A second attempt at weight loss

[Radii]

There's a definite pattern in my dynasties... go gangbusters, flameout, give it a second try later.

This happened with Poker, TCY,and now, my first diet dynasty.

oliegirl and I did atkins for a month back in January, and just didn't stick with it after that first month, despite the success.

It's now 5 months later, and I have allowed myself to gain back a depressing 26 pounds. At my lowest on Atkins I was down to 273.6 pounds.

When this week began, I was back up to 309.4, the highest I've been since my first attempt at the Atkins diet last June.

I don't have specific goals, and I don't really have a specific plan. A coworker of mine has lost about 30 pounds in the last few months by just slowly cutting things out of his diet. First sodas, then the bad carbs, he eats a lot of fish(he's a vegetarian+seafood, so I certainly won't be following his exact pattern). But the general idea of slowly cutting stuff out I do like.

So as of last Friday, June 25th, I cut out sodas. Just water for me, thanks.

Also, remember from my Atkins diet that exercise was the toughest thing for me. I'm quite out of shape, and really was just trying to get a solid walking regimen going. Well, to aid in this, I bought one of those stepometer things and have used it to track how many steps I take during a day.

So those were the two starting points leading to me trying out this dynasty, which may or may not flame out like some others. No more sodas, and lets see how much walking I do in a normal day, and lets start weighing myself again.

All of this started gradually over the last 2-3 weeks, and now I'm ready to write about it as I take my next step.

[Swaggs]

Good luck, Rich!

[Radii]

So the first couple of weeks of owning this stepometer thing pretty much confirmed what I already knew. I'm a damned sloth.

Do a google search for "10,000 steps a day"... tons of programs, tons of new fads, and tons of stepometers sold thanks to McDonalds I assume.

Here's one of the random links:

http://www.pbs.org/americaswalking/health/health20percentboost.html

So like I said, right now, I'm not interested in any formal program or anything. I'm just trying to make some initial small improvements and see where it leads me.

The first few weeks, I found that if I go to work, come home and hang out with my fiancee and her son at the apartment, and don't do anythign else, I take approximately 1000 steps in a day. That's just a *little* bit short of the 10,000 a day concept.

If I go out to lunch(an extra trip to the car and back, etc) I take upwards of 1800-2000.

A short walk around the building during some downtime will get me an extra 500.

Oliegirl's son and I like to take walks to the mailbox to check the mail. The mailbox is on the total opposite end of the apartment. On days when we do that, that's an extra 2,500 steps.


I've cut out sodas. That is done.

I'm bringing in breakfast every morning. I have a box of instant oatmeal at the office, and have also started bringing in a banana every morning to have with breakfast.

Step 1: cut out sodas - I've accomplished this.
Step 2: bring a decent breakfast to work every morning

This is for diet and budget reasons. When i'm not eating right, I run by chick-fil-a WAY too often for breakfast.

Steps 1 and 2 have led to a necessary step 3 simultaneously

Step 3: bring enough snacks to work that I don't live off vending machine food b/c i'm so damn hungry every afternoon.

The lack of pure sugar from the sodas, and the lack of a monstrous carb+fat loaded breakfast sandwiches have increased my mid-morning and mid-afternoon hunger. I just started attacking this step today. We had a few old slim-fast shakes lying around the apartment. I brought one today and had it for a mid-morning snack. Over the weekend I'll get some carrots or somethig similar that I enjoy to have for work snacks.


I'm not terribly concerned about lunches and dinner just yet. The plan is to make slow changes that I can make an honest effort to make permanent. If it takes me a full month to be comfortable with making my own breakfast and staying away from the vending machines at work, then that's what it takes.


I'm not sure what i'll end up documenting in this dynasty. The # of steps I take every day and progress on the steps i'm taking may be it.

Weight:
June 28th - 309.4

Stepometer:
June 28th - avg ~1200-1500/steps per day (I was not recording this religiously).


Goals:

No sodas. Take breakfast to work every day. Stay away from the vending machine at work. Keep step count on pedometer above horrid starting average every day this week(and, starting today, religiously record stepometer count every day).

I make monday my turnover day for each week, the day I go back to work.

[Radii]

Monday and Wednesday I didn't do much other than work/come home. I did go out to lunch Monday which is an unhealthy meal but is a few extra steps. tuesday Oliegirl's son and I went to get the mail on foot, and that alone was 2600 steps.

Monday: 1600 steps
Tuesday: 3700 steps
Wednesday: 1200 steps

Today I went for a walk around the building, and will go for a walk w/ kiddo after work if the weather is nice. I had some oatmeal for breakfast, and my banana, and had a slim fast shake for a snack. Lunch is a can of clam chowdah soup w/ some crackers.

This will probably be the last update today, but I do intend to come in w/ at minimum my stepometer count to see how the good ol' walking is coming along every day, and may comment on the food if I find it helps.

[Radii]

Good luck, Rich!

Thanks Swaggs :)

[sachmo71]

Good luck, Radii! I'll be here to support you, because if I could change my life style, I know you can!

