How do you keep your focus?

You guys are great. It's awesome to see so much success.
I've yo-yo'd all my life.....exercised......dieted....reached a
goal.....gone higher.

I've tried to take off this fat for a few years, but haven't done it.
I'd drop 35 pounds. Plateau and then rise again.

I restarted yesterday and was happy to see in Fitday that I was still
within a good calorie range. I thought I blew it.
Tonight a friend called and I went out for pizza believing I could
control myself. I totally forgot about it until I reached for an
extra brownie. I felt ashamed, so I put it back

Much is happening in my life that's not the best and I'm picking up
the pieces, but it often relates to weight issues.

I really want to succeed this time. I have this fear that it will be
just like all the other times.
WW says the average stay before a person quits is only 2 weeks.
That has been my magic number. Just after 2 weeks something
stressful happens. I go off and away.

What do you guys do to keep your focus and reach your success?

Thanks,
Mike

360/360/265
ova-lacto veg
11/29/03

I just keep my focus. Do same things every day. Eat same amounts every
day. Post to alt.support.diet every day. Refuse any food offered by
anyone if it does not fit my plan. Record my honest weight every day.

You're on automatic. Glad it's working so well for you.
I'll look at adding those things in my life.

You may have serious issues with appetite and metabolism etc, as your
weight is way beyond a typical fat person range. Standard advice may
be less than what you need. But trying above all to keep doing exactly
the same things every day help.

What is a serious appetite issue?


You may not genuinely feel the need to lose weight yet and not be
motivated properly.


You may be going on weird fad diets and crash diets instead of
adopting a sensible weight loss programs. Like, now you are suddenly a
lacto ovo vegetarian. Why?

No weird fad diets or crashes.
I've been lacto ovo since 1982.


Do you have diabetes, or pre-diabetes?
Neither


How tall are you and how old?
6'5" 47

There are a few people here (maybe just one) who was, I think, 425 lbs
and went down to 225.

265 is a great goal for me.
I'm big framed and muscular.


i
223/176/180
Congratulations,

Mike

wrote in message
...

You guys are great. It's awesome to see so much success.
I've yo-yo'd all my life.....exercised......dieted....reached a
goal.....gone higher.

I've tried to take off this fat for a few years, but haven't done it.
I'd drop 35 pounds. Plateau and then rise again.

I restarted yesterday and was happy to see in Fitday that I was still
within a good calorie range. I thought I blew it.
Tonight a friend called and I went out for pizza believing I could
control myself. I totally forgot about it until I reached for an
extra brownie. I felt ashamed, so I put it back

Much is happening in my life that's not the best and I'm picking up
the pieces, but it often relates to weight issues.

I really want to succeed this time. I have this fear that it will be
just like all the other times.
WW says the average stay before a person quits is only 2 weeks.
That has been my magic number. Just after 2 weeks something
stressful happens. I go off and away.

What do you guys do to keep your focus and reach your success?

Thanks,
Mike

360/360/265
ova-lacto veg
11/29/03

Make changes you can stick with the rest of your life. Dieting until you
reach a certain weight then returning to your old eating habits just
results in the yo-yo weight loss you've experienced in the past.

It might help to make the changes in small increments rather than to change
everything at once. The drastic change in diet and exercise may be the
reason you only stick with it a couple of weeks.

Pick an exercise that's fun for you. I love to ride bicycles but with the
cold winters here in Ohio it's not always possible to be out on the bike
trails. In the winter I switch to the treadmill and exercise videos. I
also belong to Curves and try to get there 3 times each week. Walking is
another great exercise and you can incorporate it into your daily lifestyle
.. Park a little farther from your destination, take the stairs instead of
the elevator, etc.

Making the changes a little at a time often result in them becoming
lifetime habits.

Fitday is a great way to keep track of those calories and check on the
protein/carb/fat ratio.

Hope to see you posting often.

Beverly

wrote in message
...

You guys are great. It's awesome to see so much success.
I've yo-yo'd all my life.....exercised......dieted....reached a
goal.....gone higher.

I've tried to take off this fat for a few years, but haven't done it.
I'd drop 35 pounds. Plateau and then rise again.

I restarted yesterday and was happy to see in Fitday that I was still
within a good calorie range. I thought I blew it.
Tonight a friend called and I went out for pizza believing I could
control myself. I totally forgot about it until I reached for an
extra brownie. I felt ashamed, so I put it back

Much is happening in my life that's not the best and I'm picking up
the pieces, but it often relates to weight issues.

