Dieting

[Silearth 6]

Santa had a big fat belly that jumped when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. Of course we weren't told of Santa's heath problems and his rising medical costs.

 

So I've been on sort of a diet. None of those fad diets though. What I did was cut my portions by two thirds and cut out things like bread, biscuits, muffins, cookies. Fast food is a thing of the past(well I may indulge every so often, but I pay the price after)

 

So what has this gotten me? Well I have gone from a size 42 sacks to a size 38. The 38's are now starting to feel loose and I will have to buy a new belt soon--ran out of holes.

 

I didn't notice the fruits of my labor until my picture appeared on the company website and everyone started talking about how great I looked. I hardly use a scale, but I do believe I've lost 20-25 pounds. That's a great start towards the 60 pounds I needed to loose to get back to my ideal weight.

 

In another couple of weeks I may get brave enough to post before and after pictures.

[Dragon Brother 619]

Its always great to hear whe someones hard work is paying off and making them feel good about themself. Congrats on the hard work and dedication, it can be tough.

 

[Schot 407]

Wow. Big gratz to you Sil. 20-25 pounds is really good. Is it only dieting you're doing or have you also tossed in a bit of exercise? I'm on the opposite spectrum so I'll be attempting to gain weight in the coming months. I have a tendency to be too close to the low end of my average BMI which pretty much equates to malnutrition. Coffee and Tobacco companies really should add vitamins and stuff to their products. Eh heh...

 

How about I cook for you and you cook for me.

[Silearth 6]

Wow. Big gratz to you Sil. 20-25 pounds is really good. Is it only dieting you're doing or have you also tossed in a bit of exercise? I'm on the opposite spectrum so I'll be attempting to gain weight in the coming months. I have a tendency to be too close to the low end of my average BMI which pretty much equates to malnutrition. Coffee and Tobacco companies really should add vitamins and stuff to their products. Eh heh...

 

How about I cook for you and you cook for me.

 

 

Well I think I have mentioned--indirectly--that I work for kaiser Permanente(As if the thrive boy being chased by a shark wasn't enough of a clue) We have the whole thrive thing going at work all the time. Plus we have the elevator rule:up 1 down two. It means use the stairs if you are going two floors down or one floor up. I almost always take the stairs. This includes my frequent trips to the 5th floor. It is not uncommon to see my gasping for air in the stairwell.

I've also started taking walks with a few people from the office during my last break. They usually have to keep an eye on me, as the pressure in my chest starts rising and I feel a bit like I'm going to pass out. But this past Friday I was able to keep up with them with minimal discomfort. In a week or so, I may start leaving them behind.

 

The best part of it is being able to pass on cookies and cake without regrets--I just don't crave them any more. Just last week my sister-in-law pulled out a box of twinkies. I jumped up and grabbed one out of habit. But when I was about to open it, I realized that I just didn't want it.

[stubbie 21]

Good onya mate.

I have also struggled with my weight over the past few years.

I have lost 16kg with my last attempt but have started putting it back on again over winter (other side of the world here) as most people do.

 

I know its a hard slog but you seem to have found a diet that works for you.

Keep up the good work and post those pics so we can all admire the new Silearth ............before you get your winter

[Silearth 6]

Finally got the chance to snap a picture. I am usually behind the camera these days but used the auto timer.

 

[Antitrust 32]

Nice

 

I'm like Schot, no matter what I eat, I remain skinny...

[Schot 407]

Fantastic Sil. Congratz! Although... You must be realizing by now that yer gonna have to pay out for a completely new wardrobe, lol. Just can't win eh. You try to do good by getting all healthy and you still end up paying a price for your hard work.

 

 

...we have the elevator rule:up 1 down two. It means use the stairs if you are going two floors down or one floor up. I almost always take the stairs. This includes my frequent trips to the 5th floor. It is not uncommon to see my gasping for air in the stairwell.

