Weight Loss and Diet Support Group

[Ðanisty]

Booko is like the goddess of healthy eating...lol.

I agree that it only takes a couple of months for the tastebuds to change. If you just stick with it, you'll be suprised. I know I was. I thought living without the sugar would kill me, but really I don't crave it like I used to.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I am only 21, and have never really known what it is like to not be overweight or mainly obese.

Take my word, it sucks, and it's hard on the body.

I honestly don't know what I'm doing, as I haven't done any weight lifting, but I found out today I somehow gained 2 pounds. Definitly nerve racking.

 

[standing_alone]

Booko is like the goddess of healthy eating...lol.

I agree that it only takes a couple of months for the tastebuds to change. If you just stick with it, you'll be suprised. I know I was. I thought living without the sugar would kill me, but really I don't crave it like I used to.

Yeah, since I've been giving up lots of foods the last few months, if I have a taste something that I've given up, it either tastes really super sweet or really bland. I tried drinking a soda last weekend and I couldn't even finish half of it, it was just too sweet and killer on my stomach.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

The problem today is being able to find prepared food that is not bad for you....
It always has too much salt ...sugar...Fat. The manufacturers have trained us to be addicted to these tastes.

Every one except Booko has concentrated on giving things up.
It is far better to substitute healthier foods.

Typically my main meal consists of Starch (potatoes Pasta) meat or fish (any but not much)...Vegetables and fruit. (equal in bulk to the rest of the meal)
It is easy to put together a meal with little salt.. no sugar.. and very little fat.

The only oil or fat in the house is olive oil. the only spreads are olive oil based.
O.K. why not spoil your self.. and I do with a little peanut butter and a little cheese...(strong tasting or blue cheeses are best as you need so little.

my breakfast is always ...Orange juice or grapefruit segments..Bran flakes with skimmed milk ( the only sort I have) and a large mug of tea. some times I put fruit in the bran flakes ( any thing I have)

Lunch Is always soup (home made vegetable or lentil based) or some times tinned soups Though these usually have too much salt, (Heinz in the UK is not too bad)
I have two slices of Granary bread with Olive based spread... or to spoil my self one may have peanut butter on it

I try to have nothing at all between these meals except tea.

I limit my self to one 100gm bar of chocolate a week.

O.K. what is my weight. I am 5ft 11.5 tall and have weighed 189lbs since I was 19 years old. Now at 72 I weigh 200 lbs ( we tend to thicken up with age) I can still get down to 190lbs easily enough but I am more comfortable as I am.

 

[Ðanisty]

There isn't really much that you can replace with when it comes to diabetes...lol. There really is no sugar that's better than another sugar. I can't replace sugar pop with fruit juice because that's just as bad. The fact of the matter, for me, is that I don't need to replace anything. I was eating it all in the first place. I just need to cut some of it out.

 

[kateyes]

I have been overweight in varying degreees most of my life (I had a span of about 8 years in my 20's when I lost 60 lbs and kept if off). My problem is primarily mental--I love to EAT. I eat to when I am happy, it makes me feel better when I am sad or depressed-food is dependable (hey its always there unlike friends and family). I don't drink alcohol, or soda-in fact I actually eat mostly healthy foods, lean meat, vegetables and fruit--I just eat way too much and I don't exercize. I was happy to see this post (because I am back to my all time high again-but it took almost 10 years to get here again). I tend to put on 10-15 pounds a year and always seem to feel there is plenty of time to work on taking it off.

This time I have bought a treadmill (no excuses not to exercise)--have gotten rid of my fattest clothes (and vowed to keep getting rid of them as they get too large). My objective is not really to diet but to eat in moderation (1500 cals a day). That lets me decide how and when to eat--so larger meals in for breakfast and lunch and then just a large salad (salad veggies don't have alot of cals-but do have bulk) to fill me up in the evening. I stopped coffee (because I need cream) and switched to green tea (healthier on so many levels). I will let you know how its going if yoo'all will do the same.


As an fyi--it helps to drink a large glass of water before you eat (even iced tea--or the Chrystal light-make a difference if you don't like water.) The key is to try and get 32oz of water based fluids a day. If taking it as tea, or with flavoring is what it takes--then do it.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I tried drinking a soda last weekend and I couldn't even finish half of it, it was just too sweet and killer on my stomach.

