I’ve been doing calorie counting for years, and obviously I’m not very good at it.
So I’m trying a new regimen: Eat only three meals a day with no snacks, and have breakfast and lunch be small, then eat a reasonably sized dinner. Also going to stop weighing myself and just judge results by whether my pants fit. I’ve stuck to it pretty well for a couple weeks now.
Probably because Medline is a medical product, usually sold by medical supply houses where insurance is paying for a ‘wheelchair cushion’ to prevent pressure sores which can cost tens of thousands in hospital bills or, not rarely, death from sepsis.
Might still be in stock near you at less than list price in a medical supply house. Or through FB marketplace used. Some towns have a nonprofit that reuses/recycles all sorts of medical equipment, if there is one near you, they are likely to have wheelchair cushion to upcycle to you. Near me the med equipment recycling is sponsored by Habitat for Humanity’s Restore folks. Your local Area Agency On Aging might have an equipment recycling depot too.
Sew a fun spiffy slipcover/pillowcase for it and Bob’sYourUncle!
That makes some sense, actually.
I wound up ordering something that looks like a Purple brand cushion, for about a third the price. If I like that, yay, and if not, I haven’t wasted a small fortune, and can try another option.
Good for you!!
When my daughter had a rude awakening at her doctor’s office (hint: at 5’6", she weighed a titch more than I do now at 5’11"), my advice to her was not so much “track everything in and out and watching like a hawk”, as “track what you can for a bit, just to give yourself visibility on what you are really eating!”. It’s just too hard to do that in any detail for long - as my husband, who logs everything DILIGENTLY, has found (he gained about 2/3 of his lost weight back).
She reports that she has indeed lost a bit of weight.
2 days now I got to over 9000 steps via treadmill. I look forward to better weather.
Maybe tomorrow’s weigh in will be back to 30 pounds down.
Everyone has to figure out what works for them. For me the daily weighing helps, a lot of people report that counter-productive. Many find calorie counting huge, not for me.
The constants are exercise and eating less, however you get there.
I am no doctor or anything - so you can conveniently put my post into the “non-solicited advice from a layman who doesn´t know my situation” … but it is so minimally invasive (and might [<=weaselword!] help), so I throw it out, anyway:
in the morning, before getting out of bed, lay flat on your back (chances are: you already are) and bike-pedal with your legs in the air for 1-2 min. (not high-speed, but with your legs as your highest bodypart) - do this for a week and see if the lightheadedness improves.
best wishes!!!
Couldn’t hurt!
A friend and I started a low-intensity water fitness class last night - or tried; last night’s session was cancelled, so we just puttered around in the water. It was a surprising amount of work for the legs, walking though the water, due to the resistance - but the weightless aspect was fantastic. I’m looking forward to continuing that.
Preach it. I lost a bunch of weight about 20 years ago through a medical program, and they had a maintenance program that I participated in for several years. The thing about logging food is that it worked as long as I did it, but it didn’t teach me or my body anything, and as soon as I stopped doing it, I started to gain. I got so sick of logging food I just rebelled and refused to do it any more. I’m going down a different path now.
I won’t bother with logging food, but it does work for some people. I’m just not one of them.
I’ve stalled for the last few weeks.
I think it can be useful in moderation - not necessarily logging everything every day, but it really can help illustrate what you’re eating. It’s too easy to mis-estimate what you’re eating.
My doctor suggested doing it every few days or so. I admit, I have not bothered (but I should try it again, to try to keep track of my protein intake).
My weight hasn’t changed much in the past 3 weeks - I may be up 2-3 pounds since I travelled; at the beginning of the trip I could barely eat anything (as the Ozempic was giving me extra-special hell). I dropped the dosage of that, and have been able to actually eat for the past 10 days or so.
Does anyone have any experience or understanding of meditation and its effect on weight loss? Specifically, does or can meditation have an effect on unwelcome mental attitudes that can lead to overeating?
For some people it does. But nothing guaranteed. On the other hand, it probably can’t hurt.
somewhat sarcastically, somewhat a truism:
If you (general you) medidate instead of eating, then yes … chances are it might be working …
Thank you for letting us know that you don’t have any experience or understanding of meditation’s possible effects on unwelcome medical attitudes that can lead to overeating.
I tried meditation and it didn’t do anything for me. But as best as I can understand, from reading from others for whom it was indeed useful, apparently meditation helps you think and see things from a 3rd-party perspective. Which might be of some help in helping avoid eating. Instead of thinking, “I really want that third slice of chocolate cake,” it would (in theory) help you visualize it more as someone else, “Kevin really wants that third slice of chocolate cake,” and then you are better able to dissuade yourself from over-eating in the same way that, as a neutral bystander, you might be able to view Kevin’s overeating more negatively.
Interesting. I was thinking more along the lines of being able to maintain more emotional equanimity (calmness) in the face of temptation or mild hunger. I have experienced that before from time to time, but it does not seem to be something I can call up at will, and I guess I was hoping meditation could help with that.
Seems like a decent idea, but try it out carefully. I have a fragile back and I am prone to throwing it out if I do anything too strenuous right after waking up in the morning.
But once I have been out of bed and moving around for 15 minutes or so, things are fine.
Weighed in at 230.1lbs. Maybe this week I can finally get below 230.
I need to up my game a little. I’m thinking some small hand weights for when I am walking.
I started eating healthier and exercising 5 weeks ago today. I am down 19 pounds so far (started at 305.) A big motivation to me was having to buy clothes at DXL, because I couldn’t find anything that fit at a normal department store. My eating was atrocious. I have cut out 90% plus of all processed food, all fast food and all take out. I’m walking everyday and trying to keep my calorie intake under 1,800 per day. Overall I feel great and am way less grouchy. I have a bad track record of doing well for about 6 weeks and then reverting to my terrible habits. Hopefully knowing my history will help me through the next 3 weeks.
My meditation teacher recommended spending 1-2 minutes writing down your thoughts before eating anything, as a mindfulness exercise. When I used to meditate every day, then that additional moment of mindfulness was often enough to make me aware of unhelpful thoughts that were driving some of my eating. The catch is, you need a method for dealing with these unwelcome thoughts once you are aware of them. Eating is very effective, because it is engaging, pleasurable and accessible, so you need a strong alternative.