I really want to succeed this time. I have this fear that it will be
just like all the other times.
WW says the average stay before a person quits is only 2 weeks.
That has been my magic number. Just after 2 weeks something
stressful happens. I go off and away.

What do you guys do to keep your focus and reach your success?

Thanks,
Mike

360/360/265
ova-lacto veg
11/29/03

Just a thought... but is it hunger that drives you back to your old ways?
If so, you might want to start by slowly decreasing the amount of calories
you eat at day until you get to something that works for you instead of
lowering them all at once. The 10x your body weight rule doesn't always
apply when you're obese (god, I hate that word alone too). For instance,
I'm 265 but if I eat 2650 calories a day I gain, so I opt for 1600. I
started by lowering them to 1800 but found that it was still a little high.
It wasn't much of a jump for me as I was eating usually 2000 -3000 a day but
if you're usually eating in excess of 5000 (as I know some people can do)
then it's a very sudden decrease in the amount of food you're having.

Also, because you have special diet needs (from being ova-lacto) perhaps
what you're choosing to eat is very high in calories and/or fat. Try
finding lower calorie alternatives and then you can still have your cake and
eat it too.. so to speak.. and not feel deprived. Thus being able to stick
with the plan for life. That really is the key to successful weight loss.
Make changes that you can live with for the rest of your life.

Remember though, along with the weight loss, you need to add exercise. I
found that just watching the eating alone didn't work as well as adding
exercise into the mix.

Good Luck!!! and read and post here often and it may help keep you
encouraged.

cp

One hour plus of exercise daily helps. Would you want to blow all
that effort by eating donuts or other junk food? Also, forcing myself
to do a daily weigh-in. Tough love!

wrote in message . ..
You guys are great. It's awesome to see so much success.
I've yo-yo'd all my life.....exercised......dieted....reached a
goal.....gone higher.

I've tried to take off this fat for a few years, but haven't done it.
I'd drop 35 pounds. Plateau and then rise again.

I restarted yesterday and was happy to see in Fitday that I was still
within a good calorie range. I thought I blew it.
Tonight a friend called and I went out for pizza believing I could
control myself. I totally forgot about it until I reached for an
extra brownie. I felt ashamed, so I put it back

Much is happening in my life that's not the best and I'm picking up
the pieces, but it often relates to weight issues.

I really want to succeed this time. I have this fear that it will be
just like all the other times.
WW says the average stay before a person quits is only 2 weeks.
That has been my magic number. Just after 2 weeks something
stressful happens. I go off and away.

What do you guys do to keep your focus and reach your success?

Thanks,
Mike

360/360/265
ova-lacto veg
11/29/03

On Mon, 1 Dec 2003 08:18:39 -0500, "Beverly"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .

You guys are great. It's awesome to see so much success.
I've yo-yo'd all my life.....exercised......dieted....reached a
goal.....gone higher.

I've tried to take off this fat for a few years, but haven't done it.
I'd drop 35 pounds. Plateau and then rise again.

I restarted yesterday and was happy to see in Fitday that I was still
within a good calorie range. I thought I blew it.
Tonight a friend called and I went out for pizza believing I could
control myself. I totally forgot about it until I reached for an
extra brownie. I felt ashamed, so I put it back

Much is happening in my life that's not the best and I'm picking up
the pieces, but it often relates to weight issues.

I really want to succeed this time. I have this fear that it will be
just like all the other times.
WW says the average stay before a person quits is only 2 weeks.
That has been my magic number. Just after 2 weeks something
stressful happens. I go off and away.

What do you guys do to keep your focus and reach your success?

Thanks,
Mike

360/360/265
ova-lacto veg
11/29/03

Make changes you can stick with the rest of your life. Dieting until you
reach a certain weight then returning to your old eating habits just
results in the yo-yo weight loss you've experienced in the past.

What Beverly says.

In addition, assuming that you won't be perfect at it... and few of us
don't slip here and there, get back on track ASAP after any slip.
Don't keep sliding downhill.


It might help to make the changes in small increments rather than to change
everything at once. The drastic change in diet and exercise may be the
reason you only stick with it a couple of weeks.

Yep. Better to take it as a lifetime effort and make changes you can
keep to.



Pick an exercise that's fun for you. I love to ride bicycles but with the
cold winters here in Ohio it's not always possible to be out on the bike
trails. In the winter I switch to the treadmill and exercise videos. I
also belong to Curves and try to get there 3 times each week. Walking is
another great exercise and you can incorporate it into your daily lifestyle
. Park a little farther from your destination, take the stairs instead of
the elevator, etc.

