January/February weight management challenge

[Crankin]

OK, interesting discussion. It shows we all are different. I basically don't keep any sweets or junk food in my house, so it's been ages since I regularly craved that stuff. I've never "binged" on anything. But, I do crave weird things like whole wheat bagels and Luna Bars. I just love to eat and go out a lot, so it all has to be tempered with moderation. And, yes, nothing is prohibited except for right now, to jump start myself. The one time I had to lose 25+ lbs. I did it just by eating healthy, no junk, little meat, etc., but it took me almost a year. Of course, i hardly exercised then.

todays weight: 106.6
Mr. Crankin 151.8

[ny biker]

142.0 this morning.

The Christmas cookies that my mother sent back with me are all gone, in the sense that there are no more in the kitchen because I finished the last one a couple of days ago.

However they are still here, in the sense that I can see them on the scale.

They are the best cookies ever in the history of all Christmas cookies that any mother ever baked, so I have no regrets.

[DonnaS]

135.4 this am with a goal of 129.

[emily_in_nc]

107.5 today. Wrong direction! Strange too, because the previous two days I weighed 105.5 and didn't eat an extreme amount yesterday, plus was pretty active. Hopefully it's just salt/water weight as I did eat lunch out yesterday and chili (low fat, high veg) for dinner last night.

I will have a better number next week. <--- power of positive thinking!

[five one]

137 this morning.

Too soon to tell if this is real weight loss or water weight fluctuation, but I'll take it. If I can lose one lb. per week during this challenge, I'll be happy. Once I can tell the difference in the fit of my clothing, I'll be even happier.

I suppose I can call the way I eat modified Paleo. No wheat, pasta, white rice, etc., but I am eating steel cut oats, quinoa, and some dairy. Lots of veggies, some fruit. I'm back to measuring and weighing the foods I bring to work for breakfast and lunch. I track those calories, so at the end of the day, I know what's left for dinner. Then I kind of wing it. Portion control is what will be key for me as far as diet goes.

This has been a very interesting discussion.

[tealtreak]

142.0 this morning.

The Christmas cookies that my mother sent back with me are all gone, in the sense that there are no more in the kitchen because I finished the last one a couple of days ago.

However they are still here, in the sense that I can see them on the scale.

They are the best cookies ever in the history of all Christmas cookies that any mother ever baked, so I have no regrets.

Does your Mom want to adopt me?! (:

[klesko]

I was 145 this morning. I am glad to be back participating in this forum. I try to eat about 1700 calories a day to lose weight slowly - if I eat any less I am starving! I have found that if I do not write down everything I eat (and use my food scale religiously) I will naturally eat 2300-2500 calories a day and my weight will drift up, even when I am exercising a lot. I average less than 30% fat and less than 7% saturated fat. I keep alcohol (wine) intake to less than 5% of total calories but only eat about 15% protein. I need to eat more protein while still keeping my fiber intake over 30 grams a day.

[Jones]

I am currently not in the weight management challenge although weight management is a huge challenge for me. I just wanted to say I have really enjoyed reading the conversation so far. I am surprised at how many people have to weigh every bit they take, it makes me believe that is were I am going wrong. I lose weight and then gain it all back because I don't think I have to count, weigh, measure anymore. I guess I need to realize it is a life time of counting calories or a life time of being fat. The chose is mine.

[ny biker]

I am currently not in the weight management challenge although weight management is a huge challenge for me. I just wanted to say I have really enjoyed reading the conversation so far. I am surprised at how many people have to weigh every bit they take, it makes me believe that is were I am going wrong. I lose weight and then gain it all back because I don't think I have to count, weigh, measure anymore. I guess I need to realize it is a life time of counting calories or a life time of being fat. The chose is mine.

I know one adult who is thin and does not need to watch his diet everyday in order to remain that way. He has that body type that struggles to gain weight (ectomorph? endomorph? I can never remember).

