Today was supposed to be a workout day, but due to blizzard conditions, I ain’t going out!
I started a modified Atkins-type thing at the beginning of March. Before I went out of town this last weekend, I had lost a couple of inches - enough so that my jeans were definitely looser in the waist. I don’t own a scale. This was a trip to a relative’s house, where she cooked. Basically, it was a matter of eating what was there - casseroles, heavy, starchy things and the like. I don’t feel like I gained anything (I watched the amount that I ate closely), but I felt better (healthier) before I went.
Now that I’m home again, I’ve kicked it back into gear. Basically, I’ve upped my proteins, and I watch the amount of carbs in things. At the same time, I’m really focusing on making sure I get those five servings of fruits/vegetables a day. Even if the fruits are higher in carbs, they’re better for me than what I was eating (lots of junk food, almost no veggies).
The only sugar I use is a spoonful in my morning coffee. I’ve been doing that since the beginning of the month and I was able to stay with that - there were a couple of days that I was dying for some sugar late in the day, but I got through it.
It’s getting there…along with the amount of walking I do around campus (easily 1-2 miles a day), and my normal walking speed (fast), it’s getting there.
Well, after several months of stagnation, I started to diet again on Monday. I haven’t ridden my bike for about 6 weeks, and plan to start riding it again as soon as I get a new seat for it. The last time I weighed, I was at 278 and this AM I am at 274, so I am already headed in the right direction. This is good, but I’m up about 14 or 15 lbs from where I had been, so I really need to work harder and stay focused.
Good luck everybody.
Okay, I made myself get on the treadmill yesterday, but I am a little disturbed about something…
I can’t run or jog (which I want to do… I love that runner’s high and the energy it gives me) because my knees just kill me afterwards. Any suggestions?
I’m in, too! I have been a couch potato for so long, and enjoy cooking and eating a lot. But recently my husband died, and now I don’t cook much. I don’t eat near as much either. I am more active, going places, shopping :). I’m deep cleaning my house which helps a lot for exercise. I also bought a lawnmower when before we paid a guy to mow the lawn. Yardwork is goood exercise! I’ve lost 12 pounds without really working at it. I am dating a man who loves to cook healthy, with lots of veggies and low starches.
I had bought new clothes, and they are getting baggy! Damn. In a good way of course! Even my new bras are too loose.
Oh, I was 196, and am now 184. My goal is 140–but I’ll settle for 160.
Good luck everyone!
I’m in. I am trying to lose the weight I gained after college and since I quit smoking (just over a year ago). I have lost weight before just by dieting, but always gain it back. This time I am focusing more on working out and gaining muscle. I don’t diet well, but I can control my eating a little bit and just make healthier choices if I think about it (pats self on back for not eating that donut this morning). I am trying to restrict my calories but allow myself to not worry about it on Sundays and special occasions, then I cut back again the next day and work out a few extra times. I am focusing on cutting out empty carbs especially, and eating more veggies.
I don’t own a scale, but I will weigh myself this weekend and see if I have lost anything (it’s been about 6 weeks now). I work out 3-5 days a week on my elliptical machine and also do Pilates for toning. I started at 20 minute workouts and am up to 40 minutes now, so I can see improvement there. I do feel better and my clothes are starting to fit better (I am 5’11" so I need to lose quite a bit to change sizes, so sometimes it’s hard to tell.)
I want to lose about 25 pounds, but I am going more by how I look and how things fit than by weight.
liirogue, I don’t know if you are working out at home or a gym but an elliptical machine is designed to give you a low-impact workout but with many of the same results as a treadmill. I bought a mid-quality one for a reasonable price and I love it.
ianzin, can you explain your 20 minute technique? Sometimes I don’t have time to work out for 40 minutes and would like other options and have it still be worthwhile.
Thought I’d check in, since I started a diet around the beginning of the year. I’m 5’10", started off at 194, and my goal is 172. Right now, my weight’s hovering around 187-188.
I’m not ‘going on a diet’ in the traditional sense, but I realized a few months ago that I was consuming between 400 and 600 calories a day in the sugars in the beverages I drank. I’ve taken that down to nearly zero: my can of Mountain Dew each afternoon has gone from regular to diet, my coffee and sweet tea are now sweetened with Splenda (it’s the stuff in the yellow packets), and I’ve got a pitcher of water in my office fridge.
