The HTF Weight Loss Support Group (1 Viewer)

[Bill Catherall]

On May 4 I weighed in at 244 and 27% body fat. But that weight was measured in the late morning after I already had a hearty breakfast.
So I reweighed myself on May 9 in the morning after a workout and before eating anything. I weighed in at 240. I now weigh myself at the same time of day...after (or during) a morning workout, before breakfast.
I'm going to go a couple more months before getting my % body fat checked again.
Oh, and I'm 5'10", 29 years old. I wear a size 40 (waist) pants and XXL T-shirts (just in case you're shopping ).
Edit: Tony, I just realized you live in Beaverton. My sister-in-law and her family also live in Beaverton! Cool.

 

[brian a]

Wow. Those stats match me almost exactly. I'm ~5'9", 240-245lbs, and a 40" waist. I just joined the gym today on the corporate membership, so I'm starting down that path with you guys. I'm actually planning on taking a few 'before' pictures tonight so I can compare down the road.
Wish me luck!!
PS- You might want to try the XLT sized T-shirts at Target. They are fantastic. I hope I don't need them much longer, but I'm glad they are there.

 

[Dalton]

Well guys i am glad i stumbled into this thread. About 2 yrs ago I finally woke up and decided to do something about my out of control weight. After high school i was 6' and 185lbs. I did pretty good keeping my weight under control for a few years. Then i met my wife and and after we got married and she got pregnant, I got fat with her and i never took the weight off(she did). I eventually got up to 297lbs. Finally i decided to do something about it. I did alot of research and changed my eating habits(not easy BTW) to a good balanced diet. One of the main keys to losing weight is you just can't eat as much as you want, calories DO count. I started walking daily and doing some calisthenics. Things paid off and now i am down to 205lbs with only about 20 to go! God it feels good to be able to wear clothes i haven't worn in years! My main point is if you really want it and keep at it, you WILL succeed. Good luck to all, keep at and you will get there!

 

[Bill Catherall]

Alright! A new recruit!
Thanks for the encouraging words Dalton. And congratulations to you!
So what's up with gaining weight after getting married? I was pretty slim and well built before I got married too. Through high school I could eat anything and everything and never get fat. I got married just before I turned 22 and boom...fat. It happens to all the boys in my family. We call it the "Catheroll."
So right now my oldest brother is on a Weight Watchers plan and is having quite a bit of success. He just celebrated his 10% milestone. And my other brother...well, I don't know if he is trying to lose any or if he's just putting up with it and feeling down about it.
My dad on the other hand has been on so many diets I've lost count. He has a great deal of success then either gives up or gets sick of it and puts it all back on. :frowning:

 

[Samuel Des]

Yay!! More support!!
Tony - I don't mind at all. I started ~ 2 years ago at ~215 #s. I am exactly 5'10" (doc measured). In November, I got down to ~185#s. Since February, 2002, I have ranged between 174#s to #183#s. The 170s came for about two weeks in April... then climbed back to the 180s. :frowning:
I'm shooting for ~165#. That is about 10#s more than "my playing weight," (when I played basketball every freaking day) and seems to be a reasonable expectation. I honestly haven't a clue about my waist size. I still wear the same things. A relative mentioned that they looked baggy, but I don't really see that. :puzzled:

It happens to all the boys in my family. We call it the "Catheroll."

Bill -- That was awesome, and cheered me up!
Brian A and Dalton -- Welcome!!! Be sure to post your menus!
So far, I am at:
Breakfast Slim Fast
Lunch Chicken Gyro with Cucumber sauce.
I plan to have a Slim Fast before hitting the gym tonight. will post more later tonight or tomorrow morning.

 

[Shawn C]

I didn't really intend for Saturday to be my "cheat" day. I went to go see Star Wars

...Me too. I cheated and had some popcorn during Star Wars on Saturday.

 

[BrianB]

Actually, Shawn, that's a point I've been meaning to ask about - how "bad" is popcorn? We buy "light butter" popcorn at home, and 'regular' popcorn at the movies - we don't add any of that syruppy butter stuff to it.

How bad is that for us?

 

[Shawn C]

I really don't know how bad it is. I think the worst thing about movie theater popcorn is the oil & salt that it is all popped in. For me, health-wise, the salt is the worst thing. I also don't know what the 'butter flavored topping' is either. I *think* the topping might be ok since it's not really butter in the first place.

At home, I air-pop my popcorn and use "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray". I spray it onto the popcorn as it is coming out of the popper and it's really not that bad.

 

[Shawn C]

Well, went to the Dr. today and got the clearance to exercise.

My pressure was good.

