I have the feeling that what your parents also ingrained in you was a willingness to "work hard"...and I'm just thinking out loud here but maybe the reason you are successful this time when you weren't in the past is that maybe before you were convinced (like probably most of us) that there was (or should be) something "easy" about weight loss - isn't that what every diet plan tells us - fast and easy....but once it clicked that it was actually going to require hard work - physical and mental - you were willing and able to just put your head down and get the job done....and that mindset of being "willing and able" to work as hard as it takes, as long as it takes, to get and keep the weight off is something that I just don't see in a lot of people my own age (early 30's)...
Fit by 60! - TomO's Pledge
- Thread starter TomO
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I have the feeling that what your parents also ingrained in you was a willingness to "work hard"...and I'm just thinking out loud here but maybe the reason you are successful this time when you weren't in the past is that maybe before you were convinced (like probably most of us) that there was (or should be) something "easy" about weight loss - isn't that what every diet plan tells us - fast and easy....but once it clicked that it was actually going to require hard work - physical and mental - you were willing and able to just put your head down and get the job done....and that mindset of being "willing and able" to work as hard as it takes, as long as it takes, to get and keep the weight off is something that I just don't see in a lot of people my own age (early 30's)...
I was also raised by German parents and they wouldn't let us leave the table until we had eaten everything we had SERVED OURSELVES. They never seemed to get that at age 5 you serve yourself more than you want or can eat. Every night my sis and I would sit at that table for hours. We'd try to throw some out and hide it when we could. I will NEVER do that to my baby.
Curvie Girlie
New member
Man, I HATED been told to finish my food. Why the hell?? IF I ever have a kid, she can eat as little as she wants, and snack if she gets hungry later.
Wow, talk about generational similarities...my grandparents were not (obviously) German, but Sunday dinners at their house were torture...my grandfather's refrain before every meal "take as much as you want...but eat what you take"...and he meant it!
edited to add: ..but in his defense, he spent his entire adult life making sure there was food on the table for a family of eleven - much of it in a time when it was truly a struggle...I'm sure it was a bigger torture to him watching his spoiled grandbabies "waste" food than it was for us to choke down the surplus we greedily piled onto our plates.
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Curvie Girlie
New member
Well, evolutionary wise it makes sense--we struggled, when there was a surplus, we gorged for storage--for famines. BUT! Today = no famine. So that's the missing link! LOL! Oh shit I hope we don't suffer a famine....if we do, though, we all might meet our goals (tongue in cheek)
TomO
0
That's great to hear. 15 years ago, when I cycled there, it was like a slalom course between road kill and pickup trucks - an adrenalin rush, that's for sure.
Yes, I think you're right on both counts. I was raised to work hard. In fact, I started working when I was 13, clearing timber in a forest. I worked every summer until I went to college, usually very hard physical labor, and that was one of the reasons I was in such good shape.
Speaking of mindset, I'm reading a fascinating book now, "Consumed - How Markets Corrupt Childrean, Infantalize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole," by Benjamin Barber. One of the chapters is called "Infantalizing Consumers" and he lists the attributes that our consumerist culture prizes:
And, especially for Val, let me add one more:
Instant Rice over Erotic Rice
This book is not easy reading, since Barber tends to be on the scholarly and philosophic side, but it's a very thought provoking book, and very relevant to our struggle with weight and fitness.
Yes! And on top of that, my mom was insulted if you didn't take seconds.
It's interesting if you see what is promoted by our public food policy. Basically, it's corn and wheat and corn-fed beef that get all the subsidies; organic food has to survive on its own. This is hypocritically called "letting the market decide" what people should eat.
The bottom line is that there are billion dollar industries whose lives depend on the obesity epidemic, just like there are billion dollar health care concerns whose existence is dependent on our having one of the crummiest health care systems in the developed world.
Curvie Girlie
New member
GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
J/K! Erotic rice = 150 calories per 1/2 cup--cooked in veggie stock, 20 calories per 1/2 cup. If I made it for you, you'd be hooked!!!!
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Curvie Girlie
New member
WAIT! I get it!
Curvie Girlie
New member
I shall scan the package sometime and you can probably get it in S.D.!!!
TomO
0
My version of erotic rice:
1 bag Trader Joe's frozen brown rice
1 red pepper
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp olive oil
sautee the garlic and onion in the oil until caramelized. Add the rice and pepper and stir fry until slightly "crunchy".
150 calories per cup.
But yours sounds delicious too!
1 bag Trader Joe's frozen brown rice
1 red pepper
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp olive oil
sautee the garlic and onion in the oil until caramelized. Add the rice and pepper and stir fry until slightly "crunchy".
150 calories per cup.
But yours sounds delicious too!
Curvie Girlie
New member
Make some for Marlene and see the sparks fly!!!
Curvie Girlie
New member
Erotic rice has brown, black, and several other rices in it!
Happychubette
Banned
Curvie Girlie
New member
Tom, redundancy aside, when exactly did you make th turnaround in your life, and how long did it take to really stay conscious of everything you put in your mouth?
TomO
0
MMM, I like that!
Why do 95% of all people fail? I think part of it has to do with basic nutrition -- they "diet" and view the whole thing as a temporary state. But the other part of it is exercise. They view exercise as a part of the "diet." And when the diet is over, they stop the exercise, too.
