My Recovery from Obesity

Good idea.

There is a danger of getting to think that the goal is too far away... then a short hop to thinking that it is "too hard"...

I did milestones all the time...

I am English and I think of weight in stones and pounds... There are 14 pounds in a stone... I therefore had milestones every half stone on the boundary...

I had tons of forum friends in America and Canada and they weigh in straight pounds... I was VERY active on the forum (LOL you can see how many postings I did here) so I had milestones on every 10 pound boundary... It started when my friends were pointing them out to me and before long I was looking for them in approaching milestones... LOL we had forum parties celebrating them all in my diary... Fun postings...

We used to all wait for each other to hit the milestones... :biggrinjester: Then have a party. :party:

It would be a case of who is going to have a party this week... :grouphug: :party: :grouphug:

Obviously there were some major ones... I got all the way to goal and that was a mega party... There were other special ones like when I hit half my start weight... that was surreal!!!

Its just a shame that I have gained some weight over the past couple of stressful years... Still maintenance isnt easy and we are all only human...

I am here as an example to all that we need to keep on working at it for ever...
 
Omega, I really like your attitude and advice. You've been there before... and come back a little. But you persist and simply use past slips to learn and approach the problem again. That's really savvy.

My father was British (a Brummie) so he raised me enjoying the finer things in life, like sausage drippings on my eggs, bubble & squeak w/ gravy and meat pies. My goal is that in time I will be able to once again enjoy these treats (in moderation, of course) but that will have to wait until I have my eating problems under control. This "diet" I'm on has already educated me quite a bit... I'm becoming more aware that much of my weight has been a direct result of eating the wrong mix of foods. I have been buried in simple carbs, sugar, too much wheat, too many processed foods, and too much salt. I believe that I may have a mental edge this time that I have not had in the past. It looks to me like you have a VERY strong mental grasp on this subject, so I hope you don't mind if I call on you to help me out from time to time.

From this point on, I will try to think more positively to keep some distance between me and that "this is impossible" line. Thanks again, Omega.
 
Don, I believe once we have that mental edge you can go all the way. I had that mental edge 3 years ago and lost over 17kgs then I fell off the band wagon and only now got that mental edge again after many failed diet attempts. So let's give it stick and ride it out till the end!!
 
You've got this Don. It won't always be easy or fun, but you are doing great and you have support here.

What's different for me this time is putting things in lifelong terms. I will always need to weigh and measure myself. Even when I reach an "ideal" weight I'll have rules for what happens when a gain of x pounds occurs. I don't know what my ultimate weight goal is at this point or exactly how I'll set up those rules, but I know if I want to lose weight and keep it off I have to have rules to follow and measurements to trigger those rules.

Like you, my days of maintaining are a long way off, but the same thing applies to losing. Set reasonable goals and hold yourself accountable to achieving them.
 
Hey you are doing phenomenally!! :cheers2:
So cool you started this weight loss journey!! You should be proud of yourself!
& I am with the other on this: celebrate every pound you drop!!
& remember:

Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it.
The time will pass anyway.
(Earl Nightingale)
 
Justina said:
Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it.
The time will pass anyway.
(Earl Nightingale)
Click to expand...

Nice quote... For example - you would be amazed as to how much a person's shape can change in a year if they really focus on making their dreams come true... If you think back to this time last year it doesnt actually seem so long ago...

My good friends didnt recognise me and a close friend's mother thought that my husband had taken another woman on holiday...
 
Thank you all again for the support. It's a good feeling to have others take note of your accomplishments. I'm trying to take the time to make it around to all your diaries as well... you are all great inspirations for people like me.
 
Support is what gets me through this slimming journey! You are the inspiration too with your great weight loss! Keep it up!
 
Thanks Mands! I hope there are some other folks like me that are looking at a mountain of weight to lose that take some inspiration in the fact that it's worth the effort to try.

OK, today's weigh-in was not good... up 0.4 pounds.

No, I'm not ready to deplete the shelves of the local donut shop. :)

Fact is, today's gain is only the 3rd "up" day I've had since starting on the 5th of January. I've also had 2 "even" days, which means that of the first 27 days of this healthy eating & exercise regimen I've had 22 days of losing weight. That's the advantage of being fat... it comes off easily at first.

