Together, now: "Eat less, move more!"

[htom]

New year, status report: http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?107888-Together-now-quot-Eat-less-move-more!-quot&p=2829637#post2829637


OK, first Monday of the year. I'm at 308.0 :( If I can lose 1/2 of 1% of my body weight a week, by the first Monday of February (five weeks), I should be able to get down to 300.

308 * 0.995 ^ 5 = 300.3766

Onwards and downwards!

[wizbang 13]

pounds or BAD cholesterol? high fructose corn syrup is not food

[htom]

Pounds, my cholesterol and blood pressure are borderline high, but I'm told that fixing the weight should do wonders for both.

High Fructose Corn Syrup is indeed not a food. I'd like to say we don't have any of it in the house, but I know there is. The Oreos left over from Halloween, the cookies from the last time I donated blood, some cake mix downstairs, catchup, ... it's everywhere, like salt and sugar.

[essaunders]

I use an ipod touch with the free app "loseit" -- and lost 28 pounds since June. Didn't add much, if any, exercise, just measured and wrote down everything I ate ( and generally followed the calorie budget the program provides). So, yep! "Eat less, move more" works! good luck!

[KAIROS]

Today on the radio there was a great story about how relatively small changes in diet and exercise make the difference between diabetes or not. Identical twins (identical genes) who developed somewhat different lifestyles. I'm diabetic and this reinforces how a slightly different lifestyle probably would have helped me avoid it.

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=3&islist=true&id=3&d=01-04-2010

In case the link does not get you there, the story is listed on the NPR 'Morning Edition' home page for today, 04 Jan 2010.

[PeterSibley]

For readers who prefer not to dip into the Bilge ...there is a good thread running there on just this subject .It may be worth decending the ladder for .....very pleasant and non confronational

http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107746

[htom]

That's why I started this one! I'm using the Hacker's Diet EatWatch (http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/palm/) on my Palm.

[outofthenorm]

Speaking as a guy who has been there and done that, successfully, I'll offer this: Spend more time thinking about what you WILL eat rather than what you WON'T eat. The hard thing to do is to break habits, especially when you are hungry and away from home and food panic sets in. I got the bad news about diabetes when I was fifty yrs old and 40 pounds overloaded. The change was hard, but once I learned NOT to think about NOT having french fries or cake or beer, and learned to want better things, like apples and cheese and good whiskey, it was clear sailing, more or less. Lost it all in a year and kept if off for the last 8 years. T'aint easy, but it can be done. Good luck!

- Norm

[htom]

My biggest problem is "random food". Poggy bait. Stop by someone's desk, they push over a bowl of m&ms, cookies, kind of thing. Go to meeting, there's Danish. ... It's so easy to munch a hundred calories a day and never notice that you've eaten a thing.

[johngsandusky]

When I'm trying to lose weight, I limit myself to one snack a day. If I'm really good it's just a wafer of dark chocolate. The other thing I do is cut out 1/4 of each meal: eating a bagel? throw out 1/4. Dinner? leave 1/4 on the plate. It's not much to give up. It doesn't leave me hungry like skipping meals. But it's only 75% of the calories. In fact, I should start today.

[Lew Barrett]

Good luck. I find a log helpful. Here's a good one. No need to buy the extra services as the free offering works just fine. This really helps and is remarkably
accurate.

http://www.fitday.com/

[ssor]

Smaller plates, no seconds, if you want to weigh 180 pounds then you must eat no more than a 180 pound man eats when you both have the same level of activity. An extra 100 calories per day is a pound of weight gain per month.

[BobW]

Somehow the oft repeated - and just as often ignored - "eat less, exercise more" formula clicked for me (after nearly 40 years of fighting and losing the battle of the bulge.

In early February of last year I weighed 260 pounds. I began eating smaller portions of healthier food and walking. That first 30-minute walk about did me in... But I went out again a couple days later. And got to the point of walking every day for 30 minutes. By June 1, I had lost 15 pounds.

In mid-June I bought a bike I found on Craigslist. I alternated walking one day with riding the next. In late June I realized riding the bike to work was a real possibility. My supervisor told me I could park the bike in my cubical (we don't deal with the public or customers). Our building does not have showers but the gym around the corner offers a good price for membership. I signed up so I could use the showers.

I began riding 6.5 miles to work in mid-July. It took me 45 minutes the first couple times. I now get two 35 minute workouts every work day. And I don't even think of the riding as exercise - it is just getting to and from work.

I now weigh 200 pounds and feel much better. :)

Smaller portions of healthier foods and more exercise worked for me.

Bob

[PeterSibley]

We baked some "ship's biscuit" using the Patrick O'Brian recipe book, "Lobscouse and Spotted Dog" (which we recommend, btw).


One biscuit takes about ten minutes to gnaw...

Would you be kind enough to post it Andrew ? That is one title I haven't read or even seen on the bookshop shelves..

[Captain Blight]

I'm down two pounds from this time 8 days ago. We shall see how well this has worked by mid-June. A pound a week, a pound a week..... I can do it. 40 lbs more to go.

[skuthorp]

We baked some "ship's biscuit" using the Patrick O'Brian recipe book, "Lobscouse and Spotted Dog" (which we recommend, btw).

One biscuit takes about ten minutes to gnaw...

Do they come with their own added protein (wevils) ACB?

[htom]

I have a nasty habit of putting food in my mouth when I shouldn't. I'm going to try to train myself to blow on my harmonica before snacking (since I have to brush my teeth after the snack if I'm going to play.) Hopefully the urge to eat will diminish.

[ssor]

Less convenient food and smaller bites helps.

[John Turpin]

I've never been successful at dieting and nothing has ever worked very well for me. But, eight weeks ago, I got serious about it again and put myself on a low-fat, no-real-exercise diet. When I'm traveling for business, I eat at Subway because I can always find them and they have a good selection of low fat sandwiches. When home, I eat very little meat and lots of veggies. I don't get within 10 feet of cheese.

The week before Thanksgiving I weighed 230 and today I weigh 214. That's about two pounds a week I'm dropping. I'm rarely hungry. My appetite has dropped with my weight and I feel great. This is working so well, I won't stop until I hit 200. I haven't seen 200 in the last 15 years.

Stick with it. It's worth it.

[peter radclyffe]

jump in a lions cage, what with one thing & another your guaranteed to lose some weight, or your money back

[AJZimm]

Would you be kind enough to post it Andrew ? That is one title I haven't read or even seen on the bookshop shelves..

While I don't have the book mentioned, the original Royal Navy recipe for ship's biscuit can be found on the Royal Naval Museum's website:
http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheet_ship_biscuit.htm

"Recipe
To produce a similar plain ships biscuit, a medium coarse stone-ground wholemeal flour should be used.
Add water to 1lb wholemeal flour and 1/4oz salt to make a stiff dough. Leave for 1/2 hour and then roll out very thickly. Separate in to 5 or 7 biscuits. Bake in a hot oven approx. 420 degrees F for 30 minutes. The biscuits should then be left undisturbed in a warm dry atmosphere to harden and dry out."

They mention wholemeal flour. The modern varieties of hard wheat that produces the flour we would normally buy, of course didn't exist back then, so it would be interesting to know what the consistency of the biscuits really were 200 years ago.

