Weight-Loss Thread

[lumberjim]

yay, bri!

i moved down a belt notch today. 2 holes to go......

and i don;t feel as fat, although i have not weighed myself.

I am totally agreed with you.
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I lovegoogle

[Sun_Sparkz]

hmm i am totally agreed with you too.

I have been getting very excited to get back into fitness and health once my baby is born. Having an extra 10 kilos of fluid and baby to weigh you down and stop you from running, and swimming and also making you stuff your face with copious amounts of white choc and bluberry scones does nothing for your fabulous figure.

So i think we should all try to do this together.. again.

I am working on a plan, I will start a new thread in a few weeks with all ideas and plans. Everyones going to be a rambo or a sarah conner by christmas and the cellar will be your coach. Give me a few more weeks and I'll get my shit together and collate everything for our very own cellar boot camp.

So everyone get phyced to join me - and tell your body it only has a few weekends left of being less than action hero.

I'll be back.

[sugarpop]

Since I got a dog, a HUSKY, I have lost weight. I dunno how many pounds I have lost, but it must be quite a few because I can fit into my jeans again, and I have not been able to get them on for ages. I also cut out alcohol, not intentionally, just haven't felt like drinking. But I quit drinking a while ago, and I've only just lost the weight, so it HAS to be all the walking I'm doing. I must walk two hours/day now, total. Plus I got this thing called a K9 bike jogger that attaches to the seat of the bike, so she can run along next to me while I bike. So far I'm not going far, just around the block, I do it before I walk her to help drain the energy so she isn't so excited and won't pull on the leash so much.

I'm also eating a ton of fruits, mostly various berries, grapefruit, kiwis and apples. I eat a little bit of bread. I eat a LOT of yogurt and kefir. Milk. Chocolate soy milk. Dark chocolate if I'm craving it. That's about it. Oh, and I'm drinking a LOT more water than I used to.

If you want to lose weight, just get a husky!

[Tulip]

Soooooo.....anyone doing weight loss with their exercise regimen? I can't seem to lose weight just by exercising alone. Am thinking of doing Atkins for 2 weeks to jump start the weight lose then monitor my eating habits to keep the weight off. I have no discipline when it comes to eating. I'm such a pig.

Anyone to support me?

[Juniper]

Add me to the list. I just started Nutrisystem.

Started yesterday; I was good, scale says 2 pounds down, but that's also with the diuretic I wasn't taking while camping with the Girl Scouts earlier this week (you know it sucks to have to pee all the time, when you're using a stinky latrine). Today I was good too, until I had dinner at the Boy Scout camp - it was "family night" and he comes home tomorrow. So I said, to hell with it, and am enjoying a few beers.

Well, tomorrow is another day. My goal is 40 lbs.

[Sun_Sparkz]

Have been collecting so much cool info - researching sugars and saturated fats and all different routines.
watch this space!

[OnyxCougar]

In April, I was diagnosed with insulin resistant diabetes, type II. Since we believed I was allergic to Metformin, she referred me to an Endocrinologist. Meantime, my A1C was 7.4. My GP prescribed a meter, lancets, and test strips. The meter was not covered under insurance, so I got the $20 model. At first, I changed nothing, and just tested as a baseline. My average blood sugar was 180-200, FASTING, 250-270 2 hours after eating. Out of control.

I decided I was going to go low carb. Not all structured, like Adkins, but just make an eating lifestyle change. I started reading labels and I limited myself to 200 g of total carbs a day.

The first week was the hardest. I did ALOT of "cheating", because I just didn't have the money to throw out all the bad food, and buy all good food. As I went shopping the next week, I didn't pick up an item with out looking at the carbs AND serving size (that's where they get you!!) It quickly became apparent that "light", and "sugar free" don't mean dick when you're talking about carbs. I ended up getting alot of meat, cheese, and fruit/vegetables.

The next week, I started noticing the phrase "net carbs", and looked up what that meant. Basically, there are good carbs (fibre, that take a long time to metabolize and therefore don't "spike" blood sugar) and bad carbs (HFCS, regular CS, refined sugar, maple or other cane sugars, molasses) which cause that spike. That narrowed my choices down alot.

I realized week three that I am allowed 200g of TOTAL carbs a day, so I started picking and choosing how I wanted to eat those carbs. If I did really well throughout the day, then I could have, say, Ice Cream for dessert, as long as I didn't go over my daily number.

Well, my Endocrinology appt came, and I got on the scale. I didn't FEEL any different, I was just trying to get my blood sugar down to a reasonable level.

