Niles - weight loss is not a piece of cake!

Thanks for stopping by Margaret! I really think that the idea about getting a pedometer and walking those 10000 steps a day is good idea. I love walking and it already feels easier after loosing about 42 pounds. I still get hot and sweat when I walk fast, but I do not feel out of breath all the time like I used to.

I do recommend my patients to be active, and I emphasize that the activity must also be something they enjoy (Well in the beginning it is hard when people have been inactive for a long time), but they have to try different things to find out what they enjoy doing whether it is swimming, walking, biking, or going to a gym).

I was also really surprised to see how fast my body fat percentage was dropping!!! And pleased to see that I had even gained some muscle mass, and loosing weight at the same time.

I posted pictures in the "Before and After" section on this forum today to see/show the progress of my weight loss. My belly and butt is getting noticeably smaller. And my face is not as pudgy as before ...

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/before-after-between/15519-niles-before-during-hopefully-after-pics.html#post359218

I also notice I do not smile very much (show my teeth). I was in a car crash 7 years ago and fractured my mandibles and maxilla facial bones and lost my front teeth. Yes the dentist saved the teeth, despite them turned blue, but I also developed a gap over the years. That also makes me smile awkward (Hiding my teeth). I have decided to get implants to get my smile back again... Being more than 100 pounds over weight I did not care that much about that ...but I want it fixed now, that I am doing something about my overweight... Because not smiling is sooooo not me.

It is hard to post pictures since it really shows how out of shape I am. I am happy about the weight loss, but I do not just want to loose the weight and become a smaller softer version of me. I also want to buff up a bit and get some muscular definition. But I am working on it ... and as the amount of body fat goes down and when I start training more serious with weights I hope I will begin to see some results next summer/fall.

Also: I am going to visit friends and family in America for 13 days from Dec. 19. - Jan.2 . AND I have to QUIT SMOKING ... The time is right, long transatlantic flights and being with nonsmokers all the time. I will use nicorette products until I have lost 40 more pounds and then use the patches in decreasing strengths, for a while and then, quit the nicotine substitute when I am able to run ...run away my frustration of not getting the drug I am so addicted to.

I do worry that quitting smoking will affect my weight loss, but it is about time I quit that filthy disgusting habit ... It will also making exercising easier.
 
good luck quitting smoking - if you want to do it - youo will be able to.. don't worry about putting onweight... :) your lungs will thank you...

Where are you going to visit in the US?

and your updated pics are FAAAAANTAAAAAASTIC :)

you are looking wonderfully...
 
Hi Niles

You can certainly see the difference in the pictures that you posted. You have every right to be proud of your achievements.

I am not as brave as you - in that I have not posted photos in the before and after section. I was quite a lot bigger than you - and I wasnt sure whether all comments would be "kind". There is a link to some photos hidden away in my diary for my friends to see. I think that it is about p21 on my diary (well hidden).

I seem to remember that somewhere in your diary you mention the question of how to reinforce motivation at times when it is not so strong.

A man named Charlie Walduck lost a lot of weight in association with an English daytime tv show. I google for his name or fire up the link for the show concerning his diet achievements. That always makes me believe again that it is all possible.



I think that the dental work and quitting smoking are both excellent ideas. You really are making big changes.

Good luck with the continued success of your projects.

Take care
Best wishes
Margaret
 
I don't think I worry so much about putting on weight when I try to quit smoking (again ....again, again, again or was it again???).

I know it will slow my metabolism down a bit (So it becomes normal!), but since my eating plan works fine and I loose weight and I have begun to exercise (And Really Enjoy it!!) and I slowly increase my exercise activities as my body can handle it I hope I will succeed quitting too.

Thanks for the compliments about the pictures I posted ... It does take courage to post pictures since I hate the way I look right now ... but it really does help on my motivation that I and others can see that I do work on loosing weight and getting in shape. And I really can see that my belly and butt has shrinked..

Margaret: Dr. Cris Steeles plan look interesting ... I already almost exactly like that!!! I will study it further to see if I can find some more tips in there. And I am going to see where I can buy a pedometer .... I sure wish both of you well on your journey towards your weight loss and fitness goals and you are being a great inspiration to me and other here on this forum.

Mal: I am going (Yeah you wish Margaret ...flying is the right term I guess) to Chicago and the Quad cities near the Mississippi on the Iowa state side. I will avoid all the horrible cheap fast food chains over there ... I don´t hate myself so much that I will eat anything of the crap they sell
 
Mal: I am going (Yeah you wish Margaret ...flying is the right term I guess) to Chicago and the Quad cities near the Mississippi on the Iowa state side.
pssst - quad cities is Minnesota :) mississippi is in the deep south - you're going to cold country...

I live in chicago so if you want a list of things to do - lemme know... chicago isn't exactly the home of healthy cooking - but there are a lot of good places to go.... when in minnesota avoid the lutefisk at all costs... trust me on that - that'd be an international incident waiting to happen :)
 
I will certainly pass on the Lutefisk!! (produced by my neighbors north of me, and sold to Catholics (In their fasting time each year).

Quad Cities is not in Minnesota! It is 4 cities about 3 hours drive west of Chicago on YES each side of the Mississippi River forming the state borders of Illinois and Iowa.:

Quad Cities - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BUT it sure is cold in the wintertime in that area TOO!!!!

