having lost 60+ lbs recently, thoughts on weightloss (longish)

[cindy-e]

I have lost 60+ lbs in the last year... I thought I might offer suggestions to folks who are struggling with weight like me. I love that we can encourage each other... These are just the conclusions I came to for myself. YMMV. Hope this helps someone. :-)

Food Stuff:
You do have to cut calories - even if you eat well. I eat very little fat, lots of veggies, nothing processed. I always have. I was still overweight - a LOT overweight.

I did not cut food amounts to cut calories - research shows that in the long term, that doesn't work. (See volumetrics by Barbara Rolls Ph.D.) If you are hungry all the time, your diet could be perfect, but you won't stick with it. What I did was up-end which kinds of foods I ate a lot of and which kinds of foods I ate less of. I have a large family, and was eating too many higher calorie carbs because it was cheaper to feed my family that way. (Even whole grain pasta is cheaper than quality proteins and veggies in the amounts that we now eat.) In the end, I was sabotaging myself and I had to change it.

Don't guess how many calories you are eating. Measure everything and actually count them! It's a pain, I know, but it's a really eye-opening thing to do! You will learn so much from the process that, believe it or not, it's empowering!

Exercise Stuff:
You do have to exercise to lose weight. I know people will say that you don't have to, but you run the risk that you are losing valuable muscle and even bone on those types of diets because they are too restrictive! The goal is not to be skinny, it's to be healthy! The further I get into this, the more I am able to do as the pounds fall away, the more I am convinced that you must move to be healthy. I didn't even know what healthy felt like so I thought I was fine because I ate well. But last month, when I ran a half marathon for the first time, I knew what I had been missing all of those years! It is incredible. It is empowering! We are capable of so much more! Skinny is not healthy. Don't work to be skinny, work to be healthy and actually change the quality of your life.

The more intense the exercise, the better the results. If you do light exercise, you will burn light calories, and see light results. If you do strong exercise, you will burn lots of calories and see strong results. I'm not talking about duration, I'm talking about just what exercises you choose. For example, if I walk for an hour, I burn about 6 calories per min. 360 calories. If I run for an hour, I burn about 14 cals per min... 840 calories per min.(ETA: Duh! I mean 840 in an hour, not a min. Wouldn't that be nice? L!) Same time in, far different result!

Having said that - start where you are! When I first started exercising, I was over 100 lbs overweight. I could not run for 2 min. without having to stop. I won't bore you with the whole story again, but I had a decision to make. That was either a reality for the rest of my life, or a moment I was in, and that was up to me! So I ran my 2 min, walked the rest of my 30 min. exercise time. The next day, I ran 3 min. and walked the rest of my 30 min., until I could run the whole 30 min. Until I ran 30 min. Until I ran several 5ks. Until I ran a half marathon. It's OK to start where you are. It's OK to not like where you are. You do NOT have to accept it!

OTHER STUFF:
You're probably going to bump up against some emotions that surprise you in your journey. Be as nice to yourself as possible when that happens. Deal with them though...

You are capable of so much more than you think! Being Obese has so many "I can'ts" in it... You can make those into "I cans" if you don't give up. That doesn't have to be a forever thing.

You are reinventing yourself. This part surprised me. For weight loss to be a lifestyle change you have to reinvent yourself. How you deal with emotions, how you do celebrations, how you entertain, how you spend your time... it all will change. It is *really important* to be talking to the people around you so that they are on board with the change too because it will impact them. Healthy people don't "sit and eat" when they want to recreate, the "go and do". That change will impact your entire family, especially if there are kids still at home.

you are changing your family tree. If you have kids in the home, this is about the next generation, and how they handle stress, entertain themselves, celebrate, take care of their bodies, whether they do or do not see themselves as powerful. It's about your kids and your grandkids. It is vital. You know what obesity is like, and that genetically, the cards are stacked against them. The changes you are making have to impact your whole house so that they don't have to go through this too.

Well, I hope that this helps... just rambling about my journey, which I am still in with you. :-)

Cindyc.
PS ETA: Just so you know, I am in my 40s and I wasn't even allowed to take PE in highschool because of health issues. I know I would have dismissed this whole post, assuming it was by somebody younger and more naturally inclined to exercise a year ago when I read about the running. It would have just seemed so "pie in the sky"... I really thought I couldn't do it! I was wrong. I am average, middle age, never having been active before, and I just ran my first half marathon! Believe me, if I can do it, anybody can!

[VegRN]

Thanks for your post! You are an inspiration. I lost 30 between January and about April-May, and I have been stalled out since then. Gain a little, loose a little...we all know that cycle. I really want to get back on track so I can get down at least 60 lbs for the year 2010. The year is slipping by and I don't want to be stuck on another January 1 wishing I had done more in the past year. Your post might be just what I need to get un-stuck and get going again!

[Hooligan]

Very nice.

Great job in breaking the cycle.

You are an inspiration.

[gina kay]

Thanks for the inspiration! I'm needing to lose about 40 lbs. and you have given me the incentive to get moving.

[Quiver0f10]

Fantastic job! Thank you for the inspiration an encouragement!

[Jan Doling]

I couldn't believe the difference losing the first 10 pounds made! I can't look at the big picture....it's too big...but I can do what I call "decades"....10 pounds at a time.

Don't forget to reward yourself at each mini-goal along the way (no food rewards, though). I'm getting my hair cut for having achieved the first
"decade."