Just remember to keep your stomach working. Maybe take some fruit to work, or some low fat chips, and eat three good sized meals per day with two snacks. It really does work!

[Subby]

Radii -

Good luck with this from someone who has struggled with their weight the last 10 years. I am finally over the hump thanks to South Beach and hard core exercising (running and dumbells mostly) and was 176 this morning - down from 245 a while back).

Anyway, the eating thing is the hardest and the reason is the sugar, as you probably know. Sugar does nothing but elevate your blood sugars and make you hungrier. I am guessing that instant oatmeal has a bunch of sugar in it - besides your body is digesting it so quickly that it is no wonder you are hungry so quickly. Of course, not eating breakfast on the run is half the battle, so it is good that you are planning your meal. The next step would be to grab some low sugar snacks for your day at work. The following stuff works great for me and is easy to grab in the morning:

string cheese
low-carb energy bars
hard-boiled egg
peanut butter and celery
hummus and cucumber slices


Absolutely do not go the low fat route. Low fat is a rdiculous fallacy and is why so many people are fat in the first place. Fat is not bad for you, provided you aren't sucking down untold amounts of saturated fat every day. Fat satiates your hunger, keeping your blood sugars and insulin at an even keel - controlling your hunger. Att his point it is about exercise and controlling hunger - you cannot control your hunger with carbs - fat does a much better job.

Best of luck!

[Radii]

hummus and cucumber slices



Or, I could just think about hummus and lose the will to eat :D

Thanks for the comments everyone, I agree w/ you Subby, the low-fat diets out there are just not for me.

Breakfast is always my biggest struggle. I am just not a morning person. I *hate* mornings. Its just not within me to get up and make myself a good breakfast every morning, so I know I have to come up with something else.

You're right, of course, the oatmeal has about 13g of sugar, but that + some fruit is getting me by and is a ton better than what I was doing, so I'm happy with it as a start.

String cheese is a good snack, my other thoughts are carrots and oranges. I'm not getting any more of the slim-fast shakes once they're gone, they are loaded with sugar as well, but again, this is a big step up from what I was doing, so its an improvement :)

[Subby]

String cheese is a good snack, my other thoughts are carrots and oranges. I'm not getting any more of the slim-fast shakes once they're gone, they are loaded with sugar as well, but again, this is a big step up from what I was doing, so its an improvement :)Baby steps!!!

[hhiipp]

Have a few questions about the pedometer.
1) What brand did you buy?
2) How much did it cost?
3) How bulky and obvious is it that you're wearing it?

Thanks :)

[Radii]

Have a few questions about the pedometer.
1) What brand did you buy?
2) How much did it cost?
3) How bulky and obvious is it that you're wearing it?


Mine is a "Sportline Electronic Pedometer 330"

It cost about $12 at target. All it does is count steps. It doesn't do the calorie/mileage conversions that some others do.

It's somewhat obvious that you're wearing it I suppose, I clip it to my belt at workright next to my security badge thing. It also makes a small clicking noise when you walk but it's a real small noise IMO. Its out in plain view when I wear it, but, it's maybe 1.5 in x 1 in at the most(migth be smaller than that) so it's not huge or anything.

Of course, Oliegirl, wise in the ways of ebay, got one that was 3x as nice as mine, with all of the bells and whistles, for maybe $1 more than I paid :D But all I care about is counting my steps and comparing to previous days walking, so this is more than good enough for me.

[Radii]

Monday: 1600 steps
Tuesday: 3700 steps
Wednesday: 1200 steps
<i>Thursday: 2344 steps</i>

not bad, compared to normal at least :)

[Radii]

Monday: 1600 steps
Tuesday: 3700 steps
Wednesday: 1200 steps
Thursday: 2344 steps
<i>Friday: 1600 steps</i>

Going for a walk today and going to the mall with Oliegirl later, so today will be a solid 5000 step day I'm sure.

Yesterday was breakfast club day at work, the guy doing it brought doughnuts, and I had leftover pizza for lunch, and then we went out for Thai for dinner, and then a blizzard for dessert. So why do I weigh less today than yesterday? Who knows! No sodas and I didn't eat any snacks outside of those "meals"

As long as I'm cutting out the sodas and the vending machine I'm happy for now, but it's amazing to see that weight is coming off just from doing that and nothign else.

If its nice out tomorrow we'll be doing a lot of walking too, we're hoping to get to go to Stone Mountain for the July 4th celebrations.

[Radii]

Monday: 1600 steps
Tuesday: 3700 steps
Wednesday: 1200 steps
Thursday: 2344 steps
Friday: 1600 steps
<i>Saturday: 4975 steps</i>


The walk to the mailbox with the kiddo + the walk around the mall was quite good. Stuck w/ the current eating goals np. We went out for mexican tonight which was quite good.

Hopefully it won't rain tomorrow :)

[Radii]

Monday: 1600 steps
Tuesday: 3700 steps
Wednesday: 1200 steps
Thursday: 2344 steps
Friday: 1600 steps
Saturday: 4975 steps
<i>Sunday: 1975 steps</i>

no fireworks for us but we did go out to wal-mart to pick up some stuff so the walk around the store got me that exercise.

