The long road

P

Play2Win

New member
The title pretty much sums it up, I suppose. This is going to be a loooong road to travel. The prospect of losing 100+ pounds, to me, is mind blowing, and yet I see those individuals in the before and after thread who have done it, and there are those who are doing amazing in their weight loss endeavor.

I guess the problem I'm having is, I'm not sure where to start. I have already drastically modified my diet. I'm no longer consuming any type of refined or processed sugars. I've also reduced my caloric intake to around 1500 and I'm also no longer in taking a hundred billion carbs (this is of course a huge exaggeration), but none the less going from eating tons to little to none is a huge difference, however like anything else in life you must learn to accept and adapt to change, so it will just be a matter of time before I no longer feel the need to eat those things.

This whole adventure started when I moved to a new city, and started a new job, and now I've decided I want a new body...well old body I guess...as well. It's strange, looking at childhood pictures I was a skinny active child until about the age of 9, then I started to pack on the pounds. Ever since then I've been overweight. Though, when people guess my weight they usually guess around 250, but in reality I'm just under 300lbs, so I guess I'm hiding 50lbs somewhere. :) All the indexes say that for a male of 6’ I’m pretty much near death and they just can’t imagine how I can even see my feet…believe it or not, not only can I see them, I can touch them quite easily without bending my knees. I find that these BMI’s and such are very depressing, but in the end I know it’s true – I just didn’t realize how bad off I was.

At any rate, I've started to eat differently, now the thing I need to work on is figuring out a way to incorporate exercise into my schedule. From the hours of 2pm-1am I am unavailable as I am getting ready for and traveling to work. While my job often requires a good deal of walking, this really doesn't count for much because I'm not elevating my heart rate enough for it to make any impact. I will likely join one of the many 24hour fitness centers in the area and begin with some cardio after I get off from work. I would prefer not to have to work out amongst thousands of people, as it seems only healthy people frequent the gyms anymore.

I guess it is customary to list your food intake for the day, so here goes.

Breakfast: 1 No sugar Jello snack thinger
Dinner: 1 herb roasted chicken breast - 1/2 baked potato
and a ton of water, I dont really even keep track because I'm constantly drinking water and going to the bathroom :rolleyes:

Anyway, we'll see where we go from here. Good luck to everyone else in their efforts to better themselves.

Current Weight: 298lbs
Target Weight: 170lbs

128 lbs to go :eek:
 
Well your doing great by comming here hunnie... I'm at 323 and people think im under 300 when I was at 240 I looked like maybe 190-200 so I just wanna get to 240 right now..BUT your doing great by coming here hun GOOD JOB so far :)
 
Play2Win said:
Breakfast: 1 No sugar Jello snack thinger
Dinner: 1 herb roasted chicken breast - 1/2 baked potato
and a ton of water, I dont really even keep track because I'm constantly drinking water and going to the bathroom :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Is this all you're having? I'm not sure whether I should say anything - since I too am new at this, but it sounds like you're eating way too little. In the long run when you lose the weight it'll be difficult to keep eating like this permanently.
 
godororo said:
Is this all you're having? I'm not sure whether I should say anything - since I too am new at this, but it sounds like you're eating way too little. In the long run when you lose the weight it'll be difficult to keep eating like this permanently.
Click to expand...

I initially thought that as well, but I have to admit that I'm not starving myself by any means. I changed the way I was eating maybe about a week ago and I noticed that when I first did it I had this awful urge to goto McDonalds and rob the place of all the chicken nuggets, but now I find that I rarely get very hungry. I've been reading that people say you need to eat 5 meals a day, well for me that isn't possible because of my job and my schedule, so I tend to eat once a day.

Is this a huge nono?
 
Well I was sitting here and started to get a little bit hungry, so I went down to the employee dining room...and wouldn't you know it they're having an employee appreciation day today. Ice-cream, and floats, and all kinds of assorted billion calorie goodies...but I didn't even stop, I just walked right on by that and got some ham and some lettuce and made a wrap, ate that and then decided to walk around the casino floor. I guess the good thing about the way I walk is it's quickly, everywhere that comes from my previous job as a Mgr at wal-mart (move with a purpose! ::whip:: )

The danger is really here at work, with unlimited free food for the employees’. Though they have started to get smart and are offering more roasted and baked foods, but still the popcorn shrimp looks mighty tasty...

