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Old 04-26-2018, 07:06 AM
 
Location: Wonderland
67,652 posts, read 60,522,149 times
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It is not easy to lose weight. It's tedious. It's frustrating. But it can be done.

Oh, here's another tip - weigh every single morning. Every. Single. Morning. This will help you stay on track. If you've gained even half a pound, and you know it, it's easier to cut back a bit. And it's rewarding to see the numbers drop the nextx day.

Also, expect plateaus. But MEASURE yourself once a week - everywhere. I measure neck, shoulders, bust, under bust, waist, belly, hips, upper thigh, lower thigh, knee, ankle, and upper arm. I write it down once a week. I am losing an average of 2 pounds a week, but FOUR inches a week. I have lost 50 inches since February 1! If I was hung up on weight alone, I'd be frustrated. But I can go a week without losing and still lose inches, so it helps to measure both.
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Old 04-26-2018, 08:59 AM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
13,441 posts, read 15,401,240 times
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I have stopped weighing myself daily. That was self defeating and encouraged obsessive behavior. I weigh weekly and will probably transition to monthly since it's maintenance at this point.

Please don't get discouraged. Whatever diet you do, it's not going to be a walk in the park fixing the behavior that made you become overweight. I'd focus on trying to fix your "mental" and then going at it with a new resolve.

Tracking is a pain in the beginning. Some people can never do it. In that case, maybe find a diet where you don't have to do a lot of that. Or maybe just don't track and try to focus on paying attention to body cues. You'll find that by doing that, you may naturally eat less without having to record every crumb. Every diet works by restricting calories in some shape or manner. there's no magical substance that's going to change that. you, like many others, probably eat when you are not in fact hungry. until you learn how to rein that in, you're going to have issues. I chose tracking because that was more natural to me. I'm somebody who works well with being given a budget and working with it. Tracking helped me see what I was spending my calories on and it was very eye opening. A pain yes, but it helped me to see problem areas. Tracking interrupted a lot of the mindless eating, which is probably a big weight loss saboteur.

So again, you need to fix the mental. Good luck.
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Old 04-26-2018, 10:15 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
29,684 posts, read 34,216,632 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cindi Waters View Post
I know that must be the answer, but it's tedious to record everything I eat, and frustrating and nerve-wracking. I don't like raw almonds, so I was thinking of flavored ones,maybe I'll try flavoring them myself.But now I'm thinking I forgot about popcorn for a few weeks, I make it from the kernels, so maybe I'll try that. This is HARD...!
It is hard. You're retraining yourself to change behaviors that may not have immediate payoff, and that can be frustrating.

I'm the last person who'd say that food is just fuel, but you do need to change your relationship to eating. It's not something that you do when you're bored or tired or it's that time of day or when something just looks really good. Start asking yourself, "Is this what I need? Will this nourish my body?" Try to make better choices and get the most bang for your buck. If you've been eating a lot of junk, it may take a while for you to stop craving salty or sugary or fatty so much, but you can do it.
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Old 04-26-2018, 10:48 AM
 
Location: Wine Country
6,103 posts, read 8,783,867 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cindi Waters View Post
I know that must be the answer, but it's tedious to record everything I eat, and frustrating and nerve-wracking. I don't like raw almonds, so I was thinking of flavored ones,maybe I'll try flavoring them myself.But now I'm thinking I forgot about popcorn for a few weeks, I make it from the kernels, so maybe I'll try that. This is HARD...!
The absolute hardest part to losing weight is getting your brain to click over into 'losing weight mode'. Sometimes it never clicks over and that is why so many people fail when they attempt to lose weight.
Desire and determination are two different things. We may have the desire to lose weight but not the determination. If the determination is not there then failure is inevitable.
How to get your brain to click over is something that only you can make happen. But if you think long and hard about what you want to achieve and what you are currently sick of it may get you started.

If you are not committed to tracking every morsel that goes into your mouth you are not ready. You do not have to input in the computer, you can just write it on paper with the proper calories or points.

