Losing Weight and Keeping it off.

[88keys]

I've been dieting, losing and gaining weight for 10 years.

Back in 2003, I was 365lbs. I was on the Atkins diet which was very tough, but also very successful. I managed to go all the way down to 270. But then my power was out for a week due to a hurricane. I lived in a very rural area and the Atkins diet wasn't that popular yet, so there wasn't much available in regards to fast food or food that doesn't require heating or reheating so that week knocked me off track for a while and I gained 60 lbs bringing me back up to 330lbs.

In 2005, I started a diet just involving calorie restriction (1600/day), and I made it down to 250lbs, but I didn't manage to keep it off very long and gained 30 lbs back up to 280lbs.

Then in mid 2006, I modified my calorie diet to 2000/2400 calories per day. 2400 calories were allowed on work out days which would be 3 or 4 days a week. I also stopped skipping breakfast, and ate several smaller meals in the day as opposed to 3 larger meals. This was very successful and I managed to go all the way down to 215 with a 10lb anticipated gain bringing me up to 225lbs which I maintained for 3 years.
I'm 6'0" and my body fat at the time was 17-19% according to different methods. I took a break for a while and went back to the gym to start building some muscle and at that same weight I was down to about 14% body fat using the pinch test.


In 2009. I got a new job which was in a quality lab so I was no longer doing much physical labor... That and in 2010/2011 there were periodic temporary layoffs for 2 and 3 weeks at a time.

So as you can imagine I started gaining weight, and from 2009 until last year I ballooned way back up to 387lbs.

I've spent this past year letting frustration get the better of me, I just haven't been able to find the motivation to get back in the gym. My appetite was uncontrollable. I would spend half a day dieting and the other day eating even more than what I would have if I hadn't tried to start a diet in the first place.
I'm still young (32), so I haven't really felt the serious consequences of my obesity catch up to me yet, but I was beginning to last summer. I go to things like car shows and cons somewhat regularly and you're usually on your feet all day walking around. And I noticed how much less endurance that I had for these things. Running out of breath more easily, etc.

So decided to see a doctor about getting some help.

I explained that I mainly needed something to control my appetite. So the doctor reviewed my history and checked my blood pressure (130/80 miraculously) to see if I was okay for weight loss drugs Last month I was prescribed with phentermine which is very effective, and I've lost 27lbs relatively effortlessly.

The doctor said that I can only be on this for a maximum of 6 months at full dosage. After that I'm on my own. Which is okay because all I want right now is to get under 300lbs. After that I think I can go the rest of the way.

Right now what I've been thinking about is what my lifetime diet should consist of when I come off of this. Calorie restriction works. But I don't feel like I honestly tackled the real problem which is my appetite. My method for keeping the weight off was a diet averaging 2500 calories/day and being sure to drink 3 - 5 quarts of water daily. My method of appetite control worked, but not permanently. I basically didn't keep much food in the fridge and went shopping every 2 - 3 days. It was out of sight out of mind.


IMO for people like me. Weight issues are more like a substance abuse problem. Recovering drug addicts don't have 'cheat days'. Maybe the solution is to cut out all unhealthy foods permanently.

I'm also possibly considering a vegan diet or at least a mostly vegan diet with exceptions to allow seafood and poultry on occasion.

I just need something that I can stick with forever, and if I could get something started while the will power comes easy, perhaps it will be easier to resist in the long term. Back when I was on Atkins, I recall it being tough for the first 2 months, I eventually completely lost my taste for junk food. Maybe if I go long enough it will happen again.


Just looking for advice, opinions, etc.

 

[highland145]

substance abuse problem

This.

Google sugar addiction.

Counselor...why do you over eat and can you get a hold on it.
Dietitian...what you can and can not have and why.
Support Group...not fatty whiners or people that do not really have your weight loss goals as a priority.
Strict healthy regimen...food/exercise/hobbies/places you visit/friends/adjust your schedule. If I work out in the AM and come straight home after work or have a meeting , my bane(below) doesn't show up.
Figure out what your triggers are.
Many can not understand why you overeat.

I've over eaten as long as I can remember as a "comforter". Zero control if there's some food I like in the house. But the "comforter" doesn't work because then there's the guilt of eating the poor quality groceries I've just sucked up.

Solution...keep that shit out of the house.

I've gotten by for years by making exercise part of my addictive personality. 6 days a week, I'm doing some type of exercise. Getting harder as I age though.

Sticky fat loss thread.

Many here have succeed and will help you.

 

[Kaido]

Just looking for advice, opinions, etc.

Here is my advice:

1. Diet is everything.

Forget exercise. Real weight loss comes from a proper diet. All you have to do is eat right and the pounds will come off. So that's the first thing you need to drill into your head: you don't need to worry about working up the motivation to go to the gym right now, because food is the solution to your weight problem, not exercise. Forget exercise. Get your diet in shape instead and once you get to a healthy weight, you'll find that you have the energy to work out if you want to.