I can't drink Mountain Dew anymore. I use to drink it by the gallons, especially Live Wire, and now it's just too thick and syrupy. I'm guessing it's because of all the sugar.
I do know the diet Vault isn't too bad, and the regular Vault is also almost too thick to drink.

 

[Truth_Faith13]

Take my word, it sucks, and it's hard on the body.

I honestly don't know what I'm doing, as I haven't done any weight lifting, but I found out today I somehow gained 2 pounds. Definitly nerve racking.

You sure its not muscle youve gained! And being 5stone overwieght - I have a BMI of 34 I dont need to take your word, I know!!!! Anybody tried the cambridge diet? It might just be in the UK - not sure!!!

 

[Shadow Wolf]

You sure its not muscle youve gained!

I would like to think so, a little bit of it is likly, as I am strenghtining muscles I haven't used much in over a year, so some weight gain from muscle is expected, but still overall I should have went down.

I also think alcohol, especially beer, might be a problem. I'm not an alcoholic, but I find it so relaxing to sit outside under the stars on a warm night, and enjoying a cold beer, or three or four, after a hard days work out. And a beer frozen to a slushy consistency is so damned good on an extremely hot day. Who needs ice cream?

 

[Ðanisty]

Well, for me, great motivators are measuring and taking pictures. I put the pictures up on the refrigerator so I can see them everyday and be reminded of my progress. Taking measurements is good because sometimes you lose size and not pounds.

 

[michel]

Cheese is certainly my downfall. I love cheese. I have, however, made some changes to my diet and have started to see some results. I've cut out soda, sweets, fried foods, and red meat. I started that on April 1st and about 2 weeks later the scale read about 11 lbs lighter. I've just bought a stationary air bike, one with those handle bars that move back and forth as you peddle. I find this to be handy when I can't get out too easily with the baby. I can just ride the bike in front of the tv when I watch my soaps and Jamie takes a nap. I'm trying to do at least 20 minutes a day, at least every other day.

One thing I find annoying is the plateau thing. I lost steadily for 2 weeks and nothing the third week. Which is why the starting of the extra exercise. Apparently chasing Jamie everywhere and lugging him on my hip isn't quite enough .

I know; that plateau thing is most discouraging - I have been on one for a while......

But I weighed myself today (I haven't for a while), and I am 4 bls off two stones lighter than just after Christmas.

The thing with weight loss is to make it steady, to change your entire outlook to diet. The "quicky diets" are mostly useless, since they often work by dehydrating you - as soon as you get back to eating "normally", the weight piles on again (and worse than before).

 

[Draka]

Well, for me, great motivators are measuring and taking pictures. I put the pictures up on the refrigerator so I can see them everyday and be reminded of my progress. Taking measurements is good because sometimes you lose size and not pounds.

I wish that I could remember the formula for calculating body fat percentage that the Navy uses. I'd use that as well. When I was in boot camp I was the only person in my company to actually gain weight, but....I lost 10% body fat. I put on 9 pounds, but had actually lost a heck of a lot more fat and put on a lot of bulk muscle. My size, I don't believe changed that much. So while going by inches is helpful, going by body fat can be a good thing too. The main idea is to lose fat and get healthy, so you can be losing without actually losing for a while if you get what I mean. But I doubt many people here will be doing the heavy amount of physical training I was doing then .

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I wish that I could remember the formula for calculating body fat percentage that the Navy uses.

That does remind me, the BMI is terrible to go buy, as it does not take muscle mass into consideration. Assuming you are an average joe and do not build muscle, and have an average daily routine that will build very little to none, then it's good for a general idea. But a routine that is constantly building and stressing muscles, the BMI's so called "ideal weight" for your height will become harder and harder to achieve.

 

[Draka]

That does remind me, the BMI is terrible to go buy, as it does not take muscle mass into consideration. Assuming you are an average joe and do not build muscle, and have an average daily routine that will build very little to none, then it's good for a general idea. But a routine that is constantly building and stressing muscles, the BMI's so called "ideal weight" for your height will become harder and harder to achieve.