What inspired me was an unacceptable "decade" looming on the scale!

[foxtrapper]

My short answer:
Eat less, move more.

My longer answer:
Eat less
I lost over 40 lbs with weight watchers and the gym. Weight watchers points system always seemed far more reasonable than any of the others, and especially the weird or fad diets. And, it lets me go out to dinner if I want, even to McDonalds if I wanted. Just track the points you've eaten. Not that I've darkened the door of a McDonalds in many a month now.

Much of it was learning the points of things (which frequently weren't what I thought they were, in a very bad way), dropping soda completely, eating many more vegetables, eating much less meats and fatty foods. Spending some money and finding those tasty low fat yogurts, switching to fiber one breakfast cereal, making home made zero point vegetable soups, keeping a tray of fresh vegies to snack on, switching to low cal salad dressing, eating pickles instead of Doritos, etc. All in all, a far easier transition than I'd expected.


Move more
As for the gym, getting a heart rate monitor and learning about building an aerobic conditioned base was the greatest thing I ever did for my physical health. Talking to marathon runners and reading iron man training blogs and such gave a very different story to how to get in shape than I'd been taught in school and such. Got the heart rate monitor and started training with it. WOW! Here some months later and not only can I go harder and longer than ever, but I'm going harder and longer than I'd ever even dreamed of. Today, I have to work *hard* and long to get my heart rate up high. Nice.

Weight training was also part of it, still is. I started the weight training simply to bulk up and get a set of six-pack abs. The surprise for me was how much pain it cured. I was diagnosed with bursitis as a young child, and I've always had weak painful shoulders. Not today. The sore and stiff back I've had for about as long as I can remember is limber and pain free today. All this has helped me tremendously in being able to do the physical conditioning stuff. When you don't hurt, you can work your body quite a bit harder, and enjoy it more.

[sweet_p]

Thank you Cindy-e
Now this is what I am talking about.
This post really adds something that can help
others.

[All country]

Excellent post.

I'm 47. Recently, I was on a 3 1/2 mile walk (all steep hills) with a friend, when she commented "we're too old for this" I replied "speak for yourself, I'm just getting started."

I like your attitude, no excuses. Too many today have the "I can't, because" attitude

[Mid Tn Mama]

I haven't had time to read this entire post (I will later) but I do want to know how much I have enjoyed and been inspired by your posts on this issue.

[cindy-e]

Thanks for the encouragement. I love hearing everybody else's stories too! I learn something every time.

I forgot to say that a while back I did try exercising without changing my food because I believed I ate really well, and that didn't work either. It had to be both. :-)

FWIW,

Cindyc.

[JanS]

Congratulations Cindy! I remember you posting way back when you were only running a little and look at you now!

[wogglebug]

Actually, I'm proof that you can lose weight on diet alone. I CANNOT exercise - physical problems. I used to be big and strong, then just big, then even bigger. I tried for a long time manipulating diet, and reached your conclusion - that it had to be both diet and exercise, only half of which I could do. However, I simply, by accident, fell into a diet that worked to let me lose weight. There were a lot of fruit trees around that came into bearing, but small fruit. Being of Scot's descent, I used them as much as I could. I'd take forever to peel and eat one apple, orange or mandarin (no cost - big plus), and by the time I'd finished, my appetite was satisfied.

Now, I'm NOT saying this was ideal. It wasn't!! No way! I lost weight, yes, but I lost a lot of muscle mass with it. Left me with pipe-cleaner arms and legs. However, if I couldn't do it otherwise, this worked. Second best at best, but it took off over 100 pounds! More still to come, but it's a great start.

So - what helped me may be part of an answer to help others. If you can find quantities of small fruit - bigger than golf balls but not by much - way smaller than tennis balls - so small that most people would ignore them as being too small to be edible - and use them as snacks that fill you up and quell your appetite, they may help in reducing your calorie intake. It may even help to take off weight. However, things will be way better if you can also find a way to exercise at the same time.

[Lizza]

Wonderful post Cindy! You are very inspiring.

[wyld thang]

great post cindy! for sure there is nothing like the feeling you get when you start feeling like a monster, eh? whoa-oh GODZILLA!!!!!! and you see what you can do, and start to dream of new things...

[ELOCN]

What an inspiration you are! Congratulations on getting healthier!

[plowjockey]

Originally Posted by cindy-e

Don't guess how many calories you are eating. Measure everything and actually count them! It's a pain, I know, but it's a really eye-opening thing to do! You will learn so much from the process that, believe it or not, it's empowering!

Good for you! What a great inspiration!

Not tracking calories, logging what one eats and tracking activity, is one the main reasons diets fail.

People may think they are eating healthy and getting enough excercise, but until they log what they are doing, sit down and actually do the math, they are only speculating, which usually errs towards the soft side.

Calorieking is a great soruce, the web site is free, the book is around $10.

http://calorieking.com

[Country Lady]

Cindy, thanks for your post. I've lost 20 lbs. recently and seem to have lost my focus. I haven't gained, but I haven't continued to loose any more. Your post made me realize I need to continue on my journey.

[Sanza]

Congratulations on your success! You're an inspiration for us that want to lose a few pounds - who doesn't tho

[Lada]

Congratulations! You are proof that it can be done! Like someone else said...eat less, and move more. It's simple, but terribly difficult for some people to do.