I'm doing it the right way. Healthy food, lots of water, cadio exercise (system, carbs)

[Tyryztoll]

Great post, needrain.

I'm down to 214.5 as of yesterday morning. 22 lbs. in 3 weeks. A few weeks ago I bought some size 2XL scrubs to wear at work because I'd become too fat to fit into my other ones, and those are falling off of me now, although I'll continue to wear them until I get under 200.

I hear you on the exercise, needrain, and I will indeed start up in the near future. Again, I'm going to wait at least until I get under 200 because I want to get as much of this blubber off of me as possible before I get on my eliptical. For me, it's tough to exercise when I'm so heavy........my knees and back in particular suffer immensley, which discourages me, and I'm really looking to keep this good vibe going right now. A week from now I'll have a full month of my lifestyle change under my belt and I'm incredibly fired up about that. In the beginning, it's such a drastic change that I'm like "Wow, how long will I actually be able to stick to this?" There are doubts, and that's only natural, as anyone who's ever tried to drop weight knows. But once you get some of the calendar in the rear view mirror, you begin to realize that it is possible to change your habits, and the fact that you're actually doing it builds more & more confidence every day.

My job is indeed a big advantage where burning calories is concerned. I'm on my feet going back & forth for 12 hours at a time. One thing I haven't relinquished is coffee, although I've been a black coffee only guy for many years now. When I started a weight loss effort at this same time last year, I made the bad mistake of using coffee as an appetite suppressant, and I was drinking it round the clock. Only a few weeks in I started to get these crushing chest pains on the left side, especially when I would exercise. One day I was on the eliptical and I got a pain so bad I nearly fell off the machine. At first, I was worried I had a blocked artery or something.......it was really scary. Then, a buddy of mine at work who used to be a cardiac cath tech suggested it may have been a GI issue brought on by the acidity of all the coffee. Sure enough, I cut down to one cup a day and haven't had a single recurrance since. I also did some research and discovered that coffee does indeed constrict the vessels and arteries, which is also not a good thing, obviously. Now, I only have coffee in the morning, and I make an effort to skip it altogether at least a couple times a week.

Bring on week 4!

[william33902]

Goodwork Northman. Keep it up man.

[nancy thereader]

............. and thank you for your informative post about too much coffee.

[pitt_transplant]

Another coffee tip...Go to a local roaster and they can give you a coffee that has low acidity based on what you like. I dont like to suggest a flavor because well your nose knows what you like...I don't know what type of coffee you drink but I noticed a difference in all natural whole bean from a local roaster feels better in my body than grocery store coffee. They can also blend it for you there and make your whole order half caffeine if you want.

[Tyryztoll]

HALF CAFFEINE??? SACRILEGE!

Thanks, pitt, good info. I pretty much stick with my Eight O'Clock coffee from the grocery store. It's cheaper, tastes good, and comes in a variety of flavors. I'm drinking the Mocha flavor - black, of course - right now. It's very tatsy. I love the Starbucks, Biggby's, and Seattle's Best blends, but they are SO expensive at the store.......some of them cost twice as much as Eight 'O Clock. I'm saving money as well as trying to drop lbs..........My rule is no post a.m. coffee, and I'm doing real good in that area now.

211.5 this morning. 25 lbs. gone in just under 4 weeks. A lot of people would be done at 25 lbs. lost, but I'm still just getting started. I shouldn't be weighing myself as often as I am, but when I get up in the morning I can tell if I'm lighter automatically just by the way I feel, and I can't resist. I have become used to my diet by now, not to say my eyes don't still pop out of my head when I see someone eating pizza or burgers, but I haven't really been tempted to cheat at all. It's much more important to me at this point to get healthy and STAY that way! Food is no longer one of the top priorities in my life. Lately, I have even caught myself nearly missing meal times because I am so busy doing other things..........that would have NEVER happened before! I still love what that guy Stan posted a couple weeks back.........eat for fuel, not for entertainment. That phrase has been a wonderful stabilizer for me in this endeavour. I am really rolling, man.........it feels great.

[zits]

Why to make a change in my diet; no matter If I gain some extra weight. There is a lot of simple tips available free for weight loss. I watch the Michael Molloy video and reduce my weight if it get higher.

[Hinton Bound]

Originally Posted by Northman

I meant cardio, not cadio in the thread title.......

I'm a 5'3, 39 year old guy that has been a slave to compulsive overeating for years. I didn't just overeat, I overate with the worst foods available. I am fat by my own doing.....none of this "thyroid" or "big boned" stuff, which I understand is a real issue for many people, but not me. I have a very athletic background, and when I am in shape I'm a stud - don't mind saying so. I'm just a lazy, gluttonous pig, and I know it - no excuses. Anyway, I finally got tired of it and wanted to share the changes I'm making. I started Christmas Day. I was 236.5 then, and now I'm 225 after less than 2 weeks. I haven't even started exercising yet. I wanted to have 2 solid weeks of healthy foods and plenty of water in my body first. That alone has pushed 11 lbs. of pure JUNK out of me.