Since 3500 calories roughly adds up to one pound, I should be losing a pound a week. I’m losing more slowly than that, but I’m still losing, and that’s fine. I’m in no hurry.
Also, I’m going to be trying to do more active outdoors stuff, now that warm weather is returning. I’ve started the MAD Outdoors Club thread, for Mid-Atlantic Dopers who are so inclined.
A tip: if you’re in the working world, and you’ve got room for it in your office/cubicle/whatever, get one of those dorm-size refrigerators. That way, you can keep a pitcher of cold water and healthy stuff to snack on right where you are, and not be tempted by goodies quite so much during the day. I keep stuff like cottage cheese and fruit in mine.
I don’t know if this is exactly the same as the BFL technique, but here’s what I do. If you’re going to use a machine, you need one where the speed is determined by how fast you go–treadmills won’t work.
It’s a 20-minute program, broken into eight intervals of two and a half minutes each. For the first two minutes of each interval, walk at a slow to moderate pace. For the last 30 seconds, run like you’re on fire. I use a cross-trainer, and I’m usually at 40-50 rpm on the walking part, and 100-120 rpm on the running part (for the first few of those, anyway–later ones tend to go a bit slower :)).
The weight loss aspect depends on your diet as well, but this’ll do actual miracles for your aerobic fitness. This is known in the fitness community as high intensity interval training (or HIIT), so you can search for that if you want more information.
Bodybuilders love this form of aerobic exercise because it’s better about preserving muscle than traditional types.
I’m in too. I’m about 250 right now (although you’d probably guess me about 30 pounds lighter) with a slightly less than decent-sized gut. Rather than go for any specific weight, I’m looking to lose a few inches around my waist, get a little cut, and build some muscle.
I do HIIT twice a week, lift twice a week, and recover twice a week. I also eat a pretty healthful diet, although I could stand to cut back on the calories a bit.
Velma, when I went to the gym, I tried the elliptical machine, but I (and consequently my legs) am really too short to use it comfortably. It was not a normal movement pattern for me (legs were too far apart for my height, etc.) and I found that it put quite a bit of tension on my knees. But I had fun trying 
Another WW devotee checking in. I’m now at 170, hoping to get down to 158. I’ve been with WW since July and have dropped 77 lbs. so far. Here’s hoping the last 12 go as easily as the first 77 went.
Zev Steinhardt
I joined WW online at the beginning of January. I haven’t lost much, for some reason or other. When I decided to lose weight (some time before I joined WW) I was at 160, I joined at 154 and I’m at ~145 now.
I love eating, so I’m having a bit of trouble with the points, although I’m mostly good. I’ve also been exercising more: my routine has varied but right now what I do is 20 min of cardio plus 30 min of weight training twice per week and an hour of yoga once per week. While “every day” sounds great, there’s just no way I can get myself to do THAT.
Oh! I forgot some stuff. I’m 5"3, and my goal is not solidified. My first goal (my 10%) 139 and my ultimate goal’ll be somewhere in the range of 120, but we’ll see how my body likes it once I approach.
As well, exercise can be hard for me because, not only have I been out of shape most of my life, I have exercise-induced asthma which makes running impossible. I can’t even run for the bus. So I do elliptical now, which I can handle, or treadmill, walking, on a high incline. I hope to get a lot of swimming in in the summer!
I really want to be in on this. I had knee surgery about 3 weeks ago, so I’ve done NOTHING in the way of exercise and it’s starting to show. On top of that, being on really heavy painkillers for that amount of time is starting to affect my mental health, and seeing the weight gain is making things worse. Good thing I’m going to start OTC meds tomorrow.
