Is anyone trying to lose weight?

[patdart]

Well I walked it, so I can issue a great "Take that, naysayers!!!" to all of the people at my work who told me I couldn't do it

That being said, it really is about the closest thing to torture I have ever experienced and I am thankful that I never have to do it again if I don't want to

I was hoping it wouldn't be as difficult as it was. No wonder my students cry when they go on it

Anyway, I was hoping that I could come here and post that it was a breeze and I would be doing it once a week with the kids. But, wow, was it hard

But, you DID it, and if you keep it up it will get easier and easier! Good for you!

[Wolfhound668]

Moment of truth time. I didn't get as much walking in this week as I wanted due to lousy weather but I've still managed to lose half a pound. Down from 212.5 to 212.0 this week.

[MurphysLaw]

I lost two pounds, the same two I've been losing and gaining for the past six months, but I didn't eat out yesterday. Restaurants are my downfall, even though I really try to behave there and only order healthy items from the menu. Intense yard work helped this week, too.

[DreamStalker]

I lost two pounds, the same two I've been losing and gaining for the past six months, but I didn't eat out yesterday. Restaurants are my downfall, even though I really try to behave there and only order healthy items from the menu. Intense yard work helped this week, too.

If you know that restaurants are your downfall, why do you then give them your business? I have not eaten at a restaurant in over two years now.

Restaurants are the downfall of almost every fat person and the restaurant business knows this and they also know how to make you more fat becaue they know that fat people eat more (keep in mind that people eat more because they are fat ... NOT the other way around). They knowingly or unknowingly feed you high quantities of processed carbs, fat, sugar, and salt knowing that it will stimulate your brain to eat more than your body needs through carb additcion, drink large quantities of HFCS to quell your salt induced thirst, and high calorie fat to make it all palatable. In fact, the Coca Cola company has researched and conspired over the last decade to add more and more salt to their HFCS drinks in order to compel people to buy larger and larger serving sizes of their product (currently 1/4 cup salt per 16oz of soda and incidently, HFCS equivalent of 1/4 cup sugar in 16 oz of soda too).

If you support businesses that provide you with un-natural processed food/drink, then you also support the healthcare industry at the expense of both your money and your health. Obesisty is a symptom of poor health ... it does not cause poor health. Become healthy and your body will naturally take on the appropriate body fat composition. Forget the restaurants. Buy fresh, buy organic, buy local and learn and know what you put in your mouth.

If the food you eat does not go bad after buying it within a week or less (without first cooking or freezing it), you probably should not eat it. If it was fortified with vitamins and minerals or claims to be heart healthy, you probably should not eat it. If it did not walk/swim/fly freely around grazing and eating as it was designed to do by nature, you probably should not eat it. If it didn't grow out of natural live organic and pesticide/herbicide/chemical free soil with nothing else but sun and water and you can't pick it right off the plant and eat it without first milling it or soaking it, you probably should not eat it. Buy fresh, buy organic, buy local.

If you want to take control of your weight, you need to take control of your hormones. The calories in - calories out model assumes you are a machine with a constant metabolism. Truth is we are not machines but instead we are organisms (look it up). Hormone disregulation is the cause of obesity and pretty much all modern diseases for that matter. The genetic expression of our cellular DNA is a direct response to our environmental stimuli (food, exercise, and stress) via our hormonal regulation. So you can control your hormones through diet, exercise, and stress management to create a genetic expression of health rather than of disease.

Sorry, didn't mean to make you feel bad ... but we need to remember that we are what we eat and we are what we do and don't do.

[MurphysLaw]

If you know that restaurants are your downfall, why do you then give them your business? I have not eaten at a restaurant in over two years now.

I give them my business because my husband won't cook for himself (even though he knows how just fine) and after cooking for him all week, I'm sick of it. Healthy cooking involves a lot of prep work, as you know. By the time the fresh vegetables make it to the table---raw, grilled, whatever---I've spent a good bit of time getting them there. Same goes with the chicken or fish. That's why I give the restaurants my business. If it were just me, not a husband and son (who I'm forcing to eat healthy, too, with no junk in the house), I could go simpler sometimes.

Also, I haven't had a restaurant sandwich, fries, or sweets in nearly a year and a half. It's just not easy. After losing nearly 90 pounds, my body has quit. I haven't quit, though. I still write down everything I eat and keep track of my portions.

[DreamStalker]

snip ... and after cooking for him all week, I'm sick of it. Healthy cooking involves a lot of prep work, as you know. By the time the fresh vegetables make it to the table---raw, grilled, whatever---I've spent a good bit of time getting them there. Same goes with the chicken or fish. That's why I give the restaurants my business. If it were just me, not a husband and son (who I'm forcing to eat healthy, too, with no junk in the house), I could go simpler sometimes.

Also, I haven't had a restaurant sandwich, fries, or sweets in nearly a year and a half. It's just not easy. After losing nearly 90 pounds, my body has quit. I haven't quit, though. I still write down everything I eat and keep track of my portions.

So after a week you are sick of cooking or they are sick of your cooking? ... actually, the answer does not really matter either way.

You have given yourself a reason/excuse/permission to eat at restaurants.

For me it is like saying I take a bath every day all week long and after a while I get sick of it or I sleep every night all week long and after a while I get sick of it and so on and so on. In other words, you have to think of your food, exercise, and stress management just like bathing, sleeping, brushing your teeth, etc. etc.

I thought about leaving your response to my post alone but then changed my mind ... you need to know how your are thinking this out. We all need to know how we allow ouselves to be manipulated by corporate interests that make us unhealthy.

And I should add, congratulate yourself on your success so far but as you said, not give up and push yourself to the finish line.


A suggestion: Try doing most of your cooking and food preping on the weekend when things are less hectic.