I've also started taking walks with a few people from the office during my last break. They usually have to keep an eye on me, as the pressure in my chest starts rising and I feel a bit like I'm going to pass out. But this past Friday I was able to keep up with them with minimal discomfort. In a week or so, I may start leaving them behind.

 

Those are really great habits to develope. So simple and make a big difference when you're doing them everyday. I've actually been doing those things a little more lately since I quit smoking. I just don't feel like using escalators anymore. It's almost as if it's fun to run up the stairs instead.

 

Nice

 

I'm like Schot, no matter what I eat, I remain skinny...

 

I quit smoking. That's helped a lot. Just gotta kick the coffee now. Baby steps, baby steps... ^^

[Timotheus 416]

That's some nice results there Sil Looks like those jeans could be a bit shorter though

I'm pretty much stable regardless what I eat, but I do need *some* exercise (read: a few bike rides of 30 minutes a week) to keep it that way. I do try to adjust my eating pattern though, cutting back on all the candy/crisps/fastfood because it shows on my skin, mostly.

 

I also found out that when you eat less bad stuff, the cravings go down as well.

[Silearth 6]

That's some nice results there Sil Looks like those jeans could be a bit shorter though

 

Lol. I was planning on shortening the length. I usually buy pants with a 30 inch inseam but these are 32. Kids these days just wear them long and walk on the extra length.

 

I'm pretty much stable regardless what I eat, but I do need *some* exercise (read: a few bike rides of 30 minutes a week) to keep it that way. I do try to adjust my eating pattern though, cutting back on all the candy/crisps/fastfood because it shows on my skin, mostly.

 

I also found out that when you eat less bad stuff, the cravings go down as well.

 

Ain't that the truth. I find that if you can stop an eating habit for about 7 days the cravings will go away. I don't even miss the biscuits and sandwiches and burgers. I've actually gotten to a point where I can buy buy burgers for the wife and kids and sit there and watch them eat it without any problems.

The wife loves my new level of energy because I can walk the mall for hours now. There was a reason that I was leaning on the bench in the first picture.

Edited December 7, 2009 by Silearth

[FrostElfGuard 9]

Fantastic Sil. Congratz! Although... You must be realizing by now that yer gonna have to pay out for a completely new wardrobe, lol. Just can't win eh. You try to do good by getting all healthy and you still end up paying a price for your hard work.

 

 

...we have the elevator rule:up 1 down two. It means use the stairs if you are going two floors down or one floor up. I almost always take the stairs. This includes my frequent trips to the 5th floor. It is not uncommon to see my gasping for air in the stairwell.

I've also started taking walks with a few people from the office during my last break. They usually have to keep an eye on me, as the pressure in my chest starts rising and I feel a bit like I'm going to pass out. But this past Friday I was able to keep up with them with minimal discomfort. In a week or so, I may start leaving them behind.

 

Those are really great habits to develope. So simple and make a big difference when you're doing them everyday. I've actually been doing those things a little more lately since I quit smoking. I just don't feel like using escalators anymore. It's almost as if it's fun to run up the stairs instead.

 

Nice

 

I'm like Schot, no matter what I eat, I remain skinny...

 

I quit smoking. That's helped a lot. Just gotta kick the coffee now. Baby steps, baby steps... ^^

 

 

Wow people. Weight (gain or loss) is a struggle. Why? Because we are the way we are because of many different forces acting on us.

For myself, I have a small torso---not much room for stomach, lungs and heart. This lead to getting full really really quick. Which, under

the 'golden' 3-meal-a-day-rule, leads to a lean mean human-machine! lol!

 

When I tried to gain weight through exercise (weight training and aerobic activity), I had to still battle the tiny-stomach syndrome--> by eating 5 meals

a day. My trainer told me a meal was a sandwich with meat and an apple. Or equivalent amounts of food. More calories (carbs/fats/meats/sugars) than

that (at one 'meal' time) goes to fat. So. 5 evenly spaced out meals during the day. Breakfast, 2nd breakfast, lunch, 3pm (tea to the U.K.ians), and supper.

