Ferrum Aeternum Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I've had problems with my weight since my mid-20s. This hasn't been caused by any health condition beyond my control, but simply from overeating, eating the wrong types of food, not exercising regularly and (at times) drinking heavily. Depression certainly played a part in all of that, and the poor diet/lack of excercise only exacerbated that issue. The effect was also seasonal as I would tend to lose 10-20 lbs in the spring and summer than gain it all back and then some in the fall and winter. Early this year I decided that my long term health was vastly more important than any benefit gained from eating and drinking whatever I wanted, so I made conscious lifestyle changes. All told, I've lost about 40 lbs since the first of the year. The first change I made was to quit drinking. Interestingly enough, I've found this one to be very easy to follow thus far. The way I handled it mentally in my little caveman brain was "no more beer means no more hangovers" and that worked well in the short term. :D Since the first few weeks I've had virtually no temptation. My friends aren't the type to give me shit about it, because I don't make friends with people who would do that. They've all been supportive. In analyzing it now, my drinking pattern (12-24 beers every. single. weekend.) was more of a habit than anything else. Second, I simplified and drastically improved my diet. Bare minimal dining out (2-3 meals per week) and at home my diet consists primarily of meats and vegetables I prepare myself, along with stuff like fruits, nuts, and oatmeal. I keep almost no processed/prepackaged food in my house. Again, I've made this more of a fun habit in my mind than a chore. I've managed to get to the point where I find fast food and mass produced snacks "gross" which is exactly where I wanted to be (I quit drinking sodas about 7 years ago using this same mental approach). Third is exercise. Really I'm doing this more for health than weight loss, though it probably hasn't hurt in that regard. I've been walking 30-45 minutes, 3-5 days per week since around the first of March. I'm also push-mowing my lawn once a week (takes about 1 and 1/2 hours and is a hell of a workout in this heat). Last week I also bought a weight bench and a set of dumbbells and started free weights, something I've done in the past with good results. My goal with that is not to win bodybuilding competitions, but simply to get in better overall shape. The results of these changes apart from the loss of bad weight have been astounding. My energy level and mood are the best they've been in years, and I'm sleeping much better (which as pointed out above is also important to weight loss). I don't really have a goal weight per se, although I would like to fit well into certain sizes of clothes (I'm not too far off from that now). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quorra Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I've never been overweight but I sympathize with how hard it would be to lose weight. I totally understand this. If I exercise more I eat more and if I eat less I have no energy. It's got to feel like an endless long struggle with such slow progress, and set-backs now and then. I would never judge someone for being overweight because almost anyone could get there. I know it's hard and you have my support... in spirit, even though that probably doesn't help, but it's there anyway. Take it or leave it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Bass Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I'm on weight watchers. I lost about 65 pounds, but then gained it all back and have basically been struggling since for reasons I don't really understand. I mean, I've screwed up a few times, but it seems like I'm mostly getting it right. I don't know. I've come around more to the idea that you should probably cut back or eliminate certain kinds of foods that are giving you problems, because then you can gradually lose your taste for them. I did that with regular soda, completely switching over to diet soda. It's at the point where if I drink regular soda, it tastes kind of gross - too sugary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceluby Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I'm on weight watchers. I lost about 65 pounds, but then gained it all back and have basically been struggling since for reasons I don't really understand. I mean, I've screwed up a few times, but it seems like I'm mostly getting it right. I don't know. I've come around more to the idea that you should probably cut back or eliminate certain kinds of foods that are giving you problems, because then you can gradually lose your taste for them. I did that with regular soda, completely switching over to diet soda. It's at the point where if I drink regular soda, it tastes kind of gross - too sugary. You should really cut the diet soda out as well. When I don't and try to lose weight it just won't come off. Obviously, that's just me, but you may have better results switching to flavored bubbly water (lime mendota springs... mmmmm......) and use coffee or caffeine pills for a pick-me-up. With regular soda you at least know exactly how it's going to impact your body w/ the empty calories/carbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arbor Gold Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I'm on weight watchers. I lost about 65 pounds, but then gained it all back and have basically been struggling since for reasons I don't really understand. I think this is such a common problem because, often, people