Please share your dietary wisdom

Are there any major insights that made all the difference in terms of your
weight loss or maintenance? I'd particularly like to hear of any 'lessons'
that took years before they finally sunk in.

Thx

Wanwo wrote:
Are there any major insights that made all the difference in terms of your
weight loss or maintenance? I'd particularly like to hear of any 'lessons'
that took years before they finally sunk in.

The major thing I learned, is that over doing things tends to backfire.
Eating too little, or exercising too much ultimately made things worse
for me. When I finally managed to lose, it was slow but consistent..


Will McGugan

"Wanwo" wrote in message
...
Are there any major insights that made all the difference in terms of your
weight loss or maintenance? I'd particularly like to hear of any 'lessons'
that took years before they finally sunk in.

Thx

The stupid thing I've learnt which may not be applicable to you is that
short people can't eat as much as tall people! I know it sounds silly but
I'm only 5.2 and I just hadn't realised the effect that had on my cals. My
maintenance cals are about 1600 which I'd previously seen as a diet level!

Rachael
176/114/119

Wanwo wrote:

Are there any major insights that made all the difference in terms of your
weight loss or maintenance? I'd particularly like to hear of any 'lessons'
that took years before they finally sunk in.

Every time I tried something extreme I failed. I finally
tried something that steadily moved into the moderate
realm and here I am years later. Struggling to stay
moderate, argh. But at least it's a lot better than
crashing completely off. All-or-nothing nearly always
equals nothing. Plans without a written Maintenance
phase are fad diets.

Every time I viewed it as a matter of patience and
progress I failed. I finally took the view of asking
myself what other choice I had. Do it or get fat again,
patience has nothing to do with it. And here I am years
later knowing that they years pass whether I'm patient
or not whether I'm in a hurry or not. It's entirely
about my behavior not about what progress I'm making
in some time-span so long as I'm on-process. As long
as I'm on-process I'm doing fine. Of course I had to
pick a process that included some amount of tracking
my weight, that has to be a factor somewhere, just not
the one at the top of the list.

Every time I viewed it as a diet I failed. I finally
decided that this is the way I eat. If I fall off the
wagon I didn't fall off the wagon, I ate wrong and the
natural reaction is to return to what's right. And
here I am years later. Did I fall off a bunch of
times over the years, or did I make mistakes a number
of times over the years? Quite a different reaction
based on those two viewpoints.

Every time I tried to roll my own I failed. I finally
picked one well designed and popular plan and followed
it. Most particularly I followed the parts that aren't
obvious and that i found hard to believe. Those parts
worked anyways, huh, decades of effort by the author
really happened and it really worked.

Every time I tried to use belt notches or whatever as
motivators I didn't last on my plan. I had to find a
way to make what I was doing simply what I was doing
and make the belt notches be a consequence not a goal.

All that and I haven't yet mentioned which process I
selected because I think there are plenty of good valid
processes. The one I picked was Atkins and I'm happy
with it.

I made learning my hobby so now I know why Atkins works.
While I was doing it I didn't know why and it wasn't
important to knw, just that it did know. I learned
because I joy personal enrichment out of the learning
not because I needed justification.

Wanwo wrote:
Are there any major insights that made all the difference in terms of your
weight loss or maintenance? I'd particularly like to hear of any 'lessons'
that took years before they finally sunk in.

Thx



- Find your motivation. For me, it was a photo of a person who I didn't
recognize as being me.
- Set (realistic) goals. Write them down. Keep them.
- Journal. Log foods, exercise, weight/measurements, etc.
- Be honest with yourself
- Count something. I read this one somewhere. Count calories or carbs
or servings (a la food exchanges) or whatever it is that works for you
but count them.
- Walk a lot.
- Drink more water
- Eat less and move more
- Go with the good stuff. If you are going to bother to have chocolate,
get the really good chocolate, not the "gas station" brands, etc. (oh,
to paraphrase Cookie Monster, "Chocolate is a sometimes food.")
- Learn about nutrition. This will help you figure out what works for
you.
- Remember that this is a lifestyle change. It is relatively permanent,
although you'll make some adjustments along the way as your activities
change/evolve, as your metabolism changes. For women, as your hormone
levels change.


--
jmk in NC

Ignoramus3644 wrote:


Will, I must gently note that over-promoting your software also could
backfire. Unlike other people, I see a place in this newsgroup for a
little software advertising, but make sure to not overdo it.

The whole readership of this newsgroup is probably 100 people at most,
probably closer to 70 people, keep that in mind that by advertising
here, you are not tapping a big market.


I'm not really 'advertising', my post on this thread was just meant to
help - I'm an ex dieter and I think I may have some wisdom to depart. I
didn't even mention my software in this thread..

But, like you said - I'll be sure not to overdo it.


Will

Will McGugan wrote:
Wanwo wrote:

Are there any major insights that made all the difference in terms of
your weight loss or maintenance? I'd particularly like to hear of any
'lessons' that took years before they finally sunk in.


The major thing I learned, is that over doing things tends to backfire.
Eating too little, or exercising too much ultimately made things worse
for me. When I finally managed to lose, it was slow but consistent..


Will McGugan

Ah yes, moderation.

--
jmk in NC

Wanwo schreef:
Are there any major insights that made all the difference in terms of your
weight loss or maintenance? I'd particularly like to hear of any 'lessons'
that took years before they finally sunk in.