In 3-4 days I'll have completed my first month on this plan... God willing, I should be down around 30 pounds. After that, my goal/hope is to lose another 20-25 in the 2nd month. I am assuming the first 3 months should be 20+ pounds per month; after that I assume it will slow some more. In the 2nd month, my exercise regimen will be doubled to include walking and weights in addition to the HIIT cycling I've been doing this month. My goals may seem aggressive, but I'm basing it on previous experience... 50-70 pounds in the first 3 months is realistic for me. After that the grind gets tougher.

In the meantime, I will continue eating healthy, exercising and trying to break old habits, like eating after dark. I have improved in this area tremendously, but I still have a ways to go. In the past, 40-60% of my daily caloric intake occurred from dinner until bedtime. I'm trying to reverse that, but I do NOT like going to bed hungry.

In a few days, I'll post new copies of my spreadsheet showing what I ate and when, and exercise regimens. In the meantime, thanks again for checking in on me. Have a great weekend and eat healthy.

Jan 5th Weight: 457 CW: 428 Next Mini Goal: 415
 
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Hey dont worry about 0.4 up - that's nothing - probably water retention/fluctuations.
You are doing an awesome job with food & keeping an eye on all your progress.
well done!
 
End of 1st Month Summary & I Need Someone's Expertise

OK, I've decided to break my plan into 30 day increments. Today is my final day of the first 30 days.

My weight stayed the same today, which marks the first 2 day non-losing "stall" since I started. I'm Ok with it because I ate VERY poorly yesterday. I was busy and had lunch with a friend, so I ended up:

a) Drinking too much caffiene;
b) NOT drinking enough water;
c) Eating WAY too little food (I had a 500 calorie salad out, a Half bowl of homemade soup, and snacks)

As a result I figured my weigh in would be weak and it was, so no problem.


TECHNICAL QUESTION: I read I need roughly 10X my body weight in Calories to maintain my weight... approximately 4300 (!!) in my case. In my case I have needed 8000+ calories over the last 2 days, but have consumed only 2000-2400. Using my math that's a deficiency of 5600-6000 calories, which SHOULD result in a 1-1.5 lb loss. If I am NOT losing (last 2 days) is that because of water retention? It's not starvation mode is it? I assumed in starvation mode, the calories still need burning, but they come from muscle tissue instead of fat.

I'm not freaked out, I understand the ebb & flow tendencies of weight loss... I'm just trying to understand the mechanics of calories in/out, etc. Thanks for any replies on this.

END OF MONTH SUMMARY:

- Lost 28.8 pounds in 30 days.
- In 30 days, I gained 4 days, Held Steady on 4 days
- Lost on 22 days.
- Exercised moderately, ate well mostly and was typically free of cravings.
- Had problems with diminished appetite.

Here are my Month-end Excel sheets:

Data
View attachment 19829

Charts
View attachment 19830

Overall, I'm VERY happy with the results. Plan for month 2 is the same as this month, with the exception of getting more exercise. Thanks to you guys for being so supportive.
 
The shorter the timeframe, the less predictable your weight is. Your calorie deficit will result in weight loss at the rate of roughly 3,500 calories per pound of fat. Will it show up the next day? Will it show up all at once? Those aren't questions with definite answers. The human body is a complex balance of fluids and solids that are constantly in flux. Being overweight makes the variables have way more swing than some one without a signifigant amount of extra fat.

A person that is maintaining their weight and is at a healthy weight can vary as much as 5 pounds in a day. So we measure to the pound or tenth of a pound, but we are measuring a snapshot of something that varies.

The long term trend is what matters. Keep your data and charts and do what you need to. Cut your calories too severly and you will lose muscle which slows your metabolism in the long run and makes your % BF higher.

Try outr a calorie calculator rather than 10x pounds and see what it gets. I like this one:
 
Don,

Weight loss is a tricky thing, we know some things about it but often it's just a general guideline.