go on a diet, lose weight, then go off the diet and fall right back into their old habits. Weight loss shouldn't be about a temporary, One Weird Trick diet, it should be about a total, permanent lifestyle change. Lots of good stuff here already, and in the spirit of "this is what is working for me", I'll outline what I did to lose 98 pounds in one year: 1) Downloaded the free app MyFitnessPal. Set calorie goal to 1200 (this is aggressively low. Not recommended for everyone.) Had target goals of ~120 g protein, ~60g fat, and <100g carbs per day (I usually kept carbs ~70g) 2) Ordered a digital food scale from Amazon 3) Quit drinking for 4 months 4) Weighed/measured/tracked everything I ate. This is not as hard as it sounds and now I know what 6oz of salmon or 1/2 cup of full-fat cottage cheese looks like. 5) Planned my meals for the week, made a shopping list divided into functional areas :produce, protein, dairy, etc. This made shopping fast and easy. Dinners typically consist of protein + veggie. 6) Weighed myself every day after waking up and peeing. THIS WILL NOT WORK FOR EVERYBODY BUT IT WORKS FOR ME. Body weight fluctuates tremendously throughout the day/week so it can be frustrating to hop on the scale and see an unexpected number. Weighing every day helped me track my normal fluctuations and helped me learn interesting things about myself, like when I have a cold I retain 4 lbs of water. 7) Stay consistent. I personally do not like the concept of "cheat days" but I did allow myself a fun meal every now and then. 8) I did not enter exercise calories into MyFitnessPal and absolutely did not eat them back. Calorie trackers are notoriously inaccurate. Weight loss happens in the kitchen, fitness happens in the gym (or outside, or wherever). Working out hard or "doing extra cardio" or whatever will have great benefits for your mind/body but will not overcome unhealthy eating habits. Good luck to everybody! I've been in maintenance for the last two months and still weigh myself every day. I don't track in MFP any more but I'm still basically eating the same stuff - I just drink more now. :lol: My weight has fluctuated but has stayed within 4 lbs so I'm feeling pretty good about things at the moment, although I think I may want to lose another 10 lbs eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quorra Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 You should really cut the diet soda out as well. When I don't and try to lose weight it just won't come off. Obviously, that's just me, but you may have better results switching to flavored bubbly water (lime mendota springs... mmmmm......) and use coffee or caffeine pills for a pick-me-up. With regular soda you at least know exactly how it's going to impact your body w/ the empty calories/carbs. Why cut out diet soda? It has zero calories and it is filling, as a liquid, refreshing and caffeinated (sometimes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Why cut out diet soda? It has zero calories and it is filling, as a liquid, refreshing and caffeinated (sometimes) I agree with aceluby... There are loads of articles about this, here's one:http://www.businessinsider.com/diet-soda-may-not-be-any-better-for-you-2013-7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quorra Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I'm on weight watchers. I lost about 65 pounds, but then gained it all back and have basically been struggling since for reasons I don't really understand. I mean, I've screwed up a few times, but it seems like I'm mostly getting it right. I don't know. I've come around more to the idea that you should probably cut back or eliminate certain kinds of foods that are giving you problems, because then you can gradually lose your taste for them. I did that with regular soda, completely switching over to diet soda. It's at the point where if I drink regular soda, it tastes kind of gross - too sugary. What if it's the kinds of foods you are eating, and not just the total calories? I know weight watchers uses points so you can eat whatever you want as long as you stay under your daily points limit. But I'm wondering, do you eat a varied enough diet, do you think? Have you tried changing the proportions you eat of each food group? You might have a sensitivity to certain foods that make it harder for you to lose weight. These are shots in the dark, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quorra Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I drink a lot of artificially sweetened drinks: aspartame in my soda and spenda in my tea and coffee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Why cut out diet soda? It has zero calories and it is filling, as a liquid, refreshing and caffeinated (sometimes)Because it's probably hugely problematic for your health and doesn't actually act as a zero calorie food. I thought the same thing and drank a lot of diet soda; I switched to coffee and found significant improvements in my mood, headaches, and energy levels. And wanted to eat less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceluby Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Why cut out diet soda? It has zero calories and it is filling, as a liquid, refreshing and caffeinated (sometimes) Just saying that it impacted my ability to lose weight. Same diet but substituting bubbly water for diet mtn dew and I saw a HUGE difference. It's just as filling and refreshing as soda, and if you need caffeine, just get a coffee, 5 hr energy, or caffeine pill. Just something to try out to see how your body reacts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I