2. Healthy food can taste good.

When I first got into Health & Fitness, I thought that eating clean meant no more good tasting food. If you are willing to prepare you own food, every meal can taste great. This was a revelation to me and was one of the things that held me back from really getting myself into a healthier situation, because I love food and am a huge foodie. The subconscious thought of having to force myself to eat bland & unappetizing meals every day was a real roadblock for me.

3. Adopt a meal plan, not a "diet".

Diets don't work because a "diet" is a temporary thing. What you need is a meal plan. A good meal plan is a menu of tasty foods that fit your goals. A meal plan is something you can adopt for life - a permanent lifestyle change. You also need to eat more. Like 6 meals a day. I have a high metabolism and I love food, which is a terrible combination if you like junk food like me, haha. But the good news is, eating smaller meals more often kickstarts your metabolism and burns off the fat. It also keeps cravings away, because if you're always full, it's easier to not eat junk food, especially when you know you'll be eating again in 2 or 3 hours.

4. You don't need to be 100%.

The good news is, you don't have to be 100% perfect on your diet. You can be 90% and still get great results. If you go 100%, you will snap & binge, especially if you have a history of doing that (which probably applies to every human alive lol). Even professional bodybuilders have cheat days, because psychologically you're still going to want to eat your favorite foods, and if you completely skip them, the pressure will build up and you'll snap. You can still have them, but as a treat or special meal once or twice a week instead of every day or for every meal. I used to eat out a lot, and I still do eat out, but only once in awhile when I want a treat. The rest of the time I cook my own (tasty) meals.

Other thoughts:

I'm not a numbers person. I don't count calories and I don't track my food intake. I basically cook up 6 small meals per day and eat them every 2 or 3 hours. The trick to learn is to eat until you're full, but not stuffed. Then to eat again in a few hours, all day long. I have 6 timers on my cell phone to remind me when to eat my meals, and I carry them all in plastic containers in a giant lunchbox. I completely eliminate any margin for excuses because my food is always nearby, ready to eat, and my smartphone alarms remind me when to eat. All I have to do is shovel tasty food in my mouth when my timer beeps. Pretty easy!

The good news is, you've overcome the first two hurdles: you've recognized that you have a problem, and you've decided that you want to fix it. It's downhill from here! There are a million ways to go about this, but my recommendation is simple: eat 6 small meals a day, consisting of a lean meat & a vegetable. I eat the same 6 meals every day because I can cook them all on the weekend and not have to worry about cooking during the week. That may sound a little boring, but there's enough variety that I don't get sick of it. I change it up every now & then; here's my current meal plan:

1. Bunless Burger (Portabella mushroom topped with gaucamole, hamburger patty, sweet potato)
2. Salmon + Steamed Carrots
3. Chicken Breast + Sweet Potato
4. Tuna Wrap (basically a tuna salad-filled burrito with some sliced bell peppers & cherry tomatoes)
5. Ground Chicken Chili + Beans
6. Turkey Meatloaf + Baked Potato

Everything tastes great! So if you are serious about losing weight, adopt the fact that eating healthy food (lean meats, good carbs, good fats, 2000mg or less of sodium per day) will make you skinny. Once you get skinny, you will have more energy & motivation to go to the gym. You can eat great-tasting food all day long if you're willing to cook, it's that simple.

One more bit of advice: go to bed early. Before 10pm, at least. The earlier the better. If you're tired, you're not going to want to cook, you're going to want to eat junk food, and you're not going to want to workout because you just don't have the energy to care enough. imo this is the most underrated part of getting & staying in shape, but the most powerful. Anyway, hang in there, good job for posting, and keep at it. We're here to help! Having a big appetite is a good thing, it's just time to divert the stream from unhealthy eating to awesome eating!

 

[MrDudeMan]

I was 300 pounds when I decided to start losing weight. I'm a big guy, so my target weight is 215. I'm currently at 231.5, so I'm getting really close. I used the tried and true 'hard work' method: eating healthy food and exercising.

My appetite was the main problem. I decided the right way to handle it was to setup distractions that would pull me away after I had a healthy, normal amount of food. I put 1/3rd of the food on my plate that I used to and then walk away after it's gone. If I'm still hungry in 30 minutes, then I'll eat a little more, but, usually, I'm not. That little 'trick' (plus eating healthier food) is responsible for probably 50% of my weight loss. The rest is due to exercise. I started running after I lost a little bit of weight. Cardio dropped the pounds about 5x faster than eating right (I weighed myself every day and kept track of the numbers), but obviously both are important. Food is definitely more important long term in my opinion, but cardio should still be part of your weekly routine. A lot of people like to say cardio doesn't cause weight loss, but let me know when you see a fat runner. Yeah yeah, burning muscle versus fat, blah blah, if you're eating right and not killing yourself by running 30 miles per day, then you're burning fat. My muscles are the biggest they've been in 10 years by a huge margin and I've been running 15-30 miles per week.

highland145 is definitely right about keeping bad food out of the house. It's a lot more effort to eat it if you have to drive to the store to buy it. By then the feeling is usually gone, so keeping it out of your house will prevent you from eating it most of the time. Also, don't eat out a lot. I don't eat out more than once per month now and when I do end up going I eat as healthy as I can while still enjoying the meal. I also try not to eat everything on the plate.