[Concordia...41]

I have a nasty habit of putting food in my mouth when I shouldn't. I'm going to try to train myself to blow on my harmonica before snacking (since I have to brush my teeth after the snack if I'm going to play.) Hopefully the urge to eat will diminish.

Just brushing your teeth when you're tempted with something is a good trick. I have a friend who would being doing great sticking to her diet, but her husband would come home in the evenings with pizza from the place next door to his work. She'd just go brush her teeth.

Sometimes she'd kiss him with her fresh minty breath and then all of a sudden he wouldn't want pizza either ;)

[BobW]

The week before Thanksgiving I weighed 230 and today I weigh 214. That's about two pounds a week I'm dropping. I'm rarely hungry. My appetite has dropped with my weight and I feel great. This is working so well, I won't stop until I hit 200. I haven't seen 200 in the last 15 years.

Last month, when I hit 198, was the first time below 200 for me in 35 years. I feel great and my doctor isn't complaining either!

Bob

[PeterSibley]

While I don't have the book mentioned, the original Royal Navy recipe for ship's biscuit can be found on the Royal Naval Museum's website:
http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheet_ship_biscuit.htm

"Recipe
To produce a similar plain ships biscuit, a medium coarse stone-ground wholemeal flour should be used.
Add water to 1lb wholemeal flour and 1/4oz salt to make a stiff dough. Leave for 1/2 hour and then roll out very thickly. Separate in to 5 or 7 biscuits. Bake in a hot oven approx. 420 degrees F for 30 minutes. The biscuits should then be left undisturbed in a warm dry atmosphere to harden and dry out."

They mention wholemeal flour. The modern varieties of hard wheat that produces the flour we would normally buy, of course didn't exist back then, so it would be interesting to know what the consistency of the biscuits really were 200 years ago.

Thank you very much Alex :).That's a pretty simple recipe !

[htom]

Modern kitchen sanitary practice means you should probably add a little yeast to that recipe, maybe a quarter or half ounce.

[Richard Jones]

Four years ago, I dropped 22 lbs. Went from 192 to 170. Weight watchers and REALLY hitting the gym. Took about 4 months. Seemed pretty easy. Than I got injured skiing and spent 2 months sitting in a chair all day. My life since than has slowed down and the lbs came back one cracker at a time. Up to 198 right now. Trying to diet and exercise, but this time, just can't stay away from those damn snacks. I'll try to follow some of the tricks posted here. Thanks. Good news is, my overweight doctor says my weight is just fine!

[ssor]

Doing all of your own cooking at home from basic ingredients allows you to control the content of your food. There is no such animal as a low fat pizza. Portion control is vital to any diet. Potatoes and apples have about the same caloric value until you start to season them. Broccoli is a zero calorie veggie until you cover it in a nice cheddar cheese sauce.
Bone out a chicken and cut it into chunks no more than an inch cube, season it with salt, pepper, a little garlic powder and dredge in flour and bake in a glass dish at 375 until browned. eat no more than ten chunks with rice and a veggie. Good food, good taste, and plenty of calories with no added fat.

Edit to add: boil the skeleton in a quart of water for an hour, pick the rest of the meat off the bones,save the cooking water, return the meat to the broth, chop a small onion a cup of celery and a cup of carrots and add to the meat and broth. add salt,and black pepper to taste cook until the carrots are tender add a large handfull of egg noodles cook for ten more minutes serve with biscuits made with the drippings from the baked chicken.
Get three meals for two people from one frying chicken.

[seanz]

just can't stay away from those damn snacks


Don't buy them.
And if people are coming to your house and making you eat snacks, lock the door and call the Police.
:)

[SBrookman]

My sister and B-in-Law (both in their 50's) each lost 60#'s in 9mos by simply walking twice a day, cutting down on junk food, eating sensibly, while keeping an eye on quality and quantity!

When I hit 50 I ran my first marathon, and while painful, it got me in a physical condition that I didn't think possible so I continue to run them. And while I dread the last miles of every one of them the shape that the training gets you in makes every thing else seem easy. (and I get to eat and drink a LOT!) And no, you don't have to be an athlete, you just have to find the time to get out the door and put in the miles (and get some descent shoes.)

Easy to say as the forecast for tomorrow's run has a negative windchill factor. But as the Norwegians say, there's no such thing as bad wx, just bad clothing!

[htom]

Week one, 308.0 --> 304.8, smooths to 306. :) Onwards and downwards!

[htom]

Scale says 302.0, smoothed is 304.8; down three pounds in two weeks, right on schedule. :) Onwards and downwards!

[paladin]

It's easy to drop 85-90 pounds in a relatively short time......have a heart attack!

I nibble because I am a diabetic and get hypoglycemic.....I keep apples etc in the fridge and take a cut up one to dialysis, no sugar or milk in coffee, a box of graham crackers in the car, saltines in the house......pears, etc....stay away from oranges, tangerines are O.K., no cantelope, romaine lettuce, spinach, limited watermelon or the green melons. Green beans, corn cucumbers are good, tomatoes in limited quantity...etc....

[Concordia...41]

If your health isn't enough of a motivator, think about the financial aspects.

I'll try to find the article, but I read a really good piece a while back that did a comparison of 10 years of the money spent being healthy - the few bucks here and there for fresh veggies, whole foods, the dollars spent on sports equipment, gym memberships and the like vs the thousands of dollars spent on health related issues, increased insurance premiums, lost work, and other costs incurred over the same time frame for a group of overweight folks.

Just one more motivator to put in your arsenal. ;)

htom - attaboy and congratulations. Keep up the good work! :D :)

[McMike]

Way to go HTom

I'm down 5 lbs in two weeks, 30 to go. I'm hoping to lose it all by July.

[htom]

Scale says 302.0, again; smoothed is 304+. A little above the desired line, but it was birthday week, so I'm content. Onward and downwards!

[htom]

Weekly report: projected: 308*0.994^5 = 300.4, scale = 300.0 (smoothed is 302.5) Onward and downwards!

[SBrookman]

Good going! You'll be breaking out of the 300's soon. Are you able to get an exercise regiment going up there in frostbite country? As you probably know replacing fat with muscle has the added benefit of being able to burn more calories. Fat stores stuff (not being very technical here) and considering what's in our food supply these days the less stuff we keep in our bodies to fester is good. Muscle, even after exercise, will continue to burn some of that stuff, making an occasional snack more of a necessary refueling than a guilty relapse.

[John Turpin]

Weekly report: projected: 308*0.994^5 = 300.4, scale = 300.0 (smoothed is 302.5) Onward and downwards!

Excellent news. A nice gradual loss is what you want. That's sustainable.

I've now lost 19 pounds in about ten weeks. Stay the course.

[huisjen]

I started January at 233 and ended at 218. But now I have a cold. I haven't had one like this in about four years. No way I can run. And I should give my body whatever it needs to fight this off. Maybe next week...

Dan

[Tumzara]

Well done guys. MBH and I are both on the same road. Only this time when we get to our goals we will keep the process going in a maintenance mode for the rest of the year. Lesson learned from the last time when we gained it all back in 6 months and then kept growing....

[Spin_Drift]

WELL done HTom and others. You are very inspirational.

:)

[Spin_Drift]

Good luck. I find a log helpful. Here's a good one. No need to buy the extra services as the free offering works just fine. This really helps and is remarkably
accurate.

http://www.fitday.com/

I checked the above site out and created a profile there. It sure looks interesting and helpful.
All you winners on the losing game have inspired me to the point that I'll try it too.

