Thanks for your support and ideas

I truly appreciated all the support I got from posting. I have been
using the FitDay site to enter my food intake. I am doing horribly but
at least I am being honest and entering everything I eat.

I didn't say how much I had to loose but I have decided to be honest
with myself and others this year. No more sneakiness. I would like to
loose 175 pounds, but for now I my goal is 10 pounds.

Is there anyone out there who has or is losing a lot of weight. I
would really like to get some thoughts on the subject.

I have decided that I need some help with my food plan so I think I
will join a group (don't know If it is ok to say name or not). It has
been so long since I have eaten decently that I need some help.

Thanks again.

"ButterflyQuilter" <butterflyquilter@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1167909328.934669.186700@51g2000cwl.googlegro ups.com...
>I truly appreciated all the support I got from posting. I have been
> using the FitDay site to enter my food intake. I am doing horribly but
> at least I am being honest and entering everything I eat.
>
> I didn't say how much I had to loose but I have decided to be honest
> with myself and others this year. No more sneakiness. I would like to
> loose 175 pounds, but for now I my goal is 10 pounds.
>
> Is there anyone out there who has or is losing a lot of weight. I
> would really like to get some thoughts on the subject.
>
> I have decided that I need some help with my food plan so I think I
> will join a group (don't know If it is ok to say name or not). It has
> been so long since I have eaten decently that I need some help.
>
> Thanks again.
>

Here's my philosophy or thinking... it starts with pound number 1 and
requires a sincere, honest and committed attitude to continue, even if there
are days or weeks where you don't seem to be making a lot of progress.
Watch the overall, not the daily results.

I started on Oct 23rd and, as of this morning, have lost 43 lbs. What
works for me was radically changing my diet ... no white breads, ice cream,
doughnuts, beer, candy, cake. I have substituted fruits, vegetables, lean
pork, ham, turkey and chicken, soup, etc. I haven't given up a treat once
in a while ... I happen to love ginger snap cookies ... but I only have 2 or
3 instead of 8 or 10.
Yogurt, tangerines, apples and garden salads with anchovies are the main
snacks. I started off with a daily calorie limit of 1200, but have
increased it now to 1500 and will be increasing it more in a few weeks. I
want to arrive at my final goal slowly, for a "soft" landing.

As important, IMO, is a daily exercise program. I started slow ... 10
minutes on a treadmill, but now am up to an hour a day on a combination of
the treadmill and an elliptical machine. When I first started, a half mile
was exhausting. Now I do 2.5 to 3.5 miles every morning.

Weight training. I had read of it's benefits that go along with
cardiovascular exercise and it works. I shifted from light workouts to
heavy weights every other day.

I think it's very important to log everything you do in terms of calorie
intake. There are free logs on the 'Net ... I happened to create my own
using an Excel spreadsheet. It's fun to update it and create graphs of your
progress. For me, I don't get too concerned with carbs, protein or fat
content ... I simply watch the calories and eat a wide variety of healthy
foods. Of course, if I pick something up at the supermarket and read that
of 200 calories, 150 is fat, I put it back on the shelf. Otherwise, I don't
fret too much about it.

Working for me, anyway. The biggest component of success is your
commitment.

RCE

260/217/185

On 4 Jan 2007 03:15:29 -0800, "ButterflyQuilter"
<butterflyquilter@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Is there anyone out there who has or is losing a lot of weight. I
>would really like to get some thoughts on the subject.

Well, I lost 130 lbs. and have kept it off for over 2 1/2 years now.
(I'm a 58-year-old woman.) As to thoughts on the subject -- it's
basically a matter of eating less and exercising more. I manage my
eating by calorie counting and sticking to a calorie budget. You can
see how I eat if you look at a couple of my "Food & Exercise" posts on
this list. I exercise 5-7 days a week, doing both cardio and weight
training.

Do you have any more specific questions for us?

Chris
262/130s/130s
started dieting July 2002, maintaining since June 2004

ButterflyQuilter wrote:
> I truly appreciated all the support I got from posting. I have been
> using the FitDay site to enter my food intake. I am doing horribly but
> at least I am being honest and entering everything I eat.

Honesty is important. I recall my first experience with tracking on
Fitday. I started my new way of eating a few days after I began
visiting the gym. Like many fat people, I didn't realize the calories
in what I thought was 'eating light.' That first tracking reminded me
of what an alcoholic feels like waking up surrounded by empty bottles.

> I didn't say how much I had to loose but I have decided to be honest
> with myself and others this year. No more sneakiness.

Quite unlike Madama Butterfly:

"He will call, Butterfly, called from a distance
And I'll refuse to answer
And I'm staying in hiding..."

I would like to
> lose 175 pounds, but for now I my goal is 10 pounds.

Ok, what do you weigh now? Your age? Sex? Height? Build? What sort of
exercise do you like to take, and what do you normally eat?

If you work at it, you'll find the weight comes off much faster at
first. I lost nearly 30 pounds in the first month.

> Is there anyone out there who has or is losing a lot of weight. I
> would really like to get some thoughts on the subject.
>
> I have decided that I need some help with my food plan so I think I
> will join a group (don't know If it is ok to say name or not).

