Who is dieting?

[Texsox]

This guy. Basically just watching what I eat and trying to walk more. I'm at 228 and want to push the scale at 190, so I have a long way to go.

 

I was thinking MOnday weigh ins and perhaps using this thread for tips and accountability.

[Middle Buffalo]

6'2" 220lbs (somehow gained 15lbs in the past few months). Would like to get down to 190 or just a few pounds less. Joined a gym today. Lent diet starts Wednesday. Giving up sweets/soda. Considering giving up meat, but I don't really want to be eating beans and peanut butter constantly to get protein.

[FlaSoxxJim]

This guy. Basically just watching what I eat and trying to walk more. I'm at 228 and want to push the scale at 190, so I have a long way to go.

 

I was thinking MOnday weigh ins and perhaps using this thread for tips and accountability.

 

I'm right there with you. But I cheat quite a bit on the weekends, so a Friday weigh-in will reflect better on me than a Monday weigh in.

 

I broke 200 pounds for the first time last year and that prompted me to join my wife on her annual death march diet. I was 205 on Jan 1 and my goal is to get to 165. The first 15 lbs came off easily enough, but it's starting to be slow-going now. I was 190 last Friday.

 

Unfortunately I ate my arse off over the weekend, so we'll see where I am on Friday.

 

Good luck.

[Steve9347]

As some may know I started eating a tad better (just watching the calories) and doing basic workouts at home a while ago... went from 204 to 196 in the last 9 days... if i keep this up I can easily hit 185 by the time i head to the dominican at the end of the month.

 

The key is to count your calories and to get moving. Also, make sure you eat breakfast and you'll really be rocking.

[Jimbo's Drinker]

No pop/soda ever

drink a ton of water

no food after 10:00 p.m.

 

eat consistent small meals throughout the day.

 

 

Im trying to put weight on though, so ill stay out.

Edited February 4, 2008 by Jimbo's Drinker

[southsider2k5]

That word starts with D-I-E... no thanks

[Rex Kickass]

As of last Thursday, down 7 pounds. 43 to go.

 

Weight's dropping slowly, but body is slimming and workouts are significantly easier each time.

 

Less emphasis on what I'm eating, more emphasis on what I'm doing.

[Balta1701]

I've been sort of on a half-diet, half strength training/exercise program for about a year/year and a half now. I think it's worked pretty well. I started off at about 210 lb on a good day, dropped to a low of 168, and from that point I've put on 10-15 lbs but I think most of that has actually been muscle.

 

Pretty much has been a matter of adding more fruit, trying to add in a few more whole grains, and trying to cut out some of the unhealthy snacks, add extra vegetables to dinner, and be a little bit more controlled about my lunch (i.e. today had a light yogurt smoothie and have an apple for a little while from now). That plus adding in a consistent program of exercise and weight training has done pretty well.

[NorthSideSox72]

Travelling every week + trying to get in shape = lack of success

 

Not doing well so far this year.

 

[EvilMonkey]

Damn, I'm the biggun of this group, so far. Started the year at 255lbs, and just starting with simple stuff. No fast food, no potato chips, etc, and no thirds. Also nothing past 9 pm. My workout options are crap as my knees are shot, I have a torn rotator cuff and no access to a pool. I have an ab machine I use, and I make an effort to walk more while working. Walking is good, running and stairs are bad. For some reason, bike also good, weather permitting. Down to 244 as of saturday.

[SoxFanForever]

Damn, I'm the biggun of this group, so far. Started the year at 255lbs, and just starting with simple stuff. No fast food, no potato chips, etc, and no thirds. Also nothing past 9 pm. My workout options are crap as my knees are shot, I have a torn rotator cuff and no access to a pool. I have an ab machine I use, and I make an effort to walk more while working. Walking is good, running and stairs are bad. For some reason, bike also good, weather permitting. Down to 244 as of saturday.

As far as cardio goes have you tried using an airdyne or eliptical machine? Those are fairly low impact on the knees and offer a decent cardio exercise.

 

As far as weight training goes, there are plenty of low impact options that you can choose from. Even using lighter weight and more reps will do a good job. If you want more info let me know and I can post some links for you.

[DBAHO]

I'm the complete opposite, I need to put weight on. My family's always been pretty small though.

