Dear 20:

Congratulations on your weight loss so far! That's quite an accomplishment being in college, a time that most people really pile on the weight. I did, although that was a very long time ago.

What are you doing - or what did you do - to try to lose? Are you watching calories, fat, portions? Do you exercise? I know all those things take time and planning and time is probably something you don't have a lot of.  At your age and with your height, any small adjustments you make should make a difference on the scale. If you can park far away from your first class in the day and walk across campus or take the stairs instead of the elevator, those things should help. Plus if you were to carve out an hour and prepare healthy snacks or meals that you can grab on the go, rather than getting fast food or even campus food, that should also make a difference.

Just be careful because with your hectic schedule you really need to focus on staying healthy, such as eating a balanced diet and maintaining your daily calorie recommendations. I can't imagine that you really need to be below 130, so don't get carried away with weight loss so that your health is compromised!

I uploaded a new pic of my progress today. If I can do it, surely you can too.

Thank you for the replies! Lori: I recognize my emotional eating when I see it so I try to work out extra hard whenever it happens. Also, I used to work out more than I do now (3-4 sessions w/ a trainer each week, plus power yoga or pilates twice a week). I already walk everywhere, thanks to our campus' layout.

Generally I try to watch how much I eat. Mostly my diet is fairly healthy. I have beans, salad greens, plenty of fruit. Getting adequate protein would be something to work on, I think, as well as incorporating more physical activity into my diet.

Hello, I'm new here too.  First day actually.  I'm trying to get rid of the 13 pounds I have gained back, and its hard.  Seems like the more I think about it, the more I eat.  Great job on the weight loss.  I overeat all the time.  Mostly at night.  I do really well until evening, then.... Game On...... I dont know what the deal is.  I eat even when things taste like crap.  Hopefully this will work for the both of us.  Good Luck.

Some one of your hight and weight is at a good weight  range. 5'10" 132-145 at about 21 BMI.  You dont need to lose much if any at all.  You are healthy as you are.  I would say the main issue is stress.  You need to eat about 2000 cals to maintain you current weight.  If you workout you need to either eat the 2000 cals or if you dont workout minus you food intake by 500 cals a day.  But you are not fat or large by any means. 

Good luck in college.  Just eat healthy and stay active to keep your stress down and you will be fine.  I remember those days.  SLow down and enjoy them while they last and worry less.  Thats what makes you tired and sluggish.

Great job on getting to 145.

Not every person drinks a lot of beer in college and not every one has sex in college!

Original Post by maddogkt321:

Not every person drinks a lot of beer in college and not every one has sex in college!

LIGHT beer

And Sex is the best exercise you can get and it is fun.

On that note, I am here to support you and help you if you need.

At 5'10" and 167 lbs, you were slightly overweight according to the BMI chart.  You've never been all that heavy to begin with, even at your highest weight.  You're currently at 145 which is a lovely weight for your height.  Your goal of 130 will put you at the low end of the healthy BMI 18.6 according to WHO standards.  I would not recommend going below that.  You could accidentally see-saw in the other direction and forget to eat while being so busy and then the first cold you get is likely to wipe you out without any reserves.  Building some muscles always helps you feel slender even when you weigh more.

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Actually this is only a mirage. You are young so weight loss is within the realm of possibility. The problem is that once you gain the weight, your body assumes that is the required weight and forever more your body will fight you against losing it.  The charts of food calories and exercise burnoff here are wonderful but they must be taken with a grain of sucrose.  95% of everyone who loses weight will gain it back.  That is fact.  The nursing homes are filled with fat old people who have shelves filled with TOP trophies.

What the nutritionists fail to recognize in their caloric intake is the very important metabolism rate. Fat people have slower metabolism. It takes much less food to power them than it does a slender person.  As you age, your metabolism will slow down. It may seem that the calorie counting works for you. You may appear thin, but it is a myth. It is at most cosmetic and temporary. 

Do the Denny's test.  Go to Denny's restaurant and find a family of thin people.  Look at what they're eating!  Yup, all the wrong foods and lots of calories.  Ask them what exercise they must do. They do less exercise than you do.  Sit down and join them for dessert.  What happens to their dessert?  The next morning it comes out in the toilet. What happens to your dessert?  Your body stashes it away as reserved energy.  You gain, they lose.

I consume far fewer calories than the recommended dosage to lose 1.5 lbs a week and I am maintaining at 256 lbs.  I ride a bike 4 miles to work and get lots of exercise.  I am diabetic, so sweets are off and carbs are cut way back. I used to run marathons before becoming diabetic. I ran 30-45 miles a week and still was only able to get down to 200 lbs (The charts here say I should get down to 170 lbs).  Well, muscle weighs more than fat. But to the pancreas it is all the same.  With my close tabs on my eating choices I'm able to keep from gaining additional weight.  If I let go and gain 20 lbs, my new base will be 276 lbs and I will have to maintain at that level.

