<p>Okay. I know I’m not the only overweight CC parent. I would love to start a thread for those of us who want to lose a few pounds, get a little healthier, start to exercise regularly, etc. I know there is already a fitness thread here but I find it bogged down with workout details and a bit intimidating. So here’s the idea: Those that want to participate will try to check in daily for eating tips, suggestions, support. We will do weekly weigh-ins on Friday. Nobody has to divulge their weight if they don’t want to but they can if they are willing. It’s enough to say “I’m up two pounds this week or I’m down three”.</p>
<p>If anyone has any additional ideas on how to use this thread or make it more efficient and effective, I’m open to your thoughts!!! But let’s keep it simple so that we will stick with it.</p>
<p>Your timing is great. Tomorrow I have my first orientation session at the gym I just joined. They’ll weigh me and measure me, tell me by BMR, and show me how to use the equipment. </p>
<p>My goal is to de-flab and lose 5 - 8 pounds. I want to look great at my grandmother’s 90th birhtday party in October. </p>
<p>And, I agree. The other thread is rather intimidating. I used to run marathons but I feel inadequate over there.</p>
<p>Readers may enjoy this weight loss book I am just finishing - “Women, Food and God”, by
Geneen Roth.</p>
<p>It approaches weight control/loss from a Buddhist perspective, and while parts of the book are weak, overall it has been helpful, and the teachings can be applied to areas other than weight loss.</p>
<p>Awesome! I want to lose about eight or ten pounds too and start feeling better, get toned up. how about starting with a weigh-in tomorrow at which point we will determine our weight loss goals and start collecting tips and ideas for making this work. I’m excited!</p>
<p>Exercise with goals to improve strength, speed, and endurance. (The common exercise routine of low intensity cardio only tends not to be very effective.)</p>
<p>Track progress by measuring your waistline at navel level; realize that weight measurements can be confounded by desirable muscle gain. Try to get your waistline to be less than half your height.</p>
<p>What I found out if I cut a lot of carbs & sugar, eat meat/fat, lots of fresh vegs/fruits. The inches melt off effortlessly. I do moderate exercise. I get my carbs from the vegs/fruits.</p>
<p>Not all of us on the diet/exercise thread are the hard core exercisers. I myself enjoy a brisk walk interspersed with jogging. You’ll find some good information contained therein. I’ve lost over 70 pounds since the thread was started. Don’t be intimidated. There are plenty of folks to talk with that aren’t into swinging kettlebells, or whatever the heck interesteddad is up to next!</p>
<p>I love reading i-dad’s post but I am not exercising at his level! I’ve lost about 20 pounds since that thread started. Really the secret is pretty simple - eat less, exercise more. Part of eating less that seems to work for most people is to eat way fewer calories from carbohydrates especially grains and processed than we are used to. Also get used to what a normal portion size is - for me 3-4 oz meat (deck of cards), 6 oz of cooked vegetables (tennis ball), 6 oz salad or raw vegetables (another tennis ball), with 1 Tb of oil in my dressing. Bread, potatoes and pasta are occasional treats mostly reserved for weekend eating out. Breakfast is egg and fruit or oatmeal and fruit, pancakes on Saturday, poached egg with an English Muffin on Sunday and 1 slice of bacon twice a week. I usually have an afternoon snack of greek yogurt with fruit and a sprinkling of granola. After dinner I usually have 1 small piece of chocolate. I drink wine only on weekends. I try to exercise 3x a week - weights and aerobics about 1.5 hours. Don’t do it often enough. And I mean to walk the other days, but uggh it’s 97 degrees out there!</p>
<p>Agree with those who have said cut out the carb calories. I have lost about 20 pounds in the past ten months or so and have not felt deprived or hungry. It actually makes me kind of angry, thinking about the time I have spent in my life eating low-fat and just not losing any weight.</p>
<p>As for the other thread, there is so much good information there that I would encourage anyone who is intimidated to just look past what is not helpful to you (true of any self-help group). I don’t get kettleballs either but I still post about the things that are helpful to me.</p>
<p>I’m in the process of cutting carbs. I’ve only been doing it for a few weeks and haven’t lost any weight yet but I’m really just trying to break the carb cycle for now. It’s working - the cravings have gone away and I don’t feel the need to snack between meals. Sometimes I have to remind myself to eat. I will start focusing on reducing calories next. I think I’m going to have to give up my nightly glass of wine. </p>
<p>I believe carbs are the root of our overweight society. Some people become very addicted to them. It’s funny how as soon as ‘they’ said we should eat a low-fat diet, people started gaining weight. That’s because fat was replaced with carbs.</p>
<p>I have been getting in 45 minutes of exercise 3 times a week for the last 8 or 9 months. That’s has made the biggest difference in my stamina and has helped stabilize my weight.</p>
<p>Actually, carb consumption went up*, but fat consumption did not go down (although fat’s percentage of calories went down somewhat). A net calorie increase, with probably declining levels of exercise.</p>
<p>*And mostly in the junky stuff like added sugars, as opposed to fibrous carbs.</p>
<p>I’ve lost around 8 pounds over the last 5 months by reducing carbs. DH loves them & I always made a carb side at dinner & then ate as much of it as he did. Now I still make the carbs, but only eat a little of it. I’d probably like to lose another 5 pounds, but what I really need is to get more consistent with exercising.</p>
<p>Idad has been losing eight to ten pounds a month for quite some time and he says that it has been easy. He started as a smoker and seriously overweight and has lost over eighty five pounds. He had to start somewhere too. Personally I’d want to know what he is doing if I were struggling to lose weight.</p>
<p>At the end of March, he was talking about live strong and low carb. I started using those and have dropped about twenty pounds in two months. I workout regularly which helps. The other thread is for people at any level whether you are just starting out with short walks or cutting back on calories or sharing helpful recipes. There is research thrown in for thOse so inclined and discussion about clothes, gyms, times, etc.</p>
<p>I’m in -I’ve been trying to find the motivation to improve my diet and exercise regularly. I seem to be so busy, tired, and distracted that I am not making any headway. My diet actually isn’t bad, but I have one really bad habit that I need to break:</p>
<p>I drink Coke. Not diet. 24-48 oz/day. I love it.</p>
<p>dylanr, I like Geneen Roth’s writing a lot. I’ll have to look for that book.</p>
<p>Fifteen years ago my husband dropped 17, yes 17, pounds by switching from Mountain Dew to Diet Mountain Dew. It was the only change he made, and it brought him from the overweight category into the normal weight category. I still have a hard time forgiving him.</p>
<p>I think it’s easier for men to lose weight, doingdishes. My husband has been able to drop weight very easily when he wanted to. But I am sure my Coke habit is the major part of my problem. Can’t stand diet soda.</p>
</p>