 

So I'm trying to eat a lot more protein, and hoping that makes a bit of a difference.

[WilliamTell]

I'm kind of on a diet too. Believe it or not, but I'm actually doing that weight watchers thing. I can have 36 points per day with an additional 35 for the week. But I'm calorie counting too. I graduated 4 years ago and weighed 185, at the begining of the year I was 205. I'm 6'2" so it's not terrible or anything, but I have a belly that I want to flatten out. I just bought a medicine ball so I'm going to start using that, I mainly got one just to through around with my brother, but I want to figure out some exercises for it too.

[EvilMonkey]

As far as cardio goes have you tried using an airdyne or eliptical machine? Those are fairly low impact on the knees and offer a decent cardio exercise.

 

As far as weight training goes, there are plenty of low impact options that you can choose from. Even using lighter weight and more reps will do a good job. If you want more info let me know and I can post some links for you.

Well, I USED to be in pretty good shape, and fortunately I still remember how to get there. Time is my big enemy. Owning your own business sometimes makes for 15+ hour days, not much time to breathe, let alone work out. I am squeezing in little things during the work day, and since full cases of paper are a little heavy, i have been rearranging things around here every few days. For now I am going to try and keep the declined eating steps going, along with the abs and walking, and when spring comes I can add my bike. I tried a fitness club several times, my hours are just too erratic. But as the saying goes, "I'm workin' on it!"

[Balta1701]

Oh, and stay out of the "Food" thread. It doesn't help.

[Texsox]

Oh, and stay out of the "Food" thread. It doesn't help.

Notice the posts are like 3:1 between those threads.

[Rex Hudler]

Count me in....

 

I've REALLY struggled all my life with extra weight. A few times I have dropped big numbers only to regain it after some kind of lifestyle change.

 

My eating habits are my biggest problem. I'm (and always have been) an extremely picky eater and that unfortunately I do not see changing any time in the near future. Green beans are the only vegetable I eat. Yep, that's right. No salads, no corn, no broccoli..... So dieting is difficult for me, though not impossible.

 

I'll just say that I have lost 13 pounds since Jan 5 doing nothing more than trying to be smarter about what, when and how much I eat. I really need to kick things into gear this month and start exercising, but have yet to get over the bulls*** hurdles (excuses) I claim. My original goal was to lose a pound a day for the month of February, but I don't see that happening, so I need to figure out a shorter term goal and maybe one not quite so agressive. Though if I get my s*** together, that could be a realistic figure.

 

I'm almost 40 so I need to do something big. I played in college at 180-185 pounds and could easily run 3-4 miles feeling stronger at the end than when I started. Now I couldn't run 40 feet.

 

 

 

 

[Balta1701]

Count me in....

 

I've REALLY struggled all my life with extra weight. A few times I have dropped big numbers only to regain it after some kind of lifestyle change.

 

My eating habits are my biggest problem. I'm (and always have been) an extremely picky eater and that unfortunately I do not see changing any time in the near future. Green beans are the only vegetable I eat. Yep, that's right. No salads, no corn, no broccoli..... So dieting is difficult for me, though not impossible.

 

I'll just say that I have lost 13 pounds since Jan 5 doing nothing more than trying to be smarter about what, when and how much I eat. I really need to kick things into gear this month and start exercising, but have yet to get over the bulls*** hurdles (excuses) I claim. My original goal was to lose a pound a day for the month of February, but I don't see that happening, so I need to figure out a shorter term goal and maybe one not quite so agressive. Though if I get my s*** together, that could be a realistic figure.

 

I'm almost 40 so I need to do something big. I played in college at 180-185 pounds and could easily run 3-4 miles feeling stronger at the end than when I started. Now I couldn't run 40 feet.

If you're not a vegetable person, one thing that's worked well for me is adding in the fruit. Just replacing part of my usual lunch with an apple has worked quite well as far as I can tell.

[iamshack]

Why the no food after 9 pm or 10 pm or whatever? I hear that theory is bs...can anyone explain to me why it's not?

 

As for the diets...be careful how hard you go on yourself at first. Work your way into it. If you go from eating like crap to suddenly cutting out EVERYTHING, you'll just go back and binge on all that stuff eventually and ruin all the hard work and suffering you've put yourself through. Make small changes to your diet- but make them permanent. The best thing to remember is probably just "everything in moderation."

