Weight Loss

Greetings!

I am hoping that this site I stumbled on will help me out. I have been on a diet or fighting with food my entire life. About 8 years ago I lost about 100 pounds, my lowest weight was 204 then I had my first child at 40. Now I am 220 and he'll be three this June. The only good news is that I do not weight 300 + pounds anymore having said that - No excuses, my food addiction problem has been out of control now since his birth. I try - and try - and try - and still nothing seems to be working. Maybe I can find a friend here who will help give me the strength I need to be healthy. I need to stay alive for my family.

I can't stand scales. If I start weighing myself I go nuts about it, I weigh all the time and generally start to expect the thing to drop everytime I am on it. If you can keep that kind of eye on yourself I am impressed, but for me the scale is on the top shelf of my closet and only comes out on friday. Heck it is 25 years old and I cannot bring myself to replace it for fear that I may appear to have gained on a newer one.

On the calorie count thing, I find that I need to stay near the 1200 to lose if I am not getting enough exercise. I am sure that most bodies are not the same though, so you'll have to see what works best for you. It sounds like we may be about the same on this one, where you'll have to really watch what you eat if you can't work out. When my asthma keeps me down I have to really watch the calories. I also have to watch when I eat though so if you haven't tried that yet you may want to look at when you eat what. If I want to have a treat (pizza or something) I try to have it as early in the day as possible and I try to stop eating by 7 pm or earlier.

I use vitamin supplements and I drink green tea all the time. I don't think that the body absorbs all of the vitamins we take in pill form (that is why you pee bright colors when you use them), but I do think that at least some of it stays with you and that certainly is better than nothing. I try to take lower dose pills twice a day, not a megasupplement that I know my body cannot absorb before it passes through, I also try to get time released pills because you can only absorb so much in a given period of time. I think that vitamins are a great idea to help supplement anyone's diet, not just "dieters".

I freely admit that I have obsessive tendencies and weighing myself daily is one of the ways it shows :) It's still amazing that you can go from a new low to a newish high in only two days from just water weight, *grin*. I drink a fair bit of tea, but right now I'm working my way through a bag of oolong leaves (halfway between green tea and black tea).

Tammy, the site I use for my BMR and daily burn is at http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.ht ml . Make sure you have JavaScript turned on for that page. It asks you to fill in approximately how many hours you spend doing what in addition to your height, weight and age. For me, at 5'9" and 175ish and given my level of (in)activity during the day, my BMR is around 1540, and when my activities are added in I burn around 2050. I try to eat 1500 - 1550, in that ballpark, which gives me a 500ish deficit. Hope that helps!

cynthb-- I went to that site and it's around the same figure I got from google. It's alittle higher BMR and with my activity figured in its alittle higher also. So I'll just go inbetween the two figures and see what happens!!!  I really think my problem was not eating enough. So I'm gonna eat 1600-1700 and stick to that for a week and weigh in and keep my fingers crossed that I finally have this figured out!

How often do you refigure your BMR after losing some weight?

I really love this site!!! It is so helpful. And not just for me. My hubby has lost weight (he was 245ish and now weighs 212) and he's run into a wall also. So I told him I would figure out what he needs to be eating. He's so close to his goal too! He wants to get to 200 and that's it. He's pretty muscular from his job (he's a steel worker) and really active. His weight has just dropped off and it makes me sooooo mad!!!!  Why do guys have such an easy time of losing weight and us women struggle so hard with it. Especially after you hit 40!!!! lol

Thank you all for letting me know I am not the only one who weighs obsessively.  It is always nice to know you have other people that suffer from the same "issues" I do.  One success...I haven't been on the scale since the "bear claw day".  I am trying hard not to look until Friday...it will be better for me.

 cynthb...as far as your calories, what you are doing is right on.  Try it for a week and see what happens.  My experience is that the calculator is a place to start...then you need to see what your body responds to.  As you lose weight, you will need to continue to reduce your calories to see results.  The less you weigh, the less calories you need.  Depressing, I know...but true.

Good luck...

Original Post by momof2funykds:

Why do guys have such an easy time of losing weight and us women struggle so hard with it. Especially after you hit 40!!!! lol

Hey...it isn't easy for us "over 40" guys either...I mean I have only lost 18 pounds in less than a month!

Seriously though...I mean you can look at the BMR numbers and see that there really is a difference. I am not complaining though!

Hope everyone is having a good week. As of this morning, I am down two to 18. That means two more pounds to my first goal! I REALLY want to do it by Monday as it will be one month.

Original Post by momof2funykds:

How often do you refigure your BMR after losing some weight?

 Ask me again after I break out of this plateau *grin*.  Seriously, I plug the numbers in fairly often because I like to see the effect it has, but like I said I have obsessive tendencies.  I'd recheck every 5 lbs myself, which at the rate I lost the first 30lbs is about once a month.  I'd adjust my diet when there is a 50cal difference; any less than that and you get into the inaccuracies of serving size, etc.

And Terry, keep going! Your success is amazing! 

Hi guys,

 I hope everyone is doing great.  I'm doing pretty good.  I've cut my eating back to....no eating after 6.  That's really hard!!  Trying to get dinner done by 6:00 is the hardest part.  Last night, I only had time for a salad a small bowl of yellow squash.  Needless to say, by 8:00 I felt like I hadn't eaten all day....I was starving.  However, watching "The Biggest Loser" was helpful....because I knew they were probably going through the same thing! lol  I had a piece of gum while watching to help take my mind off my stomach.....cuz water doesn't help! lol

Well, enough of my complaining again! 

