Yeah, ignore the stuff about the twin and just look at the “Your BMR times Activity Factor” number. That’s just the first calculator I came across - that page seems to be talking about some nutty sounding theories about living longer through extereme calorie restriction or something. Sorry about that.
Apparently the way things are prepared can be quite significant. For instance, have your pasta al dente is better than overcooking it because it takes more calories to digest it and not so much of it converts to sugar.
I’ve lost a little over 100 lbs and Weight Watchers and lots of exercise is what did it for me.
I was at the point of finding a bariatric surgeon when I decided to give Weight Watchers and myself one last try. I did it. I think weight loss is very personal and individual. It has to be something you are willing to commit too because you are never truly “finished”.
For myself, Weight Watchers has become a healthy way of life. I never want to be as heavy or unhealthy as I was again.
Weight Watchers has two programs - flex which is the “count up points” method (somewhat akin to calorie counting) and core which basically says “Eat the majority of your foods from the following list”.
I hate bookkeeping so I went with core and it’s worked extremely well for me. I’ve always been fairly active but my weight had climbed up to over 210lbs (5’ 10", 36 years old when I started) and it took me about 6 months to get down to under 180lbs. I’ve stayed under that (I walk around at 170-175lbs) and feel great. My cholesterol (which was always high, runs in the family) went from “You need to keep an eye on this” to “Normal human range, good job” and I’ve lost a lot of fat (the belly is mostly gone, I’ve gone from a 36 relaxed fit jean to 32 regular fit and they are too big in the waist now).
Core basically stresses fruits and veggies, lean proteins, healthy fats, dairy, complex carbohydrates and fiber. If you are eating a halfway healthy diet already you probably won’t see it as a big change and I found it very simple to stick to. Instead of counting calories or the like, there’s a simple mental scale (0 to 5, or 1 to 6, I think they just fiddled with things a tad) which ranges from “I am starving” to “I am about to explode” and you just pay attention to how full you feel and keep yourself in the middle.
That’s the executive summary of core, the details aren’t much more complicated than that. No special foods, you don’t have to write anything down, etc. That plus plenty of exercise (which most people start by just walking more) is the “secret”.
If you want to check it out, WW has meetings all over the place. It’s less than $10 per week and I think that it’s well worth it.
Low Carbs worked for me, lost 40+ pounds over 2 years. But although you are never hungry, few can stay on it forever. I think the real secret is that damn few snack foods are high protien/low carb. I kept most of it off by just not eating garbage snack food, like chips.
Recently I lost 10# in 2 months with Alli, with only one “bathroom emergency”. All I do is not eat stupid and take the damn little pills. Easiest diet ever.
I do walk, but that’s about it for exercise, besides “jumping to conclusions” here. 
I’ve been counting calories, mostly. I don’t really pay much attention to the exact calorie counts anymore – by now I’ve got a good feel for the calorie content of most of my regular meals.
The one food item I’ve given up for good is soda, because there’s just too many calories in that little can, and I don’t like diet soda. It was difficult the first week or so, but now I don’t even miss them. I’ve been drinking lots of water instead, which is good for weight loss as I understand it (the water is filling, plus your body burns quite a few calories a day just processing the water).
I didn’t lose any weight the first ten days despite the reduced calories – I hear this is relatively common. I became frustrated and almost gave up. My advice is to hang in there if nothing happens at first. A week can feel like an eternity if you’re starving yourself, but give it just a little longer…
It becomes easier with time. After a few weeks your stomach gets used to less food and you don’t feel hunger pangs any more than you normally would. Also your stomach does seem to shrink a little – a few weeks ago I decided to let myself gorge for one day, and I wasn’t able to eat nearly as much as I could before the diet.
I suggest you give yourself treats every once in awhile. I couldn’t bear to give up chocolate, for instance, so I didn’t. I still have a candy bar maybe once a week. I also take “breaks” from my diet maybe once every ten days and take a day to eat whatever I want. These things may slow your weight loss down a tiny bit, but you need to reward yourself every so often. If the diet is too painful, you’re more likely to give up. I could probably cut a few hundred more calories out of my diet if I wanted to, but my quality of life would probably start to suffer. I’m happy with the pace I’m going.
I’ve lost 15 pounds in about 3 months. Not spectacular, but it’s progress.
