<p>One thing I learned over the past year is “you can’t out exercise a bad diet”. I was exercising at least 70 minutes a day for several months and not losing any weight at all when I was eating what I normally ate. It wasn’t until I changed what I was eating and the amount of what I was eating that the weight started to come off…rather quickly. I carry my weight in my stomach and boobs. Keeping track of calories (1200 per day)and cutting the white bread, crackers, bagels, and potatoes helped me to drop 32 pounds in 90 days. I am 55 yrs old so even my doctor was amazed at what a difference this approach made for me, especially since I have a strong family history of diabetes and heeart disease. I do not starve myself. I am lower carb but not no carbs. I have high protein but don’t eat any red meat. I still have a light multigrain English muffin every morning with my egg whites and veggies and I eat fruit. I just made H start on watching his “white” carbs. Told him he could have all the protein he wanted but limit the carbs. He lost 10 pounds in a week and he wasn’t really overweight to start with (6’ 4" and around 215). I am sure it is water weight…but isn’t that scarey that carbs make you that bloated??? My Livestrong calories are around 800 if I want to lose 2 pounds a week…You can’t live like that!!! I believe moderation is the way to go. Find what works for you and stick with it!</p>
<p>I agree that ones diet has to be something that one can live with long term or back to the original weight is the likely course. I have been keeping a food diary for several months and have been eating a weekly average of 1600 calories a day. I’ve been gaining very slowly but steadily at that pace. But reducing my calorie intake to 1200 a day average didn’t do a thing. Still gained on that. </p>
<p>The life style change I am going to have to make is the concerted exercise every single day. The snacking is a big problem I so enjoy my high carb, white flour snacks. Once I get down to the size I want, irrespective of weight–a comfortable size 6, I will try to go back to my old way of eating but continue the exercise and keep a food diary and count calories. If I can’t maintain at the calorie level I want, then it will become pretty clear that carbs are an issue for me.</p>
<p>Actually I have not consumed huge amounts of calories with this diet. I know that the whopper jr was a terrible choice, but I really wanted it and this diet allows one meal a day that I can eat as I please, given certain stipulation. I enjoyed every bite of that meal–hadn’t had one since last year, little good it did me. I enjoyed it a lot more than that salmon salad that was, yes, delicious, but not satisfying to me like that BK meal. I don’t need one regularly, but it really made me feel good, and less deprived, and I have been feeling very deprived of food lately. Starting in mid April, we have been celebrating all sorts of things and I have been watching what I eat carefully. Horrible time to diet, but I did it and didn’t lose any bulk at all, nor any weight in the past 9 months. The one meal where I can eat and drink as I please each day, really does appeal to me as it allows me to enjoy anything I please. </p>
<p>For me, the main problem now is the snacking and my beloved cafe au laits with more milk than coffee. This diet does not allow either except as part of the one meal a day, and I really am limited on how much I can enjoy in the one unfettered hour. It’s the scattered eating that I enjoy. I’d rather eat no meals a day, and graze for the most part with 3-4 real meals a week. I am forcing myself to eat some of these meals on the diet. I’d rather snack the calorie’s worth on rice crackers all afternoon than eat the pork roast dinner with my family. I am only doing so because it is a good balanced normal meal and it is part of the diet. It also does me no good at all to do a calorie exchange on it. I’ve tried it. Oh, yes, I’ve been documenting every bit I eat for months now.</p>
<p>The Whopper Junior is not horrible - 290 calories (without mayo) and about 40% carbs. I had two small bites of a McDonalds McChicken last night (driving home from visiting relatives and my daughter had one and she offered - I didn’t eat dinner last night and was very hungry).</p>
<p>I sure wish I could get my husband to become part of this thread!</p>
<p>NorthMinnesota, you describe him exactly when you talk about a good amount of exercise but no diet change. Drives me crazy! He will go and work out for a good hour or more a few times a week, but (IMO) negates all that when he CONSTANTLY stops on the way home to pick up a sausage mcmuffin or comes home and downs a 1/2 bag of potato chips. He is a TERRIBLE carb abuser with no willpower.</p>