I would really like to lose 20 pounds, I guess my plan for now would have to be: reduce calories to about 1600 a day by eating less refined carbohydrates and sugars (I quit drinking regular soda about a year ago and dropped 15 pounds easily, now it’s sneaking back). Right now I’m limited in the way of exercise since I just started physical therapy yesterday. So, I’ll be spending 1-1/2 hours three times a week on my knee. Which is necessary for me to be able to recover, but is going to make finding time for any other exericise difficult. Right now, I’ll plan on just weight bearing exercises I can do in short bursts like push-ups, sit-ups, in addition to the physical therapy. After my PT is over (in 6 weeks), I hope I will be able to run again, or be able to do some form of aerobic exercise. I’m another one of those running/endorphin junkies, which contributed to my knee problems.
I apologize if this isn’t as motivated as I think I should feel, the Lortabs I’m on have been awful in the way of depression. I’ll check in in about a week when I hope to be feeling better.
Good luck to all; it seems like everyone is planning on making reasonable lifestyle choices, which is supposed to be the only way to take off and keep off the weight. I think it’s great having such a positive thing on this board.
I weighed 172.8 when I joined and as of today’s meeting, I weigh 151.2 (1 pound down this week, 21.6 pounds down total). FYI, the best I’ve ever done is around 146 since joining Weight Watchers.
As a reward for this week’s success, I treated myself to a new pair of cheap sunglasses at T.J. Maxx. They’re Liz Claiborne “fades” and are sweeeet!
I’ve decided to start from scratch with a new goal, as if I just joined WW. So, my current goal is to get down to 137.2, a 10% weight loss from my beginning weight of 152.2.
When I get to that point, I’ll only have six pounds to go. w00t!
I wanna join, too! I’ve recently grown back into my “fatter” clothes and would much prefer being back in my “pleasantly plump” clothes. Also, I just feel better at my lower weight–this may sound weird, but my allergies don’t seem to be as bad when I weigh less.
I go to the Y three to four times a week and do whatever they offer (step, cardio kickbox, elliptical machines, pilates), mostly because I just feel good when I do it. But I want to feel healthier and I realize I need to drop some pounds–but am lacking the moral support to help me get there. Maybe we can all find that here.
ultrafilter, I have heard of that method before, I think. (Is it also called “interval training?”) I sometimes kind of do that now, only with longer intervals (1 min. high, 5 low-med.) Is it really better than staying at a moderate pace for twice as long? Usually I warm up for 5 min, stay in a pace and resistance that keeps my heart range around 140 bpm for 25-30 min, then cool down for 5-10 min. I have just begun doing bursts of all-out to mix it up a little, but if it really is better I’ll start doing it more.
This is a good thread, it’s encouraging to see others losing weight using different methods. Good luck everyone!
I’m in, I started December at 271. Yesterday I weighed in at 241, I’ll be happy at 190. As for methods, I’ve just cut out most fastfood (what I used to each for lunch 5 days a week), stopped eating after 6pm, and walk 2-3 times a week.
Good luck All!
Velma, I just read an article on walking in Better Homes and Gardens. They gave three (I think) different programs. One of the programs recommended walking very briskly for five minutes, then slowing for 5 minutes, then briskly again, etc. for quicker weight loss. I guess mixing up the speed helps in some way. I’d be interested in knowing why this works, as well.
I do high intensity intervals too, on my exercise bike. It’s better than staying at a moderate pace for twice as long because this way, your body has to recover from high intensity exercise while still doing moderate intensity exercise. This is apparently a very efficient way of increasing cardiovascular fitness. I’ve been doing 4 mins medium and 1 min high, or 3.5 mins medium and 1.5 minutes high.
To be honest, I’ve been slacking off a little bit recently. I will sometimes skip a day’s exercise a couple of times a week. I’ve made quite good friends with my dumbells, though. I like the breathing aspect of lifting weights. It’s somewhat akin to meditation.
I’ve just about made my first target of 30% body fat, and I’m now aiming for 27% body fat, more fitness and a little more upper body muscle. I weigh about 148, I think. I now fit into my PVC jeans again, which is good news all round. Unfortunately, a nice pair of trousers that I bought last year are now eeeeenormous.
The big reason that interval training is good for quick weight loss is because a higher proportion of the calories it burns come from fat, and that means less are coming from muscle. The more muscle you lose, the more your metabolism drops, and the harder it is to keep losing weight. Additionally, it places a greater demand on your heart, which in turn increases your cardiovascular fitness, which has positive effects on the amount of fat you burn moment to moment.