1) Most important:

Calories in - calories out 0 = weight loss.
Calories in - calories out 0 = weight gain.

Really. Even if you count your fat grams.
Really. Even if you never eat fat and carbs in the same meal.
No *really*, I mean it! Even if you eat low-carb.
No matter what: calories in must be less than calories out. Nothing else
works. This may be easier for some people on low-carb, for others on
low-fat; but the equation still holds: calories in MUST be less than
calories out, or you won't lose.

If that had only sunk in earlier, I could have been in maintenance for
*years* already!

2) It isn't necessary to eat 1200 kCal/day, except if you're a small
woman who doesn't exercise a lot and is almost at goal. If you're just
starting out, you may lose just fine on 2300 kCal/day or even more,
depending on your start weight, sex, and activity level; and you won't
feel hungry and miserable all the time and use up a lot of willpower for
nothing. I learned that on this NG, and if I had know *that* earlier, I
probably never would have 'rebounded' the way I did after Weight
Watchers, and been in maintenance for *decades* (2 decades ;-). But I
knew only 'diet mode', which was 1200/1300 kCal/day, and 'normal eating'
which was insert favorite deity knows how much - I certainly didn't.

3) It really helps a LOT to weigh and measure everything you eat and
drink, and write it down. Using a diet program makes that much easier. I
use FitDay PC, myself (and the website, http://www.fitday.com before
that, but there are others.

HTH,

Berna (101.5/65.1/64 kg)
--
( )_( ) Berna M. Bleeker-Slikker
/ . . \
\ \@/ / http://www.volksliedjes.nl

Ignoramus3644 wrote in message
...
On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 17:46:13 +0100, Will McGugan
wrote:
Wanwo wrote:
Are there any major insights that made all the difference in
terms of your
weight loss or maintenance? I'd particularly like to hear of any
'lessons'
that took years before they finally sunk in.

The major thing I learned, is that over doing things tends to
backfire.
Eating too little, or exercising too much ultimately made things
worse
for me. When I finally managed to lose, it was slow but
consistent..

Agreed.

Will, I must gently note that over-promoting your software also
could
backfire. Unlike other people, I see a place in this newsgroup for a
little software advertising, but make sure to not overdo it.

The whole readership of this newsgroup is probably 100 people at
most,
probably closer to 70 people, keep that in mind that by advertising
here, you are not tapping a big market.

But internet searches and the several usenet archive websites make it
highly possible that someone searching for diet software will come
across his messages without ever being a reader of the group.

I think most consumer needs in the diet software market are met with
existing products and it will be difficult to differentiate any new
product to the degree necessary to make a living so I think he is wise
to solicit comments or beta-testers from this group, if that in fact
is what he is doing. I currently don't have the time to beta-test,
etc. so I haven't checked any links he has offered. Below I am posting
the relevant information from the FAQ regarding those posters who
stand to benefit financially from weight loss products that can guide
Will in the future.

From the FAQ (http://asd.dozer.com) --
Because a.s.d is not a moderated group, there is no way to prevent
individuals or companies from posting advertisements for their
products. However, anyone contemplating posting such messages should
be aware that advertisements, particularly those for weight loss plans
or diet aids are emphatically not welcome here. This includes, but is
not limited to, herbalife, metabolife, colorad, chitosan, pyruvate,
other weight loss supplements, plans, methods and aids . Our
definition of an ad includes posting info about a product and saying
e-mail me for more info, posting another's web site URL if the web
site sells a product, and any other product recommendation where you
stand to benefit financially should the readers of your post purchase
the product recommended. Anyone posting any type of ad will reported
their ISP for placing an ad in a noncommercial newsgroup that does not
allow advertising. Furthermore, the web site host, should it be
different from the spammer's ISP, will be alerted that spam is being
posted in regards to the web site that they host.

Many a.s.d readers have already learned the hard way that sustained,
healthy weight loss doesn't come from over-the-counter remedies, and
that "too good to be true" diets are just that. (a.s.d readers who
encounter advertisements posted to the newsgroup should mail the
advertiser a copy of this FAQ and report the ad to the spammer's ISP.)
.. Should there be a question posted about a product you sell, please
do not respond. The fact that you stand to benefit financially from
the recommendation you would make, makes the credibility and
motivation of your recommendation suspect.

There are a few newsgroups (those in the biz.* hierarchy, and those
with "marketplace" or "for sail" in their names) where ads are
permitted. Advertisers who are interested in reaching dieters or
nutrition-conscious readers should check out alt.for sale.nutrition in
particular. An alternative to advertising via Usenet is to set up your
own site on the World Wide web. The URL (address) of your Web site can
be included in the signature file that you append to posts you make in
alt.support.diet, but please do not post articles that contain nothing
more than pointers to your Web site--such articles fall within the
technical definition of "advertisements." (Before including
advertising in your Web site, be sure to check with your Internet
service provider; many ISP's prohibit commercial ventures from
personal accounts.)

"Wanwo" wrote in message
...
Are there any major insights that made all the difference in terms of your
weight loss or maintenance? I'd particularly like to hear of any 'lessons'
that took years before they finally sunk in.



Concentrate on progress, not perfection

Ignore advice that you know is wrong for you even if it works for someone
else

Never give up


Mary
325-168-150