posted
Thanks, Icarus. I was asking beacuse according to this theory? observation? I would soon be nearing plateau... Which would be only so-so result for me. And I used the word "diet" because I couldn't find better, what I meant was actually "weight loss plan" or something like that.
I don't count every single calorie too but I believe that general awareness in that matter is the only way to lose weight... For example, yesterday inpired by Hatrack I tried root beer for the first time in my life, but remembered to sweat off those additional 170 kcal at the gym...
posted
Doesn't matter what you eat. Even if it IS tofu, if you eat too much of it, you WILL get fat. Take it from me, Im living proof.
Posts: 55 | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I dunno about that...if you were eating lettuce you'd probably rupture your stomach long before you consumed enough calories to gain weight.
And I seem to recall having heard once that some particular vegetable had "negative calories," in that it took more calories to eat it that the item contained. I wish I could remember what it was.
posted
Just a thread resurrection to say I'm still on the wagon. I stopped posting here for a while because it's kind of embarrasing what a long road this is, and how overweight I was. I've been at this for about six months and probably have about six more to go, so posting every three weeks or so was getting kind of tedious. But . . .
I've been good! I've lost about forty pounds so far. My shirt size in t-shirts has gone from XXL to XL, and in collar shirts has gone from XL to L. (Am I the only one who wears a different size in collar shirts and t-shirts? I find collar shirts to be much baggier.) I don't know what my pant size is because I haven't bought new pants, but I do know that the tight jeans I bought several months ago are quite baggy. I will have to by new slacks before my vacation ends, because the ones I have are too baggy to wear anymore. I am enjoying rediscovering a lot of clothes that were floating around at the bottom of my drawers because they had gotten just barely too tight.
I have not been sick once in almost a year, and I seem to have tons of energy.
::knocks on wood::
Still paddling the old knew, Joe
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Congrats! I've also been pulling out clothes that were in the bottom of the drawers and the back of the closets since they didn't fit. Now they do!
The thing that I've found discouraging is that several of my friends (and my mother) have gone on crash-type diets to get ready for summer and lots lots of weight really fast. I keep telling myself that the slow and steady diet and exercise changes I've made will be better in the long run, but it's still discouraging.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
For years I kept trying drastic things to lose weight quickly and falling off the wagon quickly as well. Then I finally made myself realize that if I had taken a do-able, slow and steady approach, even if it took me a year or a year and a half, I would have been skinny long ago.
posted
This seems like a better place to post my progress than that other thread. I started at 270 three weeks ago. I'm down to 254 now. That's 16 pounds in 3 weeks. 99 more to go!
IP: Logged |
::blushes:: I actually worked out for the sake of working out for the the first time in my life yesterday. I would love get back down to being below 105 instead of weighing 111. (Please, no telling me to leave it be. I get enough of that as is.) That tummy-fat around my belly-button is driving me nuts!
So yeah. I did 100 curl-ups and I jogged a mile (big accomplishment for someone with exercise enduced asthma).
quote: (I am eagerly waiting for the first person who doesn't know I'm dieting to notice. People who already know I'm dieting have commented that I look thinner, but when someone notices that you've lost weight all by themselves, that's a milestone! I'll be sure and post when that happens!)
I'm a paranoid cuss. I ignore compliments from people who know I'm trying to lose weight, because of course they're going to want to encourage me. The other day a coworker came to see the show who had not seen me since school ended in May. I don't recall if she knew I was losing weight, but she complimented me on my weight-loss. I took it with a grain of salt, though, because she was sitting next to Cor for most of the night, and Cor could have put her up to it. Same goes for Cor's parents, who visited this past week.
Today, though, I saw some folks I had not seen since I moved away from Miami. They too said I had lost a lot of weight. This may be incontrovertible proof at last that I'm making a difference.
Then again, people always say you've lost weight when they haven't seen you for a long time . . .
posted
The capital I in your name looks a little thinner, Icarus, but the graemlins make you look chubbier.
As for me, I've been slowly putting weight back on (more slowly than Mama Squirrel, but she has a much better excuse than I do). I've put back about 8 of the 36 I lost. I'm just about ready to start laying off the ice cream again. But it's so darn good.... Anyway, last time Mama had gestational diabetes, and had to go on an Atkins-like diet. If she does again (we'll know in 3-4 more weeks), then I'll go on it, too, and all will be well. If not, well, I'll eat that bridge when I come to it.
posted
We don't know yet which it is. This doctor prefers to do the ultrasound later, so it's more clear. We've got a few more weeks to go. We'll let you all know when we hear.
As to the announcement, try searching for any posts by Mooselet (I think he's only had two). He's the one who told. Ok, did the search myself -- here it is.
posted
Great work guys! Icarus, you must be feeling great!
I've been on and off the wagon now since I last posted the thread - lots of trips and parties, my girlfriend moving in with me, etc all conspired with my conspicuous lack of willpower to really keep up the fight. However, I've stayed relatively-low carbs and have continued to lose weight.
The way it stands now I've lost about 30kgs. I'm under 100 kgs for the first time in almost a decade. I'm wearing size 34-35 pants where before I was between 40-42. I'm able to wear L shirts rather than XXL.
I now have no extra weight on my chest, arms or lefts, with just the tire around my middle and the bit on my neck to go.
To everyone who wants to lose weight, I think the thing you need to keep in mind is that it's POSSIBLE - that was my biggest stumbling block. I wanted to be thinner, but couldn't imagine that I could be anymore. You can.
Posts: 2245 | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
I'm also terribly confused about my weight itself. At this point, I'm very well muscled, have a low resting heart rate, low BP, exercise six days a week, hike a mountain a week. I've dropped three sizes (still three?). I eat healthy (low carb, lots of protein, fruits and veggies), exercise.
That last photo was taken on a Sunday. The Thursday before that, the doc's office weighed me at 159. o_O *confused*
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm joining a fitness center, so I'll have a place to go work out. Once the kiddos are in school, I'll be able to go three times a week for strength training, I'll be doing the cardio at home, mostly. We'll see.
I really do want to get in shape, I've been having so much fun when we go hiking or just outside to play, and I want to be able to do more of it.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I've always wanted to learn some sort of dance, but I've never gotten around to making time for it. What you describe sounds like a neat way to bond with family and pass on culture. Cool!
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
quote: but I've never gotten around to making time for it.
I know
Choices, choices!
As it is, community theatre is starting to crowd my fiction writing, and I have less and less time to read . . . and I'm entering a school year where I will have more take-home work than I have in years.
And, in keeping with the theme of this thread, I really need to make time for exercise . . .
posted
Well, it's been, more or less, 18 months since I started losing weight. I have now lost just a bit over 100 lbs, and I snapped a pic today, just for the heck of it. (Okay, I confess, I snapped the pic because I still have trouble seeing the amount of weight I've lost when I look in the mirror. It helps me to compare pics.)
I currently weigh in between 125-130, depending on the day, and am sporting size 8 jeans. My dress size is between a 6 and an 8. I don't honestly remember ever being this small of a size, though I realize I must have passed through it at some point in early adolescence. By the time I hit high school, I know I was a size 10.
I'm still working on toning up, though I've regained a good deal of my strength after the pelvic fracture last November. I don't have full range of motion yet -- can't lift anything over about 10 pounds all the way up over my head, and bending at all backwards still causes some sort of bad twinge across the lower back -- but I can once again lift a 100 pound bale of hay and move it across a paddock. All in all, not too shabby, considering the circumstances.
posted
Way to go Lead. Or is it Lead? Or some strange pronunciation like Layahd?
I did Body for Life before we decided to have nano-pook. There is also a mini-pook and a micro-pook. Anyway, nano-pook is getting old enough to have other food, so I think I can take more proactive steps to stabilize my fitness level. Mr. pook has vowed to take on the sympathy poundage as well.
So I guess I'll start exercising more regularly. I got my rowing machine out of the basement, but putting it in my room will signify a commitment to keep it clean in there. Which I should do anyway. sigh.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
(Just come on into my thread and make the 50 pounds I've lost since last October seem insignificant, why don'tcha? )
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
That's great! I'm definately going to keep up with my diet! I've been doing Atkins, no carbs, no sugar, I'm surprised I haven't gone insane...but I'm down to 118!
posted
Icarus, I wouldn't ever want to give the impression that 50 lbs isn't significant. Hey, I remember having lost 50 lbs, and I certainly felt thrilled at that. You should be very proud!
Thanks to everyone for the nice things said. I feel pretty damned good. I *am* having some trouble with my ability to see the loss. Don't get me wrong...I can tell I've lost weight. Heck, the amount of money I've had to spend on clothes alone is proof of that. There isn't a single article of clothing I wore a year ago that I can wear now, and at times the rate of my loss meant that I had to buy new clothes to wear, but that I was only able to wear them one or two times before they were again too large for me. I went very very quickly through the size 14 range, and again through the size 10 range, where as I spent a few months at size 12, more or less. At size 8, I discovered that I must now buy jeans in "tall" sizes, where previously I'd always taken an "average". But while I still kind of giggle a bit when dressing in the morning, when I look in a mirror I do indeed have a hard time seeing all the weight loss. I mean, yeah, I know I've lost the weight, but when I look in the mirror, I still see "fat".
As to how I've done it, it seems to be the question that everyone asks, including my nurse practitioner. My answer remains that I've "done all the stuff the doctor's tell us to." Actually, I had a boost at the very beginning, that got me rolling. I had sinus surgery in March of 2002, after which I was finally NOT on any steroid drugs at all. I hadn't ever been on them constantly, but I had been on and off of steroids of varying sorts for 4 years (being treated for severe allergies, recurring chronic sinus infections, and one case of pnuemonia). It certainly didn't help me much, and I did add on the pounds. I probably put on 40 or so lbs in those years, but I was a bit overweight to begin with. After the surgery, I dropped probably 20 lbs pretty quickly, without doing much. This gave me just the boost I needed, both to my metabolism and to my self esteem, and I decided that it was time to take some of the weight off.
I drastically changed my eating habbits, forcing myself to eat a few small meals a day, starting with breakfast. I lead a relatively active lifestyle, what with the dogs and horses, so I didn't do too much "exercising", I just kept working with the animals. While not exactly following the Atkins diet, I did make adjustments. I cut out a LOT of carbs, mostly my big weaknesses, pasta, bread, and potatoes. Any carbs I had came in the form of whole grains of some sort. I didn't make much effort to cut out fat, but did shift around to where most of the foods I ate were more "natural" -- no meals out of cans, or boxes. It only took a month or two to adjust my system to the point where I was no longer ABLE to eat a large meal. I started many meals by eating my entire salad, and then I'd eat a few bites of the main dish, and pack it up for later. For the first 6 months or so, most of the meat I ate was chicken. After that, I loosened up on that part.
In fact, by the hottest part of last summer (August/September), I had to increase what I was eating because I found I was getting sick whenever I tried to do much of anything physical. I simply wasn't eating enough, though my stomach wasn't feeling hungry, and it left me physically weak. Not a good thing when one is trying to haul hay around while it's 100+ degrees.
One of the keys, for me, has been that nothing is "forbidden". If I'm out with friends, and the group orders fried potato skins with ranch dressing, sure, I'm going to have some. But I won't order the same if I'm out alone. Not denying myself stuff that I'm truly craving has really helped. Once I got my system kind of shifted around, and used to not eating large meals, or lots of fried carbs, it became much easier to eat a little of something, and be content with that. In other words, I don't need a whole big bag of dorritos. If I'm truly craving such a thing (which hardly EVER happens any more), I'm content with half of a small bag.
