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Post by Jeff on Mar 15, 2006 17:49:54 GMT -5
This is a thread that you should probably ignore. I am going to use it to keep track of my success (or lack of it) with my current diet. I know this might be slightly annoying to some of you, but I hope that you'll forgive me for it.
When I graduated from high school I weighed 143 lbs and had a 30 inch waist. When I graduated from college I was 157 lbs / 32 inch waist. When I got married I was at 165 lbs / 33 inch waist. When I left grad school I weighed 190 lbs and had a 34 inch waist. During Christmas Break I stepped on Justin and Amanda’s scales and found that I weighed 202 lbs, though I still managed to squeeze into my 34s. Something has to change, if I don’t want to wind up in the grave earlier than necessary.
Now I have dieted before. Most notably, I lost down to 172 lbs for my high school reunion in 1998. But the trend has been ever upward for me and both my weight and BMI have been in the moderate risk zone for years.
I think my healthy weight is about 162 lbs, so my New Year’s resolution was to lose 40 lbs. I thought that I would post my weekly progress here on the board. If I do that, I make it much more likely that I will keep to my diet and actually lose the weight. I am only trying to lose a pound or two a week, because I don’t want to wreck my metabolism. So far I am meeting my goals. This morning I weighed 187 lbs.
Here are my goals: End of March: 185 End of April: 179 End of May: 173 End of June: 167 End of July: 161
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Post by chris on Mar 15, 2006 19:49:53 GMT -5
Sigh... I too need to diet again... Bridget and I were both good about Weight Watchers for a while, and then it all went downhill. Maybe we need to have The Indigenous Diet, and then we can make some money. 8^)
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Post by rickus on Mar 16, 2006 9:51:41 GMT -5
Fifteen Pounds! Jeff, that's awesome! You know at Justin and Amanda's New Years Eve I was skirting the 200 mark myself, wearing my big O'le 36 inchers that night. My weight is now 181.8 and my 34's fit comfortably. Hopefully my weight is on a downward trend and hasn't stalled out. It's kind of hard to workout continuously, get enough to eat and still loose weight at the same time. If you don't mind my asking by what means are you dropping your weight? What is your diet entail?
rickus
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Post by jtmx1 on Mar 16, 2006 10:18:50 GMT -5
I don't know any diet secrets. All I am doing is cutting my caloric intake way down. I started by paying attention to my usual intake. I was taking in 1500-1700 calories a day. Obviously that was too much because even though I walked about 5-7 miles a week (I park as far away from my classes as I can and walk to them) I was still gaining weight. So, I am experimenting with various amounts to see what is right for me. I think the good number--for me--is between 1000 and 1200 calories a day. My only other secrets are not to drink any soda and don't eat after 5 or 6 PM.
I am also exercising a little every day. I use my Ab Roller and do 2 sets of 50. I also do pushups, though not very many. I am embarrassed to say that when I started I couldn't even do 10. Now I can do between 15 and 20. Eventually, I hope to be able to do those exercises without getting winded. At that point, I will add an aerobics routine. I don't know what it will be yet, maybe running or something.
The thing that I cannot change, really will not change, is what I eat. I regulate quantities and exercise, but I love to eat food that I like. Kinda like my mom that way I guess, if it kills me at least I didn't suffer for years and years eating rabbit food.
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Post by rickus on Mar 16, 2006 12:15:21 GMT -5
I use my Ab Roller and do 2 sets of 50. I also do pushups, though not very many. I am embarrassed to say that when I started I couldn't even do 10. Now I can do between 15 and 20. I'm very impressed! Sounds like you're going to make your goal. Keep up the good work Jeff!
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Post by CaptAdam on Mar 18, 2006 12:20:30 GMT -5
That's great news Jeff, What little I do know about dieting is that loseing about 4 to 5 lbs a month is the healthy way and insures that you are less likly to gain it back. Unlike those fast weight loss plans where you lose say 10lbs in 10days which is mainly water weight and some musle which causes you to gain back nearly twice what you lost if you go back to your regular habits.
