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Well, dang. In all my life, I've never lost a pound I've gained.
This wasn't such a problem when I was younger. I gained ten pounds in Air Force basic training, and needed to.
But as I got older in the military, it took more and more work to keep the weight down. When I went over 35, it just kept gradually, slowly increasing, despite the fact that I was watching my calories closely and cycling 250 miles a week (generally, a 75-100 mile ride every Saturday morning).
So I just recently learned from what must be a better doctor than I've ever had before (he does mixed martial arts on the side) that my thyroid has shut down. Well, hell, how long has that been?
So I'm on thyroid hormone replacement...I'll see how that works out.
Wow, I wish you all the best. So does that means the pounds are dropping now or does it stay like that? Do/did you have any other symptoms?
Part of my symptoms were brittle nails. I kept biting them as a kid and got beaten for it. I bit them because they were so brittle but of course I didnt know this is not normal. Since I take pills they are strong. I should sue my parents
Once I really started to dread exercising, my choice was to either gain weight or really watch my diet. I went with watching my diet more carefully. Also, eating very low-carb seems to make it a lot easier to be satisfied with what I can eat.........carbs seem to drive both my cravings and appetite.
I've also battled to lose weight and I have. It took me a long time to figure out how to do it, but once I did, it was no longer difficult. As far as exercise is concerned, it's the best part of my day. It's easier to work out hard, when your diet has reduced your weight down to the best level.
No simple carbohydrates, drink only water, no grain products, except once or twice a week, some whole-grain, fresh-ground oatmeal. Plenty of fruit and fresh vegetables (no bananas), some fish, lean, boiled chicken, nuts, avocados, tomatoes, limes, lemons, apples, pears, berries, some dried cranberries instead of raisins and nonfat, plain yogurt for my calcium. A few times a week, I eat onions and celery. Taking in 2,700 calories or less of this food per day is easy and satisfying. I never feel hungry or weak and reducing it by 300-400 calories, peels off pounds as fast as you'd want.
I had food poisoning, ended in the hospital for 4 days. They told me I am skinny.... I don't think I am skinny. But where I live I see a lot very obese people.... I am 6'2" weigh 195 pound, Not exactly skinny... Not fat.
I feel so sorry for the overweight folks. They are really getting screwed by their own government..... Fat free is the worse food....
Cheese on everything, That was pushed by Washington......
I've also battled to lose weight and I have. It took me a long time to figure out how to do it, but once I did, it was no longer difficult. As far as exercise is concerned, it's the best part of my day. It's easier to work out hard, when your diet has reduced your weight down to the best level.
No simple carbohydrates, drink only water, no grain products, except once or twice a week, some whole-grain, fresh-ground oatmeal. Plenty of fruit and fresh vegetables (no bananas), some fish, lean, boiled chicken, nuts, avocados, tomatoes, limes, lemons, apples, pears, berries, some dried cranberries instead of raisins and nonfat, plain yogurt for my calcium. A few times a week, I eat onions and celery. Taking in 2,700 calories or less of this food per day is easy and satisfying. I never feel hungry or weak and reducing it by 300-400 calories, peels off pounds as fast as you'd want.
I had food poisoning, ended in the hospital for 4 days. They told me I am skinny.... I don't think I am skinny. But where I live I see a lot very obese people.... I am 6'2" weigh 195 pound, Not exactly skinny... Not fat.
I feel so sorry for the overweight folks. They are really getting screwed by their own government..... Fat free is the worse food....
Cheese on everything, That was pushed by Washington......
According to the NIH's BMI calculator (up to 25.0 is healthy), which this time I found at medicalnewstoday.com, you are right at the top of the healthy range.....195 at 6' 2" = 25.0
That calculator also recognizes fractions of an inch.
I weigh exactly the same as you do, but I'm 1.25" taller....195 at 6' 3.25" = 24.2 , and my healthy range (my 25.0) tops out at 201 on that calculator.
The calculator doesn't take into account frame size (see elbow measurement, etc.)
Below 18.5 BMI is supposedly considered underweight.
My weight goal, based on past personal experience, is 175, and then leave myself 9 lbs max as a cushion (up to 184).
175 would give me a BMI of 21.7, which would be almost exactly half way between 18.5 and 25.0
IIRC, the normal range is a mortality rate calculation.....people between 18.5 and 25.0 have a lower mortality rate than people outside that range.
Some BMI calculators that I've seen (but not the one mentioned above) take age into consideration.
