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Heywood Mogroot - 28 Jun 2004 21:59 GMT

The scale said 192.5, my excel spreadsheet moving average says 194.0,
with 75% of my weight loss goal in the bag.

I'm happy!

Complicating matters a little is my waistline is still stuck at 38.5",
not much progress over the past two months of loss (I started at ~44",
and would like to get down to 34").

The 40" pants I bought out of necessity in 2002 are still way too big
now (I can fit a tennis ball in the gap), and my workday 34" dockers
from the late 90's are almost almost wearable again -- just another
inch and they'll be fine.

So overall I've wiped out 5 years of fat in just 4+ months & 40lbs of
serious dieting.

The next 10+ lbs are the remainder of the fat, that I put on the
1990s. Dunno if it will be as easy working that off, prolly not, but
I don't expect maintenance and continuing loss to be a big problem as
long as I stick to my basics and not resume previous habits like:

half a bag of Ruffles & french onion dip
a carton of Ben & Jerry's in one sitting
2l of Mt Dew over 2 days
The #1 combo at In&Out (1500kcal in one sitting)
Buying Reese's Peanut Butter Cups by the case at Costco
Claim Jumper frozen dinners
half a can of honey roast cashews
Dove Bars, as dessert for lunch, on a hot day
Arby's Chicken Bacon Swiss, Beef n' Chedday, & curly fries, along with
a coke.

I miss these "foods" a little, but don't miss the waistline they gave
me, so there you are.

I've been amazed about the misconceptions I had about dieting to lose
weight. Maintaining a 1000 kcal/day deficit so far has been a piece of
cake, with not much feeling of denial or hardship (while I don't do
atkins per se, the guidance to limit empty carbs , even if they're
"low-fat", is well-taken).

I really think it's important to pace the diet, don't go too fast, and
keeping a positive trend going by not torpedoing it with stupid
decisions, so it really helps to track the diet with a chart or graph.

Heywood

232/194/182

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Ignoramus3685 - 28 Jun 2004 22:16 GMT

Heywood, I applaud your attitude towards your weight loss. I should
not say that you won't have any problems maintaining, but you will
probably overcome your problems if they occur.

i

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Beverly - 28 Jun 2004 22:28 GMT

> The scale said 192.5, my excel spreadsheet moving average says 194.0,
> with 75% of my weight loss goal in the bag.
>
> I'm happy!

Congratulations Heywood. You have every reason to be happy about the weight
loss. Hopefully the extra inches will disappear from the waist. This is a
problem area for me, too.

Beverly

> Complicating matters a little is my waistline is still stuck at 38.5",
> not much progress over the past two months of loss (I started at ~44",
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
>
> 232/194/182

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Michael Plumridge - 28 Jun 2004 23:10 GMT

Hi there.

> The scale said 192.5, my excel spreadsheet moving average says 194.0,
> with 75% of my weight loss goal in the bag.

Awesome. It sounds like you did it in a healthy way, too. Have you had your
body fat measured at all over the course of the new diet?

> Complicating matters a little is my waistline is still stuck at 38.5",
> not much progress over the past two months of loss (I started at ~44",
> and would like to get down to 34").

I've only went down a couple of inches, at most, over the last few months.
At least I'm wearing 34" pants again, though I do wear them low and stomach
is still at 36.5.

> I don't expect maintenance and continuing loss to be a big problem as
> long as I stick to my basics and not resume previous habits like:
>
>(snip the good stuff)

Oh jesus, I remember the way I used to eat. I'm not going to say I wouldn't
love to go back to that way of life, but I don't that I ever would.
McDonalds was a three lunch a week thing - two double cheeseburgers and a
large fry was my usual order. Two cartons of Ben and Jerrys a week, three or
four Little Debbie snacks every night at work, three or four fresh donuts or
rolls every night at work... I work nights and on one of my days off, I
would wake up in the middle of the night and eat an entire bag of Oreos with
about a half gallon of milk. Any time I wasn't eating at home, I'd get
regular pop too. At leastI was taking a multivitamin, but jesus... It's no
wonder I was gaining weight and I'm just lucky that I have had a job during
the past few years. The last time I went a few months without a job, I
gained 30 pounds in about a month and a half. Same eating habits.

Mike
196/161/Wherever I end up with 15% body fat...

Reply to this Message

Heywood Mogroot - 29 Jun 2004 06:10 GMT

> Hi there.
>
> > The scale said 192.5, my excel spreadsheet moving average says 194.0,
> > with 75% of my weight loss goal in the bag.
>
> Awesome. It sounds like you did it in a healthy way, too.

more or less, though I could have started the protein powder earlier,
and I still need to do the lifting to rebuild lost upper-body muscle.
1000 miles of biking in ~3 months have made my legs pretty springy at
least.