find that the more junky/processed stuff I consume, the more I crave junky and processed stuff. I also found that, when I did manage to shed some weight, it was a combination of many things. Lots of excercise was a part of it, but I think what made the biggest difference was what and how I ate. I'm gonna be honest here, I love eating, and I eat a LOT. It was never a problem before the drastic change in lifestyle a few years back, but then it did become a huge problem. Especially with junk food, sodas, booze, sugars. I'd go through a Nutella jar per day + bags of crisps, lots of soda, beer, etc. After I'd been excercising a lot for a while, I noticed I hadn't really lost any significant amount of weight. And then I cut sodas - regular and diet - alcohol, and most of the sugar I was consuming. The other thing I did was to drastically reduce the amount of food I'd eat each time. In the end, I was probably eating more than before. Before I'd have snacks and one HUGE meal in the evening, and I changed that to several small 'meals' a day. And I noticed that after a few days off the junky stuff, I wasn't craving them anymore. At all. The fact that I do love healthy stuff helped a lot, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrum Aeternum Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I find that the more junky/processed stuff I consume, the more I crave junky and processed stuff. Yup, and it's by design. Same goes for fast food. The research and marketing departments of snack food companies and fast food chains specifically tailor their products to make your body crave MOAR. Just viewing junk food in that context is enough to make me not want to eat it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Yeah, that. Literally, junk food is designed to be addictive. That is its goal. They work seriously hard on developing food with certain characteristics that make it addictive. Really decent article on that here. It's becoming quite surprising that this isn't illegal now. The tobacco company has been sued out of its mind for doing basically that - for designing cigarettes to make that hit of nicotine extra potent, to market it to people who will get more addicted quicker, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Yeah, it's outrageous, and worse, it will probably get worse before it gets better. And this:http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/07/poor-dietary-habits-are-killing-people/#.VbFLI0q_WrU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faceless She-wolf Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 I feel like I relate to this thread so much. I didn't want to contribute at first but I guess reading all of you guys' posts has allowed me to open up, so thanks guys :rolleyes: For as long as I can remember I've always had a little pot belly, whenever I was at my nan's house, she would let me have as many cans of coke and sweets as I could possibly consume, how great it was then but god I wish someone could've stopped me. I would go to a lot of swimming classes so I imagine this is why I wasn't an overweight kid. I've always just had that small body but with a little pot belly. Usually every Thursday, my mum would take us to McDonalds, sigh. We usually always ate out on another day of the week too (my family like going out for meals a lot). When I got into my teen years, I dropped the swimming, mainly because there wasn't any swimming pools nearby and I just generally lost interest. I've always loved fast food, sweets, and I have to admit, Pepsi/Coke/Dr Pepper/Fanta, any pop, is my ultimate worst habit. I don't enjoy exercise either, I never have. I never even really enjoyed swimming, I just kind of did it because I was good at it. So anyway, my love for food and complete lack of exercise (my only exercise ever being P.E at school) resulted in even more weight gain. THEN, I got a boyfriend. I was aware that I wasn't skinny, and I still did have a small body but with a pot belly, so I still felt self conscious. He was a bit of an exercise freak and would try to get me to exercise, which actually worked for a while. For sometime, I exercised 5 days a week and was probably at my fittest I've ever been. I still remember having a bit of a belly but jeez, when I think back to that now, I had like nothing compared to what I am now. It seems that now I've added a lot of weight to everywhere else, I have a chubby face, bingo wings, big thighs, chunky calves, I can't see my collar bones at all (though with a couple of weeks exercise they do appear just a little bit), and of course I have a bigger belly now. So now, I currently work a 9-5 computer job which means constant boredom snacking, unhealthy lunches as I can't cook and am a fussy eater, and because I'm tired a lot, I struggle to motivate myself to exercise. Due to some weird long term cough I got about 2 years ago, I now also have asthma, it's not like asthma attacks, I just take inhalers to prevent getting this horrible cough again. But, this also means that I get out of breath a lot easier, so when I'm exercising, I have to have inhalers sometimes as it hurts my breathing. I always go through fazes where I feel motivated and I start doing something and shed a few pounds and I notice differences, but then I start not noticing any weight loss anymore, the thing I was doing becomes boring (i.e always going to the gym or doing the same exercise DVD) and whenever I step on the scales, the number isn't decreasing at all. So then I go back to "fuck it, I cba" and do 0 exercise. I've currently been in one of those fazes but after coming home from a