But each meal was to be real food, no junk food (which has too many calories, often too much fat and too much salt).

 

So, I tried that. For a year. No difference.

 

So. He suggested an extra couple of sandwiches. A day. For a year. I put on about 10 pounds. Unnoticible pounds.

 

Then my metabolism slowed, and kablam! A little pot belly hanging on the front!

 

Since I consicously tried to gain weight my waist size went up from 32 to 34, to 36 to 38. But, now it is subsiding to 36. Still with a little pot belly!

 

To those who want to gain: I say: add whatever form of exercise you like to your life: walking, jogging, a mix, aerobics, cycling, treadmill --whatever for aerobic.

Add weight training (free weights/machines--go easy... and get professional help to start.) And change how you eat for the day. Eat often, but not too much

at once. You want energy, not fat or waste.

 

To those who want to lose: make reasonable changes to your diet: cut down on some things... if you can cut some really bad things out (chips or crisps as the Europeans call them),

soda pop/alcohol (high cal drinks)... and try to add some gentle aerobic activity. Walking for some time... but don't overdo it!

 

So: Schot and Sil are well on their way! You go guys!

 

And Antitrust... it's all about the whole package: energy in (food+drink), exercise (reasonable), and FUN. Life has to be fun, or it won't get done.

 

Hope this helps anyone on their path!

[Silearth 6]

Had a doctor's appointment today. The scale read 200.00. Dropping pounds during the Christmas holiday? Sure did!

 

20 pounds from my goal!

[Knuckles 904]

Nice going Sil

 

I thought dropping pounds during the holidays was basically impossible (I know it is for me)

[Silearth 6]

188 and counting. Size 36 pants starting to feel loose. Not quite ready for size 34 but give it a month or so....

[kriv 14]

Congrats!

 

I dropped about 20 lbs a few years ago by going to a natural diet. Try cutting out high fructose corn syrup, it is in everything so it helps to limit your options. I also spent ten minutes, twice per day doing some kind of exercixe...pushups, pullups, situps, or yoga (dvr-ed a daily show on a workout channel so I didn't have to do it in front of others).

 

Great to hear others success!

[stubbie 21]

I lost 17 kgs last year.

..............unfortunately 9 of them have found their way back home.

 

looks like it back to the treadmill for me.

[Schot 407]

188 and counting. Size 36 pants starting to feel loose. Not quite ready for size 34 but give it a month or so....

 

Wow, gratz Sil! Down from 240 is quite an accomplishment.

 

I lost 17 kgs last year.

..............unfortunately 9 of them have found their way back home.

 

looks like it back to the treadmill for me.

 

The body is relentless in maintaining it's comfort zone when it comes to weight. Bizarrely enough, if I don't exercise I start to lose weight. That's a bad thing for me. So I'm trying to get back on the "treadmill" too these days. Man it's tough. I have to eat 6 times a day. I don't know how that's even possible while also having a life. I feel like I'm living in my kitchen these days. Hmmm.... Maybe I should move my bed into there.

[locolagarto 15]

188 and counting. Size 36 pants starting to feel loose. Not quite ready for size 34 but give it a month or so....

 

Wow, gratz Sil! Down from 240 is quite an accomplishment.

 

I lost 17 kgs last year.

..............unfortunately 9 of them have found their way back home.

 

looks like it back to the treadmill for me.

 

The body is relentless in maintaining it's comfort zone when it comes to weight. Bizarrely enough, if I don't exercise I start to lose weight. That's a bad thing for me. So I'm trying to get back on the "treadmill" too these days. Man it's tough. I have to eat 6 times a day. I don't know how that's even possible while also having a life. I feel like I'm living in my kitchen these days. Hmmm.... Maybe I should move my bed into there.

 

Or your computer!

