Losing my ass!

[mrarroyo]

^ Good advice, a few flights up the stairs a day do wonders. Quitting soda specially diet is highly recommended since artificial sweeteners SUCK. BTW, cinnamon has been shown to help those with diabetes improve the control of the blood sugar throughout the day.

[Dreadhead]

Thanks guys for the stories and inspriation. I've finally gotten off my duff and I'm losing weight again. The timing is good too because this years kit from the cycling team is cut very small.

[Aimless1]

Since I don't have cravings any more I don't desire diet sodas or sugars or processed foods.  I'm eating (by choice, not required by diet) raw vegetables and fruits and whole grain products.  When I did the Atkins back in the 70s and South Beach (basically a revised Atkins diet) a decade ago I still had cravings and failed.  Glad you guys don't.  Sure lost weight on them though.

 

Congratulations to all who are making the effort to lose. 

[Hopstretch]

We're metric down here, so my first arbitrary milestone was 10 kg (22 lbs) off, which came up yesterday.

 

In addition to eliminating wheat (specifically) and gluten (generally), I've also started limiting liquid calories -- which in my case means cutting back on alcohol since I basically just drink water, tea and wine. This has also been a net positive for ... other reasons. 

 

Anyway, I'm now 102 kg (225 lbs) @ 6'7" for a 25.3 BMI. I'd like to get to around 210 lbs (95 kg) and am just going to keep doing what I'm doing until it stops working. 

[Dreadhead]

Good job stretch. I got past 200lbs myself this past weekend.

[Hopstretch]

Nice! Biking is a great incentive, particularly where hills are concerned ...

[Dreadhead]

Yup. Hills still suck but I am faster than when I was 260. As they say: "It never gets easier you just get faster"

[n_maher]

Well done, Stretch!  I'm hovering around 200 (haven't weighed myself in weeks though) but should be attacking that with regularity in the coming months with half-decent cycling weather finally upon us.

[Aimless1]

Congrats to both of you.  I like the postiive results I've been getting but I am intrigued by your diet Stretch. 

[boomana]

How did I miss this thread since dropping poundage has been a primary focus for me since the beginning of December?  Congrats, guys!  Very impressive losses.  

 

I never thought I'd put this out in public, but what the heck.....I'm currently eating strict paleo with a rather severe calorie deficit, aided by the controversial, but definitely easy peasy, hcg.  I'm working with a doc, taking injections, though am not on the original 500 calorie protocol, as I get an additional four protein shakes a day.  I'm on my second round.  I lost 26 pounds in six weeks on the first one, kept all of it off, except one pound, eating more than I had ever could before, for six weeks.  I started a second round 23 days ago, and have lost 16 pounds so far with three weeks to go. Prior to doing this diet, I was cycling over 100 miles a week, weight training three days a week, eating healthy, minus a couple big meals a week, and only lost seven pounds in six months.   I also had my base metabolism tested at 1023 calories, meaning I couldn't eat anything without gaining.  I never had a weight issue when young, enjoyed being 10-15 pounds over weight in my 40s, but once menopause hit, it was like my body just blew up without my permission, and nothing I could do would change it.  Right now, although I'm annoyed with the restrictive choices on my diet, I'm not hungry at all, have a ton of energy, am still working out six days a week, and feel really good.  I'm 12 pounds from my goal of 132, which I should be able to get to, or at least get close to, in the next three weeks.  That will be a 48-pound loss from my scary weight of 180 on December 3rd.  If my experience holds true from last round, I should stabilize easily (though no starches or sugars for three weeks post end injections, then add them in).  I plan on doing a primarily paleo diet, 80/20, when I'm done, though may do a Whole 30 to kick start things.

[Voltron]

That's mostly greek to me, Vicki, but I understand the effort and the great results, so congrat and best of luck hitting your goal!

 

Oh, and congrat to Stretch too!  You're going to be a skinny sober person soon.  Such a shame...

Edited March 27, 2013 by Voltron

[Grahame]

An anecdotal data point for you all.

 

I have a "theoretical" interest in the subject

 

One "book" I've read that resonated with me is The Hackers Diet, written by the founder of AutoDesk  who explains in the preface 

 

"

 

I'm an engineer by training, a computer programmer by avocation, and an businessman through lack of alternatives. From grade school in the 1950's until 1988 I was fat—anywhere from 30 to 80 pounds overweight. This is a diet book by somebody who spent most of his life fat.

The absurdity of my situation finally struck home in 1987. “Look,” I said to myself, “you founded one of the five biggest software companies in the world, Autodesk. You wrote large pieces of AutoCAD, the world standard for computer aided design. You've made in excess of fifty million dollars without dropping dead, going crazy, or winding up in jail. You've succeeded at some pretty difficult things, and you can't control your flippin' weight?”

"

 

He takes an approach to weight loss as an engineering problem to be solved, and the human body as a system

 

where 

 

Energy In - Energy Out = Energy Change

 

And energy is stored (efficiently) in the body as Fat. A pound of body Fat = ~ 3500 calories  - so if you ran a 500 calorie deficit a day, you'd loose a pound of fat a week.