<b>Weight:</b>
June 28th - 309.4
July 5th - 305.0
Net: Lost 4.4 pounds

<b>Stepometer:</b>
June 28th - avg ~1200-1500/steps per day (I was not recording this religiously).
July 5th - avg 2484 steps per day

[Radii]

<i>Monday: 3671 steps</i>

stayed up waaay too late Sunday night, slept in waaay too late Monday morning, ate oatmeal and pizza and that was it Monday, yum huh? Went out for a walk and talked kiddo into taking "the long way home" which ended up going through some really high grass and brambles that I wasn't aware of and scratched the hell out of his legs. Oops. Won't be going that way again :) but that's how I got that many steps on a day when I barely left the apartment.

[thealmighty]

Listen to Subby...baby steps are the way to have a 'program' you can stay with. I'm following along and rooting for you.

One thing I do that I don't have to go anywhere, I do pushups and situps at home. Don't do many, at least not yet, since 30 or so crunch/situps starts burning already, but it is a start, and it's free. :)

Good luck.

[Subby]

This may be more than you want to try, but what about buying a treadmill and setting it up in front of the television? I know most people would rather kiss their sister than work out on a treadmill, but if you are watching tv, it really isn't that bad.

Before you know it you'lve walked 30 minutes while watching a classic Seinfeld on TNT. I seriously doubt there is a better weight-loss solution than that ;)

PS. As far as eating is concerned, I am guessing you are not eating after 8pm - but if that is not the case, it might be something to shoot for as you want to give your body 3 solid hours to digest dinner.

Keep up the good work!

[Radii]

As far as eating is concerned, I am guessing you are not eating after 8pm - but if that is not the case, it might be something to shoot for as you want to give your body 3 solid hours to digest dinner.


You're right, I'm also working on this as well. I usually go to bed around midnight, and I have made sure to not eat after 10pm, and I dont' think i am often eating after 9pm either, lately I haven't had the urge to eat much after dinner anyway, but the nights I have had an extra snack or a dessert I ahven't waited real late to have it.

A treadmill is unfortunately out of the question for space and monetary reasons. It's something I'd love to have in the house eventually, but that can't happen until we get out of the already a little bit cramped apartment.

Adding in some crunches at home is a good idea too, I used to do that a lot when I just got bored watching TV when I lived by myself, and its something I stopped doing once there was a 6 year old and a fiancee around(less boredom, not b/c of any other reason there), no reason I shouldn't start doing that again as well.

[Buzzbee]

Radii - Not sure if you are interested or not, but several (half a dozen, if not more) people at my workplace have had tremendous success using the program I'm linking. (Linky, linky) (http://www.yourbetterhealth.com/index.htm)

I personally know and worked with three people who have lost significant weight in a relatively short period of time (over 100 lbs in six months). One man, Rich, looked like Santa Claus. He is now under 200 lbs.

I've never participated in the program, so I don't know a lot about it, but I believe it is a combination of meal replacement (shakes) AND medical guidance and support. I'm not sure, but I *think* I heard co-workers mention that our health insurance picked up the tab (or part of it) because there is a weekly meeting with a physician.

It is also my understanding that this program targets people who have a lot of weight to lose.

I have no vested interest in this place, so if it's not your cup o' tea then it's not your cup o' tea. Just thought I would pass it along since I personally know several people who have been successfull. (The people that I've worked with have kept the weight off for more than a year - two years in Cheryl's case).

Good luck. Your Atkins dynasty earlier helped nudge me toward healthier eating habits, which I have recently resumed. I'm 220 hoping to get down to 190.

[Radii]

I've never participated in the program, so I don't know a lot about it, but I believe it is a combination of meal replacement (shakes) AND medical guidance and support. I'm not sure, but I *think* I heard co-workers mention that our health insurance picked up the tab (or part of it) because there is a weekly meeting with a physician.


I have a lot to lose, but I'm 6'3/6'4" so it's not as much as it might seem. It has been a long time but I suspect that 220 would be as low as I'd go, despite what BMI charts tell me.

I have seriously considered Emory Bariatrics, they offer free consultations and then have meal replacement plans/surgery options, both of which should be covered in my insurance to a point. That is an option if I were to continue the bouncing up and down for too long, but for now, the "I can do this myself" (with the help of peers but not medical help) is still running through me.

[Ben E Lou]

Radii:

Press on, man. Keep at it! I've gone from 265 to around 215 since November (Details (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/showthread.php?t=23666&page=1)), so I know what you're going through. I'm sure you've been told this, but it is key to be able to get into an exercise routine that can last a lifetime. What is exciting about my loss is that (unlike at times in the past when I've lost weight, only to gain more back eventually), I have been able to establish some patterns that I believe will keep me at a healthy weight and fitness level. Here's wishing the same for you!

--Ben

[Radii]

it is key to be able to get into an exercise routine that can last a lifetime.

Thanks for the kind words SD :) That's one of the positive things about this, so much of my exercise right now is coming from things that I have fun doing, mainly going out for walks w/ the kiddo, he loves the trots down to the mailbox and we have games we play along the way and I get some good exercise in. At some point I'll have to ramp it up but I'm off to a solid start.


