How I lost weight. Really long!

[woody_968]

First let me say that I am not a Doctor, and dont claim that my eating habbits are healthy by any means.

My history - I was a VERY large kid, dont remember exact figures but I know I was over 200lbs in the sixth grade. I have fought weight problems pretty much my whole life. When I was 17 I was hit by a train and had my mouth wired shut for six weeks, obviously lost alot of weight during that time. I stayed thin untill I got married, then I started putting the weight on again. At one time I was up around 240 and felt terrible, but didnt know what to do. I had tried a few diets, worked out from time to time, but felt like I couldnt get it under control.

Then my wife gave me a book, The Seven Secrets of Slim People (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0061013382/qid=1090983212/sr=8-6/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i6_xgl14/104-3850918-2617535?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) I can tell the first time I read it (easy book to read) I thought to myself this is total BS and there is no way this could work. But it got me thinking about a few things and I thought I would give it a try.

Let me say that for the most part I dont think diets work, they may help for a while but in the long haul they do nothing but make people's weight go up and down. The book talks about this, how we cut back calories and loose weight. But too many times we cut back too far so that when we start eating again our bodies begin to store them and we just gain the weight back. One problem with being on a diet is when you do over eat we feel like we blew it and just forget the whole thing. So I never allowed myself to say I was on a diet, I simply changed the way I ate.

I didnt want to start any type of excercise that I didnt want to do the rest of my life, I walked while playing golf but other than that I didnt excercise at all.

Now for something that sounds simply insane - you have to learn to eat for pleasure - yup, thats what I said, eat for pleasure. But the kicker is you have to be hungry! One of the hardest things I did was learn what it actually felt like to be hungry. We eat out of habit for so long that I think we can forget what it feels like to really be hungry. But when I am hungry I eat what ever it is I really want. If I want something but Im not hungry I wait untill I get hungry, because I know I will enjoy it MORE if I am really hungry. I stopped eating in front of the TV, then I could really enjoy what I was eating instead of just shoving it in my mouth.

A big key is stopping eating when your satisfied, not when you are full! If you can feel the food in your stomach you have probably already ate too much. After a while you will be surprised how little you have to eat to get satisfied. Some people say to skip meals, I disagree, I say eat more often but in much smaller portions. My wife told me this for years because I was a once a day big meal eater. I will say she was right and I was wrong!

As far as eating what you want, I think this is a key. If you are craving a hamburger but eat a salad, guess what, you still want the hamburger and may end up nibbling on things until you satisfy that craving.

The first thing I did was got online and found a simple calorie calculator (http://www.weightlossforgood.co.uk/calorie_intake_calculator.htm) that told me how many calories I was taking in to be the weight I was. I dont remember the exact number, but I think it was between 3500 to 4000 that I had to be taking in. Then I changed the numbers to see how many I should be taking in to be the weight I wanted to be. It was around 2500 a day.

The next thing I did was got a book that told me the calories in fast foods, as I eat out at least once, and usually 2 to 3 times a day. I am not a big calroie counter but I just pay attention to approximatly how many I take in each day.

I changed to diet drinks! This was a big one, that probably dropped at least 500 calories a day right there!

For breakfest (which I never used to eat) I eat around 500 calories. An egg mcmuffin is about 400, and I love those /ccboard/images/graemlins/grin.gif . For lunch I would get a hamburger but no fries. It was a change at first, but yes this does satisfy me for hours. Then for dinner I eat what ever I feel like, but when Im SATISFIED I stop eating!!!

Forget that crap about cleaning your plate!!! I know there are hungry people all over the world. But me cleaning my plate and making myself fat isnt going to feed them.

Loose the "I have to get my moneys worth" attitude when you eat out. If you spend $15 on a dinner, your spending $15 to get satisfied, not stuffed.

I keep all kinds of junk food in the house. But I buy ones that are packaged in small portions so I can satisfy my cravings without eating a whole box of bon bons.

One of the keys IMO was that I didnt try to go below my 2500 calories. I just tried to maintain around that type of calorie intake. When I reached my weight I didnt have to change anything. I didnt have a set goal, I would have been happy getting down to 180 or 185. I finally stopped loosing around 167 and I have been between 167 and 172 since then.

I went from a size 42 pants down to a size 32!

I am sorry this was so long, I could have gone on all night, but I am really excited about what this has done for me! I dont go hungry. If I want ice cream, and Im hungy, I eat ice cream. I just get a small sunday instead of a big brownie delight. I plan on starting to lift weights, but simply so that I feel even better, not to lose weight.

Oops, sorry, almost got going again.

