Weight Gain and trying to lose it.

I have gained an incredible amount of weight over the last four years. I'm trying to take it off. I think I might be more successful if I become a salad queen for the summer. Does anyone have any recipes?

Ali

I have gained an incredible amount of weight over the last four years. I'm trying to take it off. I think I might be more successful if I become a salad queen for the summer. Does anyone have any recipes?

Ali

I have one of red leaf lettace, 1 slice of avacado, tomatoes, red peppers, onions, 3 olivies, cukes radishes parmesean cheese (sp) with a dash of low cal raspberry vinigrette..tis YUMMY AND filling

Steak and soy sauce salad.

Buy a good piece of steak, filet mignon is wonderful, you don't need or want much, you can make 3-4 salads with one small piece of steak.
Cut into tiny pieces.


Put salad together:
- Your choice of salad greens
- Arugala (makes it awesome)
- Feta Cheese (or other cheese)
- Olive oil over the salad
- Lemon juice over the salad
- salt and pepper

For steak: butter and soy sauce

Heat smallest fry pan and melt a little butter (sorry for the calories but the flavor is worth it). When hot, throw in the little pieces of steak and toss constantly for a very short time - just enough to brown on sides (a minute or less).

REMOVE FROM HEAT and add soy sauce to meat (one or two tablespoons) and then spoon steak and soy sauce over salads and toss to mix all flavors.

It is very important to remove the pan before adding the soy sauce because soy sauce burns very quickly and can ruin the meal.

reduced calories & cardio.....

for me... being in constant motion.. never able to sit still.

out of curiousity? Feel like an idiot for asking....

I'd love to know just why some people do put on weight and some don't.


can't be stress... had enough of that..

over eating?... hahhaha yeah right.. If so I'd have a weight problem I guess.

smoking?... I've always heard that quitting can lead to weight gain.. usually in conjunction with eating more to compensate for the oral fixation.

Aging? I doubt that

is it simply metabolism?

3 words- SOUTH BEACH DIET

It is healthy, you don't go hungry and you lose belly fat! I lost 11 pounds in 4 weeks and a total of 14 pounds. I kept it off even while on vacation. I have leveled off for a while and now will start over again on it so as to lose 10 more pounds. I didn't want to take it off too fast.

Go buy the book in paperback form. It gives a 6 week menu plan and all the recipes are in the back of the book.

This diet was created by a cardiologist for his overweight heart patients. It concentrates on "good" carbs, low fat and protein. I even cheated while on teh diet and still lost. I had to buy new clothes, I feel great and have been told I look great too!!:yes:

Hi, teddikat! :wavey:

Congratulations on your safe, healthy weightloss!

Don't just limit yourself to salad, its depressing.

Just eat whatever you want, as long as its in moderation. You can have treats, just not too many. I have found that anytime you cut something out, you crave it even more!

If you allow yourself whatever you want, in small portions and listen to your body when it tells you its full, its a much more pleasant way to lose weight. Fad diets are depressing and never work.

And stay positive, beating yourself up about the extra weight will make you hate yourself, feel like crap and probably lead to self sabotage.

And exercise! Do things that you find fun, like walking on the beach. Were not all athletes! I despise exercise such as running or going to the gym, but like walking and tennis. Find what works for you, but make it fun.

Good luck!

I have lost 70+ lbs since September....and what I did was very simple....

I ate less, and worked out more.

I ate my big meal at lunch-whatever I wanted.
I eat something light for breakfast-fruit and some triscuits or cheese....

For dinner, I have whatever the kids are having, but only a very small portion...
I try not to eat after 8 pm, but if I do, it's low carb.

I exercise 5 days/week.......5 days of circuit (the machines have weights, so I adjust them), 2 days/week, I do an intense body sculpt class. I ride my bike, walk whenever I can....

My hints:
STOP EATING when you first start to feel full. This takes practice, because you must learn to recognize it. you don't have to clean your plate.

If you have a craving, eat it...but share with someone, and only have a few bites.....craving will be satisfied, and your friend will eat the rest.

set a schedule to work out, and stick to it. it takes 21 days to form a habit. Staying on a workout schedule will force you to make this a habit. I HATE working out, but damn, does my body miss it when I cannot go.

In a word, Mandrake, it is all about metabolism. Everyone's is different, and all of us slow down as we age.

I have struggled ALL my life with trying to stay in a comfortable weight range. Even as a teenager, I had to watch my diet when most all around me were eating all the great teen age junk food and getting away with staying slim.

I have exercised religiously since I was in my late 20's.

Smoking does speed up your metabolism somewhat. The two times that I spent a few years smoking, I was able to maintain a comfortable and attractive weight without diet, and one of those times, without even exercise. As soon as I quit, I pick up about 10 pounds over the next year. Which just happened to me last year again. So now, its count calories AND carbs, and try to exercise as much as I have time for (about an hour 5 times a week). And I'm still struggling.

