I lost another 2lbs last week so that makes a total of 14lbs since I started with the slimming club. It’s the best diet I’ve tried, and the only one that’s made any real difference. I shall celebrate with a bit of celery, I think.
I’ve been watching Paul McKenna’s television series “I Can Make You Thin”. So far, there are four components to his approach:
-
Four golden rules (eat when you’re hungry, eat what you want, eat it consciously, stop when you’re full)
-
Emotional Freedom Training–the tapping technique. To handle emotions that can lead to overeating.
-
Association training to get warm fuzzies from something other than food.
-
Get in 6000 steps a day–which probably means an extra 15-minute walk.
As an only-moderately-overweight person (I could stand to lose about 30 pounds), I’m disappointed. I never stuff myself or eat emotionally to begin with, and I get real amounts of exercise. I’m overweight because too often I eat the wrong stuff and because even real amounts of exercise don’t make up for having a sedentary office job.
All of the spectacular weight loss stories he shares are–spectacular! The people were indulging in outrageous behaviors anyway (like eating five pounds of chocolate a day), and when they stop behaving outrageously–lo, they lose.
Blah. Anyone have anything to say to make me feel a little more impressed with Paul?
I’ve been watching that too, and have been similarly unimpressed. I was hoping for some real advice, but it’s mostly feel-good bull and much of it seems ridiculous to me. Picture your favorite food covered in worms and hair! Oh, thanks Paul, now don’t want it anymore! He’s like the Oprah of weight loss.
Real amounts of exercise have made a difference to me - but not a 15-minute walk, more like an hour and a half. (Today my ankle is inflamed, probably gout-related, and I am fuming, but at my best over the last six months I have done five miles a day, every day, for weeks on end.) My job is (was - presently redundant and job-searching) extremely sedentary, but the walking has made a difference.
I too rage quietly at reports of people who did things like routinely eat three Big Macs at a sitting and scarfing down snacks from dawn till bedtime, but for people like you and me the damage is done by persistently eating a little too much.
Now to those rules:
-
Unequivocally sound. Eat when you’re hungry, eat enough to stop being hungry. Don’t let portion size be dictated by a sense of entitlement, don’t eat in terms of insuring against being hungry in the near future (that’s Stone Age reflexes kicking in, but unnecessary when food is permanently available), don’t eat mechanically in a sense of finishing up what’s in front of you. I check my breakfast cereal portions every few days with a WW scale to make sure I’m keeping portion size in check. A bowl full would be far too much; an ounce and a half looks ridiculously small, but you get used to it.
-
There’s truth in that too. Food is to keep you from starving, not to medicate yourself with or break up a boring day. At the worst, I was going to the snack machine every morning and every afternoon because I hated my job. And how many of us have felt unhappy about being overweight, and after brooding about it for a while, thought “Fuck it. It’s not like one more bite to eat is going to make matters worse”? :smack:
-
Quite. In my case it’s been about setting weight-loss goals, achieving them, planning further ahead, enjoying the feel of putting clothes on that haven’t fitted me for years, and relegating the plus-size work trousers that were in danger of bursting six months ago to dog-walking and gardening wear with a belt to hold them up (not to protect the overstressed button from snapping). And about five different people exclaiming over me at band practice last night didn’t hurt any, either.
-
Yes, but more if you can. The one plus point about being over 280 pounds at the start was that I could burn a hundred calories a mile. That meant my lunchtime walk just about walked off my lunch. In all my life exercise has previously done very little for me (some aerobics ten years ago did help with muscle tone and definition). This time I’ve shaped my legs up, seen my bum disappear, and generally got rid of a lot of weight from, well, everywhere.
I’ve shifted five and a quarter stone UK style - 73.5 pounds - in six months, not on McKenna’s advice but on my own initiative, and still been able to eat the occasional roast dinner and go to McD’s with the kids. I want to lose another 30-40. “Eat less, exercise more” may not work for everyone, but it’s worth a try.
Down to 173 this morning! That’s especially exciting because I was so naughty over the weekend (we’re talking hard cider, IHOP, Red Lobster, and Buffalo Wild Wings). I did get quite a bit of exercise, though, which included dancing for a good two hours Friday night, walking at the zoo Saturday afternoon, and picking up and throwing a friend of mine into the bushes (he was asking for it). Twice. At 173 I’m only five pounds from being in the healthy BMI range.
Hi, my fat ass is joining your club.
I quit drinking (and smoking) about 6 months ago and lost about 20 pounds since then without even trying. It’s amazing how many calories are in beer. I had tried to begin an exercise routine a couple of times in the last last few months, but I really like to run on the treadmill and my foot kept giving me problems with soreness. I think I have healed up and am ready to begin running again.
I started off a few days ago at 211. I have been running 3 miles/ 30 mins. on the tread mill every day this week so far and have not had any foot injuries yet. If this keeps up I will be happy.
I have hit the weights once or twice recently, but I keep getting to the gym so late that they are starting to close by the time I want to get some lifting in. However, the reason I am getting to the gym so late recently is because I have been doing some yard work after I get home from work because of the nice weather we have been having recently. I hope to increase both my weight training and cardio routines in the near future.
I signed up for accounts at sparkpeople and fitday this week, and I will give them both a shot to see how it goes, but in the past, I have had great luck with a homemade spread sheet that I have developed. It has a form that pops up asking for input data such as the date and your weight on that date. It then calculates your weight over the last 5 days and your rate of change over the average of this week since the average of last week and then shows the rate of change in varying shades of green if you are losing and red if gaining. I use the averages because so many things can affect a persons weight from one day to the next it is not reliable. The spreadsheet also has a tab with some graphs on it that show weight change over time.
