2012 weight loss group

[The Annoyed Man]

I'm down 27 lb since mid May. Entered in a 5K I'll be running next Saturday.

[longhorn_92]

I am very proud to report Middle Age Russ and I have done really well! I lost 30 pounds and reached my goal in April - have been on maintenance since then staying within 2 pounds of my goal. MAR has lost overy 35# and is close to his goal - he started after I did and set his goal loss at a few more pounds. Cholesterol is within normal limits for both of us (mine for the first time in a decade), blood sugars normal, and feeling so much better. We are signing up with a karate school again to add to our walking for exercise, and learn some self defens too.

I am very proud of my guy and must say he is looking good these days

Everybody keep up the good work - I was so amazed at how much better I feel just after losing the weight, now to work on toning and conditioning!

BTW - our docs are very happy too!

I tell you... I feel so much better AND I have so much more energy too! I am actually enjoying the exercising!

[Scott in Houston]

Doing great. Down to 169 pounds (I'm 6'0") and just maintaining now.
I do 150-250 pushups every other day in reps of 50 or so in order to get some strength work in addition to playing tennis for more exercise. I'm not officially 'working out' though. I wish I could... just no time.

[XDSConcealer]

I started my diet around August 1st and have lost about 50 pounds at this point. I figure I have about 20-25 pounds to go before I get to the point that I want to maintain. Sadly I have hit a plateau at this point and those 20-25 pounds are proving difficult. I really want to get to my goal before the end of the year. Start off 2013 on a high note and in the ideal shape.

[Abraham]

Diets aren't necessary to lose weight.

Eat your normal diet - just less of it...and find an aerobic exercise you like such as walking, biking or swimming and do it every other day minimally for at least 30 minutes non-stop.

If you're totally out of shape enter an exercise program very gradually i.e., walk a block and stop. After a week add a block, the week after that add two blocks and so on... Eventually, you'll get into shape and be able to add a lot more to your distance. Same approach with any type of exercise program you enter out of shape...

If you start your exercise program gradually you won't suffer horrible soreness and will be able to keep it up. Get impatient for results and you won't stay with the program because you'll end up either injured or so sore you'll quit.

Complicated diets, counting calories, etc. are a major pain. If you eat your normal foods, but far less of them, it's simpler and easier to stay with.

[Ameer]

Diets aren't necessary to lose weight.

Eat your normal diet - just less of it.

That is a diet.

[Abraham]

How's this - eat whatever you like, just less of it...and exercise at something you find enjoyable. This approach will keep you trim.

For me, before knee surgery, distance running and/or distance inline skating were my exercises of choice for heart/lung/legs. For the rest of me - I lift weights at home employing relatively low weight - high reps. The very low expense of a weight set is very cost effective. There's no need to join a gym either. Yeah, I guess it helps keep some of the unmotivated to stay more motivated, but for me the convenience of working out at home can't be beat.

Now, I bike ride 25 miles every other day and work out with weights on non-bike days.

This has been my routine for over forty years.

[BigBen]

Hate to jump in so late, but I did not see this thread till now. I joined a gym 6 months ago. Thought I'd start back into my old high school workout. Boy was I wrong. I couldn't jog for five minutes before I saw spots Slowly been building up my cardio. This week I'm doing one mile in under 15min. So far I lost 30 lbs. My goal is to get back under 250 or a 46 waist. Whatever comes first. I hope to reach one of these numbers inside of two years. My diet has been like a roller coaster from hell but I plan on fixing that.

[carlson1]

I am disabled and I did not start my change of life until March. From March until yesterday I have lost 81lbs. I am not weighing very often because I am not on a diet.

I have a completely different lifestyle. I changed the foods I eat as well as I started getting up and moving no matter how much pain I am in. I have found the way to minimize my pain and still move was a swimming pool.

So far it has worked. I have not fell off the wagon, I have not missed any of the older foods, and it has has given me more of a determination than I have ever had in my life.

I do not weigh less than I did three years ago when I had heart by-pass surgery, but I am in better health than I have been in in years.

Not worried about the scales worried about eating right and having a healthy life style.

As a side note my "blood work up" came in about a month ago with a hand written note that the doctor could not believe the difference in all of the results. I have cut my insulin intake back 60%.

I spent 8 years in a wheel chair or electric scooter. I am not walking again and some days I need a cane, but not as often as I did 6 months ago.