EAT SLOW! I used to inhale my food, which definitely made me eat at least twice as much. This is still very hard for me and it's a daily struggle, but I force myself to wait one minute between bites. I hate that I have to do that, but it works. I enjoy what I'm eating a lot more and I eat substantially less of it. The distraction method I mentioned earlier works well with the one minute rule.

In the end, suppressing the feeling that drives you to eat is really hard and people who haven't been very overweight probably don't understand what you're going through. Food still consumes my thoughts sometimes, but I've kept the weight off for a long time now so I think I found something that works for me. If you can find a routine that works for you, I suspect you'll have similar or better success.

 

[MrDudeMan]

One more bit of advice: go to bed early. Before 10pm, at least. The earlier the better. If you're tired, you're not going to want to cook, you're going to want to eat junk food, and you're not going to want to workout because you just don't have the energy to care enough. imo this is the most underrated part of getting & staying in shape, but the most powerful. Anyway, hang in there, good job for posting, and keep at it. We're here to help! Having a big appetite is a good thing, it's just time to divert the stream from unhealthy eating to awesome eating!

The whole post was good, but this deserves reinforcement. Sleeping is so important, yet so underrated. It's pretty much impossible to feel good about what you're doing if you're always tired because working out and exerting effort to prepare food isn't as easy as ripping open a bag of oreos.

 

[Kaido]

The whole post was good, but this deserves reinforcement. Sleeping is so important, yet so underrated. It's pretty much impossible to feel good about what you're doing if you're always tired because working out and exerting effort to prepare food isn't as easy as ripping open a bag of oreos.

Thanks! This is absolutely the #1 showstopper that I've seen with everyone who has come to me for advice IRL. They stay up too late, then have no energy to cook or exercise, and end up eating junk food. It all boils down to the energy you have available. Sure, there are some outliers who have lots of energy & willpower no matter what they eat or how late they stay up, but the majority of people don't.

The statistics I like to quote are that 2/3 of Americans are overweight and 1/3 of Americans are obese. Most people operate based on how they feel, not what their commitments are. Therefore, if you are tired, even if you're committed to your plan, it's just easier to grab those Oreos and chill than it is to exercise & cook a healthy meal. Going to bed early and getting enough sleep (those two combined!!) are the real keys to success imo.

I removed the cooking aspect from my week by cooking on the weekends. I like to cook, but I like to cook at my leisure, and I don't always feel like cooking for fun when I get home from work after a long, stressful day. That's why I carry a stupidly large insulated picnic lunchbox and have silly plastic containers and set annoying alarms on my cell phone - it takes all of the effort out of eating healthy. My food tastes good because I follow my recipes, and this system basically funnels me into doing what I really want to do without much effort, so even when I am tired & don't feel good, it's still easier for me to do than caving to a cookie or Burger King or whatever.

 

[highland145]

Many here have succeed and will help you.

Told you, OP. MDM & K.:thumbsup:

More to come, I'm sure.

 

[Kaido]

highland145 is definitely right about keeping bad food out of the house. It's a lot more effort to eat it if you have to drive to the store to buy it. By then the feeling is usually gone, so keeping it out of your house will prevent you from eating it most of the time. Also, don't eat out a lot. I don't eat out more than once per month now and when I do end up going I eat as healthy as I can while still enjoying the meal. I also try not to eat everything on the plate.

Yeah, we try to keep just the whole foods we eat in the house, makes it easier for sure. I just introduced my 2-year-old to red quinoa and he chows down on that stuff like it's going out of style, but to him it's just another color of rice haha.

I also keep meals in the freezer I can heat up in a pinch, if I don't feel like cooking.

 

[Kaido]

EAT SLOW! I used to inhale my food, which definitely made me eat at least twice as much. This is still very hard for me and it's a daily struggle, but I force myself to wait one minute between bites. I hate that I have to do that, but it works. I enjoy what I'm eating a lot more and I eat substantially less of it. The distraction method I mentioned earlier works well with the one minute rule.

I actually do the opposite - especially lately where I've been working through lunch for the last few months. Sometimes I only have a couple minutes to grab a bite to eat, so I've been making soft stuff like meat & bean chili (almost like a thick soup) and meatloaf. The trick I mentioned above is to eat until I'm full but not stuffed, which took me a couple weeks to get used to, especially when I first started out on the 6-meals-a-day thing. I definitely wasn't used to eating that often, at least not healthy food, but once I got used to being full & feeling satisfied all day long, it was great! It keeps my blood sugar level as well, so no mid-morning or early-afternoon energy dips - keeps my brain online all day long with crashing, yay!

