NashNathan

Thanks man. yes, we could be twins! I just turned 48 on Jan. 4th. My scale today said 275, it was 272 a few days ago. But i learned eating peanuts is not good lol. Everynight i eat peanuts in the shell. I read one cup is like 800 calories! Wow! No more for me. Is it possible for me to contact you through e-mail? I have my email address on my user name for all to see, but now thinking it will not show because i am under 50 posts. Not sure. Would like to be in contact with you about this all if possible. Thanks.

NashNathan

Vesteriod, thanks. At first i disliked your reply to me, back when i was living in Alaska, but now i appreciate your replies. Yes, i was going to start when i moved back to Phoenix, and still have not, and then prolonged it again. Thanks for noticing that. You are a great person. Thanks for your words.

cplager

I'm not arguing here against recording calories, but this is an oversimplification (and one of the problems with calorie restrictions in general). When you change the amount of calories you intake, your body may react by changing your metabolism. A lot of people who drastically reduce their caloric intake lose weight quickly at first to have it tail off while maintaining their low calorie intake because their metabolism has slowed down to compensate for the lower calories.

For many of us, eating better instead of eating less (in addition to our getting off of our @$$es and onto your bikes) can make a bigger difference than counting calories. There's nothing wrong with counting, but it should be one tool among many.

Cheers,
Charles

NashNathan

Thanks Charles.

vesteroid

I was 272 at my highest and I am 48. I assure you until I decided I was sick of myself being fat, I made all the same comments you have about ending something (an item or a date) to happen before I would get in shape. The truth is I hated how I felt, and how I looked. I wouldn't even let people take pictures of me.

i do apologize if I sounded harsh, my intent then and now is to get you to see the only thing holding you back is you. You don't need special shoes to walk, or anything special to eat better. You don't have to eat the same thing as your dad.

there is a way if you want to do it.

goldfinch

Yes, it is an oversimplification but it illustrates how little it takes to gain weight. Actually, as you gain weight you burn more calories to maintain the increased weight so adding 100 calories a day makes less of a difference to a fat person than it does to a thin person.

No matter what, when you lose weight you change your metabolism. There is less of you so you need fewer calories. Assuming activity levels remain the same. Of course, increasing activity will burn calories. But it is easy for many of us to out eat our exercise.

I have not seen good solid research which shows that losing weight quickly is worse than slowly, to a point. You do need enough for basic nutrition. If you really restricted calories, say 800 a day, you may have little energy for activity so you won't be burning calories that way. So, you may be better off with more calories plus exercise. It is healthy to exercise and a more moderate approach does help build good habits for the future.

It also is possible that the fast diet may have a bigger appetite hormone hit. I don't know.

magohn

Sent you a Private Message - Would be honored to help in any way I can

rideorglide

Another +1 for counting cals. I find it very easy to slip by a couple of hundred here and there, and on a regular basis it makes a big difference.

I use the lose it app to help.

Quality of calories is also very important.

Neil_B

You can't walk in boots in Phoenix?!? Sorry, we have too many success stories here that began with walking. They didn't delay. They put one foot in front of the other. You do the same. Tomorrow go for a walk. Don't bother with tracking mileage or time. Just walk. Start.

magohn

I got your email NashNathan - I just responded.

My pleasure!

adrien

one more thought -- weigh yourself on the same scale at the same time, preferably every day.

You will learn when you ate too much the day before, the effect of exercise and dehydration (how much you sweat) and other factors. It will help you tune yourself to understand what is too much food.

Leastbest

Thumbs up on MyFitnessPal. I started January 1st and I'm down 14 pounds. It tracks every calorie and I can scan bar codes on the food. Plus when I go to a restaurant I can make intelligent choices and not go over my calorie budget.

Randy
www.chubbyforlife.wordpress.com

chefisaac

Feel free to reach out anytime if you need help. One cook to another.... its a bloodline really! If you need anything, dont hesitate to reach out.

bdinger

I'm another one who is a strong believer in counting calories, exactly, all of them, every day. If you slip and have a handful of peanuts - track it. Go back later and measure as close to possible how many there were and track them. Slip and have a piece of pizza? Track.

One thing I know folks slip on is that - they slip up but they don't track it. This can be good or bad in that either you are slipping less than you thought or it opens the door to more slips.

I point it out like money. What would happen if you didn't track your finances? That's right - financial chaos. Everyone knows exactly how much money they have at any given second, yet most people have no clue how many calories they consume.

Think about that for a bit.

bdinger

Actually - no, no it's not. It's science, calories in vs. calories out. Once you find your RMR through either a test or just experimentation it's simply calorie consumption vs. calorie burn. When I hear things like "better calories" yes, I agree - to a point. I know a strict vegan who is morbidly obese and she has been since I've known her. She cooks everything herself, bought through local sources - but she eats too much of it. Fries it. Etc. She's at the point where she will casually question why she's fat still but yeah. You get it.

