Weight Loss

[Tank]

Well said, Joe

At 5'9" I had carried 260 pounds so long that it was normal, though I knew it was overweight... Wrong.

It was obese, I've dropped 45 pounds under a doctors care and I'm still obese for another 15 to 18 pounds, than I will be overweight.

Being overweight never looked so good.

Changing a diet is hard, relearning taste is hard, going out to eat with BMW ST is hard , That crew likes to eat and often, usuily before or during or after a ride. Doing what the doctor asks- suggests- has come easier

I try not to tell what works for me cus it might not be GOOD for you, see a doctor.

[KDeline]

That's crazy.

 

For people that are severely overweight (not a BMI of 30, but real candidates for surgery), it is not as easy as simply changing behavior - like flicking a mental switch. It doesn't work that way and its short-sighted to expect that of morbidly obese people.

 

 

 

So to just say buck and up and change - lose some weight - is unrealistic. I'm not not saying that it never happens, but its rare. And this is not the case for mild to moderate obesity, but then again these are not the people that are surgical candidates anyways.

 

 

Balony. Ninety nine percent of babies born are not obese, it's a choice that is made to eat and eat. Perhaps the parents let them start, then they continued to eat that way into adulthood, maybe they got that way later in life. If you notice your pants are getting tighter it is your choice to buy larger or eat less. In this day and age of knowledge, it's no longer an excuse that you did not know about super sizing that buger and fries.

[drzep]

Oh that's great. So if I am understanding this correctly, you are suggesting that obesity is secondary to a weak ego - to weak personal fortitude. As if someone that is 5'10" and 380 does not 'want' to change. Interesting.

 

Making a choice to start something is just a little different from making a choice to stop it. Do you know many drug addicts?

[Gary in Aus]

Quote"In this day and age of knowledge, it's no longer an excuse that you did not know about super sizing that buger and fries."

 

Having the knowledge about these issues does not automatically provide the solution .

 

Please don't read this as a hijack of the original thread but an example of knowledge just not being enough

 

My issue in the past has not been with weight but with cigarette smoking .

 

When I was 13 years of age ,we had some unusual summer rain and of course there is a mad rush to plough this moisture into the ground to keep it in the soil, if not it just evaporates away too quickly. So as soon as it rains we start ploughing .I was operating one of our tractors late at night and while waiting for our fuel truck for a refill ,I found a packet of my grandfathers Craven A cigarettes in the cabin. This was my first "smoke" and I continued for the next 25 years , my grandfather died of emphasema {spelling} and numerous other family members and friends also died of smoking related illness.

 

I consider it a smelly , dirty habit that will eventually kill most who take it up { there is nothing worse than a reformed anything especially a smoker} and there are always the exceptions , I had a great grandmother who died at 103 and she smoked a pack a day for about 60 years. I would suggest the exception rather than the rule.

 

I tried nicotine patches , hypnosis , acupuncture , medication , cold turkey , cutting back , a pipe , cigars , habit breaking techniques etc etc etc , you name it I tried it and for years couldn't give it up.

 

At 38 I separated my chest muscles from my rib cage while rowing in a surf boat race and and the torn area filled with blood across the front of my chest. I was taken to hospital and because of the readings in my blood they were concerned and put me in intensive care for the night .{it really hurt}

 

It was a four bed intensive care unit and during the night all I could hear was the breathing of the other three patients , during the night two of them died and I was awake to watch the whole process. They had died from complications caused by cigarette smoking .

 

The next morning when my daughters came to visit was my moment of truth and I gave up that day , That was 14 years ago and even though I have become the biggest whinger regarding cigarette smoking , every now and then the urge to smoke becomes so strong that you would nearly push some one over to take their cigarette and puff on it.

 

I consider myself {and some others do to ,I hope} to be reasonably well educated and a reasonably motivated individual and logically I knew that I should have stopped smoking , I could also provide every reason why I was entitled to smoke , my rights etc and I am confident I was aware of the damage it was doing to me physically ,emotionally and financially yet again the reality is quitting just doesn't work that way.

 

I am confident this applies to a issues ranging from legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine to illegal drugs such as cocaine and whatever and that it also applies to obesity.

 

I have a good friend who I used to play rugby with and we used to row together who is suffering weight related illness such as diabetes , arthritis complications and really needs to lose about 30 to 40 kg .

 

So far he has not been able to find the key that works for him and he better find it soon because his weight is killing him and ruining his way of life.

 

Like most things in life , if only it was that simple .

[drzep]

Thanks for sharing your story Gary - I think many here, including myself, truely appreciate being offered a glimpse into the struggle you have had. We all learn from those accounts.

 

The last phrase of your post is most poignant to this thread - "...if only it were that simple". I could not agree more.

[bakerzdosen]

It's always that simple...

 

 

until it's YOU going through it.

 

(And +1 from me Gary. Thanks for sharing that.)

