Take care of yourself

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

star ... I'm all for different strokes for different folks and all that, but your diet idea seems completely unhealthy. Less than 1,000 calories a day? Yes, it will help you lose weight, but I can't imagine only having that in one day. How do you do it?

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I've been dropping about 1-2 pounds a week on about 2200-2500 calories a day., but then again I have a lot of weight to lose and starting at a hair under 300 pounds six months ago, I could eat that much and still create a deficit.
From everything I've read, if you drop below 1,200 it triggers a starvation response so when you start eating a normal amount again, your body starts storing fat like crazy.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I've found it difficult to convey feelings about her fitness level because there's an assumption that i don't believe she looks good. Then I have to deal with that crap for a couple of weeks.

I'm her equal, therefore, I can't tell her to do anything. Me training her would be me telling her to do things. She can't handle that.

My best friend is a trainer with whom she would listen. But he lives 2,000 miles away.

Don't travel as much as I used to. Gone about 50-70 nights a year.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Simple. Don't eat very much food.


Talked it over with the doctor and all that, and basically he said "whatever you have to do to lose that weight is a hell of a lot more healthy than not doing it."

Just like quitting smoking - we have one dude here who's trying to quit, and he's calling in sick, claiming that going without the cigs is messing him up and making him sick.

I asked another doctor about that, and he said, "Oh, bullshit. Quitting smoking is never bad for your health."

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

But quitting smoking could screw up your mind.
Starman you can do better than 1,000 calories a day by eating a lot of fruit, cereals, nuts, fish and salads. Even if the fish is only canned tuna. And, you'd still lose plenty of weight. It's just a change of habits not really a change of lifestyle, you can still eat red meat, too, if you choose.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Nuts are actually very high calorie-density - it doesn't take a lot of nuts to add up some big calories. Cereals, good in limited amounts, but then you're getting back into carbs.

There's nothing unhealthy at all about what I'm eating - it has meats, fish, veggies and fruits, well-balanced, all that good stuff.

I'm just not eating very much of it.

(I'm also popping one Centrum Silver a day, so vitamin deficiency isn't a problem)

It just came down to this: I could have gone on a 1200-1500 calorie a day diet, sure. But there are a couple of problems with that:

1, Eating 1500 calories a day kind of puts you in proximity of absent-mindedly slipping back over the edge, eating 2500 calories a couple days in a row, then before you know it you're off the wagon completely. By being on such a hard-core regimen, I'm never in that position. Any time I eat anything, at all, I'm thinking about how that affects my intake that day.

2, and most important - Some of you may have gathered I'm not always the most patient individual. : I'm not. If I were on a 1500-some calorie diet, it would take a couple YEARS to lose the weight I wanted/needed to lose. I don't think I could stick it out that long.

That's a hell of a long time. Also, too much plateauing along the way. Too many temptations, "ahhh, I'll just have a pizza today," etc. etc. and boom, out the window it goes again. Baloney on that - I wanted to get it done in one year, tops.

And the best thing - hardly any plateauing. There hasn't been a single 5-day stretch, since I started this regime in April, in which I didn't lose at least 2 pounds (Usually it's 3-5, but never less than 2.)

Results. That's what keeps ya going.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

OK--as long as you realize that any prepared/box/canned/frozen meal you eat isn't as healthy as you think it is. They are always high in sodium content, due to the preservatives, and many are also high in cholesterol.
Nuts are high in calories--true. One ounce I eat per five days a week equals out to 200 calories a day, but according to most people those fatty calories are the good fats and help your heart, so, even though I HATE nuts, I eat nuts. I also eat a banana to help my BP.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

First a disclaimer: I hate nuts, too. If it were not for a nutritionist friend of mine, I wouldn't eat the damn things.

BUT this is why nuts are important. They do contain an ample amount of fat, but it's the kind of fat we need.

Our bodies use EFAs (essential fatty acids. these are the Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats). EFAs help our cardiovascular, reproductive, immune, and nervous systems. The body uses EFAs to create and repair cell membranes, which allows the cells to take in the optimal amount of nutrition and get rid of cellular waste products.


Omega-3s are found in the following seeds and nuts: flaxseeds, hempseeds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts and sesame seeds. Omega-3s are in other foods, too, such as avocado and tuna. But the seeds and nuts have the highest concentration of the EFAs.

Omega-6s are in flaxseeds, pine nuts, pistachio nuts and sunflower seeds as well as in olives and chicken.

I eat 1/4 cup of seeds every day. I have a mixture of pumpkin and sunflower seeds that gives me a good amount of both EFAs.

To cover my ass, there is a group of Omega-9 fatty acids, too. But they're classified an EFA because the body can produce them in a small quantity. Omega-9s are in almonds, peanuts, pecans, pistachio nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts and a few others.

So, don't sleep on the nuts. They can be quite productive. (No insinuation meant.)

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Peanuts, almonds and walnuts are a big part of my diet. They seem to fill me up and not leave me feeling bloated -- so I can exercise pretty much right after I eat em. That's a good thing.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

One other thing: I started doing the stairs routine that 21 mentioned about 10 pages ago. What a rush! I just work my way around the basketball arena at my local D-I school. Up and down. Up and down. Let the iPod play and keep moving that ass! I'm so stoked.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Yeah, I knew all that going in. Despite being way way overweight, my BP and cholesterol numbers have never been bad, in fact the doctors have always been rather amazed that they have always been OK. Since my BP is good, the doctors are not overly concerned about sodium, and cholesterol isn't a problem due to my overall very low caloric intake.

Overall, it's a good compromise solution to eating a fairly consistent low-calorie regimen. I do substitute some fruits and veggies, grilled chicken/fish, etc. from day to day.

But I don't tempt myself by starting to eat 'just a burger here, a slice of pizza there.' Done that too many times before, then the whole deal goes out the window.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I take no credit...taught to me by the great Walter Payton many years ago. He ran a hellacious hill (where i first tried this torture) which I believe is now named for him.

Great for the ass, brutal on the knees, and God help you if you miss a step......