Weight loss support thread

[Mourning Dove]

^ Nah, I'm not really a chocoloholic. I just like sweet stuff in general. Candies, lemonade, cake, ice cream, they're delicious! I know they're just empty calories but I can't resist them!

 

[pickleniggo]

I'm not overweight but I'd like to lose a few pounds. Last year I lost ten but gained a few pounds back due to working more night shifts than I'd like to. I hate eating at night but I get so hungry and can never take a break that shift. I'd like to lose that and another ten.

To those looking to lose weight I can't recommend drinking water enough. I drink between one or two liters a day, or if I have a bad day where I eat too much garbage more. Also eat fiber. Lots of fiber.

I could probably also get some pole dancing instructional DVDs or something since I do still have my pole in my closet. I just need to find a good exercise setup.

I was just complaining about pole studios this evening because the ones around my area can be super lame for what you pay. Check out dirdybirdy on youtube.

 

[Lady Houligan]

^ Nah, I'm not really a chocoloholic. I just like sweet stuff in general. Candies, lemonade, cake, ice cream, they're delicious! I know they're just empty calories but I can't resist them!

Sadly you're going to need to learn to resist them. Easiest way is to not even have them in your pantry/fridge: so if you're going to start soon you should do a clean out of all your trouble foods.

 

[Mourning Dove]

I realize I do have to cut out sugar: type 2 diabetes runs in my family. I try to drink more water using Mio. My physician also suggests eating fruit in place of sweets.

 

[pickleniggo]

I realize I do have to cut out sugar: type 2 diabetes runs in my family. I try to drink more water using Mio. My physician also suggests eating fruit in place of sweets.

Making smoothies is a good way to curb cravings for sweets! I usually mix frozen berries with one of those single containers of plain yogurt, but you can pretty much make a smoothie from anything.

 

[Lady Houligan]

I realize I do have to cut out sugar: type 2 diabetes runs in my family. I try to drink more water using Mio. My physician also suggests eating fruit in place of sweets.

If you want flavored water, go with fruits or herbs instead. Mio's all chemicals and your body will just interpret the sucralose and acesulfame potassium as more sugar to retain and react to.

 

[Fialovy]

Key lime juice is definitely good for flavoring water. Make sure you get key lime juice in opaque containers, the vitamin C from it is contained better in opaque containers.

 

[Mourning Dove]

Another of my problems is getting myself to exercise. I'd like to walk more, but my flat feet makes it painful to walk for too long. Besides proper foot support, is there any way to alleviate this? Or perhaps I'm just horrendously out of shape like OPL.

 

[Niachu]

What I'd recommend for anyone who sits at the computer to work at all is using an exercise ball instead of a chair. Instead of stiffening your core muscles and causing lower back problems, it strengthens them and burns way more calories than sitting at a chair. It's called "active sitting". They do sell exercise balls for this purpose and some of my friends who are more aged than I am use this to avoid back problems. It does wonders.

 

[Lady Houligan]

Another of my problems is getting myself to exercise. I'd like to walk more, but my flat feet makes it painful to walk for too long. Besides proper foot support, is there any way to alleviate this? Or perhaps I'm just horrendously out of shape like OPL.

That's something to take up with your primary doctor. There's also the options of yoga or pilates, which you can either get on DVD or find on Youtube. Both are low impact and are a good start for someone who's just beginning to exercise.

 

[pickleniggo]

Another of my problems is getting myself to exercise. I'd like to walk more, but my flat feet makes it painful to walk for too long. Besides proper foot support, is there any way to alleviate this? Or perhaps I'm just horrendously out of shape like OPL.

I would talk to a doctor about what you could do to help that; I wouldn't want anyone to give you advice that could exacerbate the problem! In the meantime there's plenty of "floor work" you could do (i.e. sit ups, push ups, etc). In addition to what Niachu said, exercise balls are really good for those too.

 

[Mourning Dove]

Thanks for all your support and advice everyone! I will take this all to heart!

 

[CatParty]

Another of my problems is getting myself to exercise. I'd like to walk more, but my flat feet makes it painful to walk for too long. Besides proper foot support, is there any way to alleviate this? Or perhaps I'm just horrendously out of shape like OPL.

a big thing for me was moving to a city area. i do not drive. i walk almost everywhere. it forces you to be active.