[Moby]

I had "sleeve" surgery and have lost 58 lbs.
The wife did also and has lost 33 lbs.

Looking forward to losing another 50 lbs.
No more fast food for me. EVER.

[Teamless]

I have been on a pre-surgical diet for about 8 days.

If you want to lose a quick about 15 lbs in 10 days, here is what my Dr has me doing.

drinking a high protein shake every morning
We get our protein at "The Vitamin Shop" but you could also go any nutritional store like GNC
make sure the protein shake is about 25 grams of protein per scoop, to which you mix with 8 ounces of water (not milk)

Do another shake for lunch

For dinner, 6 ounces (yes, not a nice 12 OZ ribeye or chicken breast) of a protein - Fish, Chicken Breast or LEAN steak.
use a scale, - DONT GUESS
1 cup of a green vegetable (other than peas), or you can do cabbage
NO Corn, NO Carrots
NO Breads
NO Potatoes

I cup of fruit a day or sugar free jello (no bananas)

No cheating, no extra snacking

Yes, this is a VERY low calorie diet. I am getting, depending on if I eat Chicked or Steak, and if I eat an extra apple that day, that I am getting under 800 calories per day.
I am using a free ap on my Iphone called MyFitnessPal to input all my meals, snacks, and even my walking to track and maintain my weight and my caloric intake.
Nice thing about this program, you can search for any types of foods, and it has an extensive on-line food knowledge, or you can scan the bar codes on a package and list the "# of servings" or other ways to input the info.

I was very surprised to learn, maybe stupidly - I should have known? - that Hooters Chicken wings are about 200 calories EACH - so when I would down about 15 for dinner, that is more than my entire caloric intake should have been for the day. I had a LOT of these realizations, which also helped in understanding WHY.

Yes, the first couple days, you feel hungry, especially after not having a nice sized dinner and certainly you don't get the mashed taters or baked tater wit all the toppings, but after 3 days or so, you don't have that "Im starving" feeling , as your stomach starts to shrink a bit every day.

I am on day 8 of this diet, and I have lost 11 lbs
So I figure on the first 2 days of this I did sneak a hershey's "fun size" candy bar or a similar caloried item, and that probably cost me 1 lb over the time.

I am walking about 1-2 miles every day - which is burning abut 250 calories according to a couple calorie websites




Anyway, good luck with your efforts and maybe, especially during the upcoming holidays, if you prepare early and lose some weight in advance of Thanksgiving dinner, it will help you keep it off afterwards.

If you are just 10-20 lbs away from your goal, maybe this has shown you a way to lose a fast 10 lbs or so!

Good Luck!!

[3dfxMM]

I know I am jumping on here kind of late given the thread title, but it didn't make sense to me to chime in earlier since I wasn't trying to lose weight at the time. I went to the doctor on 10/29 just to do a "med check" so he would renew my meds. He was very upset since I had gained some weight since my last visit in February. Basically, he told me that he was putting me on a low-carb diet. He didn't care which one. I asked him about cholesterol and he told me that I could worry about the potential problems caused by cholesterol or I could worry about obesity killing me now.

I did some research and ended up going with a basic Paleo diet. I am 5' 8" tall and weighed 267 the morning I went to the doctor. This morning I weighed in at 250.4. The best part is that I feel better than I can remember feeling in a long time. I no longer get drowsy during the day. I don't get hungry between meals. I am more alert. I also sleep 6-7 hours a night rather than the 4-5 hours I was getting before.

If you aren't familiar with he Paleo diet, it basically means that I have removed all grains, legumes, added sugars, and dairy from my diet. I was amazed at how little of what I was eating before is left on my diet. :)

So far, so good. I do not have a specific weight goal since I have to lose so much.

[carlson1]

Good job 3dfxMM.

[WildBill]

Good job 3dfxMM.

Although I am wondering about the grains. I thought they were supposed to be good for you.

[Dave2]

Good job 3dfxMM.

Although I am wondering about the grains. I thought they were supposed to be good for you.

Grains are good for you... unless they're not.

Seriously, I wish nutritionist would make up their minds... This constantly changing list of what's healthy and what's not just makes me want pizza and ice cream, because they taste great and are bound to end up on the "healthy" list at some point anyway.

Edit: It's hard to argue with results, though.

But I still want pizza.