Thank you.


I'll take all measurements tomorrow and get started losing some of this winter cushioning...:eek:;)

[PeterSibley]

I wis to report a foolproof method of weight loss ! Get the flu ...I've lost 7 pound in the last 10 days ,a few unpleasant side effects but what the hell .

5 foot 7 ,152 pound and weak as a chicken .:(:D:(

[PeterSibley]

I wish to report a foolproof method of weight loss ! Get the flu ...I've lost 7 pound in the last 10 days ,a few unpleasant side effects but what the hell .:rolleyes:

5 foot 7 ,152 pound and weak as a chicken .:(:D:(

[Falcon500]

im confronted with a similar problem. Im 6ft and 170 (now) but i was 165, problem is a month ago i was laid off (surprise) from construction work!:eek: and now im fighting to not get heavier

i would eat like a horse, one or two eggs on toast with a slice of cheese, with a pop tart for break fast (and still be hypoglycemic at lunch). Lunch was normally a double quarter pounder with fries or half a pizza with a large drink, (during the summer i normally had a half gallon of gatorade after lunch) then supper would be anything i could get my hands on and dessert and later a snack.

I assumed i was probably consuming 4 to 6000 calories a day and last winter i lost about five pounds and actually lost maybe fifteen of fat and gained 10 in some muscle (foundation blocks over 3000 of them)

now im sitting around the house or going ice fishing or dreaming of building another boat or of course going to interviews. Im having a hard time cutting down the eating

[donald branscom]

pounds or BAD cholesterol? high fructose corn syrup is not food

Cinnamon can reduce bad cholesterol. Put about 1/8 teaspoon on your toast.
Honey and cinnamon is good too.
a controlled study was done and found it was productive.

[Bob Triggs]

Yah know I wuz just readin all uh this stuff and I wuz eatin a rare Rib-Eye and drinkin an icy cold beer, and it occured to me that I am going to die a happy man. :D

[PeterSibley]

im confronted with a similar problem. Im 6ft and 170 (now) but i was 165, problem is a month ago i was laid off (surprise) from construction work!:eek: and now im fighting to not get heavier

i would eat like a horse, one or two eggs on toast with a slice of cheese, with a pop tart for break fast (and still be hypoglycemic at lunch). Lunch was normally a double quarter pounder with fries or half a pizza with a large drink, (during the summer i normally had a half gallon of gatorade after lunch) then supper would be anything i could get my hands on and dessert and later a snack.

I assumed i was probably consuming 4 to 6000 calories a day and last winter i lost about five pounds and actually lost maybe fifteen of fat and gained 10 in some muscle (foundation blocks over 3000 of them)

now im sitting around the house or going ice fishing or dreaming of building another boat or of course going to interviews. Im having a hard time cutting down the eating

Yep ,stopping the tools is a test ...you really have to match your tucker to the work you're doing .I've had a few mates who have changed shape rather dramatically when they get desk jobs .Better pay ,better conditions and an extra 50 pound around their waist .

You're lucky to have recognised it early .It's a lot easier to stop than get it off later .

[htom]

No weigh-in this week, probably not under 300. :( Onwards and downwards!

[htom]

308*0.995^7=297.4, actual 301.8 ; 4.4 pounds over goal :( Too much restaurant eating, too much of brother Ralph's yummy cooking, too, too, little exercise. Onwards and downwards!

[John Turpin]

Stepped on the scale this morning and I've now officially lost 20 pounds since Thanksgiving. Ten more pounds lost will get me to my target. I can't believe how much better it feels getting that weight off and eating a (mostly) vegetarian diet.

[htom]

308*0.995^8=295.9; scale says 298.2, above projection but considerably down from last week :) And below 300! :) :)

[htom]

308*0.995^9=294.4; scale says 298.4, up a bit from last week, but the smoothed average = 300! :) Still four pounds over the projection, and falling. :)

[SBrookman]

Keep it going! Here's some "food" for thought. If you walk for 30 minutes you'd burn about 200 calories, the amount in an average beer. Reach for a Biggie Fry and you'd have to walk for another hour just to break even. I haven't had a Biggie Fry since I figured that out, but I have had quite a few beers!
I find that knowing the numbers sometimes help me make some food decisions. Like if I eat that whole bag of Doritos right now I would have to run 10 miles to stay even...that math didn't seem to matter when I was younger.

[Spin_Drift]

"A successful diet is the triumph of mind over platter".:)

You and this thread are very inspiring. I haven't stepped on scales, but I've recently cut out bread, butter, sandwiches, Swiss chocolates and ice cream. Really concentrading on vegetables. Eatin mainly salads garniched with few raisins and few small pieces of crutons. No dressing.

Allready feeling somewhat lighter. :)

Thanks for the inspiration.

[huisjen]

I just got new pants with a 2" smaller waist. This morning the scale says 213.

Dan

[htom]

Somehow missed that last Monday was the first of the month. 308*.995^10= 292.9, scale says 298.4, moving average 299, down a pound :) New (old) pair of jeans this week, 48" rather than the 54" I was wearing last week. IIRC this is the size I was wearing when I graduated from high school.

[htom]

Good news, this morning's was 290.2, down 18 pounds from when I started. I'll do a catch-up summary later.

[Captain Blight]

Noice!

[htom]

I think that the BMI was designed to threaten the marshmallow people. Something easy to compute and scare them with. I'll guess that anyone who'd played high school or college sports or served in the military will have far too much muscle (even you, Bird Legs G ...) to have a "normal" BMI.

[Yeadon]

You're moving the right direction ... congratulations. That's fantastic.

I tend to think that creating healthier, more positive habits will serve you better in the long run than watching your poundage or your BMI. Those are just stats, but simply feeling better and having more energy is a worthy goal.

[SBrookman]

18#, that's some great progress! Of course the reason to get fit is for fitness's sake. Ever heard of fit person wishing he wasn't??? Life is just better when you are. Someone much smarter than me said that there is something just inherently right about occupying the correct amount of space in the universe.
As for BMI, you don't have to check it if you haven't seen your toes for awhile. But knowing that for every 5 units of BMI above optimum your chance of diabetes goes up 22%, or a how about for every pound of fat you add your body has to produce another mile of blood vessels...that's a lot of extra work. Enough food for thought for now. Keep up the good work, you will appreciate it.

[htom]

22 Feb scale 298.2 smooth 301.9 projected 308*0.995^8=295.9
01 Mar scale 298.4 smooth 300.0 projected 308*0.995^9=294.4
08 Mar scale 298.4 smooth 299.0 projected 308*0.995^10=292.9
15 Mar scale 299.4 smooth 300.0 projected 308*0.995^11=291.5
22 Mar scale 299.2 smooth 299.1 projected 308*0.995^12=290.0
29 Mar scale 297.4 smooth 298.3 projected 308*0.995^13=288.6
05 Apr scale 296.6 smooth 297.6 projected 308*0.995^14=287.1
12 Apr scale 297.8 smooth 297.8 projected 308*0.995^15=285.7
19 Apr scale 294.2 smooth 296.3 projected 308*0.995^16=284.3
26 Apr scale 290.2 smooth 294.3 projected 308*0.995^17=282.8

So ... 7.4 pounds above projection. :( I hate these plateaus. I seem to "stick" to a weight much better than some people do, then slide off five or ten pounds in a week or two, then stick again for a month or two. Looking at the smoothed totals helps a bit in dealing with this psychologically, but it is still frustrating. And down 18 pounds since I started, so, Yea!

