Anyone else trying to lose weight?

[lorin]

Well I started Weight Watchers again. The latest diet is good but it depends on a lot of self control. For instance all fruit is NO points. So theoretically you eat 25 bananas at one sitting. It requires you to use common sense which I don't always have, especially late at night.

I signed up for the monthly pass which also gives you access to the online site. It is very automated now with apps for the smart phone etc. The one thing I can't stand is all the merchandise marketing. Some of it is interesting but also a lot of crap. One think I liked is this gizmo (which I didn't buy) that you clip to your shirt. At the end of the day you put it in your computer and it links with the online site. It gives you a report of your day, what you ate, how much you walked, when you were lazy, etc. It makes suggestions on changes in your food plan, exercise etc.

Anyway, I will give it a try. I gained 11 pounds this year and it scares me.

[aliantha]

Yeah, all of the official WW gear and foods (complete with processed additives...) kind of put me off their approach, as well. If you do the stuff they tell you to do -- watch portion sizes, exercise, etc. -- then the program works. The rest of it is just them cashing in.

[lorin]

Yeah, all of the official WW gear and foods (complete with processed additives...) kind of put me off their approach, as well. If you do the stuff they tell you to do -- watch portion sizes, exercise, etc. -- then the program works. The rest of it is just them cashing in.

I'm hoping the group meetings/support will help.

[shadowbinding shoe]

I've been stuffing my face with cookies lately but I think I'm losing weight. The connection between diet and weight never seemed to go hand in hand in my case.

[lorin]

Day 3 of WW. It's a little easier today. Carbs are an addiction, no one can tell me differently. I just want to sit at the table with a loaf of bread and a brick of cheese, maybe some wine.

[Savor Dam]

A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou...

(True story: way back before either Dam-sel or Savor Rhee entered my life, she known as "Bookseller" repaid loan she had borrowed to start her store by giving me a Great Harvest sunflower sourdough round, a gallon of Los Hermanos chianti and a check for $1,000. Literate girl...she gave me a loaf of bread, a jug of wine and a thou. Shame we fought like cats and dogs... )

[MsMary]

I'm doing WW as well - online version only.

I'm not seeing that much in your face WW product advertising doing it that way.

I like counting points much better than counting calories. So far, I seem to be sticking to it better than previous programs I've done, we'll see how it goes.

Unfortunately, being sick the last week has slowed me down on the exercise front. But I seem to have lost about 5 lbs so far.

[aliantha]

I'm sick of counting all of it. But I'm gonna have to do something soon.

[lorin]

Well I got weighed in today. 5.8 lbs! It wasn't so bad after I detoxed from bread. But the best thing for me is every pound lost is distancing me from the ever looming diabetes.

Yay for me.

[Savor Dam]

Great news!

[aliantha]

Nice going, lorin!

[MsMary]

Yay, lorin!

[Lady Revel]

I have been WAY up and sorta down weightwise my whole life. My highest weight was 299, which was horrible, I couldn't move well, forget about putting on socks and tying shoelaces.....I am currently 215, and trying to get below 200.

It took me 3-1/2 years to get down to this weight, mostly because I would lose 20lbs and then keep it off for 6-10 months, and then lose another 20lbs and keep that off for 6-10 months.....and so on. I am hoping that this will make it easier for it to stay off. I don't know, maybe retrain my set point. I know that to most of you, this weight is horrifying. All I can say is that I look relatively normal at 200lb. I have a really large frame. I know, I know, all of us fat people say that, but for me it is true. I wear size 12 shoes, my wrist is 8-1/2 inches around, and I can palm a basketball. A giantess at 5'6" if you will.

More so than how I look, I am very pleased because my blood sugar is normal. My blood pressure, while still not perfect, has dropped from the alarming range to the "yeah, you probably ought to do something about that" range. And I can move, instead of lumber. 16lbs to go.....199. Wow. I haven't seen that weight since the last millenium.

This is not easy. It sucks most of the time. I want to eat everything. I have to keep pushing my urges to the back of my brain. Do I feel better? Overall, absolutely....but I think that the pleasure chemicals from stuffing my face with high sugar/carb options is a quicker way for me to feel better, and that is probably why I gained all the weight in the first place.

Well, anyway, that is my weight loss story. Cheers!

[aliantha]

Congrats on your success, Lady Revel! I agree with you that losing more slowly is the key to keeping it off. I've lost large amounts of weight (on Weight Watchers, come to think of it...) but then I get stuck and get frustrated because I'm stuck. I have been thinking recently that I should try some interim goals and see if that helps. The current situation isn't sustainable, that's for sure.

[Lady Revel]

Aliantha....I have lost and gained over 80lbs at least 3 times in my life. All I can say is that this time, it was right for me and I have been lucky. I am really hoping not to gain it back. Losing it is really the easy part for me. Keeping it off, well, its just ultra super hard.

[aliantha]

Losing it is really the easy part for me. Keeping it off, well, its just ultra super hard.

Yes, exactly! I lost 60 lbs. with Weight Watchers the first time, and 50 lbs. (I think) the second time. Both times it came off over the course of a few months, and both times I hit a months-long plateau and got frustrated and said "screw it." And yo-yo dieting is *really* bad for your body. So I quit trying for awhile. But the scale is creeping up again.

That only counts the times I've done Weight Watchers, btw. I feel like I've been dieting off and on since I was eleven years old. That's nearly 45 years. I'm just tired of it, that's all.

[DoctorGamgee]

Congratulations, Lady Revel, on your success! In the past year I have shed 40 lbs and kept it off. My wife and I (she has lost almost 80 lbs at this point) have just finished a workout program called Les Mills "COMBAT" that was quite fun. I am a recovering couch potato and usually hate to exercise. Yesterday was the final day of the 60 days. I have just 3 more pounds to lose before I see 1-derland (the one-hundreds again!) Hope to see you there soon!

[Lady Revel]

Wow, great job, DoctorGamgee, for both you and your wife!

Aliantha....oh gosh. I know just how you feel. It is almost like my mind cycles....there are times when I just do not give a And there is nothing to be done about it. And the weight sneaks right back up, and I just do not care. I wish I knew more about why we feel and think the way we do. I we could just alter things a little....I think life might be a bit easier.

[DoctorGamgee]

One of the things I have figured out is that the number on the scale is only part of the story. Before COMBAT, I was at 205, and today, I am 202, so there is a loss of 3 lbs. So in times past I would have been really discouraged and groused about getting up at 5 AM (I am not a morning person!), working out for 30-60 minutes 5 days a week and only having 3 lbs to show for it.

But looking at the whole picture, a week ago I splurged with the close of my show and was 211, so considering I have lost 9 lbs this week...the overall 3 total is fine. Plus, the specifics show:


Waist: Lost 4.5 inches
Hips: Lost 1 inch
Chest: Gained .5 inch (a good gain!)
Arms: Dropped .5 inch of fat (and started to show definition)
Thighs: each gained 2.5/2 inches of muscle (another good gain)

So overall, I lost 6.5 inches of fat and gained 5 inches of muscle, all while losing 3 lbs. That is progress!!!

I disliked taking the before pictures. And even though the after photos are not yet where my final goals are, they show a rather large change in that three lbs of weight loss.

The pictures convince me that I have to stay after it...

Here's hoping we all find a way of keeping positive and getting the job done. It ain't easy, but it's worth it in the end.

[Lady Revel]

And not only that, but the exercise program is making you healthier in and of itself. Blood pressure, the body's ability to use insulin, lung capacity.....all of these things make a person feel better.....and live longer. Kudos to you for sticking with it!