Weight loss and exercise?

[Steakmaker]

Here`s some thought. I have always drank more than I should and last summer it escalated to being a problem. There were two nights in one week I came in the house after chores drunk. On Sept 24th I decided to quit before I had to go through treatment. At that time I was pushing 215 pounds. I am 6 feet tall and that weight was on the high end of overweight on the body mass index scale. I was already doing a fair amount of bike riding but it wasn't lowering my weight. There was a motivational speaker named Zig Ziglar that I had listened to speak on goals and here's a synopsis of what he said.

1) A goal has to be big enough to make a difference. 

2) It has to be specific.

3) It has to be your goal.

4) It has to have a time limit.

5) You have to break it down into small enough peices so it isn't overwhelming.

So here was my plan. I was going to weigh 185 (-30 pounds) by Christmas. That meant 2 pounds per week. I took a notebook and wrote down the date and what I weighed. Then on the next lines I wrote the date of every Monday from then till Christmas. I made a column next to those dates to write what my weight needed to be to lose 2 pounds per week and next to that I left a blank to write my actual weight. . This goal met all of Ziglars criteria.

Sooo I had quit alcohol, kept riding bike 30 to 40 miles per week (until we had too much snow to ride (several days were below 20 degrees which is too damned cold to be on a bicycle)), my wife and I joined a fitness center in December, and the biggest modification to my diet was no calories after 6pm (only water). If we hadn't eaten supper by 6pm I didn't eat supper. Every Monday morning I weighed myself and every Monday morning I was below the weight I needed to be to get to 185 by Christmas. On Christmas Day, to the pound and to the day I weighed 185! My weight has floated between 184 and 190 since then. That's still an overweight body mass index but I contend that muscle is more dense than fat :-).

I still ride bike/fitness center at least 3 times a week. I've had a total of 6 glasses of beer and a half a margarita (mostly on a cruise my wife and I took 1200 miles away from home) since the end of Jan. and probably eat more fruit than I used to. So far only 3 people have noticed (or said anything about) my weight loss. My wife, my chiropractor and a friend of ours. Not one of them, including my wife, have said I look better! Another oddity, my wife is the only one who has commented on my not drinking anymore, and I don't think she's really happy about it (guess I might not be as much fun since I quit drinking).

Aaaaanyway, short story made looong, I think weight loss or any other goals need to follow Zig`s rules to be most effective. The "no calories after 6pm" might be a biggie for weight loss also.

[turkey feather]

That is a great story and success for you. I don't think a lot of women are comfortable complimenting men on weight loss for some reason. I am sure they noticed! I have heard Zigler speak and he is/was a great motivator.

I agree on not eating after 6pm. I do not do that either.

[linda/IL]

Steakmaker, that is great-good for you.  Our supper hour is usually 6 p.m. and sometimes when I'm involved in something (or DH is) it might slip to 6:30.  Not good to eat too late I know.  But another thing I heard is to be active for 15 min. after eating.  I do think that's important although I don't always adhere to it, especially with the weather we've had. 

We always ate before we milked/chored and now we do our light chores outside and then watch TV.  We have all gained weight from that lifestyle so I'm going back to trying to get us all to eat then do our chores. 

I saw a segment on TV featuring a man who had a heart attack and turned around and lost weight & exercised but still had a BMI the was higher than the recommendation.  His doctor said he was fine where he was (he looked very healthy) and that particularly at his age the doctor liked to see some muscle/weight to sustain them if a serious illness hit.  Hey, works for me! 😉

[Kay/NC]

You have really found an approach that works for you. Glad you lost the excess weight, but especially cut back on alcohol. A couple of beers or glasses of wine a day is okay, but drinking to drunkenness is bad for anyone.

I really like the appeoach you outlie. The late eating thing is my downfall...but, for some reason, only here at our main home and farm. We stock pretty much the same groceries here and at our getaway. I do not sbpnack there like I do here, though.

I cannot say precisely why that is, but I need to figure it out eventually, I think, to resolve my overeating decisively. This place is a pressure cooker, honestly. I never feel peaceful here, and doubt I ever will.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Good food for thought!