Monday: 3671 steps
<i>Tuesday: 2677</i>

Speaking of Emory, tonight was the first night of "Ballroom Dancing for the Wedding Party", a night class we're taking at Emory.

[Radii]

Monday: 3671 steps
Tuesday: 2677
<i>Wednesday: 1415</i>


Lazy day today.

[Raven]

You've been pretty much doubling your steps just by walking to the mailbox (compared to days which you call lazy days).

Would it be unrealistic to just do that every day? You never mentioned how far of a walk it is, or how long it takes, so just throwing that out there. The kid seems to like it, maybe you could just take a ball or a frisbee or something along with you guys, and get some extra steps in that way too. You didn't mention the kids age either, but they are so active, you could help incorporate them in your exercise, and both have fun doing it.

Good luck, man.

[SFL Cat]

Good luck. I went from 255 to 200. I'm watching what I eat and am hovering between 210-220. I'm thinking about getting serious about it again and trying to get down to 180-190.

[cranes74us]

Good luck man, I too went on a diet last summer. Went from 240 to 160 on 1 year.Keep your head up and NEVER EVER give up ( Im 16 btw)

[Radii]

You've been pretty much doubling your steps just by walking to the mailbox (compared to days which you call lazy days).

Would it be unrealistic to just do that every day? You never mentioned how far of a walk it is, or how long it takes, so just throwing that out there. The kid seems to like it, maybe you could just take a ball or a frisbee or something along with you guys, and get some extra steps in that way too. You didn't mention the kids age either, but they are so active, you could help incorporate them in your exercise, and both have fun doing it.

Good luck, man.

He's 6, and "active" doesn't begin to describe it ;) Well, I'm sure he's just like any other 6 year old, very full of energy.

Kiddo has karate on M/W/F, so I try to get him to do our walks on Tuesday/thursday/at least once on the weekend. For the next several weeks we'll also have dance classes every Tuesday night. If I can drag my ass out of the apartment just once a week on my own on top of all of that, I should be doing quite well for awhile :)

And you are right, the walk to check the mail is at least a mile, probably a little more, so it signifigantly ups the amount of walking I'm doing. My steps are big. It's weird, oliegirl and I go grocery shopping together and both wear our pedometers, I take 2000 steps, she takes at least 3000 in that same time. Of course, i'm 6'3" and she's 5'4" so that's to be expected.


Thanks for the support everyone!

[Radii]

Monday: 3671 steps
Tuesday: 2677
Wednesday: 1415
<i>Thursday: 4600 steps</i>

solid day today, lots of walking. Yummy dinner around 8, haven't been hungry since, going to bed very soon :)

[ice4277]

Good luck Radii. Sticking with a program is the hardest part, defintely finding one that you feel comfortable with is important. If it begins to feel too much like a 'job', you won't want to stick with it. I basically developed my own methods of eating and exercise, and have dropped from 228 in November to 162 at this point (I am a shade under 5'11"). I am done losing weight now and just need to maintain and shape up my physique a bit. However, since I have found something that works for me, I really don't have any doubt that I will be able to stick with it. I used to eat like you did, fast food about five or six times a week. I haven't had any now for about 2 or 3 months, and rarely even get the urge for it anymore.

I lost most of my weight by keeping a strict count on my calorie intake. When I was in my 'hard-core' diet phase I was limiting myself to about 1200 calories a day. One of the ways I accomplished this was to do some research on the foods I would typically eat, particularly fast food. You lose your appetite for a supersized double quarter pounder when you find out just how much bad stuff is in it ;)

[FrogMan]

He's 6, and "active" doesn't begin to describe it ;) Well, I'm sure he's just like any other 6 year old, very full of energy.

Kiddo has karate on M/W/F, so I try to get him to do our walks on Tuesday/thursday/at least once on the weekend. For the next several weeks we'll also have dance classes every Tuesday night. If I can drag my ass out of the apartment just once a week on my own on top of all of that, I should be doing quite well for awhile :)

I know you have mentionned that you are trying to start by simply get a walking regimen going, and baby steps at the beginning is a very good idea. Once you got that going, you may thinking about taking some of those karate classes.

I started doing karate a year ago, following my then 6yo son who had started a year earlier. While I wasn't necessarily in the worst of shape, I was coming off a knee injury and wanted some low impact exercise to get myself back into shape gradually. Kiddo is now 7 and we now we go to karate classes at the same time in two separate rooms. We can practice at home together, and when I ask him what he's done in his class, I can understand what he's talking about and even give him tips :)

Depending on the karate style he does, and on your school, karate classes for beginners are usually not people killers. At least the school where we go is more of the style "go at your own rythm, do the best *you* can, not what the other can". Like "today it's 5 situps, tomorrow you'll do 6" kind of attitude :)

I've seen beginners that really were not in the greatest of shape, but with time, they got better, all the while learning the moves/forms/self defense techniques required to go up in belts...