I have been counting calories for the first time ever, and it is really amazing how many calories are in some things. I eat granola that I purchase from the bulk bins at the health food store with kefir (which is analagous to yogurt) poured on top for breakfast every morning. About 3/4 a cup of granola and 1/2 cup of kefir. Before I look it up, I would have guessed that this was about 150 - 200 calories. But it is over 500. But I still think it is a good breakfast. It is healthy, easy to prepare and throw into a tupperware to take to work in the morning, and breakfast is a good time of day to eat extra calories if you have to - you have the rest of the day to burn them off.
Some good news is that I don’t like sweets and snackfoods. So no candy, no pototo chips, no twinkies, etc. I don’t drink any softdrinks and pretty much only drink water. I also rarely any takeout or fast food - like once a month or less and it is usually Thai or Indian food when I do get it. I have lost weight in the past and am very determined and stubborn when I want to be. I and DO want to loose weight, so I WILL and I won’t let anything stand in my way.
Some bad news is that I like to cook and refuse to use lowfat cheese or milk, margarine or anything that is an attempt to reduce calories in otherwise good food. So I guess my philosophy here is to use quality ingredients and make delicious food for dinner, and just limit the quantity that I eat to a reasonable amount.
Oh, and I just found out while typing this that I might be going to California at the end of May. More motivation.
Welcome! I recently started using a similar program online, at www.physicsdiet.com.
Wow! That looks awesome (and geeky) and I think it is what I will use from now on. Thanks.
I think that that’s a really good philosophy, but I’ll comment on the butter thing.
Yeah yeah, some people can really taste the difference between butter and margarine. I’m not one of them. Butter has saturated fats, and margarine has trans fats. Both are pretty unhealthy. I now use Olivio, so I’m getting something my body needs anyway. And I thing it tastes pretty good.
Of course, in ten years it will be discovered that it causes butt cancer.
Maybe I should have said, real amounts of exercise *only just * make up for having a sedentary office job. I do martial arts for two hours two nights a week, bellydance one evening a week, plus a couplethree 30-minute walks. It’s only just keeping me at par where I was when I was consulting from home, and constantly hopping up and down from my desk to do household chores.
Blah in general, and blah again.
Well the taste is only part of it. Margarine just works differently than butter. Ever tried to make a chicken pot pie crust with margarine and flour?
Good point. I usually keep some butter on hand for things like that, but it’s amazing how seldom I make things like that.
Welcome Stinky nice to have you. I’m with you, if I’m cooking I’m using real ingredients. I really dislike franken food, food that’s heavily processed in an attempt to look like a healthier version of something. I figure the rare occassions I’m cooking with butter, I’m using real butter. Actually I splurge and buy the imported Irish butter because I think it tastes better.
But mostly I cook with Olive Oil or Canola oil where fat is required.
I’m down to 167 this morning which is a new low for me. Not exactly sure how that happened as I had quite a substantial dinner last night.
But I’ve found out recently that if I have a biggish dinner a post dinner walk seems to be a very good thing. Not a power walk, just a somewhat brisk walk for a mile or so. Doesn’t seem like it would make a difference but it seems to.
April 23 a new Walking challenge starts at work. I’m looking to double my current daily step count (usually around 10-12K steps). That outta kick the weight loss up a notch. Maybe I’ll actually place this time.
Sure, and it’s not like I’m claiming exercise did it all - a really disciplined approach to eating has been necessary too. But it’s worked better than dieting alone, psychologically if nothing else, and building muscle tone as well.
Woohoo, I weighed in at 185 this week, which is a two pound loss.
I went on a walking tour downtown with two of my sisters on Sunday, so we spent a couple hours beforehand going through the galleries at the cultural center, then two hours on the tour itself. It was fun. I gotta see if I can do another one of those.
It’s nice to be here, thanks. I currently have a big roll of Amish butter in the fridge. I may have to seek out some of this Irish butter you speak of next time. Now let’s stop talking about butter, it’s making me hungry.
213, another pound and a half from last week, 30½ since the start of the year. I’ve been attracting a lot of comment this week - some at band practice, some at the Aspie club I take my sons to every other week, and some from people I see in the street. Another couple of weeks should see me to a 30-year low.
I’ve lost four pounds.
I am really loving Sparkpeople.
I guess I’m on the bandwagon again. I’m really looking to kick the last 5 pounds so I can scamper around in a bikini (my boy keeps bugging me to go on vacation with him and I want to wear something sexy), which I’m currently unwilling to do. While I’ve slimmed down considerably and met my basic goals, I still feel like I have a bit of a poochy tummy and I think I could do with some toning up.
I’m going to be trying out interval training for the next four weeks and really committing to getting more variety in my routine and making sure to attend my weights class.
I saw the nutritionist today (my last visit). She concentrated on teaching me about fats today, to lower my cholesterol. We set on a weight loss goal last month of 1 pound a week, so I should have lost 4 lbs this month–but I lost 10! I’m pretty psyched. Of course, that still means I’m 230 pounds, but that’s better than 240.
So far the program is easy–watching carbs, eating 6 meals a day to keep my blood sugar stable (I’m insulin resistant), lower calories (about 1600-1700 a day). I keep a food log on my PDA with a cool program I found that syncs to my computer. I’m not hungry, so it seems to be working. Lots of high fiber foods.
I expect the fat thing to be okay. I have to practice reading food labels, looking for the amount of saturated and trans fats, and watching out for partially hydrogenated oils on the ingredients lists. I already cook mostly with canola and olive oils so that’s good, although nothing beats the taste of butter (as noted upthread) sometimes.
All in all, I feel fabulous! 10 lbs gone and I’m exercising 6 days a week. I’m off to a good start.