weight loss, diet, and fitness thread

[EricNoah]

Hey there!

There was some interest expressed in my "gaming and food" thread in the possibility of starting a new weight loss/diet/fitness discussion. Here are some past threads on this topic that might help contribute to the discussion:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=128859&highlight=weight+loss

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=139320&highlight=weight+loss

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=146624&highlight=weight+loss

So ... where are you now, where do you want to be, and how will you get there? Feel free to share what you are comfortable with.

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Where I am: I am on the border between normal and overweight for my height (150 for 5'5"). I am in good shape from the waist down (I've been biking a lot this summer) but could use some work on my upper body.

Exercise: I do have a little weight routine that I sometimes do; I just need to kick that up a notch. As I am transitioning from summer to school (I'm a teacher), I will be biking less. I need to supplement that with some walks (one 30 min walk a day is not unreasonable; I have done it in the past for months at a stretch) and some aerobic work in the basement (put my bike up on the trainer when it gets really cold out; break out the aerobics DVDs). Question: I kind of wish there was something mindlessly repetitive I could do with my upper body the way I do with biking -- something that would allow me to listen to an iPod or watch a video or read while I was doing it. I get bored before I get tired, generally, when I exercise.

Diet: I have a journal that I keep which includes a daily chart for recording food. I've gotten good at guestimating caloric content. I need to stay at or below 2000 calories a day to maintain my weight; or I need to hit 1500-1800 a day to lose weight. During the school year, I do a great job at breakfast and lunch keeping calories reasonable. My "weak time" is dinner and afterwards. If I'm not careful I can put away my whole daily alotment in those 3-4 hours.

Goals: I would like to drop about 5 lbs, maintain my lower body fitness, and increase my upper body fitness. I also need to continue to record my food (it's discouraging to fill in that chart after I've had a poor day w/regard to diet, but it needs to be done so I can see patterns).

 

[scourger]

I'm with you. Here's my situation:

Where I am. I am at the highest weight I've ever been. I need to loose about 100 pounds.

Exercise. I walk mornings with my son in a stroller. I am more diligent to get it done weekdays than weekends.

Nutrition Plan. I'm using the nutrition plan from Food Addicts Anonymous. It is elimination of sugar, wheat & flour to reduce high glycemic loading & crashing. It is a lot of food. Most times I am completely stuffed after a meal, and I am rarely hungry.

Goal. I need to lose weight, but more importantly I need to be healthy. I felt much better without carying extra weight around after diets in the past. The problem for me is follow-up. I go back to the old habits over the course of several years. My biggest goal is to keep the plan going so that I maintain good health.

 

[delericho]

In case it helps anyone, the single most effective change I made to bringing my diet under control was to fix meal-times, and then to only eat at those mealtimes. Oh, and in between times, I only drink water.

The second most effective change was to take charge of cooking for myself. I try hard not to succumb to the temptation or ordering in pizza, or popping out to McDonalds when I can't be bothered. That way, I basically have control over what I'm eating and when, and cut out a lot of the preservatives and salts that most 'processed' foods are loaded with as well.

The thing that will probably kill me, though, are soft drinks, particularly Irn Bru (it's a Scottish drink that is essentially tooth decay in a can). I drink far too many of there. And I hate the diet versions, so switching to those is a non-starter. Does anyone have any possible solutions to that problem?

Oh, and lest I forget:

Where I am: I don't know exactly. I think I may be as many as 50 pounds over my 'ideal weight' based on BMI. That said, everyone in the know I've ever spoken to has said that BMI is a lousy measure, so I don't know what the actual ideal would be.

Exercise: Well, playing the bagpipes is a pretty solid cardio-vascular workout, but otherwise isn't really exercise as such. During summer, and weather permitting, I will go for a walk along the canal (about 2 miles along, and then back) a couple of times a week. And, depending on work commitments, I occasionally play an hour of badminton on Fridays.

Diet: This is pretty good, I think. I eat a proper breakfast, get sufficient fruit and/or veg (the five-a-day they recommend in the UK. The US recommendation is ten-a-day, but a 'serving' is half the size), and generally avoid taking in too much fat. It's the drinks that are a problem.

Goal: I would like to shift at least half of that excess weight (so, 25ish pounds). Additionally, I'm concerned about my blood pressure, so a reduction there would be a good thing. My suspicion is that that will probably take care of itself, though, if I take the right steps with the weight loss.

