Dieting - Is this normal?

[Sdallnct]

Originally Posted by 4KRG

ok, I missed that. No, it's not normal. That means you are doing it wrong

First, go see a professional instead of getting crackpot advice on this crazy ass forum. As someone who has lost a substantial amount of weight and kept the majority of it off for 12 years or so now, I can tell you what worked for me, I can't say that will work for you.

1. stop eating sugar, I think everyone here agrees with that (that includes refined flour products like white bread, but not natural sugars like apples)
2. as for artificial sweeteners, ever since giving up sugar, I have eaten them, but IN SMALL DOSES, ONE diet beverage a day or equivalent.
3. exercise - walking the mall for 30 minutes 3-4 times a week qualifies. As you increase in capability, step up the speed/duration, for the first month a nice easy walk will do.
4. I double dog dare you to eat 2000 calories of broccolli or romaine lettuce for your entire daily calorie intake - you won't want to do it what the pros taught me is that the daily calorie intake (which for me was like 2400 calories) is HARD TO EAT if you eat the right foods to meet the 2400. If you eat the wrong foods, then it is easy to eat more than 2400 (or whatever your calorie intake should be, mine was profesionally determinied by my endocrinologist)
5. stop eating specific fats - saturated fats, transfats. eat more good fats, monosaturated, etc google the list.

I tease a little, I think I felt a little hungry for like a 2-3 days, once I got into the rythem of it all, I was fine. The only times I really started to feel hungry was once I was on a roll and exercising 5-6 days a week for an hour +, I started to double what I was eating and was still losing weight.

You have to find the balance that fits your body. Advice is just that, something that worked for someone else. You have to figure it out, take in all the knowledge, experiement, find something that works for you. You can tell by when you lose weight, gain weight, or stay even what is going on.

Do not be obessed with weighing yourself or with what the scale says. Weigh in the morning right after you wake up (after you pee) and then don't get on the scale anymore that day. 5lbs one way or the other is irrelevant. More than 5 lbs one way or the other after 3-4 weeks starts to be meaningful.

Do not fall prey to fad diets, it is really hard to weed out the snake oil in today's society. Even some of the snake oil appears to work in the short run, but don't fall for it.

You have to really want to do it, not just say you want to do it. I am not sure I can explain that further. I always 'wanted' to do it, but once it became life or death for me, I actually did it.

Good advise. Not only eat the right calories, but spread it out across the day. You would be surprised at what you can do. For example, instead of having a 6" subway turkey sandwich, bag of chips and a coke. At lunch have the sandwich and a bottle water. Then three hours later, you could eat another 6" sandwich, and would be way better off then the chips and coke eaten at lunch.

[Sdallnct]

Originally Posted by big whoppa

I thought salt contributed to high blood pressure. Doctors don't seem to get overworked about it these days though.

Well a famous government study showed salt does cause high bp. But it has been hard to replicate the study. So some Dr's say it does, others are getting on the fence about it. I'm just think I'd add low salt to everything else I'm doing. Just in case.

[4KRG]

Originally Posted by The Bus

It's a cliché but it's completely true: The only way to do it is to do it.

Those words do not penetrate with the meaning that they need to in order to describe what I mean.

You have to be willing to walk a mile barefoot on broken glass with lemon wedges in your toes. If you aren't there yet, don't tease yourself.

[4KRG]

Originally Posted by Sdallnct

Well a famous government study showed salt does cause high bp. But it has been hard to replicate the study. So some Dr's say it does, others are getting on the fence about it. I'm just think I'd add low salt to everything else I'm doing. Just in case.

Too much sodium is also another way to say you don't have enough potassium in your system. The two are ying and yang in your body, when the level of one is too high = danger, the best way to cancel is to decrease the one that is too high and also to increase the one that is too low.

Water and exercise also help to balance the levels of both. Again, it's body formula, with lifestyle. You are on meds because something is out of balance naturally. The question is, can you control that balance? (stated to mean that some people can't no matter what they try)

[D.Pham00]

Originally Posted by Sdallnct

Tell you what I'm continuing to have trouble with...salt! I'm amazed at how much salt in is in turkey and ham. And even a low cal "good" sandwich (grilled chick-fil-a, subway, etc) seems to have a lot of salt.

I'm working hard to get off blood pressure meds. I know some question if salt is really a factor, but I'm getting weight under control. Working out. Thought I'd try to cut back on salt.

i've found that most fast food has tons of salt, just the way it is i guess. i try to eat a low salt diet now, so everytime i eat out, i can really feel that fast food is super salty.

[big whoppa]

^I actually taste more sugar (usually in junk food) than I do salt.

