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Usually I lose weight VERY SLOWLY (my past postings describe my frustrations with this.) But after being about 155 lbs for months & trying to lose 25 lbs (long-term goal: 130 lbs, I'm female, only 5'2" & in my mid-50s), just lost 2 lbs in the past 2 days! Been hovering around 152 lbs since last week when I started playing tennis again, suddenly went down to 150 lbs in 2 days! My lowest weight in over 3 yrs! Also, last year at this time I was 165 - 168lbs, it's the first winter in years I've avoided my usual 15 lb Winter Weight Gain! (First winter in years I've actually exercised, gone to a gym instead of becoming sedentary & waiting for tennis season to start!)
My Exercise since January: about 3 days per week at the Y doing weight/resistance training in a class & on my own (lighter reps/more reps w/ free weights, elastic bands & machines-- first time doing weight training in over 20yrs!) & doing some cardio (elliptical.) That's in addition to my usual walking & bike riding-- don't own a car so I walk or bike everywhere even in winter here in NC, it's hilly here, so always going up & down hills. Pus I live in a 3rd floor condo, so have to carry my bike (& heavy groceries/packages) up & down 3 flights of stairs. In addition, since the weather improved, been able to play outdoor tennis 4 times in the past week, will hopefully average 2 - 3 days/week tennis from now on!
My Food Plan: nothing extreme, no set diet plan, just eating healthy & low-cal. Always have eaten high-fiber, low-fat, lots of veggies, fruits, complex carbs, only whole-grains & trying to eat more protein (don't eat as much meat as most people but eat too much cheese, even if low-fat varieties only.) Cutting back on my indulgences-- bread, cheese & chocolate!
I keep track of my calories each day-- low-tech method, just writing a running list on junk envelopes. Originally was trying to average 1400 calories per day (with 30/40/20 percentages protein/carbs/fat-- does that add up?) but finding that I've been averaging more like 1600 cals/day, usually 20% protein, 40% carbs & 30% fat (is this right? what's wrong with my math?!) So I'm NOT starving myself at all & still losing weight! Maybe this is partly due to having flexible hours (don't work 9-5) & being able to eat when I want, usually 5 small meals a day?
Feedback on this eating plan? Continue with it? Possible improvements? Feedback on my exercise routines?
Two pounds in two days suggests hydration loss to me, not true weight loss. I don't think it's helpful to focus too much on day to day fluctuations, as there are bound to be ups and downs. We can so easily get a little dehydrated without realizing it.
It adds up to 90%. If I were you, I'd keep the carbs restricted to morning/lunch, have the lightest amount of carbs at supper (like maybe, ONE slice of bread, or a heaping tablespoon of mashed sweet potatos, or a heaping spoon of brown rice, for example), with no carbs anywhere near bedtime. Carbs are your fuel - you don't need them for sleep and they'll actually disturb your sleeping, which makes you tired the next day.
Don't completely deprive yourself of things you enjoy, but definitely keep the cut-back idea. Also, rather than having "low-cal" versions of things (like low-fat cheese) try just having less of those things, at their usual fat/cal level. "Real" foods will always trump "artificially enhanced" foods. So if you like cheese, have a tiny amount of real actual cheese - couple triskets with boursin smeared on them, or a small slice of baby edam, or a tablespoon of bleu crumbled in your salad... instead of having "cheese lite" or "low-fat" cheese. Only thing I can think of that'd be an exception, is part-skim mozzarella, because that's common, it's not considered "diet" food, it's basically what is considered "normal" mozz and what most pizza joints throw on their pizzas and put in their calzones.
Instead of skim milk, have 2%. You'll drink less of it, get more nutrition per sip, and frankly, it tastes better and mixes better in your coffee.
No caffeine after 2 or 3pm.. and if you're drinking diet soda, just stop. Substitute with water - squeeze a lemon and lime wedge into the water, no sweetening necessary but if you absolutely MUST sweeten it, use a teaspoon of honey. It's more calories per teaspoon than sugar, but again - it is much MUCH more nutritionally healthy than sugar.
Find what is the most healthful "normal" food for you, that you enjoy eating, and eat smaller portions, rather than eating tons of "diet" food, which typically have less nutritients, or are loaded with artificial nutrients.
Also if you're losing the weight very fast, it probably will taper off after a week. Don't be discouraged. Your metabolism is reacting to a change in eating/exercising habits. Sudden and quick weight-loss is a common reaction. Keep at it and you'll be feeling awesome in no time!
Two pounds in two days suggests hydration loss to me, not true weight loss. I don't think it's helpful to focus too much on day to day fluctuations, as there are bound to be ups and downs. We can so easily get a little dehydrated without realizing it.