<p>Cpt - Do you use skim milk for your cafe au laits? That’s not a deal breaker. If that is something you really enjoy, I would try to build my weight loss plan around keeping it - at least for now. </p>
<p>NM - you and I can have lunch together anytime - our menus are very similar. I have a high fiber English muffin with an egg many mornings after my walk. I throw in any leftover veggies from the night before and it is very filling. Hmm, in fact I think I am going off to make one now :)</p>
<p>One health tip - buy a really good non-stick frying pan. I just brush the pan with olive or canola oil when I want to make something. Good cookware makes all the difference!</p>
<p>Abasket - I live with the other extreme. DH made a commitment to do whatever he could after his heart attack and bypass 15 years ago (he was already eating healthy and was a marathoner, triathlete, etc.)</p>
<p>Going out to eat with him can be a pain. My mother-in-law and I occasionally meet for lunch or breakfast without him and our joke is we won’t tell “DH” what we had to eat! His willpower and single-minded resolve is beyond incredible. I must say, he is not obnoxious about it in anyway - but it living with someone that perfect can be annoying.</p>
<p>By going up and down the steps 10 times deliberately 3x a day, adds 60 calories right there for me. Walking the dog adds 50. Biking for a half hour is 100. That is 210 calories consumed right there. I’ll walk the dog in the morning too which will easily get me up to 250. </p>
<p>So if your LIvestrong profile is putting you at 800, you need to get 800 more calories of activities to be able to eat 1600 calories a day, and lose that weight. Realistically you cannot go on 800 calories a day for any length of time and stay healthy, just as there is no way I can go on 455 calories. What the chart is saying is that we are not active enough for the weight we want to lose if we are to eat reasonable and even thing about dieting, is my take.</p>
<p>That is why I am going the low carb route. My food diary shows that though my calorie consumption is really not high according to most charts and is the amount that a healthy woman should be eating, I was slowly, very slowly gaining on that schedule. It was not steady, but over time, it was adding up and it certainly was apparent on my waistline. I am hoping that I can get my size to where I can live with it–not going for optimal as at my age, there are other factors to consider as well, but I can’t stand my figure as it is right now, and someone my height really should not be more than a size 6, in my opinion because you will look stocky at larger sizes. No way around it. I just want to be a comfortable size 6.</p>
<p>One benefit to my gradual weight gain is that I look young for my age. I don’t have the wrinkles and turkey neck that a lot of us get in our late 50s. I attribute that to the gradual gain as, the wrinkles developed. The gain must have filled in some of crevices the aging process creates. I’m sure I am going to have to address that issue as the weight goes off. Some women I know who lost weight at my age have paid for it in the age that now shows in their faces, and certainly in the neck area. Also, I have a bad feeling that when I loose my barrel middle, I am going to have flab as I doubt my skin has the elasticity it used to have. Surgery is out—so I’m going to have to try to deal with this with cocoa butter, spot exercising and anything else you guys can come up with. And we have time since, there has not been any budge on the bulge yet.</p>
<p>Did the morning walk. Tempted to weigh myself but trying to hold off.</p>
<p>Yikes. Rheumatologist just called and wants me to come in tomorrow a.m. I really wanted to weigh less when I saw him. I didn’t think my appt was until August. Oh well.</p>
<p>cpt, I think part of your equation was that your initial wekkly weight-loss goal was too high. If you’re that close to your goal weight, a half-pound a week makes sense and would allow you more calories.</p>
<p>BCEagle, my whopper junior was the whole works with cheese and onion rings. 810 calories. But you know, I think I will keep in mind that it can be a nice addition to my diet when I am on maintenance. I can still enjoy it plain and without the onion rings most of the time. But it’s not like I get it often–twice a year maybe, so it is a splurge for me. No BK within 15 minutes of where I live and not on my usual errand route so I have to make a special trip to one which keeps it off the temptation list.</p>
