Weight Loss

[marillion]

I too am on the weight loss train.. Again.. I'm down from about 277 to 254 since the summer, but I'm stuck.. I've been hovering between 256 and 252 for about a month.. I've had some cheat days and some days where my exercise hasn't been as much as I needed.. But all in all, I'm eating healthier so I'm not sure what the problem is.. Under supervision from a dietitian, I've cut down to about 50 carbs a day, 30g of protein per meal an 125 g of fat.. Mostly a Mediterranean/Keto hybrid diet.. About 1,800 calories a day, which is sometimes hard...

I've just really got to rededicate myself to this.. I'm supposed to journal my intake every day, but I've gotten lazy... I see my dietitian today, so here's hoping I can get back on track.. I've upped my exercise game too, by getting back on my road bike more often.. I also joined some guys for a game of flag football these past two weekends.. I'm definitely the oldest one out there by about 10 years, and my body let me know it... But I was keeping up ok and and I feel good now.. so I just need to get back into the gym here at work at lunch and keep walking the dog every night...

 

[Kor]

That's not a healthy way to go about it. Eating that little is not only extremely hard for most people to do, your energy level will be low, your mental and emotional state will be taxed, and you'll be prone to getting sick. Of course, this will be easier to do when you're younger (teens/20's), but no matter, your propensity to gain back weight is much higher when you lose it quickly. Truthfully, how much of the weight did you gain back? Because as soon as you go back to a more normal diet, you would gain weight unless you kept up a very active lifestyle.

I did this once too when I found myself way out of shape after "letting myself go" for too long. I prevented rebound by permanently changing my lifestyle and making physical fitness one of the central focuses of my life, instead of going back to how I did things before.

Kor

 

[Gary7]

I did this once too when I found myself way out of shape after "letting myself go" for too long. I prevented rebound by permanently changing my lifestyle and making physical fitness one of the central focuses of my life, instead of going back to how I did things before.

Isn't it insidious how it happens? I mean... people around you (friends, family, even lovers) may not say anything for a very long time. The only time I got a comment was from a family member when I was sporting a bathing suit and no shirt. It was a passive "advisory" observation (i.e. "you've put on a few pounds, eh?").
How did you make physical fitness a central focus of your life? What did you find worked best for you and what did not work well?

 

[Kor]

Isn't it insidious how it happens? I mean... people around you (friends, family, even lovers) may not say anything for a very long time. The only time I got a comment was from a family member when I was sporting a bathing suit and no shirt. It was a passive "advisory" observation (i.e. "you've put on a few pounds, eh?").
How did you make physical fitness a central focus of your life? What did you find worked best for you and what did not work well?

Some might consider my approach to be a bit extreme, but for me it's the only way to avoid letting myself go again. Basically, I made a philosophical change and decided to treat strength and fitness as moral virtues that I must live by, and aim for a professional level in these areas. Instead of being something that I haphazardly do a couple times a year, gym sessions are now a mandatory part of my routine, with both short and long-term goals (on the order of months and years). Food intake is oriented toward supporting this. And I spent a lot of time studying all the conflicting and confusing information that I could find on exercise and nutrition, to determine the methods that would work best for me.

In general, I find that I learn things best by studying them on my own and using a bit of trial and error. Others may reach their goals better with classes, one-on-one coaching, or other group programs.

Kor

 

[Velocity]

I became diabetic in my 50s and as a result I began to restrict the portion size of my meals, cut way down on snacks as well as making them healthy, and stepped up the amount of daily exercise. I was inspired to make these changes because of the examples of my diabetic family: my grandfather lost half a leg to the disease, and my parents both had diabetic neuropathy. My father had terrible pain in his feet and my mother had no feeling in her feet. It took several years, but I've lost between 60 and 70 pounds and have kept it off. I don't know if I would have taken the diagnosis as seriously, sadly, if my family hadn't provided those examples.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

I think I've been a little bit screwed in the weight department lately. There's been stuff in my life lately that's messed me up. I lost a bunch of weight last year, only to gain it back when there were three more bad things that happened. I feel like the freight train has finally stopped moving, but I'm still feeling it...
ETA: @Velocity, I saw what happened to my mother. She was a Type I and it was the diabetes that ultimately did her in.

 

[May 20]

Stress will mess with your weight. Well, it does with mine. I've been under more stress lately, and my weight loss has completely stalled. I'm still eating to plan because I hate to think how I would feel otherwise. I hope this stress will be resolved very soon, though.

 

[marillion]

I too, turn to eating when I stress out... And this last year has been incredibly stressing... I also started drinking more than I used to, which makes it harder to lose weight. Emotional eating is tough... We eat to numb the pain or give ourselves a fleeting moment of pleasure when we're under pressure... And then end up feeling sick or mad at ourselves for screwing our diets in that way.. I'm still fighting it.. Have to every single day... But there are ways to cope... Here's a decent article about it:

Emotional Eating