Time for a confession:
I consumed 600 calories after supper last night. I was under 2000 after supper, but not that much (exact number is tough... pot roast for dinner, so I'm estimating calories that went into the total dish and then serving size too... ugh.). I was a little hungry, but mostly I just felt like eating. It was what I wanted to do.
I'm trying to focus on having a good day today, with more discipline. Things are already shaping up better, as I've got more of a plan coming into the day, having brought my lunch and pre-counted calories for it. Still, I felt the need to confess a fairly large slip up on day 2 of this particular effort at calorie counting.
If you actually want to lose weight, you need to decide on some motivation to do so. Having slip ups like that happens. But it feels like you're describing yourself doing this every night. If you don't have some good reason not to, you'll continue to eat "because it's what you wanted to do". It really just sounds like you're not mentally ready to commit.
That's fine. Dieting isn't strictly necessary to become more healthy (though it is necessary to lose weight). Maybe you just need to concentrate on getting a good workout in when you can.
Maybe. The thing is, I had been doing really well in the early part of the year... I guess maybe I just lost that motivation generally and need to find it again. That's kind of why I posted this. If I'm honest and open about it other times, maybe that'll help me confront it when the rubber hits the road.
(Also, it's not really every night. But probably approaching every other...)
I found that I ate between meals was when I was bored or had nothing to do. If that is the case and you find yourself raiding the fridge, try to mix it up: Organize your tool room; do some light weightlifting while watching TV; Walk around the block; do the laundry. If you are just tired and want to watch TV and that's when you snack, consciously make the effort to snack on fruits or veggies. Doing curls with a 5-10 pound weight while watching TV will take away the need to snack and firm up those arms.
Also for me, it would kill me to have to input that 600 calorie snack on my spreadsheet and have it stare me in the face. That alone would help me not to slip. Of course different people have different motivations. But it's important not to just keep track of calories but to actually write them down so you can see them and the impact on your daily level.
I've been writing them down. I did not write those ones down though... end of day, didn't go back to the document, etc. That's a good idea.
What's a tool room?
The back corner of a garage.
ah, I understand
Yes. Track everything.
I just came to the realization that single serving snack bags are powerful. For me, anyway. I love these "healthy" pita chips, but a serving to me is about 3 servings as labeled. If I had a single serving bag, I think it'd be worth the extra cost for me. I've gotten better about pulling a serving out of a bag into a bowl, but it doesn't work as well. (And of course I've gotten better about avoiding bagged snacks all together.)
My recent "better" bagged snack has been single-serving bags of: http://www.myminipops.com/. Itty Bitty Butter is quite tasty. Subatomic Sea Salt is not bad either and my wife loves Baby White Cheddar.
Hit my low weight today: 191.4. If I could see 190.x tomorrow I would be stoked.
Had a physical yesterday and the doctor would like me to target 183. I'm looking forward to seeing my cholesterol numbers, hopefully by the end of the week.
I have gotten in the habit of pouring salty-crunchy snacks into a small(ish) bowl rather than snacking from the bag. Because a serving size is generally "one bag". Otherwise, they would split the snax into two or more bags, right? (think: Old Dutch potato chips -- two bags in the box).
There are some really good smartphone apps for tracking food intake (we use My Fitness Pal). After my heart attack it really helped me get a grasp on what I was eating and making some big changes in my diet. I've gotten away from using it but mostly because I've changed my eating habits so much in the past year that I don't feel the need, but I do need to get my butt back on the bike every day for an hour or so.
I put on more than 10 pounds in the month of May. It was terrible. I was on the road for 3 weeks out of the month. June is off to a good start, though. I've been able to keep my calorie consumption to around 2,800/day and have lost almost 4 pounds in the week since I've been back.
I had a good day yesterday, right around 1900, possibly less (eyeballing potatoes... not an easy process). I was also a little bit better than I thought the day before, so I don't feel quite as bad.
This might be a tough weekend (grad party and godson's birthday party) but I intend to be disciplined, and though I'll indulge, I'll limit myself in so doing. Feeling pretty good about it, ahead of time. Let's hope I come out on the other end the same way.
Long time no posting for me.
I've read the fitness threads closely since I decided enough was enough in late January. I've gone from 2-4 sodas/day, eating anything and any portions put in front of me, and exercising circa never to zero soda, tracking every calorie I eat and aim for 1850 cal/day, and exercising 5-6 days/week. I began at 6' 225# which according to the BMI calculator placed me in the category of "obese"... that was a very tough pill to swallow and the moment I faced that fact is the moment I gained the motivation to make real change in my life.
I started out going to the local "gym" (in a small town, any room with two treadmills and a set of dumbbells qualifies as a gym). Then I somehow decided I wanted to run a 10K so I started running 3-5 days a week. I did run that 10k in late May. Now I've picked up the Insanity DVD series as way for my wife and I to exercise together.
I'm surprised around here how some of you guys react to fluctuations in diet/exercise where you are gaining and losing 10+ lbs in seemingly short swings. I have stayed pretty disciplined to both healthy eating and regular exercise. I have only eaten more than 3,000 calories in a day once and that was when I took my wife out for dinner with appetizers/big red meat entrees/drinks/dessert. I am frustrated at the pace of my weight loss, despite being happy with the fact that I am in fact losing weight. My pace has been about 1.3 lbs per week weight lost and that has been pretty consistent from the start until now.