[John Turpin]

On December 1, I was 230. Today, I'm 203. Twenty-three more pounds to take off.

[Monkey Butler]

On Saturday, March 20th I stepped on the scale for the first time in a long time. The digital readout was telling me something that I didn’t want to see or believe. 297 pounds.

Thoughts began rushing around my head as I tried to reason with myself.

“Well, i do have my shoes on.”

“Who am I kidding, a few more pounds and I’ll be over 300 for the first time in my life.”

“I haven’t eaten much in the past few days, I’ve probably already seen 300.”

“If I don’t do something, I’m going to end up like them.”

On March 17th my wife had undergone Aortic Valve replacement at the age of 50. This was necessitated by a congenital heart defect called a bicuspid valve. Between trying to be with her as much as possible, work, and taking care of everything at home I was running around like crazy and not eating regular meals so I really thought that when I stepped on that scale that afternoon I’d see something quite a bit less than that figure that hit me over the head like a log. The “them” that I referred to previously were people that I had seen or met in the hospital. Unlike the other patients in their 70’s who were there for bypass surgery or valve replacements, these were people in the same age group as my wife and myself. They were there because they were all seriously Ill and they were all seriously overweight. I tried to distance my own physical condition from theirs but the more I thought the more it became clear that unless I did something I was more likely to end up like them than not.

My wife was released on March 24th but due to complications was readmitted on April 1st for another week and a half. During that time I began to watch my diet and walk as much as I could. I’d park far from the hospital entrance and I’d walk around the atrium of the hospital when the nurses kicked me out of the room. I have over an hour drive each way to work that I wish I could use for exercise but instead of making excuses I now walk at lunch time. I’ve always had trouble with my Achilles, likely due to my weight, and it is now flaring up so my walking is curtailed but instead I’m searching Craig’s list for a deal on a couple of bikes for my myself and my wife for when she is able to get out and about once again. I dusted off my son’s weights in the basement and started using them this week.

To those folks in the hospital my prayers for their health and my thanks for the inspiration.

This morning the scale read 259. I’m not going to set any goal as I realize that this needs to be an ongoing effort.

Htom and everyone else here trying to loose the extra baggage, good luck and keep plugging, it’s worth it.

Steve P.

[htom]

Meat, about the size of a deck of playing cards (or an iPod!), starch about the same, the rest of the plate, as many veggies as you want.

[Dan Newton]

Sailing forces you to pay attention to what nature is saying. Reading this thread has restored my faith in peoples' ability to make sensible choices about food and exercise. Lately, I've been reading the articles about low carbohydrate diets in Atlantic Monthly and Scientific American, and it is amazing how many people support this. When you point out the problems, they invoke a conspiracy theory involving the guvmnt. Just amazing.
So keep it up, you're on the right track with your plans. One thing I have to add to the discussion is that if you can force yourself to exercise in the morning before you eat, you'll be sure to burn fat. There is neither glucose nor gylcogen (animal starch) available after fasting all night.

[Sailor]

I wis to report a foolproof method of weight loss ! Get the flu ...I've lost 7 pound in the last 10 days ,a few unpleasant side effects but what the hell .

5 foot 7 ,152 pound and weak as a chicken .:(:D:(


Another one is to have a wife tell you she's having an affair and wants a divorce. Good for about 20 lbs in about a week and a half.

[htom]

I've fallen behind in reporting, but the scale was 287.4 this morning.:)

[PeterSibley]

Yet another quick way is to have a malignant skin cancer reoccur and require drastic chemo ....as has just happened to a friend .A little bloke like me , in 3 weeks he's dropped from 191 pound to 150 pound and falling .He can't taste food ..maybe the perfect solution .:(

Sometimes loosing weight is not a great idea .:(

[coelacanth2]

My son and I are doing the same thing - calisthenics and weights in the AM, karate school 3 to 4 times a week. Going to do some running and biking this summer, although I loathe running. WE've stopped all desserts during the week, too.It seems to be helping, he is staying steady at 145 but is growing taller and I'm down to 206 as of yesterday morning. Resting heart rate in the ER monday while waiting to get my face sewed up was 54 and the BP was 117 over 68 or 72. We have the same problem you do, Brian - I'd have to cut off a leg to get to the 155 the charts say I should weigh.:p

[PeterSibley]

If you loathe running don't do it ...lots of nasty impacts on knees and hips , especially for a big bloke .Stick to the bike ,it's much nicer to your joints !

You're running the same BP and pulse numbers as me ,fun eh ?

How tall are you that you're supposed to weigh 155 ? Those charts aren't kind !

[htom]

You can work it backwards from this (snipped from a post I made at ArsTechnica years ago)


A RECOMMENDED METHOD FOR ESTIMATION OF PERCENT BODY FAT
The U.S. Navy Circumference Method
From Hodgdon, J. and Beckett, M. Prediction of percent body fat for U.S. navy men and women from body circumferences and height. Reports No. 84-29 and 84-11. Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, Cal. 1984)

--estimates!--

WOMEN: R= .85, SEE= 3.72 %fat for n=214

%BodyFat=495/(1.29579-.35004(log(abd1+hip-neck))+.22100(log(height)))-450

MEN: R= .90, SEE=3.52 %fat for n=602

%BodyFat=495/(1.0324-.19077(log(abd2-neck))+.15456(log(height)))-450

Where the circumferences, measured to the nearest .5cm, are:

ABD1: Horizontal, at the level of minimal abdominal width
ABD2: Horizontal at the level of the navel
HIP: Largest horizontal circumference around the hips
NECK: Inferior to the larynx with the tape sloping slightly downward to the front
HEIGHT: Is measured to the nearest .5cm without shoes


edit: log(x) == log_10(x) == ln(x)/ln(10)

---
At that time, the "ideal" was considered to be 15% BodyFat (12-18%) for men, 20% BodyFat (18-23%) for women.

---------
I think it's probably wrong that the standard for a "large frame" is having a dominant wrist circumference > 7" and for a "small frame" is dominant wrist circumference <6", but that's the standard. This measure doesn't correct for "heavy" or "light" bone structure, only bone volume.

Dr. Ken Cooper's "ideal weight" formula (for 15% body fat), in pounds, male: ( 4 times height in inches ) - 128 ; add 10% for 20% bodyfat.

----

So for me, 76*4-128 = 176 pounds. IIRC I mostly qualify for the "large frame" bonus, which would let me add 10%, but by the time I get down to that 194 I've slipped under a 7" dominant wrist and have to go down to 176.

Tallness for 155, 70.75" = 5' 10 3/4"

Don't shoot me, I didn't do the research.

There's a similar formula for women, but I can't find it at the moment.

[PeterSibley]

That sounds like the numbers for a full on athelete ,a marathon man , not an average working fit , not over weight guy .I weigh 152 on 5'7" ,by that scale I need to be 140 and that would be very very lean ! I reckon I carry 5 pound of fat ,something to loose when I get the flu .

[SBrookman]

If you loathe running don't do it ...lots of nasty impacts on knees and hips , especially for a big bloke .Stick to the bike ,it's much nicer to your joints !


