Losing my ass!

[Aimless1]

A month ago I visited with a new doctor.  Went in for a sore arm but he saw fit to comment on my weight, ordered blood work and wanted to prescribe medication to control my blood pressure and reduce my cholesterol.  Had my usual fight to find out and discuss my other options.  WE finally agreed that I would reduce my weight and come back in July for a complete physical and discuss further at that time.

 

At 300# I have a bit of tail I can stand to lose.  Sadly, I've not had much trouble losing weight, but I've found it damn near impossible to keep it off.  I went home and went into research mode.  Came across a diet spawned from a study by the NIH (National Institute of Health) that postulated there must be a root cause to high blood pressure, further postulated controlling diet was the key and voila, the study results proved succssful.  If interested you can read about it here http://dashdiet.org/.

 

Took another week of reading, and then gathering the foods in the quantities required and started it.  The first thing I discovered is how remarkabley easy it is to follow.  Then I noticed I had NO cravings.  NONE, ZERO. ZILCH.  Cravings have been the root cause of my past failures.  I went in at the two week mark and my blood pressure dropped by 6 points ... due to diet alone.  I can only imagine what will happen now that I've begun exercising again.  Jury is still out but I am encouraged.  Checked my weight this a.m. and I'm down 8 lbs in two weeks.  I normally lose more at two weeks if trying to lose weight, but I'm not really striving for that right now.  I'm working to get the blood pressure down.

 

I'm not excited about a new diet.  I'm excited that I may have found a plan I can live with day in and day out.  My reward tonight will be a toast to losing tail

[nikongod]

Congrats! Glad to hear you found something that is working well. 

 

(and I will be looking into it for me) 

[Pars]

Congrats as well! Thanks for posting this, I'll be looking at it as well.

[Hopstretch]

Good stuff! Keep it up.

 

OK if we share personal diet/nutrition experiences here? I don't want to crap in your thread.

[Aimless1]

I'm hoping you and others tell us your experiences as well.

[mikeymad]

Good to hear your progress. to share:

 

I am down about 30# since the holidays. But not really from any diet. I was getting up to a weight where I started to feel uncomfortable all the time. I realized that I was eating when I was not really hungry, eating when it was 'time' to eat, when I was bored, when I around others that were eating. So I made a very conscious and simple choice to only eat when I am hungry, and eat slower so that know when I have enough (I am lucky that I have enough will power to do this).. Turns out - I am not that hungry that often. Sure my eating schedule is way out of whack now, but if I am not hungry, I don't eat until I am. Sometimes I don't eat all day until dinner, sometimes I wake up hungry, I just wait until my body tells me to eat, then I do. Granted there are times with friends and family when the time is dictated, then I use portion control to only eat to get by, and save extras for leftovers later (when I am hungry). 

 

I am not advocating this method for anyone. Some would consider it a starvation method. Not at all, I eat when I am hungry, and only eat enough to fill that hunger. I have lots of reserves (which my body is using right now). I would assume that this will balance out for me at some point. Where I will get hungry more often when I have less reserves for my body to pull on, and I will naturally need to intake more often to balance it out. 

 

It will be interesting to see where that balance is.. I don't have a target weight that I am trying to get to... and because this is not really a diet (have not changed a thing that I eat)... It is a change in lifestyle, this is just the way I eat now. 

 

Keep us up on your progress. Interested in the blood numbers. I will be taking a look at mine when I get into balance... 

 

Cheers,

Mikey

[Aimless1]

I really have no idea what you're talking about when saying you're full. No joke. I have never felt full. Keeping excess weight off seems like it would be easier if I did. Just another obstacle for me to overcome.

Actually your plan makes sense to me. Seems like common sense if you have the will to stick with it, and it sounds like you do.

Wishing you success!

[shellylh]

Congrat to Al (and Mikey) on the weight loss.  Also, that is great news about the blood pressure.  Keep on exercising!  It will make you healthier and happier (until you injure yourself and can't do much and become frustrated).  

[guzziguy]

^ This.

[mrarroyo]

Best of luck to all who are doing something to get healthier via dieting and exercising. It is a tough battle but one that must be fought and won to allow us to live not just longer but more active lives. I let myself go and got up to 298 lbs so over the last 27 months I have through walking and a low carb regime lost 79 lbs. I realize that a low carb diet (Atkins anyone?) is not well though of by many but if you choose lean cuts, minimize the consumption of eggs and use olive oil the outcome can be very rewarding. I do have another 55 lbs to go (or so I wish) but time will tell.