SO I think it does come down to individual metabolism in the end, and you just have to do the best you can and try to stay healthy.

Hi, teddikat! :wavey:

Congratulations on your safe, healthy weightloss!



Good Morning!!! and thank you......

I've never investigated the South Beach Diet but I have heard great things about it. I think, based on what I've heard, it's not so much a diet as the way you should just be eating normally anyway (the balance of carbs, fat, and protein).

For me, my body reacts well to a fairly high protein, very low carb regimen. I drop 'fat' pretty quickly this way. I do NOT do Atkins, per say. I cannot stand including that much fat in my diet although when I'm doing very low carb, I do feel free to eat a moderate amount of cheese (cheese addict anyway), butter and use real cream in my coffee. When I first looked into the low carb thing, I did use Atkins as a guideline but, like I said, I can't quite get onboard with putting a lot of fat into my body.

It's amazing when we start reading labels, how much of our daily intake is carbs and how little is protein. It takes some real intent to get enough protein into our bodies, in my opinion.

Also, your body requires more water to process carbs and therefore holds onto more water. Reduce your carb intake and the dependency that your body has on carbs for energy and you will lose some of that water.

But...be sure to drink enough water, no matter what you decide to do.

Also: Exercise.

Attaining and maintaining a healthy body weight is all about diet and exercise. And when I say diet, I don't mean 'dieting'; I mean 'what we eat'.

Ali, I don't know what you do for exercise but whatever it is, up it or add some new activities. Also, muscle burns more calories than fat. The more muscle you have on your body, the more calories you burn in order to feed them.

I'm going to go with Elizabeth B's post above. Why limit yourself to salads? And if you're going to add all kinds of stuff to the salad, is it really still a 'salad'? What I mean is, if you're going to add steak, fish or chicken to it, if you're tired of salads, having a piece of chicken with some spinach or other veggies is the same thing.

In regard to salads, be sure not to use regular high-fat salad dressing. There are tons of low fat dressings on the shelf. Just read the labels. My favorite really is good olive oil and red or balsamic vinegar.

Small portions of healthy food, four or five times a day.

Protein for breakfast will keep you full, longer. Eggs, egg beaters, low-fat turkey or chicken sausage, lean beef, chicken. Yes, I eat chicken for breakfast sometimes. There are no rules about what you can eat when.

One of my favorite homemade salads (not on my super low carb list but it's not too bad):

Greens
Canned Corn
Black Beans
Jalapenos
Grated Cheese (low fat and/or just a little)
A few tortilla chips (crunched a little in your hand)

Dressing: Salsa and low fat sour cream (lean on the salsa and don't over do the sour cream).

Add some chicken or lean beef, if you're in the mood.


Caveats: I wrote low fat above. I personally don't use much of anything that is labeled low fat, at least not on a regular basis (if I drank milk, I would, but I don't). I'm in the camp that believes that labeling something low fat often tricks us into eating more, when it's not necessarily lower in calories. I also think that a lot of low fat items have more cr*p in them.

Greens: A lot of typical greens used for salads are not only negligible in calories but also, nutrition. Pick good greens for your salads.

for me... being in constant motion.. never able to sit still.

out of curiousity? Feel like an idiot for asking....

I'd love to know just why some people do put on weight and some don't.


can't be stress... had enough of that..

over eating?... hahhaha yeah right.. If so I'd have a weight problem I guess.

smoking?... I've always heard that quitting can lead to weight gain.. usually in conjunction with eating more to compensate for the oral fixation.

Aging? I doubt that

is it simply metabolism?

It's a different reason for everyone.

With regard to stress.. it's not the stress itself, but the way that your genetics set you up in responding to the stress. For some, their genetics create a physical response that creates the cortisol hormone (among others, probably - but that is called the "stress hormone") to produce in massive supply. For some, the signals of pain and stress are produced many times more than the average person, and then the brain and other "chain reactions" in response does what it does to make you gain weight. For some, exercising too much, or over exerting, can just make the weight gain even bigger.

Some people genetically have a different rate at which the body processes sugars (or foods that turn to sugars). That can cause a weight gain. You might be eating salads and vegetables, but even some of those foods can turn directly and cause a sugar spike in the blood.

For some, yes, it's over eating and not exercising.

Some people have a severe or even mild dysfunction of the thyroid which slows the metabolism.

Illness and disease can create situations where the body has an immune system war and weight gain is often the result.

Some people are water retainers... they eat well and they exercise, but they have a problem with retaining fluids which makes them puffy and heavier on the scale. Eating something with too much salt in it can make them jump 10 pounds or more in a week, and when the salt factor calms down again, they lose that weight in a couple of days.