I had lost 11 pounds. In 2 months. And my A1C was down to 6.2.

I wasn't exercising, nothing different EXCEPT 200g a day. I was elated, and my brand new Doctor was elated, too. We decided to try the Metformin, to see if I could tolerate it. It's been three weeks. The only side effect I'm seeing is that as I've ramped up to the 2g a day of metformin, (being delicate) my BM is not solid. That *may* be because I haven't been hardly eating lately, so I'm not ready to attribute it fully to the Metformin yet.

And I'm losing 2 pounds a week.

And my blood sugars are stable at 100 fasting and 130-150 after meals.

I'm also taking 2 Cinnamon capsules and 1 capsule of Alpha-Lipoic- Acid (ALA) with my Metformin. And my endo sent me to a dietician, who said I should be eating 165 g of total carbs per day: 45g per meal and 15g per snack. (an apple is 15g).

So, not only am I losing the weight slowly and healthily, my blood sugar is at a point where it's considered "very well controlled".

The Doc says if I continue and get my body weight down to "normal" (meet my goal of 175) then we'll taper off the Metformin (and stay on the 165g diet) and see what my sugars do. If they start going back up past a reasonable level, then I'm stuck with Metformin for the rest of my life. But I get to keep my feet!

I'll post weekly (on Mondays) what my weight is, while we are having weigh ins at work for a competition. (I'm 300.4 today, I was 302.6 last week!)

I'm eating meats, cheeses, and my carbs mostly come from fruits (I'm a sucker for watermelon!) and vegetables.
I've also started using soy flour instead of wheat flour, and Splenda instead of sugar (I'm addicted to sweet tea). I keep splenda tablets in my purse and order unsweet tea in restaurants, then add the splenda to taste.

There is a show on Discovery Health channel called "Blaine's Low Carb Kitchen". I DVR it. He's lost over 60 pounds now, eating low carb and exercising. He was a chef for over 20 years, and he makes really good food at really low carb rates. His recipes are on discoveryhealth.com if you don't get the channel. Highly recommended!!

[Tulip]

Juniper: How are you doing with your diet? Are you with Nutri System still? Give us an update so we can give you some moral support.

Onyx: That's wonderful that both your health and weight is getting better. Keep up the good work! I know it's super hard to read the labels and pick and choose your food. But that really does help! I'm just too plain lazy, which is not good because my cholesterol is getting a bit high.

As for me, this is my third week of Atkins and I've lost about 3.5 - 4 lbs. I'm not too sure. :p I would've lost more except I cheated too much. I just discovered the Atkin's protein bars, which helped my chocolate cravings immensely. My goal was to lose 5 lbs. I know that doesn't sound much, but it is tremendously hard for me! My ultimate goal is to lose at 3 inches off my waist. So far, I've lost 1 1/4 inch. I haven't been doing enough toning exercises so I haven't been able to lose enough fat. And yes, my Atkins isn't a true Atkins. I eat lots of salad with my meats because I can't stand eating too much meat. :p I may lose my weight slower but at least I am losing weight.

[OnyxCougar]

That's wonderful news, Tulip!

And it's ok to cheat, as long as you're still losing. You recognize that you ARE getting there, and that's a HUGE motivator.

*hug* keep us updated!!

(You're losing twice as fast as I am!!)

[OnyxCougar]

The metformin is not agreeing with my digestive system. We'll leave it at that.

Meanwhile, I've lost another 2 pounds...down to 298.4!

[OnyxCougar]

I went off the Metformin, and I've gained two paound back, up to 300.4 again. So I'm going back on the Metformin. Instead of 4 at a time, I'm going to try 2 twice a day.

[Pie]

Originally Posted by sugarpop

If you want to lose weight, just get a husky!

I may be on the Australian Shepherd exercise plan by the middle of next month... Hope that works for me too!

[Pooka]

This is a very personal post... and I chose to share it with you because I think perhaps... maybe... there is a chance that doing so will help me work through this and reclaim my body and my inner peace at the same time. That doesn't mean I want to be shredded... or analyzed... just allowed to speak... and supported in my efforts regardless of my success or failures.

Ok... now that I'm not nursing anymore and am out of excuses... I am determined to lose the 60lbs I need to lose before I can have the breast reduction I sorely need. Perhaps you guys can help motivate and encourage me? Please no negative feedback on this... I'm not looking for critisism... just cheerleaders for this endeavor.... if that is too much to ask please tell me now and I'll avoid the topic. I generally welcome it, but this is too delicate an area for me.