That's actually why I liked the Navy's use of their formula. Certain areas of the body were measured and taken into a formula with height and weight and they came up with your body fat percentage. I was heavy and big, yet my body fat was always low because I did a lot of weight training. I was bigger muscularly than probably 95% of the other women in my company and at least half of the men in my brother company. If they had just went by my weight alone I would have been considered too fat or obese and would have been discharged.

 

[MaddLlama]

I joined Weight Watchers this week. I've been trying to loose on my own, but I haven't been having much success. I think WW will be good for me because it will give me some much needed direction to make the lifestyle changes I need to make to loose the weight. I only have about 40-50 pounds to loose, but when you're 5'1" (and generally petite), an extra 40 lbs is really visible.

My biggest problem - I can't cook. I never really learned how to cook at home, and my meals don't seem to come out right even following a recipe (is there a cooking version of having a "black thumb"? lol). So, there's a lot of take-out in my life. And, cheese.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

My biggest problem - I can't cook. I never really learned how to cook at home, and my meals don't seem to come out right even following a recipe (is there a cooking version of having a "black thumb"? lol). So, there's a lot of take-out in my life. And, cheese.

Subway has alot of things to choose from, allthough they are abit expensive. One of my friends lost weight eating Taco Bell all the time, but he ended making frequent and prolonged bathroom trips. Arbys also has foods that are good while your on a diet, and they HAVE TO put any sandwich in a warp (which aren't that bad after you've had a couple of them), and there roast beef, ham, and roast chicken sandwiches are either served cold, oven roasted, or microwaved. For a treat, Hardee's burgers a charcoal grilled, rather than fried, so they have a much lower greese content. KFC has a few vegies on there menu. That's all I can think of at the moment.

 

[MaddLlama]

Subway has alot of things to choose from, allthough they are abit expensive. One of my friends lost weight eating Taco Bell all the time, but he ended making frequent and prolonged bathroom trips. Arbys also has foods that are good while your on a diet, and they HAVE TO put any sandwich in a warp (which aren't that bad after you've had a couple of them), and there roast beef, ham, and roast chicken sandwiches are either served cold, oven roasted, or microwaved. For a treat, Hardee's burgers a charcoal grilled, rather than fried, so they have a much lower greese content. KFC has a few vegies on there menu. That's all I can think of at the moment.

I do a lot of Subway and Taco Bell during class semesters either for lunch or dinner. Though, at home it seems to be a constant cycle of Chinese food and sushi Which, I suppose could be healthy, if I didn't eat egg rolls, and tempura all the time

I don't actually do burger places all that often. I'm sort of grossed out by eveything except the Wendy's spicy chicken.

 

[Todd]

I personally lost 15 pounds in the past 2 months. I mostly worked out and ate a bad as I always do (I didn't want to mess up my metabolism by starving myself). One thing that I've noticed over the years (I used to work out a lot about 10 years ago), is that I like to shock my body. No, I don't use electric probes or anything . What I mean is that my body plateaus also. So, I work out for two months or so, and then stop working out for a full weak. I give my body a full week to recover, and then when I start back up, it shocks my body into thinking I'm starting to work out for the first time again (from my experience, your body sees the biggest change in the shortest amount of time in the first week or two of working out). The one negative is that you get sore again for the first couple of days. I know this theory might be crazy and have no scientific backing (and most of my friends think I'm crazy), but that's what I've done, and it's worked out pretty well so far. I still have about 15 pounds to go, but if I gain muscle weight in the process, I might only need to loose 10 to 12 fat pounds (especially around the stomach). Remember gaining muscle isn't bad (it can help to burn fat faster).

 

[Inky]

I always gain weight around exams, because I stress eat, but then I lose it right after. I have a slow metabolism, but I jog regularly so that keeps everything balanced.

I learned recently there are a lot more calories in alcohol than you'd think. A shot of liquor is generally 100-200 calories, and that's without anything in it like mixers.

 

[Inky]

My biggest problem - I can't cook. I never really learned how to cook at home, and my meals don't seem to come out right even following a recipe (is there a cooking version of having a "black thumb"? lol). So, there's a lot of take-out in my life. And, cheese.

Canned soup can be very healthy, and you can make it in the microwave. Watch out though, read the label because some of them are terrible.