 

And I thought getting on my feet for 10 hours a day would make a huge diff after being on my ass for over a year, but I guess not. So there is no replacement for arobic heart rate and sensible diet. Damn!

 

And Schot eating 6 meals a day is actually a proven weight loss trick. It keeps your digestion running all the time.( higher metabalism and the digestion process burns calories) and your blood sugar level stays more stable. So unless your gourging yourself every 2 hours, the 6 meal plan is supposed to be a good thing.

[Schot 407]

Or your computer!

 

lol, omg that's genius! Actually... I could maybe move my desk to the living room. It's barely even used anyway. And yes I really am debating that, haha.

 

And I thought getting on my feet for 10 hours a day would make a huge diff after being on my ass for over a year, but I guess not. So there is no replacement for arobic heart rate and sensible diet. Damn!

 

Just toss some jumping jacks into that day job and you'll be golden. ^^

 

And Schot eating 6 meals a day is actually a proven weight loss trick. It keeps your digestion running all the time.( higher metabalism and the digestion process burns calories) and your blood sugar level stays more stable. So unless your gourging yourself every 2 hours, the 6 meal plan is supposed to be a good thing.

 

Is it a weaight loss trick? I've been had dangit! Now that you mention it I do recall some mention of the weight loss benefits with eating many meals a day though I think it's also required that they are small meals. As you guessed I'm on the 6 meal gorge diet. Well... trying to gorge anyway. My daily intake for the past couple of weeks has been about 3000 calories a day and most of which the focus is on protein. I'm not very successful with putting on body fat so my only gain weight option is putting on more more muscle. At least muscle tends to stick around a lot longer on me. Plus my body has a terrible sense of humor when it comes to deciding where to put bodyfat, lol. It all seems to go right across the front of my waist. Stupid body, haha. Oh and the great thing about muscle is it's got great memory. It's amazing how quickly and easily the body can return to a shape it had many years ago.

As for my plan so far it's just about good eating and isometrics at home. I've had gym memberships in the past but for the moment I'm seeing what I can do at home with isometric exercises. I'm surprised at how effective they are and how much you can actually challenge your body using your own body weight. I do have some dumbbells at home so I'm using that to help with some exercises. As for my target I'm aiming low for starters. 150 pds is good enough for now. My body weight fluctuates between 144 and 148 so I'm going for a minimum 150. It's only been my goal for about 10 years now, eh heh...

[locolagarto 15]

Schot yours is a problem many of us wish we had. For Furian and I that have larger frames and genetically slower metabolic rates we are just the opposite. Bulking on muscle is pretty easy, but fat collects on us like flys on S#@&t!

 

We are both a little taller, but for us 190 Lbs would be a similar body appearance to yours. Unfortuanately for us it takes a lot of cardio and dieting to be that small. We're both pushing the 300 mark.

 

Added muscle is heavier than fat. and unlike fat, muscle helps your metabolic rate. So while you add 5 pounds of muscle you will loose 5 lbs of fat. That makes it tough for your situation, but muscle is better than fat any day! good luck and *sigh* wish I had your problem!

[stubbie 21]

And Schot eating 6 meals a day is actually a proven weight loss trick.

 

 

6 hamburgers a day!

hummm okay.....I think I can handle that.

[locolagarto 15]

And Schot eating 6 meals a day is actually a proven weight loss trick.

 

 

6 hamburgers a day!

hummm okay.....I think I can handle that.

 

Rules are no fat and no bread! knock yourself out!

[FrostElfGuard 9]

And Schot eating 6 meals a day is actually a proven weight loss trick.

 

 

6 hamburgers a day!

hummm okay.....I think I can handle that.

 

Um. I think you're joking here... but just in case someone thinks that is a reasonable amount of food... I want to fill the readers in on hamburgers. My favourite kind is A&W Mozza burger... which has on it's own a day's supply of fat, and salt. We're supposed to spread our fat intake over the whole day... like every other kind of nutrient. Not get the day's supply all at once. So. 6 hamburgers a day is a great way to maintain 200 lbs bodyfat.