I went from 165/102 two 1/2 weeks ago to 132/74 today. The wonders of modern medicine! Who would have thought that a calcium channel blocker would lower your pressure that much.(Tiazac) I walked out of there with a 6 month prescription.

The only problem is that the scale at the Dr. office said that I had GAINED 4 pounds. I told the nurse that was impossible and she agreed. Their scale is all screwed up she said.

Had my first workout today. Did some weightlifting/ab crunches followed by a working on one of those elliptical runner doo-dads that moves your arms as well. It felt pretty good.

The scale at the gym had me at 329 pretty much naked with wet Teva sandals on my feet.

 

[Brad_V]

Check out the calories and carbohydrates on that bag of popcorn. Without butter the stats don't look too bad, but that's per popped-cup or whatever, so the problem is thinking it's a great snack and making a huge bowl of it to watch during a movie. It's not hard to eat 800 calories of popcorn while watching Behind Enemy Lines, so have to be careful.

 

[BrianB]

That makes sense, Brad.

 

[Tony_Faville]

Shawn ... It sounds like you and I are basically in the same boat..weight wise. I'm at 330# but about 4 inches shorter than you.
I guess I am lucky in this respect....I use our shipping scale here at work, it's for pallets, goes up to 5,000 pounds and is accurate to the gram and it's calibrated twice a week.
Also, on a side note...I was a FMF Corpsman assigned to MCB Camp Pendleton, so I know how hard you grunts can be on a body.
Semper fi,
Doc

 

[Shawn C]

Also, on a side note...I was a FMF Corpsman assigned to MCB Camp Pendleton, so I know how hard you grunts can be on a body.

Tell me about it. I destroyed my knees and got a hernia while in the Marine Corps, and that was all during boot camp!

 

[Tony_Faville]

I destroyed my knees and got a hernia while in the Marine Corps

Torn MCL in the left knee, truncated meniscus in the right knee and a compression fracture of cervical vertebrae #5&6.

Craziest damn thing is...I'd do it all over again if I could.

 

[Bill Catherall]

Yesterday's meals:
Breakfast: 1 shake
Snack: 1 banana, 1 apple
Lunch: 1 trout, 1 orange, sliced cucumber (about 10 thick slices, with peel)
Snack: 1 Balance bar
Dinner: 1 pork chop (about 1 inch thick), 1 cup cauliflower, 1 medium salad with fat free Italian.
Snack: It was a fruit dessert (blue berries and bananas) with a topping made from low fat cream cheese, lite whipped topping, and lite sour cream. It was pretty good, but I don't know how many calories it was.
So the totals for the day, not counting the dessert:
Calories: 1390 kcal
Calories from Fat: 318 kcal
Carbohydrate: 146 g
Fat (total lipid): 34.5 g
Fiber, total dietary: 18.3 g
Protein: 127 g

 

[Samuel Des]

May 20.
Breakfast Slim Fast
Lunch Chicken Gyro with Cucumber sauce
Dinner 1.5 bowls of salad with low fat wine vinagrette. 2 cobs of corn. 3 oz. cottage cheese with beets.
snack 4 oz. gummy bears. 2 beef jerkies. 3 oz. Healthy Choice mint choclate chip.
weihgt180#s End of Day (EOD)
Not bad, except the gyro with sauce.
May 21, so far....
BreakfastCinammon bagel with cinnamin cream cheese. (Bagel party at work.)
lunchsmall bowl of turkey chili.
afternoonPlan to eat a small portion of pasta.
Re - Popocorn
I love popocorn, and always get the 94 percent ones. I have noticed that on days when I do eat it, my weight will go up, no question. I've stayed off it, and my weight has stabalized, relatively speaking. I'd say avoid it, saving it for indulgent days.

 

[Mike Broadman]

