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I lost 70 pounds last year. I weighed everything I ate and counted calories.
I have been able to eliminate several Rx and reduce others. That was my goal.
I go see the doc tomorrow to see how I am doing. I'm hoping I can get off some more Rx.

Update
All of my lab-work was great.
The doctor was amazed at the improvements.
He said it was almost unheard of for my good Cholesterol to improve as much as it has.
My A1c number is down so things are looking up. I am off Metformin.
I am looking forward to losing more weight and getting healthier. Maybe I won't die early like most of the men in my family.
 
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I spent a lot of years working out to 'win the fight', which meant lots of weight lifting, physical combat training, and some aerobic training. Now I work out just to maintain.

In my experience aerobic training is import, but it does not have to be that hardcore. Even going for regular walks and hikes is good for that. But resistance training is key for me. And the two secrets to my success in that arena is to (1) constantly change things up and (2) use nutrition to your advantage. I change up everything from how many reps and how much weight, to which exercises, how often I lift, pushing or pulling angles, etc., etc. I also fast to increase my testosterone and HGH, then work out, then follow up with a heavy protein meal.

For most people whether it is weight loss or physical conditioning, nutrition is the most important factor followed by physical activity. Eating healthy is also harder IMO than working out. Of course to me healthy means nothing processed or fake, limited sugar, limiting flour, and lots of healthy proteins and fats.
 
Lost 83 pounds and then gained 7 back. Have lost 2 of those so far and will get lower than I was. Thyroid meds lowered 4 times and off of BP meds. Exercise of some type EVERY day has been key for me along with the green smoothies and clean eating. Wish I could do keto but my kidneys like to form stones no matter how much water I drink. The biggest key for me is being aware of my calorie intake. Real easy to increase portions or take bites and not record it. I use My Fitness Pal. And knowing I can't go back to eating like I used to.
 
When you have 2 knees sooo bad that you can barely walk , it becomes hard to get much done.
But I did change diet(went keto) and went from 260lbs to 220lbs , stayed in that range 220-225 for a year,
That helped a lot with pressure on the knees.
Then this year decided it was time for replacement..I was back up to 230 so I had left knee done and lost back to 225. Now 9 weeks later I'm back to 235 ..too much sitting around I guess. So I'm currently getting back to 225 for next knee on 11/20/19.
Just leave taters, pie, cake , ice cream and bread alone, it's coming down .

Jim
This ain't easy for an old man :popcorn:
 
I think a lot of it is how you approach it in your head. It's kinda like quitting smoking. For me, once I told myself "this is the last one"......it was. I had to get my brain on board with my body. I still like the smell of someone smoking, but I detest walking into a casino and being surrounded with a blanket of smoke. It's been around 20 years now.

I think you have to start with a plan. Be open to trying new things. I read Obesity Code and started doing some intermittent fasting. That worked well for a while for weight loss, but eventually, the loss stopped. I still continued with it for the health benefits. Then I gravitated toward keto. I didn't go hard core with the keto b/c getting under 20g of carbs was really hard. Still, I gave it time and even going low carb helped me drop some pounds. I'm still learning new things every day with keto/low carb. In fact, last night I made a new recipe and it turned out great. All the new recipes I have tried have turned out great, so there are some up sides to trying something new.

I have always been an exerciser so that part was never an issue for me. I have more exercise options than I can count and have a nice space to workout in. I think that is why I have been able to get away with terrible eating habits when I was younger. Now, that I'm getting older and losing estrogen, I have to get more serious in tackling the nutrition aspect.

In the past when I was successful in losing weight and keeping it off long term, I coupled strength training with logging my foods and hitting my goals in both areas. I use sparkpeople.com for logging my foods. I'm sure there are easier platforms out there, but spark is free and I already have my favorite foods listed so it works for me. It gives a breakdown of all your macros and some micros along with a pie chart of macros. I also enter notes in the nutrition and exercise trackers so I can go back and see what was going on if I need to review. I also weight myself once per week. Any more than that, and it drives me crazy.....and less and I'll go off track.

Just like any other goal in life. You have to have a plan. You have to implement the plan. You have to monitor the plan and tweek as you go. And write it down! Writing down your goals and your plan will clarify exactly what you need to do and why. If you use sparkpeople, you can use the journal in the nutrition tracker section instead of pencil and paper.....or good ole' pencil and paper work just ifne. I also use a cheap folder with pockets to put in printed recipes, clippings, grocery lists, websites, etc. that I have written on scrap paper and need to put in one place. I'm a note taker, so the folder helps keep me organized and focused. Once you reach you goal, I think you could lay off the tracking (b/c it IS very time consuming)....but until then, I think it's a very helpful and (for me) necessary tool to use.
 
The rule for dieting is, if it taste good spit it out. :D
I like carbs, a lot. I reduced my carb intake which is why I was able to lose weight.
Weight loss is calories in minus calories out. CICO.
If you consume less than you burn you will lose weight, if not you will not lose weight.
Exercise burns calories so exercising will help speed up the loss.
If I stay under 1500 calories a day I will lose weight. For me it is that simple.
YMMV
 
backlash said:
If you consume less than you burn you will lose weight, if not you will not lose weight.
Click to expand...