Sure, name away. My one concern about groups is that they can quickly
get negative - nothing worse than a roomful of fat people complaining
about lack of progress or how they 'suffer.'

It has
> been so long since I have eaten decently that I need some help.
>
> Thanks again.

You are welcome, Butterfly.

Neil
385/274/220

"ButterflyQuilter" <butterflyquilter@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1167909328.934669.186700@51g2000cwl.googlegro ups.com...
>I truly appreciated all the support I got from posting. I have been
> using the FitDay site to enter my food intake. I am doing horribly but
> at least I am being honest and entering everything I eat.

Believe it or not, that's a major step in the right direction. Once you
know your intake you can start to work on controlling it.

> I didn't say how much I had to loose but I have decided to be honest
> with myself and others this year. No more sneakiness. I would like to
> loose 175 pounds, but for now I my goal is 10 pounds.
>
> Is there anyone out there who has or is losing a lot of weight. I
> would really like to get some thoughts on the subject.

I lost more than half of my bodyweight. What questions do you have? There's
a lot of great people on this group that have lost tremendous amounts of
weight so you have some excellent resources at your disposal.

> I have decided that I need some help with my food plan so I think I
> will join a group (don't know If it is ok to say name or not). It has
> been so long since I have eaten decently that I need some help.

I like the Weight Watchers plan. It's very educational and supportive. I
don't attend local meetings because of the leader but I do follow the
program on my own. It's not a bad idea to start out with a group,
especially when you have a lot of weight to lose.
--
the volleyballchick

Nunya B. wrote:
> "ButterflyQuilter" <butterflyquilter@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1167909328.934669.186700@51g2000cwl.googlegro ups.com...
> >I truly appreciated all the support I got from posting. I have been
> > using the FitDay site to enter my food intake. I am doing horribly but
> > at least I am being honest and entering everything I eat.
>
> Believe it or not, that's a major step in the right direction. Once you
> know your intake you can start to work on controlling it.
>
> > I didn't say how much I had to loose but I have decided to be honest
> > with myself and others this year. No more sneakiness. I would like to
> > loose 175 pounds, but for now I my goal is 10 pounds.
> >
> > Is there anyone out there who has or is losing a lot of weight. I
> > would really like to get some thoughts on the subject.
>
> I lost more than half of my bodyweight. What questions do you have? There's
> a lot of great people on this group that have lost tremendous amounts of
> weight so you have some excellent resources at your disposal.
>
> > I have decided that I need some help with my food plan so I think I
> > will join a group (don't know If it is ok to say name or not). It has
> > been so long since I have eaten decently that I need some help.
>
> I like the Weight Watchers plan. It's very educational and supportive. I
> don't attend local meetings because of the leader but I do follow the
> program on my own. It's not a bad idea to start out with a group,
> especially when you have a lot of weight to lose.
> --
> the volleyballchick

Thank you for your advice on WW. That is what I have been thinking of
doing. How did you keep your motivation for the long haul. It is good
to know that someone has lost that much weight. It seems overwhelming.
But I know I can do this 10 lbs. at a time. I would like to be able
to write to you if I need help. Especially when I get on WW.

Thanks for your message
Shelly

ButterflyQuilter wrote:
> Nunya B. wrote:
>> "ButterflyQuilter" <butterflyquilter@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:1167909328.934669.186700@51g2000cwl.googlegro ups.com...
>>> I truly appreciated all the support I got from posting. I have been
>>> using the FitDay site to enter my food intake. I am doing horribly but
>>> at least I am being honest and entering everything I eat.
>>
>> Believe it or not, that's a major step in the right direction. Once you
>> know your intake you can start to work on controlling it.
>>
>>> I didn't say how much I had to loose but I have decided to be honest
>>> with myself and others this year. No more sneakiness. I would like to
>>> loose 175 pounds, but for now I my goal is 10 pounds.
>>>
>>> Is there anyone out there who has or is losing a lot of weight. I
>>> would really like to get some thoughts on the subject.
>>
>> I lost more than half of my bodyweight. What questions do you have?
There's
>> a lot of great people on this group that have lost tremendous amounts of
>> weight so you have some excellent resources at your disposal.
>>
>>> I have decided that I need some help with my food plan so I think I
>>> will join a group (don't know If it is ok to say name or not). It has
>>> been so long since I have eaten decently that I need some help.
>>
>> I like the Weight Watchers plan. It's very educational and supportive. I
>> don't attend local meetings because of the leader but I do follow the
>> program on my own. It's not a bad idea to start out with a group,
>> especially when you have a lot of weight to lose.
>> --
>> the volleyballchick
>
> Thank you for your advice on WW. That is what I have been thinking of
> doing. How did you keep your motivation for the long haul. It is good
> to know that someone has lost that much weight. It seems overwhelming.
> But I know I can do this 10 lbs. at a time. I would like to be able
> to write to you if I need help. Especially when I get on WW.
>
> Thanks for your message
> Shelly

I'm glad to hear you're considering the WW plan. It's a good program and
the one I chose when I lost my weight several years ago. I think there are
many in the group who have had experience with this program.