Every other adult I know who is not overweight watches his or her diet carefully. They may not measure and weigh all their food, but they make choices at every meal to make sure they're not consuming too many calories and too much unhealthy food.

(And that one naturally thin guy has to watch his diet anyway, because he has very high blood pressure.)

So I think it's a daily effort for many people, in one way or another.

[GLC1968]

I know one adult who is thin and does not need to watch his diet everyday in order to remain that way. He has that body type that struggles to gain weight (ectomorph? endomorph? I can never remember).

Every other adult I know who is not overweight watches his or her diet carefully. They may not measure and weigh all their food, but they make choices at every meal to make sure they're not consuming too many calories and too much unhealthy food.

(And that one naturally thin guy has to watch his diet anyway, because he has very high blood pressure.)

So I think it's a daily effort for many people, in one way or another.

I agree. Even in a room full of skinny runners, I noticed that most of them were monitoring what food they put on their plates even though they all just ran a bunch of miles.

And every single person I know who has lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off is very diligent about what they eat. Those that aren't (myself included) are the ones who eventually gain some back until they get back on top of it again.

Even eating paleo, I can gain weight if I'm not paying attention to my total consumption. The only thing I eat with abandon are non-starchy veggies - everything else must be monitored.

I think it's the price we pay for living in a society where food is varied and plentiful. If all we could nourish our bodies with was what we hunted or fished, we'd never have to count another calorie!

[Susan Otcenas]

I lose weight and then gain it all back because I don't think I have to count, weigh, measure anymore. I guess I need to realize it is a life time of counting calories or a life time of being fat.

Many many people have this experience. If you haven't read this NY Times article yet, it's a good read.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/ma...-fat-trap.html

[ehirsch83]

127.4. I was sick for a week and on antibiotics so didn't work out, worked on maintaining.

Goal weight 123

[goldfinch]

I am currently not in the weight management challenge although weight management is a huge challenge for me. I just wanted to say I have really enjoyed reading the conversation so far. I am surprised at how many people have to weigh every bit they take, it makes me believe that is were I am going wrong. I lose weight and then gain it all back because I don't think I have to count, weigh, measure anymore. I guess I need to realize it is a life time of counting calories or a life time of being fat. The chose is mine.

I learned a lot reading about the people who are on the National Weight Control Registry. The people who are on this registry have lost at least 30 pounds and have kept it off for at least one year. A number of kept it off for years. I am hoping to join some day and provide data.

There is variety in how NWCR members keep the weight off. Most report continuing to maintain a low calorie, low fat diet and doing high levels of activity.

78% eat breakfast every day.
75% weigh themselves at least once a week.
62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week.
90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day.


http://www.nwcr.ws/

Here is some information they have culled out on those who regain weight:

Risk factors for weight regain included more recent weight losses (less than 2 years vs. 2 years or more), larger weight losses (greater than 30% of maximum weight vs. less than 30%), and higher levels of depression, dietary disinhibition, and binge eating levels at entry into the registry. Over the year of follow-up, gainers reported greater decreases in energy expenditure and greater increases in percentage of calories from fat. Gainers also reported greater decreases in restraint and increases in hunger, dietary disinhibition, and binge eating. This study suggests that several years of successful weight maintenance increase the probability of future weight maintenance and that weight regain is due at least in part to failure to maintain behavior changes.

I keep wondering about the fat calories because my diet is much fattier than it was before I started losing weight. I got fat eating a vegetarian diet that was pretty low fat. It is hard to know from this information if carbs also increased with the fat or was it fat alone that increased.

[jobob]

I learned a lot reading about the people who are on the National Weight Control Registry. The people who are on this registry have lost at least 30 pounds and have kept it off for at least one year. A number of kept it off for years. I am hoping to join some day and provide data.

Thumbs up!

BTW, the National Weight Control Registry was discussed in the NY Times article Susan linked a few posts up. It's a really interesting (albeit sobering) article, and very timely to the discussion now.