Anyway, just wanted to share what I do with my son, that helps me stay a tiny bit active. Best of luck with your diet and walking :)

FM

[Radii]

Monday: 3671 steps
Tuesday: 2677
Wednesday: 1415
Thursday: 4600 steps
<i>Friday: 2630 steps</i>

[Radii]

Monday: 3671 steps
Tuesday: 2677
Wednesday: 1415
Thursday: 4600 steps
Friday: 2630 steps
<i>Saturday: 3380 steps</i>

I don't think I'm going to lose any weight this week, I haven't been eating well, even though I've been sticking to the main goals I've set so far. I feel better though now that I'm getting out and getting a little exercise most every day, so I feel like I'm off to a good start whether I drop any pounds this week or not.

[thealmighty]

I think as long as you don't gain any weight back more than one week at a time, but lose most weeks, you are doing well. Seems to me that everone wants to LOSE LOSE LOSE but that the ones who end up keeping the weight off and keeping to a program are the people who take it at a pace they are comfortable with.

Keep at it, I'm still here to root you on.

[Radii]

Monday: 3671 steps
Tuesday: 2677
Wednesday: 1415
Thursday: 4600 steps
Friday: 2630 steps
Saturday: 3380 steps
<i>Sunday: 1100 steps</i>

After staying out until about 4am Saturday night playing poker, Sunday was a decidedly lazy day. I also didn't comment on the steps on Saturday, they were worth a lot more than the 3300 that showed up. Took the soccer ball to the park w/ the kiddo and we played for awhile, I only wound up with 1500 steps out of that but I was running around constantly. Instead of "lets kick the ball back and forth" someone decided that the game would be "if you kick it past those bushes, you score, and if I kick it past that post, I score" so we were chasing each other all over the place :) was fun until the sprinkler system came on.

[Radii]

A note on the weight. I hate my scale. Well, i'm sure its not the scale, it's the level in the apartment or something weird like that. I'd noticed before but weighing myself right after i wake up, I'm usually pretty groggy and wasn't paying attention. So this morning I get up and get on the scale and it says 307.8. Yuck. Then I moved it about 1/2 inch to the left, and it says 304.8. So I have absolutely no idea what's "right" in relation to the weights I'd posted at first.

The 307.8 reading is where I want the scale to be, lined up w/ the tiles just right so I can put it there every morning if its gotten moved. So taht's what I'm using. I may well have gained some weight this week, I did eat out way too often, but like I said earlier, I *feel* a lot better physically having gotten out and gotten a lot more exercise most days so I am fine with that.

Weight:
June 28th - 309.4
July 5th - 305.0
July 12th - 307.8
Net: who knows, but I'll say 1.6 pounds for recording's sake.

Stepometer:
June 28th - avg ~1200-1500/steps per day (I was not recording this religiously).
July 5th - avg 2484 steps per day
July 12th - avg 2782 steps per day


Goals for the Week:

Two very specific goals, both with exercise, not with food.

1. Go for a walk with kiddo on Tuesday like normal. Its tempting to not do this b/c Tuesday night we have dance class, and Tuesday night will be pretty much shot if I come home, go for walk, shower, eat, leave for class, but we do have the time to do it still.

2. Go for a walk just one night after work by myself(these are the days when kiddo has karate and we usually wouldn't go, monday/wednesday/friday).

If I can do those two things in addition to the normal exercise I get during the week I'll easily push that average well up. That on top of the existing goals of avoiding sodas and vending machines and eating breakfast every morning should make for a good week.

[sachmo71]

Stick with it, man!

[MizzouRah]

Exercise is the best way to help in losing weight.


Todd

[Radii]

<i>Monday: 3899 steps</i>


Solid day yesterday, up until OlieGirl baked a cake. Yummmmmm.

Dance classes tonight. Thankfully they told us to dress comfortably, the work shoes were killing me last Tuesday night.

[Radii]

Monday: 3899 steps
Tuesday: 4180 steps

Dance class was much more involved tonight, last week was the first class so we sat and listened to the instructor for the first 15 minutes or so, and then the steps were pretty slow. Tonight was much quicker(but it's all relative)... it really did feel a lot like a low impact aerobics type thing.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm struggling with losing weight as well. I recently had a scare in which I went to the hospital and actually thought something might be wrong with my heart at the age of 29. Fortunately, a complete checkup didn't show any damage to my heart and my stress test was clear. My mom had a heart attack at a young age (41) secondary to being morbidly obese most of her life (she fortunately survived.) I'm currently 65 pounds over my "ideal" weight (I'm 250) and I've been as high as 275.

The scare has me redicated to losing weight. Anyway, I really just wanted to encourage you to keep up the work. Also, weight can fluctuate at various times of the month for guys. We have hormones which regulate water retention too ;) Of course, it is much worse for women. Don't worry about the day to day, or week to week readings so much. Look at the trend over a month's time. Don't give up and know that there are many others out there who are struggling as well :)

[Radii]

Thanks for the comments EaglesFan :)

I'm still only 27 myself, but every time I try to lose weight, the idea that I really, really, really need to take care of this now once and for all before I get too much older gets a little bit stronger.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Good luck with this!