[Kay/NC]

Your post stmulated me to start conversing yesterday with my physical trainer about nutrition. She is well-educated, with a degree in exercise science from a good university.

She listened to my questions, asked me if I had heard of a couple of concepts, one of which was new to me. I intend to do some research on the subject, and I amalready instituting a couple of her small suggestions.

One thing I asked her to help me beat was late night snacking. My caloric intake up to and including suppertime is not the problem. It is that the nights we are at home, instead of at our getaway, I am hungry as a horde of locusts. We have the same stuff stocked both places, so it isn't a matter of opportunity.

She said to try a spoonful of peanut butter later in the evening, savoring it for several minutes. The carb count is reasonably low, and the texture and fat content are very satisfying. That was all I had last night, and it did stema lot of the perceived hunger pangs...again, I know it is more about stress than true hunger.

I am reacquainting myself with the sensation of hunger, tellng myself it will pass in a few minutes. I drink some water or herbal iced tea ( something else she also suggested, and was glad to hear I already do).

Once I let myself get hungry and stay that way for a while, I can start to differentiate that feeling from the stress, which I also feel in my stomach. I am also looking at what would make a realistic set of goals for my situation, slong those guidelines you related to us.

At least I am toning and getting stronger...my pants are loose this morning. Trying to get this afternoon training done systematically through hating season will be my next challenge.

[dairy mom]

our semen salesman has lost more than 100lbs.  He told me no one said anything until after he had lost about 70 lbs.

[Kay/NC]

Extreme weight loss is so much more common now, it seems, with all the different surgical options to alter the digestive system. I think a lot of people hesitate to say anything, because it seems like prying into personal business. Fir some reason, this is more the case now, I think, since surgery is such a common intervention.

Where you folks live, all the winter clothing could make a real difference in how fast it is noticed, too. A guy could start shedding pounds in the fall, pile on layers for months, and no one notice until spring!

[dairy mom]

I almost asked the semen salesman if he had been sick instead of asking about his weight loss.  I don't run into him very often, just if I happen to be in the milkhouse when he makes his stop.  I thought his pallor was just awful.  Haven't seen him now in a couple of months.  He said he was on a really strict diet and was doing it for his health and that he really did feel a whole lot better.

A few years ago neighboring dairy farmers went on a diet when she developed a heart condition and needed to lose weight.  She's a short chubby sweet thing and had the weight to lose.  Him not so much, but he dropped probably 50lbs or more.  Again I thought he looked sickly. I still think he is too thin. Took a couple of years pretty much maintaining that weight loss before his color became such that he didn't look like he was just getting over the flu or something..  Funny thing is he has pretty much kept the weight off but not her.

[linda/IL]

I also was thinking of the fine line of extreme loss, wondering if its self induced or illness.  Sometimes touchy to address.  At WW a gal (short) returned from winter vacation & proudly got  her 68# off for her 68th Birthday.  The before picture was so different.  I think the goal weight for older folks is too low sometimes & I'm glad it's a personal choice at WW now- needs to be livable & healthy.  

[Kay/NC]

Not so much with younger people, but older ones to me really show their age more when the subcutaneous fat shrinks...wrinkles deepen. Damned if you do, damned if you don't I guess.

I am fighting to get pounds to disappear, but am definitely getting smaller...pants looser, legs and arms are really firming up. The thing I really like is that I feel better...although, I do fall sound asleep most nights by eight or so, just passed out in my big leather chair.

Might rouse enough to see half a TV show, and drop right back off, until about four in the morning. Would like to re-set my sleep timer. Which I have done successfully before.

I am wearing my heart monitor during the day occasionally now, just to see what kind of calories I burn gardening, in TKD, and such. I would say a couple of hours digging v 1.5 hours in elliptical riding and weight training are looking about the same.

That makes my decision to count gardening as a workout on the weekends pretty logical.

I agree that weight goals need to be logical and driven by personal choice. If you get too thin and weak, you can't take a viral illness in stride as safely, for example. I have no desire to be a frail elderly person, just to say my weight has reached an ideal on some chart. I am building muscle right now, and it feels great to be firm and strong again.