As I mentioned on the Covid Travel thread, I didn’t lose all the weight on the cruise but it was the inspiration to get the weight off. If you have lost weight, what was your inspiration to do so and what method did you use to lose.
Two reasons the cruise was it for me.
the very nice concierge in the section we were traveling in kept complimenting me on my clothes and asking where I got them. I realized she thought we were the same. Well, she was really pretty big so that was silly… yeah I was not being honest with myself…maybe not so silly.
All those massively obese people who could barely move. I thought about how I didn’t want that to be me.
That was it. I decided right then and there to do it. I ate whatever I wanted but only ate half of what I ordered. I lost 2 pounds on the 10:day cruise and another 73 pounds in the next 10 months using My fitness Pal (good old fashioned calorie counting…no real exercise at all til I was about 60 pounds down and then only walking). 5 years later I’ve maintained the loss.
I happen to be one of those who are very active when I travel - On trips I have always eaten whatever I want and come home either the same weight or lower - I’m pretty active at home as well, but wouldn’t dare “eat whatever I want” and expect to remain the same weight or lower…
I lost 30 pounds after quitting my job in September 2019. My blood pressure was too high (part of what led me to quit the job). I started by cutting way back on processed foods, sugar and salt. I had already been working out a half hour a day, but I started walking, as well. I worked up to an hour walk daily. The lack of stress was probably the key, though. I have had no problem keeping it off, although every so often I need to refocus on my health goals (when I begin to snack without thinking).
I lost 50 pounds inspired by the Weight Loss for Dummies thread here on CC. I did it by eating less and exercising more - who knew! I gained about half back after being laid up for three months with a broken ankle a couple of years later, but have kept the rest off. I developed a number of new eating habits, most of which I still practice to this day.
The hardest thing for me was that I couldn’t eliminate processed foods or sugar as a way to lose weight which was my doctors suggestion. I never ate all that much of those things. I always had a diet that’s focused on fish, lean meats, veggies with hearty oils, fruit etc…. I just ate too much of it. I could easily down a pound of salmon and a large serving of rice or 4 pieces of chicken and lots of roasted veggies and sweet potato. I don’t have a big sweet tooth. I do love chocolate but never went crazy with it. I simply had to hugely cut my portion sizes, weighing meats and measure out the olive oil etc…. I still eat chocolate every single day!
When I went to the doctor the first year after I lost the weight age was like “You must have completely changed what you eat”. And I said “Only how much!”
About 6 years ago (when age 54), I realized my stressful sedentary job was quite unhealthy. With encouragement of my daughter, enrolled in a local couch-2-5k walk/run class. My only goal was to run (with some walking) the culminating 5k race. I’ve continued running about 3 miles a few times a week.
After a few months of running, I had only lost a few of my 20 pounds of excess wait. So I starting watching diet too. I started using MyNetDiary app to track food/exercise and got also interested in better nutrition, partly due to a high A1C reading (borderline for pre-diabetes) at annual physical.
I lost 20lb over about a year’s time and have stayed within about 5lb of that. I continue MyNetDiary for tracking food / exercise. I’m pretty good now on keeping calories in check, but I like the nutritional breakdown and the reminder of the exercise benefit. Also I’m a nerdy numbers person, so it’s kindof fun for me.
Because I was always an eater of non-processed and healthy foods, the ONLY way for me to lose weight was to track my calories every day. In the olden days, doing so was sort of a pain, you had to carry around some sort of notebook and calorie counter. Now it’s recorded on a phone app which contains the information you need and takes literally one-two minutes a day to do. I also weigh and measure foods when at home (and don’t stress about that aspect when I eat out.) I also came to the realization that I am a volume eater. A plate with 4 oz of salmon and half a cup of rice and even a generous serving of veggies leaves me unsatisfied. I need to skip the rice, put the salmon and veggies over a HUGE bowl of lettuce and some homemade full fat salad dressing (when I say huge, think about the kind of bowl in which you would mix up a big batch of cookies). This is what I eat (subbing the protein I use, sometimes chicken, shrimp, lean steak or cheese) 4-6 nights a week.
helpful and encouraging. pretty low carb too, right?
and actually, i think i can do that. instead of eating the side carbs at dinner - substitute for a huge salad.
Yes, but only because I find healthy carbs so unsatisfying. It’s not that I dislike rice, if it had the same calories per volume as say, broccoli, I’d eat it. Same with most other grains. I do eat chocolate every single day. And I eat carbs when I go out. I love bread, french fries and pizza but only eat that stuff once a week (which was always what I did)
The one cruise we went on, we made a point to take the stairs not the elevator and walk around the deck. We didn’t gain (or lose) weight on our cruise. We maintained our weight, which was our goal. We just stuck to eating at regular mealtimes, no snacking in spite of the an abundance of feed & beverage options. We also ordered only what we wanted and didn’t force ourselves to finish—if we were done, we were done.
Salads are far more popular than cooked vegetables at our house as are sweet potatoes as a side or as the base of a meal. I find the bulk and fiber of salad far more satisfying than a cooked vegetable. One of the problems I had previously was really restricting my intake during the day and only eating “acceptable” foods. When I got home at night I’d be ready to eat anything and everything. Now I eat something before I exercise and after, and add a few snacks during the day. It really keeps me from overeating in the evening. While I’ve had some fluctuations in weight, I’ve maintained a 100+ lb loss for ten years.