 

[RangerWickett]

Last summer, one of my female friends lost about 30 pounds in preparation of getting proposed to. *grin* She put a lot of effort into it, but the results were fast and dramatic.

Me, I'm 5'10", I currently weigh 210, and I would like to ultimately get to 180. This month I'm shooting for losing 5 lbs., which has eluded me for a long time. I was getting close to that when I tore my ACL and was unable to exercise for months, but now I'm back to jogging, and it's actually required by my physical therapy that I be active, so it shouldn't be too hard.

Thing is, I tend to be a lunch person, and most of my friends are dinner people, so I either have to skip out on social dinners, or skip out on lunch. I think honestly if I adopted better sleep habits, I'd feel less lethargic in the afternoon, and would have less desire to eat to get up my energy. But I'm also trying to save money, and lunch is generally cheaper than dinner. Ah, dilemmas.

However, I've realized that a) soda is unnecessary, and b) it's expensive. If I had a soda every day at a restaurant, that habit would almost be as expensive as smoking. Humans survived just fine with water for millions of years, so I've tried to cut out soda at restaurants except for niche cases where they go together or so well. Like pizza. I just can't do water with pizza.

Good luck, all.

 

[xrpsuzi]

Excellent idea Eric!

Where I am: I'm on the borderline of over-weight and obese, but I've decided to get down to my ideal weight, kicking the crap out of my type 2 diabetes in the process. There's a semi-concensus with the doctors that there's a good chance my diabetes will become a non-factor once I loose weight (i.e. I make enough insulin but the fat is mucking up the system of insulin absorbtion and use).

Exercise: Exercise is the easy part of losing weight for me. Currently I'm averaging 3 times a week of cardio, but I would like to step that up to at least 5 times a week and eventually every day except for sick days. I do a mix of cardio and targeted toning (pilates, yoga, push-ets. etc). This is my first winter in the midwest, so I'm a little concerned with getting enough exercise in the winter since I like to do much of my exercise outside, but I've got an eliptical machine and a mess of muscle-building/toning exercises that Joe and I use to do in India (where popping into the gym wasn't so easy unless you were in a big city).

Nutrition Plan: This is my dreaded nemisis! I'm starting out at 1500 cal/day and as I plateau, I will slowly curb that down to 1200 cal. Being diabetic makes food selection even more narrow, and while I love to cook, I get tired of cooking/preparing diet food. I started Nutrisystem a few weeks ago to supplement my diet with balanced portion-controlled meals when I don't feel like cooking. I'm not fond of processed foods in general, but it's better to pop in a Nutri-system meal than eat out at BK when I don't feel like cooking.

Goal: Lose on average 1 pound a week for the next year. I just weighed in this morning and I'm on track--2 pounds after 2 weeks and a nice 1/2 inch off my waist. In total, I would like to lose 50 pounds, which would put me at my ideal weight with a 5-10 pound buffer to make future weight maintance easier.

-suzi

 

[Jeysie]

I need to lose 60 pounds, but I can't figure out how I'm ever gonna do it. I have several things going against me...

1. Food & eating.

For one, I'm a terminally lousy cook, and I don't have time to cook anyway. So I have to eat a lot of no-cook or microwave stuff, which usually isn't that healthy (though I don't eat any outright junk food).

For two, even though I love fruits and veggies, buying fresh ones frequently is much too expensive for my meager budget. So I don't get to eat as many of either as I'd like (and what I do eat is generally limited to bagged salad and veggie-heavy Lean Cuisine meals).

For three, I get stomach-growling hungry every three to four hours, which also makes me tired and sluggish. So at home I need to eat frequently (which makes it hard to cut calories), and I still have yet to find a good lunch combo I can bring to work that's quick and easy to prepare and carry and won't leave me starving for half the workday (and isn't calorie-heavy).

2. Exercise.

I walk to and from work each day... about 20 minutes each way. And I sometimes walk to the store(s) on weekends.

But other than that... I'm at a loss for how to get more exercise. I'm badly clutzy, so sports and dance stuff is out. And I find things like weight-lifting routines, aerobics, treadmills, etc. to be utterly mind-numbingly boring. Even if I try watching TV or something while exercising, I still start getting bored about 10 minutes in and give up and go do something mentally stimulating. And I only like walking if I'm actually going somewhere... the few times I've tried walking just for the sake of walking I again got bored, even with music.