holiday in Berlin and feeling uncomfortable and basically hating myself in any pictures I'm in, I'm currently back in motivated faze, although I have no idea what to do. My current weight is about 167lbs. In my last motivated faze I started at 169lbs and got myself down to 163lbs, but then couldn't seem to get it to go down any further. I will admit at that time I was still not making much effort with my diet. I guess I don't know what I'm aiming to sum up with here, I'm just kind of ranting. I'm just getting sick of feeling self-conscious. I have another holiday coming up in 3 weeks and I don't want to have to feel ugly in all my photos and feel uncomfortable in my own clothes. Currently in england, I always find myself wearing bigger, baggier clothing to hide myself in, I just look horrible wearing fitted clothing. Or at least I think so. I hate getting my arms or my legs out, even my chest I don't like getting out. Sigh, it's controlling my life. I definitely think it alters my mood a lot, I feel unhappy a lot of the time, which I know is hugely due to my weight. I just need to lose some weight, I want to feel happy, confident in the clothes I'm wearing. Plus, on holiday my thighs rub like a bitch which is just embarrassingly painful :frown5: Thanks for listening. :dunce: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baitac Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 So I did not want the OP to be solely about me, as this is a general thread. But yeah it sucks. I have always struggled with my weight, but after a baby I am really stuck. My little guy turns one on Friday and I am still 20 pounds over weight. I am so tired! I am getting about 4.5 hours of sleep a night, and about a 30 minute nap during the day. I am also nursing. I am hungry all the time. What I crave more then anything is sugar, fat, and easy already prepared foods so I don't have to put more energy into preparing them. Ice cream has become a very good friend of mine. However I think the relationship has turned a bit toxic. I know what I need to do, I need to find time to work out and cook. I need to eating better, and I know if I eat better I will feel less exhausted. But damn Gina, it's hard to get started. Anyone out there in a similar boat? My love, why so little sleep? I know you have a one year old. I may need to summon Mya. Chronic lack of sleep will mess you up every which way. You have no energy to take care of yourself. :( BTW, I can't believe your Pup is going to be one! How did that happen! <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Yeah, that. Literally, junk food is designed to be addictive. That is its goal. They work seriously hard on developing food with certain characteristics that make it addictive. Really decent article on that here. It's becoming quite surprising that this isn't illegal now. The tobacco company has been sued out of its mind for doing basically that - for designing cigarettes to make that hit of nicotine extra potent, to market it to people who will get more addicted quicker, etc. Totally true, but fascinating on an ethical level. I swear that there are two movements that are largely in conflict that are both somehow somewhat ascendent at the same time. One is the more libertine "the illegality of drugs causes at least as many problems as the drugs themselves" and the other is what you describe somewhat with the "companies are sneaky-good at making products that people are hooked on." I have no clue how it shakes out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lokisnow Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Re diet sodas: When you consume a large bolus of sugar such as regular coke it triggers an insulin response that stores blood sugar circulating as glycerol molecules in available fat cells. Once three glycerol molecules are in a fat cell they form a triglyceride molecule. As digestion continues the bolus of sugar is broken down into glycerol molecules and circulates in the blood, replacing the blood sugar that you just turned into fat. If you consume a large bolus of artificial sweetener like a diet coke it triggers an insulin response that stores blood sugar circulating as glycerol molecules in available fat cells. Once three glycerol molecules are in a fat cell they form a triglyceride molecule. As digestion continues the bolus of artificial sweetener is broken down into no thing, leaving you with newly stored fat and low blood sugar, the latter then triggers cravings to consume more to replenish yourself or slows your metabolism to match the low calorie intake. Meaning diet soda caused you to store fat and then eat more or burn less energy. That's a prescription for zero weight loss success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamSongs Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Thank you to everyone for sharing their struggles! I'm still 50 lbs over what I need to be and it isn't for lack of activity. I've finally come to the conclusion that it is working night shift. I spend the nights grazing (typically on unhealthy foods that others have brought in to share), grab a few beers to help me get to sleep and essentially give up on making healthy meals. Working night shift is just so chaotic and life is spent in a hazy personal time zone. Right now, I'm trying to get off night shift. It just isn't worth the few extra dollars anymore. Its robbing me of time with my elderly parents and I've also come to realize over the past week that it's gradually robbing me of my health. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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