Any activity helps... keep that in mind. I haven't been exercising
much regularly lately, but I am on my feet a lot preparing meals,
cleaning up, prepping walls for painting, going up and downstairs with
boxes (after moving).


Cynthia
262/231.0/225

On 1 Dec 2003 14:20:45 GMT, Ignoramus15011
wrote:

In article , wrote:


I just keep my focus. Do same things every day. Eat same amounts every
day. Post to alt.support.diet every day. Refuse any food offered by
anyone if it does not fit my plan. Record my honest weight every day.

You're on automatic. Glad it's working so well for you.
I'll look at adding those things in my life.

try it, it may help, depending on your personality.

You may have serious issues with appetite and metabolism etc, as your
weight is way beyond a typical fat person range. Standard advice may
be less than what you need. But trying above all to keep doing exactly
the same things every day help.

What is a serious appetite issue?

I have no idea whatsoever what it might be. I am just saying that it
may be more than a case of a typical fat guy who likes pizza too much
and can take it under control if he wanted to. The point of me saying
it is that typical diet advice may not work well for you. Some people
have binge eating problems -- nothing to be ashamed of, but it does
make dieting more difficult.


You may not genuinely feel the need to lose weight yet and not be
motivated properly.


You may be going on weird fad diets and crash diets instead of
adopting a sensible weight loss programs. Like, now you are suddenly a
lacto ovo vegetarian. Why?

No weird fad diets or crashes.
I've been lacto ovo since 1982.

I see. Are you on it for non-diet reasons (such as ethical reasons)?
If you are in it for health, you may observe that it is not working
well!

How tall are you and how old?
6'5" 47

There are a few people here (maybe just one) who was, I think, 425 lbs
and went down to 225.

265 is a great goal for me.
I'm big framed and muscular.

That's good.

What seems to work for many people is three approaches:

1. Going on a non-radical diet, such as cutting down sugar/junk food,
MODESTLY limiting amount of calories eaten, and adding lots of
exercise (500+ calories per day), such as walking, weightlifting, etc.

2. Going on Atkins or another low carb diet seems to help drop weight,
but many report dropping out or regaining (true for all diets).

3. Going on a medically supervised meal replacement diet.

Myself, I lost 47 lbs with approach number 1. My diet is very much not
radical -- the only thing that I do not eat is sugar and junk food,
more or less. I eat anything else, but I measure my portions and limit
my total for the day. Also I do not eat in the evenings and at
night. I also exercise about 500 cals per day during the week.

What does not work more or less universally, is going on crash diets.

Some people do stomach stapling if dieting genuinely does not work.

My suggestion to you, which is a hundred percent safe medically, is to
completely cut sugar and junk food -- not a bite -- and try to eat
modestly below what would be required for maintaining your weight,
calorie wise. To this, add 1-2 hours of walking, depending on your
physical condition. Eat ast scheduled times and do not snack
mindlessly. It is hard the first 1-2 weeks to stop snacking at night
etc, but becomes very easy if you stick to it. Due to your 360 lbs
weight, running or using stairmaster may not be indicated due to knee
joint issues.


Thanks for the tips, Ig.
I found these helpful.
Refuse any food offered by anyone if it does not fit my plan.
Record my honest weight every day.
trying above all to keep doing exactly the same things every day help.
completely cut sugar and junk food
Eat ast scheduled times and do not snack mindlessly
No night snacking
Some aerobic exercise

You're making a few other assumptions that aren't me.
Exercise wasn't a problem for me until my gym closed a couple months
ago. I bench 425 and leg press 1500. I can sweat on a stairmaster
for an hour and a half before I lose interest. Without a gym I'm
finding other ways to exercise at home with weights, but other than
walking I don't have areobics set up.

There is a saying that bodybuilding is 80% diet. I'm proof of that.
I'm strong. Look like I've done something, but still look fat.

My question on keeping Focus directly relates to the problem I've had
maintaining a long term effort. I'm doing great today. I want to do
great for 4 months every day. Four months of consistant effort would
put me so close to my appearance goals and get me on automatic.

I've over analyzed everything which is a waste of time for me and
that's where the Focus question comes in. So much analysis without
constructive action makes successful expectations hard to hold.

