Switching from regular to diet pop got me from 240 to 220.
– Sylence
And now, for my next trick, I will talk in spooky half-references.
Don’t hate me because I’m skinny… 
Genetics is what made me skinny. I’m one of those people who never gains weight. I eat utter crap most of the time, and more than likely it’ll kill me.
Exercise and diet matters to everybody, not just the over- or under-weight. Some people are similarly genetically inclined to be large, but if they’re eating well and exercising enough, then things should be just fine.
Even though we’re an image-obsessed society, we still should be looking after our weight simply because of the health issue.
Meanwhile, I’m sure that despite everyone’s efforts. most of us (me included) will say ‘to hell with it’ and end up eating ourselves to death anyway…
Well, that was a pointless contribution, wasn’t it? 
“Vyvyan! Where did you get that Howitzer?” “…I found it.”
The Legend Of PigeonMan - updates every Wed & Sat
Dingle and others, believe me I am living right there with you. I would never suggest that anyone should have to look like those stick models (they are not attractive), but as Guanolad said (I think) it is for your health. I think the med charts are a little unreasonable, 185 for a 6’ man may not always be acheivable, but if I could get down to 200 - 225 I would be happy.
You need to feel good about yourself and your accomplishments. But you also must feel healthy.
One of the things that makes my nutrition plan work, is accountability. I have to write down everything I eat. It does not include sugar things, but there is a place on the sheet for them if you do eat them, but you also have to write your mood and body position and kind of why you ate it. This helps to determine if you use food and especially sweets as a security blanket or something.
Writing everything down makes sure I do not overeat. Also, we meet as a group weekly so I know that the group will encourage me and I need to be “good” to acheive results. They do not make me feel bad if I do not, but I want to be “good”. This takes the burden of accoutability off my wife (I might see her as baggering me and the same with me to her).
Weight loss is not a quick thing. But we need to do it for ourselves and our families. Not because society tells us that we are not beautiful, but because we increase our risk of heart disease and cancer and other ailments.
What if we form an accountability thread for our weight loss. We can weigh each week and post it. Or we could start an e-mail accountability group, everyone interested could post their e-mail and we could send our weekly results to everyone in the “group”. Anyone game?
Jeffery
I’m game, Jeffrey. (Lost 15 pounds so far…only 100 more to go. sigh)
“Better people…better food…and better beer!”
-Neil Peart, Rush
Falcon, that is great. 15 lbs is a good start. My wife has lost 13 and has a number more to go (her choice not mine) and I have lost 37 and have a lot more to go (my choice not hers).
Would you prefer e-mail (privacy and other reasons) or a thread on the board?
Any one else want to join the group?
Jeffery
Either way is fine with me, Jeffrey…this board is “anonymous” enough for me. < grin >
Okay, I will start a new thread.
Jeffery
I’m fat. No, according to charts, I’m “dangerously obese”. I’m 5’3", have a “medium” bone structure, and weigh 170#.
“Dangerously obese” is scary-sounding, even though I wear a size 16, which is pretty average as far as plus-sizes go.
I don’t overeat, I don’t eat a lot of crap. I just happen to be an unfortunate sufferer of a “fat gene”. That, and I never exercise.
After keeping house, chasing after a toddler, taking care of this, that, the other thing, and STUFF, who has the energy to exercise? Not me. I wish I did, though. I have a collection of various exercise tapes, the whole TaeBo collection, a small weight set and Total Gym… my intentions are good, at least.
One thing that will always be a factor with me is my love of starch. Potatoes, bread, rice and pasta are among my favorite foods and I’m loathe to part with them. I despise the thought of even “cutting down”.
For me to truly become fit (I could care less about being “thin”) I would have to make a nearly total lifestyle change. Quit smoking, cut out Coke (I generally drink nothing but), exercise for an hour a day, and reduce the amount of starch I consume. None of which sounds appealing.
I say, “Oh, I’ll get started on that when…” because I’m really good at procrastinating. However, because I’m really good at procrastinating, the thing that I’d like to get done before I start my weight loss program never gets done.
“ChrisCTP-…the sweetheart of the SDMB…” --Diane
Chris’ Homepage: Domestic Bliss
First of all, I would definately join the “weight accountability” group. Great idea!
ChrisCTP: I also have an incredible starch addiction. That is the one thing I crave the most–even more than sweets. Quitting smoking (which I’m doing now) would be a walk in the park compared to kicking starches.