 

[AtroposHeart]

Another of my problems is getting myself to exercise. I'd like to walk more, but my flat feet makes it painful to walk for too long. Besides proper foot support, is there any way to alleviate this? Or perhaps I'm just horrendously out of shape like OPL.

It might be your not use to walking. I really don't know much about flat feet, but maybe a doctor could recommend something. Also try searching around the internet for options. I had to do something similar for my bad calf pain that I had everytime I walked for more than five minutes.

 

[Fialovy]

Another of my problems is getting myself to exercise. I'd like to walk more, but my flat feet makes it painful to walk for too long. Besides proper foot support, is there any way to alleviate this? Or perhaps I'm just horrendously out of shape like OPL.

It might be your not use to walking. I really don't know much about flat feet, but maybe a doctor could recommend something. Also try searching around the internet for options. I had to do something similar for my bad calf pain that I had everytime I walked for more than five minutes.

Definitely speak to a podiatrist, my brother had flat feet and he was able to get insoles.

 

[Seahorses]

I can only speak for the iPhone but the Lose It app helped me lose a good 20lbs (currently at 145). There are several other similar food tracking apps that do the same thing. My friend lost around 30lbs in preparation for his wedding, and he is a much bigger dude (weighing around 200lbs). Although I went to the gym nearly every day when I was losing my weight, and I happen to be very active athletically. I think it is persistence that pays off. Another thing that I allowed myself was a cheat day once a week. In a way, it's a goal that you can use to motivate yourself with.

 

[AtroposHeart]

I can only speak for the iPhone but the Lose It app helped me lose a good 20lbs (currently at 145). There are several other similar food tracking apps that do the same thing. My friend lost around 30lbs in preparation for his wedding, and he is a much bigger dude (weighing around 200lbs). Although I went to the gym nearly every day when I was losing my weight, and I happen to be very active athletically. I think it is persistence that pays off. Another thing that I allowed myself was a cheat day once a week. In a way, it's a goal that you can use to motivate yourself with.

Cheat days are good, nothing should be done in extreme and you don't want to limit yourself just to certain foods and not allow yourself a break. However, at the same time I think some people use cheat days as an excuse to gorge themselves like they did before the diet and that doesn't help them at all in the long run. I am not against cheat days, but I think people should still practice moderation and portion control. Like if you go to a buffet, just limit yourself to one plate and if you go to a party just have one piece of a desert.

 

[The Hunter]

I don't think I'd be much help as I lose weight waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too easily and just let it hang around knowing I can lose it later, but I'm sure all the advice I'd have has already been stated here. For me, even as much as a simple change in diet can help shed a few pounds. If I'm not dieting, I exercise more, and I tend to lose weight pretty fast when I do that. However, most days, it's one or the other with me, so I manage to maintain my weight and figure.

 

[SlowInTheMinds]

This probably should be in Hulkamania.

also there should be a weight gain support thread
115/5ft 10in here. (aka: severely underweight)

 

[CalmMyTits]

I have a question for those of you who gained weight due to medication. How does that happen? What i mean is, does the medication screw up your metabolism, or cause you to retain water, or what? It seems crazy to me that a medicine that is supposed to help your mind is doing that to your body, and I'm just curious as to why that happens.

I lost about 15 pounds this year. I was a bit overweight, but now I'm down to average and want to lose another 15 because I'm not happy with how i look in a swimsuit. I never drink soda, and my job keeps me on my feet, I sometimes have to lift boxes and buckets that can weight up to 40 pounds, so I am lucky to have a non-stationary job. I admit I do pig out sometimes, but one thing that helped me was not having any snack foods around the house, so it's a lot harder to just graze when there's no easy finger foods at hand, so I now very rarely buy junk food to bring home. I do try to keep some sort of healthy snack at hand most times, like sunflower seeds or nuts.

I'm also a fairly picky eater, so I drink v8 to fulfill my vegetable serving requirement. Some of you may not like the taste (I like tomato soup so it's not an issue for me) but I find it comes in handy, I don't sip it, I just slam down a glass of it. I also recommend green tea, at least a couple of cups a day (you can use the same teabag a few times, so one teabag a day is my usual) and green tea has antioxidants and what have you. If you don't like sipping tea, just boil some water and let the green tea steep in it for several hours. The water will cool down, and you can drink this tea fast. I don't particularly enjoy the flavor of green tea but I drink it because of its benefits.