That's actually a common misconception. There have been some recent studies showing that running actually improves your not only your aerobic ability but your joints also! The Stanford study was the largest following over 500 runners over 50y/o and they showed drastic improvement over the control group in virtually all aspects. See: http://med.stanford.edu/news_releases/2008/august/running.html

Personally, I jogged from my 20's on and noticed knee pain whenever I got to 20 mpw, which seemed like a good limit. Hitting the big 50 I trained for a marathon fearing damaging those knees only to find out that it was a conditioning issue (and maybe shoes) for now I routinely run 30-40mpw with occasional weeks of 50-60. And while I get sore, its' a good sore, and now I actually enjoy running! It takes a few miles to get the old bones warmed up, but you can get in the zone and then just enjoy it.

Of course the bottom line is to get fit so you can enjoy life, and that is what running longer distances has done for me. There is nothing athletic about it either, it's simply putting the shoes on and getting out the door. (I have to say that it is no fun getting yourself up to a level when you can run distances which is why I keep running, to avoid the pain of building back up again.)

[PeterSibley]

That's basically why I keep turning the wheels on my bike .I've had a few knee injuries so I may be a special case when it comes to running ,the bike is good !

[coelacanth2]

5'8" 206lbs. I haven't been much below 190 since college, and I weigh less now than I did in the 8th grade. According to my orthopedic doc. I have broken both my ankles 4 or 5 times each, and it hurts to run, although I should probably build back up to it again. My son can now keep up with me on a sprint down the driveway, 6 months ago I was still spotting him some distance and beating him. 'Course, his legs have grown longer...:D

[Dr.Spoke]

That's actually a common misconception. There have been some recent studies showing that running actually improves your not only your aerobic ability but your joints also! The Stanford study was the largest following over 500 runners over 50y/o and they showed drastic improvement over the control group in virtually all aspects. See: http://med.stanford.edu/news_releases/2008/august/running.html

Personally, I jogged from my 20's on and noticed knee pain whenever I got to 20 mpw, which seemed like a good limit. Hitting the big 50 I trained for a marathon fearing damaging those knees only to find out that it was a conditioning issue (and maybe shoes) for now I routinely run 30-40mpw with occasional weeks of 50-60. And while I get sore, its' a good sore, and now I actually enjoy running! It takes a few miles to get the old bones warmed up, but you can get in the zone and then just enjoy it.

Of course the bottom line is to get fit so you can enjoy life, and that is what running longer distances has done for me. There is nothing athletic about it either, it's simply putting the shoes on and getting out the door. (I have to say that it is no fun getting yourself up to a level when you can run distances which is why I keep running, to avoid the pain of building back up again.)

Some real truths there!
Don't let it go too far.
Build up slowly with good shoes ( and replace them often, and as your weight changes)
Stretch
Did I mention stretching!
Doesn't have to be long - fitness can be built with intervals in a park.
Don't be afraid to ask advice - everyone can run, but you can learn to run with better technique, and not everyone is a natural.
Don't forget your iPod:D

[Dr.Spoke]

As a follow-up!
I'm glad to see this thread as an exercise thread - not specifically dieting. Very few people want to be overweight, but being unfit is the killer.
A good cycling friend of mine is overweight, he's no racer but he gives it all. His day job is as an opera singer. This requires fitness, strength, coordination - and the ability to sing. His voice loses timbre if he gets too light, but he's fit.

Another memorable occasion: I was at a course for a training cycle/ergometer. I was there to understand how it was used so I could provide better service and support to the users; the other people on the course were nurses, physiotherapists and such.
( I should mention I was ill with flu, and running a fever)
The CEO of the company started by asking who had washed their hair that morning, brushed their teeth, had a shower? Everybody replied in the affirmative. Then he asked who had trained their heart?
I put my hand up - and got a rebuke because he knew I was ill - but it was only a bit of calisthenics.
"20 minutes, 3 times a week, with a heart rate over 120bpm but under 80% of max pulse - your heart stops ageing! Why spend time on your teeth and hair and ignore your heart when they are so much easier to replace than your heart?"
And that about sums it up; it doesn't need to be hard, a good walk every day, a bit of footy with the kids - keep the heart good. The weight? ultimately it'll take care of itself if you're looking after your heart. If you've let it slide - once the fitness is back you'll be doing so much more that the weight will stabilize.

[htom]

Cooper & his researchers were measuring active-duty Air Force and Navy (and Marine) people then; these formulas are an outgrowth of that research (the Army had a different team, and each of those four services have their own set of formulas, which don't vary much.) The estimate of body fat will be within 1-2 points (that is, if the formula says 17.3%, the actual reading would be within 16.3 to 18.3 or if the formula says 28, between 26 and 30) which is as good as, or better than, skin fold measurements. Actual measures of bodyfat of the subjects were by immersion with lung volume computation and some form of X-ray analysis of bone and fatty structures. The error is larger above 30 or 40 percent; they didn't have many subject there and precision of estimate was not a concern for those; up there, it needs to come down lots.

[htom]

Exercise ++ That's how I got this way, a lack of exercise. Ate or didn't exercise an extra thirty or forty calories a day for thirty years, that's a hundred and twenty pounds.

High speed walking (race walking, endurance walking, whatever you call it) can be as good as running, it's maybe not quite so bad on knees and ankles.) Nordic walking is good too, especially if you do it right.

[SBrookman]

Some real truths there!
Don't let it go too far.
Build up slowly with good shoes ( and replace them often, and as your weight changes)
Stretch
Did I mention stretching!
Doesn't have to be long - fitness can be built with intervals in a park.
Don't be afraid to ask advice - everyone can run, but you can learn to run with better technique, and not everyone is a natural.
Don't forget your iPod:D

I should state that there is a method to this madness. Even though I jogged for 30 yrs when I picked up the distance for the marathon I managed to blow out both calfs which gave me ample time to research and find out how to do it better. There is a wealth of information out there for beginners on the internet and in magazines like Runner's World. It you push it too fast or have the wrong shoes and get injured then you'll blame running as being too hard when in reality is was that you were had not prepared properly.

As Dr.Spoke said, ask for advice if new to this. I can't give advice on how to cut a clean gain or rabbet, but running...been there, done that, and hopefully will continue.

As for the IPod, use caution. Not advisable in many circumstances (like jogging on the Myrtle Beach!) but I do use one on long runs to catch up on podcasts and it helps get through the distance.

[coelacanth2]

Back up about 5 lbs, but the boy and I have been doing weapons workouts and weights in the AM. Pants are looser, shirts are tighter...

[htom]

I seem to be stuck at 290, but the fancy scale says my body fat has gone from 44% to 42%; not sure how accurate that estimate is.

[htom]

Hmmmph. 286.4 today. I gotta get back to updating this.

[Steve Paskey]

High speed walking (race walking, endurance walking, whatever you call it) can be as good as running, it's maybe not quite so bad on knees and ankles.

In my mid-30s I lost 70 pounds by racewalking. It's effective, and not hard at all on the knees and ankles.

By my late 40s I'd gained it all back, though, so I'm back at work on losing again. From late May until now (11 weeks) I've lost 28 pounds, from 292 to 264. A lot of hiking in June, bicycling since then, and eating less and better. The big thing for me has been minimizing the eating between meals, especially after dinner. I've also been eating more fruits and veggies, and cutting out high calorie stuff ... I love cheese, but almost never eat it now.

