Any Success Out There?

[lakefrontgirlmi]

Im wondering if anyone has tried any form of weight loss thats been healthy and succeeded at it.

If so please share what you tried and how it affected you at first and overall.

I think Ive tried everything healthy and good and its just such a slow process!

Why oh why does it take such a short time to gain yet so long to get it off of you? lol

The world may never know!!!!

Thanks for reading

[nebula]

Actually weight gain isn't all that fast - it just seems that way due to perspective.

First you have to diagnose why you are gaining weight.

My problem was that I over-ate . . . big time. I love eating, I ate when I wasn't hungry, I ate when I felt the slightest hunger pains (even if I just got up from the table a half hour ago), I ate when food was in sight, I would eat until I was stuffed - and a couple extra bites.

I had to be put in a situation where I was forced to eat less. It wasn't a lot at first - basically the equivalent of half-a-plate less (when you eat two plates of food, that means something!). Then it equated to one meal where I was eating a smaller portion by itself (changed situation, but that's what ended up happening).

As I started losing weight, the joy of losing weight began to counter-act the pleasure of stuffing my face out.

In 3 months I went from a size 14 and growing to a size 12. In another two months I was down to a size 10.

As I ate less this way, I began controlling better when I stopped eating at meal time. The funny thing - when I stopped over-eating at meal times I would stop feeling hunger pains half-an-hour later (it was because I wasn't over-stretching my stomach).

Eventually, I couldn't stand the feeling of being full, and learned to stop eating when I felt satisfied rather than stuffed.

Eventually I learned to be sensitive to not only my hunger signals but my craving signals. If I needed protein, I would eat protein rather than carbs, for instance. When I needed calcium I would crave something like milk or yogurt or cheese, and I would eat that. This helps curb huger as well - when you eat the nutrients your body is needing right then and there.

Also, when food was passed around, I learned to hold it until I actually felt hungry rather than eating it then and there.

I know this sounds tough, but just start this way. When you go to a restaurant, divide a third of the food off and intentionally don't eat it. If you still fell hungry, wait about ten minutes (if you eat too fast, it will take a while for your stomach to catch up that it is filled). If after 10 minutes you discover you don't feel hungry anymore - ask for a to-go box. (It feels great to get 2 meals out of 1 from a restaurant!) After a while of doing this, you can actually split the meal in half!

I hope that helps!

(BTW - I am now down to a size 2/4 . . . keep in mind I am a petite person, 5' 1" height, so I am supposed to be this small! But just by eating less, learning to be sensitive to my actual hunger, and understanding my actual food need cravings, it had a rippling effect that kept on going. I had a plateau point at size 6 for several years, but later I managed to take the next step . . . which has helped me to be less of a food addict. Considering I was 10-12 sizes overweight, this is pretty impressive!)

[broken2live4him]

Susie,

I lost 80 pounds, but you are going to probably cringe like I did when I tell you how: I stopped eating anything with white flour and sugar, more energy, sleep better, and I'm content. That eliminates anything bad for you and you will actually know what the food really tastes like. Oh and adding anything high in fiber is also a great help.

[Joelle]

I cut off flour, pork, chicken and all dairy products from my diet (what's left to eat then you might think, well I did at first, but there's plenty of other food actually!) and exercised everyday for 15-30 minutes (you know, Pilates kind of stuff.) Not only did I lose weight, but I also got rid of several allergies I'd had for years.

[zaidenmom]

Is taking flour and sugar and a few other things kind od like holistic nutrition? There is a sweet lady that I talk to on here who is taking some holistic nutrition classes. I think it is based on physical health, spiritual health and mental health. If you take away most of the chemicals and preservatives, then your body starts to come back to its natural state, healthy in mind, body and spirit. Am I just babbling or does that make sense?

[Joelle]

Actually Zaidenmom, the diet I was following is something close to what you described.

[Treasure]

I have some health issues that have made me gain weight. I'm still not over weight exactly but when I went from a size 3 to a size 10 in the span of just a few months...........Hard hit to the ego. My eating habits have changed but not that much. I drink a lot of water, including warm water with lemon in the morning. Marn suggested it in the Ladie's Lounge. I'd never heard of such a thing but when I did a search on it, I found a site that explained it well. It makes me go to the bathroom all the time but of course that's just getting rid of the waste that my body doesn't need. The saying "an apple a day keeps the Dr. away" is true. Again, I don't remember why, but eating an apple a day is helping me lose weight and giving me more energy. I also read on that site that almonds are great for weight loss and natural energy. They're expensive, but the ones that I LOVE are Blue Diamond Oven Roasted Almonds. My grocery store has two kinds and I get the ones with sea salt and they're delicious!!! Now if I could just give up having a snack of any kind before bed Oh and exercise of course.

