thats the thing. You have to start with the stuff you know you can accomplish and build on it from there. You can’t fix everything right away. If you told me today I had one year to learn a foreign language well enough to be able to move to another country and succeed professionally I’d say you were crazy. But you know it’s possible, right?
One morning last summer, I woke up with a chest pain. Before doing anything else, my cardiologist told me that I needed to become a vegan or vegetarian. Because we didn't know yet what was wrong with me, fear took over as a motivator. I went vegan that day. At the same time, I out all the added sugars, and the junk carbs. I also gave my beer away! If it didn't come from a plant, I don't eat it. It looks like six decades of eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and as much as I wanted, had finally caught up with me. That - and genetics probably had something to do with it. I was the same age as my father and older brother were when they had fatal heart attacks. Since last August, I've lost almost 25 lbs. With the help of 20 mg of cholesterol medication, my LDLs went from almost 300 to 101.
June 2010 I was 280 pounds. Just graduated and was starting law school in a different state that September. Decided this was the time to change my life. By Thanksgiving 2010 I was 187. I've keep it off for the most part the last 8 years. Early last year I had gotten back up to around 230. I'm back down to 205 and am trying to get to 190. My goal at 190 would be to create a diet that will help me maintain. Edit: I'm just about 6'2
Okay young blood. What did you do to lose that much weight so quick and keep it off? Any road blocks? Did you ever feel overwhelmed?
I exercised, a lot. I would be on the elliptical for over an hour a day. This is a story I tell to people who ask me, and this is when I knew I would be able to keep it off forever. I was in class and the teacher brought in doughnuts. Everyone is passing around the boxes and I had no desire to each one. None. I passed the box and didn't even think twice. The most difficult thing is self control. Today, I can still turn down any type of food. We routinely have cakes, cookies, etc. in the office. I don't even consider eating it. I don't feel bad watching other people. I just don't care. That being said, I use the weekend to eat what I want. I found at work it's easy to not eat, I'm busy all day. So I use my weekends to have the meals I really want to have. I think step is exercise. I went from doing nothing to doing everything. When I don't hit the gym now I feel guilty. Next fix your diet, you can actually lose weight/get healthy without exercising if you change your diet.
Kidding aside, do simple stuff. Honest, just walk around the block ten times at an easy stroll. Everyone scoffs at walking because it's passive, but that's such a garbage view. Get a pair of sneakers made by child slave labor and do it. Walking does wonders. All you have to do is walk on a flat surface with zero exertion and the pounds will slowly melt away - which is what you want to do. Skip fad diets. They are horribly dangerous. I love carbs, too. I make/bake bread roughly twice a week because I can't live without it, but I also know what's in it because I made it. No bread machine here. I bust my knuckles, and my biga is gonna outlive me. One of these days I'll post my prowess. I also love rice. Rice, rice, and more rice! I know, it's so difficult to fall out of love. Just made rice pudding last night, haha. I halved the sugar (because EVERYTHING tastes sweet to me - a post coma thing), upped the fat free milk (fat free milk, my Grandma would hate me), and did half brown rice and half white rice. I stirred the F out of it for an hour to make it creamy and dreamy, because I was just wishing that we could all get along in a perfect world of rice pudding. It came out great. A perfect world, not so much. I don't have a sweet tooth at all, but 88 - 90% cacao is my downfall - in a good way. Buy some seriously high quality dark chocolate and nibble on occasion when craving something to see you through. It's not sweet and an acquired taste. Highly recommend Dolfin and Sharfen Berger. A happy spike to the brain. Just don't eat it close to bed time. The caffeine buzz will make you pace the hell out of your Persian rug. I'm one of those people who believes in a balanced diet. Silly me. Once you cut down on - not eliminate - your nemesis, it becomes less palatable. Pick one specific something that you really want to scale down. You'll be fine. Oh, and trust me on the walking thing. It will help, no lie. You'll be really surprised when you slim down for doing practically nothing. Just don't get mugged and shit. EDIT: Apologies for the crappy link and the stupid feel good ads. https://www.prevention.com/fitness/benefits-walking-every-day Don't set your sights too high. Walk like a slob at first. I hike like an animal and power walk with some light jogging thrown in because I love the woods. Also sit-ups and some push-ups. Trust me, what I do is not off the charts stuff, but you can get the weight off with healthy choices and walking. Walking. That's it. Post a start date and after you drop 20 lbs. in three months, let us know. You can do this. EDIT & P.S.: Walking downhill is very beneficial. Being a Jets fan, that's kind of an oxymoron.