 

Small steps and keeping short term goals to allow success has been a good driving force in my efforts and that of many others. Wish you all the best.

[jvlgato]

Nice job, Al! It looks like a very solid diet. Keep us up to date!

[Hopstretch]

I'm hoping you and others tell us your experiences as well.

 

 

OK, here's my story.

 

About a year ago, I got a really bad stomach bug while on holiday in Mauritius and was never really the same in the digestion department after that. Basically became a high priest of the porcelain god -- making my offerings far too many times a day.

 

Got checked, inside and out, and was told there was no obvious reason for my troubles. Diagnosis was post-infectious IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). May go away, may not. Good luck.

 

And then I did have some. Our au pair was diagnosed with a hiatus hernia and recommended to follow a gluten-free diet as a result. Her main issues were with reflux rather than down the other end, but the gastroenterologist mentioned that cutting out wheat and other grains was often effective for people with both complaints, so I gave it a shot. And lo and behold, very quickly, no more IBS. Yay!

 

Anyway, this is where the story sidles toward relevance. As soon as I stopped eating grains, I started losing weight. I was around 115 kg (253 lbs) at the start and am under 105 kg (230 lbs) at the moment. Once I realized what was happening -- after 10 years or so of seeing the scale going only one direction -- I also cut out refined sugar just to see what would happen. Seems to be compounding the virtuous circle. I still eat rice and potatoes, so it's not a low-carb diet per se, and I still drink beer, as my stomach will tolerate one or two (but no more than that). May be because the barley is fermented, I don't know.

 

So what we've ended up with in our house is pretty close to the framework of the (somewhat-wankily-named) Perfect Health Diet, which is constituted thusly:

 

 

And it has definitely worked for us. My wife is at her lowest weight since grad school, the au pair who started it all is down nearly 50 lbs and I reckon I'll be around my ideal size, say 215 lbs at 6'7", in a couple of months. Hasn't been hard to implement either. Basically we just don't eat bread or pasta or pizza anymore, plus no soda and nothing out of a box. No particular portion control and I substitute extra red wine for all foregone brews, as a matter of principle.

 

That's all I got. YMMV etc. but have to say I really enjoy feeling less fat and less slow. Good luck to all of you!

Edited March 5, 2013 by Hopstretch

[agile_one]

Thanks for starting the thread, Al, and for sharing the diet link.  Keep up the good fight, and 'grats on progress so far.  Thanks, too, to Stretch, Mikey, and mrarroyo for sharing experiences.

[n_maher]

Holy shit, Strech.  I'm not sure I'd recognize you at that weight! 

 

My story - In good old 1998 I crested the 200lb barrier for the first time in my life.  Also the year I stopped being a competitive athlete, i.e. I retired from Track anf Field officially due to a surgically repaired left ankle that prevented me from continuing to be a high jumper.  I took up club volleyball to entertain me somewhat but the practice and workout routines were far less structured and therefore I did far less.  Anyway, within 2yrs and subsequently graduating from college I balloned to over 230 (FAT BASTARD!).  I realized that I needed to do something about that and started semi-reegular workouts at the gym which took me back down to around 210 which is more or less where I've stayed for the last decade.  I've gone up a few pounds occassionally but rarely down.  5 years ago I decided I wanted to get into a little better shape and started running.  I ended up randomly tearing some cartilage during a training run in 2010 and the ortho-doc suggested that runnnig was probably not a good sport for me.  So I picked up cycling.  For the latter half of 2010 and 2011 I didn't make much of that and my weight was simply holding steady.  Last year I got the hairbrained idea from a co-worker to commute to work 1 day a week on the bike and found that I enjoyed the hell out of it.  I dropped about 15lbs last year but lost a lot more fat than that.  I finished the year at 199, my first trip under 200# in a long damn time.  Over the winter I've put 3 or 4lbs back on but haven't completely lost last year's gains.  The goal this year is to get down as close to 190 as possible by the end of the summer.  Sadly, through all of the weight loss and increased fitness my high blood pressure has remained.  I don't drink (average one to two drinks a week, seriously) and I don't smoke.  I don't put salt on anything.  I eat a reasonably well balanced diet.  I know that I'm genetically predisposed but I was still hoping to avoid medication but it seems that without some sort of radical dietary change it's going to be unavoidable.  Maybe I'll try minor adjustments to the diet and see if it helps...

[Dreadhead]

<p>Good luck with the blood pressure Nate. That sounds frustrating. Good luck with the IBS Stretch<br />

<br />

Me: Max ever: 295 or thereabouts in 2001. 2005 (training for Olympics in sailing): 210. Up to 260. Back to 210. Up to 265. Down to 197 in Dec 2012. Now: 210. Lots of trips back to the 250-270s and down again but I put on an lose weigh really easily (or at least I find it relatively easy). At least I'm maintaining my weight pretty well with all this work stress and lack of sleep (massive stress eater) but I'd really like to be to 190 by the arrival of our second kid in May. I can easily get there if I just stick to my 1000 calorie diet but I just have not been able to force myself too. I'd really like to be flat stomached for once in my entire life but we'll see, I'm 6'5&quot; so 190 is starting to get skinny but I currently have a pretty good paunch at 210 and did at 197 and I can see 190 not being far enough. Maybe 180.</p>

Edited March 5, 2013 by Dreadhead

[oogabooga]

Thanks also for starting the thread and everyone for sharing! While I've found a short-term diet (more below) I am looking for longer term solutions and find all these experiences very helpful!

I'm 6'2", and in December was about 270 lbs. My previous success with a low-carb diet in 2003 (went from 270 to 210) prompted me to try again. Managed to drop to 238 in the past few months, and still going towards my goal of ~215. I've found the diet part easy, but exercise has eluded me so far - just no motivation. Aside from the diet guidebook I use (Protein Power) the biggest help is the MyFitnessPal app I have on my iPhone. I'm OCD about tracking what I eat, and by doing so I've made sure I don't exceed my carb limit.

Aimless: 8 lbs in two weeks is an excellent loss! Even better since you've found a plan you can live with - IMO that's the hardest part. Congratulations! Like you, I noticed after a week that most of my cravings are gone, and the only one left (chocolate) is easily satisfied by 90% dark chocolate which fits within the 'rules' of my diet. That and scotch!

mrarroyo: I think a lot of people think badly of the low-carb diets because, unless one is meticulous about following it, it becomes very easy to make a mistake and gain weight. Also, the 'high-fat' images invoked can be less than appealing. I know that in the beginning I ate quite a bit of fatty stuff (BACON), since I was trying to quell those cravings at the beginning of the diet. Now, I eat what I think is 'normal', and certainly my portion sizes and caloric intakes are MUCH lower than before I started.

However, you mention eggs. I still have eggs and bacon for breakfast, not because I care to but because I've yet to find a suitably filling replacement. What do you have?

 

Hop: I'm glad to hear your IBS has settled! My g/f has minor IBS and be sure to share those diet details with her. You mention sugar - I'm convinced that processed sugar, in the amounts that most of us consume it in, is nothing but trouble for our bodies.

[thrice]

I stayed well below 200 through most of college... in 2000 I hit 200 and vowed to not move higher.... 12 years later I was at 260.  I've been losing weight since May 2012... I was down to 215 and now I'm back at 230.  It's slowly going down again.  I can safely lose about 2 pounds a week right now with the following steps:

 

1) Walk a lot. I walk at least 2 hours a day right now.

2) Eat better.  We actually eat fairly well since we try to feed our daughter well.

3) Eat less.  I don't always eat poorly, but I can pack it in.  I'm never full.  I've had nights where I eat a good full dinner, then go to hang out with a friend and knock back some pizza. 

 

 

For me, there's some sort of emotional connection with food and depression.  I'm working on it.  I hope to get back down to 200ish and start running again.  I do have a knee that's not optimal so I'm waiting to get back down and I've got an appointment to see a doc about the knee. 

 

I actually like exercising and moving around.  I miss being able to wear whatever I damn well please.  I also know that I'll appreciate my body more at say 180 when I get there than I did when I was there before.  I'm tired of feeling and looking this way.  The past 8 months have been stressful, but losing the weight and walking has helped tremendously.  If it's making me feel better through a separation/divorce, then I can't imagine what it will feel like when I'm doing even better.

 

I'm starting to look into Bento meals for lunch, that's my danger meal:  http://justbento.com/

 

For me, I try not to think about weight loss as a goal.  I try to think about living a healthy lifestyle.  When I approach it from that perspective, all choices, not just those surrounding food, become clearer.

Edited March 5, 2013 by thrice

[Voltron]

Was:  A FAT BASTARD

 

Am:  A FAT BASTARD!

 

I need some inspiration to lose some weight and get in a little bit of shape, and this thread is working.  Glad to hear mostly good news in it and hope to have something to add one of these days.

[grawk]

Was: A FAT BASTARD

Am: A FAT BASTARD!

I need some inspiration to lose some weight and get in a little bit of shape, and this thread is working. Glad to hear mostly good news in it and hope to have something to add one of these days.

My friend Al speaks for me.

[Absorbine_Sr]

My friend Al speaks for me.

 

My friend Dan, who is a friend of my friend Al, speaks for me.

 

Actually, I spoke to Jeff and Jp at a recent get together and have some cash budgeted for a bike to start getting some exercise. Of course 10" of fucking snow today makes it hard to imagine that ...

Edited March 6, 2013 by Absorbine_Sr

[skullguise]

You all are speaking for me too.....I've been relatively "broad" due to a whole bunch of rowing (some live, mostly machine) several years back.  I was fitted some years ago for a tux, and took a 44 chest.  But the person measuring said if my front was "in synch" with my back I'd be a size 50!  My shoulders have been the only thing that has stayed looking OK for me.  My stomach and ass have gone to pot.

 

I'm ~5'7" and weigh in at ~220 lbs.  My doctor says I could be very healthy at ~190 given my shape, and I should at least try for 200.  I was down to 200 about 3+ years ago.  I saw a decent difference in my face, too.

 

I will look into some of these recommendations for a kick start, usually what i need before I settle on more of a lifestyle change.

 

Good luck to all who are trying something!

[HeadphoneAddict]

Good motivating thread!

 

I was 200 lbs in 1999 but I was up to 265 lbs after 12 years of disability.  18 months ago I did the 3 week SP Cleanse diet, and then continued eating better with mild exercise.  I got down to 225 lbs by Xmax, and 215 lbs by March 2012.  It just got very hard to lose weight past that number, and I could only hit 213 if I was dehydrated.

 

Diet did make a big difference for me with blood pressure, where I dropped from 160/90 to 130/80 after the first 4 weeks of mostly fruit/veggie diet with a little meat and even fewer carbs.  Processed foods seemed to push my pressures up.

 

A year later I'm at 219 lbs now, but I've been too sick for a couple of months to exercise.  I'm hoping I'll be able start riding the stationary and regular bike in a couple of weeks.  I'd like to be back down to 200 lbs if I can, maybe by the end of the year?  I previously found that orange and spice hot tea, and cinnamon flavored gum would curb my appetite, but I never got over cravings for food.  I'm always getting into battles over wanting to keep the high carb food out of the house, but we've caved into the kids preferences for prepared meals and it's hard to maintain our weight that way.

[mrarroyo]

.

.

.

mrarroyo: I think a lot of people think badly of the low-carb diets because, unless one is meticulous about following it, it becomes very easy to make a mistake and gain weight. Also, the 'high-fat' images invoked can be less than appealing. I know that in the beginning I ate quite a bit of fatty stuff (BACON), since I was trying to quell those cravings at the beginning of the diet. Now, I eat what I think is 'normal', and certainly my portion sizes and caloric intakes are MUCH lower than before I started.

.

.

.

 

Yes, both my cravings and portion size have come down significantly just as you have noticed. I too like eggs and I blend 3 parts egg whites to one whole egg to get some of the color and flavor back into the omelet or scramble eggs. Turkey bacon although not as good helps as well as lox. You are also correct in being meticulous, sugar is hidden in just about everything. Best of luck.

[Aimless1]

I continue to be encouraged by my blood pressure results. 

 

   1/31/13............146/92

   2/18/13 ...........Started dash diet

   3/1/13..............140/86 - not quite two weeks on the new diet/no exercise

   3/6/13..............138/70 - added exercise.  I questioned the bottom number and believe it should be 80, not 70.  Either way/happy!

 

That's pretty good motovation to continue. 

 

Great news on that front.  Now if the urologist could give me better hope that would be nice.  BPH side effects driving me crazy.

[deepak]

Wishing everyone good luck in their fight to lose weight. There is probably a list as long as my arm of things that can go away/be minimized with weight loss.

 

A few minor things that helped me, all fairly easy things that didn't require major diet modification

 

-cut out all soda; even drinking diet may not necessarily cause you to gain weight (though it can), but it can be harder to lose weight when your body senses something sweet insulin levels are increased following the sweet rush (two ways insulin is stimulated 1) higher blood sugar levels 2) a hormone GIP released in the stomach. Sweet soda stimulates the latter). Replaced with coffee (2 cups per day max for me). If you're drinking soda for the caffeine it barely has any.

 

-use the stairs. My workplace is the size of small village and I would use the stairs all the time, even going from first floor to 10th floor if I was by myself or with people that didn't mind doing it

 

-stopped having that one or two beers occasionally after work. Just stuck to drinking socially.