 

[Ventanni]

Lost 80lbs back in 2002, so I know how hard it is. Things that worked for me that may or may not work for you:

1. Exercise because you enjoy it, not because you feel like you have to. Personally I find jogging and lifting weights to be very enjoyable to me, but you won't see me doing laps in a swimming pool. Find an exercise that you really enjoy and love the hell out of it.

2. Let your body pick the food, not your tongue. See, most people don't realize that your body has an excellent way of telling you what's toxic to it and what's not by way of a muscle energy test. If something is toxic to you and you put it on your tongue, your muscles will instantly weaken. Pretty cool I think. Now, I'm not saying actually do this at every meal time, but just think about it for a second. You eat a meal and you feel like meh afterwards, it's probably because your body doesn't like what you just ate.

3. Incorporate your healthy living into your hobbies if you can. I love, love, love watching Starcraft 2 matches, so often I'll bust out the dumbells, ab roller, and pull-up bar and work out while I watch it. Getting a decent workout in only takes 30 minutes or so, which leads me to...

4. Make time for it. This is probably one of the most critical factors of it all, and for everything else in life, too. You want a good relationship with your spouse? You have to make time for that person. You want that promotion? You have to make time for go the extra mile so that you're an eligible candidate. If you want to be healthy, then you simply have to make time for yourself.

It's okay to be a little selfish when it comes to your health imho.

 

[Kaido]

2. Let your body pick the food, not your tongue. See, most people don't realize that your body has an excellent way of telling you what's toxic to it and what's not by way of a muscle energy test. If something is toxic to you and you put it on your tongue, your muscles will instantly weaken. Pretty cool I think. Now, I'm not saying actually do this at every meal time, but just think about it for a second. You eat a meal and you feel like meh afterwards, it's probably because your body doesn't like what you just ate.

Interesting note. I had undiagnosed food allergies for most of my life. I never understood that you were supposed to feel good after you ate food. I always either felt tired or mildly nauseous after meals. I had a friend with a kid who had very severe food allergies and she explained that you're actually supposed to get energy after you eat, which was an entirely new concept for me, as silly as that might sound. Eating food should make you feel good. Food should give you energy and make your tummy feel happy. You should not feel drained or sick to your stomach. Previously, the only time I felt decent was after eating stuff like sushi (rice + raw fish & veggies haha).

I don't think most people have it as severe as I did, but in America we have a very strange food culture where you usually don't feel too great after eating because we eat so much processed food. Again with the statistics: 2/3 of America is overweight, 1/3 of America is obese. It sounds silly to eat foods that kill your energy on a regular basis, but that's our culture - we make our foods addictive through salt, sugar, MSG, etc. so that we get the reward of eating something tasty, but then get stuck in that cycle of being tired & not feeling great - but at least we get to eat yummy food! And then we stay up late online or watching the tube, so we're in a constant cycle of coffee & donuts, junk food, fast food, and apathy :biggrin:

 

[smackababy]

I put 1/3rd of the food on my plate that I used to and then walk away after it's gone.

This is pretty much it, especially if you're cooking something. Just cook a portion that you want to eat. And if you don't have a bunch of easy junk food in the house, in the time it would take to prepare something else, you won't be hungry.

I have to do this, because I have a problem where I will continue eating. I seriously think I could eat until I died.

OP, also plan your meals and take a day to make them easier to prepare. When you get home from the grocery, portion everything out and put it together. The easier it to to cook, the more likely you will be to do it and not opt for ordering a pizza or something.

 

[KidNiki1]

Well, i'm going to have a little different input from everyone else here but....

to me, it's all about the calories. find out how many calories you should eat, and eat less than that. your bmr + your lifestlye = maintenance calories. just eat less than that. i keep track of calories and just lowering my calorie intake allowed me to lose almost 70 pounds so far. and i am still going.

obviously healthier foods are better for you, but i still find a way to fit in foods i like, ie cookies, ice cream, candy, chips, pizza, whatever 'bad' foods you like.

to me, it's alllllllll about balance. i like food. i love food actually, and i like a lot of foods that are considered 'bad'. but if i really want something, guess what, i have it. i just have to adjust my calories for the rest of the day.


if you really start tracking calories, imo, you start to gravitate to healthier foods anyway, because most of them are more calorie efficient. 4 servings of broccoli has the same calories as a glass of orange juice. one is much more filling then the other, so deciding between the two becomes easy. knowing calories helps make those kinds of decisions much easier for me.



other things i did were:

i stopped thinking about being on a 'diet'. i made a change in the way i want to live my life. and yet, i still find a way to enjoy food.

i cut out all soda and juice and drink almost all water. sometimes i have milk, tea or a lemonade, or even hot chocolate (yum!!) but most days i drink only water.

i severely limited my intake of fast food. there used to be days where i had fast food every meal of the day, several times a week. now, i maybe have it once a week, if that, and i try to make healthier choices.

i do cardio at least 6 days of the week, but that's just for heart health, and i make sure to add those calories back to my daily total.


as for when/how you eat, at the end of the day, find out what works for YOU. some people like to eat a bunch of little meals, some people eat 1-2 large meals. some people do intermittent fasting, some people dont eat breakfast, some do. but you'll find that one way works for you, and you'll do it!

