How to lose weight... really?

[Epmd607]

Diet modification matters a whole bunch more than exercise, unless you exercise serious every day.

 

[NomadLady]

Mindset

It really takes a whole change of attitude about food in general and how you can control what you put in your mouth.

On June 28th I had one of those "moments" where I realized that I can't control what goes on around me or a good bit of what goes on in my daily life with work and taking care of an elderly parent but I CAN control what I put in my mouth.....and the first 5 weeks I lost 11 pounds and still going strong.

 

[cromsgirl]

Diet modification matters a whole bunch more than exercise, unless you exercise serious every day.

I think that might depend on the person. For me the key is eating a moderate diet (about 1400-1600 cals) and getting some exercise every day ( I do about 10-15 minutes of cardio 3 times a week and about 15 minutes of strength training 3 times a week) with one day a week to rest. When I follow this I can loose weight no problem, about 1.5-2 lbs a week. My problem is following this.

 

[bambikiller]

Easy, for dropping a few pounds stop eating once you have had dinner.
That means no ice cream before bed, sorry.

 

[VelvetSin]

I didn't read the whole thread but I'm sure I'm repeating others. To lose weight or maintain a healthy weight and body, food consciousness and exercise are critical. I think measurements and clothing fit are a better way to gauge success than a scale, though. It's possible to be at a healthy weight and still have flab that could be shed to get into a smaller size, and it's possible to stay at the same weight number but lose inches by replacing fat (takes up a lot of space in the body but doesn't weigh a lot) with lean muscle (dense and compact).

If you haven't already done it, a doctor can refer you to a nutritionist (all covered by insurance) that can calculate your maintenance calorie target. That's what you need to consume to maintain your weight with nothing more than basic, daily activities. To maintain a healthy weight, all you do is figure out how many calories you burn through additional exercise and add that amount of calories to your maintenance calorie target. That'll keep you at a good level. To lose weight, you eat at your maintenance range, then the calories burned through exercise will create a calorie deficit so you can lose. (To lose faster, you can lower your calorie intake some to create a larger deficit, but there is such a thing as too much. Eating too little can be harmful so ask the nutritionist how much is safe.) Nutritionists are also great resources if you're new to eating healthy for menu suggestions.

I think it's a good idea for everyone to know their BMI and maintenance target, and to buy a heart rate monitor to use for exercise. The first lets you know what to aim for (sheds a whole new light at the grocery store and restaurants to know a meal contains 1200 calories but this woman's entire daily maintenance allowance is around 1700-1800). The second lets you know how effective your walks or runs are, or when your muscles are getting too used to a type of exercise and you need to change things up to keep cruising.

Diet pills are a joke and most contain harmful and untested chemical compounds. If they do happen to work for you, what did you learn about how to sustain the lowered weight?

 

[dearc]

Drink grapefruit juice.

 

[bigcurvygirl]

The 30 day sugar free challenge worked for me. By day 27 I had lost 52 pounds. Needless to say I extened the challenge and by the sixth month mark 98 pounds had dropped off. In that short length of time I am now at the weight I was 15 years ago.

 

[SpiritRider]

Every infomercial diet pill is a weight loss miracle.....

Why? you ask.....

Because if you read the fine print at the bottom of the screen they all say when combined with DIET AND EXERCISE.

As an after-thought they can also make you more financially responsible. Here's the plan....
Everytime you see one of these advertisements on TV put $19.95 (plus s&h) in your savings account and soon you'll be a frickin millionaire.

 

[blade_rocknut]

it has probably been stated, but- eat less and do more. I don't necessarily believe in no carb or no fat or whatever; those are too hard for most to stick with. Simply eating smaller, balanced portions is the key. When you feel hungry, drink water (lots) and if snacks are necessary, try a little fruit ( the fiber will help keep your hunger away a bit longer) not salty chips or cookies. Exercise, of course. I have been combining cycling with weight ( actually bowfkex) training. Have lost 25 ponds in last 2 months, but I know my fat loss is offset by huge muscle mass gains, skewing the weight figure. More importantly, I have a butt now, my waist is 4" smaller, my arms and thighs are bigger. I don't care if another pound comes off, I just want to be lean and strong. And yes, sex is WAY better with the increased endurance!