The bottom line here is don't put it on in the first place.  If you gorge yourself now as a young adult it will seem like you can fix it with a quick diet, but over the long run you are headed for major defeat.

By the way, there are other effective though not recommended forms of weight loss. One is smoking cigarettes.  Doctors reluctantly admit that smoking inhibits a fat converting enzyme causing smokers (on the average) to be thinner.  Quit smoking and most of us gain. I gained 60 lbs.  Another proven way to lose weight is through amputation.  Not sure this will go over well with your physician.

Original Post by tubatom:

Actually this is only a mirage. You are young so weight loss is within the realm of possibility. The problem is that once you gain the weight, your body assumes that is the required weight and forever more your body will fight you against losing it.  The charts of food calories and exercise burnoff here are wonderful but they must be taken with a grain of sucrose.  95% of everyone who loses weight will gain it back.  That is fact.  The nursing homes are filled with fat old people who have shelves filled with TOP trophies.

What is a mirage?  Bodies are able to gain or lose weight when you treat them properly and the CC plan of a balanced diet with a 500-1000 calorie deficit seems to be one of the best ways to manipulate your weight.  I've kept the 30 pounds I lost off for 6 months now and am having no problems keeping those pounds off.  Everyone has a different body and a different metabolism, but once you figure out how yours works with different changes you can lose weight down to the normal BMI categories.

Nursing homes are filled with people who lack the ability to care for their bodies, that's why they're there.  The criteria of nursing homes rarely cater to the individual needs instead it's one meal for all unless there's a specific medical condition that they're treating.  A 5' woman gets the same meal as a 6' man...guess who gains weight if they eat it all?

What the nutritionists fail to recognize in their caloric intake is the very important metabolism rate. Fat people have slower metabolism. It takes much less food to power them than it does a slender person.  As you age, your metabolism will slow down. It may seem that the calorie counting works for you. You may appear thin, but it is a myth. It is at most cosmetic and temporary. 

The heavier you are, actually the more calories your body requires in order to sustain the same mass.  Unfortunately as you get very heavy (not applicable to this post so I don't know why you said this) many bodies react outside of the normal rules.  Some people experience insulin resistance, some people have organs malfunctioning, etc.

Do the Denny's test.  Go to Denny's restaurant and find a family of thin people.  Look at what they're eating!  Yup, all the wrong foods and lots of calories.  Ask them what exercise they must do. They do less exercise than you do.  Sit down and join them for dessert.  What happens to their dessert?  The next morning it comes out in the toilet. What happens to your dessert?  Your body stashes it away as reserved energy.  You gain, they lose.

Some people do eat all the wrong foods that are full of calories and get no exercise and stay thin (very few).  This is not the case for most people.  There are also people who eat in moderation and people who stop eating when they're full or people who only go to restaurants occasionally and occasionally you can eat whatever you want.  Day in and day out most people don't get to eat fried eggs, pancakes, waffles, whipped cream, syrup in whatever quantity you'd like and not gain weight.  A little bit of dessert doesn't hurt, a huge dessert for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is going to cause most people to gain weight.

I consume far fewer calories than the recommended dosage to lose 1.5 lbs a week and I am maintaining at 256 lbs.  I ride a bike 4 miles to work and get lots of exercise.  I am diabetic, so sweets are off and carbs are cut way back. I used to run marathons before becoming diabetic. I ran 30-45 miles a week and still was only able to get down to 200 lbs (The charts here say I should get down to 170 lbs).  Well, muscle weighs more than fat. But to the pancreas it is all the same.  With my close tabs on my eating choices I'm able to keep from gaining additional weight.  If I let go and gain 20 lbs, my new base will be 276 lbs and I will have to maintain at that level.

You are diabetic, this means that you have a medical condition which you must first cater to before attempting to apply any of the CC rules, there are some diabetics who have experienced a great deal of success, do a search on the forums for threads.  You can easily have a higher BMI and be healthy, particularly if you're athletic and muscular.  A low BMI is always something to get checked out.

The bottom line here is don't put it on in the first place.  If you gorge yourself now as a young adult it will seem like you can fix it with a quick diet, but over the long run you are headed for major defeat.

I agree that if you can avoid adding a lot of weight when you're younger that you won't have to worry about taking it off when you're older.  Also, the younger you are when you start eating more nutriously the better for you.

By the way, there are other effective though not recommended forms of weight loss. One is smoking cigarettes.  Doctors reluctantly admit that smoking inhibits a fat converting enzyme causing smokers (on the average) to be thinner.  Quit smoking and most of us gain. I gained 60 lbs.  Another proven way to lose weight is through amputation.  Not sure this will go over well with your physician.

I hope this is your idea of a joke.

I should probably note that I've never been noticeably overweight for much of my life, just got slightly chubby around adolescence, but you couldn't call me fat. As I got taller and older I steadily slimmed down with little changes to my diet or lifestyle...rather, just my body adjusting itself and losing puppy weight I guess!

I was at 167 after a really bad break up.