First Post by Newbie

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BigBelly1

New member
Hello!

I came here for motivation mainly. I have lost weight before, only to gain it back. I need a full lifelong plan to eat right, and stay healthy.

I gotta be honest, I love food. I love all kinds of sweets, from candy to licorice. I love fast food from McDonalds to Sonic.

However, it's got me to 269, the fattest (Can I use this word?), I have ever been. I am only 6 feet tall, so I have a Big Belly, hence the user name, BigBelly.

In June of this year, I went to get some new shirts at the local mall. None would fit. I found myself not willing AT ALL to go to the big and tall area, so I simply said, "let me lose some weight and I will come back".

Now, a little over 2 months later and I am down to 240. Due to a bad back, my sole method of exercise is walking. I have been walking every day, first thing. I am up to 5 miles a day, and started taking hand weights, 3 lbs each. I use the GPS Tracking APP called Map My Walk. It's great. I started using a waist wrap thingy with velcro, to help heat and tighten the core.

My diet consists of zero simple carbs, zero milk and bread (which I love), and zero sugar. I have focused on eating food with more protein than carbs. It's hard, but possible. I eat any fresh fruit or vegetables. It costs more, and takes longer to cook dinner, but I can see a difference.

The biggest side effect is I find myself getting cranky, and hungry. I usually eat egg whites with low fat cheese, for breakfast, and some wheat cereal for breakfast, then snack on almonds and cashews between meals. Lunch is typically a bowl of melted cheese and a salad or apple, then dinner is usually some type of meat, such as chicken breast, ground turkey, cheese burger or another type of meat based protein.

Now, my questions are these:

How do you recommend I get through the cranky, hungry days? I can't fall off the wagon, I know how my cravings work, and I would eat way too much. No such thing as a small brownie to me. I guess I am sort of a food addict. I can't eat sweets or I am in trouble.

Any advice is appreciated for a BigBelly hoping to become a small one.
 
Hello !!
Sometimes people can't lose weight because they aren't eating enough cals.
Calculate your BMR and eat 200-300 less. Getting through cranky days is a bit hard, sometimes I just exercise to forget about hunger and it works like magic :)
I usually eat a banana or half a banana before exercise to give me energy. The calories in the banana are easy to burn and give you lots of energy.

Try eating more at lunch rather then at dinner. Can you swim? It is a great exercise for people who can't exercise because of health problems.
Try maybe adding a interval training to your walk. Jog/sprint for 10 seconds and walk until you get your breath back then repeat.
I hope this helps you and I really recommend making a diary for motivation and moral support. Good Luck and Welcome to the Forum!
 
Hi I'm by no means an expert on weight loss but part of my belief is that you shouldn't deny yourself the foods you love when losing weight. After all this is why diets fail and what you actually want to do is develop new eating habits which allow you to eat things you enjoy but they move from essentials to luxuries.

For example I have cut out milk completely replacing it with soya but I still have normal cheese (just less of it and less often). I still take the kids to Pizza Hut but now share a veg pizza with my wife and skip the beer as opposed to a meat pizza, lager and garlic bread.

Part of the crankiness may be coming from what I call healthy food fatigue and sometimes you just need to mix things up a bit. I set myself short term goals and when I reach them I allow myself a treat e.g. today on the scales I've reached 85 kilos which is a milestone which means I'll have a beer with my dinner or a glass of wine.

Good luck
 
One last thing if you allow yourself a small brownie now and then and train your body and mind to believe that's all you need you can continue to enjoy brownies for the rest of your life.
 
Maybe I am a food/sweets addict? It's like I know what will happen if I give in to the small stuff. Even one cookie, or piece of candy, and it's like I have fallen off the wagon.

My goal is to develop a new health eating and workout lifestyle. I don't want to gain all this weight back, as so many others have done. My mind treats food as a happy, chemical induced euphoria that is probably very similar to that of addictive drugs. Chemical reactions change my mood, and they way I interact with people.

I am now a little better, instead of asking the family to move or cover up all brownies, cookies, or sugary cereals, I am getting better at ignoring them with little or no temptation, so maybe the positive lifestyle is turning into a habit.

I am down to 240 from 268. Yes, that's the same number I posted in my first post, yet I have not cheated, or stopped working out. I went an hour at about 3.8 MPH, which burns about 600 calories for my weight.

I am focusing on fresh fruits in the morning before exercise. An apple or a banana has really helped with the daily workouts. It provides the instant natural carbs that translate easily into energy.

How often do you all step on the scale? I find myself stepping on the scale at least daily, and I know you should only do it once a week or so. For a while, I was averaging 2 LBs a week, I assume that's healthy, as long as all nutritional needs are being met.

I also snack on primier protien bars, and shakes. They each have 30 grams of Protein, and less carbs, and finding less carbs than protein is hard, but it has really worked for me.

I started this with a friend, who said he wanted to get back to his high school weight of 150, and I spoke to him earlier this week and he fell of the wagon, eating anything and everything in sight. This is a guy who has run several marathons....and he is the biggest he has ever been in his life....

It's more expensive and time consuming for each meal, but when I feel so much better with less up and downs, it really makes a good difference.

Another episode that happened to another friend who lost over 100 lbs, and has kept it off, he had some convulsion and had to be rushed to the ER. I wonder if it had anything to do with a restricted diet? Thanks for your positive comments, they really do motivate me. Good luck everyone, you can do this.
 
Hi everyone,

I have some great news! I am now at 238, and even better news is I tried on a shirt I have not been able to fit into...EVER, and it fit perfectly. I had to attend a funeral, so it was nice to be able to sport a new, firm shirt.

Fortunately, I have several pairs of jeans I saved, with the hope that I could lose this extra baggage. I can really feel my legs and butt getting smaller, but my core, belly, backfat, and side handles are really slow to vanish. I am working very hard at eating right, and not consuming extra calories, and especially any simple carbs. It seems to be working. I am committed to getting the right balance between, work, life, family, eating right and exercise.
 
The fact that you are noticing a difference in your body is great! Don't worry so much about the scale as if your fat is becoming muscle you will lose inches but may actually gain weight. Also it's possible your belly/back fat will take much longer to disappear than other parts of you. If you are still seeing a difference somewhere and are feeling good, working out, and eating right, just keep it up and the rest will follow.
 
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