 

 

 

[Rex Hudler]

If you're not a vegetable person, one thing that's worked well for me is adding in the fruit. Just replacing part of my usual lunch with an apple has worked quite well as far as I can tell.

 

I have done that some and am getting better at it, although I didn't do well in that regard today. I bought fresh pineapple chunks, apple slices (I'm not big on raw apples - it's the skin!), and fresh cut mango. Also trying to snack on foods that may have carbs, but not much sugar such as graham crackers. Dry roasted peanuts too.

 

Like I said, I am trying to make better decisions within my limitations. I would not have lost 13 pounds without some kind of plan, it's just not real detailed right now.

[EvilJester99]

I am trying to drop cola and other sugars and drinking more water. I have dropped 7 pounds since starting that...but I still have a way to go. I got lazy, I use to workout a ton and then started working a ton instead and don't feel like hitting the weights when I get home. I would rather watch tv and veg out anymore.

[Balta1701]

I am trying to drop cola and other sugars and drinking more water. I have dropped 7 pounds since starting that...but I still have a way to go. I got lazy, I use to workout a ton and then started working a ton instead and don't feel like hitting the weights when I get home. I would rather watch tv and veg out anymore.

Some day I'm going to own a large enough TV to be seen from the exercise bike I'll also someday own. And the Daily Show/Colbert Report will then be my workout time, and everyone will be happy.

[Rex Hudler]

Why the no food after 9 pm or 10 pm or whatever? I hear that theory is bs...can anyone explain to me why it's not?

 

As for the diets...be careful how hard you go on yourself at first. Work your way into it. If you go from eating like crap to suddenly cutting out EVERYTHING, you'll just go back and binge on all that stuff eventually and ruin all the hard work and suffering you've put yourself through. Make small changes to your diet- but make them permanent. The best thing to remember is probably just "everything in moderation."

 

The theory is that your metabolism is slower at night while you sleep so don't eat late. But the reality of it is, you lose weight by eating less calories than you burn. What you eat and how you exercise can certainly affect how much you burn, but if you are eating right, what time you eat is inconsequential.

 

I used to work with a trainer (about 11-12 years ago) and he used food to fuel the metabolism (along with cardio and weight training) and he didn't care what time I ate, as long as I ate to the levels I was supposed to. I'll be honest that it was sometimes hard to eat that much food, but I lost 2-3 pounds a week, every single week. He was a huge proponent of one big cheat meal a week and pushed you to pig out big time. His theory was that if you ate a meal high in sugars and/or fat that it would shock your body and trick your metabolism to rev up even higher for about 48 hours. Therefore if you went right back to eating right, you would end up with a net "gain" in terms of lost calories. I will say this, I'd weigh in every Friday morning when I woke up and every Friday I'd be 2-3 pounds lighter. Sometimes I would cheat and weigh myself Sunday or Monday morning and sometimes I'd be 2 pounds heavier. But by Friday, it was always back down.

 

The problem with that program is that when my lifestyle changed and I no longer had (or made) the time to properly prepare foods or workout, my high metabolism got me to eating everything on the planet and the weight started to creep back. Two or three years later those 60 pounds were back.

[WilliamTell]

Looks like we're the soxtalk Diet Team. Let's start the diet riot now, yeah my rhyme sucked, but I had to "try it." lol sorry but this is a cool thread.

[NorthSideSox72]

Alpha Dog, if it makes you feel better, I hit my high weight last year and it was a little more than your 255. I'm 6'3", and I topped out at 263. Yikes. Dropped to 241 by the fall, then had an ankle injury AND started travelling for work all the time. Weight jumped back to 255-ish, which is where I'm at now.

 

I usually can get some good workouts going without a problem, and drop weight pretty fast that way. My problem is diet - I need a bit more self-discipline in that area. I could get down to my goal weight range of 200-210 by the end of 2008, if I could have a halfway decent diet and workout a few days a week. I just need to get motivated and do it.

 

Which is why, much as I love Chicago, I hate living here in winter. I don't know about all the rest of you, but, when the weather is decent (doesn't even have to be great), I get outside a walk, run, bike, play sports, and generally stay in better shape. I think I need to move to Phoenix or something.