SDMB Weight Loss Club: Spring 2005 Edition

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
61

I think that I should probably join up. I went from 150 up to 175 between my freshman and sophomore year of high school (I wasn’t growing taller), and have stayed at around 165-175 for the subsequent 4 years. I’m a 5’5" female. I must be losing muscle and gaining fat during my fluctuations though, because jeans from a couple years ago don’t fit anymore.

Living in the dorms makes things a little more difficult, but I’m sick of making excuses. I’m going to be moving out next year, and will have more of a free reign. I’m hoping that come August, I’ll be in more of a mantainance mode than weight loss mode.

175/175/150

I love accountability :)!

62

This is just my opinion - but the only way to lose weight and keep it off forever is to make sustainable changes you can stick to. Unless you plan on drinking breakfast/lunch for the rest of your life, shake dieting seems doomed to failure.

Oprah + Optifast = disaster.

63

Glory, that’s exactly what I was wondering. I have a friend who swears it works because it helps to teach you portion control in the “once a day” time. However, as far as I know, he’s never actually been on the diet.

64

Interesting - not sure what it’s supposed to teach about portion control in normal eating. You don’t learn how to shop for healthy foods, prepare healthy foods or make healthy choices when you are eating out. It doesn’t teach to stop eating when you are satisfied and there is still food on your plate.

I have a pretty busy schedule too, it DOES take extra planning to eat better. I consider it an investment in my healthy future. I’ve never stuck to any “diet” for as long as I’ve been successful at this (nearly 9 months). I always quit, went back to my old eating habits and regained all the weight I had lost. I want to change permanently and stay slender and healthy permanently.

65

Well, my weight is up a bit, but I think it is just the last of the fallout from having had the stomach flu, weighing in light, then eating everything in sight after 7 days of not eating.

So right now my numbers are

215/194/149

I decided to try **Glory’s ** idea of not letting myself get hungry. I get 24 WW points a day, and I always work out, so each day I’m eating a 4-point mini-meal at 7:00, 10:00, 1:00, and 4:00, then eating an 8-10 point dinner. And it’s working! I feel like I’m eating all the time, and I’m not hungry.

I also printed out a bunch of easy 4-point meal combos, so it’s easy for me to decide what to eat. One of my downfalls has been getting hungry, then grabbing the quickest thing, which was usually not conducive to staying in points.

This also made me realize that a big part of my problem is putting off eating. Since I’m scheduling my meals, I’ve realized that I tend to say “Oh, I just have to do this, then I’ll eat,” over and over, till I’m starving. Now I’m letting housework and errands wait while I eat.

Oh and I’m really happy with my training. I ran for 2 miles today, then walked .5, then ran .6, and finished it all in 44:50. That puts me well on the road to running an entire 5K, and finishing in 44:00 or less on April 2.

66

Aeryn, I’m at 24 points, too, and I find it’s hard to get all of those in every day! I’ve actually stocked up on full-fat mozzarella cheese at work to try and get it all in because otherwise, I end up with 5-8 points at the end of the day and no idea what to do with it.

Would you mind emailing me those 4 point meal ideas? The email’s in my profile. I’m trying to be more proactive and solve a problem BEFORE it gets bad. I’m doing WW Online now, so I don’t have a leader to guide me. LUckily, I’ve done this before and succeeded, so I can do it again. But every available tool helps.

E.

67

I know you’ve mentioned that book before, and I really should go find it at the library, but could you give me a quick overview of what the “Superfoods” are and how they impact your eating habits and your life?

68

Sure - I love this book.

The super foods are:

Beans • Blueberries • Broccoli • Oats •
Oranges • Pumpkin • Salmon • Soy • Spinach •
Tea – green or black • Tomatoes • Turkey • Walnuts • Yogurt

Most of the super foods have side kicks. For example, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries are beneficial in a lot of the same way blueberries are. Pumpkin is a hard food for me to fit in, but luckily it has “side kicks” like carrots, orange pepper, squash, sweet potatoes, etc. Oats pretty much includes the whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat, quinoa, yellow corn, etc.). The toughest ones for me are broccoli since I don’t reallylike it (although it has side kicks as well) and turkey (former vegetarian, trying to work it in a couple of days a week as a sandwich filler).

It definitely helps me by giving me a goal of what TO eat and not what not to eat. If I’m trying to fit in at least 10 super foods a day, there isn’t a whole lot of room for french fries.

The book made all the science very accessible. I look at the food as preventative medicine - tomatoes are for fighting cancer, walnuts (or almonds or other nuts) are for heart disease, oranges are a great source of soluble fiber, blueberries are chock full of antioxidants and might help prevent stuff like Alzheimer’s.

The hardest part is all the planning and shopping - keeping fresh produce on hand is a big commitment. I also had to learn to cook salmon - before I started Super Foods I had never made any kind of meat at home.