Mind over Body!
 
That's such an amazing thing! Great willpower .. keep it up!

I think you should eat more often - not in bigger quantities but split them up. Maybe carry along a bag of almonds or something small (but healthy). I've heard it's best to eat small meals/snacks at 5 - 6x per day.

On the flipside, if you're used to your diet like that then that's fine. It works for you. I'm just thinking whether you can sustain it as a lifetime change sort of thing.
 
Thanks for the support! I think I will bring some unsalted nuts, or something of that nature, for a snack in the evenings, that way I wont even have be tempted to grab a cookie and shovel it into my mouth.:)
 
I initially thought that as well, but I have to admit that I'm not starving myself by any means. I changed the way I was eating maybe about a week ago and I noticed that when I first did it I had this awful urge to goto McDonalds and rob the place of all the chicken nuggets, but now I find that I rarely get very hungry. I've been reading that people say you need to eat 5 meals a day, well for me that isn't possible because of my job and my schedule, so I tend to eat once a day.

Is this a huge nono?
Click to expand...


When it comes to how much to eat... all I know is that my doctor told me I should eat 6 small meals a day. It helps speed up your metabolism.

My problem is that I have a slow metabolism, and when I only ate once or twice a day, my body just stored it, held onto it, because my body thought it was starving to death and it had to hold onto everything it had to stay alive...

But when I eat 6 small meals throughout the day every couple hours apart, my body isn't so afraid to let go of the fat, instead of storing it up.

You could store up on some 100 calorie snack packs, 60 calorie jello, apples, oranges, animal crackers, stuff that doesn't need to be refridgerated without spoiling... to help you eat throughout the day.

But I figure that everyones different...so do what works for you in the long run...probably not very helpful, but...

Keep up the good work!
 
Hello Play2Win; welcome to Weight Loss Fitness. Congratulations on your new resolve to eat healthy, cut sugar out and start exercise. That's great! You can do it.

Read your little heart out on diaries, or clubs, or the newcomers thread, etc. There is a wealth of good information here. Most of us have been there and back losing weight, gaining it back, etc. And through the process, have learned the healthy way, as opposed to the goofy way to permanent weight loss. Most of us have gone down the road of eating too few calories, only to be disappointed by not losing weight because our bodies have fiercely hung onto fat because too low a caloric diet puts our bodies into starvation mode. Most of us have tried fad diets, this, that and the other thing.
If you already know that you need to cut out sugar and exercise...you can do nothing but succeed. So good on you.

A really good calculator I use to figure out how many calories my body needs is and it will tell you how much you need right now, based on current weight. As you lose weight, you will be reducing the amount of calories you require. Rarely getting hungry is not a sign that you're eating enough calories. Use this calculator to do it the healthy way.
In terms of your job, are you not able to pack food with you for the shift? I bring a ton of food to work every Monday to last me through the week. Stuff like boxed soups (only need a microwave), rice crackers, apples, instant oatmeal porridge (microwave), wasa bread crackers, peanut butter, cripes I've got a friggen' grocery store in my desk. And I put yogurt, cheese, etc. in a fridge. Do you have a fridge at work?
Here's the deal. You'll find what works for you. But weight loss really is a journey, and like any journey, you require supplies to help you get to where you're going. For you to be successful, you need to plan. No plan, is a plan for failure. It starts with figuring out what you're going to eat for your 3 meals and snacks and then buying the groceries for that. I had to read a few books to learn about nutrition (really they should teach this from K to grade 12). Suffice it to say, fruits and veggies are boss, protein is important and so are healthy carbs like whole grains, whole wheat pasta, etc. Fitday.com is another good tool for logging your food.
For exercise, why not walk from 1 pm to 2 pm every day? You can go at a brisk pace, instead of the pace you walk at work. As you lose weight, maybe you'll start jogging or cycling. You don't really need a gym just yet. Walking's great! Read as much on this forum as you can.
And keep posting in your diary here because if you're serious about your goals, you will be very pleased to see how incredibly supportive the people around her are! I guarantee it.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the advise folks. I must agree small meals more often is the way to go, the only issue I'm going to have is how I'm going to make this work. The only thing that comes to mind would be to keep nuts and things in my car, and then for fruits and veggies I could goto the property dining room to grab those.