[KDeline]

 

The next morning when my daughters came to visit was my moment of truth and I gave up that day , That was 14 years ago and even though I have become the biggest whinger regarding cigarette smoking , every now and then the urge to smoke becomes so strong that you would nearly push some one over to take their cigarette and puff on it.

 

 

 

This is my point. You choose to stop and did it. I have never said it was easy.

[KDeline]

Oh that's great. So if I am understanding this correctly, you are suggesting that obesity is secondary to a weak ego - to weak personal fortitude. As if someone that is 5'10" and 380 does not 'want' to change. Interesting.

 

 

In 98 pecent of the time, that is exacly what I am saying.

[Dave McReynolds]

Oh that's great. So if I am understanding this correctly, you are suggesting that obesity is secondary to a weak ego - to weak personal fortitude. As if someone that is 5'10" and 380 does not 'want' to change. Interesting.

 

 

In 98 pecent of the time, that is exacly what I am saying.

 

I think you are both right, and don't necessarily need to be at odds over it. Anyone who has "motivation" can stop smoking, kick drugs, or lose weight. None of us are idiots (well, most of us aren't idiots....) and the answer to any of these addictions couldn't be simpler: Stop doing it!

 

It's finding that illusive motivation that is the key. For Gary, it took a night in the hospital with people dying around him to quit smoking. I was a smoker when I moved to Sacramento in 1970. I found that if I was going to live in Sacramento, I had to choose between smoking and breathing. Since there was so much stuff floating around in the air that I was allergic to, I couldn't do both. It was one of the best things that ever happened to me, because it ratcheted up my abstract desire to stop smoking to the level of a determined motivation, and I haven't smoked in 38 years.

 

Right now, I'm faced with a similar situation. I have always loved rock climbing and running, and those two activities together with the higher metabolism I had when I was younger enabled me to eat as much as I wanted, and still keep my weight at 170 or below. Now, my knees preclude any more running, rock climbing isn't too good for 64 year-old fingers, and my metabolism is naturally slowing with age. So my weight climbed over a few years to 190. As I said in an earlier post, I found a diet plan that worked for me, and got me back down to where I should be. Since going off the diet, I've been up and down with varying degrees of success, but I seem to have it under some control.

 

I could, and intend, to bicycle to work at least three times a week to keep my exercise up. Have I done that? Frankly, no, because what I have is an abstract desire to keep my exercise up, and not a determined motivation like I had when I was running and climbing. Would I like to have a determined motivation to do that? Sure! How do you get that?

[RT Russ]

A reasonable diet and exercise - both Aerobic and Anaerobic...

 

Further explanation:

 

Aerobic exercise like walking, swimming and such burns calories, and therefore it burns fat.

 

Anaerobic exercise like lifting weights and resistance training burns carbs and boosts your metabolism.

 

Of the 2, the former is more important, but don’t overlook the latter. An older person that’s fat and out of shape (like me) can have a very slow metabolism.

 

 

Mark's comment above...

 

Eating like this will quickly slow your metabolism

 

...is also right on. Our bodies have a built-in mechanism that senses starvation and slows down metabolism. That’s why starvation diets don’t work. (Oh, eventually it works after it’s wrecked your health and kills you)

 

Mark and Tim, thanks for the tip on green tea.

 

Wow, now this is a thread I can relate to! I have struggled with weight all of my life. I was a 10 lb baby and have always been big. More than 10 years ago I tried a low fat (very low fat) low calorie diet couple with lots and lots of brisk walking. I lost 96 pounds. I could not sustain that life and over many years put all of that and more back on. I tried the Atkins plan and lost some weight for a while and then regained that and more. Almost 3 years ago I joined 24 Hour Fitness and worked out enthusiastically for about a year without really losing any weight. Then we started a Weight Watchers group at work. The Weight Watchers plan in conjunction with the exercise has worked well.

When I did the low cal, low fat diet it was just that....a diet. Not a change in eating habits that I could live with forever. The best thing about Weight Watchers for me is that they have taught me how to eat well. I have been at it for more than 2 years and so not see myself stopping the program, this is something I need to do the rest of my life. I am not deprived of anything though alcohol is my downfall as far as weight loss goes....after a few beers, I'll eat anything that comes close.

One of the things that 24 Hour Fitness taught me was that at rest a pound of fat consumes 4 calories per hour while a pound of muscle consumes 9 calories per hour. That alone explained why extremely lean friends could eat pizza everyday and not gain weight, thier bodies literally burned off everything they ate. I hated them. This also explains why we start to gain weight as we age, we lose muscle mass.

So the bottom line as many have stated here....eat less, move more, lift some weights.

I have a long way to go....I started at 370 pounds. I have lost more than 100. In fact my 02 1150RT was my reward to myself for the 100 pound loss. I don't know what the reward will be when I reach 150 pounds lost but I will reach that goal too. Yes, the loss is it's own reward but we all need celebrations.

I don't mean to sound like a commercial for either 24 Hour Fitness or Weight Watchers but the 2 in conjunction are working well for me!