Some things that help with weight loss for most people:

1 - cut out the coffee/caffeine (caffeine triggers cortisol hormone to be produced)

2 - flush cortisol from the body (water, or chicory - roasted chicory is a long-time favorite coffee substitute, in fact)

3 - Get sleep - DEEP, REM, restorative sleep. Not getting sleep can add to the weight gain problem

4 - Get a little sunshine every day. Part of the process of energy production in the body has to do with nutrients that our bodies need that we don't produce ourselves and can be gotten from the sunshine (sorry - I can never remember this complicated process, so can't explain it myself - I just remember the basic: get a little sunshine every day).

5 - Don't skip breakfast or meals, in fact, 5 or 6 small meals spread throughout the day can keep your metabolism going at a higher rate.

6 - stretching... especially the back, in a way that stimulates the kidneys.

7 - Eat sea salt instead of regular "table salt". Some researchers found that sea salt has something like 92 minerals that our bodies need and help to keep our bodies regulated while table salt only has 2 and is processed with something - I think it's called sulfur of prussia - that actually may be a culprit in heart disease and can cause swelling in people. It's what they use to keep salt from caking and is a part of the process (I think like the makers of splenda who were brought to court recently because they say it's made from sugar, but it's not really - doesn't have sugar in it anymore, and there is a chemical process that involves chlorine you never hear about - some similar chemical process with ingredients you never hear about turn out the final product of "table salt").

8 - Don't eat foods that you're allergic to or that can be "inflammatory" - they can make your body retain those fluids. Foods on the "culprit" list here might be processed meats (those with the nitrates, nitrites, preservatives, etc.), anything made with corn, and anything you personally are allergic to. You may not know if you have any allergy. I found out I have an allergy to wheat products by accident. My skin turned red and welted up one day when I was helping my daughter make paper mache.

9 - Drink lemon water, or water that doesn't have too many chemicals used in purifying it. I always gain several pounds when I drink the tap water where I am - even if I filter it. I drink Arrowhead bottled water as much as possible.

10 - fennel seeds and a few other foods can be dieuretic in effect. radishes have been known to increase metabolism.


This list could go on and on.

I lost 30 pounds last year without much exercising, just by recognizing all these other factors and substituting or removing certain "stressors" (like environmental pollutants or chemicals that are supposed to "help" clean water, foods that I'm allergic to, etc.)

The best exercise for me has always been walking. If I walk 15 minutes a day, 3 days a week, at a good pace, that's been more effective for me than weight training or any other sport that is more physically demanding.

After I had lost more weight, I was more flexible and able to do more or a different variety of exercises that were not too strenuous, and then I lost some more weight. If I do too much exercising, I'm right back to where I started from - swelling up, retaining fluids, and gaining "weight". Notice I didn't say "fat". One can gain weight and be larger without necessarily having fat on them.

Great tips, Naz. I know I don't get enough sleep, due to snoring husband, though. And I am afraid I don't want to do without my morning coffee!

I am doing the South Beach Diet. It has been the easiest diet to do in my whole life. I lost 10 pounds in one month and I am never hungry. Not only that, my skin looks better, I have more energy and I sleep better at night.

I will continue this diet until december when I should have attained my desired weight. I need to lose 20 more pounds.

EEEEEEEliminate processed foods.

EEEEEEEliminate processed foods.

Indeed!! THat is what is nice about the SBD, you cook the food yourself, which can be a pain in the butt, but hey it works for me!

3 words- SOUTH BEACH DIET

It is healthy, you don't go hungry and you lose belly fat! I lost 11 pounds in 4 weeks and a total of 14 pounds. I kept it off even while on vacation. I have leveled off for a while and now will start over again on it so as to lose 10 more pounds. I didn't want to take it off too fast.

Go buy the book in paperback form. It gives a 6 week menu plan and all the recipes are in the back of the book.

This diet was created by a cardiologist for his overweight heart patients. It concentrates on "good" carbs, low fat and protein. I even cheated while on teh diet and still lost. I had to buy new clothes, I feel great and have been told I look great too!!:yes:

Everyone who has gone on the diet has gained all of their weight back once they went off it. It seems that it was all water weight to begin with.

Ali

Everyone who has gone on the diet has gained all of their weight back once they went off it. It seems that it was all water weight to begin with.

Ali

Ali, everyone that goes off a diet gains their weight back. Diets can take weight off, but they can't magically keep weight off when you stop following them. Each of us has to find a "diet" aka way of eating that we can live with for the rest of our lives OR accept that we will gain back the weight.

All great tips! Several years ago I was on Atkins to lose some weight, then switched to South Beach type diet. I have started keeping a large bag of shredded cabbage in the frig for a big salad every night, and throw whatever in with it. I love horseradish, so make a dressing with that. In AM have a protein drink, sensible lunch, then cabbage salad dinner. What really makes the difference is that I have to kill myself with exercise to keep a size 10 on my 5'7" frame! Am sure will get harder with age!!:witsend:

Nutrisystem, nutrisystem, nutrisystem. You will not feel deprived one bit, and the weight just melts off!

