Diet update

Look up "sustainable diet". I'm having great luck with it. As a bonus, it's supposed to be better for the environment.

 

That's quite obsessive to worry about 2 pounds (you even admit that your average weight can fluctuate a pound every day). Is this main goal for having a lifetime membership with WW? Is this goal your ideal BMI? Well if you think your weight has been stagnant for awhile, then at least whatever works to get your weight down another 2 lbs will be what you need. Without knowing your diet or excercise, there's no way to advise. Just that for keeping 2 lbs off per year, that could be as little as not using a particular condiment on a favorite food.

 

A better number is your fat content. Muscle and dense bone are good weights to have. The Tanita scales are fun to use. Diet and Exercise Assistant is a fun program and great for the calories in/calories out daily calcs that are key to weight control.

 

Actually they are quite accurate measuring leg and abdominal fat and then using the algorithm for calculating total body fat content. We use similar devices in the hospital and they do quite well as measured against the gold standard of total immersion which is a bit cumbersome especially for bariatric patients.

Key is body fat content. Athletes will often show as having a high BMI but will then measure with very low fat content as the weight is denser muscle and bone.

 

Great job daniel. I know I need to start on a program like this myself.

 

Diet is a four letter word. I have been heavy my whole life. I turned 50 this year and now feel the need to extend my life. I did the Adkins low carb and lost 35 pounds in three months. Then in six months I put it all back on. I am a sucker for pizza and burgers. It all comes down to discipline. I have to get really discussed to find discipline. I wish you all the luck and good health. It is a meal by meal process.

 

Daniel, good work. I know one of your goals was to be at 135 for your summer hiking holiday. I was just curious how many miles you did per day and how many days. I'm assuming its with a day pack, not backpacking.

I've been luck in that my weight has not flucuated more than 5 pounds since college, so I don't even own a scale. But I can sure tell the difference when I am eating right and working out. Got lazy for a few years and have been am hitting it hard for a year and have never been in better shape. Weights, hiking, biking and eating right! Hard work pays off!!!

 

I've gained maybe ten, and I've been lazy too. Well, maybe not lazy - working on the house and yard - but not getting the exercise I need. Time for me to start. Not being able to keep up with Daniel would be a problem.

 

I have the same problem as NJ Governor Chris Christie on losing weight... I like food! I use Livestrong to track my weight and my little widget here shows my abysmal performance on my weight loss. Maybe if everyone sees my weight, I'll work on it more... grumble, grumble.

Thom Bell weight loss

 

Yes! Gradually adjusting the 'income' and the 'outgo' will likely result in more permanent changes that are easier to maintain. Too often, people want to lose a large amount of weight in a hurry, but eventually, they end up gaining it all back again, and more. Sometimes, as you mentioned with the limitations of BMI, it's not overall weight that's important, it's the ratio of muscle mass and body fat.

Slow and steady wins the race, as they say. It's best to keep a steady pace, and I find long stops only make it harder to get going again. More frequent shorter stops are preferred, whether it's for water, snacks, clothing adjustments, or taking pictures.

I think the longest hike I've ever done was about 45 km, and I was pushing hard from dawn until well after dark. I could barely walk the next day, though, as I hadn't done nearly enough preparation before hand. So, it's not something I will do again, but it was still worth it.

 

"Diets" don't work. Changing your eating and exercise habits do.

Easiest way to do it is simply count calories in and out each day. It requires recording everything you eat when you eat it, not waiting until end of day and "remembering" content and portions, and matching it up to your energy output, your base metabolic rate, sitting at a desk all day if that is what it is.

All comes down to calories in being less than calories out and you will lose weight.

You can eat the pizza, whatever you want but record it, see what the caloric content is, make sure you exercise enough to work it off. Plug in the numbers BEFORE you eat it and see what it will do to your diet.

With smartphones and apps, you can do all this on your phone all during the day.

I found this to be the easiest app to use.

Keyoe, Inc.

 

Yes. Instructions are quite explicit about using it at the same time, under same conditions each day to get an accurate baseline. The fat content doesn't change day to day. You won't see real changes in fat content before and after exercise on a daily basis. The instructions explain all this.

These are accurate and useful devices when used as designed.

Fat content is the key especially for people who exercise a lot who have higher muscle and bone densities which make the usual BMI height/weight calculations meaningless. Someone could be thin from dieting but actually have a higher fat content than someone who is husky from exercise.

 

Christie is morbidly obese and needs mental and physical medical attention for what is a life threatening medical emergency. Hopefully you are not that extreme.

Huckabee had similar weight issue and has interesting story about dealing with it and the life lessons involved and how until he dealt with his weight issue he did not really think he could be a political leader because of the underlying issues to extreme obesity.

 

One recommendation is to replace monitoring the scale, a joyless activity, with a walking route(s). Just focus on walking at least 30 min to 1 hour everyday. Take your kid if possible. (i.e. before Dad becomes uncool). No diets, no exercise resolutions, just walk and talk. After just a month of that get on the scale. If it reads lower, then you are a month into a permanent program that can last a lifetime.

And for those that claim they cannot find the time, I ask if they spend 30 minutes or more in front of a TV or computer.....because that makes the claim hollow.

 

A good idea to start regular exercise program but it is doomed to failure as a weight reduction plan unless one monitors calories in/calories out.

There is simply no other way to loses and maintain weight than monitoring caloric intake and output on a rigorous daily schedule.

 

As success stories show, there is not one set way to lose weight and keep it off. Yes, if you're fanatical about tracking every calorie input/metabolized then you'll lose weight. The main issue I've noticed is that many people will try being vigilant about tracking what calories they eat, and upping their excercise. Some will continue along, some will get bored or discouraged.

My own body type is muscular...and I've found the best way for me to keep weight off is to focus more on excercise. It changes my appetite, and there are health benifits. The flip side is that if you are trying to excercise a lot, and eating less, you should be getting a diet that's then richer in nutrients.

Carnie Wilson is a prime example of a celebrity that's sought surgery (gastric bypass) to drastically reduce weight. She's been gaining all the weight back because she was thinking that was going to be the only fix.

I think the best approach for weight loss is trying to change a lifestyle. Continually checking your weight day in and day out can make you focus too much on a goal (which can bring on more doubts when you don't see immediate improvement). Focusing on changing a habbit (not snacking or taking the stairs) is a better focus on a value (an immediate process that is a positive reinforcement). Since a person's weight can fluctuate over a pound or so a day, I think checking a scale continually does more harm then good. My mom is the main person I know that's lost a lot of weight and kept it off. She's said that she would check her weight once every week or so: that it was more important to not look at snacks as a support and supplant that urge with exercise. Having more exercise helps with health, but if it's just about weight loss, then reducing calorie intake is the prime factor in losing weight.

 

Actually the success rate is a much studied item and there is one key to success and that is monitoring caloric intake and output. That is essential to weight loss and continued weight control.

You may describe it as "fantatical" but no more "fantatical" than following any other medical regime for a chronic problem. Are people taking insulin medicine "fantatics"? Ironically, weight control is a key in reducing or eliminating type II diabetes, one of key chronic conditions that is caused by the other medical condition, chronic obesity.