I was one of the desperate fools that tried Phen-Fen. I did it for three month, lost about 15 pounds and as soon as I went off it, I couldn’t get enough to eat! It was amazing. And all of the women I knew that took it said the same thing. I would liken it to being a human garbage disposal, actually. So I put the weight back on.
I know that I need to exercise, but it seems like such a daunting task and I get discouraged, so most of the time I don’t bother trying. However, it needs to be done. Ten years ago, it was for vanity–today it’s for my health’s sake and that is much more important to me now.
There are several “enemies” of health in our general eating styles.
I am a sugar-aholic. I love sugar. I love cakes, cookies, ice crearm, chocolate. I have even been known to eat sugar straight. Yes, I have done that on numerous occasions, if there is nothing sweet in the house. We americans eat an amazing amount of sugar each day. One can of coke has more sugar than you should eat for the entire day. What is the problem with sugar? Sugar after all provides energy. But if you are getting more sugar than your body needs (and carbohydrates are sugars) then your body does not burn any fat but burns only the sugar so the fat gets stored (bad thing). And cabohydrates can get converted into stored fat as I understand thought I am not clear how. Regular sugar gives a quick energy boost but then drops and as our blood sugar drops we feel tired and weak.
I am also a bread-aholic. I have to eat bread with everything. I love crackers, biscuits, yeast rolls, you name it. You need a certain amount of carbs each day, but too much and no fat burn only carb burn. At least carbs give a more even burn than straight sugar, but still not long lasting. Again anything not burned can be stored as fat again not a good thing.
I am extremely lazy. I love to sleep late, I hate to exercise, I love to watch TV, I procrastinate, I hate to be baggered. Little exercise combined with my eating habits means lots of weight gained.
I love fatty foods. I love a good cheese burger. I love pizza. I love ice cream. I love those oatmeal creme pies. These things have a tremendous amount of fat. With a sedentary lifestyle they are stored.
The part I like about my diet, which seems hard, but trust me is doable, if you want to and have the support, is I do not go without to the point of being hungry. I cannot eat sweets, but I have mostly gotten over that. I cannot eat as much bread, but I can eat bread. I cannot eat as fatty foods, but I can have the foods I like. I have to exercise, but it is not so bad especially when you are having success at it.
When I first began this program we had to choose a daily caloric intake. I was unsure what level to choose. There was a calculation in our book for calculating the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). That is the rate at which your body burns calories at rest. It tells you how many calories a day you need to maintain your current weight. I calculated mine and came up with I needed over 4,000 a day to maintain my weight. No wonder I had gained so much weight.
I settled on the 2,400 cal a day plan. I reduced the amount of food I ate and the quality of food I ate and was occasionally hungry but not as bad as I would have thought. The first week of this eating plan and exercising (walking 50+ minutes on the treadmill M-F, I lost 10 lbs. So the next week I cut it to the 2,000 plan (that was closer to my reality from the week before).
Each week for the past seven weeks I have lost weight, from 2 - 6 lbs usually.
Weightloss requires a few things.
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Eat a balanced diet with the proper amount of protein, carbs, and fat (yes even fat is necessary)
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Eat less calories than you will burn for the day. Find a calc for the BMR and that will give you the calories you will burn at rest for the day and then any exercise above that will be more lbs lost.
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Exercise. Ain’t nothing like getting the body moving to burn calories.
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Lean muscle mass. Muscle makes you body burn more calories and fat than fat does, so include some weight training. Toning if you do not want that buff look.
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Aerobic exercise. If you are doing anarobic (sp) exercise, you are burning sugars and not fats. Get your heart rate up to your training zone and keep it there. You need at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity to really get into fat burning mode.
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Drink plenty of water. You need at least 64 ozs a day. Add an additional 8 ozs for every 25lbs over your goal weight. Water helps your kidneys do their job so that your liver can do its job which is burning fat.
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Eat breakfast and all your meals. Sounds strange, but skipping meals puts your body into starvation mode and your metabolism drops and you will burn less calories.
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Keep it up. Sure sometimes you may fail, but in the end you will succeed if you continue to do it.
Jeffery
I go by volume not by weight. I looked at a statistics book about what the average american man weighs & how tall he is. Which, kinda weird, was my exact statistics too.
Just recently I noticed that it’s okay to have a little fat with the food as the fat can fill one up faster than not having it but eating till full.