I was interested at first because of the idea of long term health benefits, I am committed now because of how great I feel and how much energy I have. Plus, the 51 lb weight loss hasn’t hurt my motivation either.

I added some before pics to the photo gallery:

http://gloriana.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album02

69

It’s a “target” number. Try to be in the ballpark, at least.

After your third week, you’re not supposed to drop more than two pounds per week. I lost over three pounds in my fourth week, and the site scolded me for not using all my points.

Trouble is, it seems that diet technology is getting too good. All this fat-free stuff (which, by definition, should taste gross) is really quite tasty. Hell, I can go to town on a pair of (fat-free) Ball Park Franks on (lite) white bread, and then polish off a bag of Honey Maid Thin Crisps, and it’s only five points!

It’s pretty much gotten to the point where I eat (nearly) whatever I feel like for lunch, or else I never use up all 22 points.

70

That’s really interesting, and makes me want to get the book that much more.
When I started on Atkins two years ago, and now again since I’m trying to kick-start another weight loss, I did eat and have been eating a lot of salmon and turkey, and tons of broccoli, spinach and tomatoes. Salmon and turkey were my main sources of protein, and I ate them every day. I’ve added more white fish this time around, but I still love salmon.
Berries (blueberries and raspberries) were my main fruit source, rather than juices.
Walnuts were my nut of choice, too, when I was doing Atkins really hard-core.
I drink lots of black tea, too (I don’t care for green tea). When I get that “I’m-bored-I think-I’ll-eat-something” feeling, I sort of trained myself to have a cup of tea instead.

I feel better than I have in years (the huge weight loss is an obvious factor), and have tons of energy. I sleep better at night, and don’t get those mid-day crashes anymore. Obviously, what I was eating had a lot to do with it.

Thanks! :slight_smile:

71

Quick update: I am now out of holes on my belt! It’s kind of neat to look at my belt and see that I started out on the third hole, went to the second, and now I’m using the first.

232/216/190

72

Hi, gang. It’s been a busy week, so I’ve just been lurking here, plus I wanted to wait until after tonight’s “checkup” with my personal trainer (heh, there’s a term I never thought I’d use) to report in.

Basically I’ve been doing pretty well. We went over my food diary, and he made only a few changes – no pastas/carbs after 7 pm, more protein, a few other minor things. No surprises – I knew those were things I have to work on. I’ve been starting to experiment with tofu and other soy stuff, and tomorrow I think I’ll pick up a chunk of cooked turkey or chicken from the deli for snacks and to toss in my daily salad. I’m also starting to think about how I can improve the quality of what I’m eating. I’ve been doing quite a lot of whole foods and little to no junk, but I want to learn to like whole-grain pastas, a wider variety of fruits, better snack choices, and so on. It’s kind of a pain in this small town because the grocery choices are limited, but I try to get to “the big city” once a week or so and stock up on the stuff I can’t get locally (and that won’t spoil by the time I get to eating it). Luckily the finances are better than they used to be and I can buy “convenience” things like bagged lettuce, chopped veggies, etc.

I might have to check out that “Super Foods” book – I heard about that once before, and I see that I already eat a lot of them or their “sidekicks.”

We also beefed up my weight routine – a double circuit of 15 reps and two more ab exercises. The way he pushed me tonight, I learned that I really do need to start pushing myself a little bit more. I think the last two weeks have been valuable for establishing a habit of going to the gym EVERY DAY, but now I can start paying closer attention to what I’m doing while I’m there.

I weighed myself on the locker room scale today. I hadn’t meant to, since today is the first day of cough party week cough and I expect that there’s a lot of water about, but I couldn’t resist. A slight loss since last week, but my reading tells me that my weight may actually hold steady for a bit as I gain muscle while losing fat. So I also took measurements last week: bust, waist, belly, hips. (Should probably also measure bicep and thigh circumference, no?) I won’t report those actual numbers here (maybe when they’re a little less embarrassing), but I will measure once a month and report any decreases.

It may be a while before I can report any clothing-fit changes – I mostly live in loose & stretchy stuff right now.

Anyway, here are my updated numbers:

216 / 214.2 / 150

73

I measured upper arm and thigh :slight_smile: My arms have gone from 13" to 11" and my thighs have gone from 25" to 21". I didn’t start measurements until Aug 31, nearly 6 weeks in to the process, I wish I had done measurements on day 1.

I only look at measurements every 2 months though, they move pretty slow. After I started with inches, someone said to measure in centimeters because you see more progress faster (makes sense to me).

Whole grain pasta tastes just the same as regular pasta to me, maybe it’s because I completely DOUSE it with pasta sauce? Ha :slight_smile: I don’t understand the bit about no carbs after 7 - I’m a busy working adult who lives with another busy working adult, most nights we don’t eat until 8:30 or 9. We have carbs for dinner (rice for stir fry, tortillas for quesadillas, pasta) nearly every night. Didn’t stop me from losing any weight at all.

