The SDMB Weight Loss Club - Part Deux

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
181

Long time SDMB member, first time thread poster.

I’ve been playing basketball almost every evening over the past 5 days (just starting). The shot is starting to fall again, and the pickup games are keeping me moving a lot more than I used to. Of course, in that small time, I haven’t seen any change. Now I need to throw in weight lifting.

Everyone remember, especially the guys, that the point isn’t to lose weight, it’s to have a well-proportioned body. When I was teaching high school, I’d see 16 year-old girls come in with their size 3 skirts, and sit down with their lumpy thighs. They had starved themselves into fitting into the clothes they wanted, but their body fat percentage wasn’t that hot. So, judge yourself by what you fit into, combined with how much better you look, combined with a consistent body fat test. I know most of them can be pretty inaccurate, but if you use the same test administered by the same people, you should be able to tell your progress.

Now I have a question: Has anyone tried those carb blockers? Is this all just a scam? I’m off to google for some independent research.

182

I haven’t tried them, and don’t know anyone who has, but the ads certainly trip my scan-radar. They seemt to fall into the “too good to be true” category. If, however, you find out otherwise, I’m sure we’d all be happy to know it!

183

Hello again!

Wow…thank you all for the welcome and the information!

These past two days I’ve been getting in the “nutrition/diet” mindset, which consisted of pretty much quietly freaking out as I went over all the labels of stuff in our cupboards.

I finally 'fessed up to mu husband about my appalling eating habits, and why I was doing it.

He went with me to the grocery store, and we shopped smart.

Now our refrigerator looks like it belongs to someone else, brimming with veggies and fruits and extremely lean chicken.

We went for a half-hour walk after supper, and are going to continue the tradition every night. We only have one car, so I walk to and from work.

Let me tell you: hills -suck-. Big time.

Especially when I am bound and deteremined not to look like it is anything of an effort to get up that #@@!@!# incline.

So. I ate breakfast this morning. Took baby carrots to work and snacked at ten o clock (and found I had to share them with the dogs I groom…note to self: bring more carrots), had a small salad for lunch (no meat—I think I will save cooked chicken for a treat for supper’s salad) and will probably try to eat part of an apple around four. I’ll have to get that food scale this weekend. That’s a great idea, and I thank you kindly for your information! That’s going to be a great help.

I’m afraid I sneered at the lite bread and anything other than 2% milk…;( This changing routine thing is going to be harder than I thought. The good thing is that I will only have bread maybe a couple times a week? Or is that bad in the long run?

As far as excersizes go…I came across an old videotape of these killer things called “Callanetics”. Has anyone tried these? Let me rephrase that: has anyone tried these, stuck with them and managed to somehow -live- to tell the tale? Dear god, I tried to keep the pace with the beginner part and thought I would expire right there on the spot. The only thing keeping me going is the fact that the place on the floor where I chose to exercise along with the tape squeaks like anything. As I hate our downstairs neighbors (they of the “this apartment goes to eleven” fame) with a purple passion, I think I shall stick with them for the sheer enjoyment of petty revenge, and take anything of a muscle-developing result as a sheer fringe benefit.

If I survive them, that is.

184

Good start, Belle!

I don’t like drinking milk either, and especially not skim – normally when I drink milk at all, it’s 2% or whole, ice-cold. But I found that even skim is palatable if you put a little chocolate syrup in it. Yeah it’s a trade-off, but I’ll take a little sugar if it’ll get me my calcium.

Any improvement in your diet is A Good Thing, and once those become habits you can add new ones. I haven’t had ANY soda in four days, have been guzzling water like crazy, and am drinking 16 oz of skim (chocolate) milk before bedtime every night (previous daily milk consumption = 0). I am rediscovering my taste for salad, and delighting in the fact that garbanzo beans (which I love on salads) are a “freebie” protein portion for this semi-vegetarian.

I am also getting to where, instead of heading to the computer first thing in the morning, I am raring to put on them walking shoes and hit the pavement for the day’s aerobic walking. THEN I can sit at the computer guilt-free. :smiley:

185

Well, just a check-in here.

As of Sunday, I was down 16lbs (in three weeks). Can’t find my original measurements sheet, so I’m not sure how I’m doing there. But when hubby and I went to Old Navy, I tried on a bikini, and the Large was TOO BIG!! :smiley: Well, other than the cups, that is. Not to say that my pasty pale white self looked good in it, but THE LARGE WAS TOO BIG!!!

God Bless You, Dr. Atkins!

186

Oscar Mayer makes these little packs of real bacon pieces. (Get the pieces, not the bits - the pieces are moister (?)) I take 'em to work or to the movies and munch on 'em, and they really help when I have the “hongries”. No carbs.