I didn't ever set an end goal for myself, either. I knew that I wanted to get down back to a size 14. I knew I would prefer to be smaller than that, but I didn't know if I'd be able to get down to a 10. Once I realized I would probably get down to a 10, I wondered what it would be like to be an 8. Well, I'm there, and it is fun. I still feel fat, though, and don't know if I'll lose a bit more, or if my system will kind of stable out here.
Right now, however, my biggest trouble is that I have this really great dress, and no excuse to wear it! I may look better than I did, but it hasn't done SQUAT to improve my social life!
Thanks again everyone! ~~~Lead
Posts: 247 | Registered: May 2000
| IP: Logged |
quote:I *am* having some trouble with my ability to see the loss. Don't get me wrong...I can tell I've lost weight. Heck, the amount of money I've had to spend on clothes alone is proof of that. There isn't a single article of clothing I wore a year ago that I can wear now . . .
I know exactly what you mean! Deep down inside, it's as if my brain doesn't believe that I have gotten skinnier, but that my clothes have gotten bigger. There's no way I could have worn that before. That's huge. But I'm still the same size as ever. I have to work at noticing and appreciating the change. But it's getting a lot easier now that people are starting to notice everywhere I go.
Your diet sounds a lot like mine in the end result, if not in the execution. I deny myself nothing; I just eat what I want to in moderation. I haven't so much cut out carbs; in fact, my eating pattern looks an awful lot like the food pyramid, though without me planning it that way. I tend to eat very little meat these days, and almost no red meat, not because I don't allow myself to, but because I know I won't be able to eat as much other stuff if I do. So I don't crave it like I would if I went on a "no red meat" kick or on a "no bread or pasta" kick.
Frankly (and I know this echoes something OSC said in a column once, but it happens to be true for me as well) I can't recall a period of my life when I have had dessert as often as I have for the past year. I have something sweet pretty much each and every day. Before, I didn't, and I thought it was being "good," but I fooled myself because I was eating all kinds of other junk to more than compensate.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
Here I am. On Sept. 7, Lime and I started the South Beach Diet. My mom had found it, and she and my dad started it because my dad's family has a history of heart problems and diabetes, and this diet was designed by a cardiologist for those very people. Since genetically I'm at risk, too, and since Lime and I both put on weight during college (and after, since I have a job where I sit at a desk all day long - yuck!), we decided that we'd read the book if Mom and Dad liked the diet.
They did. So we did. And I was impressed.
So, here I am. After one week, I'd lost 3.5 lbs, and Lime lost 2.5. We're starting to see the difference, and both are feeling better and more energetic. Yay! Phase II starts on Sunday, which will be nice. And, I'm going to keep an eye on this thread and let you all know how it's going.
We're pretty excited about it, so far. And my mom's going to help me buy the new clothes I'll need. Posts: 2661 | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Carrots are also a catabolic food because they take more calories to digest than the provide. However, for the same reason they are glycemic so if you are having carrots you should have them alone. Because they open up the fat cells for storage. However, people with eating disorder often go on a carrot only diet and they can start turning orange. Seriously.
I read a tip that a gram of fiber is *like* subtracting 7 calories, because it absorbs fat and increases the rate at which food travels through the digestive tract.
The glycemic index is problematic because it rewards foods for containing fat and penalizes them for containing fiber. It's a useful tool for people who are actually diabetic, but it can lead to some weird conclusions as a general diet tool.
P.S. my rowing machine is missing a screw and wingnut. Hope to find it today.
posted
Okay, I was reading about the South Beach Diet and found the fact that you can "lose up to 13 pounds" in the first 2 week phase of the diet. However, before that, it said in a 12 week study, participants lost an average of 13.6 pounds. So, if you lose 13 pounds the first 2 weeks, you're screwed for the next 10. Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
![[The Wave]](graemlins/thewave.gif)
![[Hat]](graemlins/hat.gif)
![[Grumble]](graemlins/grumble.gif)
)