The issue with my job is, unique I guess. I work as an "Elevated Support Tech", basically what that entails is this: I get a call to goto say The MGM Grand, then I get a call to goto The Bellagio, and so on. So it's really not going to work out for me to be able to store foods and such in the office fridge because I have 10 different offices and I never know where I'll be.

Imagine my surprise when I looked up my "Caloric needs" for a normal day. 4696 to maintain my current weight, and while I dont know how many calories I've been eating I can tell you it's no where near 1/2 of that. I guess I'll just have to figure out how many calories I actually need and then go from there. I agree too few calories is no better then too many

Though I'm classified as quote "omg you're so obese how can you even walk" I often find that I walk far more quickly then people around me, usually I have to slow down. It's is difficult for me to explain, I realize that I am by no means healthy at this point, but I also have quite a bit of physical strength from various weight lifting ventures and job functions such as plucking up a 70lb printer and then walking off with them to carry to the tech rooms. People are often caught off guard by things like that, I guess it's because I dont look like I have any muscle because it's all hidden under layers of hamburgers, fries, pop, and other various things of that nature.

I may go out and pick up a bike or something tomorrow and hold off on the gym for a bit like you suggested.

Thanks to everyone for there thoughts, it's much appreciated!
 
Awesome Play2Win, I always worry a person might take advise the wrong way and I appreciate you taking it the way I meant...good will.
You could do 3500 cals for the first month and one hour of walking, next month go to 3000 cals, third month 2500 and stay there for a while. You're a 6 foot tall man and need more.

Do you walk or drive to the MGM Grand and the Bellagio and other places? Hey, how about a cooler in your vehicle? It's worth the investment and every day you could pack your cooler with the stuff you get to eat. A labor of self-love. If you walk to these places...I'll put my thinking cap on and get back to ya. lol
Good night P2W. Til next time...
 
While I am able to walk from some sites as they are interconnected with walk ways and such, most of the time I find myself driving from one property to the other. This is because most of them are fairly a good distance apart, and if I told the user that I was going to walk from one on the other side of the strip there is a very real chance they would swear uncontrollably! :D

At any rate I'm picking up what you're putting down. If I can find ways to incorporate more activity into what I'm already doing, then I'll just be that much closer without major modification.

;) Thanks
 
Well I had intended to go out and ride a bike for a bit today, on my day off, but work called and they need me to come in for a meeting, so looks like that wont be happening. Perhaps later tonight. Anyway, I grabbed a sandwhich and I'll be heading out the door shortly as I just woke up ;)

Anyways, here we are.

-Lunch
6oz Smoked Ham
-180 Cal
-6g Fat
-3g Carbs

2 Slices Wheat bread
-100 Cal
-1g Fat
-20g Carbs

---Total
280Cal
7g Fat
23g Carbs

I know, I know you're going to starve yourself to death. I'll eat some fruits or something when I get to work.
 
Mmm... ham! :) Do you like yellow mustard? It's a good way to add taste without adding any calories...*shrugs*... I was just thinking about how much I hate dry sandwhiches... :p
 
I actually dont like anything on my sandwiches or hamburgers. I'm one of those plain no cheese guys. I guess that's a bit helpful here.

I just got home from my meetings at work. I swear, it's like everyone is out to get me now! There were these world class desserts and foods for us to eat. I'm happy to say all I had was water, and really after I got over the smell of it I was fine. I stop by my aunts house and she just had pizza delivered...oh pizza, my archnemesis. I said no thank you and left shortly there after.

Though when I got home I was a bit hungry so I grabbed one of these Atkins bars...they're really not too bad.

Chocolate Peanut Nougat
-150 Cal
-7g fat
-17g carbs (according to the bar only 3g actually effect blood sugar, so whatever)

Which brings my total Caloric intake to 430...this is a far cry from 2000 or 1500, but I'm not really hungry or craving any food...so what exactly does that mean?
 