I like how you are taking a reasonable approach to the whole thing, and the increasing walking sounds like a great way to go. I think the tendency is to want to lose all the weight right away, and that leads to frustration and binge eating. Also, exercise has been shown to be effective at gradually reducing weight, and has one of the best records for weight loss permanence.

I think dropping the soda is a great idea, too. There was a study a while back that split people up into two groups. One group got soda with their meal; the other got water. Both groups ate essentially the same amount of their meals, which led the researchers to surmise that calories consumed as soda don't help "fill" us up when we eat.

At 80-120+ calories per 12oz. can of soda, even one can per day is about a pound a month of additional weight.

[Radii]

Monday: 3899 steps
Tuesday: 4180 steps
Wednesday: 1478

The day after dance lessons is turning into a lazy day pretty consistantly.

It rained a lot tonight, which means I'll likely be volunteered to mow Oliegirl's parents' lawn over the weekend, something I don't mind doing at all, as long as its on the weekend, that'll kick up the weekend exercise quite a bit.

[Radii]

I talked myself out of a wlak today, but around 8 turned around and talked myself back into it and ended up going out for a walk after it had cooled down, was nice.

Monday: 3899 steps
Tuesday: 4180 steps
Wednesday: 1478 steps
Thursday: ~3900 steps

I didn't have my pedometer on at work but 3900 is about right based on what I normally walk during the work day.

[Buzzbee]

I talked myself out of a wlak today, but around 8 turned around and talked myself back into it and ended up going out for a walk after it had cooled down, was nice.

Monday: 3899 steps
Tuesday: 4180 steps
Wednesday: 1478 steps
Thursday: ~3900 steps

I didn't have my pedometer on at work but 3900 is about right based on what I normally walk during the work day.

Excellent!! Glad to see the motivation kick in. Just posting to let you know there are people out there still following and rooting you on.

[Radii]

Monday: 3899 steps
Tuesday: 4180 steps
Wednesday: 1478 steps
Thursday: ~3900 steps
Friday: 2800 steps

Went out to barns and noble during lunch and wandered around, I can't remember what else I did, maybe that was it :)

Today I mowed the lawn(oliegirls' parents... helpin out, etc), and we are going to stone mountain to see a dog show and the laser show, looking forward to that, and we should get some good walking in.

[Radii]

Monday: 3899 steps
Tuesday: 4180 steps
Wednesday: 1478 steps
Thursday: ~3900 steps
Friday: 2800 steps
<i>Saturday: 3972 steps</i>

Stone Mountain didn't happen... well, we drove there, sat in the car for 40 minutes while it poured down rain and decided that even if it stopped, the ground would be kinda icky, and it wasn't showing signs of stopping anyway, so we left.

[Radii]

Monday: 3899 steps
Tuesday: 4180 steps
Wednesday: 1478 steps
Thursday: ~3900 steps
Friday: 2800 steps
Saturday: 3972 steps
<i>Sunday: 2297 steps</i>

grocery shopping. Ate out twice yesterday which is not healthy at all.

The scale drama continues, my scale is dead, it's a digital one and ithas some sort of a short. The grocery trip to the super wal-mart led us to discover the horrid customer service that a minimum wage employee can offer and we never did find out where the scales were despite being half-heartedly pointed in a general direction. Oliegirl or I will stop by when they're not nearly as busy on a weekday and try to pick one up.


Weight:
June 28th - 309.4
July 5th - 305.0
July 12th - 307.8
July 19th - unknown

Stepometer:
June 28th - avg ~1200-1500/steps per day (I was not recording this religiously).
July 5th - avg 2484 steps per day
July 12th - avg 2782 steps per day
July 19th - avg 3218 steps per day

Slow and steady improvement, good good!

I have decided to add another step to my goals here, to add one more thing to the regimen which will put me on the right path.


Step 1: cut out sodas - I've accomplished this.
Step 2: bring a decent breakfast to work every morning
Step 3: Avoid vending machine food
Step 4: Substitute veggies/side salad for french fries when dining out. Also, eat NO MORE than 1 roll/piece of bread when at a restaurant that offers bread before the meal. If I run the kiddo through McD's to get us lunch, do not get fries. Eat chips at home if I must, but do not order fries for myself

the beginnings of cutting out some of the bad starches/carbs. Also one of the steps I distinctly remember my friend at work struggling with, the one who lost noticible weight through a similar process that i'm working on now.

[Radii]

Monday - 3015 steps

Kiddo had a tummy ache so I went walking by myself. I went at a much quicker pace and got a muuuuch better workout. I attacked the giant hill on the way home instead of trudging up it while kiddo pulls leaves off of trees and picks up everything he sees on the ground, and was much more tired when I got home.

Dance class tonight, if it's like last week where we're pretty much going non-stop that will be quite the workout as well.

On to the weight. OlieGirl got a scale yesterday, a nice big one that I fit on much more comfortably, and one I have to move out to the middle of hte floor to weigh. It's not digital, and hopefully will be more reliable :P And since its registering signifigantly different than the digital I'm just startnig over on the weight.