A new favorite summertime salad, combining the very best treats from the farmer's market ... slice tomatoes and peaches, mix with a bit of good olive oil, lime juice, fresh cilantro. Season with salt and pepper and let it marinate for a while ...

[Steve Paskey]

I seem to be stuck at 290, but the fancy scale says my body fat has gone from 44% to 42%; not sure how accurate that estimate is.

Keep in mind that a given volume of muscle weighs MUCH more than fat. So it's possible for two people of the same height and weight to have very different amounts of body fat. That's really the flaw with the BMI: it can't account for the difference.

[htom]

Finally off the 289-291 bouncing, this morning was 282.0

There's been some press lately about how people should use waist-height ratio instead of BMI. This seems to me to be a much better scheme, as it's looking at body volume rather than mass, and volume is a much better proxy for body fat than weight.

According to this article, at a 32" waist I was "extremely thin", at my heaviest I was "highly obese" and now I'm down to "obese". One of my goals is a 38" waist, which would be towards the top of "healthy-normal"; the boundary at 46% would be a bit more than 34" for me.

(The old "your waist should be less than half your height", here, gets "healthy-normal". and the old "pounds don't matter" is confirmed.)

Note: this is the medical waist measurement, not your pants waist. Soft tape, around the body at the navel, tummy relaxed. No sucking it in. Usually 10-15% larger than your pants waist, unless you're thin.

(Waist/Height)*100

WOMEN
• Ratio less than 35: Abnormally Slim to Underweight
• Ratio 35 to 42: Extremely Slim
• Ratio 42 to 46: Healthy
• Ratio 46 to 49: Healthy
• Ratio 49 to 54: Overweight
• Ratio 54 to 58: Seriously Overweight
• Ratio over 58: Highly Obese

MEN
• Ratio less than 35: Abnormally Slim to Underweight
• Ratio 35 to 43: Extremely slim
• Ratio 43 to 46: Healthy
• Ratio 46 to 53: Healthy, Normal Weight
• Ratio 53 to 58: Overweight
• Ratio 58 to 63: Extremely Overweight/Obese
• Ratio over 63: Highly Obese

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/93638-whtr-the-new-determinant-health-risk/#ixzz0wHTf56Yj

[ameefarm]

Me too I have trouble on how to loss weight. I'm so devastated whenever someone would tell I'm so fat. Any idea on how to loss weight in easy way.?

[The Bigfella]

Yep - eat less, and move more works.

I lost 20lbs in 7 weeks in Indochina.... down to 245, basically because I ate less and moved more. The occasional tummy upset probably helped.... but there wasn't too much of that.

Since coming back, I find I'm "grazing" more... I'd like to cut down on that and drop a few more pounds. One thing over there - with the hot weather and a bit of activity was that I sweated a hell of lot... maybe the extra water I was drinking tricked my body into thinking my gut was full - so I didn't feel hungry as much?

[basm]

Yep - eat less, and move more works.

I lost 20lbs in 7 weeks in Indochina.... down to 245, basically because I ate less and moved more. The occasional tummy upset probably helped.... but there wasn't too much of that.



I had the same happen in two weeks there, I think it was a combination of factors; always being on the move and having to walk. Being busy so not eating as a distraction and fresher food. Nothing we ate there was over processed.

P.S. I Love Vietnamese food! :D

[htom]

Move more.
Eat fresh foods.
Move more.
Drink more water.
Move more.
Eat less fat.
Move more.

If you get the impression that moving more is the key, you're getting the message. Sit on an exercise ball instead of a chair.

[SBrookman]

BMI..height to waist ratio, they're all numbers games. Useful perhaps, but finding your ideal weight is like seeing a nice sheer line or a beautiful woman, you know when it you see it. You'll know when you're at your ideal weight, you'll feel it. (Just don't try to kid yourself while looking at the "magic mirror" and sucking it in!) For most of us it's the weight we had out of college or early 20's, or the weight we should have been then. As for how to get there and maintain it, it has to be a lifestyle choice. Consider investing in yourself, take time to walk, find an enjoyable way to exercise, and learn about what you put into your body. It really boils down to calories in vs calories burned. I mentioned on this thread earlier that my sister and binlaw lost 60# in less than a year by walking twice a day and eating sensibly. That's a pretty small investment that yielded a tremendous return in their quality of life.

[Wayne Jeffers]

. . .
Eat less fat.
. . .


IMO, you will do well to think "Eat less sugar."

Eating the wrong fats will clog your arteries. Healthy fats are good for you. Eating fats doesn't do much for adding fat to your waistline.

The human body is very good at converting most sugars to fat. You eat sugar, your pancreas gives you a jolt of insulin. Insulin is the fat-storage hormone. It also suppresses the release of other hormones which would help you burn fat. Ask your endocrinologist. ;)

There are some foods that your body converts to sugar in the blood very efficiently and should therefore be avoided. Google "high glycemic index foods."

Wayne

[htom]

Agreed, "Eat less sugar." And the sugar you do eat should be in the form of whole fruits, rather than things with added sugar. Not that those should be totally verboten, but few small servings. As I said, one piece of the cake. Spread the smiles (that's the very best part of doing that baking, watching people's happy faces.)

[htom]

And minimal trans-fats, HFCS, and burned proteins. Some can't be avoided, some too flavorful to be skipped.

[Wayne Jeffers]

Yes, the sugar found in most fresh fruit is good – won’t spike your blood sugar. (Exceptions are bananas, pineapple, and watermelon. The glycemic index thing.) Frozen fruit is second best. If you must eat canned fruit, be sure it has no added sugar.

The natural sugar in milk/dairy is good, too. Like cheese?

I see no need for high-fructose corn sweetener, although I admit it takes some effort to avoid buying prepared foods without it. It’s hard to buy prepared foods without too much sugar and salt or often without extraneous white flour.

The taste thing – I would note that 20 years ago they scared us all with horror stories of what fat would do to our circulatory system, so we started eating reduced-fat foods. Problem is, they almost all added a lot of processed sugar (in various forms, many concealed in plain sight by scientific names) to “improve” the taste of reduced-fat foods. As a result of switching to reduced-fat foods with more sugar, we all got fat and many of us became diabetic. ;) We’ve been on the blood glucose/insulin roller coaster, which not only makes it near impossible to lose weight, it also affects hormones that cause our livers to convert more fats to cholesterol to clog our arteries. What’s a mother to do?

Wayne

[The Bigfella]

Move more.
Eat fresh foods.
Move more.
Drink more water.
Move more.
Eat less fat.
Move more.

If you get the impression that moving more is the key, you're getting the message. Sit on an exercise ball instead of a chair.

Oh, I know I shouldn't say this.... but it has to be said....

In Vietnam, I "moved" a lot less... a hell of a lot less.

Used a lot less toilet paper too.... because the movements were so much smaller

Now that I'm home again... and eating Western food again, I'm "moving" a lot more. Probably four times as much

[PeterSibley]

Unusual food will do that , or exactly the opposite .....as I remember from India.

[Wayne Jeffers]

Ian & Peter -- I suspect that in both cases your experience is a result of eating a more natural diet with whole grains and other natural fiber, rather that the highly-processed food now so common in Western culture.

I "move" a lot less now than before I gave up sugar in all its forms (including white potatoes, white rice, enriched white flour, beets, corn, bananas.)