I'm not talking about a diet. I'm talking about changing the way I eat permanently. A complete about face.

This is what I'm eating now:

Breakfast: Small bowl of Bran Cereal with skim milk (Kelloggs All Bran is my favorite).

Lunch: Either salad with fat free dressing, soup, plain tuna, vegetables, or fat free Bush's baked beans. I combine these in pairs of 2 sometimes with smaller portions.

Dinner: Usually same as lunch. If I'm out somewhere I almost always get a salad, sometimes with grilled chicken.

Snacks: bananas or apples, and only one a day

Water: 3 litres a day

Now that I'm in the right frame of mind, I'm actually beginning to enjoy these foods, but ya know what........it's not just about that. It's about not making food the centerpiece of your life to begin with. That's always been my problem.

I also can't emphasize portion control enough. When I started, I would keep eating after I was full, and I was like "Why am I feeling bloated after eating salad & baked beans"? Because you're eating TOO MUCH of it, dummy! Here's an idea - when you get to the point of starting to feel full - STOP EATING!

Also, a lot of people say it's ok to treat yourself every so often to the crap foods you're trying to leave behind when you first start out. This doesn't work for me. It may be a farce, but I honestly believe there are chemicals in that food which send a message to my brain that makes it want to start indulging in garbage & gluttony again. I'm serious!! I can't tell you how many times I've been through it! This time I'm sticking to what I'm doing now until I get to the point where drastic change has occured and I am able to burn any junk calories off with strong exercise and increased metabolism. That's going to be a ways down the road. Believe me, I've had enough pizza and cheeseburgers in the past year to last me the next one anyway.

It's all about what you want. If you want change, you'll make change. Took me a while, but I finally got tired of the sweating, the XXL clothes, the gut hanging down, the fat guy jokes, and all the rest. I'm ready for change, and I'm making a change.

Refreshing to see someone take personal responsibility for themselves!
My wife started a Biggest Loser challenge at work, and is in the lead, having lost almost 14%. She has gone to strict portion controls/calorie counting and exercise in the morning and evenings (although the mornings are sometimes forgone for a bit of extra sleep!).

She calculated he caloric requirement to be 2000/day. On average she nets about 500 (food intake minus exercise). She posted big numbers early on, but seems to have plateaued lately. There is still weight to lose, but it seems to be coming off slower and slower. I suggested working harder on the tread mill. Anyone have any other tips? She's doing well and I'd hate for her to lose motivation. Besides, the pot at work is $150 for the winner!

[BCG8]

So what's the latest Northman??!

[Tyryztoll]

Sorry I haven't been checking in. I have now lost 50 lbs. on the nose since last Dec. 26th. My current weight is 186.5, down from 236.5 when I started.

I have become a borderline vegetarian........that is to say I still like meat, but only eat it on special occasions or when there's no other options, with the exception of tuna, which I have in my salads when eating at home. I have only eaten red meat one time since last x-mas. That, combined with drastically reducing my alcohol intake as well, has been a major reason for my success. Don't get me wrong - I am the biggest meat & potatoes, midwestern born & bred guy you'll ever come across, but I had to find a way to get this done and cutting out the meat turned out to be it. My daily diet since I started has consisted almost exclusively of bran cereal, salad, vegetables, low calorie soups, tuna in water, fruit, and fat free baked beans. It is also very important to know that I also drink at least 3 liters of water every day. It was certainly not easy when I started, but I am used to it now and as far as I'm concerned that is now my normal diet. There is no reason to go back to eating the way I was.........I am not going to start stuffing burgers and pizza back down my craw just because I've lost 50 lbs. and think I can keep the weight off with exercise as in the past. Not falling into that trap again. I do exercise 4 times a week for 20 minutes on my eliptical machine, and in addition will resume bicycling as soon as this DAMN snow is gone up here!

When I went to visit my family for x-mas I was wearing size 48 jeans. Today I'm wearing size 36's comfortably.

As you can see, I don't just have a new diet - I have a new lifestyle - and that is why things have turned around for me. I can't make it any clearer than that. Food cannot be one of the main focuses of my life....it cannot be something I depend on for entertainment or contentment of any sort. It is fuel, and I've learned to treat it as fuel.

But........I'm still not done. I want to get at least another 30 lbs. off, so I press on. Great success to be sure, but a lot remains to be accomplished. To say that it's all been worth it would certainly be the understatement of the ages

[BCG8]

Glad to hear!