Yesterday Flint and I started a Flush consisting of the following:
Round 1: 8 oz unfiltered organic apple juice, 8 oz water, 3 tbls psyllium husks... drink very fast (revolting)
round 2: 16 oz water, 2 tbs organic apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp fennel powder, 1 tsp ginger powder, 1 tsp chickweed/ cinnamon/ licorice powder ... sip (nasty nasty)
repeat 3 times a day.
Drink sage tea (which is awesome by the way)
Snack on raw veggies, friut, dates, dried dandilion root, parsley, juniper berries (12 total), avacados, manna bread (it is a 100% sprouted grain and seed bread... that is cooked at so low a temperature it still qualifies as a raw food), sunflower/ sessame/ pumpkin seeds and amarath, raisins.
Dinner: Large salad (with parsley, romaine, red cabbage, red onion, apple, strawberries, broccoli, celery, beets, carrots, garlic powder, afalfa sprouts, seads and walnuts, avacado, lemon juice and first cold pressed olive oil) and brown rice cooked in organic veggie broth and roasted rood veggies.
Dessert: a few unsweetened carob covered almonds.... like 2

I'm down 5 lbs from Saturday. I know most of it is water... but that is part of the point... I know I'm retaining major water.... largely due to my diet and salt consumption... none of which occurs on this Flush. But I have to say... so far everything is tasty and delish... except the second round which I choke down anyway... it isn't about the flavor it’s about the results.

Tomorrow we will do the 2 phases and eat watermelon all day... then resume the above on Wednesday. After 7 days or so... we will begin to incorporate lentils and fish and later on chicken... all organic.

My goal is to stick with this for a month before incorporating other foods... to help me retrain my brain and my food obsessions/ addictions... This should give me enough time to develop a more healthy connection to food.

I am also requiring equal Wii fit and TV watching time of myself. And in the evenings instead of going for a night car ride we are going to go walking.

As to my food issues:. They are deep seated and multifaceted. My parents were large people who loved eating... over eating... they loved buffets and were the sort to force us to eat all we had on our plates. When the oil market crashed and we lost everything... we had to get food from a mission ... or we had nothing. So with that you ate when you could. Then, when I was in my teens... I became anorexic. I was helping to support my mom and brother and well... didn't want to be fat. I married my first husband at 18 and after 2 1/2 years ballooned up from 90 something to 110lbs (yes I know... that is tiny... stay with me on this) and my husband started withholding sex and telling me how fat and disgusting I was (yes at 110)... and after time I began to believe him... I became a binge eater and that 110 lbs became 190lbs... That is more than double the size I was when I married him. I guess I should also point out that I'm barely 5 foot 1" and have a very tiny frame... so at 110lbs believe it or not I was not as skinny as the number would seem... but still looking back I was clearly not overweight. After 10 years with my ex-husband I finally realized that his treatment of me and my tolerance of it was destroying my self-esteem and contributing greatly to my depression. This is largely why I would gain and not lose weight despite all efforts. I actually gained 13 lbs in 3 months on weight watchers. When I decided to leave him I did begin to lose weight, but then I met Flint... married him... moved a bunch of times and got pregnant... and well that brings us up to today. So despite my ex being gone, my parents no longer being in my home and having a fairly financially stable life I recognize that I still have a bad relationship with food. I still celebrate with it, reward and comfort with it. I still crave it like a crack head. I still eat it without thought. I still obsess over the next meal… the menu for the week… etc.

So I'm hoping I can stick with this and give myself a chance to reprogram my connection and establish a better view... food for fuel... food for health and a vibrant life. That is step 1... Then do the same for my workout regime... but one at a time... this has to happen for my exercise outlook to be maintainable.

I know you might have the urge to tell me to not be so restrictive with my intake, but let me stop you before you start down that road. I'm an all or none sorta person and from experience I know that if I give myself an inch it’s all over... its sorta like telling a crack head to just smell the rock, but not smoke it... we all know how long that would last... that’s also true of me. Once I give myself time to rewire I'll be better prepared to make better decisions... right now I can't.
So anyway... I need encouragement to stay the course.

[classicman]

You go Pooka!
FWIW - Here is what I did and I lost 30lbs in 3 months.
I eliminated most of my daily favorites - blue cheese (in all forms), cream in coffee, soda, cheese, ice cream, pasta and most bread(except for special occasions)
Additionally I started working out - 3-5 times a week for at least 1 hour each.
Till life threw me a curveball I was fine. Since then I have NOT put on any weight, but my tone now sux.