had several glasses of champagne and a beer. Also split a dessert with a friend. Trying not too do this too often - I’d rather keep it like my ‘screw this’ day of the past week, which involved two glasses of wine and spaghetti with marinara sauce at a restaurant. Much more in balance.

17

Athena, from what I can figure, sushi is really quite healthy. Except for the soy sauce which is full of salt, it’s lean fish and rice. fitday has 10 pieces of maki (sushi with fish and vegetables, rolled in seaweed) at 300 calories.

Thank goodness sushi is healthy. If I had to give it up…

18

I’d bet you could do it. I haven’t tried myself, and I’m not well versed on what you should & shouldn’t eat on a low carb diet, but here’s what I think might work:

You’re probably using more points for protein than I am. If you’re choosing lean cuts of beef, poultry and fish, you can do pretty well with those. Chicken, turkey & fish have very little fat on them in comparison to a big ol’ steak. Just because you CAN have a slab of meat with a slice of cheese, doesn’t mean you have to do it in the most unhealthy way possible.

Then, if you are running low on points, don’t forget to include the veggies. I know there are some you can’t have to many of (bye-bye baby carrots, right?), but I’d imagine you can still probably have salads and stuff. Make sure you include plenty of those in order to get filled up.

I would think between choosing lower point proteins and eating veggies, that you’d be able to get enough food not to be hungry. If not, maybe you ought to rethink the low carb. (not because it’s inherently wrong, but because if it’s not satisfying, you won’t stick with it, that’s all)

On week 6 or something, (maybe 10 I can’t remember) you get a booklet about the Right Mix, where you’ll take quizzes to find out what kind of food is most satisfying to you. Even if you don’t have the book yet, you can think about the foods that really keep you feeling sated for a while. And if a lot of them are carbs… Well, although low-carb stuff works for a lot of people, I’m more of a champion of eating what you like in smart portions so that you don’t feel like you’re having to skimp.

Well, that’s probably going to come out all preachy, which is not what I intend. If you’re satisfied by eating fewer carbs, be my guest. If you’re not, I would say it might be worth thinking about WHY you’d limit carbs, if that’s what you like. Either way, I think it can be done within the appropriate points range, which is what you really need to see weight loss.

I’ll step off my soap box and hush now… :smiley: Really, I’m not an anti-low-carb freak. I just know it’s not for me. Really!

19

I’m glad the Dieting Doper Thread is back. Thanks, Scout1222

I don’t have much to add, but I do agree with the smaller portions idea. I’m eating less and I’m eating more healthy.

I started this diet because of high blood pressure. I’ve lost 22 lbs since 11th of Jan. and my bp is back to normal (126/78 this AM) I probably would have lost 30 lbs by now if I just quit drinking beer.
But that ain’t gonna happen, so it’s gotta be less, but healthier meals.

20

Oh, LaurAnge, it’s not the sushi that’s the problem… it’s the sangria before, the 3 glasses of champagne with, the beer afterwards, and the carrot cake and chocolate pie I shared with my friends that’s the problem. Sushi? No problem.