[al_bundy]

Originally Posted by Sdallnct

Well a famous government study showed salt does cause high bp. But it has been hard to replicate the study. So some Dr's say it does, others are getting on the fence about it. I'm just think I'd add low salt to everything else I'm doing. Just in case.

i've read somewhere that if you switch to sea salt or another unprocessed salt then it's a lot better for you

[D.Pham00]

Originally Posted by big whoppa

^I actually taste more sugar (usually in junk food) than I do salt.

huh...i don't taste that much sugar that much in junk food.

[D.Pham00]

Originally Posted by The Bus

I still don't do power cleans, deadlifts, etc. because although I have an idea of what I should be doing, I don't have someone who knows what I should be doing watching me the whole time and I don't want to "guess" that my deadlift is good enough.

Don't let the fact that you don't know anything stop you. Don't let the fact that you don't have someone to help you stop you. This is how I was for, oh, a good ten years of my life. No one is going to come along and *want* to train you. And if you rely solely on machines, you'll get an "OK" workout, at best.

Here's three sites that show you exercises:

http://www.iwantsixpackabs.com (free registration, probably the most user friendly)
http://www.exrx.net (very clinical but great)
http://www.crossfit.com (gives you lots of ideas once you're tired of doing the same exercies all the time)

The first link shows you how to do stuff at home with, at most, a $20-$40 investment into equipment, if that.

^^i'll check out those links, i've been looking into other exercises i can do besides the treadmill.

[The Bus]

A Whopper has 1460mg of sodium, a little less than full teaspoon of sea salt (based on the info on the package of sea salt I have).

It also has 11g of sugar, with the majority of that coming from the bun.

A large Coke has 79g of sugar.

[D.Pham00]

aren't you only supposed to eat the equivalent of about 1 tsp of salt a day?

[The Bus]

Originally Posted by D.Pham00

aren't you only supposed to eat the equivalent of about 1 tsp of salt a day?

Yes.

[FantasticVSDoom]

Originally Posted by 4KRG

ok, I missed that. No, it's not normal. That means you are doing it wrong

First, go see a professional instead of getting crackpot advice on this crazy ass forum. As someone who has lost a substantial amount of weight and kept the majority of it off for 12 years or so now, I can tell you what worked for me, I can't say that will work for you.

1. stop eating sugar, I think everyone here agrees with that (that includes refined flour products like white bread, but not natural sugars like apples)
2. as for artificial sweeteners, ever since giving up sugar, I have eaten them, but IN SMALL DOSES, ONE diet beverage a day or equivalent.
3. exercise - walking the mall for 30 minutes 3-4 times a week qualifies. As you increase in capability, step up the speed/duration, for the first month a nice easy walk will do.
4. I double dog dare you to eat 2000 calories of broccolli or romaine lettuce for your entire daily calorie intake - you won't want to do it what the pros taught me is that the daily calorie intake (which for me was like 2400 calories) is HARD TO EAT if you eat the right foods to meet the 2400. If you eat the wrong foods, then it is easy to eat more than 2400 (or whatever your calorie intake should be, mine was profesionally determinied by my endocrinologist)
5. stop eating specific fats - saturated fats, transfats. eat more good fats, monosaturated, etc google the list.

I tease a little, I think I felt a little hungry for like a 2-3 days, once I got into the rythem of it all, I was fine. The only times I really started to feel hungry was once I was on a roll and exercising 5-6 days a week for an hour +, I started to double what I was eating and was still losing weight.

You have to find the balance that fits your body. Advice is just that, something that worked for someone else. You have to figure it out, take in all the knowledge, experiement, find something that works for you. You can tell by when you lose weight, gain weight, or stay even what is going on.

Do not be obessed with weighing yourself or with what the scale says. Weigh in the morning right after you wake up (after you pee) and then don't get on the scale anymore that day. 5lbs one way or the other is irrelevant. More than 5 lbs one way or the other after 3-4 weeks starts to be meaningful.

Do not fall prey to fad diets, it is really hard to weed out the snake oil in today's society. Even some of the snake oil appears to work in the short run, but don't fall for it.

You have to really want to do it, not just say you want to do it. I am not sure I can explain that further. I always 'wanted' to do it, but once it became life or death for me, I actually did it.

I would say all this is very good advice... But even when it comes to so called experts, its good to question them as well, even doctors. If something doesnt sound right to you ask for clarification and follow up on your own.

[D.Pham00]

Originally Posted by The Bus

Yes.

i looked it up, and apparently, 1 teaspoon of salt is 2300mg, so you can eat a bit over 1.5 whoppers a day!

[C-Mart]

So as I mentioned previously, my in-laws have a great treadmill. They never use the thing so we thought maybe we could borrow it... but of course, the fact that we are "losing weight" means that my MIL now wants to lose weight and says that she will use the treadmill "every day"... meaning we can't borrow it. I don't know that she has used it once, and she has apparently gained weight over the past 2 weeks (per my SIL who lives with her).