You also need to reevaluate your relationship with the types of foods and flavors you like or dislike. Perhaps purchasing a book on nutrition and healthy eating with recipes is in order.

It sounds like you are a snacker. Someone who eats mindlessly because its either comforting, habit, or they are bored. The desire to snack can make us think we are hungry when we are actually not. My husband is a good example of that. He snacks after dinner because he thinks he is hungry. It is his downfall.

The absolute most important thing you need to realize is that losing weight is HARD. It takes sacrifice and determination. But just because it is hard does not mean you cant do it. In fact once you get into a groove and start losing weight weekly you will welcome the challenge and your self esteem will build. Its a marvelous thing what happens when we know we will reach or even surpass our goals.
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Old 04-26-2018, 11:05 AM
 
Location: Wonderland
67,652 posts, read 60,522,149 times
Reputation: 101044
Quote:
Originally Posted by riaelise View Post
I have stopped weighing myself daily. That was self defeating and encouraged obsessive behavior. I weigh weekly and will probably transition to monthly since it's maintenance at this point.

Please don't get discouraged. Whatever diet you do, it's not going to be a walk in the park fixing the behavior that made you become overweight. I'd focus on trying to fix your "mental" and then going at it with a new resolve.

Tracking is a pain in the beginning. Some people can never do it. In that case, maybe find a diet where you don't have to do a lot of that. Or maybe just don't track and try to focus on paying attention to body cues. You'll find that by doing that, you may naturally eat less without having to record every crumb. Every diet works by restricting calories in some shape or manner. there's no magical substance that's going to change that. you, like many others, probably eat when you are not in fact hungry. until you learn how to rein that in, you're going to have issues. I chose tracking because that was more natural to me. I'm somebody who works well with being given a budget and working with it. Tracking helped me see what I was spending my calories on and it was very eye opening. A pain yes, but it helped me to see problem areas. Tracking interrupted a lot of the mindless eating, which is probably a big weight loss saboteur.

So again, you need to fix the mental. Good luck.
I think you can stop weighing every day once you've hit your goal. You've lost the bulk of the weight or even all the weight you needed to lose, right? But until you lose that weight, while you're actively trying to lose, I think weighing each morning is generally a very good idea.

But whatever works for people. Since I weigh every morning, I can nip a weight gain in the bud. Maybe it's just water weight (that's my first reaction to it) - in which case I up my water intake and lower my salt intake and invariably it's gone the next day. But if I wait a week between weigh ins, I don't tend to lose consistently.

Like I said, it's really only in the active stage of a diet that I feel it's best for me.
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Old 04-26-2018, 11:06 AM
 
Location: Middle of the valley
48,414 posts, read 34,593,681 times
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Snacking is my Achilles heel. But I KNOW whether or not I am hungry, if I don't have hunger pains I'm not hungry. If I DO have hunger pains, I'm still not necessarily hungry, I may be thirsty.

Honestly OP, you don't sound like you really want to lose weight. Meaning not enough to want to go to the effort, and it IS effort. I'm not judging, it is a personal decision on what is most important to you. It's difficult and no fun. I think it is worse for people who have an affinity for unhealthy foods, because the changes are more severe.

I think it is a good idea to eat healthy to start and not worry about weight, you need to "re-calibrate" your taste buds and cravings.

Do you like to cook? I'm used to eating healthy, so I crave things like a good salad or veggie dal and not a fast food hamburger. But I enjoy cooking so it's easier for me to brain storm good meals.

You may want to experiment by eating out, Cheesecake Factory has some good options that are low cal, even sugar free cheesecake!! CPK is doing cauliflower crust pizzas that are decent, and have other healthy options (my favorite is the roasted veggie salad). Try flavorful cuisines like Korean, Vietnamese and Indian food, where the punch comes from spice rather than fat, carbs and sugar.