I don’t count calories, I just have started eating more veggies and cut way back on junk food and regular soda. I’ve started drinking diet soda or tea instead. I have a scale but only weigh myself no more than once a week. Your weight fluctuates slightly from day to day, but I’m only interested in long term trends. Also I’ve been doing weight training and exercise bikes. It seems I’ve gained back a few pounds that I lost, but at least some of it is muscle. I’m currently up to 270 lbs. on leg press and around 100 lbs. on various upper body machines (except for biceps curl, I’m only managing 70 lbs. on a good day).
Portion control for me. I listen to my body and when I’m full, I stop eating. I’ve also stopped eating after 8pm at night, and I’m going to eat more salads for dinner.
For lunch at work, it’s generally a V-8, a Campbell’s Soup at Hand, crackers, a flavored water, a yogurt, and/or a fruit cup. The hot soup forces me to slow down after the morning’s craziness, since I can’t gulp it without scalding myself. I also have nuts (almonds, sunflower seeds, peanuts) and my *love 'em but can’t eat a lot of them without hurting myself *wasabi peas for a late afternoon nosh.
I’m also trying to get to the gym at least 3-4 times a week. I had a physical and my cholesterol is high, so my doctor recommended diet and exercise to get it down.
I’m mostly just restricting the amount I eat. I eat two meals a day, one a larger meal, and one a smaller meal. I’ve also been cutting in half the amounts I would normally eat on certain things. For instance I bought some pre-cooked burgers from the store, normally I would eat two in a sitting, but now I just eat one. My second meal is usually pretty meager but since I started my diet I’ve noticed my appetite has reduced considerably. I’m also continuing to go to the gym and lift so I don’t lose all my muscle. I’m actually starting to see some definition in the stomach region slowly but surely.
I read somewhere that a good key to eating is:
Eat breakfast like a king (in other words, a huge honking meal)
Eat lunch like a prince
Eat dinner like a pauper
I’ve also heard of eating small meals throughout the day, like grazing. I find I crave desserts in the evening, so I must stand firm and crush the impulse. It will go away.
Like a king? Huge honking? I don’t know. But I’ve heard repeatedly that it is the most important meal not to skip. The thing is, you burn the majority of calories not by exercising, but by just living your life. Watching TV burns calories. Thinking about shit burns calories. Breathing burns calories. This is most efficient when your metabolism gets a kick start, and eating does that. By eating breakfast, you get the most out of your entire waking day.
Isn’t that interesting? You can lose more weight by eating than by not eating.
I lost nearly 75 lbs three years ago. I lost the weight and I am keeping it off exactly the same way - a combination of whole foods (avoiding most processed foods, trying to eat more of a plant-based diet, 5+ servings of vegetables, lean protein, low fat dairy, etc) and calorie counting.
I completely changed the way I eat forever. No more fast food, very little white flour, no packaged baked goods, limit alcohol, but I feel great. Now that I am maintaining my weight loss, I do allow myself one night a week where I go to a nice restaurant and order what I want (still try to stay out of the bread basket and avoid cream-based sauces and fried foods). Basically, keeping the weight off is exactly like losing the weight except I allow myself more calories a day. The extra calories are the same kinds of healthy foods I normally eat (I don’t eat an extra 200 calories in chips, for example, I would pick something like almonds).
I went from 200+ lbs to around 127 lbs, a tight size 16 to a size 6 (I am 5’7"). I am only bummed that it took me 20 years to figure out I couldn’t diet for a short time and then eat “normally.” My “normal” way of eating made me heavy, I had to change normal. I really do feel GREAT - no more afternoon lethargy, tons of energy. It’s a lot more work - seemingly endless trips to the grocery store for fresh produce, packing lunches, I wish I had done this years ago.
Basically, I made some choices I can live with forever (I can live without fast food, not without the occasional glass of red wine) and I plan to do this forever. Losing weight has never been the tough part for me - keeping the weight off is the tough part. This time, I’m in this for the long haul. Permanent weight loss.
A few things are slowly working for me now. Most of them aren’t directly related to what I’m eating (though they affect that) but behavior changes.
- Cooking everything for the coming week on the weekends. This has been a successful strategy because:
a. I plan beforehand to make sure that we’re all getting the best nutritional punch per meal. So by the time I’m starving and don’t feel like putting the effort into make something good for me, healthful food is already available - it just needs to go into the microwave for a bit and it’s ready.
b. I’m a snacker. This means that when I cook two meals - one for my 17-month-old son before he goes to bed and one for me and husband after he’s down, I’ll snack until the meal I eat with my husband. This means three more hours of snacking than I would have had I eaten at 6:30 with my son.
c. Dinner is a good mental closer for me. Even if I don’t have an opportunity to snack before dinner, mentally dinner has always meant the kitchen is closed afterward. So I don’t have a problem not snacking after because I never got into that habit to begin with.
