 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsGeneral TopicsLow CarbWeightWatchers WeightAdviser.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Weight Loss Forum / General Topics / November 2003I'm new! And I have a question.
Hi everyone, I figure I might as well stop lurking and start existing... =) Here is my (semi-anonymous) introduction: I'm 22, female, still in school, with no health problems except my weight! I figure 5'5" and 180 pounds is way too much. I've been conscious of my weight for years now, but I was too depressed to do anything serious about it. (My depression was what put on the pounds in the first place.) Now that the psychological part is solved... and I've finally accepted what I am, I want to start changing it =P I figured if I was going to do anything about it I might as well take it slow and build solid habits before I tried anything new. It takes ages for me to form new habits; it's just my character. Besides, I have very little moral support: most of my friends are overweight, so I'm stuck doing all this on my own. I figure I better make sure I set solid habits, so they'll withstand the tests of..... "restaurants, parties and breakfast in town".... So, two years ago, I started incorporating gradual changes in my diet: switching from white bread to whole grain, white rice to brown, discovering fruits and vegetables (and Vietnamese food!!!!) which were previously totally absent from my plate, replacing tri-weekly helpings of red meat with poultry or pork. This has helped me maintain my weight, instead of encouraging its slow crawl upwards. I'm also successful in keeping the sweets & junk food out of the fridge. I cut down a lot, but not totally... once a month I might enjoy a small carton of Haagen Dasz or a bag of Tostitos... but rarely anything more. I hardly ever have the urge to binge like I once did. One of my friends (a fitness trainer) also gave me ideas... like dividing my 3 big meals a day into 5 or 6 smaller ones. That means I'm always eating small quantities (maybe 200, 250 calories a pop) with a couple bigger ones (400-ish). I also try drink 1.5 to 2 litres of liquid (mostly orange juice or..... coffee) every day. Recently, I've embarked on my second habit-forming ordeal, which is to start exercising on a regular basis... I take an hour-long water aerobics class once a week. I've also started walking to the store instead of taking the bus, and I bought some weights last week. I'm planning on starting weight training at my university gym next semester. Losing weight isn't as much the problem as losing fat... I don't care if I end up stuck at 160 pounds, as long as it's not 37% fat!!! Now that everyone's read my boring story ;P I have a question. See, I am *always* hungry. It just nags me to no end. I'm not sure what I'm doing or eating wrong to be like this. I mean, I'm ALWAYS eating small amounts or drinking *lots* (to the point where I can't drink a drop more or I'll explode.) Shouldn't that cut the hunger down a bit?? Yet it doesn't seem to be working, and for the past few months it's even worsened. Every hour I get terrible pangs, it feels like my body is just asking for something sweet all the time. I don't understand why, though: If I tally up what I eat on www.fitday.com, it gives me a ratio of roughly 60% carbs, 30% fat and 10% protein out of 2300 calories. I figure a lot of that 60% is sugars of some kind, so why do I keep wanting MORE??? I'll be honest: I'll try anything you tell me, except going back to 3 meals a day; I just can't wait that long without food (see above problem!!) I also don't feel like lowering my total calories would be a good idea just now, since it's hard enough not to overeat already because of the constant hunger. And I refuse to go on diet pills/appetite suppressants of any kind... death to pills (except Centrum, maybe =P sooooooo..... does anyone have any suggestions to offer to poor little difficult me? ;) Cya! --- Falfien Hi Falfien, As everyone has already said.. I agree. You definately need to eat alot more protein. The protein will keep you more satiated AND help maintain your muscles as you lose weight. If you are a carb addict, then the more carbs you eat, the more you will crave. I would suggest replacing the oj with water and low carb protein shakes that you can whip up. If you don't like to eat meat, then there are other sources to get the protein from. -- Email me at: perpleglow(AT)comcast.net > Hi everyone, > [quoted text clipped - 72 