 

[rowseyone]

I went on the "getting divorced stress diet". I dropped four sizes, not to mention however much ex husband weighed.

 

[albertaboy]

I started a health change two years ago. In Nov 2008, I was a 255 pound chain smoker with high blood pressure, sugar levels approaching diabetes and high cholesterol.

First I starved my self for a little while, got down to 245 before I quit smoking(I used Champix), by Aug 2009 I peaked at 269.8 pounds, man I was fat.

I started using the Livestrong.com my daily plate calorie tracker, I set a reasonable goal of losing a pound a week which for me meant less than 2300 calories per day. Gradually my weight came down, when I got to about 255 I started the treadmill each day as well.

Today I have had a pretty good summer, weight went up a bit but I am now between 235 and 240, still off smokes, medical tests are excellent.

try livestrong.com daily plate.

 

[blade_rocknut]

it has probably been stated, but- eat less and do more. I don't necessarily believe in no carb or no fat or whatever; those are too hard for most to stick with. Simply eating smaller, balanced portions is the key. When you feel hungry, drink water (lots) and if snacks are necessary, try a little fruit ( the fiber will help keep your hunger away a bit longer) not salty chips or cookies. Exercise, of course. I have been combining cycling with weight ( actually bowfkex) training. Have lost 25 ponds in last 2 months, but I know my fat loss is offset by huge muscle mass gains, skewing the weight figure. More importantly, I have a butt now, my waist is 4" smaller, my arms and thighs are bigger. I don't care if another pound comes off, I just want to be lean and strong. And yes, sex is WAY better with the increased endurance!

Update- I forgot about this thread- another 5 pounds gone, bigger arms & chest to boot

 

[silverwhisper]

nice going, blade!

ed

 

[Graf_Severin]

The 30 day sugar free challenge worked for me. By day 27 I had lost 52 pounds. Needless to say I extened the challenge and by the sixth month mark 98 pounds had dropped off. In that short length of time I am now at the weight I was 15 years ago.

Good for you! I cut out sugar completely 10 weeks ago and have lost 13 lbs (already had a decent BMI, so I was blown away that I lost this much). I've never dieted in my life, but now I eat a 75% fat, 20% protein, 5% carb diet and have had nothing but great mental sharpness and am more toned than I was in high school. That said, such a diet is incredibly uncool (eating out is nearly impossible). But I swear by it. AS FOR GENERAL DIETING ADVICE ADDRESSING THIS THREAD: Cooking at home is a key ingredient to losing weight: you control portions and what you're putting in. I can rarely find a restaurant I can trust. Get a slow-cooker and make big broths with veggies and fatty cuts of meat. Fat with sate the appetite when you've eliminated sugar.

I think sugar, not fat, is the culprit that is preventing weight loss for a lot of people. "Fat-free" is a sure sign that you'll be getting sugar, which the liver will pretty quickly turn into bodily fat. (See: Gary Taubes (not all calorie input is the same))

And I never listen to a doctor who gives dietary advice. Half of them could use a trick on the fight on the fat front.

Just my three cents. Good luck to everyone and be good to yourselves.

 

[sandybrooke]

Portion control. I stopped drinking soda, cut my portions by 60%. bought a new bicycle & started SLOWLY riding twice a week. Lost 36 lbs 2 yrs ago. Still off!! I had to get 2 new belts & found jeans i refused to throw away that now fit . 33 inch waist!!
portion control / no sugar. I did fall off the wagon 3 wks ago. I had a 2 cream filled donuts, powered sugar all over my face & loved it. You can cheat every now & then.

 

[1Browneyedguy]

Avoid carbs like bread and cakes. Try to drink more water, especially if you're drinking sodas.
Eat healthier

Exercise regularly

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

The secret to weight loss is feeling full. Your stomach isn't fooled by water or any no cal bull shit. It wants nutrients.

