Aurora3
New member
Hello everyone!
I'm currently calorie counting and finding it to be the easiest thing I've ever done to lose weight. I do get impatient though.
I gained weight (about 20 pounds) shortly after getting married in 1981. I think it was moving to Texas and eating all of that Mexican food and margaritas!
Around 1986, I tried the original Atkin's diet and lost 18 pounds in 6 weeks. I will tell you, it was almost all fat, too. All of a sudden, I felt like I couldn't move. My Ketostix were dark purple. I think I was probably low on potassium. I went off of that diet and gained back my weight (of course I gained it back - I went off the diet!).
In 1987, the low-fat fad diet was popular. You know, Pritikin, How to Lower Your Fat Thermostat, The 8-Week Cholesterol Cure, ad nauseum. A friend and I worked out like mad, 6 days a week, eating very low fat. We did lose some weight until we couldn't take very low fat any longer.
Not long after this, I really started to gain. My husband and I found out we had high cholesterol, so we went on a low-fat diet. My triglycerides soared to 500+! My LDL increased and my HDL went down.
I gained more weight.
I blame low-fat dieting for ruining my health at that point.
Fast forward to 2002. I began looking at bodybuilding forums. I followed a clean diet (still kind of low fat, but with some good fats like peanut butter, nuts, olive oil in small quantities) and worked out like mad at home with free weights, lots of walking (no strolls around the block, but fast walking for 1-1/2 hours everyday). In 12 weeks, my cholesterol dropped from 287 to 195, my trig dropped from 375 to 150, my HDL increased, too. The first five pounds I lost, I dropped a whole size. I dropped 15 more pounds for two sizes total. I have kept the weight off. But for me, working out 2 to 3 hours everyday is unrealistic. Also, I got sick of egg whites and brown rice.
I think exercise is very important for health but I don't think, for me, that I should use it primarily for weight loss. Who knows? If I lived in a warm climate (instead of upstate NY) where I could be out everyday, it might be a different story. I probably could literally run off any excess fat. What happens if you can't exercise? I kept getting shinsplints and all kinds of things.
I have about 40 more pounds to drop.
I like Atkins' but I can't stick to it. That would be my second choice.
I'm currently calorie counting and finding it to be the easiest thing I've ever done to lose weight. I do get impatient though.
I gained weight (about 20 pounds) shortly after getting married in 1981. I think it was moving to Texas and eating all of that Mexican food and margaritas!
Around 1986, I tried the original Atkin's diet and lost 18 pounds in 6 weeks. I will tell you, it was almost all fat, too. All of a sudden, I felt like I couldn't move. My Ketostix were dark purple. I think I was probably low on potassium. I went off of that diet and gained back my weight (of course I gained it back - I went off the diet!).
In 1987, the low-fat fad diet was popular. You know, Pritikin, How to Lower Your Fat Thermostat, The 8-Week Cholesterol Cure, ad nauseum. A friend and I worked out like mad, 6 days a week, eating very low fat. We did lose some weight until we couldn't take very low fat any longer.
Not long after this, I really started to gain. My husband and I found out we had high cholesterol, so we went on a low-fat diet. My triglycerides soared to 500+! My LDL increased and my HDL went down.
I gained more weight.I blame low-fat dieting for ruining my health at that point.
Fast forward to 2002. I began looking at bodybuilding forums. I followed a clean diet (still kind of low fat, but with some good fats like peanut butter, nuts, olive oil in small quantities) and worked out like mad at home with free weights, lots of walking (no strolls around the block, but fast walking for 1-1/2 hours everyday). In 12 weeks, my cholesterol dropped from 287 to 195, my trig dropped from 375 to 150, my HDL increased, too. The first five pounds I lost, I dropped a whole size. I dropped 15 more pounds for two sizes total. I have kept the weight off. But for me, working out 2 to 3 hours everyday is unrealistic. Also, I got sick of egg whites and brown rice.
I think exercise is very important for health but I don't think, for me, that I should use it primarily for weight loss. Who knows? If I lived in a warm climate (instead of upstate NY) where I could be out everyday, it might be a different story. I probably could literally run off any excess fat. What happens if you can't exercise? I kept getting shinsplints and all kinds of things.
I have about 40 more pounds to drop.
I like Atkins' but I can't stick to it. That would be my second choice.
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