For tofu - I would really recommend the Morning Star Veggie Crumbles (I hope you can find them where you live!). I love using them like ground beef - veggie tacos, pasta sauce. Also, visit any asian grocery stores you have and try to get the VERY firm tofu cutlets, they hold their shape beautifully in stir fries. We normally pan sear it to get it browned and crisp before adding it to stir fries.

Tofu is great - but it’s pretty much a tasteless sponge in its natural state. The real key is marinating. Like a sponge, it soaks up flavors really easily. Plain tofu is kind of revolting!

74

Well, we stay up even later than that, because Mr. S works second shift and gets home from work around 12:30 am. Then he usually wants a little something to eat, and I like to have a little something with him, usually whatever he makes for himself, which is often pasta or rice. I don’t mind limiting the carbs (although I refuse to do Atkins – no diss to people who do, it’s just not right for me) because I know that I can fill up on them easily and I need to get more of the other things in me. I have to watch the late-night snacking urge, after I’ve quit my work for the night and am waiting for hubby to get home. The PT says I’m ok with fruits and protein that late, but the pasta is a bit much.

I also forgot to add that I bought myself a little treat today – an MP3 player! One with an armband, because (1) I had knocked my CD player off the treadmill stand by catching the headphone cord with my swinging arm one too many times, making myself look like even more of a doof than usual, and (2) I don’t have a waist (yet). I used it today for the first time and I LOVE IT!!! I just ran the cord down inside my shirt and into my sleeve to the player and no more tangles. And I can wear it on the elliptical and during my strength circuit. :cool: I have to have music when I work out – it’s a big part of my motivation – and I need to have my specific motivating music instead of whatever’s on the house speakers. I loaded a few of my favorite workout CDs and am looking forward to cherry-picking the others for some custom playlists. YAY!!

75

After having been on a plateau for months, my weight started moving again. Downward, yay! Probably didn’t hurt that I increased my activity quite a bit, now that I know someone is watching. And looking at the calendar to how many weeks until “Summer” :eek:

Started last July at approx 275+ lbs. Last week at 243. This week, 238. Goal is 200, but I think I’d be darned happy if I can reach 210.

76

Thanks for the feedback, Hal! I’ve started adding in a cup of yogurt (the good fruit-on-the-bottom type, not that light stuff…yet) during the day, so I am getting closer to my target points now.

Well, the bad news is that I started out last week four pounds heavier than I thought I was; the good news is that two of those pounds are already history!

280/242/160

77

Well, I weighed today, and so far, I’ve lost 12 lbs! I am so proud of myself. I’ve been passing up all sorts of goodies; I don’t really need them anyway, but now I don’t even want them. The Girl Scouts will be poorer for my absence this year.

Robin
250/238/150

78

MsRobyn, do you have an official start date from when you started losing, as a reference for that 12 lbs.? Just curious.

I find myself in this new mindset too, and it’s kind of strange and thrilling at the same time. I find myself passing up goodies by saying to myself, “So what? I’ve tasted that and I don’t need to taste it again.” Or if it is something new, I let Mr. S order it and I have a bite. I used to look at trips to town as opportunities to go to the store and buy junk, or going out to eat as a chance to “splurge” on rich things I don’t/wouldn’t make at home. Now I just don’t want to because it’s counterproductive to what I’m working toward. And the low-level soreness from my workouts is a constant reminder of what I’m doing and not to sabotage myself for a momentary pleasure. I like to think of the times I’ve eaten something “bad” and then later thought, “Hm, that wasn’t as rewarding as I thought it would be.”

Oh, and my butt hurts. He really had me working my gluteals on Monday! This afternoon’s workout should be interesting.

(I was watching part of Forrest Gump today and musing on how nice it will be when I can just take off and RUN! I really used to enjoy running, 20 years and 70 pounds ago.)

79

Re: giving up goodies. Once that scale starts to move downward, it gets even easier. When you start actually seeing results, it makes it all worth it.
And with Akins or South Beach, once you break the sugar addiction, it’s really easy. You just don’t crave the stuff anymore, and find you don’t even want it at all.

80

I’m not doing Atkins since whole grains are an important part of my daily eating habits (can’t live without brown rice, whole wheat pasta, sweet potatoes, quinoa and whole wheat bread!), but I’ve given up processed sugar (for the most part) and I’m noticing the same thing. I stopped at Qdoba (burrito place) last week and ordered a naked, vegetarian with black beans and extra pico de gallo and while waiting to pay I contemplated the nice looking chocolate chip cookies by the register - I wasn’t interested AT ALL. It’s a very weird feeling.

Plus, I’ve managed to trick my poor tongue - it’s so desperate for anything sweet it thinks that baked sweet potato french fries and frozen blueberries are as sweet as candy.