I'm eating less, exercising more and my weight and waistline are growing? (ears, stress)

[Ralph_Kirk]

Originally Posted by Calvert Hall '62

Primitive man may have run only on occasion but he spent a lot of time walking as a hunter/gatherer.

And that would not have been a casual mosey, either.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by ClaraC

I don't see how you can say that - of course you'll lose weight by eating less.

There might be an interim period where your body slows metabolism down to account for less food coming in, but no one released from a nazi camp was heavy. No one.

I saw a letter in the paper written by a former POW some years ago. He said, "All you people who complain about not losing weight. Live on nothing but turnip soup for a while. You'll lose 60 pounds in no time."

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by Ralph_Kirk

There are some skinny older people around (I presume you're an older person) but the obesity epidemic is clearly obvious, and obvious as well is that it's quite recent. People are eating more, but even those who are attempting to control their weight are finding it far more difficult than in the past.

Up until fifteen years ago, the military could take an overweight 18-year-old and slim him down to "fighting weight" with just six to eight weeks of a simple diet and exercise. The military has found that impossible to do today. Something major has changed in either the physiology of their bodies or the composition of even simple chow hall food...they can't burn that fat off. So now the services refuse to take obese recruits the way they once did.

The military closely monitors the weight of its members. Weights of members of all the services are taken every year, and when they go over limits, they are put on strict reduction programs. I had a chance in 1998 to attend a dietary conference at the Air Force's Wilford Hall medical center in San Antonio. Although they didn't at that time have a definitive study, they had determined that many service people were unusually "sensitive" to grain carbohydrates, and that their statistics of persons on the weight programs indicated that effective weight reduction appeared to be closely connected to severe reduction in grain-based carbohydrates in most of those troops.

I'm in my 40s, but I'm probably considered "older" by the twentysomethings, lol.

You posted interesting stuff, but I still don't agree that grains and carbohydrates are the true culprits when it comes to weight gain. Grain based diets have been around for a long time with no ill effects. I gave the example of myself. I eat a grain based diet and I lost weight, including fat loss. For me, it all came down to amount of calories eaten and amount of calories expended. I regularly eat rice, beans, beans AND rice, potatoes of all kinds, etc. and I don't gain weight because my overall caloric intake is within the appropriate range, plus I work out regularly. As a nation, we are not all that physically fit anymore, yet we consume more often without even realizing it. I agree that as we get older, our metabolism goes into the crapper and it becomes harder to exercise. I was confronted with that myself, in my 40s. It takes increasingly more effort to get into and stay in shape and increasingly less calories. It's not easy, but it is what it is.

[Ralph_Kirk]

Originally Posted by riaelise

I'm in my 40s, but I'm probably considered "older" by the twentysomethings, lol.

You posted interesting stuff, but I still don't agree that grains and carbohydrates are the true culprits when it comes to weight gain. Grain based diets have been around for a long time with no ill effects. I gave the example of myself. I eat a grain based diet and I lost weight, including fat loss. For me, it all came down to amount of calories eaten and amount of calories expended. I regularly eat rice, beans, beans AND rice, potatoes of all kinds, etc. and I don't gain weight because my overall caloric intake is within the appropriate range, plus I work out regularly. As a nation, we are not all that physically fit anymore, yet we consume more often without even realizing it. I agree that as we get older, our metabolism goes into the crapper and it becomes harder to exercise. I was confronted with that myself, in my 40s. It takes increasingly more effort to get into and stay in shape and increasingly less calories. It's not easy, but it is what it is.

Well, I should have been more precise. The primary culprit appears to be wheat in its modern permutations.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Ralph_Kirk

Well, I should have been more precise. The primary culprit appears to be wheat in its modern permutations.

I agree with this ^^^. Which is also not to say that I believe ALL wheat is the devil, because I don't. But far too many overweight (and unhealthy) folks tend to eat a lot of inorganic, modern wheat in forms like pastries, big yeasty buns, cheap pizzas, snack foods and the like. Too many processed grains are what packs on the pounds. I do not believe small amounts of grains like rice, corn, quinoa, etc. and even wheat (if it is organic, sprouted or cultured) are bad or fattening. The trick is balanced portions and NOT eating processed!

Many cultures live almost entirely on grain based diets and are healthy and slim. But.... those people are not eating pastries and chips. They are eating whole grains with vegetables and legumes and maybe small amounts of protein.

[Mikala43]

Yeah, a large portion of diet is carbs, but mainly these:

quinoa
kamut
spelt
millet
farro
red, black, wild, sprouted rice
beans (all kinds)

It appears (crossing fingers) that I am dropping weight since stopping one of my meds.

[riaelise]

I dunno. For me, it all comes down to portion control and physical activity. I eat white rice which is probably highly refined (jasmine and basmati) because I like it. I used to eat brown and now I don't care for it. I don't have problems because I eat just a cup (or 3/4 cup with 1/4 cup of beans). Let us also remember that sticky buns and stuff like that are high in everything, it's not just the flour that makes them such gut busters. And even sticky buns can be eaten, if you train yourself to eat 1/2 the bun, or if you can manage 1/4 of it. Or, maybe relegate one day per week to enjoy that sticky bun. I can't speak for others, but a diet filled with nothing but "healthy" things is just not realistic for me. It's only natural for humans to crave things that are processed, overly sweet, salty etc. I guess what I do is a) keep such things as treats/indulgences and have the base of my diet be healthy and b) keep the furnace (aka my metabolism) in "burn" mode as much as possible.

[mike1003]

Originally Posted by SanyBelle

Hi Mikey! How are you? Retirement is awesome, huh? I can't eat as much as I used to and it's driving me nuts too. Are you logging your food? I do on the MyFitnessPal app and I realize I used to eat so much more than I thought I was eating --> volume and calorie wise. I'm not exercising much, I have to start doing that and then I will be able to eat more (I hope).

Hey, good to hear from you. You stalked me from another site, love it

[CarnivalGal]

I agree with tracking what you eat for a while. Actually measure. You may be surprised at how much you're eating. I would also suggest cutting your carb intake. I'm not saying eliminate all carbs, but I would cut out refined carbs - breads, sugar, etc.

[Mikala43]

Anytime I feel my body is not reacting to my diet as I think it should, I start logging calories.

One time I realized I was eating 600 snack calories from almonds.

This last time I realized my protein was low.