Going on a Diet

[masqueofhastur]

Originally Posted by kmwrestle

thanks for all the suggestions guys.

my biggest problem is when i eat i eat. i do need portion control. i need to order a small or even a medium sandwhich instead of the large sub bag of chips and a coke. im not a big desert eater, its more meals for me. and when i see food i eat. when im bored i eat. 4 years ago i was wrestling in college......just to think,

Pity you were a heavy weight, otherwise you'd already have the experience to control what you eat in place. Even if you don't control your portions, eating better food will help.

 

[kmwrestle]

my biggest problem is just eating unctrollably. if i see something good ill want it reguardless of wether or not i was hungry. the past few days have been really hard trying to eliminate this. Yesterday for example my mom made these coffee cakes as she was having someone over. Well that lady then brings over a couple loafs of homemade bread and chocolate cake with icing(shes a professional baker). So now everytime i go into the kitchen thats sitting there....normally id just eat it everytime i go in...now im holding back. Another example is i had to go into work to pick up something...well im asked "oh are you hungry wanna get something to eat" when i wasnt planning on eating. it was so hard to turn that down. I think just eliminating the little things like that will make a world of difference.

 

[phooi]

I recently lost weight myself & I agree with the folks here. It is not a diet. You are making a lifestyle change. It took me almost a year to lose the weight and have been able to keep it off now ever since. The key was changing my diet & adding in exercise. There is no other magic pill.

I will share you one experience I found interesting (although discouraging at the time). After about 6 weeks of exercise and changing my diet I actually gained weight. Don't be discouraged. Upon reflection, I realized two things -- 1) I have a naturally slow metabolism and 2) the exercise was adding muscle (and muscle is heavier than fat). After about 2 months, the weight started coming off.

I wish you the best of luck on this journey!

 

[mensimageconsultant]

Here's a tip for portion control: include some low-fat protein in every small meal and eat it first, slowly. That way, your appetite will have diminished by the time you are ready for the carbs that are easy to overconsume.

 

[Nothing]

Originally Posted by kmwrestle

After browsing the forum here for about a month now I realized im learning all this stuff about how to dress better to look better, but im missing the obvious. I am extremley overweight, to the point no clothes is going to help me. I have vowed tonight to start the journey in loosing a substantial amount of weight. I was planning on waiting till new years, but today i realized how gross i had become. Idealy Id want to lose almost 1/2 of my body weight. I have gained almost 140lbs in about 4 years. I will use this thread to periodically monitor my progress. Wish me luck. I am about 6' tall.

Starting weight as of 12/5/06: 416.5lbs
Goal weight: 250lbs
Amount needed to hit target: 166.5

Lose weight not just to look better, but to feel better and add more years to your life.

If I may give you a piece of advice. - think long-term as far as weight loss. With the amount of weight you need to lose, it will take a lot of time and you need to be careful in the beginning not to over-do it. So, for your goal... you should honestly be thinking of something like a 1.5 year plan. And I can promise you, the most important part of that plan is CONSISTENCY. You MUST get to the gym 4 or 5 days a week and you CAN'T quit or not go on days you don't feel well or holidays or any other excuse. Go, Go, Go!

Good luck!!!

N.

 

[Max]

For real, this is going to take you 2-3 years.

 

[carlhuber]

I wish you much success! Tip: out of sight, out of mind. You mentioned your mom generally has a lot of baked good laying around, because her friend is a pro-baker. Ask her to help you by bringing the leftovers in to her office (or send 'em in with dad, whatever) - or at the least put them in a cupboard. Any time I visit my folks I end up snacking my way through the day because their kitchen table is covered with candy, crackers, cookies, etc.... Get addicted to water instead of soda by trying Arizona Diet Iced Tea - it comes in a huge jug and you can just sit there and glug it. Then dilute it half-and-half with water. Then just water.

 

[kmwrestle]

Starting weight 12/5/06: 416.5 lbs
Goal weight: 250 lbs
Current Weight as of 12/12/06: 412 lbs
Amount needed to hit target: 162 lbs
Total amount lost: 4.5 lbs

Probably would of even been more if it wasnt for my binge friday night at my companys xmas party drinking and eating. Still i lost 1% of my total weight in a week so i cant complain. As long as I can keep motivated I should be good.(hence im doing the tracker to keep myself honest). I realize its only going to get harder the closer i get to my goal weight.