Processed foods: There should be no need to "enrich" wheat flour. In its whole form, wheat is already very rich in nutrients. Whole grains consist of germ, endosperm, and bran. Problem is, white flour is made from wheat stripped of the germ & bran, where all the vitamins & minerals reside, leaving only the endosperm, which is mostly carbohydrates & some protein. If your flour is "enriched" you can be sure that they added a bit of vitamins to partly compensate for all the good stuff stripped away in processing. For thousands of years, the human digestive tract evolved to thrive on whole grains and other natural foods. Only in the last hundred years or two have most of our highly processed foods been available, with the result that obesity and attendant diseases are now running rampant.

Wayne

[htom]

This thread fell off my attention span.

Today, first Monday in October: 275.0 on the scale, smoothed is 277.8. Nine months, 33 pounds gone. Not as fast as I planned, but that's fine (schedule was 253 so 22 pounds over that; a bit more than half of the desired rate.)

[TerryLL]

I've been on a Paleo diet since June. Twenty-four pounds gone so far and another 18 to go. Down from 212 to 188, heading for 170. Blood pressure has dropped back into the normal range. Hope to do the 12-K Bloomsday race in Spokane next Spring. Feeling great.

[htom]

First Monday of the year, again.

Well, the plan did not work as expected (isn't that the fate of all plans?) but it has worked well enough.

This morning, 272.0 pounds. So 36 pounds in 52 weeks. Not as much as I wanted (and there was a time when I was down to 270, this is coming back down from 276) but a solid loss. More important, a year ago I was wearing a 58" waist (and they were tight); now I'm wearing 44", and can squeeze into 42" but they're not comfy like jeans should be.

Along the way, I've found some modern research that says that the BMI (which almost everyone hates) is really not very good at predicting health, and that weight isn't very important either. What really seems to matter is the ratio of your "medical waist" to your barefoot height. Medical waist is not the waistband size of your jeans. It's the shortest circumference around your body, below your ribs and at or above your navel, when your belly is relaxed. No sucking it in. Different researchers have slightly different goals and simplifications, but there's an easy one to remember: for both men and women, your medical waist should be 0.46 or 46% (or slightly less) of your height for the lowest health risks.

At 6'4", this means my medical waist should be less than 35". Maybe 36" or 38" jeans. So I've still got a ways to go. I knew that.

So, onwards, and downwards in 2011! :D

[seanz]

Eat less, move more?

I had it round the wrong way for the last few months of the year.

Bother.

[htom]

Arrrgh. 0.46, or 46%, not 0.46%!

[Spin_Drift]

First Monday of the year, again.

Well, the plan did not work as expected (isn't that the fate of all plans?) but it has worked well enough.

This morning, 272.0 pounds. So 36 pounds in 52 weeks. Not as much as I wanted (and there was a time when I was down to 270, this is coming back down from 276) but a solid loss. More important, a year ago I was wearing a 58" waist (and they were tight); now I'm wearing 44", and can squeeze into 42" but they're not comfy like jeans should be.

Along the way, I've found some modern research that says that the BMI (which almost everyone hates) is really not very good at predicting health, and that weight isn't very important either. What really seems to matter is the ratio of your "medical waist" to your barefoot height. Medical waist is not the waistband size of your jeans. It's the shortest circumference around your body, below your ribs and at or above your navel, when your belly is relaxed. No sucking it in. Different researchers have slightly different goals and simplifications, but there's an easy one to remember: for both men and women, your medical waist should be 0.46% (or slightly less) than your height for the lowest health risks.

At 6'4", this means my medical waist should be less than 35". Maybe 36" or 38" jeans. So I've still got a ways to go. I knew that.

So, onwards, and downwards in 2011! :D

YOU ARE AN INSPIRATION. Just wanted to let you know that I really admire you for keeping up with working toward your goal. I know how difficult it can be, especially when advancing is slow.

This speaks in volume about your character.

I respect, admire and applaud you!

:):D

[ILikeRust]

Different researchers have slightly different goals and simplifications, but there's an easy one to remember: for both men and women, your medical waist should be 0.46% (or slightly less) than your height for the lowest health risks.

At 6'4", this means my medical waist should be less than 35". Maybe 36" or 38" jeans. So I've still got a ways to go. I knew that.

Sheesh. I'd love to know how these ex-spurts come up with such purportedly normative rules.

Many years ago, when I was buying some life insurance, they were telling me I was supposed to be no more than 165 lbs. I'm 6'1". I've seen guys my height who weigh 150 pounds, and they look like a coatrack. The last time I weighed 165 lbs. was when I was about 15 or 16 years old and working my arse off on a dairy farm, throwing hay and shoveling organic barn floor refuse material.

I have a pretty large frame - I mean, I know it's a funny old cliche to say "I'm big-boned," but in my case, it's the actual truth. If I ever managed to get down to 165 lbs., I'd look like a famine victim (and probably be about as healthy as one).

A good weight for me today would be about 185 - 190, but I would have to either start seriously working out or starve myself (or a combination of the two) to get my weight back down there.

When I hit 40, my metabolism seemed to pretty much shut down. Right now I'm I'm in 38" jeans and hovering around 200 lbs., down from an all-time high of 217 a year ago. Lost most of that weight in October 2009 and have managed to keep it off just by changing my eating habits. I would love to drop another 5 or so, but I figure as long as I stay at no more than 200, I'm doing pretty well.

Plus I value enjoying my food while I'm able more than theoretically gaining a few more months or a couple years of life - hell, for all I know I'll get hit by an asteriod or have a massive corononary next week, so if I want to eat a couple chocolate chip cookies or have a hamburger with my beer, by god, I'm gonna do it!

[htom]

Congrats on the 217 to 200; that's ten percent.

"Big frame"/"big bone" and "small frame"/"light bone" are real, and some researchers adjust recommended "optimal weights" by 5 or 10 percent accordingly. You can measure your wrist (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/17182.htm) to find out which you are.

The "rules" come from measuring lots of people, and then following them and seeing what happens to them. They're not really rules, but descriptions. Those people who had waists around 0.46 of their height (0.42...0.48, IIRC) had the fewest number of things like heart attacks, strokes, cancers, ... compared to the others in the studies, whose waists were larger or smaller (different medical problems for those smaller.) No guarantees, just the odds. To get or keep this kind of medical waist, you pretty much have to be "physically fit." Big huge shoulders and big legs and butt on a football player? Yup, but look at their waist. Their BMI and weight are off the charts, though (bodyfat is probably <10% for them.)

If my plan is successful, I'll end up around 180 pounds and 15% bodyfat (my doctor says less than 240 or 20% is probably dreaming.) It's going to take a while. Serious strength building to add (or at least keep) as much muscle mass as possible; at my age it's very difficult (but possible) to add it.

Metabolism slowing down, yup. Happens to all of us. When I first started trying to lose, I was up over 360, got down to 260, slid back up to 320, then down to the 308 this post started at.

Yes, enjoying life is at least as important as having it. I have no desire to never be able to eat cake or cookies or ice cream or chocolate or ... buttered toast; but I can limit my consumption of those things so that I can keep eating them for years, I hope. One cookie, not half the plate. One small dark chocolate at bedtime seems to kill the chocolate craving for the next day. I tell myself it's "heart healthy." Who knows, maybe it is!

Spin -- [blush] Thank you.