I started on July 1, 2006, so I'm coming up on my 1 year anniversary. For the first 3 months, I just tried to eat a bit less, and started walking every day. Then, starting in October, I began watching my white carbs, although not paying any attention to calories. This was more out of ignorance than intention. I had no idea how important it would prove to be. In February, I discovered WLF, and began tracking things seriously. It took about 3 months of counting calories before I really had an intuitive sense of what every food would "cost" in terms of calories.
By the way, Val, your decision to do a triathlon inspired me. I've decided that on July 21, 2 days before my bday, I'm going to attempt to do a 100 mile ride. I'll gradually work up to it every Saturday, adding 10 miles each week, so that it won't be such a shock to my system.
Curvie Girlie
New member
WOW! You started with WALKING and now you're riding 65 miles? SNAPS! 100 no problem!!
TomO
0
Friday, June 29, 2007
Weight 230.2 - The scale gods saw that I had a slight surplus yesterday, and read that as a sign that I have given up. So they are fighting back with the fifth straight day of weight gain. But, little do they know that I have a surprise for them this Saturday that will knock them on their ass again, LOL.
Food yesterday was very high quality (5/5), and came to 2,558 calories:
Fat: 79 gm, 27%; 20 gm saturated, 7%
Carbs: 282 gm, 40%; 43 gm fiber
Protein: 184 gm, 29%
Alcohol: 3 gm, 1%
As I intended, I did no exercise yesterday, so all I had going for me was my NARM of 2,336 calories. This gave me a small surplus for the day of 222 calories, but I still have a hefty deficit for the month of 11,456 calories, and the month still has 2 more days in it.
Today we're having a company lunch at Macaroni Grill. I already looked them up on the web, so I've found some dishes that will be healthy to eat. Later this afternoon, I'll be doing Weights 3, plus some light cardio. My quads are still a bit tired out, so I'm not going to push it on the biking, because I plan to do a 70 miler on Saturday morning.
I was worried that my plantar fasciitis was coming back, because my arches were starting to hurt. Then I found out on a biking forum that that is a common problem when you don't have bike shoes with a hardened bottom that spreads the stress out to your entire foot. Yesterday I got some good bike shoes, and I expect that will cure the problem.
The bike shop also had some good supplements for long distance riding -- stuff that keeps you from cramping up by replacing your electrolytes. I think that will come in really handy; last week, at the end of my long ride, cramping was beginning to be a major problem.
Weight 230.2 - The scale gods saw that I had a slight surplus yesterday, and read that as a sign that I have given up. So they are fighting back with the fifth straight day of weight gain. But, little do they know that I have a surprise for them this Saturday that will knock them on their ass again, LOL.
Food yesterday was very high quality (5/5), and came to 2,558 calories:
Fat: 79 gm, 27%; 20 gm saturated, 7%
Carbs: 282 gm, 40%; 43 gm fiber
Protein: 184 gm, 29%
Alcohol: 3 gm, 1%
As I intended, I did no exercise yesterday, so all I had going for me was my NARM of 2,336 calories. This gave me a small surplus for the day of 222 calories, but I still have a hefty deficit for the month of 11,456 calories, and the month still has 2 more days in it.
Today we're having a company lunch at Macaroni Grill. I already looked them up on the web, so I've found some dishes that will be healthy to eat. Later this afternoon, I'll be doing Weights 3, plus some light cardio. My quads are still a bit tired out, so I'm not going to push it on the biking, because I plan to do a 70 miler on Saturday morning.
I was worried that my plantar fasciitis was coming back, because my arches were starting to hurt. Then I found out on a biking forum that that is a common problem when you don't have bike shoes with a hardened bottom that spreads the stress out to your entire foot. Yesterday I got some good bike shoes, and I expect that will cure the problem.
The bike shop also had some good supplements for long distance riding -- stuff that keeps you from cramping up by replacing your electrolytes. I think that will come in really handy; last week, at the end of my long ride, cramping was beginning to be a major problem.
Mornin' Tom! I thought you might find this interesting...
My girlfriend (the one who has b.c.) works in a pharmacy located in a major department store. She was telling me about the book that is supposed to be followed along with taking the Alli....which I didn't even know they had...so out of curiosity I popped in the WallyWorld this morning and checked it out...and it's surprisingly a well balanced weight loss plan, encouraging exercise and centered around consuming a decent calorie intake and whole foods with some killer recipies that might make it a worthwile purchase...and I couldn't figure out why in the world someone couldn't just follow the plan and lose weight without the other "unexpectedly pooping in your pants" nonsense....and on the way home it hit me...cause the stupid drug just makes it a faster process...that's all...although the claim is that you lose "more" weight with the product than without, in real world speak that just means that you're going to lose it a little faster because of the greater deficit created by the fat not being absorbed. I don't get it.
My girlfriend (the one who has b.c.) works in a pharmacy located in a major department store. She was telling me about the book that is supposed to be followed along with taking the Alli....which I didn't even know they had...so out of curiosity I popped in the WallyWorld this morning and checked it out...and it's surprisingly a well balanced weight loss plan, encouraging exercise and centered around consuming a decent calorie intake and whole foods with some killer recipies that might make it a worthwile purchase...and I couldn't figure out why in the world someone couldn't just follow the plan and lose weight without the other "unexpectedly pooping in your pants" nonsense....and on the way home it hit me...cause the stupid drug just makes it a faster process...that's all...although the claim is that you lose "more" weight with the product than without, in real world speak that just means that you're going to lose it a little faster because of the greater deficit created by the fat not being absorbed. I don't get it.