Thoughts on weight loss

[A_Lurker]

I need to start this by saying this is not directed at any posters here.  Really, it’s not.  You may see yourself in some of what I say, but that’s likely because we share some of the same experiences and feelings.  I consider myself a successful dieter.  I’m not finished yet, and I’m sure there will be bumps in the road.  I know what I have to do but don’t always have the time, energy, motivation, etc. to see it through.

I was a pudgy baby, an overweight (yet active) child, an obese teen.  By early college I was already over 330 lbs (the point where my scale no longer gave me a weight).  I topped out at 407 pounds where I finally started a downward trend.  It’s not been smooth, and I’ve slipped back up.  However, I have never gone back to that weight.  I am back to around 100 pounds down from my top weight.  This time I’ve been at it a little over 22 weeks.  I’m down 53 pounds and I’m taking a maintenance week where I’m trying to eat all of the calories I burn.  I first heard of the concept on a weight lifting board and in knowing myself this is a good thing for me.  I tend to be an all or nothing kind of person.  Twice while in weight loss mode I’ve dieted and worked myself into major illnesses (pleural effusion and dangerously low hemoglobin levels).  Not necessarily because of weight loss, but because of the investigation done into the low hemoglobin, I had surgery a couple of years ago for another issue found.  One removed kidney and adrenal gland, way too much recovery time taken, and I wouldn’t know the difference.  I’m extremely bad at listening to my body’s cues.  I know that, however, I accept that and will work around it. The illnesses side tracks my progress and I start sliding higher. 

A good read on chronic dieting and resetting metabolism:  http://eatmore2weighless.com/the-metabolism-reset-guide/

I found the link while looking for more information, and I think it’s a good one.  For those that cringe at eating their body’s full amount of calories, well, 5 days into it this week and I’m only 0.4 pounds up from where I was.  The thing is I haven’t done this by buying ice cream, chips, candy, etc.  Or rejoining the fast food nation.  I’ve done it by eating more of what I usually do.  Although to be fair I haven’t actually dropped any of the above from my eating plan.  Just lessened them and work them in.

I recognize that some of the yo yo dieting I did as a teen and young adult probably came from losing weight quickly for a period of time on whatever diet promised things like:

• Fast weight loss (you know, 30 pounds in 30 days)
• No counting (eat as much as you want and still lose weight)

They almost certainly work in the beginning, but they are rarely sustainable.  Some may work for people who don’t have a lot to lose, but I’ve known a lot of people over the years who are continually losing the same 20/30/40 pounds.  All these diets do is set you up to eventually fail.  There’s a reason that the diet and fitness industry make so much money.  If it were simple and it worked they would be out of business.  When you either don’t lose, or gain the weight back, most people see it as a personal failure.  You’re not good enough, you didn’t do what it takes, you lack motivation and commitment, you’re a failure.

Stop that thinking!  Seriously.  It may motivate some people, but most people it doesn’t.  What it seems to do is sabotage people’s efforts.  They start off with great enthusiasm, drop 5-10 pounds the first week and freak out when that doesn’t continue.  Hey, they’ve given up everything they love and they lost a measly 1 pound on week 2?  Not worth it at all.  Week 3 they might even be up a pound.  Three weeks of eating things they normally don’t eat and they’re up!  Too many weeks like this and they’re back to their usual routine.  We all want to lose weight fast, and with little effort.  It doesn’t work that way.  I actually think shows like The Biggest Loser hasn’t helped.  They give you yet another standard that you can’t live up to.  You only lost 2 pounds this month – how could you!  Do that for a year and it’s 24 pounds.  10 years and it’s 240 pounds.  A slow trend down is better than a slow trend up.

Oh, and drop the self loathing comments.  Women are worse about this than men.  Be it 5 lbs, 50 lbs or 500 lbs – you are not worthless, a failure, disgusting, etc.  I used to wear crappy clothing because I was always going to buy nicer things once I lost weight.  Although I’m sure I’m definitely a candidate for What Not to Wear, it’s not unusual for people to comment on something I wear that they particularly like.  I’ve had overweight women stop me in public to ask where I’ve bought something.  Focus on the good things in your life – family, work, friends, pets, etc.  Consider that you’ve decided to do something as a good thing.

Assuming your budget allows, go out and buy something that you really like.  Get your hair cut and styled.  Get a manicure, pedicure, whatever.  Treat yourself well.  Use these things to reward yourself on your weight loss journey.  Remind yourself that no matter where you are on your path that you are a deserving person.  Be respectful of others attempting the same thing.  It’s easy to dismiss others who have more, or less, to lose.  I have to stop myself from thinking bad thoughts when someone mentions how horrible they feel because they gained 10 pounds.  I’d love to be 10 pounds away from my goal weight.  Oh, hang on, I don’t really have a goal weight.  The only goal is that next week, next month, next year, I am lighter than I am today.

So what’s the secret to weight loss?  Is it low fat, low carb high fat, high carb, high protein, 20000 steps a day, intermittent fasting, surgery, what…

Sounds stupid, but it’s basically those words I’ve been hearing for 50 years.  Eat less, move more.  That’s too simplistic an answer, but it’s true.  What works for me may not work for you.  What works for someone here on the boards may be a disaster for you.  I do think some of the basic ideas will work for most people:  eat whole foods, avoid processed/prepared foods, hydrate your body.  Small changes and swaps may be more sustainable in the end.  If your diet plan feels like something you’re just going to do until you lose the weight, dump it.