I also found another Swanson’s product: Vegetable Broth in a quick-open can: I just shake it up , pop it open and drink it down. It’s like veggie soup without the veggies, and it has 3 carbs per can. This may be an acquired taste for y’all, just like the chicken and beef broth (0 carbs) was for me. :smiley:

Quasi

187

The woosh fairy FINALLY visited me and I’m down counts 5 pounds from May 5th. FINALLY.

Maybe it took my body awhile to adjust to all the new muscle? I dunno.

I’ll take it, tho :smiley:

I’ve already done my 3 workouts for the week but I’m throwing in an extra one tomorrow just for S&G.

188

Snoopy Fan, I lose weight like that, too. For two or three weeks, the scale won’t move at all, then, one day, I’ll be down, like 4 pounds all at once. Once you know that’s how your body works, it stops being so annoying.

Because this is the way my body works, I don’t pay nearly so much attention to week-to-week weight as month-to-month.

189

**SnoopyFan[\b], very cool. You may have been adding muscle wtihout losing much fat, and then lost fat after that. The muscle is more dense, so it may have been harder to notice. But as I understand it, muscle gain is a great way to aid fat loss, especially if you’re a guy and can pack on some serious muscle. Either way, it’s a pretty good help.

As for the carb blockers, I’m stuck without my DSL, and bouncing all over the net is a real pain. I think my real research will have to wait until I get back home.

190

OK, I know I said I was only going to weigh myself once a week, but after reading all these success stories, I at least wanted to know if I was getting started. All this exercise and diet change has to have SOME effect, right?

So I stripped down and got on the scale, 4-1/2 days after starting on The New Me. Lo and behold, I’m down 5 POUNDS!!! I’m at 210!! I weighed myself 5 times to be sure. A solid 210 every time!! Mind you, this was a night weighing, and it’s er, party week, so I expect I’m carrying some extra water anyway. But 5 POUNDS!!!

I can’t wait until Sunday morning. (NB: Saturday is my birthday – I’m having a few people over, and while I did order a party sub and a cake, I don’t plan to go crazy with the food. But dammit, I am going to have a slice of birthday cake on my own damn birthday! And then right back on the wagon.)

191

Yeah, but after a little time walking on hills, your stamina will be great. And hills burn more calories than walking on the flats.

I haven’t lost much the last few weeks, but keep getting compliments so I’m guessing I’m trading flab for muscle. I’m now comfortably in size 14 pants and a large top. Still hoping to lose a few more pounds before seeing MY MOTHER in 10 days.

Zev, mazel tov!

192

Joel says he thinks our scale is innaccurate. So I guess I won’t know for sure what I weigh until I see the dietician on the 15th. But I’m going to weigh myself in the morning.

lorinada, I don’t actually measure my broccoli, I just eat a big old pile of it. It’s good for you, so I don’t sweat it :slight_smile:

193

Well, I did my final weigh-in for the month yesterday, and I’ve lost 5 pounds this month, 1 pound shy of my goal. But, as mentioned earlier, I’ve lost 2 more inches off my waist, and 1 more off my upper thigh (well, off each of my thighs, presumably:)). As long as I’m losing inches, I’ll be happy.

194

Hey all, another girl trying to drop some pounds.

I’ve tried atkins (but cause I’m veggie I couldn’t stick with it), starving myself (but we all know how that works out) and jogging (couldn’t get up early enough) with little or only temporary success. I’m not that overweight just plump and doughy but I’d really like to tone up.

My two biggest problems:
Portion control: I’m a bottomless pit. I am. Even when I was thin i was. I can eat for ages without getting a full tummy. This is the worst though I’m trying to retrain my stomach to take less food and I just haven’t that much willpower.

Excersizing: I’m actually tackling this. A friend and i join Curves for Women and have been going 4-5 times a week. The reason i go is because I have someone encouraging me and sometimes nagging me, someone to talk to and giggle with and struggle through this together. I couldn’t do this without her and I would recommend anyone who wants to join a gym to get a permenant gym buddy!

Haven’t lost anything yet really (only been 2 weeks officially) but I have more energy and I feel so proud.

195

According to our scale, this morning I weigh 237, down 3 lbs. from last Saturday. I hope it’s true! ::crosses fingers even though she’s not superstitious ;)::

196

Yay Gr8Kat!

I’m at 166.5–broke the 40# barrier! I’ve exercised at least half an hour every day since January 20th, and it’s finally getting to the point where I feel restless if I don’t get to walk during the day. My driver’s license weight, which was an underestimate at the time, is 160. I am thinner than my passport photo from the mid-1990s.

197

Here ya go Ginger…

Before (Jun 9 2002)

After (May 30 2003)

Zev Steinhardt

198

Wow, zev! Your wife had better look out, some chicks are gonna start coming after you now! :wink:

199

Congratulations, zev! You’re an inspiration :slight_smile:

200

Cool pics, zev! I like the new beard too. :slight_smile: