Weight Loss Challenge

[Pyrate81]

Thanks Mike!


Last Week's Weight: 283
Weigh in: 281
Lost: -2


We are supposed to get warm weather this week so I should be able to hit the pavement almost every day. With a weigh in Friday, it'll be a short week for the mid-challenge weigh in. The biggest loser has lost 16 lbs and I just moved into 2nd place with 9 lbs. Hopefully he takes another extended vacation.

[Pyrate81]

Monday's weigh in: 281
Weigh in: 280
Lost: -1


10 lbs lost in 4 weeks. Not bad for just getting started.

[wilomn]

Not bad at all. Every pound is a win. Keep on keeping on.

On another note, I miss ice cream.

[NH93]

Not bad at all. Every pound is a win. Keep on keeping on.

On another note, I miss ice cream.

The beautiful thing about losing weight - for good - is that it is a lifestyle change, not a temporary diet. If you love ice cream, don't cut it out! Just cut it down, and eat it intelligently.
Not like with a pair of glasses, and perhaps a book in one hand... or maybe a monicle instead. I don't know.

Eat SMART is what I mean! Love ice cream? Find some low-fat frozen yogurt (JUST AS GOOD. I PROMISE). Buy the smallest carton they have, and measure out how much you eat. Have it as a treat once in awhile. No need to break-up with your favourite foods. Just cut down on them.

I am a HUGE sugar lover. I'll admit it. I would never, ever, deny myself that. I know if I do (and I have before... found out the hard way) that I'll cave one day and go bonkers, eating all the bad foods and WAY overdoing it. If I allow myself little bits once a day, not an issue. I've got my "fix". Same goes if you like salty foods. Have a couple olives, or a handful of seeds, or nuts or what have you. Maybe some rice chips or whatever. Just do it smart. At least, it works VERY WELL for me.

[Pyrate81]

Not bad at all. Every pound is a win. Keep on keeping on.

On another note, I miss ice cream.

Thanks man. Keep doing what you're doing too.

Haven't had icecream lately myself.


NH93- It's not always easy or about eating low fat foods. Some people have extreme weaknesses to certain foods or maybe now have allergies, intolerances or diabetes. Specifically, I stay away from pizza and pasta specifically because if I'm around it, I don't stop eating. 2-3 Slices of pizza turns into eating the whole pie real easy and a bowl of pasta turns into eating a whole pound. My family also has a history of heart attack, heart disease, and diabetes. So I cut out the carbs and sugars as much as possible so I minimize how often I gorge myself on those carbs. Though this is one specific example.

For me, food has been like a drug: it makes/made me feel good when I'm down, it makes me feel even better when I'm feeling good. When I used to sit down with 3-4 burritos, 4-5 tacos, and 2-3 gorditas from taco bell(all in one sitting), it made me feel really good to be stuffed. There were times I've done it 2-3 times a week without a second thought. A lot of people do not understand why/how some people feel better emotionally or mentally after gorging themselves. Rarely did I feel disgusting, mostly I feel proud and comfortable. So when it feels good to do that, it becomes harder to change or reverse those actions and feelings.

I find a lot of people who have never been heavy or gained a little weight after being thin or in shape for most of their lives are able to handle weight loss differently/better than those of us who have been heavy for most of our lives because of how we were trained to eat physically and mentally. Our bodies have been programed to keep taking in exessive amounts of food/calories and store fat. Thinner peoples' bodies are not programmed to store fat. Over time that can change one way or the other and for some it's easier than others.

Reprogramming yourself mentally, emotionally, and physically is one of the hardest things to do when it is not triggered by a life-altering event or when someone is too stubborn and set in their ways to make changes on the fly. Some of us take time to change while others can change in an instant.

/gets off soapbox Sorry for the lecture.

[NH93]

But that's exactly what I mean. If you cut out things completely, at least from my experiences (and friends who have lost weight) you are way more likely to go rampant when you do eat those things. It sounds that way from what you just wrote as well.

And I have lost a significant amount of weight before, and have been working to keep it off for several years. I am aware of the popular science behind maintaining weight, just as you are. The longer you stay at a certain weight, the more your body gets used to it. So if you are constantly changing, it confuses your body.
Yes I completely agree that every body is different, but I don't think it's unfair or untrue to say that weight loss is a mind game.
You obviously don't have to take my advice, or anyone that has given you some. But you did make a thread for this, and I'm offering you advice that has continued to work for myself and others who have lost weight. And I have kept it off. So I must have done something right


Best of luck!

[Pyrate81]

Honestly, your words come across a little snarky and a bit close-minded.

It wasn't about rejecting your advice. I think you missed part of the message. My taco bell scenario seemed to have fallen on deaf eyes. Did you not understand that food is/was/can be a drug? Can you fathom that it takes an immense amount of willpower to not have a snack before bed every night? By snack I mean a bowl of cereal, or a sleeve of cookies with milk, or 4 bacon cheeseburgers from Wendy's, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a tall glass of milk, or half a dozen donuts, or a second dinner, or 4th meal from taco bell? For some of us, weight loss is a mental game and/or a struggle because we don't think the way we are eating is "bad" or do not think we are excessively overweight. Some of us are "programmed" to eat a certain way cause that's what we were taught or somehow learned to eat that way(I blame my parents). Let that sink in for a minute.

My kitchen is on my way to the bedroom. It takes a lot for me to not stop in for something to chew on every night. For some reason there was a stronger urge for me to cook up a pound of pasta and eat the whole thing than there was to just walk by and go to bed. That's why I don't keep pasta or pizza or bread or snack food in my apartment; so it's not there for me to eat it.