 

I should mention also that beer and other alcoholic drinks also count towards your daily total of energy in. I know a doctor who has cut out breads, pasta, and other starches. He eats meats, vegetable and fruits. This gives him the room in his diet to get absolutely hammered on a Friday night--and not gain weight at about 40 years old. (Plus he does a lot of cardio and weight training)

 

Re Schot's balancing act: I'm with you. It might be what you're lacking is some digestive enzymes. Perhaps you're not absorbing much from the food you're eating?

Edited April 5, 2010 by FrostElfGuard

[Silearth 6]

Here we are again....

 

I got so close to the 60lb goal and then I let it slip away. The wife had been ragging on me, telling me that she could tell that I was gaining weight. I chalked it up to anger that her diet was not working for her.

 

The next morning, I got on the scale to find that I had gained a whopping 8 pounds. That put my net loss at about 50 pounds.

 

It's been a few weeks since that morning and I believe that I have lost some of the extra weight. I've been doing a lot of stair climbing at work--4 trips up and down 5 flights every morning and then a mile on my afternoon break with my friends. They are starting stair routines in the mornings as well.

 

The fat is melting off, but slowly. My legs are quite impressive now. Even the wife had to mention my new, 0-fat legs.

 

My goal for this year was 170 by December. Well I'm in the 180's now, so a little more hard work and I'll be good.

[Rotluchs 82]

whoa, I admire your endurance !

 

 

until now I never felt like I really had to start a diet..

 

but recently and as it seems I'm growing older faster than ever before,

 

suddenly to my surprise I found myself gaining weight as well, slowly but constantly..

 

 

 

 

 

it is something I never had to pay attention for, so this is a entirely new situation for me, I still have to learn how to deal with this..

 

 

 

in my younger days, I could always eat as much and as often as I'd like to - and sometimes even had really bad 'binge eating' attacks.. (still have them now, fortunately not so often anymore)

 

 

 

but no matter how hard I tried, I couldnt even gain one single ounce, not even one gram !

 

and now a few years later, suddenly I weigh 85kilo (~187 lbs? ), (my personal max was ~91Kgs.. *shudder*)

 

that's really 'deadly' number, seriously ! ( isn't it the police code for murder? ) ^^

 

 

it was hard for me to gain that weight, had to drink a lot of beer and eat lotsa junk to accomplish this^^

 

yet, it seems even harder if not impossible to loose that 'floating tire' around my hip and belly again

 

 

on the other hand, at least visually it's not that bad yet - since I'm 181cm tall

.. but that increased and almost absolutely zero sport in the past few years makes me feel like I'm 100 years old or if I'd weigh like 130kilo when I'm climbing up the stairs to my flat, especially now in the hot summer-time..

 

if you'd see now, running and sweating now, you wouldn't believe me if I told you how athletic I really was, a (long) time ago.

then again, me and running would hardly ever be the case, except for catching a bus, or so...

 

I hope that the warm weather, swimming in the lake near town and using my bike to get to work will do it..

 

but still, it would need some special training, to regain that special 'six-pack' - that I lost by drinking too much 'six-packs'

 

 

 

currently, there's 'summer sale' in the whole town,

maybe I will manage to grab me a pair of new running shoes and some orthopaedic shoe inlays which I'm afraid I might need as well..

 

going to the gym would only be a waste of money, first of all I doubt I'd be 'consistent'(?) enough to go there on a regular basis then,

and second there's so many different exercises you could do at home or outdoors in the park.. for free...

 

edit: that's some impressive progress in your pic's above, Sil

 

atm I wear pants size 38/32 , or so.. maybe I'm down to 36/32 again, depends..

few years ago, I had 32/32 ... (I believe these are the corresponding US sizes, in inch.. waist/lenght ? ..it might be a 52-56 in EU..)

Edited July 14, 2010 by Rotluchs