It has nothing to do with diet (keto, vegan, etc.), and everything to do with portion control and lack of control in caloric intake. How else to explain those people that went on an experimental diet where they ate nothing but McDonald's everyday for months (not talking about the Super Size Me documentary guy who ate a lot of excess calories per day)? Not only did these people lose weight, they were relatively healthy too. And that's because they actually ate below their caloric needs everyday without feeling hungry.
Not only have serving sizes gone up, we as a society have been conditioned for so many years to stuff our faces until our stomachs ache, that it's hard to back down and eat smaller portions. I don't think many people realize how many calories are in one donut, or one Starbucks frappucino, and that's just for snacks.. They think just because they did an hour on the stair stepper, somehow it magically negates eating excessive calories per day.
Portion control and control in general are very important.
Some people are able to stick to keto, vegan, low-carb, etc diets. Many people cannot. I am one of those people. The truth is that I LOVE stick-to-your-ribs country food. I enjoy eating a fast food burger every now and then. Maybe other people are able to convince themselves that they LOVE these diets, but I don't think it works well in the long run for many people. I don't like depriving myself of food that I like.
The key for me has been...
a) Staying active. I wake up early and do an hour of cardio between the treadmill, elliptical, stairclimber and exercise bike. Then, in the late afternoon/early evening, I jog for an hour. A couple of times a week, I use my resistance weight machine. I also have two horses and do lots of horse-mom things like cleaning stalls, hauling feed, walking horses, etc. I have two dogs that I walk as well.
b) Keeping it under control. I usually eat 2 meals a day that are "healthy" (or healthy-ish) and eat what I want for another meal, keeping the portion under control. For example, I might have a protein shake and fruit for breakfast, a grilled chicken salad for lunch and then country-fried steak, mashed potatoes with gravy and a couple of veggies for dinner. However, I usually fix my dinner on one of our salad plates -- which are BIG -- rather than our dinner plates (which are HUGE). Or, I might have a double cheeseburger and small fry from McDonald's for lunch and just have a salad or some veggie soup for dinner.
I will say that it does help that I'm not too much of a "snacker" and that I'm not really into sweets. Of course, I'll have sweets every now and then, but I usually only want a couple of bites when I do.
I'm not trying to say that my way is "right," but it works for me. A lot of the country, horsey people I know are this way as well and are all pretty trim. Even the "bigger" people seem to be in fairly good shape. I don't know too many people in my neck of the woods who do the major fad diets, and "vegan" is pretty much an unknown word around here. Moderation and hard work (physically) is the name of the game.
I think that different diets work for different people. When I was in school, 50 years ago, I was taught that 3,500 calories equal one pound. If you want to lose a pound, cut out 3500 more calories than you use -- so when I wanted to lose weight I would cut my daily calorie intake by 500 to 1000 calories, resulting in a weight loss of one or two pounds a week. That has ALWAYS worked for me -- but I do understand that other diets work for other people. Btw, increased exercise might make me feel better, but it did not really have any effect of my weight loss, as I always "rewarded" (lol) myself by having a small portion of ice cream afterward!
(But, personally, I would feel VERY deprived if I had to cut out all breads and pasta from my diet, and I could NEVER stick with such a diet.)
I totally agree that different diets work for different people. It is not a one size fits all. For years I struggled to lose weight, by counting calories. It just didn't WORK. I'd always lose the same 8 pounds - on any diet - and then stall out.
I did cut out all gluten (note - there are many breads and pastas that are gluten free and taste great, though I don't eat them all that often) and I've lost 35 pounds in 5 months. And no more bloating, gassiness, indigestion, etc! I started exercising in earnest three times a week about a year ago but didn't lose much weight, just a few pounds, doing that - though it's good for me, and makes me feel better so of course I'm still doing that. For me, the sacrifice was WELL worth it, in part because it helped me finally realize that simply counting calories in/calories out wasn't what worked well for me, while cutting out gluten gave me the results I was looking for, and I feel fantastic.
It isn't JUST gluten though - I've also upped my water intake a lot, and cut out many carbs in general, though I do eat some healthy, "whole food" carbs from vegetables and a few gluten free items. I have never been a big sugar snacker so that's helpful. Never been into sodas, so that's also helpful. Drinking about 100 oz of water a day seems to keep my system going great and it does curb my appetite. I try to drink at least one glass or bottle of water before each meal too. Very helpful.
Here was me thinking that everyone looked like stars out of Dallas....
Sure most are dead by now....
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