The other thing that is frustrating is that I thought I would look "better" after having lost 27 lbs. My clothes are far too loose and I have obviously lost weight, but it is a reminder just how much weight I had to lose when I look in the mirror and realize that there is still a large amount of unnecessary mass on my body. When I started I thought that by the time I hit 195 lbs I'd start to look "skinny"... now that I am 198 lbs I think that number is closer to 180 lbs.
This series has been helpful for me as a place to relate to others in the same situation and for you guys that have been brutally open and honest about the struggles... Thank You.
great stuff, smalls.
your 1+ lb/week pace seems to me to be a very sensible and sustainable pace.
I'm not familiar with the Insanity DVD series. Does your exercise routine include resistance training (e.g., weights, pushups/dips/pullups)?
Yeah, a pound a week is about what I was at, when I was going good in the first part of the year. I ended up dropping about 12 in half of Jan./Feb/March/half of April. I've put about 5 back on in the 2nd half of April/May. I made it to just under 200, am now right around 205.
bS, Insanity is no equipment cardio. There are a lot of variations of pushups, squats, and jumps. No pullup bar or dumbbells needed which is how I convinced my wife to do it. She wants to exercise in the home and she has an aversion to anything resembling strength or weight training. She was getting very frustrated that she was getting zero results from the treadmill (still haven't got her on the calorie counting bandwagon). Most workouts are 40 minutes long and they are intense. I figure that I am probably doing 60% of the reps right now. It is a method of interval training so your heart rate will spike during the workout.
Each week consists of 5 cardio based workouts, one recovery/stretching workout which is still not easy, and Sunday is a total off day.
I skipped the first week because I was on the road for work so I am only 5 or so workouts in. By the end of June I'll be able to see if I think it's been superior to my other regimens or not.
sounds vaguely similar to the NY Times 7-minute circuit workout discussion we had here recently.
Nice job, smalls! I've been counting calories again the last week and have had some really healthy meals (shrimp gnocchi and grilled chicken with lots of veggies). I've also cut way down on my snacking.
This weekend, though, I'm riding the MS 150 (last chance to donate!), so I'll probably be on a calorie binge-fest trying to replace all the calories I'm burning.
Well, Sheenie and I finished (our third team member got stopped halfway through today with hypothermia). What a difference a year makes! Last year on day two, it was 90 to 95 degrees and we were biking into a 30 mph headwind. This year, it was in the 50s and raining heavily for the first half. We actually had decent weather from North Branch to Hugo, but it rained again for the final 8 miles.
With our monsoons all spring, I barely did any training, but I finished nonetheless. Now I'm going to lounge around until I fall asleep.
Thanks for everyone's donations and encouragement.
Awesome, smalls! I'm in a similar boat, having lurked here (and the overall WGOM) for months, taking in everyone else's experience. It's been good to start sharing mine as well!
Look forward to hearing of more success. 🙂
Good work! If I had been 30 lbs. overweight, I might have taken a much less aggressive approach. But, the fact is that I was closer to 80 pounds (or maybe even more!) overweight. My plan was aggressive and the results I achieved were necessary, I think. Losing the weight, once I was properly motivated, wasn't that hard for me! My struggle was trying to figure out what was normal after losing the bulk of what I weighed. I found that if I didn't pay attention to what I was eating, pretty soon I was north of 3000 calories a day. My personal realization was that I'll probably always have to count calories or at least have an eye on everything I eat. I'm pretty happy with where I am now on watching what I eat and finding food sources that are compatible with my lifestyle (esp. the travel aspect of it).
One of the things that made me happy about the original website is that I was able to kind of group together individuals that had some common interests and create a sort of virtual community that fostered friendships. What is happening with this feature has brought me probably more happiness than anything else that the old website ever did. Folks are taking care of themselves, struggling to control what is very hard for many, many of us to control.
Thanks for telling your story. It's stories like yours that inspire all of us and help us, really. Not everyone was in my boat, not everyone will be able to do what I did. This is about doing things in a way that works for the person doing it.
Your comment about "normal" is what scares me. I see how easy it is to fall off the wagon and marginalize progress through short periods of inattentiveness. The thought of putting weight back on gives me a grand level of anxiety. I am going through the weight "loss" period right now but at some point, hopefully at a point of my choosing, I will have to figure out how to maintain. I know this sounds terribly insensitive, but I find motivation in other peoples trials, learning from other peoples struggles. I hope that someone can find some nugget of value in what I have to contribute as well.
This platform of anonymity is perfect for me because I am quite self conscious and uncomfortable talking about some of these things with real people, nor do I hear most people talking about the struggle side in an honest manner.
...and I know you're all real people too, just the internet type of real.
I don't find it to be insensitive at all. In fact, it's great that somebody can take in what we've been through and not completely ignore it thinking "That won't happen to me."
The struggle is the tough part. And to be honest, being honest about the struggle has itself been difficult. This platform helps.
[wrong place]