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I make sure to eat at least two servings of veggies per meal - the main dish is usually packed with veggies, then there’s generally a side of steamed, baked or raw veggies plus some sort of starch. They’re a fantastic filler.
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It’s now a rule that we all sit down at the same time and eat together. It makes us pay attention to our food, gives us an opportunity to hang out, allows us to set a good example for our child and, since all the cooking and most kitchen chores are done, gives me back several hours in the evening I would have spent cooking two meals and cleaning before and after two meals.
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I clean more elsewhere. The kitchen is more or less taken care of because of cooking on the weekends, but in addition to working out, I spend some time every evening cleaning, which means that my hands are too busy to snack and I’m forced to move about. I also get a nicer-looking house in the bargain, so it’s win-win.
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My son, husband and I spend more time playing outside and gardening. Plus, my son just started running and absolutely loves to practice, which means he’s constantly running. So I have to move a lot more to keep up with him.
Excellent post, Glory.
It underscores the whole notion that diets are evil. What do I mean by a diet? It’s where you suffer for a period, and lose weight. Then you stop suffering and the weight comes back on and brings its friends.
Think the breakfast scene in Pleasantville, where mom piles Buffy’s plate with pancakes, waffles, bacon, ham, eggs, etc. Now, I wouldn’t recommend that, but a nice cereal, toast, and a glass of OJ can probably get you going.
Weight Watchers worked for me four years ago when I lost 50 lbs, and it’s working for me now when I have 70 lbs total to lose (I’ve lost almost 30 now). I do the Points program, but I think the thing to note is that I do HEALTHY points. I can’t survive on the FF/low-fat crappy ‘diet’ foods that so many of my friends embrace when they’ve tried WW (and then they subsequently fail many times, and wonder why).
I try to stick to lean meats, veggies, etc - I eat whole grains (I’m not about to cut out carbs, but I like whole grains, so we eat all whole grain save the occasional crappy hamburger bun) - but I also bulk things up with veggies (we eat organic whole wheat mac and cheese in our house, but my portion is bulked up with tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms). I’ve started buying more organic, which is helping keep things like high-fructose corn syrup out of our diets. We splurge on food a little more when grocery shopping - I tend to buy more generic items of things that are available so that we can splurge on organic for the things that are really important (like milk, veggies, etc.). I NEED the calorie counting, though, which is why CORE didn’t work for me - I need to count things out and be specific about what and how much I can have.
If I want something that’s not so good for me, I plan for it. We’re already planning on California Pizza Kitchen for Saturday night (frozen pizza - we cook easy on Saturdays, or we grill), so I’ve got to plan my week knowing that I’ll need to stay a little lighter.
Exercise is where I need to improve, but we’re looking into joining the Y. My biggest problem right now is trying to find the time to go since I work full-time and have an active one-year-old, but now I’m thinking I may have my husband take over drop-off duties three times a week for daycare in the mornings and go M-W-F. I just wouldn’t be able to fit it in during my lunch hour, unfortunately.
And yeah, this is a lifestyle change. I’ve realized that. I let myself go a little crazy during my pregnancy, and this is the result - that won’t happen again because I’m going to be in this mindset for the rest of my life.
Good work. Yes, soda has a lot of empty calories. Note that after 2-3 weeks of drinking npthing but diet, sugared sodas taste wierd and diet tastes normal. Not that I want to convince you to drink diet rather than water.
I used to drink Sprite, but when I got pregnant with Ivyboy I lost my taste for it. Now I’d rather drink iced tea. I find the carbonation in soda actually unpleasant now.
If you get bored with water and you don’t have a sensitivity to artificial sweeteners, there are a lot of good flavored waters on the market now. Target even carries its own brand under Archer Farms, and instead of the usual cherry or lemon flavors they have such interesting combinations as elderflower/pear and ginger/peach. Zero calories and it’s a good way to liven up your water intake.
tdn: Do you do this at every meal, including breakfast? Do you snack in between, and if so, how do you portion proteins, carbs, and fruit and veg? This is similar to what my nutritionist told me (never eat carbs without protein, she said) but your methodology is simpler. Since I hate counting calories and grams of carbs, proteins, etc. I like simple.
Thanks, all. One more question -
What are people using to track their daily activity and food consumption? I am wondering if there is something that not only tracks the basic energy balance (food vs. exercise) but also adjusts the metabolic baseline for exercise. Like for example, if I input a lot of exercise, then it automatically multiplies my base metabolic rate by 1.3 (for example)