Well I think I'm starting to get a better idea of what I need to do for consumption of calories on a daily basis...perhaps I should have had that down before I slashed my intake a week ago, but hey: better a little late then too late, right?

At any rate, I had initially told myself I wasn't even going to buy a scale for the first weeks as I wanted to focus on getting into a groove rather then being a slave to the scale, but I'm starting to notice a few little things that have my curiosity peaked. Something as little as putting on my watch today and realizing I need to have it readjusted as very loose; I also noticed that belt is nearly too big, as well as some change in my muscle tone and such, but perhaps that's all in my mind :) I think I'll probably go out and pick up a scale tomorrow just to satisfy my personal curiosity.
 
Hi there!
Thats great that youve started to notice some progress already :)
I would be worried if I were eating as little as you are and not feeling hungry, and im a 139lb woman. Im no expert but it could mean your metabolism has slowed down, do you eat breakfast every day? Ive read thats a good way to get the metabolism going.
You could try keeping some low fat yogurts at home and having one as a dessert, they feel like next to nothing going down but taste pretty good (well I think so anyway). Hope that helps.
Well done so far and good luck reaching your goal!
 
Play2Win said:
Well I think I'm starting to get a better idea of what I need to do for consumption of calories on a daily basis...perhaps I should have had that down before I slashed my intake a week ago, but hey: better a little late then too late, right?

At any rate, I had initially told myself I wasn't even going to buy a scale for the first weeks as I wanted to focus on getting into a groove rather then being a slave to the scale, but I'm starting to notice a few little things that have my curiosity peaked. Something as little as putting on my watch today and realizing I need to have it readjusted as very loose; I also noticed that belt is nearly too big, as well as some change in my muscle tone and such, but perhaps that's all in my mind :) I think I'll probably go out and pick up a scale tomorrow just to satisfy my personal curiosity.
Click to expand...

Hi there! Welcoem to the forum! I just read through your posts and thought I would welcome you and impart a few words regarding your questions..

AS so many others have pointed out, 5-6 meals a day is the best way to keep your metabolism going, as the longer you go between meals, the more likely your body will go into starvation mode and begin using your fat storage, etc. There is a huge biochemical process that I will resist to elaborate on for your sake:)

Anyhow, considering your job and inability to refridgerate [I don't think that is spelled correctly] items throughout the day, it wouldnt be a bad idea to research recipes for things that are safe at room temperature.. or to bring soup you can carry with you and just pop in the microwave.

I would suggest starting out with a 1000 calorie deficit as suggested, shooting for around 3500 a day- again, if you consume too few calories, your metabolism will slow down so its important to provide fuel for your body. Stick with whole grains, lean meats, fruits and veggies. Keep going with the avoiding refined starches and sugars- you are doing wonderfully- good luck!
 
Well I've created a simple little xls spreadsheet to help me keep track of my calorie intake vs what i need to take in. That way I can monitor my daily deficits and variances. I'm sure there are far more advanced things out there, but this is quick and simple to input data into so I dont have to spend time playing 50 questions with the computer.

I also had a fun little experience with the scale I purchased. I got it home and "fired it up" I stepped on it and it said 240...lol dont I wish. Got back on it a 2nd time and it said 322...so needless to say that smartass scale went back to the store in short order. We're good now though!
 
Play2Win said:
Well I've created a simple little xls spreadsheet to help me keep track of my calorie intake vs what i need to take in. That way I can monitor my daily deficits and variances. I'm sure there are far more advanced things out there, but this is quick and simple to input data into so I dont have to spend time playing 50 questions with the computer.

I also had a fun little experience with the scale I purchased. I got it home and "fired it up" I stepped on it and it said 240...lol dont I wish. Got back on it a 2nd time and it said 322...so needless to say that smartass scale went back to the store in short order. We're good now though!
Click to expand...

Don't worry about finding the more 'advanced' methods of calorie tracking- do whats best and easiest for you! All of these new technological advancements give me a headache!

The dreaded scale..I know its probably the devil at this point but I promise you that in a few weeks time, you won't hate it so much as it will begin to exhibit the progress you will have made- just stick to it! Hope you had a great day!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top