What makes you assume that I haven't been drinking lots of water? (which I do.) Also, did you even read my whole posting? Or just react to the title about losing 2 pounds in 2 days? Did you read how I've been eating very healthy, not fasting or doing any fad diets but keeping track of my calories & averaging 1600 calories per day? (IMO, a very reasonable calorie count for my height/weight/age.)
Just to let you know, with all the effort I've been doing, I've only lost a total of 5 pounds since early January (approx 7 -8 weeks), that's down from 155lbs to 150lbs so it has not been quick weight loss at all! In fact, I was hovering between 152 and 154lbs for about 2 weeks before suddenly dropping 2 lbs in two days. Hope this additional info helps explain that I haven't been losing weight super fast & why I'm so excited about getting down to 150 lbs-- my lowest weight in over 3 years!
Hey, I'm still looking for meaningful feedback, including ways I can improve what I'm doing so far, ways to improve my eating/exercise. But, I'm also excited about my progress so far & not above giving myself a pat on the back!
Two pounds in two days suggests hydration loss to me, not true weight loss. I don't think it's helpful to focus too much on day to day fluctuations, as there are bound to be ups and downs. We can so easily get a little dehydrated without realizing it.
Yep especailly i women. Set a long term goals and change eatig habits to have a better chance of kepping it off is my suggestion.
It adds up to 90%. If I were you, I'd keep the carbs restricted to morning/lunch, have the lightest amount of carbs at supper (like maybe, ONE slice of bread, or a heaping tablespoon of mashed sweet potatos, or a heaping spoon of brown rice, for example), with no carbs anywhere near bedtime. Carbs are your fuel - you don't need them for sleep and they'll actually disturb your sleeping, which makes you tired the next day.
Don't completely deprive yourself of things you enjoy, but definitely keep the cut-back idea. Also, rather than having "low-cal" versions of things (like low-fat cheese) try just having less of those things, at their usual fat/cal level. "Real" foods will always trump "artificially enhanced" foods. So if you like cheese, have a tiny amount of real actual cheese - couple triskets with boursin smeared on them, or a small slice of baby edam, or a tablespoon of bleu crumbled in your salad... instead of having "cheese lite" or "low-fat" cheese. Only thing I can think of that'd be an exception, is part-skim mozzarella, because that's common, it's not considered "diet" food, it's basically what is considered "normal" mozz and what most pizza joints throw on their pizzas and put in their calzones.
Instead of skim milk, have 2%. You'll drink less of it, get more nutrition per sip, and frankly, it tastes better and mixes better in your coffee.
No caffeine after 2 or 3pm.. and if you're drinking diet soda, just stop. Substitute with water - squeeze a lemon and lime wedge into the water, no sweetening necessary but if you absolutely MUST sweeten it, use a teaspoon of honey. It's more calories per teaspoon than sugar, but again - it is much MUCH more nutritionally healthy than sugar.
Find what is the most healthful "normal" food for you, that you enjoy eating, and eat smaller portions, rather than eating tons of "diet" food, which typically have less nutritients, or are loaded with artificial nutrients.
Also if you're losing the weight very fast, it probably will taper off after a week. Don't be discouraged. Your metabolism is reacting to a change in eating/exercising habits. Sudden and quick weight-loss is a common reaction. Keep at it and you'll be feeling awesome in no time!
Refer to quotes in bold-- Just wondering what led you to certain assumptions, what about my posting led you to assume that I'm eating "tons of "diet food"? I've been eating healthy "normal" food in smaller portions-- just what you recommended!
Instead of skim milk, have 2%. You'll drink less of it, get more nutrition per sip, and frankly, it tastes better and mixes better in your coffee. -- First of all, I don't drink skim milk or any kind of cow milk at all. Don't even drink coffee, never been a coffee drinker. Instead, I drink plain black tea with nothing in it-- no sweetener, no lemon, no milk at all. (& never drink or eat anything with caffeine past 3pm or can't sleep at night.) And I only buy unsweetened soy milk or almond milk to use in cereal.
I'm realizing that if I post anything else like this again, I'll be sure not to estimate the percentages of protein/carbs/fat in my daily meals-- people seem to latch onto that & get really picky-- Hey, it was an "Estimate", not anything exact! Don't think anyone can be exact about these percentages in their daily eating unless living in a science laboratory doing a study or something!
What in my posting makes you conclude I've been "losing the weight very fast"? I didn't just start trying to lose weight & suddenly have a big weight loss (that NEVER happens for me, I usually lose weight VERY slowly, as I state at the start of my posting.) Instead, it's been almost 2 months and as of now, I've only lost a total of 5 pounds in that time (of the 25 lbs I'd like to lose) despite all my efforts. Maybe I didn't make this clear in my original posting but not sure what led you to think I just now started "dieting" & exercising & lost 2 pounds right away! It's the opposite of that-- at the beginning, it took me almost 6 weeks to lose 2 - 3 lbs! How is that losing weight too fast???