Anyway, I've been walking most days on my lunch - looks like about 1.5 miles with varying elevation - probably about 100-200' difference. WebMD says its about 190 calories burned. I am working my way up to running the route rather than walking it, but that will take some time. I'm doing this slowly, as I tend to go "all-in" with something like this and then burn out shortly there-after.

I've had only 1 soda in the past 2 weeks - and I feel pretty good. We have slipped up a couple of times by going out to dinner... but overall we are sticking at least to our calorie goals each day so I am encouraged by that. One thing is we don't have a scale, so I can't tell if I've lost any weight... but the point is that I feel better, not how much weight I actually lose.

Also, I am not hungry all the time now... but I do get hungry more often than I used to... not hard when I used to eat sunflower seeds (the flavored kind) constantly while at work, as well as any other snack food I ever wanted.

[superdeluxe]

Originally Posted by C-Mart

I've had only 1 soda in the past 2 weeks - and I feel pretty good. We have slipped up a couple of times by going out to dinner... but overall we are sticking at least to our calorie goals each day so I am encouraged by that. One thing is we don't have a scale, so I can't tell if I've lost any weight... but the point is that I feel better, not how much weight I actually lose.

.

You know, if you do your homework, and portion control, take leftovers home from going out to eat, it is not that big of a issue

[The Bus]

Originally Posted by superdeluxe

You know, if you do your homework, and portion control, take leftovers home from going out to eat, it is not that big of a issue

Some restaurants it's possible to split an appetizer as an entree. I usually then get a side of vegetables (like broccoli). Much healthier than an appetizer + entree.

[C-Mart]

I guess the going out to dinner wasn't the slip up, it was what we ate at dinner that was the slip up... fully aware that we shouldn't be eating as much as we did... and both times we said "I ate too much!" after we left... but is was sooooooo gooooood!

[Sdallnct]

Originally Posted by The Bus

Some restaurants it's possible to split an appetizer as an entree. I usually then get a side of vegetables (like broccoli). Much healthier than an appetizer + entree.

Me loves a big bowl of Wanton Soup and Szechuan Asparagus from PF Changs. Filling, full of taste, and very reasonable nutritionally.

[D.Pham00]

it's ok. once in a while, you need to enjoy yourself. key being once in a while.

[Sdallnct]

Originally Posted by C-Mart

I guess the going out to dinner wasn't the slip up, it was what we ate at dinner that was the slip up... fully aware that we shouldn't be eating as much as we did... and both times we said "I ate too much!" after we left... but is was sooooooo gooooood!

I travel a lot. I mean I'm out of town 200+ days per year. I love to cook, but that simply isn't possible much of the time.

Do a little education. Must of us are creatures of habit; loving to go to the same restaurants. Look them up menus for nutritional value at your favorite places. You would be shocked at the # of calories you can consume at most places. But, and this is important, you can also see what is actually reasonable amounts. Typically even at high calorie places like PF Changs, I can find some good stuff. There is also nothing wrong with a "cheat" meal once every 10 days or so. In fact some recommend it.

BTW, if I can't find the nutritional values of the restaurants I go to, I e-mail them. If they won't supply or give some lame ass excuse like "we make everything by hand it would be impossible to provide" I write them back and tell them I won't eat there again. I don't mind occasionally eating a 1000 calorie meal. But I want to know what it is I'm eating. It is just that simple. And the the only reasonable excuse for a restaurant not to provide the information is they made the business decision that providing that information can only hurt them, not help. And I respect that. As they should respect my choice of not eating there.

[C-Mart]

I thought it was law for restaurants to provide nutrition information for all menu items.

[superdeluxe]

Originally Posted by C-Mart

I guess the going out to dinner wasn't the slip up, it was what we ate at dinner that was the slip up... fully aware that we shouldn't be eating as much as we did... and both times we said "I ate too much!" after we left... but is was sooooooo gooooood!

Many places are very stingy with releasing their nutritional information online. But I believe the State of New York (or maybe just New York City), had a ruling that if you operated within its county or what not, that you must provide nutrition info. This won't help with regional places, but nation wide chains now must conform.

King County in Washington State has either already passed this..or will soon, so regional places in the west should be represented fairly well.

[superdeluxe]

Originally Posted by C-Mart

I thought it was law for restaurants to provide nutrition information for all menu items.

No, only I believe 2 counties require this. New York, and recently King County in Washington

[big whoppa]

Originally Posted by C-Mart

I thought it was law for restaurants to provide nutrition information for all menu items.

I think that would be difficult outside of fast food. Portions are not measured that strictly in real restaurants. How often have you gone to the same restaurant with the same chef and the meal tasted different? I find it true more often than not. Certainly true when my folks owned a restaurant.

BTW, just buy a darn scale. You'll be glad you did. Scales do not lie.