Congrats and good luck to everyone getting in shape.
I'd like to share my favorite success story: that of my current girlfriend.
Before she took control of her body (and way before I ever knew her), she suffered from many addictions and her weight fluctuated from skinny to fat and everything in between. She has described the feeling of not being able to just eat one cookie, with the compulsive need and longing for more and overeating. This is similar to alcoholism and other narcotics, which she also had to deal with.
After conquering narcotics and alcohol, she was overweight, a common problem with recovering addicts. She came to believe that she had an addiction to food and used it as a comfort. Her solution was to consult a nutritionist, who helped her outline exactly which foods she can eat and how much. Her diet is all-inclusive and is perfectly balanced: carbs, proteins, etc. What this means is that she isn't "dieting," the fatal mistake of many people. She simply developed a sensible, healthy eating lifestyle that lasts the rest of her life and is very fulfulling.
She's a gal who loves to eat (and why not?), but this way she is both healthy and happy.
One thing she did that seems a little odd to many is that she completely gave up sugar. She treats it like an alcoholic treats alcohol: an addict never even touches the addictive substance. While it may seem odd, sugar has absolutely no nutritional value, so if you're going to give up something, that should be it (unlike meat, for example, which has plenty of nutritional value).
I have also lost weight, but for some reason just stopped and reverted to poor lifestyle habbits. I'm still overweight (albeit better than before), but I have a ways to go. My own approach has many differences:
- I can't count calories or plan meals in detail and such. I'm more of a "wing it" kind of guy. When I'm conscious of what I'm doing, though, it works. For example, I can pick up some dinner at a deli and think, "Well, I ate cereal for breakfast, which is carbs, and a tuna sandwhich for lunch, so that covers protein, so I'll have a salad for dinner."
- My exercise routine isn't very routine. I don't know what I'm doing until I get home from work. If my roommate is around, we play racuetball. If I'm around in time, I attend a spin class. If not, I lift. To me, keeping it interesting and fun, making me do it regularly, is more important than strictly planning out boring work-outs, because otherwise I hate exercising.
- Both of us, though, do not use supplements, shakes, protein bars, pills, etc. Her diet is robust enough to get all the nutrients she needs, and I just don't feel good when I take that stuff. I really believe you don't need them, though a multi-vitamin is a reasonable thing to take.
I posted this because I think there are a few things to learn from her:
1. If you are overweight, a balanced normal diet will help lose weight. She has been eating like this for almost two years and is still losing weight.
Her progress was very slow, but that's good. She will not gain weight, because her body has time to get acclimated to its new weight. It's better if your body behaves like continental drifting rather than earthquakes.
2. Stop eating sugar. One thing that always astounded me was people who "reward" their weight loss by eating a big piece of cake.
3. All of these radical approaches: chemicals, vegetarianism (for the sake of health), Atkins, no-carb, liquid, etc, are not some secret for weight loss. It's all about discipline and determination and moderation. The Middle Way, as the Buddhists would call it.
Re: vegetarianism- I eat very little meat, but not because I believe it's the way to good health, but because I just personally feel better when I eat more vegetables. A salad for both lunch and dinner is not uncommon. There is every reason to incorporate personal preference with healthy eating habbits.

 

[Samuel Des]

Mike - Very well written. Congrats to your GF.

 

[Bill Catherall]

Thanks for that Mike!
I completely agree with you about the importance of learning healthy eating and changing our habits for a lifetime of healthy eating.
However, I do feel there's nothing wrong with some of the "extreme" diet plans as long as healthy eating habits are learned and adhered to when the diet is over. And by "over" I mean that you have either reached a target weight/% body fat, or you have reached the end of a pre-set time period of following the extreme diet (most recommend only using them for about 2 months).
One of the problems I do see with the extreme plans is that because you are starving your body of certain foods you might need you have the tendency to have the pendulum swing the other way once you are off, and you begin to binge. I've seen my dad go through this too many times. He's tried the diets where it was nothing but 5 shakes a day with a small meal at night. He's tried the Atkins diet. And all through these diets he's lost a considerable amount of weight but put it all right back on because he'd dig into all the snacks and junk food again. He never learned to eat sensibly and replace that junk with healthy food that will give him the same "pleasure."
On the other hand, these extreme plans can help you to reach your goals much quicker, and that's important when health is a big concern. They can also bring a great feeling of accomplishment and boost your self esteem and confidence much quicker...helping you to stay motivated and more willing to follow through with changing your eating habits.
As for me...I'm actually enjoying my new eating habits. I only use the shake for breakfast on weekdays because it's much more convenient than trying to prepare a full meal in the morning on top of lunch and two snacks to take to work. I can also drink it in the car during my commute. It cuts a lot of time in the mornings and gives me everything I need. Then the bar is used later in the day (I found having one after lunch works better then after breakfast) to keep me going until dinner. Again, simple convenience...I don't have to take as much food to work.

 

[Mike Broadman]

Bill, the problem with crash diets goes beyond just post-diet binging. If someone losses weight quickly like that and then eats normally, they will gain weight. Changing one's weight back and forth can be even more dangerous than remaining overweight.

With everything, there are exceptions, but in general, it's preferrable to lose it slowly- the slower, the better.

I've also seen a couple of people in this thread talk about avoiding complex carbs. Please understand the distinction: complex carbs are grains and fiber, which are necessary for a healthy diet. Legumes, grains, potatoes, corn, etc. Simple carbs is what your body turns into sugar. Flour, white bread, and of course, sugar. The first is good, the latter is bad.