lines] > --- > Falfien >sooooooo..... does anyone have any suggestions to offer to poor little >difficult me? ;) One quick one, 'cause I only have a minute...cut out almost all the orange juice and replace it with water. That's a move in the right direction, at least. Best wishes, and keep posting. beeswing Sugars do have a tendency to make you want to eat more. Sodas and junk food, also. They make losing weight difficult for some people. You sound like a sane person and I think that this may help you lose weight. When you want to maintain weight, cute tricks like eating often etc help. When you want to lose weight, you need to push yourself a little farther, and limit how much you eat during the day even if it makes you hungry. They key is not to overdo it and make sure that you eat nutritious food or else you will succumb to hunger attacks and cravings. Outstanding progress on exercise. It is very helpful. i 223/177/180 > Hi everyone, > [quoted text clipped - 71 lines] > Cya! > Falfien > Hi everyone, Hi! > I figure I might as well stop lurking and start existing... =) > > Here is my (semi-anonymous) introduction: I'm 22, female, still in > school, with no health problems except my weight! I figure 5'5" and > 180 pounds is way too much. We're the same height. I'm at 150 pounds right now and hoping to get to 130. > One of my friends (a fitness trainer) also gave me ideas... like > dividing my 3 big meals a day into 5 or 6 smaller ones. That means I'm > always eating small quantities (maybe 200, 250 calories a pop) with a > couple bigger ones (400-ish). I also try drink 1.5 to 2 litres of > liquid (mostly orange juice or..... coffee) every day. Small meals are goo,d but OJ is all sugar. Replace it with water. > Recently, I've embarked on my second habit-forming ordeal, which is to > start exercising on a regular basis... [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > as losing fat... I don't care if I end up stuck at 160 pounds, as long > as it's not 37% fat!!! Good! Working out is fun. : ) > Now that everyone's read my boring story ;P I have a question. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > fat and 10% protein out of 2300 calories. I figure a lot of that 60% > is sugars of some kind, so why do I keep wanting MORE??? Not enough protein. Up your protein intake, cut back on carbs (cutting out OJ and replacing it with one orange daily) should do a lot. But you need more protein to keep you filling fuller longer. Martha I used to have that same problem. It didn't matter how much I ate in one sitting, I was always hungry an hour, two at the most, later. I have started on Atkins, and fallen off a few times, but I have found that it makes me feel much better, more energetic and most importantly for sticking with any "diet" NOT HUNGRY. Now, before you comment on the contradiction above, my not sticking with the diet is mostly because of lack of support. When kicking any habit/addiction it's important to not have temptation staring you in the face, and my family just doesn't cooperate very well with removing the foods I can't eat from the house. Temptation + lack of iron willpower = falling off and cheating. I am by no means suggesting that you switch from what you're doing to Atkins. You have gotten a great start and seem to be doing a great job by changing things one at a time. That is the best way to do anything if you want it to stick for the rest of your life instead of just until the weight comes off. You could pick some key principles from Atkins, though, and use them to your advantage without having to follow the whole thing. You've already cut back on refined flour by switching to whole wheat bread and that's a good start. I would suggest now cutting out sugar. Sugar in foods causes major blood-sugar spikes and drops which can wreak havoc on your body, making you feel hungry when you know there is no reason to be hungry. I would say, since you're using fitday already, to look back through your information and figure up how much of your intake is carbs and roughly how much of that is sugar. Then I would pick a number of grams of carbs as your cutoff in a day and see if that helps. Give it about a week to notice any change. (I would also strongly suggest getting Atkins book, it can explain all of this and you can pull what you want out of it.) Induction cuts it down drastically to 20g of carbs a day. That is extreme, but effective if that's what it takes to acclimate your body to the change. Other diets restrict them to 60g a