 

[festa_freak]

Hello,

I feel your pain. I haven't been as drastic as you but I've ballooned in my life.

I recently moved out of my parents house and I purposely don't keep bad food in the house. I love ice cream and cookies and anything sweet. None of that exists in my house. I will not drive to the market for any of these things when the urge arises.

I also run and do weights. Now that it's winter, I'm going to need to get a gym membership for the first time ever. I usually just hibernate during the winter but I don't want to do that this year. I want to keep my weight loss and healthy lifestyle going. I've lost 40 pounds this year due to very hard work.

It's all about the little decisions I've found. When you string together a lot of good little decisions you have change.

"Recovering drug addicts don't have 'cheat days'. Maybe the solution is to cut out all unhealthy foods permanently."

This is a very neat way of looking at it. I've just come off a pretty bad weekend and I feel that I let myself down by eating a huge burger and pizza and other things. Now I have to work harder to get that excess crap out of my system and get back on target.

You can do it, just one small decision at a time. Some days you don't feel like working out, I understand that. Try with all your might to do at least 30 min of cardio on a bike or something. You will feel so much better about yourself when you do this.

 

[88keys]

This.

Google sugar addiction.

I'm fairly certain that is the issue at hand for me.

Here is my advice:

1. Diet is everything.

Forget exercise. Real weight loss comes from a proper diet. All you have to do is eat right and the pounds will come off. So that's the first thing you need to drill into your head: you don't need to worry about working up the motivation to go to the gym right now, because food is the solution to your weight problem, not exercise. Forget exercise. Get your diet in shape instead and once you get to a healthy weight, you'll find that you have the energy to work out if you want to.

2. Healthy food can taste good.

When I first got into Health & Fitness, I thought that eating clean meant no more good tasting food. If you are willing to prepare you own food, every meal can taste great. This was a revelation to me and was one of the things that held me back from really getting myself into a healthier situation, because I love food and am a huge foodie. The subconscious thought of having to force myself to eat bland & unappetizing meals every day was a real roadblock for me.

3. Adopt a meal plan, not a "diet".

Diets don't work because a "diet" is a temporary thing. What you need is a meal plan. A good meal plan is a menu of tasty foods that fit your goals. A meal plan is something you can adopt for life - a permanent lifestyle change. You also need to eat more. Like 6 meals a day. I have a high metabolism and I love food, which is a terrible combination if you like junk food like me, haha. But the good news is, eating smaller meals more often kickstarts your metabolism and burns off the fat. It also keeps cravings away, because if you're always full, it's easier to not eat junk food, especially when you know you'll be eating again in 2 or 3 hours.

4. You don't need to be 100%.

The good news is, you don't have to be 100% perfect on your diet. You can be 90% and still get great results. If you go 100%, you will snap & binge, especially if you have a history of doing that (which probably applies to every human alive lol). Even professional bodybuilders have cheat days, because psychologically you're still going to want to eat your favorite foods, and if you completely skip them, the pressure will build up and you'll snap. You can still have them, but as a treat or special meal once or twice a week instead of every day or for every meal. I used to eat out a lot, and I still do eat out, but only once in awhile when I want a treat. The rest of the time I cook my own (tasty) meals.

Other thoughts:

I'm not a numbers person. I don't count calories and I don't track my food intake. I basically cook up 6 small meals per day and eat them every 2 or 3 hours. The trick to learn is to eat until you're full, but not stuffed. Then to eat again in a few hours, all day long. I have 6 timers on my cell phone to remind me when to eat my meals, and I carry them all in plastic containers in a giant lunchbox. I completely eliminate any margin for excuses because my food is always nearby, ready to eat, and my smartphone alarms remind me when to eat. All I have to do is shovel tasty food in my mouth when my timer beeps. Pretty easy!

