February 2010 Weight Loss thread

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
61

New to this thread, so pardon me, pardon me.

Right now I am at 160 pounds; the problem is that my arms and legs are rather thin, but my tummy rises out like a hill, making me look rather out of proportional. So I am trying to cut my weight down to 143 pounds (so that’s 17 pounds).

Last month I was at 160 pounds, and when I weigh myself about a week ago, I was still at 160 pounds, so I have been trying to step up on my workout schedule. Now I am trying to swim/run at least 4 times per week, and hopefully I could see a change.

62

Exercise is great, and it’s certainly part of any weightloss program. Good on you for making a commitment to more activity. But you will get faster and more sustainable results if you take a look at what you are eating and make modifications there. Have you looked at your diet and/or made a food diary to see how much you are eating?

63

I have been trying to take in less carbohydrates - I’m a programmer by trade, so I guess I don’t need that much. The problem is I am renting, and the landlord doesn’t like me to get fresh food in the fridge (plus I always forget about consuming them and then I have to throw it out).

I have been trying out some Kellogg Special diet, but not religiously. Truth to be told, I am only watching what I am eating for the past 3 weeks. I’ve noticed that I get hungrier more often, even more so when I start having breakfast.

64

Your landlord… doesn’t… want… you… to put fresh stuff in the fridge??? :confused: :frowning: That’s truly bizarre. Are you supposed to be limited to beer, ketchup and leftover Chinese food or something? I mean, what else is a fridge for?

The forgetting part, I do understand though!!

65

Just got back from an orthopedist visit to check over my bum shoulder and bum knee. Nothing jumped out at him on the MRI that I had done 5 weeks ago (including the fact that he saw no fluid around the knee, whereas right now I can barely bend it).

Anyway - that’s relevant here mainly because I now have a scrip for physical therapy, which means I’ll get some exercise over the next month or so, then I see him again.

I hold out zero hope for the knee - I’ve done PT before for it and had terrific calf muscles and constant knee pain - but I have hope for the shoulder. At least I’ll be moving more than I am now. That should help with the weight loss a little. I asked how long it’d be before we saw possible improvements and he said “6 to 12…” (and my heart sank, knowing the next word was months “weeks”. Phew!!

66

The goal is to create sustainable changes to your diet. One-off dietary changes won’t work, long-term. Use something like this calculator: http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/calculators/calories-required/ then adjust your normal food intake to match it.

Then determine what foods you can eat that are not energy dense (Alton Brown’s example was an Apple, vs. about 1/8th of a donut. Which one will keep you fuller longer?)

My big weaknesses were alcohol, snacking, and portion sizes. Going to McDonalds? Drink water, eat a burger, and don’t order fries. Hugry? Have an apple instead of a bag of Doritos. Cut soda pop out of your diet completely, even zero-calorie stuff. Well, as close to completely as possible. A soda or two a week won’t derail the process, nor will a half-cup of icecream (heavy, full sugar, ‘bad for you’ ice cream)

The other thing I discovered: a little bit of hunger isn’t really that unmanageable. If you’re STARVING you waited too long to eat something and you’ll most likely overeat as a result.

67

This is key. I really don’t like diets that worry about fats or carbs exclusively. Know what you are eating, take everything in moderation, occasionally splurge.

68

I read somewhere that if you’re about to eat something to ask yourself “Would I eat an apple?” If the answer is yes, then you are hungry (and maybe you should really eat an apple). If no, then don’t eat. Obviously it’s not as easy as that, but it has me thinking more critically when I reach for my evening snacking downfall, dry cereal.

For me, I’m maintaining my 100 pound weight loss. I’m doing yoga from yoga download daily, and being a slacker about going to the Y to do the elliptical. I am so winter weary at this point, the Y is just depressing because I want so badly to be running outdoors, but the snow and cold is too much for me. I think the yoga will help me develop strength and make me stretchy for better running in (fingers crossed) a month.

I am very happy with my body, though. Several times in the past couple weeks people have referred to me as “tiny.” Tiny!

69

These are all good tips. Another easy one (if you usually eat with someone else) is to share something like fries or dessert - half the calories right there.

70

That’s a great one. I was told by a co-worker “don’t drink your calories” and that’s really stuck with me. She explained that liquids are less filling than using those calories to fill up with “real” food. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but it’s worked well for me.

71

I guess what I mean is my landlord doesn’t me to get anything that would rot in a few days, so that translate to ‘fresh’ in my mind.

Thanks, Unintentionally Blank for the calculator. The challenge now is to figure out how much I am eating and stop ‘comfort eating’. I tend to over-eat when depressed.

72

Which just makes you more depressed. You need to find a different outlet. Depression tends to nail your (forgive me) ass to a spot. If that spot is near food, more the better. If you don’t HAVE that food available, that’s helpful. If you consciously think “I’m not hungry, I’m depressed”, then MOVE YOUR ASS and go DO something, you’ve killed two birds with one stone:

You’re moving, which is good.

You’re not eating, which is good.

It could be exercise, reading, knitting, anything but eating.

73

Are you me???