I think diets are a scam - everyone gains the weight back, particularly if the diet involves eating in a way that is not natural. Atkins, for instance, is an absurd way to eat and actually very bad for you.

I think Weight Watchers is very good. Some years ago, I lost 65lbs with WW and kept it off until the last few years when I cultivated the ability to look in the other direction as I filled my plate with whatever I want.

No more though. I just got diagnosed with several things, all of which require weight loss. I went back to WW today - first meeting, preceded, of course by a huge and terrible meal last night to mark the last day of freedom.

Some freedom when you have to take meds for blood pressure and more, but I never was very smart when it comes to food.

Oh - and I have a great summer salad recipe. Actually, it's Nigella's (gnashes teeth) and it's Pea, Mint and Avocado.

Cup of peas - fresh if you can
Big bunch of mint
One avocado
Romaine
Belgian Endive
Oil
Vinegar
Salt

Cook the peas.
Chop and bruise 3/4 of the mint
Put all into a dish with white wine vinegar
Marinate for up to 24 hours

On a platter, spread romaine and belgian endive.
Scatter peas on top

Mix roughly.

Cover with sliced avocado, salt and the remaining mint, chopped.

It's fab, especially on a hot day.

sorry to hear you had to get a nasty wake up call bijou.

i'm not far behind you. my blood pressure is pretty labial, and they've threatened to put my on something so many times...sometimes my BP is great, and sometimes it's not so great.

aging, weight gain....it all sucks!

sorry to hear you had to get a nasty wake up call bijou.

i'm not far behind you. my blood pressure is pretty labial, and they've threatened to put my on something so many times...sometimes my BP is great, and sometimes it's not so great.

aging, weight gain....it all sucks!


Doesn't it though? Just what you want the week you become 52. But I can't evade responsibility - I've been pressing "snooze" on this wake up call for a while.

My WW meeting was in the community centre, which has recently been refurbished - so I left clutching all my bits of paper and signed up for a membership. Aquafit tomorrow. Yoga on Friday.

I'm trying to focus on how much better I'm going to eel in a few months and how fabulous, dahlings, I will look in a whole ton of clothes I haven't been able to wear for a while.

Green tea; it speeds up the metabolism. The other thing is food with a low glycemic index: I don't have a complete list but you can get one off the web, but for instance white rice would be high GI, I think sweetcorn and carrots (cooked) are as well. Other veg are not. Try and not get stressed as it does affect the body and might make you put on weight, especially around the middle. I swear by green tea. As soon as I switch from coffee to green tea, any weight comes off. Good luck. You look stunning in your photo and am sure you are beautiful whatever your weight.

I was on Atkins for 2 years. I weighted about 3 lbs shy of 200lbs and at 5 feet tall thats no good. Of course it all went to my butt, thighs and boobs but still that was no good. LOL

By the time I decided to go through the last stage of Atkins which is to incorporate the carbs back in I was at 135lbs and a size 7. I kept that weight off too.

Now my weight is back up because I just had a baby, so I will be going back on Atkins as soon as I wean her off.

Oh and Sobee leans are great and approved for Atkins and SB diet

You know, Kat - and everyone else - it occurred to me that many of us are slowly slogging our way to a significant weight loss goal. Maybe we should start a little group here.

Green tea; it speeds up the metabolism. The other thing is food with a low glycemic index: I don't have a complete list but you can get one off the web, but for instance white rice would be high GI, I think sweetcorn and carrots (cooked) are as well. Other veg are not. Try and not get stressed as it does affect the body and might make you put on weight, especially around the middle. I swear by green tea. As soon as I switch from coffee to green tea, any weight comes off. Good luck. You look stunning in your photo and am sure you are beautiful whatever your weight.


Green tea is great for a lot of reasons, anti-oxidants being one. I only allow myself one coffee a day, with skim milk, and drink tea in the afternoon. I must drink more green tea, aside from anything else, it tastes great.

The low GI is of interest to me - I was reading up on it last night. Interestingly, WW claim that their recommended and core foods are low in GI.

I absolutely love my doctor - I've seen her for years and have found her to be absolutely right about everything (goddammit). She says Atkins is dangerous, all those kinds of diets mean you are likely to regain the weight, and the best thing is to get yourself into a pattern of healthy eating and activity, accept you're going to fall off the wagon now and then and make sure you get back on, and focus on feeling good.

She's right. I have actually, in desperation, tried Atkins, Dr. Bernstein, Jenny Craig and other diets and none of them were as easy or healthy for me as WW. I found it almost effortless - if slow - once I got into it.

