This morning may (or may not) be a bit of a challenge for me. At 9 we’re having a “breakfast” meeting. The description in the meeting planner said “You don’t need to bring a pen or paper, just bring your appetite.” Great.
So I’ve had my own breakfast this morning, and I plan on not having anything at the meeting. Breakfast this morning (the part I’ve eaten, that is, since there’s more for later) was eggbeaters scrambled with peppers, onions & salsa. Yum.
So check on in & tell us what you’re battling with right now!
My problem? I love to eat. I can exercise all day long, but I also love to eat stuff that’s horrible for me. If I could discipline myself to actually eat right, the weight would flow off, with all the exercise I do.
Incidentally, I’m 6’2" and 240. Not massive, just…pudgy.
Well my weekly weigh in was on Saturday and I was down -.4 pounds. Less than I had hoped for but still a loss. It was a bit of a drag because I stayed on program all week. I’m trying to focus on the big picture: I have lost 8.6 pounds in the last 5 weeks. Not too shabby.
I’m still struggling with a couple of issues. One is getting breakfast in. I wake up and leave for work pretty early and it is pretty tough for me to cook breakfast before I leave for work. I’ve been bringing dry Kashi Go Lean Crunch in to work with me but this is starting to get boring. Two is exercise. I’m still trying to get into a pattern of regular exercise. I’m just going to have to keep plugging away at it. I have a feeling this will get much easier once spring gets here for real.
I need some tips. I’ve started a low carb diet with no exercise. Is this a good idea or not? I’ve eaten a lot of salad, eggs, meat and cheese. Anybody have some tips on how to stick to this diet or how to increase the weightloss?
I’m male, 5’ 10", early middle age. 178lb on 1-1-02. 168 lb today. Target: 165lb
I’ve “bored the board” with this before, so apologies if you’ve read this before but the method is simple: burn off 3,500 cal per week in addition to other current exercise. You will shed 1lb a week. End of story. (In practice: walk 5 miles/do 1 hr on the stairmaster a day - listen to music or read to pass the time.)
Drawbacks:
it takes up time. God knows how you schedule this if you have to work full time for a living or have kids to look after (neither being the case for me).
when you stop and go back to a low-exercise lifestyle, the weight will simply creep back on. I plan to burn an additional 100 cal a day on top of my usual regime after I reach my target. That will keep me at 165lb.
FWIW, I eat (and genuinely enjoy) a very healthy diet - zero junk food/soda and lots of fresh fruit/veg, and only small amounts of meat/cheese/seafood, so I can’t really diet my weight down, unless I fast or - horror of horrors - give up beer.:eek:
I have been overweight most of my adult life. I didn’t start out as fat but over time I managed to add a few pounds every few years and it all adds up as I’m sure you know. My all time high was around 230 or so and I had a 38" waist which was very upsetting to me. I remember trying on jeans and having to go to that bigger size and thinking “Good God! I’m a pig!” I eventually got back down to a 36. I was used to it. It was my “normal” size. HA! Anyway, last January I weighed my usual 213 lbs and figured I could lose a few pounds. I’m a 5’11" male and if you believe those height/weight charts I should weigh no more than around 180 and as low as 150?! I always considered myself “average” so imagine my surprise when I found out I could stand to lose around 30-60 pounds! Shocking! Something had to be done!
I’d heard of the Atkin’s Diet but people I knew that tried it failed because they always went back to their old eating habits. You always hear how if you want to maintain weight loss you need to change the way you eat for life, which makes perfect sense. I read up on Atkin’s and it seemed that it would be easier for me than other diets. Most of the stuff I had to cut out, like breads and pasta, I wouldn’t miss much anyway. So I took the plunge January of last year. I lost about 15 pounds but I did an awful lot of cheating. Damn those Oreos calling to me from the cookie aisle! Mmmm Oreos… Then the holidays came and well, I gained back a few pounds.
This January I was back up to 206 and I was determined to lose the weight and keep it off! I don’t think of last year as a failure. I stumbled a few times but I did lose weight. I am now down to about 194 and I am wearing size 34 jeans which is a great motivator! My goal is to eventually get down to a size 32. The actual weight doesn’t really concern me but I figure I’ll be around 175 or so.
Well, I hadn’t planned on writing so much. Sorry about the length. Thanks for the opportunity to share. Good luck to all!
I’ve been counting calories for a little over 2 months and I’ve managed to lose 10 pounds. I started with an excel spreadsheet into which I plugged in every meal I ate. I’ve since found this nifty website that calculates it & graphs it for me.
I spend plenty of time in front of a computer every day, so there’s always a minute or two to keep track of what I’ve eaten. The site also lets you keep track of any exercise you do, and it’ll tell you where you’re at as far as calories consumed versus basic energy needs and calories burned. (Except for some reason “Sex” isn’t in their exercise database - unless something they call “Bed Exercise” could be considered sex.)
Another site I started out using to figure out how much is in what I’m eating is the USDA Nutrient Database
My strategy is to eat very little during the day when I’m just sitting around at work. I eat breakfast - usually oatmeal or fruit of some sort. Pop a multivitamin. Have a light lunch of fresh fruit or veggies & a little something with protein. Stay the heck away from junk food. Then for dinner I eat something yummy - pasta or burgers maybe - but keep my portion low. Then I’ve got more room for beer… Why can’t they make calorie-free liquor??
I also work out a bunch (4-5 times a week), but I’ve been working out regularly for several years and it wasn’t until I started keeping track of my calorie consumption that it started to make a difference. My minimum workout is 30 minutes per day of cardio exercise - and then weights if there’s time, or if I’ve got the energy.
I’m pretty much resigned to never being a size 4 again in my life, but I’m okay with that, because I’d rather be where I am now than as unattractively rail thin as I was then.
It’s similar to the site Chicano posted…it tracks what you eat. And it uses the USDA Nutrient Database. Wish me luck to get rid of this Terrible Ten (okay, Terrible Twelve, but who’s counting…)
I haven’t seen the new thread so I’ll post this week’s woes to this one.
At my weekly weigh-in I showed a GAIN of .4 pounds. That brings me to a net gain / loss of 0 for the last 2 weeks. I stayed on program so I must be at the dreaded plateau. :eek:
I’ve come to the conclusion that I must reduce the amount of beer I drink!! :eek: :eek: