Weight loss and weight management catch-all!

Change things in your diet or change things in your exercise routine. It's not about being stricter. It's about finding more things that will fit how you want to live and your overall lifestyle aspirations.

Yeah, basically I lost this weight by cutting out the majority of processed foods and carbs I was having before. Lots of whole foods, veggies, cutting out the sugary drinks, avoiding bread and oats, etc. But I'm still usually having one carby meal a week (pancake breakfasts, mmmmm....), and there might be an occasional pastry or bowl of popcorn or something. My wife isn't as strict, so sometimes I'll have some of her fries, or take a bit few bites of whatever she doesn't finish, etc.

I haven't really tracked this (maybe that's a good first step, now that I think about it). But I had thought maybe I should just cut back on what I'm already (guiltily) allowing myself to have currently.

As someone that has frequently tried to go cold turkey, I think you gotta give yourself some slack. Especially if you're only having one carby meal a week. That one meal isn't going to make a massive difference compared to weekly habits. It could also be that you've hit a plateau, but that won't last forever.

Cutting everything you like might just end up having the opposite impact and have you going even harder into all that stuff after a while.

Then again, you could have better willpower than I have, which isn't a hard accomplishment.

LarryC wrote:

Change things in your diet or change things in your exercise routine. It's not about being stricter. It's about finding more things that will fit how you want to live and your overall lifestyle aspirations.

So I'm trying not to overdo it this time around, seeing as that's how I hurt my back. I went for a 45 minute walk this afternoon and it feels like it has wiped me out, to the point of wanting a nap like no one's business. I'm recovering a bit, but I'm also wondering if that's a sign of having worked a bit too hard since my body is basically trying to get me to shut down and let it recover. Exercise needs to burn energy, but if it's burning so much that I'm wanting to fall asleep at 4:30pm I wondering if perhaps I need to cut back a smidge.

beanman101283 wrote:

I haven't really tracked this (maybe that's a good first step, now that I think about it). But I had thought maybe I should just cut back on what I'm already (guiltily) allowing myself to have currently.

Tracking is a great idea, but like cces mentions don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
The point isn't ever to reach a target weight, but to feel and be healthier while making sustainable choices in your diet and exercise regimen.

If you end up looking at needing a slight caloric reduction, consider something as dumb as buying smaller plates. It makes a difference.

The sleepiness part is normal for exercising people. It's definitely your body needing to repair itself. If you're not getting enough sleep, you may need to cut back on exercise because you may not be recovering the damage.

Wanting to sleep at 430 sounds like a sleep deprivation issue though. Could be sleep apnea.

beanman101283 wrote:

Yeah, basically I lost this weight by cutting out the majority of processed foods and carbs I was having before. Lots of whole foods, veggies, cutting out the sugary drinks, avoiding bread and oats, etc. But I'm still usually having one carby meal a week (pancake breakfasts, mmmmm....), and there might be an occasional pastry or bowl of popcorn or something. My wife isn't as strict, so sometimes I'll have some of her fries, or take a bit few bites of whatever she doesn't finish, etc.

I haven't really tracked this (maybe that's a good first step, now that I think about it). But I had thought maybe I should just cut back on what I'm already (guiltily) allowing myself to have currently.

I'd highly recommend tracking. It sounds like you put some restrictions on your diet that organically just resulted in less overall intake, and that was good enough to get you a long way towards your goal. But as you lose weight, it gets harder to lose more weight... and you've apparently reached the point where you need to pay a little more attention to the diet to progress further. I'd highly recommend looking into macro tracking, as it's a little bit easier to pull off than tracking calories directly

Weight loss is almost 100% calorie math equation at the end of the day. There are a ton of different weight loss strategies and different strategies work for different people depending on goals, mindset, personality, etc... tracking isn't for everyone, and there are definitely other ways to get to your goal, but I promise it will work and there are a few bright spots.

1) You probably have some mindless eating or snacking in your diet somewhere that should be fairly easy to cut out. Tracking everything you eat will reveal that.

2) Foods aren't "good" or "bad" it's just that foods that are normally considered "bad" are easy to overeat and tracking helps you still indulge those without blowing up your weight loss goals. If you want pancakes for breakfast and you can fit that into your daily budget... that really shouldn't be a problem

Welcome to January. I moved to dublin last year and the new eating opportunities got the better of me! So since work started back over been really good about not eating all those sugary snacks and crisps I was eating all year. I fully expected my body to be in full on revolt after stopping but the worst I've gotten is...I actually have an appetite at breakfast.

On tracking? It is super good at helping you realise just where the pain points are and i find it great for being mindful of what I'm eating. I'm not tracking atm caus I don't need an app to let me know that 2 packets of crisps before bed is a nono^^

Cls33 describes well the situation I found myself in. I lost 15 pounds over about six months and stalled for the next six. So I changed from a DIY program to the more, not strict, but more conscious one. One that interrupts my day and makes me think about what I'm doing and eating. Hopefully that will help change the habits.

LarryC wrote:

The sleepiness part is normal for exercising people. It's definitely your body needing to repair itself. If you're not getting enough sleep, you may need to cut back on exercise because you may not be recovering the damage.

Wanting to sleep at 430 sounds like a sleep deprivation issue though. Could be sleep apnea.

Seeing as it was a one-time occurrence to sleep that early, I'm going to go ahead and assume it was over-exercise for the moment. I'll try and lighten it up today.

No harm. If it's overexercise, it's probably best to cut back early. Serious symptoms can include some fairly significant joint damage, or sprains and muscle strain and that can set you back some. No harm in ramping it slowly.

Actually that does bring up a good point. I went to the gym Monday night. My arms are feeling more sore today than they were yesterday. Normally the idea is every other day for going to the gym, but seeing as I'm still feeling sore should I wait until tomorrow?

With the Starting Strength program, I ramped all the way up without soreness of any kind. I think waiting for the soreness to go away before ramping up is good. Do go and do much lighter and shorter sets.

Alright. I'm basically trying to make sure I don't overdo it again, as I was previously trying to work to the point of exhaustion. If I didn't want to collapse while walking out of the gym then I was feeling I wasn't doing enough, and next thing ya know I got myself a herniated disc. So I'm trying to follow the advice of my physical therapists and reduce the weights while still trying to make it feel like I'm getting something done. I'll go tomorrow, then, and see how I'm feeling Saturday.

Exercise is, of course, only part of the equation, but whenever I do well losing weight it's when I'm also exercising regularly. Meanwhile, the dietary changes have to start now, and it sounds like my mom is finally getting on board trying to fix her own diet. So that should be an immense help.

Clothes have been fitting really poorly for a while since I went through a lot of (positive) transition over the last few months, not to mention menopause as well, so will need to get that weight back off and increase my overall fitness. Been going a bit crazy with the "comfort" foods and eating out too much, so need to cut back on those and replace with eating more at home again and healthier options. Going to start replacing the sweets with fruit as a beginning and have more meals at home like I had been doing before the transition.

Update: The program has indeed helped me change my habits. I actually lost weight on a 3 day business trip, something I've never experienced before. And it's not psychologically stressful, with the support it gives.

I'm down almost 7 pounds in 12 days. Turns out, the problem I had before was that once I had lost 15 pounds, I didn't drop my calorie budget (and that would not have worked anyway, with the high caloric density stuff I was eating). That meant that I was just maintaining, while wondering why I could not lose more. Rookie mistake.

Anyway, happy times! Just ordered some new pants since mine are too large after 20+ pounds lost in the last year. Amazing that I can say that.

I joined Slimming World a few weeks back to try it out. Going really well so far! I'm 6 lbs down after 2 weeks and sticking to plan this week:) I'm surprised by how little effort it is, my candy and crisps consumption has dropped about 80% i'd say.

Stalled for over two weeks right around 220, and finally broke through to 217! Huzzay!

Hi all, first post in the thread. Was told a lil while ago needed to lower cholesterol and lose a bit of weight at a 40+ NHS check up.

A regime of zero biscuits and a lot more exercise has meant 9lbs down in Jan.

My wife and I have done a Red January charity thing. Meaningful exercise every day for Jan, to raise awareness and cash for UK mental health charity MIND. Which has helped a whole bunch to stay motivated for the exercise bit.

At 6ft tall I was up to 15 stone before Christmas. Today 14 stone 5lbs.

Ideal target 13 stone. Maybe realistic target 13 and a half... and of course lower cholesterol, have to book another check up in a couple weeks.

Sorry to come in and blurb. Hope all your efforts are going well!

New to the thread so will browse back through a bit see what you all are doing.

Bubblefuzz, congratulations on the weight loss and in driving a spike of Americans googling how much a "stone" is I've gotta start calculating my weight in stone, I would sound much lighter!

Recently had a serious health scare that among other things caused me to lose 35 pounds. Not in the healthy way. But I am looking on the bright side and trying to use this as a head start on a journey back to a healthy BMI. Six weeks ago I dusted off an old Fitbit Charge HR and started tracking calories with that and Myfitnesspal.

A few weeks went by and it appears that the Charge HR is too generous with calories burned. Didn't gain weight but sure didn't lose any. I upgraded my tracker to the Charge 3 which appears to be more accurate. I used to use a Polar chest strap in a previous life but I like the Fitbit for convenience all day use, plus features.

That said, I weighed in today and lost only .5 pounds. Though with my current goals set it should have been 2 pounds. Ordered a food scale as it is the only thing I can think of to boost accuracy in tracking.

I also cut out all beverages except coffee and water (no beer or soda in the last three months) and am a bit underwhelmed with how little that made a difference in weight loss.

TBH, I don't look at the scale that much any more. I've been doing Camp Gladiator with my wife 3 or 4 times a week and eating more healthy in general (I've only been drinking water for years and years so did not have to change that) and while my weight has not changed much in the last 4 months I have changed to a new belt and already dropped a couple spots on that new belt since starting. Also my % body fat has gone down and my skeletal muscle mass has gone up.

mrlogical wrote:

Bubblefuzz, congratulations on the weight loss and in driving a spike of Americans googling how much a "stone" is I've gotta start calculating my weight in stone, I would sound much lighter!