I'm not sure who you are saying looks stunning - I'm quite sure it's not actually me, but I'm going to pretend it is and attempt to feel better looking than I have all day. Feeling old and clapped out doesn't make you feel beautiful does it.

the thing is with atkins, people seem to have this misconception that youre sitting at dinner with a HUGE piece of steak and nothing more.

yes you eat protein but its not eat all that you want, you also have to eat a lot of green vegetables at first then depending on what stage youre in, you slowly incorporate the yellows etc etc. Final stage you incorporate fruits.

To this day I still make low carb meatloaf and low carb chicken cacciatore, its two of my kids favorite dishes.

I snacked on cheese, drank whole milk, had yogurts which i have always loved, ate jello, nuts, green olives, black olives, cottage cheese..these were some of my snacks.

What helped me, to not miss the junk food was that I was only on Atkins Mon-Fri, Sat and Sundays I just ate what I wanted. :)

I've tried Atkins twice. Both times I felt great the first day, so-so the second, and like I was in kidney failure by the third.

Not everything works for everybody. WW is tried and true, for sure. It was also recommended as one of the top 5 "diets" by Consumer Reports recently.

In the end, sensible eating is the only way to go.

The only "diet" that really took huge amounts of weight off of me quickly was Atkins. I know its not healthy for "forever," but it did work. It depends on if youre a 'protein burner' or not, and i am - according to my nutritionist. That means i'll lose best on a high-protein diet.

The way to lose slow and steady is to take in less calories than you burn off, obviously. Easier said than done as you age and your body fights it every step of the way - by getting used to the weight its been for soooo long. My doctor tries to help, but i think i'm going to go beggin for surgery somewhere...i'm tired of it.

I guess the other choice is do what the models do...starve, and exercise your a$$ off...

I was standing with a a friend at a football game. She was telling me how well her weight lose was going on the atkins diet. Saying what her and her husband ate for evening meals. She finished talking and we began to watch the football game quietly.

About 3/5 minutes passed, when all of a sudden I heard her speaking, I looked over at her - with teeth gritted and in a growling voice she said, "On Saturday, I'm going to order a hamburger. I'm going to throw the d@mn burger away and EAT THE BUN."

I cracked up!

I was standing with a a friend at a football game. She was telling me how well her weight lose was going on the atkins diet. Saying what her and her husband ate for evening meals. She finished talking and we began to watch the football game quietly.

About 3/5 minutes passed, when all of a sudden I heard her speaking, I looked over at her - with teeth gritted and in a growling voice she said, "On Saturday, I'm going to order a hamburger. I'm going to throw the d@mn burger away and EAT THE BUN."

I cracked up!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Yeah, it can get like that, thats why weekends was my junk food weekend.

I tried the Atkins diet for like, two hours, and said "To Hell with this!!!" LOL!

I am the carb queen. I literally can't survive without them. And according to my doctor, I shouldn't. My doctor, the genius of all geniuses (he really is, and cute too) said that eating small meals throughout the day, would be the best thing, and doing 30 minutes of physical activity would seal the deal (I wish that meant 30 minutes in the sack with HIM! :D *sigh*) He said that at my age, 44, and my height, 5'5", I should weigh 140 pounds, no less. That would make me a slim size 8. I'm in a 10 right now, stuffed in like a sausage in its casing.

I was watching a show on Oprah, and she has this doctor on there frequently, and he said the broccoli was the miracle food...eats lots of that. It's high in fiber and vitamins, and it cleans out your colon like no other. He mentioned tilapia fish and mahi mahi (my favorite). Also, nuts, dark green, leafy veggies, tomatoes, blueberries, cantalope, and a couple others, I forget, but the rule is to "eat the rainbow". Buy all colors of fruits and veggies, and make those the bulk of your diet. You have to eat meat (unless you're really experienced at being a vegetarian) and you have to eat carbs.

Like someone else said, always stop once you're full. Don't feel guilty for "wasting" food...if you're that thrifty, wrap it up.

Obviously, my Dove ice cream isn't on the healthy list, but do treat yourself whenever your weight is down, just for one treat.

You shouldn't lose more than 2 and 1/2 pounds a week, because if you do, you're losing muscle, and you don't want to lose that. Of course, the first week of changing your eating style there will be water weight loss, but after that, you shouldn't be losing more than 2 and 1/2 pounds a week.

I personally, could never make myself exercise, although in my younger days, I did work out now and then. I got a second job instead, which involves walking a lot (waitressing) so between that and my main job, I'm on my feet and "working out" all day. If I was to do anything, it would be walk. My doctor said that would be enough.