The good news is, you've overcome the first two hurdles: you've recognized that you have a problem, and you've decided that you want to fix it. It's downhill from here! There are a million ways to go about this, but my recommendation is simple: eat 6 small meals a day, consisting of a lean meat & a vegetable. I eat the same 6 meals every day because I can cook them all on the weekend and not have to worry about cooking during the week. That may sound a little boring, but there's enough variety that I don't get sick of it. I change it up every now & then; here's my current meal plan:

1. Bunless Burger (Portabella mushroom topped with gaucamole, hamburger patty, sweet potato)
2. Salmon + Steamed Carrots
3. Chicken Breast + Sweet Potato
4. Tuna Wrap (basically a tuna salad-filled burrito with some sliced bell peppers & cherry tomatoes)
5. Ground Chicken Chili + Beans
6. Turkey Meatloaf + Baked Potato

Everything tastes great! So if you are serious about losing weight, adopt the fact that eating healthy food (lean meats, good carbs, good fats, 2000mg or less of sodium per day) will make you skinny. Once you get skinny, you will have more energy & motivation to go to the gym. You can eat great-tasting food all day long if you're willing to cook, it's that simple.

One more bit of advice: go to bed early. Before 10pm, at least. The earlier the better. If you're tired, you're not going to want to cook, you're going to want to eat junk food, and you're not going to want to workout because you just don't have the energy to care enough. imo this is the most underrated part of getting & staying in shape, but the most powerful. Anyway, hang in there, good job for posting, and keep at it. We're here to help! Having a big appetite is a good thing, it's just time to divert the stream from unhealthy eating to awesome eating!

Hello,

I feel your pain. I haven't been as drastic as you but I've ballooned in my life.

I recently moved out of my parents house and I purposely don't keep bad food in the house. I love ice cream and cookies and anything sweet. None of that exists in my house. I will not drive to the market for any of these things when the urge arises.

I also run and do weights. Now that it's winter, I'm going to need to get a gym membership for the first time ever. I usually just hibernate during the winter but I don't want to do that this year. I want to keep my weight loss and healthy lifestyle going. I've lost 40 pounds this year due to very hard work.

It's all about the little decisions I've found. When you string together a lot of good little decisions you have change.

"Recovering drug addicts don't have 'cheat days'. Maybe the solution is to cut out all unhealthy foods permanently."

This is a very neat way of looking at it. I've just come off a pretty bad weekend and I feel that I let myself down by eating a huge burger and pizza and other things. Now I have to work harder to get that excess crap out of my system and get back on target.

You can do it, just one small decision at a time. Some days you don't feel like working out, I understand that. Try with all your might to do at least 30 min of cardio on a bike or something. You will feel so much better about yourself when you do this.

Sorry I haven't posted back in a while.

So far I've managed to lose 60 lbs almost effortlessly. At least in comparison to the effort I have put fourth in the past toward weight loss.

My regimen has been fairly simple, but strict in a few aspects.

I eat between 2000-2200 calories/day. On workout days, I'll have 2300 calories a day, on non workout days, it's down to 2000. I have completely abstained from all sweets, the only snacks I allow are granola bars without chocolate, lowfat yogurt, and fruits/veggies. I have almost no red meat (I think I've had deer meat twice in the past 2 months). The meats I stick to are mainly seafood, turkey, chicken and, pork (only in the form of smoked/baked ham).

My breakfast is usually pretty large between 600-700 calories, my lunch might be around 400-500 calories with snacks in between each meal consisting of granola bars, apples, yogurt, dry cereal, or a 1/2 peanut butter sandwich (if I need to increase my calories for the day).

My dinner is usually small and it consists of whatever I need to reach my caloric needs for that day which can be between 300-600 or so calories.

I workout only 3 days a week, and I stick to light exercise on the treadmill. I really don't want to do anymore because the weight loss still seems to be going fast. The exercise is more to help be rest better at night as I'll have difficult falling asleep if I stop working out.

I've even stuck to this diet throughout the holidays with the exception of the slice of peach pie that was forced on me on Thanksgiving (it would be rude to turn it down after 3 times). I admit that I still get tempted to have a sweet, but it seems like it has actually gotten easier since I started taking the pill (phentermine). There was junk food everywhere at work during the last two weeks of Christmas, and it didn't even phase me to walk by it. I know it wasn't like that when I started taking the pill, granted it was still alot easier to resist, but the temptation was there. I've been reading that the effects begin to wear off after 2 months, and people begin to revert in their old habits again. For me, it seems so easy that I feel guilty for even taking credit for this because I know exactly what it takes to lose weight on your own.

In a couple of weeks, the doctor is going to have me abstain from the pill for 2 weeks and then start me up again for another 3 months. So I'm curious to see how that goes. I'm not sure what to expect, but this will give me an idea of what to expect when I have to stop taking the pill forever. I'm hoping that my abstinence from sweets has made me less dependent on the psychologically and I still won't desire them after the pill is or at least make them easier to resist.