The ova lacto diet is fine if I hadn't turned to ice cream and pizza
when life got me down. I've had some very painful losses over the
past two years where I ate without discipline.

I am now conquering that stuff and getting on with this change. I want
to succeed.


Mike

i
223/177/180


i
223/176/180
Congratulations,

Mike

On 1 Dec 2003 07:44:51 -0800, (Brad
Sheppard) wrote:

One hour plus of exercise daily helps. Would you want to blow all
that effort by eating donuts or other junk food? Also, forcing myself
to do a daily weigh-in. Tough love!

I know a couple of freaky bodybuilders who eat anything they want
anytime. They like to brag a little about that, but I've questioned
a few times how those bad habits will catch up to them when full time
lifting and exercise can't be fit into their schedules.

I've done the daily weigh-in. That hurts more than helps for me,
but....
The daily Fitday thing is Tough Love that keeps me honest.
It still gets back to sticking with it long enough to make the
difference.

Mike

Just a thought... but is it hunger that drives you back to your old ways?
If so, you might want to start by slowly decreasing the amount of calories
you eat at day until you get to something that works for you instead of
lowering them all at once. The 10x your body weight rule doesn't always
apply when you're obese (god, I hate that word alone too). For instance,
I'm 265 but if I eat 2650 calories a day I gain, so I opt for 1600. I
started by lowering them to 1800 but found that it was still a little high.
It wasn't much of a jump for me as I was eating usually 2000 -3000 a day but
if you're usually eating in excess of 5000 (as I know some people can do)
then it's a very sudden decrease in the amount of food you're having.

FitDay says I can breakeven at almost 5000 calories a day without
exercise. Has anyone found those calculations to be true!

This week I'm eating 1500-1900 calories/day and then lowering it 100
calories a week. That fits with what you're saying.
Thanks CP, It looks like you're doing well, too.

Mike


Also, because you have special diet needs (from being ova-lacto) perhaps
what you're choosing to eat is very high in calories and/or fat. Try
finding lower calorie alternatives and then you can still have your cake and
eat it too.. so to speak.. and not feel deprived. Thus being able to stick
with the plan for life. That really is the key to successful weight loss.
Make changes that you can live with for the rest of your life.

Remember though, along with the weight loss, you need to add exercise. I
found that just watching the eating alone didn't work as well as adding
exercise into the mix.

Good Luck!!! and read and post here often and it may help keep you
encouraged.

cp

wrote in message
...
On 1 Dec 2003 14:20:45 GMT, Ignoramus15011
wrote:


You may be going on weird fad diets and crash diets instead of
adopting a sensible weight loss programs. Like, now you are suddenly a
lacto ovo vegetarian. Why?

No weird fad diets or crashes.
I've been lacto ovo since 1982.

I see. Are you on it for non-diet reasons (such as ethical reasons)?
If you are in it for health, you may observe that it is not working
well!

??? Realize that ig is NOT a doctor nor a nutritionist. Being a lacto-ovo
vegetarian is fine. Just makes sure you're getting all the nutrients you
need.

You're making a few other assumptions that aren't me.

: )

Exercise wasn't a problem for me until my gym closed a couple months
ago. I bench 425 and leg press 1500. I can sweat on a stairmaster
for an hour and a half before I lose interest. Without a gym I'm
finding other ways to exercise at home with weights, but other than
walking I don't have areobics set up.

There is a saying that bodybuilding is 80% diet. I'm proof of that.
I'm strong. Look like I've done something, but still look fat.

My question on keeping Focus directly relates to the problem I've had
maintaining a long term effort. I'm doing great today. I want to do
great for 4 months every day. Four months of consistant effort would
put me so close to my appearance goals and get me on automatic.

I've over analyzed everything which is a waste of time for me and
that's where the Focus question comes in. So much analysis without
constructive action makes successful expectations hard to hold.

The ova lacto diet is fine if I hadn't turned to ice cream and pizza
when life got me down. I've had some very painful losses over the
past two years where I ate without discipline.

I am now conquering that stuff and getting on with this change. I want
to succeed.

What keeps me focused is a few things.

The BIGGEST thing is, if I mess up for one day, I don't completely collapse.
Unless you're a robot, and let's be honest, who is (?), there will be times
when you wander for your Way of Eating. But what has saved me is that I
shrug off the dust and get back on the horse.

And, I look pretty darn good these days. That helps.

Fitting into Size 10 helps.

And, continually reminding myself that I'm a good person really helps. I'm
the type of person who punishes myself by eating too much.

Martha