I can't follow a "diet" per say, but I can follow that list that the doctor on Oprah suggested. I incorporated it into my daily intake. I weigh 160 right now, and want to get down to 140. I'm going to stop at that. I'm happy at that, I feel healthy at that, and I was always curvy, not into being a beanpole. :D

(you know what Polly....last week I went to the store and got the Chocolate Mint Dove...can't remember what it's called....it was ORGASMIC!)

I won't be eating that again anytime soon!!! Totally addictive!

I was watching a show on Oprah, and she has this doctor on there frequently, and he said the broccoli was the miracle food...eats lots of that. It's high in fiber and vitamins, and it cleans out your colon like no other. He mentioned tilapia fish and mahi mahi (my favorite). Also, nuts, dark green, leafy veggies, tomatoes, blueberries, cantalope, and a couple others, I forget, but the rule is to "eat the rainbow". Buy all colors of fruits and veggies, and make those the bulk of your diet. You have to eat meat (unless you're really experienced at being a vegetarian) and you have to eat carbs.

Like someone else said, always stop once you're full. Don't feel guilty for "wasting" food...if you're that thrifty, wrap it up.



This IS the healthy way to eat, but i DO NOT lose weight on an eating plan like this...i can maintain my weight and not gain, but thats it.

I'm getting ready to embark on Atkins again, even if only for like 3 weeks. I need something to jump start me. Even South Beach starts the first two weeks with VERY low carb. I have to do it like a mission...its a shame. Eating healthily will not give me any weight loss...and i have a date next month and i want to lose some weight. I know thats not a good reason...but it is right now for me!! :bgrin2:

So...its meat meat meat...and veggies...and lots of water. I like Atkins because you can eat something delicious and fulfilling everytime youre hungry, no matter what time night or day. I dont feel deprived. Yeah, i'll crave carbs...but i'll battle it :(

hey jellybean, im starting on atkins on july 9th...not looking forWARD TO THE SEVEN DAY CARB HEADACHE BUT thats my and my friends start date.

As for eating the rainbow..i cant do that...if i eat the rainbow..ill get as big as a rainbow, low carbs and moderate exercise works for me.

I use to weigh 393 lbs now I am down to 212 so far so good. I did the richard simpson thing..I KNOW I KNOW he is a funny looking guy but hey it worked for me.
what i do is during the week I eat fruit fish veggies turkey chicken..no fired things AT ALL i dont count calories THEN on saturday I pig out on a bowl of icecream with hot fudge..or something i enjoy...if you take away those items you will be on a weight loss rollercoaster! ACK been there

and exercise..walk run swim any kind you want

Wesley,

All good advice. Unfortunately for some, it's not as easy to lose weight, esp. for women.

I, for example, adopted a dog in March not only for companionship and to rescue a living being, but to get more exercise.

I walk religiously, an hour a day. Ask me if my weight budged an inch in 5 months going from virtually zero exercise to that.

Answer: no. And when I cut calories alone, I don't lose weight. The only way for me to lose is to do both in combination day in and day out. Once you reach a certain age, or slide past menopause, it's not so easy.

Glad you were successful!! Congrats!! And I'd just like to add that women probably liked you at any weight because you are likable. I am not so stuck on a guy's weight as I am on his personality. He could weigh anything if I really like him.

I have gained an incredible amount of weight over the last four years. I'm trying to take it off. I think I might be more successful if I become a salad queen for the summer. Does anyone have any recipes?

Ali

NO!! Harrison wants you to keep it!! :p Is it okay to become the barbecue queen for the summer?? :D :tongue2:

My turn, my turn!

I just skimmed some of the answers on this thread and wanted to share with you my weight loss success. I lost 35-40 lbs this year. One major factor of my weight loss was the stress is gone. (I had left Clint, the alcoholic, in January and lost the weight since then.) I also looked at what I consumed daily. I'm mostly a fast food junkie. Anytime I would go for lunch, it would be burger and fries, etc.. What I do now, if I want a burger, is just eat the burger and a coke or get the alternative or yogurt or whatever. When I was full, I stopped eating. I eat a powerbar every morning and still have my coffee. I eat a big lunch and not so much for dinnertime. I mostly eat subway, just because I like it. One key to success is DRINK WATER!!! I drink about 1/2 a gallon a day. Do things like park your car farther away from stores, any activity that would burn more calories.

Changing your eating habits is almost as hard as quitting smoking. It is hard at first not finishing your meal but soon it becomes habit and it gets easier. Look at what also made you gain weight.

Best of luck to you! :)

I also wanted to say, make sure you get good fiber intake!

Yes, you'd be surprised at how much you can lose even if you still eat the burger, but cut out the fries.

The low fat diets have never worked for me. I dont eat that much fat to begin with. High protein, low carb is my way to weight loss, always has been. And i've tried everything, including liquid diets (doctor supervised). And yes they worked, but eventually you have to eat!