Ha. Well I've very nearly lost a whole 1 of those stones now 1lb to go.

Still swimming every other day. I have fallen off the C25K this month, I do plan to get back to it, but tbh I'm not a natural jogger. I have signed up to a Cancer charity challenge over here, 20,000 steps every day for March. I probably average 10k a day atm so I may have bitten off more than I can chew there with the 20k we'll see.

karmajay wrote:

TBH, I don't look at the scale that much any more. I've been doing Camp Gladiator with my wife 3 or 4 times a week and eating more healthy in general (I've only been drinking water for years and years so did not have to change that) and while my weight has not changed much in the last 4 months I have changed to a new belt and already dropped a couple spots on that new belt since starting. Also my % body fat has gone down and my skeletal muscle mass has gone up.

I agree that BMI is more important than scale weight. I too have switched to smaller size clothing and can tell I look leaner in the mirror. Current weight is 226. In my 20s I was in damn good shape and weight moved between 180-190. I would like to get back within sight of that. Would be happy with 200.

Using a Fitindex scale which purports to measure body fat percentages, visceral fat, muscle mass etc. My visceral fat and BMI are still in the red.

Heretk, one thing to consider is that only a third, or less, of the calories from exercise will actually influence weight loss. So if you figure an hour of exercise of some kind burns 450 calories, you should only count 150 or so as helping with weight loss.

Heretk wrote:
karmajay wrote:

TBH, I don't look at the scale that much any more. I've been doing Camp Gladiator with my wife 3 or 4 times a week and eating more healthy in general (I've only been drinking water for years and years so did not have to change that) and while my weight has not changed much in the last 4 months I have changed to a new belt and already dropped a couple spots on that new belt since starting. Also my % body fat has gone down and my skeletal muscle mass has gone up.

I agree that BMI is more important than scale weight. I too have switched to smaller size clothing and can tell I look leaner in the mirror. Current weight is 226. In my 20s I was in damn good shape and weight moved between 180-190. I would like to get back within sight of that. Would be happy with 200.

Using a Fitindex scale which purports to measure body fat percentages, visceral fat, muscle mass etc. My visceral fat and BMI are still in the red.

I would recommend starting with strength and flexibility training, and then moving on to fun sports that aren't too hard on the joints. Increasing muscle mass and decreasing sugar are the best ways to lose weight, because they also build fitness, which is probably more important.

Robear wrote:

Heretk, one thing to consider is that only a third, or less, of the calories from exercise will actually influence weight loss. So if you figure an hour of exercise of some kind burns 450 calories, you should only count 150 or so as helping with weight loss.

That is good to know. Fitbit and Myfitness pal share data and I believe their math takes that into account. In any case, I try and leave a few spare calories unspent in the budget at the end of the day. I know wrist trackers are not as accurate as chest straps. But the Charge 3 got good reviews for accuracy.

LarryC wrote:

I would recommend starting with strength and flexibility training, and then moving on to fun sports that aren't too hard on the joints. Increasing muscle mass and decreasing sugar are the best ways to lose weight, because they also build fitness, which is probably more important.

Have always been a weightlifter, gradually going from lean and strong to fat and strong as I got older. Was doing Wendler 5/3/1 up until about a year ago when I switched to a home gym. Now its primarily kettlebells and bodyweight exercises. This recent health event is what inspired me to really knuckle down and lose weight. For me the training part has always come easy - I love to do it. It's the diet and sleep discipline that I struggle with.

Thanks all for the insight. I am learning/tweaking my diet habits as I go.

I really need to do something about my diet. It's gotten a good bit out of control since I made my most recent life transition last year with new line of work and lots of disruptions in my routine. These have been *positive* things, but still stressful, even if good stress, so I find myself doing a lot more comfort eating and eating out more due to lots of time spent in the car and needing to make stops in the midst of travel. It also doesn't help that there are lot more pot lucks and dinner invitations now too. I really need to do something about this *psychologically* so that I can get back to a more healthy diet and not feel like I'm just depriving myself.

Noom is based on scientific evidence - lots of studies - and uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as the basis for change. CBT is very well respected.

I love it.

So after getting down to 199 pounds before I went to France, I went back up to 210 by the time I got back (7 months later). Damn French pastries. I expected it though so I wasn't too bummed. What I am bummed about is that I can't get back on track. I'm eating crap left and right. I finished a jar of chocolate covered caramels from Sams Club in 3-4 days. Then I bought another one because I didn't want my wife to realize I ate the damn thing. Now I'm 2/3rds into that jar. I'm thinking of throwing them in the garbage. Now I'm up to 213.

The bad thing is I think there is a good correlation between my eating and high blood pressure. On bad eating days my blood pressure tends to rise by bedtime to 130/80 to 150/92. I don't get above 140/85 that frequently, but I'm sure over the years I've hit it a ton.

I want to live a long time, but with my eating and long history of eating way to much sugar I'm worried about what I've already done to my body. I don't know why I have such troubles laying off the crap. I just took my blood pressure tonight and it was 148/88. I need to change, but change is freakin' difficult. I have to remember how good about myself I felt when I got under 200 pounds last year for the first time in probably 8-10 years.