Im sure I forgot some things and Ill post more and answer any questions. But believe me this works! Between my wife and I we lost 120lbs.

Oh ya, when you do get that meal that is soooo good ya cant stop dont feel guilty. Your not on a diet so you didnt blow anything, just listen to your body and dont eat again until you get hungry. You will get to where you wont over eat because it makes you feel absolutly terrible! I hardly ever stuff myself anymore because I hate the feeling.

Sorry, there I go again.

Read the book, it changed my life. If you have questions or comments please post them here, or send me a PM if you would rather keep it between us.

Thanks for reading,
The new, smaller Woody (God I never thought I would enjoy saying that /ccboard/images/graemlins/blush.gif )

BTW I have no ties to the book, so this wasnt an infomercial /ccboard/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Rod]

Woody,

First of all congrats glad you found a solution. How tall are you? I believe in most what you just wrote. If you want to loose weight, just don't eat as much. Even the cardiologist told me that. Now you mentioned about stuffing and that is true. As a matter of fact I ate a little to much tonight and those words hit home. I'm about 7 pounds overweight. A little exercise and watching what I eat brings me down. I just started back with a daily exercise so now it's up to me to control any excess eating.

No fries, which I rarely touch anyway. No pops diet or otherwise. Avoid bread and potatoes. Salad dressing and mayo is light and used sparingly. No salt, I use salt substitute, salt retains water. I drink a fair amount of water even with meals. There's more but that is the jest of it. All that is common place for me so just controlling food intake get's the job done.

I went to a cardiologist to have the ticker checked out. Treadmill, sound devices etc. Blood flow is great and because of my low fat intake my cholesterol level is low.

Personally I won't let myself get way overweight, hell just buying different clothes sizes is a cure in it's self.

Once again good job and remember it's a lot less stress on your ticker. Not to mention back, joints, feet etc.

Rod

[NewJack]

You're right about diet drinks being the big one. Limiting sweets will allow you to become satiated. Having a high sugar intake will cause physical dependence and increase appetite -- there's a reason it's the main component of all the popular diets these days. I lost 20 pounds in 3 months just by eliminating most sweets (still eat breads, rice, etc.), not just because of the calories they had, but by the consequent reduction in appetite. I don't miss them one bit.

Congratulations on your success!

[Popcorn]

The only thing I see I would disagree with is the diet drinks. Cut those out all together, bad stuff. If you like that kind of stuff, just have some seltzer with a spritz of lemon or some juice in it very diluted. One of the main things to losing weight is cutting out sugar. Sugar is an appetite enhances. Once you cut it out it is like magic, you not only save the calories but you stop being hungry. The diet drinks don't quench your thirst, the Aspertain (sp?) effects the nerves system. Even the guys that developed said it should not be on the market, they never imagined people consuming it is such huge quantifies, especially children. Regarding your book it lays out a lot of common sense that we just need to be reminded of sometimes. I would keep the book close and flip through when ever you need to be reminded. Don't preach too much though to your friends, they don't want to hear it. I am a vegetation for many years, never smoked or drank but I never talk about it at all. I have even taken heat about it at times even from family members. It makes people uncomfortable to be around you when they are drinking and you don't, they assume you are judging them. To be honest I am a little, but not out loud. When my friends come in with their Burger bags it is not my business, yet they will make fun of my dehydrated Mangos or what ever snack I may have with me. People are pretty transparent so you don't say anything, it is their problem. I am very, very glad you have lost the weight and hope it will become a life style change that you will keep up with. Don't let anyone try to sabotage you, you will be surprised, misery likes company

[Jimmy B]

I have not read this book (7 secrets) but I can make a very educated guess that out of the 7 most would just be common sense stuff that it's much easier to say then do. The secret to being skinny is in the metabolism and nothing more, I have a friend who can eat whatever he wants and he does, he eats every snack food, chips and candies and fast food every day and he weighs about 140lbs. Sure cut out sweets, cut soda, don't eat after 6pm stop eating when your not hungry burn more calories then you take in blah blah blah. All crap unless you decide to do it and doing it is the hard part. I'm a big fan of the Atkins, I know that the minute you go off of it you'll store even more then before, but it works. I think the key is changing your lifestyle and your mindset, but again not an easy task. Losing weight IMO is much harder then to quit smoking or other habits that you can live without, you must always eat. For the record I have lost over 100 pounds 3 different times in my life and each time I put it back, I have come to terms with the fact that I'm a fat guy and when I lose the weight I know it's temporary and only so I can go back to living the way I enjoy life and that's eating bad and killing myself slowly :-) Good luck to all who can and do lose weight.