I've also been thinking that maybe this is all that I need to do is not eat sweets. It's really been my biggest problem throughout my life, and my eating habits really aren't that bad outside of my sweet tooth cravings.
I don't mind avoiding red meat, I can eat a turkey sandwich with a slice of ham and not mind, I really like baked chicken, and I don't really like alot of salt so salty snacks have never been my thing except for a small bag of Utz plain chips which is usually enough to satisfy my fix for a week or two. I can't stand the amount of salt in movie theater popcorn and I usually have dust off about 80% of the salt that's on a soft pretzel before I can eat it. Maybe that's why I can manage to not have high blood pressure despite weighing double what I was supposed to weigh.


But maybe I can maintain a healthy weight on normal diet if I just don't eat sweets. , I suppose it's possible given the fat and caloric content of most sweets.

I was down up to 387lbs on the scale when I started dieting. This morning I weighed myself at 327lbs. so that's 60 lbs in 10 weeks (70 days).

If this goes like the last time I lost weight I expect it to slow down a little at around 280 and then slow down alot around 250.

 

[shadow9d9]

A peach pie wasn't "forced" on you. Don't be absurd. You should work on getting people in your life on board with your life changing decision. It is rude of THEM to insist on doing something that would disrupt your diet. Your health should be important to them.

 

[88keys]

I'm sorry if it's absurd, but I insisted that I wasn't going to eat it. I didn't even eat the sweet corn that day. I mainly stuck the the turkey, and vegetables. They were family I hadn't seen in a while. I turned it down three times, and even after I turned it down they gave me a plate anyway. It was only a small slice, and I thought it would be rude to hand it back or feed it to the dog so I ate it reluctantly.
And I'm not really crazy about peach pie to begin with. I'd much rather have apple or pumpkin. Alot of people are telling me that I should cheat once in a while, and most of them don't understand my situation. Being chronically overweight by 50 lbs is alot different than being chronically 150-200lbs overweight. That's the difference between somebody with a few bad habits, and somebody with a serious problem.


Now that I'm much further into the diet, I would probably turn it down regardless of whether or not it's rude. Now that the desire to eat that stuff is gone, I see no reason why I should risk changing that by cheating.

And FWIW when I say diet, I see it as a lifestyle change. Not as being temporary. I honestly and sincerely plan to never eat sweets again. I think that's the only way to solve it if it's an addiction problem.

 

[shadow9d9]

Pushing food on a clearly morbidly obese person is rude, not the other way around. Inform your family of this lifestyle change and if they aren't completely on board, then they aren't much of a family.

 

[Kaido]

So far I've managed to lose 60 lbs almost effortlessly. At least in comparison to the effort I have put fourth in the past toward weight loss.

Congrats man! Progress is progress dude. Having pie on a holiday isn't going to ruin your life. In fact, two of the people I look up at as bodybuilders IRL (both of whom look like action figures) have pizza & poptarts as part of their diet plan and still get excellent results. Once you've burned in the "eating healthy" habit into your life, you can allow yourself a break once or twice a week without your diet falling apart. Eating healthy all week, having a couple pieces of pie one night, and continuing to eat healthy = not a big deal at all. But you have to be at that place where the habit is part of your life, so that eating one treat isn't a binge trigger to go bananas. I pork out when I eat junk food, but I usually only do it on weekends and don't eat so much that I wanna die like before, and that has been working out great for me!

 

[Kaido]

I'm sorry if it's absurd, but I insisted that I wasn't going to eat it. I didn't even eat the sweet corn that day. I mainly stuck the the turkey, and vegetables. They were family I hadn't seen in a while. I turned it down three times, and even after I turned it down they gave me a plate anyway. It was only a small slice, and I thought it would be rude to hand it back or feed it to the dog so I ate it reluctantly.
And I'm not really crazy about peach pie to begin with. I'd much rather have apple or pumpkin. Alot of people are telling me that I should cheat once in a while, and most of them don't understand my situation. Being chronically overweight by 50 lbs is alot different than being chronically 150-200lbs overweight. That's the difference between somebody with a few bad habits, and somebody with a serious problem.


Now that I'm much further into the diet, I would probably turn it down regardless of whether or not it's rude. Now that the desire to eat that stuff is gone, I see no reason why I should risk changing that by cheating.

And FWIW when I say diet, I see it as a lifestyle change. Not as being temporary. I honestly and sincerely plan to never eat sweets again. I think that's the only way to solve it if it's an addiction problem.

Just remember this next time you cave:

http://i.imgur.com/dQJSphs.png

 

[Ventanni]

Keep up the great work man! I think I speak for the rest of the fine gentlemen here on the H&F boards in saying that we are all extremely proud of you. You keep up what you're doing, and you don't let anyone stop you. Keep us posted on your excellent results!

 

[highland145]

Wishing you the best. Keep at it.

 

[88keys]

Well took my two week break from phentermine and started back up this past Monday and it went a little better than I had expected in spite of the setbacks.