<p>I do drink the Starbucks meesto or cafe au lait with skim milk, but as part of my regular morning routine it was not cutting it in terms of weight loss even with my overall cut in calories. So by sticking to the Carb Addicts Diet which I am doing for the next few weeks, it is out. I can even have it as part of a meal with 2 ounces of any kind of milk, but no snacks allowed on this diet. I like it with a pastry as a snack or breakfast. I will be adding it to my 2 egg breakfast, but it won’t be the same as nursing it all morning long the way I like to do. I am going to give this diet a chance as the low calorie thing just did not work for me, though I think the Livestrong analysis is eye opening to me and shows me clearly why it did not. A friend of mine says that milk can cause a bloat on some people that may partly explain my belly. In any case, until I give this diet a chance, I won’t go back to my usual habits.</p>
<p>Once I get to the size I want, I will try to change back over to the way I like to eat with the extra exercise calories in place and see if Ican keep the waistline trim. If I start seeing that it can’t be done sheerly on a calorie basis, I’ll have to accept that I have some carb issues and that I will have to cut down n my carbs for the rest of my life==the snacking, white flour stuff I love regardless of the calorie sacrifice I am willing to make for them.</p>
<p>abasket, I’m with you…wish I could get DH more interested in healthier eating. He walks/bikes with me some and works like a demon in the yard but isn’t really interested when I talk about healthier food choices. I have to be careful to not come across as “holier than thou” since just six months ago I was eating all the same stuff he does.</p>
<p>I have found that I do have some control since I am the grocery shopper. If it’s not in the house, he can’t eat it. I’m taking small steps to change his diet. Instead of potato chips to go with his lunch sandwich, I now buy rice chips. No more ice cream in the freezer, frozen yogurt only. I started buying brown rice instead of white and he likes it. His habit was to eat cookies every night after dinner. I stopped buying cookies and instead offer him a TLC granola bar. I put fruit (which he likes) on the table every night with dinner now and have noticed that if he eats some fruit with dinner he doesn’t go for the snacky stuff as much afterwards. </p>
<p>We travel a good bit on weekends often pulling off the interstate at fast food places for a meal. He still orders french fries with lots of ketchup…small steps.</p>
<p>Gave in and weighed myself. Down 1.5 more pounds! Shocked, because I’m on my period. I should note that I have a LOT of weight to lose and have never been a size 6 in my life, unless you coun’t 6X when I was in kindergarten. ;)</p>
<p>I’ve never thought of myself as much of a meat-eater, so dinner the past three nights of chicken kabobs with lots of veggies and a little brown rice has been different. I have a yummy teriyaki sauce I make that the whole family loves. They put it on anything. And eating two servings of the sugar-free Jell-O with Cool Whip helped me forget about the chocolate pie in the fridge, which, mercifully, is now gone.</p>
<p>Going out to lunch today with a nephew in from out of town (Mexican food) and tomorrow lunch with ds’s asst. principal (Italian). I won’t be fanatic but will try to be mindful.</p>
<p>It’s very interesting to me. I hate fast food. If I could eat anything I wanted in the whole universe without health impact I still wouldn’t go near a Burger King, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, et alia. I don’t like the white buns, the meat seems cardboardy, and I can’t even eat gourmet mayonnaise. Those who like the Whoppers etc., have you always eaten them? Did you have them as a child? Did you develop the taste late in life? What is it you like?</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong. I like potato chips, ice cream, chocolate, crackers, no angel here. I just do not understand the cravings for fast food meals and am wondering if someone can explain the habit and the appeal.</p>
<p>Fast-food lover here. Yes, I’ve always eaten it. My mom started working part time when I was in first grade and then full time when I was in second grade. That was the beginning of all the fast food in the house. Dad was overseas (Air Force), and she was tired from working all day and very susceptible to “Can you bring home (fill in the blank with fast-food place du jour)?” Not just any fast food. I definitely have favorites – McDonald’s Happy Meal, the ketchup and BBQ sauce at Whataburger, the chicken sandwich at Chick-fil-A. And the only time I eat at Jack in the Box is when I’m sick and I really want the little hamburger with the secret sauce, which is a holdover from when I was very sick as a teen and that’s one thing I could keep down. For me, food and overeating is really tied to emotions, and fast food is part of that.</p>