The trick is tasty nutritious foods in bulk.

I like cabbage and greens and onions and tomatoes and broccoli. Theyre tasty, good for you, and filling.

Or this quick, low cal meal:

2 packs of Ramen noodles 380 calories
1 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes 100 calories.

These are foods I like, you prolly like different, but the point is to identify the foods you like that are good for you.

 

[sybarite_1]

All diets are portion control.
Slim Band, controls the portion of food that can be eaten.
Those coloured containers, control the portions.
Weigh the food, portion control.

Low glycemic.
Foods that don't spike the blood sugar

Exercise.
A seven minute full out maximum effort routine is better than two hours on a treadmill.
Caution. Running causes obesity. And joint damage.
All the research supports this.

This information is for educationall purposes only.

 

[Hypoxia]

Portion control.

The Ed Taylor diet: Ed Taylor was a fat schlub who realized he was a fat schlub because he ate too much. The Ed Taylor diet: Do not eat too much.

Avoid carbs like bread and cakes. Try to drink more water, especially if you're drinking sodas.
Eat healthier

Exercise regularly

The physics diet: If you consume fewer calories than you expend, your weight will drop. If you consume more calories than you expend, your weight will increase. It's that simple.

Those are basics; all else is elaboration.

Carbs are good if you expend a great deal of energy ie burn many calories. High-intensity athletes eat many carbs to good effect. The rest of us just get fat. I consumed mucho carbs when I biked a couple centuries per week. I do not do so now.

 

[bunny4med]

exercise
portion control, don't deny, but keep portions manageable
forget pills and powders, there are no magic shortcuts
eat good food, no fast food
eat small amounts all day long, keeps hunger pangs away
keep sodas(sodium) to a minimum, replace with water
hard work and all of these little steps will slowly take the weight off and become a lifestyle change
take it from a doctor

 

[RockHardKP]

I downloaded an FREE app on my phone called MyFitnessPal. You enter some personal info (height, weight, age, and goal weight) and the app assigns a daily calorie budget. It has a large database of foods/restaurants etc and you just click off everything you eat and any exercise you do. When the budget is complete either you do some exercise to earn more calories or just stop eating. I have found it a good way to help with food choices throughout the day. I lost 20 lbs over 6 months without doing anything more than recording everything I eat and do.........highly recommend it.

 

[Bramblethorn]

The Ed Taylor diet: Ed Taylor was a fat schlub who realized he was a fat schlub because he ate too much. The Ed Taylor diet: Do not eat too much.

The physics diet: If you consume fewer calories than you expend, your weight will drop. If you consume more calories than you expend, your weight will increase. It's that simple.

XKCD got there first.

Nothing that involves a human body is "simple". When you consume fewer calories, at first you'll have a deficit and your weight will drop, but your body is likely to react by reducing the rate at which it uses them (baseline metabolic rate). That reduction can last even if your calorie intake returns to baseline level; effectively your body has decided "hey, apparently we're at risk of starvation, so we'd better increase our fat reserves in case it happens again".

As a consequence, calory-restriction diets tend to result in short-term weight loss followed by a bounce that ends up with long-term weight gain.

The good news: exercise is good for you whether or not you're losing weight from it. A fat person who gets regular exercise can expect better health than a thin person who doesn't.

 

[englishr99]

Lost Weight

Over the last two and half years, I have lost 160 pounds. It was hard to do... but not impossible.

No real secret - just eat less and I greatly reduced the carbs and sugars. No bread, junk food and things like donuts, bagels, etc. Focused on protein.

The differences before and after:

62" belt to 38"
22 shirt to 16
62 portly suit to a 48

I can now see my penis.... amazing.

 

[Hard_Rom]

Only way to lose weight is burn more calories than you take in. How is up to you. Exercise bike is easiest to burn calories. Carbs heavy foods have huge calories. Zero junk food. Watch sweet drinks. Alcohol burns for a reason.