Weight Loss...

[TORQUE THIS]

I'm not talking about spending an hour in the bathroom and dropping 10 lbs... :-laf



What have you done? What seems to work the best?



I really need to loose some pounds (gee I sound like a woman)...



I am active all day long, I have no ambition for exercise. Is this the key to loosing weight? Will different eating habits help??

 

[Bertram65]

I just started South Beach two weeks ago, so far seems pretty good, the food choices are fine, it take some adjustment being without carbs and sugar but I am not hungry and I have lost 16lbs in the first 2 weeks. I know the weight loss will slow down to 1 or 2 pounds a week now but it was a good start and the book makes sense if you read it. I am not too heavy, I started at 227lbs, my goal is 190lbs, I have not been that light in 12 years, I am going to stay with it and give it a fair try, at least two months.

 

[bmoeller]

My mom used the Adkins diet, then switched to the South Beach diet. She lost ~50-70#, I think she said.



Bertram, 227 doesn't sound that bad. How tall are you? I'm 6' 6", 225#. Aside from a small spare tire :-laf , I don't have much fat on me.

 

[TORQUE THIS]

Forgot to add that I'm 5'-10", 260



Would like to drop 50 or so...

 

[TnLRacing]

Small well rounded meals 5 to six times a day, and exercise is a MUST! I went from 390 to 319, and have about 50 more to go

 

[R-N-R]

All of the above and/or drink a lot of water throughout the day



Congrats TnLR, that is awesome!

 

[CSnyder]

try the Subway diet... . it's helping me

 

[Straight6Jeff]

I have had great success on the Body For Life Program. (Bill Phillips) Nothing special to buy, no magic pills, now fancy workout gear. Six meals a day, six workouts a week. Cardio three times a week, 20 minutes per. Weights three times a week, 45 minutes per. That is about it. One day a week to eat or do whatever you want.





In twelve months, lost 170# of scale weight. In the floowing twelve months, I lost an additional 20# fat, while adding 30# muscle. I have been continuing to loose fat, while maintaining the same body weight.

 

[Digger-Bear]

My wife and I did south beach- it was great and we lost a lot of pounds.

 

[TORQUE THIS]

South Beach... Is this something that just adults should do?? When eating at home, is it safe, healthy for the kids also??

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

That's an easy one mark ... High fuel prices = They do the work for you.



High Fuel Prices = Broke and angry.

Broke and angry = No $$ for food

no $$ for food = Anger

Anger = increased heart rate

increased heart rate = burning callories



I call this the OPEC diet :-laf

 

[loncray]

I've dropped 30 pounds (though I've been on a plateau for a few months now) thru exercise alone. But it's got to be hard, balanced exercise - I go 4 - 5 times a week and do 30 minutes of hard stationary bike riding for cardio, then about 20 minutes of various weight machines and free weights, then a half mile cooldown walk. My wife and I have also done a lot of shifting in our diets - turkey in a lot of places beef used to be for example.

 

[AMink]

WATER WATER WATER! I started drinking about 80-90 ounces a day, plus cutting high fat meals. No more McD's, BK, etc, at least not as much as before. Also fruit and veggies and other low fat snack. Went from about 220 to 193. Kinda fell off, but still below 200. Also, not as much in the barley and hops arena :{ . Water alone and you will drop at least 5 pounds in a week. Your body holds water (men HOLD water, women RETAIN :-laf ) as a defense if you are not getting enough. When it knows it will be getting all the water it needs, it won't hold it.

 

[DHRA]

Just lost 38 lbs in one year (last year) and have kept it off. Lot's of grilled chicken, water and drinking Michelob Ultra instead of soda and Guinness. I excercise and work around the property to keep sweating.

 

[RAMINSPEED]

I've done the south beach and it takes weight off but maintenance is the key. Diets are easy, keeping the weight off isn’t. It requires a total habit change. You need exercise and eat smarter, that’s all. It's just a balance of the amount of "energy" that you put in and how much you burn. The best "diet" I know of is simple. I lost 45 pounds and never went hungry of felt restricted by the diet.



The following diet will work for most people. I do believe some people have actual physiological disorders that this diet won’t work for. Most eating disorders are mental. Don’t listen to your head. Listen to your body.



Remember

The key is listening to your body, not your mind. Let me say that again, The key is listening to your body, not your mind.



1) First off, get some exercise.



2) Eat the type of food you want (within reason, you know what’s good and bad for you).



3) Only eat when you’re physically hungry.



4) Only eat till you satisfied the hunger pains, NOT FULL!



5) Eat as often as need due to hunger no matter the time of day or night. You will find yourself eating a lot of small meals.



6) Of cause, don’t eat out of boredom, don’t snack for fun.



7) Always keep food nearby so you never go hungry. As you know, if you go hungry the next time you get something to eat, you’ll eat too much. Your mind is trying to make up for being excessively hungry.



Your body will tell you what to eat and how often if you just listen.



An example of what I would take for lunch is a sandwich, yogurt, and fruit. (None of that is low carb). Instead of eating it all for lunch, I would break it down to 3 meals. I might get hungry at 10AM and eat half the sandwich (just enough to stop the hunger). Then when I got hungry again, around lunch, I'd eat the other half of the sandwich and the fruit or yogurt. Then I might get hungry again at 3PM and eat what was left. That would last me till I got home and kept me from "snacking" on junk food.