[paul oman]

dang! now you tell me! I had it written down as: Eat more, move less...

[ILikeRust]

Good info. Interesting too. Thanks. And keep up the good work! Eat less, indeed! That's pretty much all I've done to drop my weight. Take a modest helping and no seconds - although sometimes I'll take a small second if I know I haven't eaten all that much during the day and I'm really hungry. Eat just enough to knock back the hunger feeling - rather than stuff as much as I can down my gullet - which is what I used to do, then sit around going "ohhhhh..... arrrggh.... ate too (URP) much....".

Breakfast is most important meal; dinner least. Many evenings I skip dinner altogether, or just have a quick bite of something (literally a bit or two - like a hunk of string cheese or two) so I won't be too hungry when trying to fall asleep. Just making myself get used to that is how I got from 217 down to 200.

I also hadn't been weighing myself for years. Now I try to step on the scale every morning right out of the shower - keeping regular track allows you to notice when you start sliding up again - like I'll notice when I slip up to 202 or 203. Then I can cut back a bit or not have that chocolate chip cookie at lunch time.

It's simple, but it's not always easy!

I keep telling my wife I'm just the right weight; I'm just short for my weight.

[ILikeRust]

BTW, 6'4" and 180 pounds? Wow. And down to 180 from 360? Double wow. I know I'd have to make a major-league effort and some serious changes to my habits to get down to 180 - if I could even do it. I suppose if I joined the Navy Seals or Marine boot camp or something and somebody forced me to. I probably would just drop dead... :(

[Dutch]

Congrats htom- I know it took a lot of willpower- keep it up!''I dont know what sort of exercise you do, but I highly recommend stationary rowing.

[htom]

The 6'4", 180 pounds, 32" waist jeans (and probably 3-4% bodyfat) was a couple of years out of the Corps; college student too busy to eat, but had time to run four or five miles, four or five times a day (I didn't feel good unless I got in 20.) There's a photo of me; I look like a bean pole with a beard. I was also smoking two or three packs a day. When the doctors finally convinced me to stop running, they didn't mention cutting down on the eating. I'm not sure if that is evidence of the stupidity of a Jarhead, or some of the medical profession.

I'm not allowed to run or row now (the hip problem from the car accident), I might be able to start in March, very slowly, but I think the PT people are just dangling that as a treat. I can walk for a half hour twice a day, do some tai chi, and the neck and hip exercises. That's all. It's been a long time since I complained about not being able to exercise, but I am.

Over did it, too, last week, went to a yoga class with my wife. First half hour was fine, then OUCH. Both my neck and my hip really told me I should stop NOW. (I did, the instructor came over and agreed.) That was pure dumb Jarhead, and Tim is going to laugh his head off at me when I tell him about it at the PT session on Wednesday. Ah well. Live and learn, learn and live.

[essaunders]

I've restarted logging all I eat - I use the app "LoseIt" on my ancient iPod touch. The app has a nifty web interface now too. I've found that taking the trouble to measure and record is all I need to keep me from eating the extra calories.

[SBrookman]

Htom, great progress! And combining working out with eating less you're on your way to your goal. "Eat less, move more" is such a simple mantra, that really works, but it seems with over 40% of us Americans being classified as obese, most ignore it. Add an army of chubby children growing into increasing larger adults and our already high health care costs will skyrocket even higher. Bottom line, just take time to invest in yourself. Without fitness, everything suffers. Cookie(s), pasta, beer, everything tastes as good or better after a workout. Plus it's nice to be able to walk up a flight of stairs (or insert any other activity here) and not feel like passing out. That being said I'm bundling up and heading out for a run to burn off some holiday pounds even though I'd much rather be working on my model, or aquariums, or just about anything else. But they'll be here when I return.

[Dutch]

yes rowing can be hard on your hips

[htom]

My "maximum" weight (that I was supposed to have) in the USMC (6'4", large frame) was 242, minimum was 180; I was told I was a big-boned mesomorph. The 242 would be good, too, especially if it was at 15%-18% body fat, but it's going to be very hard to gain that much muscle back (wish I'd kept it!) When I was a running fool (and felt absolutely great) I measured as an ectomorph (with a mesomorph's chest and shoulders, and an endomoph's bones.) That theory has pretty much been discredited for several good reasons, not all of them political, but the three body types have been around since Plato, if not before.

And yes, I feel bunches better than I did last year at this time (and I felt better then at 308, than I had at 360.) I so much more energy (from not having to haul that extra 90 pounds around with me, of course.)

If you're (any you happening to be reading) ten or twenty percent over what you "should" weigh, and those pounds are fat (measure your waist!) that's work you don't have to do, energy you don't have to spend. Lose it. S l o w l y. With exercise and proper (mostly cut the junk food) diet. Don't lose the muscle mass, just (as much as you can) the fat. Dieting alone will usually cost you a pound or two of muscle mass for every pound of fat. You want to keep as much muscle mass as possible, while losing the fat; exercise will let you lose almost two pounds of fat for every pound of muscle mass lost.

[Chip-skiff]

Thanks for bumping this up. I read the title and immediately went for the rowing machine, instead of scotch and pretzels.

Later, who knows?

[donald branscom]

pounds or BAD cholesterol? high fructose corn syrup is not food

Snapple =corn syrup.
Nantucket = No corn syrup.

Matter of fact Nantucket brand was the only one I have found with NO corn syrup.

[donald branscom]

Oh, I know I shouldn't say this.... but it has to be said....

In Vietnam, I "moved" a lot less... a hell of a lot less.

Used a lot less toilet paper too.... because the movements were so much smaller

Now that I'm home again... and eating Western food again, I'm "moving" a lot more. Probably four times as much

As we age it gets even more important.
But if you eliminate bread ,pasta, and potatoes that can make a huge difference.
Carbs = more insulin production, and that stores MORE FAT.

I do not use my toaster anymore.

Also if you eat rice crackers it is far better than wheat crackers.
Try the Blue Diamond brand rice SNACK crackers.
They make 4 kinds but everyone is agreed that the almond nut and rice crackers are the best flavor.

[SBrookman]

If you're going to "move more" you need carbs. Carbs=energy. Just pay attention to what type of carbs you're packing in. Go for the complex kind which means check the label on package, if the first item doesn't say whole grain put it back (wife taught me that!)

Excerpt of carb info from the internet (http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Ca-De/Carbohydrates.html):
>>At times, carbohydrates have been incorrectly labeled as "fattening." Evidence actually supports the consumption of more, rather than less, starchy foods. Carbohydrates have four calories per gram, while dietary fats contribute nine per gram, so diets high in complex carbohydrates are likely to provide fewer calories than diets high in fat. Recommendations are for 55 to 60 percent of total calories to come from carbohydrates (approximately 275 to 300 grams for a 2,000-calorie diet). The majority of carbohydrate calories should come from complex rather than simple carbohydrates. Of total caloric intake, approximately 45 to 50 percent of calories should be from complex carbohydrates, and 10 percent or less from simple carbohydrates.<<

Read more: Carbohydrates - effects, food, nutrition, body, diet, absorption, carbohydrate, health, protein, fat, nutrients, eating, acids, weight, water, soluble, Chemical Structure (http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Ca-De/Carbohydrates.html#ixzz1Akf9lLTv) http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Ca-De/Carbohydrates.html#ixzz1Akf9lLTv