1) The thermic effect of food: we know that eating calories actually burns calories. IE, when you eat 1000 calories your body burns 100 or so (which is the best estimate). Your calorie burn estimates for a day assume you eat to maintenance. Shave 2000 calories off that and you burn 200 calories less from that alone.

2) Adaptive thermogenesis: our bodies do not want to starve since those that did died back before we left the caves. If the body thinks it's not getting enough food, it will burn less calories as a result to keep from starving. This one is very controversial because we don't have the slightest idea how the hell this works and so different folks claim wildly different things and either one could be right.

3) The 3500 calories per pound lost is a _very_ rough guideline and should be thought of as such. There's a whole lot more that goes into it, and those things become more distorted at heavier weights.

I've got your RMR estimate at 2894 (which is completely at rest, so you burn more than that), but I really don't know your activity levels. You've lost a bunch of weight in a very short period of time, a significant amount of that is going to be fluid from reduced carbohydrate intake to go with the fat loss. At some point that fluid loss will stabilize and the weight loss will proceed a little more slowly from there.

All of this I basically gleaned from internet research, and here is a mathematical model (and the papers explaining it) that I found that helped me sort of understand it better. I can tell we both have a mathematical bent to us, so you mgiht find it interesting. You may need to install a java applet or something:



I wish I could give you more specific numbers, but the whole thing is very complicated. Weight loss and nutrition as scientific fields are not as far advanced as we'd probably like them to be at this point.
 
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Hey - what an awesome summary for your first month. Brilliant!! :party:

MrVee & Quercus have given some great advice.

You gonna rock February too!
 
Thanks, Justina, for the compliments. I am a little data driven and find comfort in getting my head around concepts fully. I don't like operating without understanding what's going on.

Quercus and MrVee, AWESOME input! Thanks very much. I think the feedback you gave me is probably very accurate and has helped me understand more than I did yesterday. I followed your links and used the calculators...

It appears I should be consuming between 3900 and 4100 calories to maintain my weight. Obviously, I don't want to maintain, but that does help me. MrVee I used the modeling app in your link and played with the numbers... "what if I wanted to lose X pounds in 3 months..." and found some very reasonable plans. I'll be using those sites again.
 
Weighed in today down 0.6 pounds. I'll take it. Definitely in a slower loss period, but unlike the previous day, I ate and drank well yesterday. I have not, however, worked out for three days so that will change today.

My first "month" - or 30 day cycle - is complete and today is the first day of month 2. Even though I lost just shy of 30 in the first month, my hope is to lose 20 pounds this month, so I've set that as my goal in my signature line. I think it's a fair number to target and should be achievable. My plan has been to increase my physical activity by about 50% this month, so we'll see how that goes.

So, with today's loss, only 19.4 to go! :)
 
*** SPOILER ALERT ***

I am about to describe all the delicious goodness that caused me to gain 2 lbs yesterday. So, don't read if it will cause you to crave food. :)

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday and I was hosting. I had semi-planned it as a "day-off" to celebrate 30 days of food sobriety, so it was a planned binge. I made St. Louis Style Pork Ribs, Spicy Chicken Wings, Deviled Eggs, 3 salads, a veggie tray with a warm brie cheese dip, hummus, Greek olive & Artichoke Tapinade, and my world famous Albondigas (meatball) soup. Everything I made, was made with reduced sodium and low carbs, but some just couldn't be avoided.

I ate no simple carbs and drank no beer or soda (just water) but I just ate too much. Meat, meat, eggs, meat and veggies. Urp! The good news is that I woke feeling sick, and still feel sick. Apparently, my body has made some adjustments. That's good. Also I managed an early day stationary bike HIIT regimen, so I had that going for me.

Today I am back on the plan. Hopefully I'll start seeing improvement in the next 1-2 days.
 
That's good news. Eating like you used to makes you feel terrible? Great!

That's what a science dork like myself would call operant conditioning. If unhealthy eating gives you a strong negative result, then you are likely to avoid or reduce (in amount or frequency) your unhealthy eating. I did a little myself on Saturday. I had my favorite New York style pizza and had too much. It made me feel awful and tired. As a result I won't want it for a long while and when I do have it again I'll eat less of it.
 
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