Time to stop being fat

[down4fun]

I have been struggling with my weight for the last year, well probably my whole life to be honest. In the last year I have packed on at least 15lbs, besides watching my bodyfat % skyrocket. I have all the usual excuses...I'm to busy to workout, I'm tired, I don't have time to cook healthy food. And of course the best, I just went thru a break up...Send in the Hagen Daz truck.

I need to get back into shape for many reasons. My health is one, to feel better about myself, and also because I plan to dive a lot this summer and I know that the better shape I am in, the safer I will be.

I have read several of the threads here and am hoping that by making a comittment and having some support from others struggling to put down the fork I might just actually succeed.

So this is day one.

Any tips or secrets you have for sticking to a get fit plan are welcomed.

 

[photohikedive]

While I have been blessed with never having been fat, I have put on the winter weight before. I found that cycling took it off the fastest, while being good overall excersize. I also looked for new healthier ways to eat. I found that while I was actually eating more, and more often, I was able to get rid of the tire, and discovered I had more energy.

Of course, there is diving, both skin and scuba. But of course you already know about that

Good luck with the goal, keep us posted, and maybe that will help with the motivation.

 

[mislav]

You may want to consider playing some sport on a recreational level. Get some friends and go play tennis (or something) twice a week. That's what works for me. It's fun, you get quality time with your friends and even make some new ones, you get support and lose the weight. It's also harder to excuse yourself from doing it since it involves other people too.

 

[mels_2]

i find that writing all my food down and having to be accountable to someone for my weigh in and food consumpption very helpful. walking 15-20 mins each day helps to and you can add 5 mins here and there as you get more energy.

 

[Erik Il Rosso]

I need to get back into shape for many reasons. My health is one, to feel better about myself, and also because I plan to dive a lot this summer and I know that the better shape I am in, the safer I will be.

I have read several of the threads here and am hoping that by making a comittment and having some support from others struggling to put down the fork I might just actually succeed.

So this is day one.

Any tips or secrets you have for sticking to a get fit plan are welcomed.

Welcome on board signorina !!!

I am currently doing the same thing and if you read my posts your certainly know what I am talking about...

To put down the fork is not easy but maybe we can analyze why we put the fork up...

Here's my list...

1) Boredom - When I am bored I start looking for food but not healthy food, moreover when I am bored it's not lunch or supper time so I end up eating cakes, ice cream, chocolate, pop corn and drinking carbonated soft drinks...

2) Not Feeling Full - I do not chew for a very long time, someone told me that dogs eat in a similar way...
They are afraid that food could be taken out of their mouths and so that eat as fast as they can...

3) Lonliness - When you are alone or the telephone does not ring or no incoming mails or nothing happens around you you eat...

4) Sense Of Void - There is a void inside you, the best way to fill it is to eat...

If you know your enemies you can take counter measures, right ???

Having said this i personally try non to get bored, I read, watch films, surf the Internet
and listen to records...
When I am at the table I try to think that a smaller portion will not kill me and I try to concentrate on what I am eating...
Last tuesday I had a business lunch and was more or less forced to eat something sweet...
I choose something very small and ate it in very tiny bits trying to focus my attention to the fact that is was very good, my stomach was asking for more and bigger bits but I was concentrating on the fact that is was "Good"...
Do you know what I mean ???

I try to move as much as I can, I found that I've got time to work out and as much as I like water I decided to go smwimming...
I am not a champion but it's a start, the rest is inevitable...

I try do dive as much as I can and go to the dive center/dive club more often...
It's a place where people go, you have something to do, you relax, you talk and you could even find a boyfriend, never say never...
No guarantee that the boyfriend will be better or worse then the previous one but as usual is a start...

If you want to dive Italy you are welcome but remember, small pizza, half glass of coke
and no ice cream...

I am aboviously cheating, as much as I adore pizza a full course meal would be requested after a full day diving...

Have fun signorina !!!

Ciao Erik Il Rosso

 

[SteveDiver]

I lost weight by not eating anything after 7pm and increasing my water intake.

I was always thin and my weight gain came after I quit smoking. I am still fighting the belly...

 

[down4fun]

Well day one was not a total sucess but not a failure either.

I managed not to eat anything bad for me. I skipped the usual sausage egg and cheese McGriddle, no frosty at lunch time, no ice cream at night, No take out Thai food. I had a protein shake in the morning and a meal replacement bar for lunch, some fat free potato chips as a snack and a big salad with fat free dressing for dinner, and a little bit of fat free popcorn for a tv snack. Eating healty is a little inconvenient as I am on the road all day.

Now the down side. I had really hoped to get to the gym. Just 30 minutes of some sort of activity was the goal. But I didn't make it. By the time I got home from work the will power was gone.

 

[down4fun]

Thanks all for your responses and good ideas.

Erik I totally agree with the reasons I pick up the fork: #1, 3 & 4. As for #2 I keep eating long after I know I am full, I need to listen to my brain and not my emotions when it says "you have had enough"

Well now it's day two...

 

[Erik Il Rosso]

Thanks all for your responses and good ideas.

Erik I totally agree with the reasons I pick up the fork: #1, 3 & 4. As for #2 I keep eating long after I know I am full, I need to listen to my brain and not my emotions when it says "you have had enough"

Well now it's day two...

I do not know if I am right or wrong but it seems to me that maybe you are working too much or at least working is at the top of your priority list...

I do not want to go too much personal here but maybe working a little bit less just to have a little bit more free time for you and yourself only would be better...

You can do an endless list of things (shopping, diving, cinema, concerts, beauty farm and so on) if you got more free time to invest in yourself...

We got only one life and it is worth trying to live it to the maximun...

Ciao Erik Il Rosso

 

[CameronMartz]

Well day one was not a total sucess but not a failure either.

I managed not to eat anything bad for me. I skipped the usual sausage egg and cheese McGriddle, no frosty at lunch time, no ice cream at night, No take out Thai food. I had a protein shake in the morning and a meal replacement bar for lunch, some fat free potato chips as a snack and a big salad with fat free dressing for dinner, and a little bit of fat free popcorn for a tv snack. Eating healty is a little inconvenient as I am on the road all day.

Now the down side. I had really hoped to get to the gym. Just 30 minutes of some sort of activity was the goal. But I didn't make it. By the time I got home from work the will power was gone.

Congratulations on starting down a difficult journey. One question this post raises is what was your usual daily menu like before? The intake listed above is very low in calories, and it is counterproductive to severely restrict caloric intake in an effort to lose weight. Sure, you will see the scale go down in the first few weeks, but eventually your body will go into starvation mode, slow your metabolism, trick your mind into thinking about food constantly, leading to the potential for binge eating and ultimately total nutritional failure. <g> Yikes!!

It's best to make small, manageable changes each week, taking a long-term look at your fitness and nutrition plan. Remeber that whatever changes you adopt to lose weight and get in shape are changes that must remain in order for you to keep the results (more or less). It is a common myth that you can make severe changes for a short period of time, achieve the success you want, then enter some form of moderate "maintenance" regime. This just does not work as evidenced by the countless stories of yo-yo dieting and exercise.

Now, I'm not saying that you should go back to eating a frosty every day, but you should really try to keep your caloric intake to within 300-500 calories of what it was (for now) while increasing the quality of the food. That way, you can also avoid the run-down feeling that is common to restrictive diets, making it easier to get the motivation to work out...

...which I will just sum up by saying that weight loss is not the same thing as increasing your fitness. You are right in assuming that exercise should be part of your plan, actually part of your new lifestyle. <g>

Cameron