Your metabolism may change, this is true. Yet it won't change that much. Over the loss of nearly 200 pounds I've yet to see mine change - it's pretty spot on consistent. My weight loss is consistent in percentages, if not numbers. Yes it's true that when I'm 199 pounds I won't lose weight as quickly on 1600-1800 calories, but I'm ready to wager that I'd lose the same percentages.

Eating better is fine, but counting calories is key. I'm sure I could find anecdotal evidence to back this up, but I do have direct real-world experience. My brother, myself, and my wife - when we all count our calories exactly and stick to a strict regimen. When we don't do it, I can see the negative results.

Please don't see this as attacking you, I just see that mindset all too often - in myself too! - and it's dangerous.

Neil_B

Well, while on the subject of oversights, I'm reminded of what we used to tell scholastic chess players. Rated games require scorekeeping - the moves of the game recorded in chess notation. (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 etc....) Kids in the heat of mimic battle often forget to record moves. We advised them that if they forgot to record a move, skip a line and begin recording again on the next move.

Too many people who track stop after they've skipped a day, or an entry. The need to skip a line and begin recording again.

cplager

I agree with this. Again, counting calories can be a useful tool. Eating better and exercising helps a lot too. And what I've read agrees with your suggestion that losing the weight slowly (but steadily) has less effects on your body and is therefore more likely to result in lasting changes.

Diets (temporarily changing your eating habits) are very often not successful. Life style changes (making permanent, often less drastic changes) are more likely to lead to permanent change.

Cheers,
Charles

vesteroid

I have to admit I was wrong...now two weeks into weight watchers I am still shocked at what points certain foods have. I have had two big workouts Friday and then again Saturday morning. When I got done the workout Saturday, and realized I hadn't eaten well Friday ( as in not much food at all, not eating bad food) and to top it off I was feeling pretty worn down, I decided to eat a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, wheat toast, a big bowl of oatmeal, and a couple of bananas. The darn eggs alone were 16 points when I came back to my room and tracked them.

so I dropped back and ate way less the rest of the day as a result of seeing that.

rideorglide

I agree on those basis, and I use lose it to keep track of food in and exercise, but dialing the right amount of calories in for your body weight or composition, to me is the first key.

I think it's easy to fall into the trap of overestimating the exercise calories, and it's even easier to "out-eat" our exercise, as another pointed out.

But, when it comes to calorie quality, I think there's more optimization that's out there for some, like myself to grapple with — and it's all part of that more permanent lifestyle change (as others have posted) that seems to be needed to keep the weight from coming back. There's more research everyday showing that calorie quality is a weapon we can use to our advantage.

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...ust-a-calorie/

Personally I know I battle consuming too many of my calories as carbs, even if they are so-called "better-for you" multi grain carbs —*for a variety of reasons — and not enough of them as protein and vegetables.

I like my protein and vegetables, but they feel incomplete without an even larger dollop/slice/serving of carbs to accompany them — it's frustrating; it's a real battle.

bdinger

I concur completely. My body reacts oddly to both carbs and sodium, so I have to have very little of both. I can do everything identical two weeks in a row, but if I have too many carbs and sodium one of them - I won't lose, or worse, gain. More proteins, good fats, and veggies - and I'm set.

So really it isn't completely all numbers - but it's really close.

bornonthefourth

+1 on myfitnesspal. I started using it two weeks ago and am surprised at what a difference it makes in revealing the little things that add up.

I have the app on my phone and use the scan feature to scan ingredients into my saved recipes. It takes some time at first to create recipes, but it is worth the time.

howsteepisit

The predominant calories in most vegetables are carbohydrates. Vegetable is not one of the three sources of dietary calories, those being fats, carbohydrates and protein. Most anything that is served up in dollops is a high fat item, for example guacamole. This a good example of why counting calories is so important to make sure that one understands what calories are, and the source of them.

NashNathan

Thanks Chef.

NashNathan

No need to apologize. I appreciate your encouragement.

InTheRain

Yes! absolutely count calories... the ones you eat and the ones you burn. Some people have commented that it's not necessary to count calories, or to be obsessive about it. My suggestions is that you only be as serious about counting your calories as you are about losing weight. For me, I track them as closely as I possibly can. Be completely honest. If you have to cheat... count more than you actually ate. And when you blow your diet goal for the day, start again... immediately.

As far as waiting until Feb 1... don't do it - start yesterday. Everyone likes to start these things at the beginning of the year (It gives you the opportunity to get fatter during the holidays??) I started mine 2 days before Thanksgiving. We're coming up on 2 months since then... I'm down 22 lbs. It's been difficult, but not as difficult as I thought it would be when I first started.

As far as diet suggestions? Primal Blueprint. It's the one that I try to follow. Nope, I'm not perfect... and the author of the plan expects that - do it 80 percent and you'll see some good results. While "calories" are not emphasized on the Primal Blueprint plan they are important in a weight loss strategy... track 'em. Exercise? well do it. He's got some great suggestions for exercising to lose fat and build/maintain muscle. My suggestion?... you don't need to exercise everyday - just on the days you eat.

Good luck. Get going. Get Serious. And above all... have fun while you're doing it! Cycling is absolutely my favorite way to burn serious calories while I'm having an absolute blast!