Take care of yourself

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Damn Xan. I thought I was bad about overeating.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

You know when I said I weigh 258? I didn't weigh myself correctly. I weigh 284. I can't believe it.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

X: Since the above post was your 2121st, I need to chime in here.

There's so much good advice on this thread, take an hour and read it. But at this point in your quest, even if you only cut out the stupid food (ie, the 50 oreos) you will lose weight. Fast.

Try this for one week: no chocolate/sweets/cookies/candy. Eat anything else, maybe a little less. You will not believe how different you'll feel....I promise, you will drop at easy 10 pounds. Try it. Then you can get to the next level.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

But I <i>like</i> chocolate. 

That's why I've never been able to stick to a diet.

Well, a love of chocolate and the fact that I don't cook.  I make well-balanced dinners to take to work, if only I could find a better quick-lunch alternative than microwaved pizza.

And then there's the chocolate...  <sigh>

One of the guys I work with lost a lot of weight by cutting soda out of his diet, and switching to Subway instead of fast food.  We disparagingly called him Jared, but were all secretly jealous.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Oh, I'll never give up chocolate. I may live on egg whites and tuna sashimi, but that's just so I can eat plenty of chocolate.

And don't forget, there is solid medical evidence that peanut m&ms constitute a complete meal.

As for Songbird's diet, however....if he's up around 280+, cutting out anything is going to make a difference. And dropping a fast ten is pretty motivating.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

You can live without drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, but you can't live without food/drink. You just can't. That's what makes it so fucking hard. Plus, drugs and cigarettes make you skinny, whereas food by definition can't.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

37 days into the great reformation: down from 284 to 269. Goal: 225.

I've cut out 95 percent of sugar/fat/bread. I work out 5 or 6 days a week, lots of cardio, goodly amount of lifting/squats/crunches. My body is used to the gym work, but it's still a chore to make the decision to eat healthier.

That said, I feel better, lighter, stronger, more agile, confident — healthy.

But I do long for 50 Oreos. When do those cravings end?

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

The cravings are all in your mind, Xan.

And I'm in week three of my "makeover". I haven't had much success yet, but I know I've lost 10 pounds already. I down around 315-325 now and am wanting to get around 275ish for now. I'll work on getting it down lower after I reach my goal of 275.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I thought I'd chime in with my experience. I'm 23 now (5-9, 145 lbs).

I was 145 when I played HS b-ball, but after I stopped my junior year, I didn't stay there. I was up at 175 at Christmas break during my sophomore year in college and had that sort of "HOLY CRAP!" moment on a scale when I was easily 10 lbs more than I thought I was.

Everyone is talking about inspiration. Maybe college was just the right place to sort of shame me into some better habits. A lot of young people, in good shape, and yeah, it's kind of like a meat market.

Lost the first 10 lbs pretty quick, the next 10 in about 3 months, and the next 10 in about another 3 or so. Been at 145 or so ever since.

For me, it was a combination of what I ate (fewer sweets, getting away from dining hall buffet-style food), portion control (instead of pasta AND a burger, just have one or the other) and starting to be physically active again (went from doing, well, nothing, to playing basketball or running about 4-5 days a week). The weight just sort of fell off.

It really helped me energy level and it was crazy to see my family Christmas picture from one year to the next, like I basically lost a layer off my face. Once you make a little progress, if you've got some decent people around you, they'll notice and that always feels good.

Re: the whole "eating to supress something else", I don't know if I did that, but I definitely found myself eating out of boredom. So go do something. I will say at times if I overate, I definitely wasn't feeling particularly satisfied with what I ate. Just felt nasty.

A few tricks:

Give yourself a cutoff time you won't eat after (I did all of last year with no eating after 9 p.m.). Also, brush your teeth after you eat, you won't be so tempted to keep jamming stuff in your mouth because it'll taste like crap. If you're going to snack, get light/fat free stuff.

Hope this helps someone.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

So you were at 185 and worried about your weight? Damn, I wish I had that on my plate instead of this.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Actually, I was 175. When I jumped on the scale, I figured I was no more than 165.
But still, 30 lbs over where I used to be (proportionally compared to 145) was a lot.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

The thing most people don't realize is just how easy it is to lose weight when you're very overweight. You can do one, two little things and the weight just falls off.

I had allowed myself to get very out of shape a while back. Went from 185 to 230 in about a year and a half. I couldn't do shit. Walking up a flight of stairs had me winded and I was tired all the time.

Went the Atkins route. I did it serious for about a month and dropped 15 pounds. When you see it coming off like that, keeping at it is easy. I stretched out the diet, like the experts suggest, gradually increasing my carb intake and adding in plenty of excercise. And the weight just kept coming off.

I haven't touched pasta in almost a year now. I eat pretty much all the bread I want, drink diet soda, munch on sugar-free cookies (Snackwells, gotta love em) and I don't overdo the portions. I've hit 175 and stayed there for the last four months or so. I'm happy with that. If I can tone up a little, I'll be absolutely content.

Next on the list: Smoking. Gotta quit. I was just afraid to do it in the midst of the diet, what with the cravings and all. Only so much Mrs. dog428 can take. (However, the fact that I've smoked like a freakin' freight train while dropping 45-50 pounds should be an indication of just how possible it is.)