Exercise also helps, but at my age, it doesnt make a whole lotta difference. My oldest sister and i have the stocky Welsh body. She did an experiment and was walking close to 4 miles a day, after no walking at all. She kept eating the same and never lost a pound. So you have to do both once youre older, and if youre female, anyway. But everyone is different.

I try to walk for my well-being, and lift light weights. I have never seen it help much in my weight-loss. I cant do much heavy duty exercise due to my knees, but i'd love to get a pool so i could swim!! :)

I've been what I believe is called a "yo-yo" dieter my whole life, from about age ten.

I just don't lose weight unless I stop eating food completely. But of course, keep up the liquids.

At times of great stress I have lost huge amounts of weight, but it always goes right back on.

I'm not wanting to lose weight for looks, but for my healths sake. My YM loves my "softness" as he calls the extra weight. What a sweetie!

We will both eat more healthily (healthy?) when we move, we're going to Europe from Thailand in the next week.

I've been what I believe is called a "yo-yo" dieter my whole life, from about age ten.

I just don't lose weight unless I stop eating food completely. But of course, keep up the liquids.

At times of great stress I have lost huge amounts of weight, but it always goes right back on.

I'm not wanting to lose weight for looks, but for my healths sake. My YM loves my "softness" as he calls the extra weight. What a sweetie!

We will both eat more healthily (healthy?) when we move, we're going to Europe from Thailand in the next week.


Please be very careful with this, yo yo dieting is very taxing on the heart!!!

for me... being in constant motion.. never able to sit still.

out of curiousity? Feel like an idiot for asking....

I'd love to know just why some people do put on weight and some don't.


can't be stress... had enough of that..

over eating?... hahhaha yeah right.. If so I'd have a weight problem I guess.

smoking?... I've always heard that quitting can lead to weight gain.. usually in conjunction with eating more to compensate for the oral fixation.

Aging? I doubt that

is it simply metabolism?

I took pills for something over a long term that made me sleepy. And that kicked my energy level down and my activity level. At the same time, I fell in total love with Starbucks Venti Mochas! I gained weight over six months and never realized that they were 500 calories each, and I was drinking two of them a day! So I tried to kick them, but it was hard. I still have about four a week. I also had bilateral foot/ankle injuries that still cause me pain, so I'm not doing any aerobics or running or anything of that nature soon. This winter I was in my house for about 14 days with no way to get out because I was in two casts!

So, just now I'm able to get out and do things, and stand for longer periods of time and walk, but I know that the typical exercise/eating less weight loss won't work for me at least for another year.

Ali

I too gained weight in the past due to pills I was taking. One year (I was 26) I gained 35 pounds. The doctors assured me it couldn't be my pills. Then I finally found some obscure little medical book that said that in some people, these pills do cause weight gain. So I quit them and went on WeightWatchers. It was really hard work and I totally had to change my life but I did lose the weight. It was not easy at all. I had to go back on the pills a couple years later and gained back about 10 pounds. It's those 10 pounds that keep coming back to haunt me.

And it does seem to be harder to lose any weight now at 33 than it did at 26.

Well im doing WW and so thats been going good but my weight loss has stalled so I finally have incorporated some aerobics into my day. I do 30 minutes of high impact aerobics a day 5 days out of the week. So we shall see, if I start dropping weight again.

And to Pinkcat, it is harder to lose weight once you get past 30. Im 35 and every year it seems to come off slower and slower.

For those like myself that find it difficult to get motivated to work out, you might try Belly Dancing. I took up lessons at my local rec center. It was totally reasonable and all of the woman were normal. I had been doing stomach crunches for months prior. While my stomach was getting flatter I wasn't seeing much definition. Within a week of starting Belly Dancing and probably only spending about 3 or 4 hours total (easy and fun to do while you practice) I started seeing actual muscle tone and definition. If you aren't comfortable dancing in front of people there are plenty of Belly Dancing work out videos. Even if you aren't good it is still a lot of fun and as a friend of mine said, "it makes you feel sexy."

Thanks for your post Amina, had no idea that "yo-yo" dieting could have an impact on the heart.

Thankfully it hasn't yet, as I had an ECG recently (general check up) and all was fine.

Noticed there are no other yo-yo dieters so far on this thread. I believe it works by messing up the starvation/storage mechanism in the metabolism.

It's really frustrating as I am actually gaining weight, although hardly eating anything, like less than half what my husband eats.

Any other yo-yo dieters out there want to share?

If you dont eat enough, then your body thinks that it is starving and starts to conserve.

Eat something woman! just in moderation. :)

I know I dropped the most weight when I moderated my white rice and diet soda. :(

I forgot to mention, and I read this in that book, "Hardbodies", that you only need 30 grams of protein a day, 30 grams of carbs and 30 grams of fat. Yes, YOU DO need fat! It's essential for your brain. You need carbohydrates too. That's why the Atkins diet makes you feel so loopy. Yeah, you get past that stage, but it's very stressful on your organs. Too much protein is passing through them. My doctor told me some of his patients experienced kidney failure on the Atkins diet!

