The Biggest LOOSER -- running weight loss thread

WritingWaffle: In terms of Greek yogurt, I used to be all about Chobani, but kind of got tired of how watery it is. I do still get the rasberry as I like that quite a bit. Lately, I've been getting the Yoplait Greek. They relaunched it a few months ago and it is much better than before. The honey vanilla is pretty good, the key lime is also good, the berry flavors are decent.

 

Thanks for giving me something to think about!

Right now, I've been eating Fage more and more. The blueberry is wonderful, even if I think the filling/topping cup is a little light. But whatever. Point is, I like the yogurt a lot.

I'll have a number update tomorrow — forgot to step on this morning, which has been good because today has been...how to say it tactfully... a clearance of inventory?

 

Waffle,

That's my issue with Fage: There's not enough stuff in the filling cup.

I find Chobani and Yoplait to be a little more generous in that area. That's important to me as I find plain greek yogurt to be borderline disgusting.

 

Going to get more yogurts today. May try giving those two a try, which for Chobani will mean its last chance. It's third on my power rankings behind Fage and Dannon Oikos.

And as for a number, 248.8 as of this morning. Still chugging along

 

Waffle, the beauty of trying new greek yogurt is that it is an investment that costs less than a Sunday paper.

 

And in most cases has more substance.

...Can I say that?

 

And with the money you save, you could reward yourself with Paul McCartney tickets!

 

Cross-thread!

 

I'll provide a little update from my end.

For much of my life, I could eat pretty much anything I wanted and drink as much beer as I wanted without it really impacting my weight.

But the rub is that as you get older, that becomes more difficult to sustain. As an assistant college coach once said to me, "it isnt' that big of a deal to gain two or three pounds a year, but then in 15 years, you suddenly realize that you need to lose a bunch of weight."

That's kind of where I was at. Was in the upper 180s, then I in the low 190s, then the high 190s, then more than 200. A couple of months ago, I went over the 205 mark. That combined with seeing a guy I play some golf with drop about 30 lbs over the past few months motivated me to do something.

This morning, a little more than seven weeks after starting this process, I was amazing at 190 on the scale. Was kind of surprised as I was at 192 or 193 just a couple of days ago. It was a great feeling. Now I'd like to lose maybe five more and that pesky BMI calculator still calls me overweight for my height, but I have some bounce in my step today.

How did I do this? Well, I didn't starve myself and I don't feel like I've made any major changes in my lifestyle. I've just done small things. Here's a list of things I've done:

1. Used MyFitnessPal to record my intake. I'll be honest, I had very little knowledge of portion sizes and calories before. Because of that, I did things that I knew weren't great, but I didn't think they were as bad as they really were. I use both the MFP website and the iPhone app. It has really helped me make better/more informed decisions about what I eat. I realize that there are consequences to a huge bag of chips or a bunch of beers while watching TV. I then have to eat less, exercise more or opt against that decision. I've probably logged about 50 days on MFP since starting and I've been under my net calorie goal for all but a few of them.

2. Have an eating strategy: I realized quickly that lunch is one of my bad spots and that at least once a week, I was taking in around 1,000 calories. I now have a pretty decent strategy to get me through the work day. I have one hard boiled egg at home in the morning and then I eat a container of Greek yogurt when I get to the office. That equals between 200-250 calories and gives me enough protein where I don't feel like I need a mid-morning snack. If I do, I have a box of Nutrigrain breakfast bars (only 120 calories) in my desk drawer. For lunch, I try to limit myself on most days to between 500 and 650 calories. What is that? That could be a six inch sub and a bag of Sun Chips at Subway. It could be a bowl at Chipotle as long as I leave out the sour cream and guac. It could be a sandwich and soup. I'm not starving myself, just trying to be smarter. That leaves me with about 1000 calories for the rest of the day. There's room there for a snack if I want one and a reasonably smart dinner.

3. Things I've avoided: I have largely given up beer or at least limited it to one day a week. I have gone out for dinner more than once and gotten a diet soda instead of beer and it has been fine. The idea of two beers at dinner now kind of seems like a waste. It's not enough to get a buzz and it's 300-400 calories I probably don't need. I have also largely avoided pizza and french fries. I do love pizza and that has been my biggest sacrifice in this (though I have had it every couple of weeks instead of more than that). I'm kind of meh with fries. I'll eat them if they are there, but it is more often filler than anything else.

What I haven't done is turn into an exercise freak. I've tried to increase some activity, but that's about it. I make sure I walk when I play golf. I do yoga. I ride my bike. One night when I wanted to go to an unhealthy Mexican restaurant about two miles away, I walked there and back.

Anyway, that's kind of the story from my end. All I know is that my pants fit better, I'm using holes in my belt that I haven't before. And the belt doesn't lie.

 

Good job. Sometimes it's the little things you do differently that makes the difference when it comes to losing weight.

 

Weighed 205 this morning and when I went to the doctor for my annual check-up and was told my cholesterol and blood pressure were good/excellent for somebody of my age (39). I was worried my BP might be high due to some stress I've been having but apparently not.

 

Kick-starting this again for the holidays!

What have you learned about your weightloss in the last month? What are your goals for the holidays? Are you just going to say "eff it" and destroy cookies?

And how has the scale been treating everyone?