Yesterday I washed and cut up a bunch of veggies for a mixed salad to last 2 or 3 days and a small batch of fresh shrimp ceviche (try saying that real fast 3 times ).
Then I grilled some zucchini and yellow squash along with a couple of lbs of sirloin flap steaks.
After that I put the grill into smoke mode and smoked a 4-lb brisket while I did my weekly yard work.

Basically all cooking and prep work done for the week (except for maybe stir-frying some spinach and mushrooms in ghee later in the week) got my yard work done and still had time to do some relax and do some internet research, read a book chapter, and watch a DVD movie during the late afternoon/evening.

[Llama]

I have lost 12# since April 9 and have around 17# more to my goal weight (160#/5'9"). My scale tweets my weight every time I get on it and seems to have helped me stay on task somewhat.

In HS, college and Army I weighed 142# and while it would be cool for nostalgia's sake it was really too darn skinny. 160# is 10# more than what I weighed when I got married 9 years ago, but 189# is my high, so 29# lost when I hit my goal will be pretty awesome.

I have lost the first 12# by doing nothing other than eating *more often*. I used to skip breakfast and lunch, getting by on a morning cup of coffee and some green tea at work, then I would eat way too much and then do nothing but sit on the couch until it was time to turn on the APAP. Now I eat breakfast before work, two snacks and a lunch at the office and then a very light dinner.

I expect that if I ever bothered to go outside and do something active I would not have much problem shedding the rest, but one excuse after another keeps me off my bike (which I used to take on 50-100mi rides every weekend) and from running (which I used to love, but now cannot remember why).

[Hope1952]

I lost two pounds, the same two I've been losing and gaining for the past six months, but I didn't eat out yesterday. Restaurants are my downfall, even though I really try to behave there and only order healthy items from the menu. Intense yard work helped this week, too.

You're my hero! You encourage me to believe that maybe I can lose this excess weight as I start sleeping better and have more energy. And thanks for the reminder about restaurants. I should write that on my refrigerator, don't leave home hungry, and take snacks in the car. I bet I could lose weight eating whatever I want, if I only ate at home, because I'm much less likely to buy unhealthy groceries than I am to eat unhealthy food. Or maybe I'll restrict myself to eating out ONCE a week. (I'm trying to set REALISTIC goals and I get bored easily)

I also think the point made previously about exercising and then not wanting to eat the calories I just burned is a good motivation! I need to at least START exercising again. I never thought I'd be this tired and out of shape but having disturbed sleep has done it to me. I don't like what I've become and want my old self back!

[BlackSpinner]

If you know that restaurants are your downfall, why do you then give them your business? I have not eaten at a restaurant in over two years now.

I give them my business because my husband won't cook for himself (even though he knows how just fine) and after cooking for him all week, I'm sick of it.

Change the kind of restaurants you go to. Order what works with your diet. Tell them to hold the bread. Get a salad with chicken. Tell them what to put on your plate not the other way around. I have ordered just an appetizer and a salad at times. Remember you are paying for service, not grease.

And I know, it is not just the cooking, it is getting served and walking away from the mess at the end that feels soooo good.

[BlackSpinner]

I did a good work out this weekend - my daughter is moving out and we went to the new apartment to clean this weekend. The previous tenants were students. ... I tackled the kitchen, she the bath room, her friend the "fingerprints". Eight hours later we had a white tub (surprise surprise) a white fridge and stove and unsticky cupboards, counters and walls. The next day we started on her bed room - bright yellow and dark blue (ikea banner?) we scrubbed and primed the dark blue, scrubbed and painted the grungy ceiling. Next weekend more painting!

I ach all over but it was a great work out. A year ago before cpap I couldn't have put in a weekend like this.

[BigAn]

Gonna keep it honest, no exercise this week, however i did order a scale so i can weigh myself at home, once it arrived, not to happy. Weighing 377 up from 364 in Feburary when I went to the MD office. I could only weigh my self at the md office but with this new scare limit is 440 lbs. Bought at Walmart online if anyone is interested. So will definetly start to do some bicylcing this week along with some walking. Good luck to all, it aint easy keeping it honest, but next Monday I WILL have a better report. Sweet Dreams

[NEW YORKER]

I have decided to lose some weight after reading all your posts. I am currently at 280 and I am 6 ft tall. I would love to lose 100 lbs but for roght now I am aiming at 240 to start. Once I get down to 240 I will fight on from there. Thanks guys and gals for the encourgement!

[cflame1]

About 3 months ago I started working out with a trainer twice a week. Trying to get myself motivated. What it's done so far, is make it so that going to the gym isn't a chore... the trainer's always a happy person... makes me laugh, which is a good thing when I've had a long day.

Weight hasn't started coming off much.

[MurphysLaw]

Hope1952, You sound so much like me. At least we're on the right track, getting a good night's sleep which really helps. I hope you weren't flooded too badly. We were thinking of heading that direction for a vacation but don't know if it's a good idea at this time.

Dreamstalker, your initial response made me angry at first, but after I cooled down, I realized that you're right and I'm glad you said it. My first thoughts were: 1. Do you cook only for yourself or are you the primary cook for your family? 2. How can you assume that my weekends are less hectic? They aren't.

Blackspinner, you have good points. I don't order sandwiches and often times ask them to hold the bread. I do order salads with chicken or grilled chicken and veggies. I never order pasta out. I think it's a combination of not knowing how things are prepared and also the large portion sizes at restaurants. Even though what is in front of me looks healthy, I end up eating the entire meal. I need to box half of it up for my next meal.

This thread is a good motivator, maybe just what I need.

[srwesely]

Dreamstalker--please come live at my house until I get this sleep thing under control...