Seriously, as others have said, diets don't really work. Lifestyle changes do. I'm in a similar position Brook. Have tried loads of things but they only provided temporary improvements. I've been getting up earlier and doing 20 minutes a day on a stationary bike for the last month plus walking everywhere I can and cutting down portions/carbs/fats as much as possible. It's working well so far. I don't deny myself, just limit things and cut out the stuff I know is bad for me as much as possible. If you deny yourself all the times it feels like punishment. I try to look on the odd luxury as a reward for all the stuff I've been doing.
Thanks Mo. I think the big message is "Life Style Change instead of Diet". I totally agree with you. I think I am understanding why my previous attempts failed after reading so many great posts in this thread.
Brook!, also don't weigh yourself everyday. I probably weigh myself once every 3 - 4 mos. just to see where I'm at (even though I can usually tell), but daily weighing is flat out stupid. Water retention, not taking a dump, getting sick, fluctuation within reason is very normal, so daily weighing? Against it. "I gained 10 pounds in three days!" Not possible. When you start out, give yourself a base-line and then weigh yourself once a week under the same conditions to mark your progress. No, I've never been a fat bitch. Just a bitch.
Hey jeto Yeah I don't weigh myself daily. When I first start I weigh myself. And don't weigh myself again for 2 weeks until all water is gone and initial stuff happens. I start measuring my weekly loss after 2 weeks to understand how I am doing. At some point I dropped from 286 to 238 but couldn't keep the weights off as I was only focusing on weight loss not on life style change. Also on the bolded. Stop it. You aren't a bitch. You are a cool cucumber. An angry cucumber but still a cool cucumber.
Agreed. When people try to quit drugs, bad food, sweets, smoking, and drinking all at the same time, they die of an overdose of drugs, bad food, sweets, smoking, and drinking all at the same time. I commend anyone and everyone who wants to make a positive change in any of those departments. Just pick your primary battle and work from there.
286 to 238?! Wow, nice work! What is your target weight? Don't set an unrealistic goal. Also, don't become the next Subway spokesperson, you might wind up in jail. So, yeah, fukk you. Hugs! -Bitch
I am 5'10'. So 176 is my ideal weight according to BMI. Overally I have to lose 70+ lbs. Doable in 6 to 8 months if I can achive the life style change. I have 2 kids of my own. Don't remind me that child molester please. It disgusts me. I hope he is being taken care of by inmates while in jail.
Fad diets are awful. Remember that stupid cabbage soup diet thing for i.e.? People were going into cardiac arrest and from lack of potassium. The problem with this country and the obesity epidemic is that Americans just want to press a button for a quick fix to make it all go away overnight. YOU DIDN'T GET FAT OVERNIGHT, HELLO. No-one wants to walk around the block and work for the pay off. And this is coming from an American who loves my country with my whole heart and would die for it without blinking. Sad example, my old man's nephew is as big as a house. He was a slender active kid (mostly because the old man used to play ball with him on the weekends), and it breaks my heart. He'd rather just take cholesterol & bp meds because it's easier than dealing with why he's fat. He eats for comfort, has no interest in dating (which is fine), but I tell him to just walk with this daughter every night for a half hour after dinner, a bonding thing. Yep, she is only 8, and she is right behind him, hence the double import of the suggestion.
I'm on Nutrisystem. Started at 232 (I'm 5'8") and now I'm down to 217. Two months in and just now I'm plataeuing with weight. My scale says my body fat percentage is still slowly dropping. The food is good for the most part and the price isn't horrible. Plus now I don't have to shop and everything is quick and easy to make. Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
I thought about Nutrisystem but didn’t try it. Tell more please. How does it work? How many shipments a week etc?
It's 28 days per shipment.First week is super strict, just over 1,000 calories a day. Lost 8 pounds that week. Now I'm at 1500 calories a day. $12-13 a day for 3 meals and 3 snacks a day, minus a flex meal and snack each week. I'm a super picky eater but there's plenty I'll eat. Focuses on whole wheat and healthier versions of foods and encourages vegetables as snacks because they are full of fiber but low in calories. They give you a guide of what to supplement your diet with at the supermarket to help train you in how to make healthier decisions while food shopping.