Weight:
July 19th - 314/315

Hopefully now that the scale drama is over with I can accurately record this from now on. I of course am continually feeling better with my slow&steady exercise increase so the weight doesn't worry me, it may well have read 320 when I started this, I have absolutely no idea. I suspect I have lost some weight though, a shirt that I wore yesterday that doesn't stay tucked in all day b/c of my gut, stayed tucked in for the first time in months. I am going to assume that means I've actually lost a little and cut off an inch or two.

Stepometer:
June 28th - avg ~1200-1500/steps per day (I was not recording this religiously).
July 5th - avg 2484 steps per day
July 12th - avg 2782 steps per day
July 19th - avg 3218 steps per day

[Subby]

Radii -

The decision to foregoe french fries is a smart one. The fat isn't really even the problem with them, since they are all cooked in vegetable oil. Rather, all of the starch in the fries breaks down quickly in your body - converting to glucose and spiking your insulin levels (which is just bad for your health in general). The salt content is probably ridiculous too, although that is not something to which I normally pay attention. I also remember reading something last year about damaging toxins that get released by potatoes when they are fried...

[Radii]

Monday - 3015 steps
Tuesday - 2083

Yeah, 2083 is bullshit. I took a lot more than 1000 steps at dance class. I think b/c the steps are so light and many are backwards that it doesn't register a lot of them. But that's what I'm going with anyway. Got a very good workout, was sweating like a pig by the end(and imagining how much more I'll be sweating in a tux... I naturally sweat a ton).

Went to a cheeseburger joint for dinner and I got a cheeseburger w/ coleslaw and water instead of the standard fries, hooray!

[Eaglesfan27]

Congrats on resisting the temptation of fries today :)

[Radii]

Thanks for the comment EaglesFan27 :)

Monday - 3015 steps
Tuesday - 2083
Wednesday - 3206 steps

I went for a walk on my own after work. Ate pretty well minus the piece of birthday cake in the break room this afternoon. All of the goals (except the brand new fry one) have become very easy for me by this point, but then again, they're all goals I've done easily in the past, so I knew they would be good starting points.

We're going up to Chicago for next weekend(Aug 1st) and I don't plan on adding any new goals until after we return from that trip at minimum.

[Radii]

Monday - 3015 steps
Tuesday - 2083
Wednesday - 3206 steps
Thursday - 915 steps

veeerry lazy day. Today will not be as bad but will not be great either. I'm doing a marketing survey thing right after work(for $25, woo), and after that meeting OlieGirl at her parents' to go out to dinner, probably won't get home until 8:30 or later.

[Radii]

I went to lunch by myself today, went to Fuddruckers and got my usual burger and fries. It wasn't until I was totally finished with the fries and about 3/4 of the way through my burger that I thought to myself "oh shit, I'm not supposed to have fries anymore!" ... the thought didn't even cross my mind once before then, wasn't a dilemma or anything, the fries are just so routine at fuddruckers for me.

Whoops!

[Buzzbee]

Radii - I'm guessing you are in the Perimeter Mall area, since a buddy of mine does market research over by St. Joe's/Northside and since you mentioned Fuddruckers (aren't too many of those around the ATL). If so, perhaps we can meet for lunch someday. I work across the street from the mall.

[Radii]

Radii - I'm guessing you are in the Perimeter Mall area, since a buddy of mine does market research over by St. Joe's/Northside and since you mentioned Fuddruckers (aren't too many of those around the ATL). If so, perhaps we can meet for lunch someday. I work across the street from the mall.

Gwinnet place mall area actually, sorry! there's a fuddruckers in one of the little shopping centers around the circle drive surrounding the mall But I used to live over near perimeter and have eaten at that fuddruckers many, many, many times as well ;)

[Karim]

I'm impressed with your attitude and responsibility towards your stated weight loss goals. Keep it up!

Over the years I've spiralled from 150 - 200 - 165 - 220 which is where I am at now. I am in a similar position to Eaglesfan where health is starting to actually become a concern.

If anything, this thread has shown me that small steps can be meaningful; I'm the type that gets discouraged easily if I'm not seeing results.

Anyway, keep up the good work Radii.

[Radii]

If anything, this thread has shown me that small steps can be meaningful; I'm the type that gets discouraged easily if I'm not seeing results.

Thanks for the comments Karim :) I have tried many, many times to dive head first into an all out diet and lose everything right away. It has just never worked for me, so I am hoping the slow and steady approach can last long term for me.

[Radii]

Monday - 3015 steps
Tuesday - 2083
Wednesday - 3206 steps
Thursday - 915 steps
Friday - 2586 steps
Saturday - 2974 steps

Friday was just a long day, left the apartment at 8:45, got home around 9:30pm.

Saturday I had the kiddo with me all day, we had a picnic(consisting of PBJ and pretzels) at the park and then I walked around for awhile while he played. It was ungodly hot and kiddo got bored quickly so I only got 1000 steps or so in during that excursion.

