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6809. thoughtful - 4/4/2007 8:55:00 PM Fine by me...would you be open to helpful suggestions...with the caveat that you can tell me to shut up if I become too helpful?
(I'm a lifetime member of weight watchers and have been involved with diet and nutrition and exercise since my teens.) 6810. Wombat - 4/4/2007 8:57:11 PM Arky:
Not at all. I have been dealing with--or not dealing with--weight issues since college (many many years ago), and now as I approach 50, am dealing with parts of my body that function suboptimally (back and knees mostly).
Four years ago, I had succeeded in losing 40 pounds through a fairly simple combination of calorie counting and a lot of walking. I lost my job not long after, and felt that I had other things to worry about. The psychological dimension in my case seems very strong. 6811. arkymalarky - 4/4/2007 9:01:39 PM Oh, suggestions would be great! I won't tell you to shut up at all. If I don't like them I just won't do them, and some people who might be working on similar things (whether they post what they're doing or not) might find useful ones for them as well. I also think it would be great to open up some debate about some of that stuff. What prompted me was reading comments on the MSNBC site about what works, what doesn't, etc. But it's not an ongoing thing. I know they have that on the internet for just about anything, but it would be better for me to do something here, with people I know.
I did the Weight Watchers thing years ago and it worked well, but I was much youner. We've done shared stuff at work too, including pools of money and weekly weigh-ins, but it's been a while and I don't think anyone's interested right now. Too much drama going on where I work this spring (not a common thing for us, thankfully), and only 2 more months of school left anyway. 6812. judithathome - 4/4/2007 9:02:03 PM I think that's a great idea, Arky. And when we come see you and when you come here, we'll maintain our good eating habits so we won't backslide. ;-) 6813. arkymalarky - 4/4/2007 9:02:47 PM I was younGer, and more inclined to drive over once a week and participate in WW more actively than I would today. I still have all the stuff, though, to keep records on my own. 6814. arkymalarky - 4/4/2007 9:03:38 PM Judith, I worry more about the liquid issues in that case! ;-> 6815. arkymalarky - 4/4/2007 9:09:19 PM Wombat, you sound similar to Bob, except he has been VERY fortunate not to have any pain or weakness issues at age 55. His breaking point came before any success (though he had quit smoking and was walking at one point and doing very well, it was very temporary) while caring for his dying father, which involved a lot of physical stress along with the emotional, and he suddenly found himself--after years of being overweight--as a serious diabetic. He's lucky he didn't suffer permanent vision loss.
Bob's done the calorie/walking thing entirely to great success, but the last few months he's had difficulty--after two years of maintenance with a weight loss of around 70 lbs--so he may be interested in participating as well, at least through me if not directly, in the thread. The mental part has to be dealt with, and it's so hard to make exercise and diet a priority when the world imposes on us, as it tends to do. 6816. clydefo - 4/4/2007 9:11:06 PM Something to do after death!
Keeping the chain-saws at bay:
"An eco-cemetery also known as a green burial ground, or a natural burial preserve is an environmentally sustainable alternative to existing funeral practices, where the body is returned to the earth to decompose naturally and be recycled into new life...
...Cemetery legislation protects natural burial preserves in perpetuity from future development while the establishment of a conservation easement prevents future owners from altering the original intent for these burial grounds. These protective covenants are what permit natural burial preserves to function as landscape level conservation tools..." 6817. arkymalarky - 4/4/2007 9:12:07 PM I couldn't help but notice, regarding Elizabeth Edwards, that when she was diagnosed she was significanty heavier than she is now. You get busy and you grab food when and where you can and you find you're hungrier more often and less inclined to exercise. You just want to sit. Even if you've been sitting all day doing email, research, or whatever.
And I love my laptop, but I've got to get a grip on it, or it will be the death of me. I spend way too much time lounging around with it, calling it "downtime." It's no better than TV and may be worse, at least for me. 6818. arkymalarky - 4/4/2007 9:15:37 PM I like that, Clyde. Bob and I already agreed we want pine boxes. If you're poor, they use corrugated cardboard boxes. 6819. thoughtful - 4/4/2007 9:23:36 PM I'll start with my own struggles.