Those two weeks didn't exactly go as planned. I really wanted to stick to my gym schedule, but that didn't work out because of all of the bad weather and the fact that I had a cold for the first few days when off the pill. I'll admit that my appetite did increase slightly, but I still haven't had any junk food since Thanksgiving. I'll admit the thought crossed my mind a few times, but the urges are still a million times easier to resist than before.


But despite all of my troubles, I still managed to lose 4lbs during those 2 weeks when I honestly didn't anticipate any weight loss mainly because I've lost the other 81 lbs at a steady rate so I figured I was due to plateau for a little while.

So back on this for a final 3 months and then it's time to ween me off it after that.

The two things I'm going to focus on this time around are to reduce or eliminate artificial sweeteners. Not that I consume alot. I do drink at least a gallon of water per day. But when I eat, I need flavor in my drink or otherwise the water tastes like what I had just been eating. I drink a 24oz bottle of diet mountain dew in the morning, a 24oz bottle of diet iced tea or lemonade at lunch, and an ordinary glass (16oz or so) of whatever artificially sweetened drink I have in the fridge.

It's not alot, but considering how well junk food abstinence is working for me, I really think it would be a good idea to eliminate (or drastically reduce) my artificial sweetener intake aswell.
I could probably move toward unsweetened or lightly sweetened iced tea in the morning, but I try to avoid caffeine after 12pm so I'll need to come up with something for the rest of the day.

When I was keeping my weight off before, my non water drink of choice was Peach Propel. I loved that stuff. No artificial sweeteners, only 20 calories per bottle, and it tasted great. Now they ruined it with artificial sweeteners because apparently that 20 calories was just too much.... I wish I knew of a way to make that stuff at home.

 

[z1ggy]

Well took my two week break from phentermine and started back up this past Monday and it went a little better than I had expected in spite of the setbacks.

Those two weeks didn't exactly go as planned. I really wanted to stick to my gym schedule, but that didn't work out because of all of the bad weather and the fact that I had a cold for the first few days when off the pill. I'll admit that my appetite did increase slightly, but I still haven't had any junk food since Thanksgiving. I'll admit the thought crossed my mind a few times, but the urges are still a million times easier to resist than before.


But despite all of my troubles, I still managed to lose 4lbs during those 2 weeks when I honestly didn't anticipate any weight loss mainly because I've lost the other 81 lbs at a steady rate so I figured I was due to plateau for a little while.

So back on this for a final 3 months and then it's time to ween me off it after that.

The two things I'm going to focus on this time around are to reduce or eliminate artificial sweeteners. Not that I consume alot. I do drink at least a gallon of water per day. But when I eat, I need flavor in my drink or otherwise the water tastes like what I had just been eating. I drink a 24oz bottle of diet mountain dew in the morning, a 24oz bottle of diet iced tea or lemonade at lunch, and an ordinary glass (16oz or so) of whatever artificially sweetened drink I have in the fridge.

It's not alot, but considering how well junk food abstinence is working for me, I really think it would be a good idea to eliminate (or drastically reduce) my artificial sweetener intake aswell.
I could probably move toward unsweetened or lightly sweetened iced tea in the morning, but I try to avoid caffeine after 12pm so I'll need to come up with something for the rest of the day.

When I was keeping my weight off before, my non water drink of choice was Peach Propel. I loved that stuff. No artificial sweeteners, only 20 calories per bottle, and it tasted great. Now they ruined it with artificial sweeteners because apparently that 20 calories was just too much.... I wish I knew of a way to make that stuff at home.

Congrats on losing all the weight you did, but.. it seems like you have a real addiction to food. I only read your first post and the post above me, so sorry if I missed any key details. Have you gotten help yet as far as the mental stuff? Because clearly you have the drive to lose weight, but you kept slipping. Every time you mentioned that you slipped, you had an excuse. No more excuses dude, just keep at it no matter what!!

As far as your above post, you should stop drinking those sodas, teas, etc. Straight water my man. Does it suck? yes. But you WILL get used to it.

I'm assuming you've read the fot loss sticky in this forum as well. Stick to that advice like white on rice.

If you do have cravings for something a tad bit sweet, try out dark chocolate covered almonds. I buy a bag per week, which is 9 servings. 1 serving is 1/4 of a cup which is about 20 almonds. Each serving is about 190 cals and still contains protein.

I've also found as far as the junkfood stuff goes that if you don't even let yourself be surrounded by it, you physically can't have it. I have no candy, no ice cream, etc in my home what so ever. I make all my lunches and dinner, and I rarely dine out. When I do, I will get salmon or chicken with veggies. No pasta unless its whole wheat, or this new type I found that is made from brown rice.

Dieting is all mental IMO. Once you convince and train your brain to not seek and desire bad foods, you will stop wanting them. It really is a mind over matter issue.

Sorry if any of the things I mentioned were discussed previously or off topic.

 

[Raghu]

Atkins has been successful for you in the past. Why did you not try it again?