I’ve written way more than I started out to.  Sadly I have way more to say.  If you’ll indulge me I may add to this thread from time to time.  I certainly don’t know everything about weight loss, but lots of experience to share.  It definitely won’t help all, but perhaps it will help some.

[A_Lurker]

(removing duplicate)

[WendyB]

Great post. Thanks for the link as well. Found it very interesting.

[A_Lurker]

It's an interesting site in general although I hadn't seen it until this morning.  Although I try not to judge I do tend to cringe when I see someone with 100+ pounds to lose talk about eating 1000 calories.  It may give great results for some but I can't see it as a long term strategy.  What's odd is that 100 pounds lighter and I'm losing weight with more calories that I would have ever considered starting with in the past.

[bcalvanese]

I try to keep it simple and I think my method would work for most people.

1. Get to and maintain a good fitness level.

2. Eat a well balanced nuitritious diet.

I lost 57 lbs. in 52 weeks doing this.

The hard part is getting to a good fitness level, and I am still working on that. my fitness level has gone from very poor to fair so far, and this year it should be in the good range. I have doubled up on the 150 minutes per week of cardio that the CDC recommends, and once I get to a good level I just need to maintain it which should be simple.

I think most people dont want to go therough the pain of exercise, and if they do exercise they tend to keep the intensity low because they do not want to go through the huffing, puffing, and sweating for at least 30 minutes non stop.

So what do they do?

They try dieting. This method alone is like trying to fight a forest fire with a garden hose. A lifetime of being hungry all the time and having to weigh and measure every gram of everything we put in our mouth. not only that, but a person can be at a healthy weight and still be extremely unhealthy due to a poor fitness level.

I think people should aim for good health. not just good weight.

But thats just me.

[GershonSurge]

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@bcalvanese wrote:

I think most people dont want to go therough the pain of exercise, and if they do exercise they tend to keep the intensity low because they do not want to go through the huffing, puffing, and sweating for at least 30 minutes non stop.

i agree. I'm a big fan of slow progression without pain.

[A_Lurker]

@bcalvanese - I don't know what weight you are (or where you started).  I agree that fitness is part of that, however, that isn't necessarily the solution for everyone.  Maybe not at the start, maybe not ever depending on physical challenges.  At a point when I'm lighter perhaps my knees can take 30 mins of sustained cardio, but not now.  In 2008/2009 that was different.  Don't take this to mean I don't exercise.  Over the last 28 days I've averaged around 80 active mins each day.  Some of this is just walking faster than I need to for shorter periods of time.  Some of that is lifting weights.  Some of it is dragging stuff back and forth in the garden.  Some of it is swimming, but again that's not sustained for 30 mins.  It's normally 90+ minutes a day but I've been way less active this week, but next week will be different.

Carrying a lot of extra weight creates issues.  Oddly enough, down 50 pounds this year my knees hurt more than they did 22 weeks ago.  Probably because I'm more active.  The last thing I want to do is create any damage that's going to keep me off my feet for any period of time.

For those that can, yes, cardio is good.  So is strength training.  Lifting semi-heavy weights (think reps of no more than 15 at a time) with a warm-up definitely makes me sweat.  A few more pounds down and I'll be lifting heavier.  Even bodyweight workouts - squats, lunges, push-ups are a hell of a workout for me as that bodyweight is 300+ pounds.  So I don't do the recommended 150 minutes of cardio.  For me though, that works.  I doubt I'll ever spend 5 hours a week on a treadmill (or even walking) because it doesn't interest me*.  However, I'll definitely be more fit as I go forward.

* I used to live in a city with walking trails.  It was not unsual that I would get up each day when I was off work and walk 4 km down to the lake, walk along the lake, then turn around and go back.  I got to the point where I could do some sprints to raise my heart rate.  If I'm honest though I never really enjoyed it even though I spent a summer doing it.  It was simply a way to burn calories.  Lifting weights though I love.  I can see me continuing to do that for years to come.

[ShelliB.]

I agree 100% with your post!  Some things work for one person, but not for the other.  Me, I've been working with an amazing trainer for the past 2+ years and I'm stronger than I've ever been.  Much more fit, but still overweight.  I used to lose weight easily up til I hit age 47.  Now it sticks to me like glue.  My trainer went on holiday for two weeks, so I charged up my FitBit and got out the resistance bands and got down to it.  I'm tracking food, staying close as possible to eating what I burn.  I haven't cut out any food because that's the slippery slope.  I just eat less of it, and I track it.  Even though I do a strenuous weight and cardio circuit with my trainer four days a week for an hour each session, I learned that I get nowhere near 10,000 steps on an average day....so a walk is neccessary to meet that goal.  Ok, I can do that.  My daughter is doing Weight Watchers right now and wants me to weigh each week with her, but I've refused.  In the past, I get derailed when I am doing "all the right things" and the weight just stays on my butt.  Now, I'm just doing what feels right - aiming for 10,000 steps and the strength training and tracking nutrition.  I feel pretty **ahem**ed good.  I caught a cold off my grandson and it wasn't the miserable experience it generally is so my health seems to be benefitting too.  🙂 

So you go, Ms. Lurker!  Kick some butt.  🙂