When I need to lose weight, first thing I do is figure out an option to satisfy cravings (salty, sweet or whatever your cravings are). For sweet I have on hand: sugar free chocolate pudding / cool whip (for me texture and flavor craving), sugar free ice cream/hot fudge. For salty cravings I'll eat gardinara or other pickled things. I serve everything in small 8 oz bowls, I can always go back for seconds, but that almost never happens. Right now my "snack" is turkey bologna and green olives, other times it is hard boiled eggs. You have to give thought to how to satisfy your cravings in a healthy manner or low cal, whatever your goal is, BUT you have to want to do it.
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Old 04-26-2018, 11:42 AM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
13,441 posts, read 15,401,240 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon View Post
I think you can stop weighing every day once you've hit your goal. You've lost the bulk of the weight or even all the weight you needed to lose, right? But until you lose that weight, while you're actively trying to lose, I think weighing each morning is generally a very good idea.

But whatever works for people. Since I weigh every morning, I can nip a weight gain in the bud. Maybe it's just water weight (that's my first reaction to it) - in which case I up my water intake and lower my salt intake and invariably it's gone the next day. But if I wait a week between weigh ins, I don't tend to lose consistently.

Like I said, it's really only in the active stage of a diet that I feel it's best for me.
I "officially" weighed weekly when I was actively losing but found myself weighing myself multiple times daily. Then it became an obsession, which wasn't healthy. God forbid if the almighty scale showed a gain of .5 pounds, even though it is totally normal to gain and lose throughout the day due to elimination/excretion. There's a dark side, pyschologically, to dieting that many just don't want to talk about. I'm saying this from my own experience. Over the course of my dieting, I had to deal with a number of mental issues that I had never seen or experienced before. And it all started with that scale. I'm seeing my own husband battle with it. If he wasn't losing every single day then he'd feel defeated and want to throw up his hands. Thankfully, I helped navigate him through that but still. Scale obsession nearly made him quit his goal. The scale has turned me into a neurotic mess and I'd like to think of myself now in recovery. Even though I've been this weight now for over a year, I'm terrified of any gain. truth is though that as long as I'm below my comfortable limit (160 lbs), then I'm all right! I don't NEED to be 149.

The first thing I could think of to break the cycle was enforcing the weekly weigh in and NOT getting on it daily. Just throwing that out there. When it comes to weight loss, I am very brutally honest. i put it all out there even to internet strangers.
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Old 04-27-2018, 03:53 PM
 
Location: Wonderland
67,652 posts, read 60,522,149 times
Reputation: 101044
Quote:
Originally Posted by riaelise View Post
I "officially" weighed weekly when I was actively losing but found myself weighing myself multiple times daily. Then it became an obsession, which wasn't healthy. God forbid if the almighty scale showed a gain of .5 pounds, even though it is totally normal to gain and lose throughout the day due to elimination/excretion. There's a dark side, pyschologically, to dieting that many just don't want to talk about. I'm saying this from my own experience. Over the course of my dieting, I had to deal with a number of mental issues that I had never seen or experienced before. And it all started with that scale. I'm seeing my own husband battle with it. If he wasn't losing every single day then he'd feel defeated and want to throw up his hands. Thankfully, I helped navigate him through that but still. Scale obsession nearly made him quit his goal. The scale has turned me into a neurotic mess and I'd like to think of myself now in recovery. Even though I've been this weight now for over a year, I'm terrified of any gain. truth is though that as long as I'm below my comfortable limit (160 lbs), then I'm all right! I don't NEED to be 149.

The first thing I could think of to break the cycle was enforcing the weekly weigh in and NOT getting on it daily. Just throwing that out there. When it comes to weight loss, I am very brutally honest. i put it all out there even to internet strangers.
I gotcha - so your situation was due to a streak of OCD or something along those lines. My daughter has battled an eating disorder in the past (she was bulimic in high school but overcame it) and she absolutely refuses to get on the scales and goes strictly by clothing size now, which works best for her.