The more muscle you can develope the more callories you will burn even when at rest.
Morning exercises are said to help kick start the fat burning stage and if you can do a little something around Noon and before you eat your dinner, you may see some good results.
They also say eat 6 small meals a day instead of 3 or 1 large meal, this will be like stoking the fire instead of throughing a whole bunch of wood on it and smothering the flame. Thus causing you to become tired.
As for adding some arobic or cardio to your routine, do your walking when ever you can, if you live near a nice park or something that is pleasent to look at while your walking it won't seem like an exercise as more of a chance to get some fresh air and sunshine.
Keep up the good work and let me know if I can answer or suggest anything else that could help.
Your Friend Cap Ad
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Post by rickus on Mar 18, 2006 12:26:02 GMT -5
Hey Everybody Look!!!! It's Adam! YEAY!!!!!
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Post by CaptAdam on Mar 18, 2006 12:30:42 GMT -5
Sorry my mother board died 2 weeks ago and I'm waiting on a replacement through ebay. so I'm at the Library cacthing up on my emails.
Hope all is well
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Post by jtmx1 on Mar 18, 2006 13:06:44 GMT -5
Thanks, Adam. I am trying to follow most of your advice. I split up my exercising. And I’ll keep walking. After all, it’s much more pleasant than running in South Texas, where average high temps are already 89 degrees.
As for the six little meals, Jenn says the same thing, but it’s beyond my willpower. I have never been a big eater. As I said, I consume between 1500 and 1700 cal/day, including both solid and liquid cals. This despite the recs of most of the health sites I’ve been to, which say I should consume around 2100 to 2200 cal/day to maintain 161 pounds of body weight at my age and with my lifestyle. That’s just ridiculous. Instead, I am trying to take in around 1200 cals/day. And if I split that up into 6 little meals it would be profoundly unsatisfying: 8oz of juice and a slice and half of bread for a meal, etc… I would prefer to eat two or three times and two or three times as many calories.
Hey, it’s good to see you around here, again. It’s also good to know that I have lots of resources and lots of support for my diet.
Jeff
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Post by jtmx1 on Mar 23, 2006 10:15:24 GMT -5
Weekly update: I weigh 186 lbs today, and if I stand just right on the scales, I can get it down to 185. Since I don't have to be there till next Friday, I am confident that I can meet my goal for March. That means that I am almost to the half-weigh (he he) point. And, truth be told, I may be past it. I don't know that I didn't weigh more than 202 lbs at some point.
I still get really hungry inbetween meals. And exercising hasn't given me any added energy. I think that is a lie. It has given me the capacity to run up a flight of steps without getting winded.
Overall, I am struck by how difficult it is to lose weight. Shakespeare was right: There is a lot of pain in a pound of flesh. Worse, Jenn says that even though I've dropped almost 20 lbs, she can't tell any big difference. I hope that if I am able to lose the rest, she'll be able to tell.
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Post by kyle on Mar 24, 2006 0:29:22 GMT -5
I'm with you Jeff, I'd be more willing to work out harder than to have to change the things that I eat.
I might have a suggestion that I have found to help both my wife and I. I've got to admit that I'm not buying into whole no soda fad but something we both do is try to drink a full glass of WATER a few minutes before we start our meals. The empty calorie fluid fills up your stomach and may help you to feel fuller faster. You mentioned that a meal would be a glass of JUICE and some bread. If you are substituting juice for soda you may actually be fighting a losing battle, when it comes to calories, if you used to drink regular coke and especially of you drank diet coke.
PS. Diet Coke is the best non-alcoholic drink ever invented and I will never stop drinking it.
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Post by Jeff on Mar 24, 2006 1:51:10 GMT -5
I'll try that, Kyle.
I don't know anything about dieting, so I didn't know there was a no soda fad going on. But now that you mention it, I've heard it from a number of people. The reason I stopped was because I didn't want to drink up all my daily calories. I drink much less juice than I do soda, so I figure I'll still get less from that.