When I was down to 200 pounds and looked at new pictures of myself vs older ones, it finally dawned on me that I was "fat" and larger than I really thought I was. Did that prevent me from gaining the weight back? Nope, cause I hadn't fully assimilated my new lifestyle and reverted back to old habits.

Also, sometimes people NEED to actually cut out specific foods to become healthy or to stop adversely affecting their health. The person who becomes diabetic needs to cut out(at least temporarily) cake, ice cream, etc to lower their blood sugar. The 40 year old with high blood pressure and is in danger of a heart attack needs to cut out eating bacon cheeseburgers at lunch every Friday. Maybe someone hits 38 and suddenly becomes lactose intolerant and needs to cut out dairy.

Some people may have looked in the mirror one day and thought they looked overweight and needed to make a change. Changes began in the instant the decision was made. For some people it's easy to make sudden changes in their lives and others are more of a type to make changes over time or struggle mightily with change.

But that's exactly what I mean. If you cut out things completely, at least from my experiences (and friends who have lost weight) you are way more likely to go rampant when you do eat those things. It sounds that way from what you just wrote as well....

There are 2 parts to what I said, the first part was addressed. The second part is here:

This is true and is a cause for people to "yo-yo" their weight. For myself specifically as an example, my balance comes in the extremes. I may not eat pizza for months then have it 3 times in a week then not have any for anther 3-4 months. This works for me, but probably doesn't not work for most. I didn't keep the weight off the first time because I didn't know what to do with myself after I did lose it. Which is another reason why people yo-yo. They think they can go back to old eating habits or don't have a post loss plan.

This thread was meant to chronicle my journey and be an inspiration to others while recruiting supporters and cheerleaders for my own selfish reasons.

I've been a fatty for 2/3 of my life, how long were you "fat" for?

[NH93]

I'm sorry you think I am coming off "snarky and close-minded". That certainly was not my intent, and I apologize for the emotionless words on a computer screen... unfortunately it can be hard to convey at ties. But in my opinion, it sounds as if you think you are the only person who has an issue with overeating.

What may work for me may not work for you. But I am not just talking out my ass the literature backs it up as well. But, the way I do weight loss is not how everyone does of course. As you've clearly mentioned.
I will agree to disagree with you on the cutting out of foods, and that's fine. We don't have to agree. I was just sharing my experience, as you have yours.

Keep in mind that this open-mindedness you are talking about goes both ways.

But I'm out of this thread.

Cheers.

[NH93]

I've been a fatty for 2/3 of my life, how long were you "fat" for?

And to answer your final question, I am actually shocked that you've asked this. Do you really think comparing a length of time of being overweight is a fair evaluation of one's health, mental wellbeing, or personal struggle? You are assuming in this comment that I don't understand you. You are assuming that I was not "fat" for as long as you, or have not been in your frame of mind. Are you not? Now I am actually upset.
I was "fat" for several years, as I've mentioned. Several years in my life, means half my life. I have had to work through mental blocks, physical barriers, and the like, just as any overweight person. To be putting me down, you are embarrassing yourself. To talk like that, and assume that my experience is invalid because I am not exactly like you, or have had your exact experiences, is uncalled for. So what, if I weighed another 100 lbs then you'd take me seriously?
Doesn't that negate the whole weight-loss idea? Wouldn't it make more sense for someone who is now healthy, who was once unhealthy and overweight, to also be giving sound advice?

I never said you had to take my advice. But you yourself said I was close-minded and snarky. You, unfortunately, have now put yourself in that very light.
Perhaps when you are in the right frame of mind to respect yourself, you'll respect others as well.

[zee-man]

Hey big dawg (not meant cruely at all, I call lots of people that, its a lifting thing!), how's it going? Glad to see you're making progress. Its all one small step at a time to total towards the finish line. Focus on the today and not the tomorrow. My English teacher in highschool was a marathon runner and said people would ask him how he could run so far. Well, he started at his house, then went to the end of the street, then to the stop sign down the road, and every piece he completed he set a new piece as his "next step." Don't worry about the contest at all, that weight will come. Focus on the piece today and tomorrow will come.

Remember that folks may come across as a higher than thou, but it most likely isn't intentional in the least. Its kind of like when you're at the top of a hill in a sprint and you see your team mate trucking towards you from partway up the hill, out of breath, visibly exhausted, and sweating his arse off. The people at the top of the hill are yelling and cheering and waving their hands offering encouragement. To the guy doing the running, he can hate them and love them at the same time, but know those folks at the top of the hill only do it because they want their team mate at the top of the hill with them, to feel that success. We've been through that battle, fought those cravings and thoughts. Everyone has their demons to deal with that makes things just a bit different, but regardless, if you really want this, folks who've been there will support your effort.


You're absolutely right, food may be your crutch. Hell, I love eating and sometimes I do still enjoy having some fun food times. The goal is not to make it consistently occurring. I know you know this. What I can offer for you is some ideas is to create other scenarios that would make having those foods inconvenient. Don't stock junk food in your home - if you have issues grocery shopping and not buying it, ask a family/friend to help out. Don't allot "play money" that could go towards food. Budget for your needs and don't go over. To feed off the previous idea, get a jar and label it "reptile fund". Every time you think about buying a candy bar, burger, or whatever, take the money for that item and put it in the jar. By the end of your diet, you're going to have amassed a ton of money - enough to reward yourself with a new herp for your collection, bought and paid for courtesy of the food you didn't eat.


Spin the negative to positive. I'm rooting for ya, and so is everyone else who visits this thread! Keep it up, one week at a time.