I became addicted to trader joe's dark 72% belgian chocolate and my weight went up. So now I'm trying to find a substitute that is lower calorie but will still give me something sweet to eat after lunch. Dealing with my sweet tooth has always been my problem.
So now I'm doing a couple of trader joes' meringue cookies, but I'm concerned they're too sweet as by dinner time I'm crashing.
Once the container is gone, i'll have to look for something else.
the nutrition letter really likes the new TLC cookies, so maybe i'll try them. 6820. arkymalarky - 4/4/2007 9:30:33 PM I LOVE the Kashi granola bars with cherries and dark chocolate chips. For chocolate I eat one square of Ghirardelli's dark chocolate with some coffee.
I've always fought a sweet tooth, and I was absolutely addicted to Pixy-stix for years. I haven't eaten them in a long time, though I don't have the heart to tell my students, who still tease me about them. Sweet stuff has much less effect on me than it used to. I don't know why. It had been my bane since childhood. 6821. arkymalarky - 4/4/2007 9:36:18 PM A "serving" of the Ghirardelli's is four squares, which is 220 calories and 17g of fat. One square makes me happy, though, especially as a way to get a little "me" time before work every morning. The Kashi bars are about 120 calories.
Which reminds me. Another very important thing to my success in the past has been routine, and it's been impossible to establish one. I'm just now to the point where I feel I have some control over my routine, and I know if things get crazy again I have to maintain something resembling structure or I'll fail. My dad has managed to successfully do that, and at age 75 he still eats, runs, and lifts weights. He maintains a very healthy lifestyle, though he's retired, but he did this when he was far busier than I am, by getting up at 4:30 and jogging every morning.
I will say right now. Ain't happening here. I am not and will never be a morning person. But all that is fighting battles that haven't come up. Right now I can work with a good routine without having to make those kinds of sacrifices. 6822. arkymalarky - 4/4/2007 9:39:13 PM And I know there are a lot of people opposed to Slimfast, but when I'm working it's what I do for lunch, even when I'm not dieting otherwise. Lunchroom food is the quickest way I gain weight, and Slimfast is the easiest way for me to avoid it. I grab a can and pop it into the lounge freezer first thing when I get to work and dig it out the period before lunch. We have a late lunch (12:45), which I love, and that routine leaves me with a slushy and cold lunch that sticks with me until I get home. 6823. arkymalarky - 4/4/2007 9:42:34 PM Okay, here's my plan, and I'm going to log off for a while (when I get my WildBlue, hopefully soon, logging on and off in chunks will no longer be an issue):
The "core" of this: Humananatura Calisthenics, plus 15 minutes on the treadmill, at a fairly slow (2.5-3mph) pace to start. Not necessarily right together in a day. 6824. arkymalarky - 4/4/2007 9:43:14 PM I'll post the diet part later. 6825. arkymalarky - 4/4/2007 9:49:32 PM One more thing: Wombat, are you on any kind of program right now or planning to get on one? Are you in a better position to stick with one now? 6826. clydefo - 4/4/2007 10:05:03 PM For quick weight loss and sustained good health, Nathan Pritikin sez:
Low-salt (why carry 5-10 pounds of dilution water?)
80% Complex Carbs (Minimally processed whole grains, vegetables, fruit "burn" clean , leaving only H2O and CO2 to be removed from the blood.)
10% Protein (Should not be consumed for fuel. The body recycles amino acids and probably needs less than half the protein RDA for replenishment.)
10% Fat (Mostly from vegetables)
Exercise.
It works.
6827. concerned - 4/4/2007 10:49:25 PM Re. 6807 -
I guess being a guy, it's different, but I concentrate on staying reasonably fit and let my weight take care of itself. As a result, I've pretty much stayed in a 20 pound range over the last 25 years (average weight = 260lb@ 6'5 1/2") 6828. judithathome - 4/4/2007 10:51:46 PM 10% Fat (Mostly from vegetables)
What vegetables have fat?
I think 80% carbs is far too high. Lately they say the high protein diets have much better success at losing than high carb ones.
I agree about the salt...we don't add salt to anything and eat very little of it at all. The only thing I put salt on is a little twist of the salt grinder over my oatmeal. We don't eat that many processed foods and whichever ones we do get, I check the salt content and only by things with a low percentage.
I see people just load the salt on their food, even before tasting it, and it boggles my mind.
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