I really Like Chicago!!! I have enjoyed the City quite a few times over the years (I bet the Magnificent Mile is shimmering from all the Christmas lights right now ... to use a U2 I have "Been all over the City and the City´s been all over me". Wow what a great time I have had in Chicago. For me Chicago is the real America and much more enjoyable than NY or LA. I also like my friends huge holiday house down to Lake Michigan in Michigan.

Here a picture of me next to the small garden fountain in Grant Park a few years ago:
 
the mississippi river is one big ass river -the state of mississippi isn't anywhere near you'll be :D and clearly I can't read - you did say the mississippi - not the state of :D

yeah buckingham fountain is a tiny little fountain :D

have a fun trip
 
yep that river is big but Lake Michigan covers an area twice the size of the country I live in (Denmark).

Wednesday and time for my weekly weigh-in:

Scale reading: 119.4 kg/ 262.7 pounds I have lost 1.2 kg / 2.6 pounds this week:)

Starting weight 139,6 kg/ 307,12 pounds BMI 41.6 (08.22.2007)

I have lost 20.2 kg / 44.4 pounds in 15 weeks:jump:

2 milestones passed this week:

I have finally lost more than 20 kg
Its more than 2 years ago I was this "low"

We use the Metric system here so we use KG

But I like the Pounds more since a pound is only 0.454 kg (our pounds are 0.5 kg)

The most funny measurement have got to be stones ... I am never sure if we are talking pebbles or boulders here?
 
a few years ago - I was flying from chicago back home to new york - and the person sitting next to me looks out the window and wanted to know what ocean we were over - that'd be the lake michigan ocean -it's pretty durned big... :D

Over the summer, I ran into a group of people who were biking around the lake - that's a pretty adventursome task...
 
now that is a bike ride :ack2:

I really like fishing for all the Salmons in the lake ...I caught a 18 pound salmon in the North Lagoon in the park with the zoo. Basically in the middle of Chicago!
 
There you see Mal it´s a small world!!! And we live 7500 miles apart. I have a picture of the beast somewhere /I even think I have picture of fighting salmon in the Lagoon with the skyline in the background. Every Autumn the Lagoon is full of salmon ... but when fishing one has to be careful not to hook a jogger on the path when casting.

I have a friend he always says: Its not the world getting smaller it is our Asses getting bigger...
 
I found the pictures Mal! of the salmon fishing we did in October 3 years ago in the North Lagoon:

Fighting a salmon, Lake Shore Drive on the other side and the Skyline in the background:



A 18 pound very angry salmon I returned alive (People said I could eat it, but I was worried about the pollution and it was so dark (spawning colors) .They are better when they are silver fresh:
 
No me neither! But some of the fishermen there had big bags of salmon they had caught. They looked like poor people that did not care about the pollution. It kind of made me sad that they would eat these fish ... but they said they had not heard anybody dying from eating fish from the lake....

But the amount of salmon in that Lagoon was amazing! That is something I really like about America ... the rich wildlife almost everywhere. Even in the middle of Chicago.

I heard my friends in the area was out scraping snow this morning! Here it is mild and 45F. No Wonder you write your location is The Frozen Tundra. Well I better go take a long brisk walk. Take Care!
 
Wednesday and time for my weekly weigh-in:

Scale reading: 118.4 kg/ 260.5 pounds I have lost 1.0 kg / 2.2 pounds this week

Starting weight 139,6 kg/ 307,12 pounds BMI 41.6 (08.22.2007)

I have lost 21.2 kg / 46.6 pounds in 16 weeks

But I had a really bad week. So many dinnerparties with so much good food. (Good because there was plenty of good veggies to fill up on...not just the fat crap) I even had one serving of dessert 3 days this week. I was so worried that I would gain weight. Perhaps eating dessert 3 times a week is too much, but if I otherwise eat very healthy and exercise (I have been slacking a bit in that area too ....) ... and I have been feeling a bit more down due to the gray days with almost no sunlight here ....at least the days are getting longer after Dec. 25. The sun will return and I will get stronger and loose more weight every week ... I remember that, since it so worth it! I know that quitting smoking in 7 days from now will be hard and leave me feeling crappy and cranky ... but I will try exercise away my cravings and frustrations.
 
close t o 50lbs in 16 weeks is fantastic... that's over 3lbs a week.. more than 1 percent of your body weight a week... you're down almost 15 percent of your starting weight - pretty impressive especially for this time of year :)

Don't worry about what's to be yet - some people have it easy when quitting smoking,b ecause they're ready to do it... kinda like losing weight -if your head is i the right place, it's not a lot of effort...
 
2 weeks in America and eating way too much fast food and desserts is BAD!!! But I could have done much worse!

Yesterday/Wednesday and time for my weekly weigh-in:

Scale reading: 120.2 kg/ 264.4 pounds I have gained 1.8 kg / 3.9 pounds in 2 weeks

Starting weight 139,6 kg/ 307,12 pounds BMI 41.6 (08.22.2007)

But I have lost 19.4 / 42.7 pounds in 18 weeks


I look forward to be getting back on track again. I bought 4 pair of running and fitness shoes and fitness clothes/swimwear in USA.

I also met a great personal trainer (She was sooooo skinny ...toned. Frankly I think she lived on supplements and ice cream and was constantly smearing moisturizers on her face. And the other girls in the gym gave her condescending looks because she was so pretty and they obviously was not used to the competition from a nymph like her. LOL.
 
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