Fast food was my downfall, as was eating like Robin did. I read in "O" mag just recently, that women who live with a man put on weight because they start eating like he does. That's exactly what happened to me.

Since he's been gone, I rarely eat fast food. I try to avoid it altogether, but some days I'm on a tight schedule and have to grab something, so I looked up all the fast food restaurants and what they had that was low fat. You can get a McDonald's Kid's Hamburger Happy Meal with a diet Coke and it's 20 grams of fat. That means if you're good at breakfast and dinner, you're still within the range. The McDonald's grilled chicken sandwich has 4 grams of fat. The fries are what get you. A small fry is 10 grams of fat, a large is 22 grams! I love McDonald's fries too!

Anyway, if you have to do fast food, I'm sure there's a way to go online and find out what the restaurant has that is low fat. I have a book called "The Complete Book of Food Counts" by Connie T. Netzer, and it has all the fast food restaurants right in the book. Very handy. I'm not a calorie counter, but I do refer to the book as needed.

For a while, I planned out my meals for the week, and used the book to help me stay in my range. I still ate whatever I wanted, but I planned it so that I didn't go out of range. I didn't even count calories at all, just fat grams and protein grams. I ate as many fruits and veggies as I wanted.

For most of us, as we get older, we have to be conscious of what we eat every day, all the time. It becomes a habit. What someone said about only eating until you're full, that's really key. I used to be a member of the "Clean Plate Club" until someone told me that that's where I was getting the extra calories. So I started paying attention when I ate, and when I felt satisfied, not STUFFED, I stopped. Some of us with "overactive" taste buds *raises hand* find that difficult to do, but it makes a world of difference.

You have to make up your own diet, one that works for you, using the 30/30/30 range mentioned above. That's pretty much what all those other diets are doing anyway. It's just the healthiest way to eat for your body. It forces you to eat more veggies, because they're low on carbs and fat, so you can eat them as much as you want and they're the best thing for you. It also forces you to eat lean meats, because you have to meet your protein requirement, but stay under 30 grams of fat. That's good for your heart. BTW, I have to eat raw veggies with ranch dressing, and cooked ones with butter and salt, so I do figure that in, and I use real butter, not a spread. I take a "smidgen" of it on my fork and rake it across the veggies, and I lightly salt stuff. I use Ken's Steak House Light Ranch Dressing for veggies.

I just have to say that atkins does not cause kidney failure and it annoys me when I hear an actual doctor say that.

TRUE Atkins eaters, which by they way has been around LONG before Atkins published a book and named it after him, actually eat much healthier than most Americans.

With true low carbing, you eat meat, chicken, fish, vegatables, berries ........fresh food, not processed .....you're basically just avoiding "white" ....flour, sugar, rice, and carby veggies such as corn and carrots. Once your carb urges get under control, you start re-introducing healthier items in to your diet such as nuts, grains, etc.

Just wanted to clear that up.

Well I think that avoiding processed sugar and flour is a good idea anyway, and making brown rice a carb choice over white bread which has no dietary fiber and little nutrional value just makes good sense.

I wanted to clear up an error in my last post:

The daily carb intake is 60 grams, not 30. So the formula is 30 grams protein, 30 grams of fat, and 60 grams of carbs.

I still eat instant rice and white bread, but if I happen to have the opportunity to make a better choice, I make it, and when I eat lunch out now, I try to go to a Chinese place or Indian one. Even a soup and salad bar beats a greasy burger and french fries. I grill out almost every night, so if I have a burger, it's grilled and I buy really lean ground beef.

Yep, my doctor had patients who actually experienced kidney failure on the Atkins diet. True story! I mean, who knows what shape they were in to begin with, but all I'm saying is, "buyer beware".

I'm good for losing weight and I'm low in calories.

I'm good for losing weight and I'm low in calories.


:happy0188:


First Place Award for most original first post!

Lmaooo!! ^5

Cute!!!! ;)

I agree Atkins can be taxing on the kidneys, but most likely over a long period of time. Remember one is also eating lots of veggies as well, then later on can add fruit and good carbs. This time around am going to stick with low glycemic index foods, whole grains, veggies, etc. with proteins as well. I am trying to get used to the red and black rices by mixing them with brown rice. They have tough shells and are very chewy, but am getting used to it. Also more millet. My sister introduced me to quinoa so using that in several of her recipes instead of bulgar (wheat derivative) and white rice. I did not know there was quinoa pasta! And is supposed to be the highest protein content of the whole "grains". Am off the white stuff for now, i.e. pastas, potatoes, breads, sugars. And feel SO much better.:yes: