the mystery of weighloss

[Pythagorean]

I was at the Dr.'s today, and in the waiting room on the TV was some kind of heath-watch talking about how obese americans are, and how they should go about losing weight. At the supermarket, every magazine near the check out had a cover story:"Drop 10 lbs in 5 weeks!" etc.. So, I'm thinking, how is it even possible that adults don't know what things they should do to become fitter and healthier? Is there anyone out there who doesnt know you should avoid overprocessed and fatty foods, and engage in some regular excercise? Its not late breaking news! People must pick up these magazines and are secretly hoping to find a easy, cure-all for obesity. What secret do I attribute my svelt figure? Why the excercise fairies who come when I'm asleep and jump up and down on my muscles! Send check or money order for your own personal supply to: Sabina_411!

[Colb]

Because some of these "Lose 100lbs in 3 days"(exaggeration) does work, but all you doing is dehydrating your body. In 2 days, it will all be back and probably then some. The world today has become more knowing of exercise and the proper techniques, but there are many that aren't about to put out the effort to get the results.
And that leaves you with all these "Hollywood" diets.

[troysvihl]

You don't have to spend money or go through hell to lose weight. It's actually surprisingly easy:

http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/

No one has to be fat, if they don't want to be.

[Pythagorean]

Now there's a company that speaks the language of their target market!

[troysvihl]

lol. Don't let the subtitle ("How to lose weight and hair through stress and poor nutrition") fool you.

It's a very good diet that can help anyone lose weight. It's founded on sound, scientific principals and works great.

[LawyerRon]

Quote:
"People must pick up these magazines and are secretly hoping to find a easy, cure-all for obesity."


I agree.

[Kassia]

Fast and easy are definitely the operative words here. You don't gain the weight in a couple weeks, so it only makes sense that you can't safely lose it in that amount of time.

BTW sabina, could I get an order of those exercise fairies? LOL.

[Jenni]

Food can be just as much of an addiction as anything else. I'm fat because I like to eat. Not only do I like to eat, but I like to eat all the stuff I shouldn't, like a Whopper value meal with a chocolate shake. Is that bad for me? No doubt. Do I think "hey, you should lose some weight and stop eating like that"? Sure I do. But have I done it yet? No. Every day I hear this little voice in my head say "there must be something chocolate around here somewhere..." and I go look for it. And if I can't find it, the voice says "well, we need toilet paper anyway, lets go to the store, maybe Chips Ahoy Candy Blasts are on sale too..."

For some of us, making the diet/excercise commitment just isn't that easy. Sure I know I should, but I also know "there's something chocolate around here somewhere..."

[Paul Victorey]

I used to be the same way (still get temptations, too). I lost 75 pounds on the diet that troy recommended.

I recognize that I won't be able to naturally maintain weight, so I use the artificial method of prescribing myself a fixed number of calories, and eating exactly that many. I still eat exactly what I want, I just adjust how MUCH of it I eat. For a dessert, I will eat one cinnamon roll, or one small piece of cake, instead of three cinammon rolls or two big pieces of cake.

I highly recommend the same diet that troy recommends. It's also not NEARLY as hard as you might think. People think diets are hard because, for the first 2-5 days, they ARE; most people who quit, quit very early, before the easier part of the diet begins. It gets easier when you truly start burning fat. Fat burning is a response to long-term calorie deficit. Metabolism slowing is the short-term response, and it makes you feel terribly hungry (your blood sugar levels remain low) and makes you feel pretty crummy. Once you pass from the short-term to the long-term response to calorie deficit, your body will burn fat, and your blood sugar levels will reach, not quite normal, but they'll be lots higher than before, so you won't feel nearly as hungry, or nearly as bad.

In the middle of a diet, you will never feel famished (in fact, you will probably feel LESS hungry than normal before meals, because you'll have a pretty constant source of calories from fat, instead of sudden bursts of sugar followed by long times without). You will probably be a little hungry most of the time, but it's hardly awful.

If you get hungry, drink Pepsi One -- it's got one calorie, caffeine supresses appetite, and it fills your stomach, further reducing hunger. And compared to other diet colas, it tastes pretty good.

It's no mystery, just science, engineering, and management.

[Pythagorean]

Jenni, your post was very funny, and elements of it definately rang true for me too!

Anyhow, I didnt mean to say that people should or shouldnt lose weight, but that with all the info we are bombarded with, the behaviors that lead to healthy living(and most likely, weightloss too) should be no mystery to anyone. I'm talking about just basic changes, like excercise is good, a bagfull of whoppers before bed is bad. It amazes me that people act like this is late breaking news. You prove my point, its not that you don't _know_ what to do, but that you don't always _like_ doing it!

Of course, I guess anything's possible...maybe some people out there really dont know!

I once saw a middle aged woman demand her money back for a dead tropical fish because it died when she put it in with her goldfish. She didnt know it needed warmer water.

[SARGE]

Alot of fitness "experts" suggest 5 meals a day; it's what and how much that counts. I once quit drinking beer and gained 20 pounds in 2 months. Then I ate 1 meal a day and gained another 10. Moral of story is started drinking and eating again and lost 30 pounds. Go figure.

[troysvihl]

Hey, congrats Paul! Well done!

My weight loss stands at 65 lbs. And it only took me about six months.

BTW, diet soda is a great help. I myself don't care for the caffinated kind, but I have acctually gotten to prefer diet root beer and diet ginger ale to the regular stuff.

[Pythagorean]

Originally posted by SARGE I once quit drinking beer and gained 20 pounds in 2 months.

Sounds like your body was really rebelling!

[Pythagorean]

Originally posted by troysvihl My weight loss stands at 65 lbs. And it only took me about six months.

Troy, you lost 65 lbs? Wow. After seeing your pic in the gallery, I could not imagine you weighting 65 lbs more. You appear to be a picture of glowing health..rosy cheeks and all! Looks like the young lady next to you agrees. Good for you!

[M. A. Dockter]

Before a few injuries, I used to be a very large guy in a healthy way. Now, the occupational hazard of system administration (also known as the NT Gut) is slowly coming to me, but I have taken measures to curb it such as:

Instead of 5, I now only eat 3 Hardee's daily specials on Tuesday and Friday.
At the BBQ Pit, I now have a BBQ Chicken Breast Caesar Salad instead of sandwhich
Lots and lots of white steamed rice and other such foods (noodles, etc).

Now if I could only get off my big black leather chair. Maybe I could do laps around my servers or something.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Wouldn't it be great if fat could be transplanted. I'm in the opposite case: I'm trying desperately to gain weight!

On january 6th I weighted 61 Kg and after a week of stress I was at 58 Kg on saturday 12th.

I eat all day long but that doesn't seem to be helping. Geez!

[bob]

No high calorie snacks.
Skip breakfast and lose 10 lbs per month.
Skip lunch too lose 20 lbs per month.
Skip Dinner/supper too and lose 30 lbs per month.

If you drink at dinner/supper time then you should eat large amounts of low cal vegies to fill your belly - no sugar fat or carbs.

Maint diet is no breakfast and enjoy just 2 meals a day - any thing you want within reason.

[Colb]

Nuclear K., I know what your talking about. Played soccer all my life and thought the reason I was always skinny was from all the running. I have not played in 4 years and found out the only way to gain a little mass was to work out. I eat what I want, when I want and I will actually LOSE weight if I am not working out. Go figure.

[Pythagorean]

M. A. D., I hear ya. I used to play rugby while in grad school, which was good for both keeping in shape and getting out my agressions. Now that I've moved on to a job (that I sit all day long at) I noticed myself getting, ahem, "softer". Most of the guys I work with have big guts. Determined not to let myself go that way, I jog about a mile a day, drink alot of water, and try not to eat before bedtime. I know its not much, and I'm not looking like a triathelete, but at least I feel good doing _something_. Oh yea, and I keep away from the corporate snack foods in the vending machine...I tell myself, out of principle.

"NT Gut" runs rampant here.

[Blankman]

At 34 I reenlisted in the National Guard...now I'm forced to run every month. I always love to hear those in the obese catagory say, "It's a thyroid condition." I have an inactive thyroid...it's hard to maintain my weight but if you watch your daily diet and exercise you won't have a problem. And I for one think you have something there Sarge..."THE BEER DIET"...I thought that before I enlisted if I gave up beer as a snack item I'd lose pounds of excess flesh...NO WAY...I gained weight...If we get together with Sabina as our technical expert (aka mad scientist) maybe we can figure out the formula and start a dietary enterprise around good beer?

[SARGE]

Pretzels, beer and NFL football. Move furniture beforehand, and any pets who look at you strangely. Great diet.