This is a big trigger for me too. Not so much “depressed”, as to my knowledge I’m not and never have been clinically depress, but certainly when “stressed”. I was feeling really down yesterday after my visit with the orthopedist, as it seems like I’ll have to live with knee pain for the rest of my life (he’s prescribing physical therapy which I have already tried) and I remembered we have a sheet cake in the kitchen and OH GOD I WANTED IT!!!

I’m not 100% sure how I resisted it. My current motivation, fortunately, is a STRONG one - I’ve now had 4 different health problems in the past 2 months, DIRECTLY resulting for poor eating habits (gall bladder, increased blood sugar, increased cholesterol, and increased blood pressure). Not to mention the knee problems which may have developed 50 pounds ago, but are certainly worse because of the weight. Unfortunately it takes something that drastic to make me control my weight.

74

I had jury duty this morning, and I stood a lot instead of finding a seat immediately. I didn’t look for a seat until over half of the pool was excused. That felt good.

Since starting our school competition, I’m down 15 pounds there and 63 overall at my last work weigh-in.

75

Chiming in. Started my weight loss program on Christmas when Santa brought me a Wii with Wii Fit. I’ve done 1 hour plus of aerobic exercise on it every day but Wednesday since.

Started 12/25/09 at 197. Today was at 180.

I plan to get to 160. Hopefully within 3 months or so.

Like others, my clothes are showing what the scale isn’t. I’ve lost more than 5 inches from my waist. I had to dig a size down out of my closet. Luckily, I have the whole range of sizes for wherever I am at the time.

76

But more importantly, does the Wii think you’re fat?

77

Down another 3 today, for a total of 21.2 lbs. I’ve got at least another 20 to go before I feel like I’m near my target. I’m getting warned by the WW software that I’m losing weight a little too quickly. They’d prefer I stay at the 1-2 lb/week range, instead of my 3 lb/week. I’m sure it’ll take care of itself but I’m going to make sure I eat a little more.

I punched a new hole in my belt last night. :slight_smile:

78

Isn’t that wierd? I find I have to pull my pants up and must wear a belt, otherwise, I’ll have a wardrobe malfunction.

(oh, and up a pound to 257.2, but I had a GREAT Valentine’s day.)

79

Running is so much easier when you weigh less. :slight_smile: A fine lunchtime run today.

80

When I was quitting smoking, I would frequently have dreams that I gave in and smoked. Since I actually quite cold turkey, and was quite proud of the fact that I didn’t cheat at all, the dreams were quite distressing to me. They were so realistic. I ended up feeling very guilty (in my sleep) and woke up feeling depressed, until I realized it was all just a dream.

I decided on Monday night to be a lot more strict with myself - a cold turkey diet. If I can do it with cigarettes, I should be able to do it with food.

I realize that sweets and my eating schedule (no schedule really) were my biggest issues. So, I made the decision that I would have 3 meals per day, at least 4 hours apart. Sweets are completely out because I have no self control. I am allowing myself 1 can of ginger ale a day, mostly because I love it and don’t want to give it up, but also because I have two cases in the garage that need to be drunk.

On Tuesday, I was very good. I had two packets of cream of wheat for breakfast, a PB sandwich, apple, and glass of milk for lunch, and leftover pasta and ginger ale for dinner.

On Wednesday, I had the same breakfast, two cucumbers, cheddar cheese, and a yogurt for lunch, and a ham syrian with lettuce, tomato, pickles, oil and vinegar, and Caesar salad for dinner.

On Wednesday night, I dreamt that I was picking up some kids from my old foster parents’ house. While I was waiting for them, I noticed large amounts of junk food in the kitchen and I started binging on it.

Like my smoking dreams, it was so realistic that I felt so depressed and even started crying in my dream. When I woke up, I felt horrible with myself and didn’t even want to get up. When I finally did get up, the first stop I made was to the kitchen to weigh myself. In my dream, I ate myself back up to 225 pounds.

I was very relieved to see that I really am 215, which means I’ve actually lost 1 pound since I started eating 3 meals a day.
I hate my dreams.
Today wasn’t as good. I wasn’t able to eat lunch and breakfast was rushed. I had yogurt and a banana for breakfast and cheese ravioli with alfredo sauce for dinner.

I’ll make up the 3rd meal by having some fruit later on.

I was able to get to the grocery store today and I got some 2.5 minute cream of wheat. It’s so much less expensive than the instant stuff. I was finally able to restock my clementine supply (haven’t been able to find them for 2 weeks!).

For any of you in the Northeast, who are familiar with Big Y - they got rid of red and blue coins! I had two red and one blue. I gave them back since I had no use for them. They gave me a gold coin in exchange! I didn’t even think they really existed! I’ve been shopping there for 17 years at least and I’ve never had a gold coin before. I can’t wait to use it. If I had gotten it earlier, I’d have paid $3 for my cheese instead of $8 (I used a silver coin. With no coin it was actually $10).

Anyway, in my waking hours, I’m not having much trouble yet with the lack of junk food. I have yogurt and fruit (mostly apples, bananas, clementines) and cheddar cheese to help with any cravings.

I do miss drinking ginger ale but I was drinking 2 or 3 (or more) cans a day. Now, when I get the urge for something besides water, I have chai tea, which I drink with just a smidgen of sugar and milk.

I find it hard to believe that cutting out the binge eating is harder than quitting smoking. I can do this.