[mizzdy]

First I would find out if there is a reason that makes you gain weight, other than the usual suspects such as over eating etc. There is lots of good advice already here. For me the only way I could lose weight was to go low carb. That and the realization that I am not ever going to look like I did in my 20's and 30's! I also bought me a treadmill and an exercise ball that came with a cd that has 10 minute work outs on it. I am not always faithful to the exercise routine since I also have a med problem. And it seems that I gain and lose the same 10 lbs over and over but I have kept 25 of the 35 off for almost 2 years now. I am also short 5' 1" but have a large frame for which my drs was obliged to admit! For me I know if I go over a size 12 its bad if I go under a size 10 I start getting sick. So I guess I am saying we all need to be reasonable in our expectations of what we can maintain. That's really hard to do though!!!! Good luck!

[lakefrontgirlmi]

THANK YOU, ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR INSIGHT. I PUT ON WEIGHT WHEN I HAD MY DAUGHTER, SHE WAS VERY ILL AT BIRTH FOR THE FIRST 8 MONTHS I WAS TOLD NOT TO HAVE HER OUTSIDE IF IT WASNT A 'MUST DO' AND IM ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE THAT, AS FAR AS EXCERCISE I NEED THAT SUPPORT PERSON WITH ME AND I DIDNT HAVE ONE BACK THEN! NOW, 24 YEARS LATER IM REALLY NOT LIKING HOW I LET MYSELF GO BACK THEN AND DIDNT DO SOME STUFF AROUND THE HOUSE TO KEEP IT OFF(EXCERCISE). I PUT OFF BUYING CUTE CLOTHES THINKING "ILL LOSE BY NEXT MONTH AND BUY THINGS THEN" BUT IVE COME TO THE CONCLUSION WE ALL NEED TO LOOK OUR BEST NO MATTER WHAT SIZE WE ARE. AM I WRONG?

YOU ALL HAVE SOME EXCELLENT WAYS YOUVE LOST, CUTTING OUT FLOUR, SUGAR AND ONLY EATING PROTEIN WHEN THATS WHAT MY BODYS NEEDING, AND CALCIUM WHEN THATS WHAT ITS CRAVING SOUNDS AWESOME. EXCERCISE IS SOMETHING MY HUSBAND AND I ARE STARTING THIS WEEK. HE WORKS TIL MIDNIGHT EVERY NIGHT BUT WITH NICE WEATHER AND OUR NEIGHBORHOOD BEING A CALM ONE, WE ARE STARTING TO WALK EVERY NIGHT A MILE. ITS A START AND FOR ME NOT REALLY BEING ACTIVE IN SO LONG, ITS A GOOD START. I DO MISS HAVING A SWIMMING POOL THO, IM IN MICHIGAN AND LOST A LOT OF MY WEIGHT BY SWIMMING EVERYDAY WHEN I LIVED IN CALI, HERE THEY DONT HAVE TOO MANY POOLS AND THE YMCA ONLY ALLOWS YOU TO SWIM TWICE A WEEK HERE, (WHY ONLY SO LITTLE I DONT KNOW)!!!! ILL DEFF LET YOU ALL KNOW HOW IT GOES!

THANK YOU FRIENDS

PS- I SAW A FUNNY STICKER THAT SAID "LORD IF YOU CANT MAKE ME THIN THEN PLEASE MAKE ALL MY FRIENDS FAT" I THOUGHT ID SHARE THAT, IM PRETTY SURE WE'VE ALL SEEN IT SOMEWHERE, ITS FUNNY!

[Guest LadyC]

i lost nearly 30 lbs on my own version of a low carb diet... i did low carb/high fat. lots of eggs, cheese, red meat, pork.... i hate veggies so i had eggs as a side dish half the time even with dinner. then i discovered netrition.com where i could buy low carb instant "potatoes".... and dreamfield's pasta (which is now sold at albertsons). those have had carb blockers added to the products so that you're only getting 5 net grams of carbohydrates per serving. the potatoes were tolerable if you top them with lots of cheese and bacon bits. the pasta is good.

essentially, if you want to lose weight, eliminate as many starches and sugars as you can. start using artificial sweeteners and avoiding anything with white flour. also, even wheat bread is high in carbs, so if you have to have bread (which i do!), there are two brands i recommend, if you can find them. the first is aunt hattie's low carb wheat bread. it has 5 grams per slice. the second alternative is sara lee's delightful bread, i THINK it's got 9 grams per slice, which is about half of traditional breads. if it's not the "delightful" bread, read the labels of other sara lee breads until you find the one that i'm talking about. i know there are other low carb breads, but those are the only two that are sold in my region.

check out the low carb recipes on worthyboards.... if you like pancakes, try the flax griddle cakes recipe. they're really good.