 

[Petyot]

Hi,

I was not exactly in the same boat than you but still, I had a lot of weight to loose. I was 248 for 6'1".

I found this great book on the net : "The Hacker's diet" (free to download at this address : http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/)

After 5 month of eating less (yes, just eating less) I am now at 213. I have lost 35 pounds in 20 weeks by following the advice I found in this book. My target is 195 pounds.

You should give a look at this book.

Good luck,

Pierre

 

[kmwrestle]

unfortuneatly it is hard to lose weight during the holidays and that proved to be true for me as well. Too many parties and good food did me in. But as of Jan 2nd, i went back on track, even more focued than origionally. I had gained back the few pounds i had lost during the holidays so it went to overdrive. I am currently eating around 1750 calories a day (which is like 1/3 of what i was used to) and going to the gym on an almost daily basis. So far I have gone Mon, tues, thurs and leaving shortly to go again. Im doing about 45-50 minutes on the eliptical machines at pace that pushes me (with incline and resistance). I weighed myself this morning at 408, so i have successfully lost the weight I put back on as well as lose some.

Starting weight 12/5/06: 416.5 lbs
Goal weight: 250 lbs
Current Weight as of 1/5/07: 408 lbs
Amount needed to hit target: 158 lbs
Total amount lost: 8.5 lbs

 

[kapay]

That's awesome! I'm actually trying to help my ex-girlfriend lose a bit of weight and no she's not this skinny little thing that's attempting to be 90 lbs. Since no one knows me, it should be safe to say she's 166 lbs and 5'2 and trying to reach 120 lbs. It's hard especially because I have completely opposite goals, I'm 115 lbs and 5'4 and am trying to reach 130 lbs. She unfortunately doesn't have too much time to research and start off on a "diet" or regularly workout so I'm trying to help her by doing the research for her and helping her every step of the way.

We're also both saving up to buy bicycles (can you believe we're ex's??). We both weren't really built for walking (I get occasional chest pains and she gets occasional knee pains) so we figured low intensity outside cardio would be good for us. However, another unfortunate issue is that we're both college students and tight on cash. So far we each have $10 and aiming for $400-$500 bikes *grin*

 

[kmwrestle]

i have been very strict with my diet the past 12 days eating between 1200-1700 calories compared to the 5-6000+ i was eating before. Ive made quite a bit of progress.

Starting weight 12/5/06: 416.5 lbs
Goal weight: 250 lbs
Current Weight as of 1/13/07: 397.5 lbs
Amount needed to hit target: 147.5 lbs
Total amount lost: 19 lbs

i will probably allow myself tomorrow as a cheat day to reward myself on all my progress (plus its playoff pats game). but i think i deserve it to indulge a little.

 

[texas_jack]

That's pretty good progress. Congrats.

 

[Stazy]

Keep up the good work!

 

[ronmill]

First of all, allow me to say kudos on the progress so far. Here are some simple but effective tips that you could use that has helped me:

Replace the carbonated soda with water, or if that is too plain, flavored water. Dasani makes Lemon, Strawberry, Grape. Lipton also has peach or green tea flavored Diet Iced Tea. Both brands have no calories, no carbs, no sugars. The only difference is sodium (which your body regulates if you exercise so no worries there)

Lay off the carb heavy foods (pasta, breads, rice, potatoes). If you eat them, be sure it is early in the day(before 4pm) and try wheat bread, brown pasta, brown rice instead of the white variety.

Don't eat late. Period.

As the day progresses, eat smaller meals. Personally, I eat my largest meals before noon. If I MUST eat at night, I keep it simple with a bowl of cereal (2% milk of course)

Don't eat infrequent, large meals. Your body will kick into survival mode and hold on to every bit of food you consume. Instead keep yogurt or cashews or something small that you can munch on throughout the day.

As far as your workout is concerned: don't concetrate so much on pounds, instead focus on decreasing your body fat %. Muscle is more dense than fat, so counting pounds may be misleading. Muscle mass also increases metabolism.

I hope this helps, this is what immediately comes to mind when I think of eating healthier and improving body image. I'll contribute more as it comes to mind.

Good Luck and remember it's a lifestyle.