Good Luck all,

Denise : ) 

 

 

Terry - It's so amazing how you are losing this weight!!!! WAY TO GO!!!

deybozz - I know how you feel! I try not to eat after 7 and I get soooo hungry!!!! I try chewing gum and it's no help! I read a book or something but it's hard when your stomach is "talking" to ya.

I'm still eating my BMR. After doing this since Monday, it is getting easier to eat so much. I hope I don't gain. I read somewhere that it's normal to gain at first when you haven't been eating enough then you eat your BMR (which in my case is 200 more cals a day). Has anyone experienced this?

Hope everyone is feeling and doing well!!!

Tammy

I sometimes get hungry later in the evening and I have trouble chewing gum, so I have a small glass of skim milk to help me feel better. I figure that milk is good for you and not a BAD item when watching my diet. Just thought I'd throw that out there in case it helps someone else out. It is usually just enough to get me through without feeling hungry.

I hope everyone has a good weigh in tomorrow. I think that I may have hit a bad spot here myself, I think that I have not been working hard enough and will be about the same this week again. Oh well, not much I can do but keep plugging away...it will come off eventually if I keep working at it.  Best of luck to everyone tomorrow!

Have you tried those sugar-free 5 calorie jello cups from Hunts? They have 10 calorie and 5 calorie versions. Not sure what is up with that, but I buy the 5 calorie kind and they make awesome snacks. There are also pudding cups that are 45 calories. I think the pudding is Kraft. An "almost frozen" pudding cup is my dessert most days!

Original Post by omagraf:

I think that I may have hit a bad spot here myself, I think that I have not been working hard enough and will be about the same this week again.

Not sure why, but all week I have felt like I am wasting my time and felt like it just stopped working. The scales are creeping along, but I don't have the confidence this week for some reason. Been having a lot of people tell me that the weight losses will slow big time after the first couple of weeks, but I see people on here that just keep going and going. I need to finish out this first month with a decent showing and then get motivated for another month. It is going to be getting warmer out, so it should make it easier to get out and exercise.

I'm afraid that I'll have gained this week.  Last night I got back on the elliptical machine for the first time since that cold knocked the wind out of my sails; it felt good after the first shock to the system :)  I ate back the calories from the workout; perhaps I should try not doing that and see what that does, because I might need a bigger deficit than the 400-500.

I'm looking forward to spring, too.  We just had a big snowstorm with over a foot of snow, so it'll be a while yet before I can take my running shoes outdoors.  I don't run outside when there's snow / ice on the ground, which rules out about half the year.

I'd just like to see some downward movement, however slow :) 

It's that big cycle! For the past 2 weeks, I was out of it, low on motivation, no change on the scale, blah, blah, blah.......... This week I'm riding high, the scale is moving!

Remember what you all said to me: Hang in there! Keep it up! Remember where you've been! Remember how good it feels to lose!

So here I am today....right back at you....KEEP IT UP!

Day-to-day progress may seem slow, but when you look back on where you started, it's amzing to see how far you've come!

Be healthy!

Marie

The scales are moving for me!!! Finally! I was worried after gaining 2 lbs what was gonna happen for the rest of the week. Can't wait for the weigh in tomorrow. I'm so anxious. lol

Hang in there everyone, keep working those bodies and you WILL achieve your goals!!!

Here goes Friday! As I thought, no change. I am happy that I did not manage to gain this week. Spent alot of time nursing the sick & injured this week. Lots of flu and surgery patients here, luckily I have not been one of them. I am okay about the weigh in, not getting stressed or depressed yet. I am just really tired. I am looking forward to hearing some good news from everyone!

omagraf - 163 Sandy (no change, no gain)

Going to be out of town all weekend, so it will be a tough one for sure.

omagraf - 163 Sandy (no change, no gain)

tsjej - 252 Terry (-4 loss. I'll take it.)

Good morning all

http://www.geocities.com/a_nuter_kruse/life_i n_kansas.

I weighed in at 191, was actually dreading this weigh in, since I cheated by having a slice of birthday cake at work. I have discovered if I fix myself a snack pack of celery with fat free creem cheese and Smart balance peanut butter spread on top, sliced in bite sizes, triscuit fat free, and grapes or sliced apple to take to work. I snack on a couple of these items every hour and by lunch time I'm not as hungry.

Then at lunch I will have weight watchers or other meal of the sort with a class of V8 low sodium never eating the whole meal. Also Health Smarth and progressive have wonderful soups of only 100 calories

Arlis

omagraf - 163 Sandy (no change, no gain)

tsjej - 252 Terry (-4 loss. I'll take it.)

msc1229 - 218 Marie (-2) snail's pace

Terry, Good work and have a great time this week end!  Marie

276- (2lbs this week,)13 since i started last month)

I have not last that much but it is amazing how much better i feel.eating heathier has definately changed my mood for the better.My husband and I have a wedding anniversary this weekend (12 years) Instead of going out to eat like we always do,we are going to cook together at home something heathy.

Have a great weekend everyone

Cbear