> Have you had your
> body fat measured at all over the course of the new diet?

Pretty much my 34" dockers (and my 33" 501s that I've been 'saving'
for ~8 years now) are the best measures of body fat I have. That and
my face -- I'm not so round any more.

> > I don't expect maintenance and continuing loss to be a big problem as
> > long as I stick to my basics and not resume previous habits like:
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Oh jesus, I remember the way I used to eat. I'm not going to say I wouldn't
> love to go back to that way of life, but I don't that I ever would.

These 4 months have been an exercise in maturity, too. I do go out
occasionally to eat at eg. Quiznos, but I go there for good-tasting
quasi-healthy food within my calorie budget and not empty snacking, so
I eg. never get a coke there.

I avoid 'trigger foods' like ice cream, chocolate, and basically
anything that is more than 200 kcal / rational serving. There are some
semi-lame snacks that duck in under this wire, like Kozy Shack
pudding, but I allow it since it has some protein (and I like mixing
my protein powder in to really fortify it). I suppose Krispey Kreme
donuts would almost qualify, but their sugar/fat vs. protein load
sucks, plus these were one of the junk foods I over-enjoyed going up
so I don't see much point re-incorporating pure junk food into my diet
at this point.

Basically I've learned that Calories Matter, and it is indeed possible
to eat a wide variety of stuff, not get terribly hungry, and still
lose fat. Before I did not 'know' these things. I thought fat was a
one-way trip, that dieting was a fruitless fulltime grinding pain of
hunger, and that I should retire and bicycle around the world if I
ever wanted to get thin again.

Luckily, _The Hacker's Diet_ and the atkins hype turned my thinking
around.

> McDonalds was a three lunch a week thing - two double cheeseburgers and a
> large fry was my usual order. Two cartons of Ben and Jerrys a week, three or
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> the past few years. The last time I went a few months without a job, I
> gained 30 pounds in about a month and a half. Same eating habits.

Kinda like, what the hell, dieting sucks, so I might as well enjoy
life now mentality, huh?

Heywood

232/194/182

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Mary M - Ohio - 29 Jun 2004 13:41 GMT

> The next 10+ lbs are the remainder of the fat, that I put on the
> 1990s. Dunno if it will be as easy working that off, prolly not, but
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> I miss these "foods" a little, but don't miss the waistline they gave
> me, so there you are.

You're right -- those former "favorites" are not food -- they are junk designed to
empty your pockets and make you miserable. No matter what the commercials say! :-)
You are doing terrific ... yes, the last 10 lbs can be difficult to get off (at least
in my experience!) ... and you are on the right track by realizing that those old
habits are past history and are not coming back. That's the mistake I see most people
make -- resuming their old eating habits and thinking they can handle it "this time."
For most of us, that just doesn't work. I kept off 100 lbs. for 17 years by giving up
sugar and never eating it again (nothing over 3g per serving anyway). And now over
the past two years I've taken off roughly 70 more pounds and am working on the last
10. Permanent changes mean permanent weight loss. Most people aren't willing to make
the necessary changes "forever" and to me, that accounts for the high percentage of
those who regain their weight.

Mary M
325-158-148

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Heywood Mogroot - 30 Jun 2004 04:43 GMT

> 10. Permanent changes mean permanent weight loss. Most people aren't willing to make
> the necessary changes "forever" and to me, that accounts for the high percentage of
> those who regain their weight.

My sister lost 20lb on WW, kept it off for over a year, but put back
10 just this past year, for just that reason. After she ditched the
points system, things like sodas, starbucks, ice cream, and other
stuff snuck back into becoming habits again. My diet program this year
reminded her of her own gain, and now she's lost 5 or more, back on WW
again.

On my way up from 180, I plateaud at 200 for a couple of years in the
late 90s, and at the time I never thought I'd be able to diet back
into the lower 190s. But it was a piece of cake to go from 198 to 194,
and I think I can continue the trend.

Even though I don't really understand people who undergo WLS to
control their appetite, I have to admit that I'm not strong enough to
have a whole carton of Ben & Jerry's in the freezer, apportioning the
1/2 cup or whatever serving that keeps the calories from overwhelming
my system.

Walking around lighter, if not really thinner yet, than I was 5 years
ago tastes better than any ice cream. I believe this is a WW or
related old saw, but it is certainly true for me.

Heywood
232/194/182

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