I am just speaking generally, since most folks aren't obsessive one way or the other. I do think some people tend to get overly fixated on things regarding diet, exercise, looks, or whatever. But since I don't, weighing once a day at the same time every day, butt nekkid first thing in the morning, doesn't mess with my head. It actually helps me stay on track. If I've gained a pound, I look back on the previous day to see what I did if anything - and if I didn't then I know it will most likely be gone the next day. If I did do something less than perfect - cheat or not get in all my water are the two most common issues I have - then I know that specifically caused it. If I add in a new food and I gain two pounds, even though the actual calorie count wasn't significantly different, then I suspect that it's that sort of food, and I can wait a couple of days, try it again and if it has the same results, I know to avoid that particular food. I can only figure out that sort of thing by weighing every day so that's what I do.

We each do what we have to do I guess. One person's method of successfully losing weight in a healthy manner doesn't necessarily work for the next person, as you and I can attest to.
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Old 04-27-2018, 06:00 PM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
13,441 posts, read 15,401,240 times
Reputation: 18969
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon View Post
I gotcha - so your situation was due to a streak of OCD or something along those lines. My daughter has battled an eating disorder in the past (she was bulimic in high school but overcame it) and she absolutely refuses to get on the scales and goes strictly by clothing size now, which works best for her.

I am just speaking generally, since most folks aren't obsessive one way or the other. I do think some people tend to get overly fixated on things regarding diet, exercise, looks, or whatever. But since I don't, weighing once a day at the same time every day, butt nekkid first thing in the morning, doesn't mess with my head. It actually helps me stay on track. If I've gained a pound, I look back on the previous day to see what I did if anything - and if I didn't then I know it will most likely be gone the next day. If I did do something less than perfect - cheat or not get in all my water are the two most common issues I have - then I know that specifically caused it. If I add in a new food and I gain two pounds, even though the actual calorie count wasn't significantly different, then I suspect that it's that sort of food, and I can wait a couple of days, try it again and if it has the same results, I know to avoid that particular food. I can only figure out that sort of thing by weighing every day so that's what I do.

We each do what we have to do I guess. One person's method of successfully losing weight in a healthy manner doesn't necessarily work for the next person, as you and I can attest to.
How do you know that “most people aren’t obsessive”? I respect you And your posts Kathryn but I find that somewhat insulting, as if I’m some outlier or extreme. I absolutely am not. I never fixated or obsessed about anything before until I started dieting and I’m not alone either . I’m just someone who has the guts to admit it and not paint everything starbursts and rainbows. You don’t start out obsessive it becomes that way over time. You don’t have to defend your daily weigh in. I’m just throwing out another viewpoint. And you know the neurosis all started with nipping things in the bud and cutting just because there’s an extra lb. or two.

One more thing, my husband nearly quit because of the dumb scale. He would get on it daily and if he didn’t go down each and every single day he felt defeated. There are many who are just like him. Meanwhile when he looked over his progress fromweek to week he was actually losing two lbs a week. And my exercise passion has nothing to do with obsession. I have a new lease on life, I kick butt and I’m in the best shape of my life, and that’s a pretty potent drug. All thanks to grinding it out at the gym. I regret wasting my thirties sitting on my butt but it’s obviously never toolate

Last edited by riaelise; 04-27-2018 at 06:09 PM..
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Old 04-27-2018, 06:51 PM
 
35,521 posts, read 17,797,712 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChristineVA View Post
No, I am not a coffee drinker. I do drink tea.

I generally will eat eggs or shredded wheat for breakfast. I am never "full" or satisfied. But that's me. I know that when I eat like a 'normal' person (1500-1700 calories a day for me), I am always wanting food.

I've tried low carb, high carb, protein, no protein. It's just a fact of life.

The only time I'm satisfied at breakfast is when I eat a big breakfast: eggs, bacon, waffles, etc. Biscuits and gravy at Cracker Barrel. You get the picture.
Is 1500 calories enough for a normal adult?

I thought it was 2200.
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