So, yeah. I've kind of resigned myself to always being fat, because I have yet to think of how to overcome any of these problems.

Peace & Luv, Liz

 

[xrpsuzi]

I need to lose 60 pounds, but I can't figure out how I'm ever gonna do it. I have several things going against me...

1. Food & eating.

For one, I'm a terminally lousy cook, and I don't have time to cook anyway. So I have to eat a lot of no-cook or microwave stuff, which usually isn't that healthy (though I don't eat any outright junk food).

For two, even though I love fruits and veggies, buying fresh ones frequently is much too expensive for my meager budget. So I don't get to eat as many of either as I'd like (and what I do eat is generally limited to bagged salad and veggie-heavy Lean Cuisine meals).

For three, I get stomach-growling hungry every three to four hours, which also makes me tired and sluggish. So at home I need to eat frequently (which makes it hard to cut calories), and I still have yet to find a good lunch combo I can bring to work that's quick and easy to prepare and carry and won't leave me starving for half the workday (and isn't calorie-heavy).

For work, bring fruit and veggies to snack on during the day. Bananas and carrots are fairly inexpensive and have lots of vitamins. Apples and oranges can be less expensive when you buy the bag on sale. Celery with a little sugar-free peanut butter is a nice snack too. I love ants on a log.

For home and the weekends, buy frozen. It's often cheaper than fresh, you can load up while they are on sale, and it's not as processed as canned fruits and veggies. On frozen fruits, make sure they don't have added sugar.

Frozen and canned veggies can also help you cook more at home. You don't have to come up with something from scratch or slave away cooking everything. They are already cooked, so it's just a matter of heating things up, putting it on a plate and cooking a piece of lean meat. I eat lean cuisines when I don't feel like cooking, but the processed sauces get to me after a while and I reach the point where I'd rather have plain veggies with a little salt and pepper.

To curb the hunger, try eating smaller portions but more often, and eat a salad at least once a day. There's a whole school of dieting that works on volumetrics (eating a grape instead of a raisin sort of thing) to give you the sensation of being full on volume but not on the calories. But the long and short of it is that you will be hungry--part of losing weight is eating less food that necessary to sustain your current weight

Oh and don't buy soda, chips, and sweets. You can't eat them if they aren't in the house. From what you posted, it doesn't sound like you do, but it never hurts to mention that. That's all I got on the food front. Walking to work and the store should be enough exercise to keep your metabolism up if you eat less calories than your body needs to sustain your current weight.

-suzi

 

[EricNoah]

Buying an iPod helped bring music to my walks and bike rides, but then I discovered podcasts (not in the same way Columbus is said to have "discovered" America! ) and suddenly there was the mental stimulation I needed during bike rides and walks. I listen to podcasts from Scientific American, National Geographic, NPR, the BBC; I also listen to books on CD borrowed from my local library (I'm in the middle of A Princess of Mars right now) ... so even during my potentially boring workout I am learning something new.

Another boredom fighter -- I used Google Earth to map out some walking routes so I know exactly how far I walked; I can take a longer walk and know how long it is when I am feeling motivated. Also, exploring nearby county and state parks is stimulating.

Exercising with a friend is very motivating. My walks with my wife are much more fun than my solo outings. I don't have anyone to bike with but that's where my iPod comes in handy.

I woke up this morning with a cold. Need to keep myself hydrated during this time; but that reminds me that drinking water is important even at other times when considering diet and fitness.

 

[EricNoah]

BTW here are some of the tools I used to learn how much I might need to eat and exercise to either maintain or lose weight:

Nutrition Data: http://www.nutritiondata.com/

Exercise by Time (enter time and other data to get calories burned for various exercises): http://www.calorieking.com/tools/exercise_calories.php

Exercise by Calories (enter the number of calories you want to burn to get durations for exercises): http://www.calorieking.com/tools/exercise_time.php

 

[EricNoah]

Hey, 3 posts in a row by Eric ... whee!

I wanted to add that one of my "eating issues" is that, like many people, I sometimes eat when I am not hungry. I find that some of this is "emotional eating" where I am seeking comfort when I am alone or stressed. Other times, it's cravings (a strong desire to eat a certain something even when I am not hungry). I often have cravings for sweets in the evening. The more I can be aware of this, the more often I can say to myself, "Just calm down, relax, and really focus on yourself -- are you really hungry? What do you really want?"