The avg will definitely be lower today, but that's ok I think. Held to the goals yesterday no problem, PBJ/pretzels for lunch, and we went over to one of my best friend's houses for dinner, he has ferrets that I recently introduced kiddo to, and he's been *DYING* to get back over and play with them again, so we all went over and played with the ferrets for awhile, and the grilled bugers and brats, was a lot of fun.

[Radii]

Monday - 3015 steps
Tuesday - 2083
Wednesday - 3206 steps
Thursday - 915 steps
Friday - 2586 steps
Saturday - 2974 steps
Sunday - 1200 steps

Lazy day Sunday, and really a kinda lazy end to the week. With the chicago trip coming I doubt I'm going to be getting much exercise at the start of this week either.

This was a pretty shitty morning, and I ended up running by chik-fil-a for a couple of chicken biscuits. I did avoid the soda, so at least that's something.

[Radii]

Weight:
July 19th - 314/315
July 26th - 311 (woohoo)

Stepometer:
June 28th - avg ~1200-1500/steps per day (I was not recording this religiously).
July 5th - avg 2484 steps per day
July 12th - avg 2782 steps per day
July 19th - avg 3218 steps per day
July 26th - avg 2282 steps per day

I would imagine there will be lots of Chicago outings that involve walking, but I am not sure, the amount of exercise I get this week will kinda be dependant on that. If we aren't out much then I will just have to resolve to have an excellent week the week after we get back in town.

[Subby]

Radii - I know you are taking things slow, but I would recommend getting the South Beach Diet book and giving it a read. Even if you don't follow it or use the recipes, it at least gives you a good basis of dietary knowledge going forward. I see stuff like "PB&J and Pretzels and chicken biscuits" and I am worried you are torpedoing yourself before you really get started.

Anyway...keep up the walking!

[Radii]

Radii - I know you are taking things slow, but I would recommend getting the South Beach Diet book and giving it a read. Even if you don't follow it or use the recipes, it at least gives you a good basis of dietary knowledge going forward. I see stuff like "PB&J and Pretzels and chicken biscuits" and I am worried you are torpedoing yourself before you really get started.

The chicken biscuit is a mistake made from a terribly shitty morning (no details here, and no excuses, I still shouldn't have fucked up on my goals b/c of external factors). Breaks the 'no breakfast out' rule :(

The others are improvements over what I would have normally done, both in terms of calories and carbs I am sure. Still, I will give the south beach book a quick once over next time I'm in barns & noble for a long lunch.

[Eaglesfan27]

Radii - I commend you for keeping up the slow and steady method. Yes, you aren't making all perfect choices, but very few people do. You are becoming more cognizant of what you eat and how you exercise, and if you can continue to do this, I'm confident that you will continue to lose weight. Keep up the good fight and continue to slowly add more goals :)

[Subby]

Definitely echoing what Eaglesfan27 said here...South Beach is just nice because the cardiologist who designed it gives a nice overview of nutrition and the different effects of food on blood chemistry - stuff we already know mostly - but tied together and presented real nicely...

Anyway, I am down from 218.5 to 169.0 because of it and regular exercise - and I have zero discipline...I am at the point now where I am just sticking to the principles and I am in pretty decent shape...

How great would it be if they made a treadmill that had a laptop stand and you could just play internet poker while you walked? You'd lose 50 pounds in 3 months. Let's get on that invention, alrighty? ;)

[Ironhead]

Just wanted to drop a post saying keep it up man! About four years ago I decided that I too was going to make a change in my health for the better. I went from 240 to 170 and have kept it off without much fuss to this day. Through my personal experience, and also watching the experiences of others, exercise and building muscle mass is definately the way to go if you want to lose weight and keep it off.

Best of luck to you!

[Radii]

No walks Monday or Tuesday, and there won't be tonight either. Going to be very early to get up at the crack of dawn Thursday to make the drive to Chicago. I've eaten well since the slip up Monday morning.

<i>Monday: ~1200 steps</i> (approximate b/c I couldn't find my pedometer in the morning, guess based on what stuff I did do and how it normally adds up)
<i>Tuesday: 1301 steps</i>


There will likely(hopefully) be a lot of walking around this weekend in Chicago, so I expect to make up for the early week laziness. Next week after we get back from chicago, we're doubling up on the dance classes to make up for what we've missed, which will keep that exercise picked up as well.

[Radii]

Never go to Chicago with an Italian family who wants to show you all of the great things to eat and expect not to gain weight. We'll see how bad it is tomorrow, but holy shit I had some of the best food of my life in the last 5 days :D

Monday: ~1200 steps (approximate b/c I couldn't find my pedometer in the morning, guess based on what stuff I did do and how it normally adds up)
Tuesday: 1301 steps
Wed-Today(Monday) - I wasn't writing anything down so I didn't reset the pedometer, I just let it run: 20,961 steps.

8-day week total: 23,462 steps, for a 2932 steps/day average.


I have tomorrow off work to relax and rest up after the very busy vacation, and will be back to "normal" Wednesday.

School starts for kiddo next week though and that will change everyone's schedules, and we'll see how I do re-adjusting to getting up at 6:45am next week, it's a constant challenge, eh? I'll weigh myself in the morning.

[ice4277]

Radii,

Any updates on this?