JB

[woody_968]

Popcorn, I agree with you that the diet drinks may not be the best thing in the world, but much better than regular coke. I also drink water and unsweetened tea, but the point was that I dont normally take in calories through my drinks

And I never talk about what I have done with friends unless they ask. Like you said they dont want to hear it, but if they ask I will happily spill my guts /ccboard/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[woody_968]

Rod, Im 6' tall. You mentioned gaining around 7 lbs and needing to take it back off. Thats very important, I think many times we gain a little here and a little there and without paying attention we are 20 lbs over weight and starting to feel hopeless. I have had to pay more attention here lately. I hadnt been over 170 for several months, then I hurt my back and did nothing but set in the house taking medication and sleeping. Got up to 173, its amazing how different those few pounds makes me feel.

[woody_968]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote Jimmy B:</font><hr> The secret to being skinny is in the metabolism and nothing more,

<font color="blue"> I agree it has to do with metabolism, but would say more than that it is listening to our bodies. I know people that eat great amounts of food and never gain, they are the lucky ones. But more often than not they simply stop eating before they are stuffed. </font color>

I have a friend who can eat whatever he wants and he does, he eats every snack food, chips and candies and fast food every day and he weighs about 140lbs.

<font color="blue"> I eat all those things, and often eat fast food 3 times a day. </font color>

Sure cut out sweets, cut soda, don't eat after 6pm stop eating when your not hungry burn more calories then you take in blah blah blah. All crap unless you decide to do it and doing it is the hard part. I'm a big fan of the Atkins, I know that the minute you go off of it you'll store even more then before, but it works. I think the key is changing your lifestyle and your mindset, but again not an easy task. Losing weight IMO is much harder then to quit smoking or other habits that you can live without, you must always eat. For the record I have lost over 100 pounds 3 different times in my life and each time I put it back, I have come to terms with the fact that I'm a fat guy and when I lose the weight I know it's temporary and only so I can go back to living the way I enjoy life and that's eating bad and killing myself slowly :-) Good luck to all who can and do lose weight.

JB

<font color="blue"> Jimmy, in this last portion you pretty much described me to a T. I didnt want to stop eating the foods I like. I didnt want to have to excercise everyday. And I never found a diet I could stick to. But you hit the nail on the head when you said its a lifestyle change. I wasnt willing to give up the foods I enjoy so I didnt. I just learned to listen to my body and stop eating when I am satisfied. Not trying to preach to you or anyone, I just wanted you to know I felt exactly the way you have described. </font color>
<hr /></blockquote>

[bluewolf]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote Popcorn:</font><hr> The only thing I see I would disagree with is the diet drinks. Cut those out all together, bad stuff. If you like that kind of stuff, just have some seltzer with a spritz of lemon or some juice in it very diluted. One of the main things to losing weight is cutting out sugar. Sugar is an appetite enhances. Once you cut it out it is like magic, you not only save the calories but you stop being hungry. The diet drinks don't quench your thirst, the Aspertain (sp?) effects the nerves system. Even the guys that developed said it should not be on the market, they never imagined people consuming it is such huge quantifies, especially children. Regarding your book it lays out a lot of common sense that we just need to be reminded of sometimes. I would keep the book close and flip through when ever you need to be reminded. Don't preach too much though to your friends, they don't want to hear it. <hr /></blockquote>

I was going to say something about the diet drinks too, Popcorn. From what I understand, there is something in them that actually retains fluid. I do ocasionally, like once a week get a bottle of real coke, but it takes me two days to finish it and by then it is flat. Water is the best detoxifier of the toxins in the body, imo. If one does not like water, then add a little lemon to it.

Also about converting friends, forget that, I agree. WW is trying to lose weight and is doing this by eating a large lunch and nothing for dinner. This is bad because the stomach stays the same size, and when you get hungry you are more likely to gorge, so little weight is lost and you yoyo back and forth.

In woody's link to his book, there was another one which was recommended, which also sounded good. Looking at why a person overeats and addressing those things will often stop this yoyo cycle with sound healthy eating, plenty of water, etc.

Some do drink diet drinks because they are addicted to caffeine, which can also be another problem.

Smoking is a very strong addiction and IMO people gain weight for one of two reasons. The metabolism is increased with cigarettes so stopping them means that even if the person is eating the same and does not change anything like increased exercise, a person can put on ten pounds just based on that. Also when we stop this very powerful addictive drug, nicotine, many of us start looking for another addiction, often eating more, which is in effect, substituting 'one drug for another'.

So just like people in aa do, when they stop drinking, they also often gain weight and at some point have to address the origin of the addiction to stop doing addictive things.

Laura