And when I suddenly dropped 2 lbs in 2 days just now (while eating an average of 1600 calories & exercising each day at least 90 minutes), that was after hovering between 152 - 154 lbs for almost 2 weeks. That's why I was so excited about FINALLY LOSING SOME WEIGHT FAIRLY FAST!! It was after weeks of slow weight loss while eating low-calorie healthy foods & doing lots of exercise (including resistance training & cardio.) Hope I've made myself clear now. Maybe what I was trying to express didn't come across correctly? If so, I'll have to be more careful in my future postings.
But Hey, I'm still excited about finally losing 2 quickly (in 2 days) after weeks of losing weight so slowly!
You asked if your math was correct. It wasn't, and I let you know. If you didn't want anyone correcting you, you should either have a) been correct, or b) not asked if you were correct.
Regarding your diet food - you said you were eating some diet food and low-cal versions of things. I responded suggesting that you -not- use diet food and low-cal versions of things, but instead, use the regular things, just less of them. Again, if you didn't want advice, you should not have asked for it. My only assumption, was that you wanted advice.
The reference to milk was as an example of what I meant. "IF" you use skim, THEN don't. If, you don't use skim, then there's no need for you to focus on that sentence. Unless of course you really only posted hoping that people would criticize you, so you'd have an excuse to get defensive about it.
Also, I said IF you are losing the weight very fast. I didn't say you ARE losing the weight very fast. It's another one of those pesky math things; it's called and if/then statement. IF this equals X, THEN that equals Y.
Yep especailly i women. Set a long term goals and change eatig habits to have a better chance of kepping it off is my suggestion.
Again, seems like someone didn't bother reading my entire posting (and might also be a misogynist?) What makes you think I'm not setting long-term goals? And what leads you to think I haven't changed my eating habits?
Since early January (almost 2 months ago), I've been changing my eating habits by eating healthy foods daily, cutting back on portion sizes and tracking my daily calories, averaging 1500 - 1600 calories per day (a very reasonable amount, IMO, for my height/weight/age and activity level.) In addition, I've been exercising 3 - 4 days per week. How is that not setting long-term goals?
Regarding your diet food - you said you were eating some diet food and low-cal versions of things. I responded suggesting that you -not- use diet food and low-cal versions of things, but instead, use the regular things, just less of them.
(bold item done by me)
As to "diet food" etc., what I actually wrote in my OP: My Food Plan: nothing extreme, no set diet plan, just eating healthy & low-cal. Always have eaten high-fiber, low-fat, lots of veggies, fruits, complex carbs, only whole-grains & trying to eat more protein (don't eat as much meat as most people but eat too much cheese, even if low-fat varieties only.)
How does "eating healthy & low-cal" equate into eating "diet food(s)"? Because of "low-cal'? Most veggies and fruits are low-calorie. Does that make them faddish "diet foods"? The only item I mentioned that I eat a low-fat version of is cheese and that's a very common choice instead of the high-fat version, even if you're not trying to lose weight, even if you're just trying to eat less fat! I've found quite a few low-fat cheeses that are tasty (not tasteless/rubbery) and very satisfying-- I'd eat them even if I was at my goal weight.
Not going to bother responding to the rest of your post. I'm just about convinced to never try posting again on this particular forum. After what I stated about being so happy to finally lose a few pounds quickly after a long history of very SLOW weight loss & stating that this is the first time in years that I have NOT GAINED 15 lbs of Winter Weight (actually, it's the first time that's happened to me in over 10 years, a major milestone!), I thought I'd get at least one "congratulations" before the criticisms started!
Guess the trick is to not ever ask for feedback, advice or suggestions, I'll have to remember that means you're just inviting others to ignore all the positive things in your original posting, inviting them to make assumptions about you & heap on the negative criticism.
I don't know, maybe it's just me, but when I see someone writing about a positive, unexpected event in their life & feeling excited about it, I tend to feel happy for them & offer congratulations first before anything else. Hey, maybe that's just me?
Pretty much - if you don't actually WANT feedback, don't ask for it. If you want to hear congrats for a job well done, then post "I'd love to hear some congrats for a job well done!"
And yeah, it's just you. My post was intended to offer support, encouragement, and positive feedback to let you know you were on the right track. Rather than be glad for the feedback that you ASKED for, you have chosen to criticize every single post that anyone has posted here in response. So yeah - it's just you. Lose weight or not. Just don't come here asking for advice, or asking specific questions, if you aren't willing to accept the answers. When you do that, it makes you a troll, not a participating member of the forum.
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