This really works and your body will balance it self out and you’ll loose weight. You’ll see. Weight loss is not an over night thing. You didn’t put it on over night and don’t expect it to come off over night.

 

[Morphious]

Good topic, I'm currently in that category of Fat Bastage as well. Here are the steps I've taken to reduce the fat, notice I said fat and not weight. I'm in the 6'3 ish category on height, and when I started 9 weeks ago,



I weighed in at 280lbs. As of the first of this week, I now weight 265 or so. But weight loss isn't the measurement to go by, it's body fat. I currently measure myself each week on sunday after two days of rest from my workout and before the start of the next weeks cycle. As of last monday, I've lost inches in all areas, including 2" in the waist and 1/2" in the chest. The first couple of weeks were killer in the gym, and depressing as I realized how far I'd sunk since I'd last lifted weights. But, I've stuck with it going to the Gym 5 days a week every week and out of the 9 weeks, I've only missed 4 days due to events beyond my control.



My current workout routine is:



Chest - Mons.

Back - Tues.

Legs - Weds.

Shoulders - Thurs.

Bicep/Triceps - Fris.



I am now up to doing treadmill up to five days a week on top of that, started out doing 2 days a week and have consistenly moved up in duration/difficulty levels on the hill program. This week when I finish today, I'll have done 10 miles on the treadmill over the week. I spend at most 1 1/2 hours at the gym each day (mainly because I don't have a life). Weds. are the long days and Friday's the short days.



Food intake plays a big part of it as well. I've not really changed much in my diet as I really ate pretty healthy to start with, but I eat 5-6 times a day if I can fit it into my schedule, drink 5-6 20oz bottles of water while at work (I refill one bottle many times out of the water fountain) and have pretty much cut out sodas. Never was a big candy or junk food person. I'll eat salads and cook up some shrimp or steak or fish to go with it. Eat alot of fruit, granola bars and the like. Those that are cutting out carbs shouldn't be, your body needs carbs to process food, you will see large weight loss to start, but you will end up loosing muscle mass instead of fat, because you aren't metabolizing the fat due to a starved nature of carbs. A 40% protien, 40% carbohydrate and 20% fat diet is a much healthier choice.



Also, if you aren't taking a daily multi vitamin, pick one up and keep with it. I'm currently also taking flax seed oil, it helps with the following:



Health Benifits of Flas Seed Oil



• Studies show that Omega-3 fatty acids help lower cholesterol and blood triglycerides, and prevent clots in arteries, which may result in strokes, heart attacks and thromboses.

• Helps protect the body against high blood pressure, inflammation, water retention, sticky platelets and lowered immune function.

• Can often improve the function of the liver.

• Increases the body's production of energy and also increases stamina.

• Shortens recovery time for fatigued muscles after exertion.

• Eases weight loss in people afflicted with obesity.

• Improves the absorption of Calcium.

• Can relieve the side effects and stop development of many forms of cancer.

• Can relieve the symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis. It can relieve the symptoms of Diabetes Mellitus.

• Can improve the mental function of many old age pensioners.

• Has been scientifically proven to treat some cases of depression.



I just started taking glucosamine/chondroitin on a daily basis as well to help with some of my joint issues I have.



I've typed a book here, if anyone has any questions or want clarification, let me know.



Morph.

 

[TORQUE THIS]

Geez guys, lots of good info... I am too the point where I can't take it anymore, my weight is really bothering me.



There are so many things I do and find my self breathing heavy and getting tired fast.



BTW... flax seed oil, can I burn this with #2... :-laf

 

[Morphious]

Torque, I was the same way. The boys and I went on vacation to DC and walked alot over the week to see all the museums and monuments and I realized just how out of shape I was and determined to do something about it. So I bought a gym membership, even haggled them down to half the price they were originally asking for a membership. Today, after only 9 weeks of working out, I already feel so much better about myself physically and know that by the time next summer rolls around, I won't be imbarrased to goto the beach without a shirt on. I'm starting to be able to wear clothes from the past, and that has stoked me even more.



The other nice thing, is that the females at work and the like are starting to notice as well.



Morph.

 

[JTHosler]

I to am battling the bulge, I have started playing basketball (2) nights a week and lifting weights the other (3) nights and rest on the weekends. Being in a wheelchair makes the lifting weights a little harder due to accessibility issues with most gyms. My biggest problem is eating healthy, I know what I shouldn't eat, but not eating is the problem. I know I gained most of my weight from depression after my accident (went from 180 to 230). As of last night I was 220, I need to be in the 170-175 range to make life in the chair easier not mention shoulder health. Good luck to all in the battle of the bulge! I plan on winning the war.

 

[kiwi bird]

Weight Watchers has worked for me - it does a lot of what is already covered here, I go to the meetings for support. I have found that I have changed the way I eat - it's not a diet mentality but a life one.



6'3" was 267lb, now 234, would like to be 215.



Good luck.

Side effects - better and more sex, more energy.