January/February weight management challenge

[tealtreak]

Agreed!

I've tried that type of restrictiveness, and while it often works over a 3-4 week period, it usually just ends up making me feel resentful of everything I *do* put in my mouth. Then I rebound way off in the opposite direction. Bad news.

So, now, nothing is entirely off-limits. But there are, like nuts, definitely things that I am better served by eating only under particular circumstances (like nuts on a salad at a restaurant) or as special occasion "treats". Alcohol is a good example of that. I haven't had any since New Year's Eve and don't plan to have any until I reach my goal weight, except during just a few very specific upcoming special events and even then in moderation. Jeff and I used to toss back a few bottles of good wine a week. I like good wine (especially a nice bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir...MMmmm) but during this time period, I'm choosing to partake just a little and to savor every drop!

HELP!!glad to read this post- since i turned 50- coinciding with more outdoor MT bike mileage- my weight is up 4 lbs.............(or 5) I have been trying to decide problem y/n? lose y/n? I am vegan with an addiction to my garden, mass quantities of veggies and berries...........my main vice being Chardonnay! yikes! Wondering if I should cut it out..............can't really afford a dietitian/coach and actually no particular training goals other than 5-8 times a year I ride Mt bike with my son (19- yes I die, but it is a blast at the time.....) I have not even really posted yet cuz i am not sure if i need to lose weight......... happy for any advice..........

[shootingstar]

I guess I should weigh myself after not doing it since Christmas. The only mitigating factors against a noticeable tighter waistband: has been cycling (short distances) for past few weeks due to lack of snow (which is returning again in a few days) and snowshoeing in mountains in past few days.

It is often underlying vigilance/mindfulness at the very least for me, when I eat.

I have never counted calories yet - but instead in a haphazard way take notice of the fats, sugars and volume of food in my mouth. Sometimes I'm better discplined than other times.

One thing I have noticed in the past few years, is if my body/palate finds a type of healthy food enjoyable, I will want to have it regularily: lots of fruit, even a bowl of cornflakes late in the day (if there's nothing at home to "snack"), etc.

[Crankin]

NY Biker, I totally agree with the response article from the Atlantic.
I am one of those people.
I lost 25 lbs. when I was 25 years old and I never regained it, even after being pregnant; I lost the pregnancy weight in 4 months, both times. And I did this by exactly what the article described. Losing weight at a glacial pace ( a year), changing my eating habits for good, and starting to exercise regularly.
When I started gaining again in my mid forties, I got disgusted with myself and I was bored with my exercise. That's when I started cycling and it didn't take me more than a year to get back to a reasonable weight for my size. While I didn't look as "big" as I did when I had to lose the weight the first time, because I was exercising, albeit, in a half-assed way, there is a picture of the 4 of us, about 2 years before DH started cycling and maybe 3 or 4 years before I did, that scares the crap out of both of us. We take it out as a reminder about why we have to be diligent. I will post it here if I can find it.

[Crankin]

NY Biker, I totally agree with the response article from the Atlantic.
I am one of those people.
I lost 25 lbs. when I was 25 years old and I never regained it, even after being pregnant; I lost the pregnancy weight in 4 months, both times. And I did this by exactly what the article described. Losing weight at a glacial pace ( a year), changing my eating habits for good, and starting to exercise regularly.
Then, I started gaining again in my mid forties. I got disgusted with myself and I was bored with my exercise. That's when I started cycling and it didn't take me more than a year to get back to a reasonable weight for my size. While I didn't look as "big" as I did when I had to lose the weight the first time, because I was exercising, albeit, in a half-assed way, there is a picture of the 4 of us, about 2 years before DH started cycling and maybe 3 or 4 years before I did, that scares the crap out of both of us. We take it out as a reminder about why we have to be diligent. I will post it here if I can find it.

[goldfinch]

I agree that there is less weight loss research on those who lose weight over a long period of time versus those who lose very quickly and there should be more research on this issue. However, based on the weight control registry the successful people had a wide variety of ways they went about losing weight and their strategies have not seemed to correlate with success. Plus, there is the theoretical problem that the end result is the same, you lost a certain number of pounds and you still have fat cells. (Interestingly, the failure rate for bariatric surgery patients over the long term isn't good, but it is better than the long term failure rates reported on dieters, and the bariatric patients lose their weight fast). However, one thing that a slow loss may do that improves odds is you may have less of a risk of losing muscle along with the fat.

I lost my weight at about a pound a week over the course of a year. Any faster I would not have had adequate nutrition. Any slower would have driven me nuts as I needed at least some rewards and wanted to be able to do more things that were difficult to do at my weight. I think no matter how I lose weight (once I starved because I was sick, and 20 years later I lost weight slowly) I find it difficult to manage my food intake. But I can live with that.

More than how you lost weight the important factors seem to be how much you lost, how good you are at monitoring, whether you tend towards binges, how depressed you are, what kind of social support you have and how much you exercise. And maybe most important of all is your own genetic makeup, based on what has been found in twin studies. But more research is needed. I wouldn't assume though that the weight regains are tied to how the weight is lost.

[Catrin]

I lost 60 pounds in a bit over a year and reversed diabetes 2...16 months later I've only regained just under 4 pounds. That isn't from my smallest weight (which was from over-doing things), but from where my weight settled at after backing off after a developing several over-use injuries at the same time I had carried that weight for about a decade, and it was actually much higher - I had lost about 35 pounds over the previous 4 years.

16 months later I certainly still have to focus on what I eat and the balance of nutrition and exercise. If that is what it takes to keep the weight off for life, prevent a return of the diabetes, and to feel as good/active/young as I do - then I've no problem with that. As I've a sedentary job I do expect this to be a challenge, and that is fine.

[Catrin]

135.6 today

Do we have the spreadsheet yet? No problem if it isn't ready yet, just checking to see if I've missed it

[goldfinch]

I lost 60 pounds in a bit over a year and reversed diabetes 2...16 months later I've only regained just under 4 pounds.

Sign up for the weight loss registry!

[goldfinch]

I lost 60 pounds in a bit over a year and reversed diabetes 2...16 months later I've only regained just under 4 pounds.

Sign up for the weight loss registry!

[klesko]

I just sent in my application for the weight loss registry - feels good to be able to do that

[Catrin]

Sign up for the weight loss registry!

I didn't know there WAS such a thing until this thread...and I have signed up for it.