Beverly
177/142/~140 since 1996

"ButterflyQuilter" <butterflyquilter@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1168000016.423525.301800@v33g2000cwv.googlegr oups.com...
> Nunya B. wrote:

>> I like the Weight Watchers plan. It's very educational and supportive. I
>> don't attend local meetings because of the leader but I do follow the
>> program on my own. It's not a bad idea to start out with a group,
>> especially when you have a lot of weight to lose.
>> --
>> the volleyballchick
>
> Thank you for your advice on WW. That is what I have been thinking of
> doing. How did you keep your motivation for the long haul. It is good
> to know that someone has lost that much weight. It seems overwhelming.
> But I know I can do this 10 lbs. at a time. I would like to be able
> to write to you if I need help. Especially when I get on WW.
>
> Thanks for your message
> Shelly

Motivation is an interesting thing. I'm highly motivated to never be 300 lbs
again after spending all of my life obese. I enjoy being somewhat normal
too much.

There's a group of us at work that compare notes and provide support to each
other and I have a small group of online buddies that help out when things
get tough. Another terrific group is the alt.support.diet.weightwatchers
usenet group - fantastic group of people (and the occasional troll). This
group is also a great group (minus a few kooks and trolls) though I suggest
you get a thick skin till you are able to discern the wheat from the chaff.

Weight Watchers also has a website with an online community. The group I
participated in was fun and lead to the creation of our work-based group.

My email address is actually real but I don't check it every day so if you
want to discuss anything privately please feel free.
--
the volleyballchick

Read my message "easy weight loss with healthy foods."
With the food I'm eating now, weight loss is much easier than it ever
has been before for me, because I'm finally doing it right, and I feel
the best I have in my whole life because I am getting the nutrients I
need. My skin is improving too! I used to have to starve myself and
exercise a few hours or more per day to lose weight. Now I don't. Also
in the past I'd gain back all the fat plus some extra. I assume that's
because of decreased muscle mass plus bad diet. This time I think I
will gain muscle mass instead of losing it and I will never go back to
eating unhealthy.

Read the Perricone Weight Loss book. I think it's the best one out
there by far.
It's focused on eating healthy and reducing inflammation. Inflammation
is the reason why it's impossible to lose weight and keep it off. Once
you eat things that cut down inflammation greatly, then it becomes easy
to lose weight, actually almost automatic. Those things are healthy,
unprocessed foods like raw fruits, raw vegetables, fish oil, raw nuts,
wild salmon, and various supplements.

The fish oil is super important. It has a lot of Omega 3 fatty acids,
which are extremely helpful for cutting down inflammation, burning fat,
improving your mood, and many, many health benefits for your entire
body. If you're only going to take one dietary supplement, fish oil is
the one. I just bought 300 fish oil pills for $6.83, so they're cheap.
Fish oil seriously enables you to burn body fat.

On my new diet I FEEL AWESOME!!!!
I feel so full of energy, so mentally sharp, so strong!!!
And my mood is much better.
A lot of times, I'm so happy and I feel this pleasure inside me for no
reason
other than I'm eating so healthy. It's almost like an orgasm.
I used to be chronically depressed!
Cuz I was eating a bunch of unhealthy food, like sweets and bread and
cereal, cakes and candy. I was totally miserable.
I try to totally avoid eating anything made from flour now (bread,
pasta, etc.)
Flour is like kryptonite to me.
I also cut out refined sugar and corn syrup. Horrible toxic things!!!
Those things make you fat and ruin your health.

> I try to totally avoid eating anything made from flour now (bread,
> pasta, etc.)
> Flour is like kryptonite to me.

Sorry about that. Doesn't affect me like that. I must not be from the
planet Krypton.

> I also cut out refined sugar and corn syrup. Horrible toxic things!!!

Only if you eat to much of it. Moderation is all things.

> Those things make you fat and ruin your health.

No, overeating makes you fat and ruins your health. A small treat once
in a while is fine. I'm losing weight just fine and have NOT cut out
all flour, sugar, etc. etc. etc. I love my pasta, I'm not giving it up.
My skin is, and always has been great, never had problems with it,
sorry you have.

So, what works for you, may not be necessary for others. YMMV

For tracking your meals you will find a free and very good alternative
to WeightWatchers at www.2000cal.com.

- Liliya

SFrunner skrev:
> > I try to totally avoid eating anything made from flour now (bread,
> > pasta, etc.)
> > Flour is like kryptonite to me.
>
> Sorry about that. Doesn't affect me like that. I must not be from the
> planet Krypton.
>
> > I also cut out refined sugar and corn syrup. Horrible toxic things!!!
>
> Only if you eat to much of it. Moderation is all things.
>
> > Those things make you fat and ruin your health.
>
> No, overeating makes you fat and ruins your health. A small treat once
> in a while is fine. I'm losing weight just fine and have NOT cut out
> all flour, sugar, etc. etc. etc. I love my pasta, I'm not giving it up.
> My skin is, and always has been great, never had problems with it,
> sorry you have.
>
> So, what works for you, may not be necessary for others. YMMV