As for diet coke...My wife brought this new one home and asked me to taste it and tell her what I thought. She didn't tell me it was diet and I didn't look. I said that's coke, so what. Then the big reveal. I couldn't believe it was diet. So, I am going to buy some more the next time we go to the store.
Anyway, thanks for your support.
PS I liked that qualifier "non-alcohomic" 8^)
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Post by jtmx1 on Mar 31, 2006 16:44:04 GMT -5
Diet report: I hit my goal for March; I am down to 185. I’ve got 30 days to get to 179.
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Post by rickus on Mar 31, 2006 17:14:04 GMT -5
Good job man! You didn't eat a box of chocolate flavored Ex-Lax last night did you? Because that shit just won't fly.
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Post by jtmx1 on Apr 4, 2006 19:42:27 GMT -5
I thought that I’d share this with you. According to several calculators on the internet, my ideal body weight is 145-158 lbs, though I am within normal constraints if I weigh 138-167 lbs. Currently I weigh 185 lbs…I haven’t lost any weight this week…so far. My BMI is at 28.2, my BSI is 2.01 and I am classified as Marginally Overweight. You can determine such facts about yourself with these helpful calculators: www.phentermine.com/calculators.htm(I still disagree with almost every calorie calculator on the web. This one says that I should take in 2388.1 cal/day to maintain my current weight or 2193.1 cal/day to maintain my target weight of 161 lbs. But I’ve never taken in so many calories in a day…maybe when I was 16, but I was rail thin back then.)
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Post by jtmx1 on Apr 4, 2006 21:10:01 GMT -5
If you happen to be overweight, here is a little good news: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10807526/The market research firm, NPD Group, has been surveying Americans for two decades about their attitudes toward eating and weight. This is the percentage of people who agreed with the statement: “People who are not overweight are more attractive.” — 1985 - 55.0 — 1986 - 51.2 — 1987 - 45.5 — 1988 - 42.6 — 1989 - 41.9 — 1990 - 39.5 — 1991 - 36.6 — 1992 - 35.3 — 1993 - 32.5 — 1994 - 31.5 — 1995 - 27.9 — 1996 - 27.6 — 1997 - 27.8 — 1998 - 25.8 — 1999 - 25.5 — 2000 - 24.3 — 2001 - 26.2 — 2002 - 25.5 — 2003 - 24.5 — 2004 - 25.0 — 2005 - 24.1
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Post by jtmx1 on Apr 4, 2006 21:20:25 GMT -5
If you are dieting here is good news: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12155756/"Longevity researchers say they've shown for the first time that following a strict low-calorie diet can decrease DNA damage linked with aging. Some people who took part in the six-month diet study ate as little as 890 calories a day. Their insulin levels fell and metabolisms slowed — changes that are thought to increase longevity."
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Post by jtmx1 on Apr 5, 2006 7:37:55 GMT -5
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Post by amanda on Apr 8, 2006 13:36:28 GMT -5
Per phentermine.com's BMI & Ideal Weight calculator: My BMI is 31.5 and my ideal weight is 123 - 136 pounds. Happy stuff, though this calculator is more kind than others I've used. It announced that I was merely overweight rather than obese.
On an even more confessional note, I've been secretly following along, trying to meet your monthly goals with you. I hope you don't mind a tag along.. So far, just by altering my diet a bit, I've managed to drop about seven pounds. I'm hoping to be at 179 at the end of the month.
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Post by chris on Apr 13, 2006 9:47:17 GMT -5
I was just cast in a new play for a small, itty bitty theatre company in Cambridge... the catch is, the role (I believe) is 19-year-old young man... The producers obviously thought I looked young enough to pull it off on-stage, I'm trying to lose enough weight between now and mid-June to make it a little more believable. Otherwise it might be like Monty Python playing the school boys in the sex-education scene in "Meaning of Life"
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