 

I mention this because at the weekend I had an interesting chat with a Brit, who having had uterine fibroids removed, was told by the surgeon to loose 30 lbs.

 

She'd managed to loose 20'lbs this year, so far with the aid of http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ and http://www.mapmyhike.com/

 

Given her height / weight / age , lifestyle (sedentary) and old diet - 3000 Calories a day , and her intended weight loss rate, it recommended a baseline intake of 1500 calories a day.

 

So she budgeted 400 Calories for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

 

Lunch has been a small Trader Joe's Salad for the last 72 Days.

 

That's the baseline, any extra calories you burn off by exercise, walking etc, you can add to your baseline.

So as an example, she gets up early, walks to a coffee shop for some green tea, and the walk covers the calorie cost of the green tea.

 

Myfitnesspal gives you the tools, and lets you keep a food / exercise blog.

mapmyhike calculates the calories burned when out walking , which you can feed back into myfitnesspal

 

It all seems to be working, and doesn't involve any magic, just a plan, and tools that let you monitor / manage your execution of the plan.

 

I may even be tempted to take it up, in practice, some time

[T-Bird]

I got to 220 lbs when I sat at a desk for 8 hours a day. I was always skinny as a rail as a kid and ate whatever I wanted. I stayed that way for about 10 years. I would hike some and bike, but it didn't do much for me until I started running and ate less carbs. I am 185 lbs now and have stayed around there for 6 years. I run 2 to 3 days a week about 3 miles at a time.

I like a lot of the ideas from this web site, although I don't do everything he says.

www.marksdailyapple.com/

alcohol is my one weakness.

Edited March 28, 2013 by T-Bird

[boomana]

I used the myfitnesspal app, and the loseit app prior to starting thus diet.  They always recommended around 1600 calories without exercise for me to lose one pound a week.  I gained about a pound a week on that calorie recommendation, and that was while exercising.  I had to eat 1200 calories, maybe up to 1600 if on my bike for more than 40 miles.  I don't necessarily believe the statements about this hcg diet, that it resets the hypothalamus (sounds like a lot of hokum to me), but all I know is that I can actually now eat about 1600 calories without exercise with no gains, and up to 2000 if I exercise.  It feels so much more manageable.  I don't know how this diet works, but I, and six other co-workers have all had the same experience and success, and no one has put the weight back on.   

 

I've been reading this book, which has nothing to do with the diet I'm on, but it is interesting:

 

[mypasswordis]

Calories in vs calories out is the most basic diet plan and a great start for anyone and everyone. Taking it one step further is IIFYM (if it fits your macros) and then another step would be more specific components of each macronutrient, e.g. simple carbs vs complex carbs and how it affects insulin levels/sensitivity. Intermittent fasting timed around workouts is also another method to lose weight or even do a body recomp (check out LeanGains). One level further than that is something I don't recommend, called ketogenesis, where the body is forced to break down fat due to absence of carbs, though there are subcategories that are milder like cyclic and targeted keto diet.

[shellylh]

Congrat Vicki!!!  That is pretty awesome.  

[Torpedo]

^ This. Way to go, Vicki

[Aimless1]

Been awhile so I thought I would update. 

 

This has been an easy diet to follow and still no cravings.  I have "cheated" a few times .... pizza seems to be a down fall for me ... but I have only seen my weight go up once since I began, and that was the week I invited my daughter to move out.  Weighed in at 279# this a.m. so I am down 20# to date.  It has been a consistent one or two pounds weight loss through out and I'm not done.  My waist has gone from an unimaginable 52 to a comaratively slim 46 in that same time period.  Really haven't added exercise but I do seem to be more active.  Sadly, I haven't taken the time to get my blood pressure checked and that is my primary reason for doing this.  I have no doubt it is down but I should confirm that.

 

Hoping all of you are seeing success as well.

[Voltron]

Keep up the great work, Al!

[mikeymad]

X2

[n_maher]

I'm currently clocking in right around 200# and hope to see that go down another 5lbs or so in the next two months.  I am being pretty active so I do add muscle as I displace fat which makes tracking loss not all that productive.  I can mostly keep track based on how clothes fit. 

[Salt Peanuts]

Me and my fat ass is back up to 215, after getting it down to ~200 at the end of last year.  

I need to get back on the wagon and start losing weight again (and keep it down).

[Aura]

Getting motivated to start running 5K races through the rest of this year. 

 

You guys are a great influence, way to go Al!

[Dusty Chalk]

I finally started walking a couple weeks ago, and have been at least 3x/week about it, but I need to get it up to 7x/week, as per doctor's orders.  Prior to that, I was getting zero exercise, so I fully expect to lose volume before I lose weight.

[mrarroyo]

My weight loss has slowed down a bit although I hit 210 lbs last Sunday. I am happy I am down 88 lbs from Jan 2011 but I still have a ways to go and hope I can break 200 lbs in a couple of months. Good luck to all who are striving to get healthier.