<p>Gosh, it’s kind of embarrassing to type that out. I’ve always marveled at people who say they “forget to eat.” Food takes up way too much of my mental energy.</p>
<p>Glad to know I’m not alone PackMom. :)</p>
<p>However, the buying thing doesn’t work for me. He works longer days, not typical hours so even though I have leftovers/healthy options at home for him to take for his lunch or dinner he often chooses not to. Yesterday I had several grilled chicken breasts cooked and ready to take and he chose to put some kielbasa on the grill instead (when I was at work). Also he has no problem stopping at the grocery and buying his own snacks. He’ll stop and stock up on popsicles, ice cream and chips (along with all the fatty meat - hot dogs, sausage, bacon) so even though I can be an example in eating and buying, he just goes and gets his own. Sigh. I truly believe he is addicted to the sugar/bad carb/high fat stuff - because it’s what he eats, that what he craves. :(</p>
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<p>Sounds like a good chunk of the high-tech industry.</p>
<p>BTW, throw in a bunch of soda in there too.</p>
<p>Again, I think people get addicted to the fast food diet and need their “fix”. I liken it to the pop/soda addiction. I bet french fries are one of the most frequently eaten foods in America. </p>
<p>It’s a rare occasion when I “want” a fast food sandwich. We pulled through an Arby’s this weekend and I got a sandwich and ended up mostly eating the insides cause the bun just adds nothing in taste to me. Now, I CAN get excited about Taco Bell or Chipotle! Other “fast food” options I rely on when needed are chinese or Panera type food (soup/salad). Or pizza, thin crust.</p>
<p>^^ Yep, BC, throw some Coke in there too. Though for some reason he has tried to cut down on the soda and substitutes no sugar iced tea - the BIGGIE size of course from Speedway. That thing is massive!</p>
<p>When my mother went back and got her degree we had a couple of years of TV dinners. Can’t say I’m yearning for them! We’ve only eaten fast food on the road and I can’t say I have a yearning for any of it. I do like pizza once in a while, so it became our treat when dh went out of town. I really don’t think one slice once a month or so is going to kill me.</p>
<p>I grew up in East Africa so my idea of good fast food is a samosa. :)</p>
<p>abasket, I’ve replaced most of my Coke with unsweetened iced tea, either home-made or bought while out. And I get the huge size if out, and drink an entire huge pot (lukewarm; still no ice) throughout the morning if I’m at home. I think that unsweetened iced tea is a virtuous choice!</p>
<p>I enjoy fast food once in a blue moon. I was excited when Chipotle came to our area, but found that I don’t like it as much as I thought I would. I find the food too salty - unusual for me, I love salt and don’t even find McD’s or BK’s food too salty.</p>
<p>cpt, I am wondering whether you suffer from “sugar addiction,” as I do. It sounds like you don’t actually eat sweets, but white carbs are in the same category. If I greatly reduce the sugar and white carbs, my cravings completely disappear within a couple of days. And I am someone who is perfectly capable of eating an entire bag of jelly beans at a sitting (while playing Easter bunny, of course!)</p>
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<p>That is every bit as unrealistic as targeting calorie intake of under 500 calories a day. Remember, any exercise you do is only a “net” increase over what you already be burning just sitting on the couch watching Oprah. Personally, I believe it is a huge mistake to start mentally considering exercise calories as permission to eat more.</p>
<p>cpt: I don’t know your numbers, but the numbers you are throwing out aren’t realistic. For starters, someone who is only 12 pounds above a lean target weight is simply not gong to lose a pound a week or two pounds a week. The last ten pounds are slow. That’s just the reality. If you want to lose it, you should aim for a 1/4 pound or a 1/2 pound a week and commit yourself to the permanent diet changes that will accomplish that. Also, I think that when you are that close to the target, an exercise program to increase lean muscle and get really fit is likely to produce the most dramatic results.</p>