This is both true and not true. It is true on a basic biological level, but it becomes untrue when hormones and other chemicals enter into the mix. If a pure calorie in calorie out method worked one could calculate exactly when and how much weight they would lose on any prescribed plan. But instead it's a rocky road of stalls, small drops, huge drops, and recalculations. My wife has ridden the weight loss yo-yo many times as she gained with each child and then fought to get back to her original weight after each birth. She found the only method that worked was ignoring the amount of calories and focusing on the type and quality of calories and when she ate. Specifically to control the hormone that is insulin. Insulin drives appetite, cravings, weight loss, weight gain, etc. Between her whole foods keto diet and intermittent fasting she has been successfull each time. She eats a small usually no carb lunch and a low carb dinner, but no snacks and no breakfast.

Exercise had no effect on her weight loss in any way, but it did help her be in better physical shape once the body fat was gone. As her keto coach said "You could run for 20 minutes to burn off that small hamburger, or not eat for 4-6 hours and burn off 20 hamburgers worth of body fat that you already ate". Meaning your body cannot burn off body fat and burn the food you just ate at the same time. It is only doing one or the other.
 
Your body does not use calories in a lineal manner. Different conditions in the body will cause different calorie use. If you knew exactly how many calories you use at all time then you could calculate how much weight you lose with a given number of calories. But there is no way to know that. Water retention is the biggest influence on weight day to day. Every body is different but the basic operation is the same.
 
Our bodies can only consume glucose and fat for energy. Protein is used but only consumed as a fuel through a process called gluconeogenesis where it is converted into glucose under specific circumstances. Your body will always burn glucose first, both consumed and stored glycogen, then it will begin to consume consumed and stored fat. If you adapt your body into ketosis by depriving it of glucose and controlling your insulin response, it will first burn off the glycogen and then start burning steady amounts of fat. But again first consumed fats and then stored fats. We only really consume protein if our body is forced in a starvation mode by excessive exercise or physical activity combined with extreme caloric restrictions. Two people with identical body types and identical basal metabolic rates eating identical diets and performing identical amounts of physical activity will lose wight and/or build lean body mass at different rates (depending on their intent). This is because the human body is an inconsistent machine effected by numerous known and unknown factors and hormonal changes and production rates.

And by the way when you burn both subcutaneous body fat and visceral fat you exhale the consumed byproduct. Most people, including "medical professionals", do not know that and think you expel it through urine. There is massive amounts of misinformation about weight loss and exercise in the medical community and exercise community because there is no money to be made from telling it like it is. By keeping people confused people continue to be obese and people continue to get rich off of them. Even in the world of diabetes, which is essentially reversible, they choose only to treat the symptoms because it is far more profitable.
 
Keep on chiming in.
I wanted to lose weight, 15-20 lbs.
The job I have, even though part-time, the hours are all over the place. I'm not crazy about eating and found it hard to find time to fit in meals at convenient times, equals less calorie intake.

My job is somewhat physical and I started losing weight. I wish I was on the lighter side but for not doing much (no extra exercise or weight lifting) at this point, I've hit a plateau and need to do some game changers for myself.
Have been chatting with friends who want to lose weight and I'm trying to find options and choices for them that may work for them as they look to me for advice, which I find odd.
 
Some may disagree, but...

I've found a simple formula that has repeatedly worked for me. I just have never had the discipline to maintain it.

I call it, "Do a little more - eat a little less".

It's that simple. Burn a couple hundred extra calories a day. Eat a couple hundred less calories a day. If you can make that 4 or 500 calorie negative input every day, it's not hard to lose a pound a week.

But, you have to get educated about what you eat, and be honest with yourself about what you eat too. I've seen people say they only eat X amount of calories a day, but they have four Cokes and don't count that. Or they say, this food only has X amount of carbs (or calories), but they eat half the package in one sitting instead of eating one serving. Then they whine about not losing weight...

I let myself get way too fat but I knew what I was doing, I just didn't care. But as a type 1 diabetic, where my disease can't be reversed, that weight doesn't come off easy and it forces me to use a lot more insulin. I can already see some benefits just from losing 20 pounds over summer...
 
The best site that exists for persons looking to lose weight is www.dietdoctor.com, which has both free and paid content as well as a free trial period where you can gain a LOT of knowledge.They also have a YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/eenfeldt.

They are far less encumbered by the marketing and money of big business in America and are composed primarily of medical practitioners from Europe and Canada. They have been rated the top weight loss site on the internet several times over. My Dad was having some issues with his diabetes and weight and was referred to that site. He not only lost the 25 lbs he wanted to lose in short order he essentially put his diabetes into dietary remission. As long as he eats the right foods he shows now signs of the illness. He doesn't even have to take medication anymore. That is also where my wife found her system of weight management during her child bearing years.
 
Either

- A friend to work out with
or
- joining one of those internet training groups where someone u respect will look at your training log every night.
or
- Just obsessing about it.. going thru the day thinking about when and were to squeeze it in and not feeling good about your day until its done.
 
@snappy1 you mentioned smoothies...what do you use in yours? Do you mind sharing a few recipes?

Another popular thing lately, the Whole 30 regimen. You eliminate inflammatory foods from your diet for 30 days. A couple of friends do this a couple times a year. Anyone try the Whole 30?
Awhile back, maybe 18 months ago, I ditched a few things from my diet. I'm sure I was missing out on some nutrition, I lost the bloating, a couple pounds, and felt good, but was hungry.
This is normally the time of year where people think they need to shed weight gained from the holidays' feasting.
Anyone else feeling the need to step up their game?
 
Patchouli said:
you mentioned smoothies...what do you use in yours? Do you mind sharing a few recipes?
Click to expand...

I don't have recipes printed but pinterest has a whole slew of them. Mostly water, lettuce, berries and a scoop of protein powder. They taste better than they sound!
 
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