day. You can substitute a balance of fat and protein for the replaced carbs, and once your body gets rid of its stored sugar supply, the hunger should get better. The key to Atkins is balancing blood sugar levels. It works wonders for hunger control. Even if I don't lose weight (my metabolism is highly resistant and tricky) I love Atkins and I love the way it makes me feel. Just remember, it's all totally personal and what works for you. :) Hope this helps Amanda > Hi everyone, > [quoted text clipped - 72 lines] > --- > Falfien Snippage > I am by no means suggesting that you switch from what you're doing to > Atkins. You have gotten a great start and seem to be doing a great job [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > already cut back on refined flour by switching to whole wheat bread and > that's a good start. That's what I've been doing, and it really does work for me--upping protein and good fat, and avoiding simple carbs has done wonders for me. On Weight Watchers I never felt satisfied, and was always hungry. Now I eat about 75-100 grams of protein a day, and keep the carbs (wasa bread, vegies, fruit) under 100 grams. That and lotsa exercise is keeping me where I want to be. Amy 168/115 What is "wasa bread" ? Recipe for it? Gene Briggs, TX > Snippage > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > 168/115 > What is "wasa bread" ? > Recipe for it? > > Gene > Briggs, TX Wasa (a brand name) is a flat, cracker-like bread. I believe (and may be corrected if wrong) that it is originally from and very poplular in scandanavian countries. FitDay lists it as "crispbread." My husband calls it cardboard. I buy the Wasa Fiber Rye brand. One slice (about the size of a grahm cracker) has 30 cals, 1 g fat, 7 g carb (2 g fiber), and 1 g protein. I usually eat two slices a day--one with an ounce of cheese for pre-gym breakfast, and one later in the day with my tuna fish or with a tbs of peanut butter for a snack. Amy Gene, They sell it on the cracker/chip aisle at any HEB - Get the fiber rye, I have found I like it the best and I have it at least 2-3 times a week on my WOE. Susan 260/205/160 --- 2month 5days 21:54hours of being smoke-free, 2,680 cigs not smoked, $495.80 saved, 1wweek 2day 7:20hours of my life saved > What is "wasa bread" ? > Recipe for it? [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > > > 168/115 Welcome, Falfien (unusual name, that), Two quickie things, because I want to go to bed now :-): 1. You need lots more protein. It will keep you full and satisfied longer. You're filling up too much on carbs, which don't stay with you as long. Eat more lean meat, fish, and lowfat dairy. 2. Don't drink lots of orange juice. It's very high in sugar -- not really lots better than drinking Coke. Drink water instead, and eat fresh fruit. (Many people seem to find that sugar causes them to crave more sugar, and in general that it increases their appetite. I don't experience this personally, but perhaps it's happening to you. At any rate, you should be aware that fruit juice is primarily sugar.) Good luck. More later.... Chris <snip> > Shouldn't that cut the hunger down a bit?? Yet it doesn't seem to be > working, and for the past few months it's even worsened. Every hour I [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > fat and 10% protein out of 2300 calories. I figure a lot of that 60% > is sugars of some kind, so why do I keep wanting MORE??? More protein, fewer carbs. Strive to make those carbs lower glycemic index/glycemic load.  SignatureJeri 265/189/120 Atkins since 11/5/01 "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." > Hi everyone, > [quoted text clipped - 68 lines] > sooooooo..... does anyone have any suggestions to offer to poor little > difficult me? ;) I might look at your carbs and protien. A little more protien and less carbs could go a long way to keep you from getting hungry all the time. Also, where do you carry your weight? If you carry most of your extra weight in your middle, seriously consider looking into the glycemic index as a way of keeping your blood sugars in line. Insulin resistant folks stay hungry when they eat refined carbs because of the insulin response. After eating, too much insulin is released causing a crash in blood sugar about two hours later. This crash usually coincides with excessive hunger. My experience is that any 'diet' that keeps me feeling hungry is going to fail. j > Cya! > --- > Falfien > Hi everyone, > [quoted text clipped - 72 lines] > --- > Falfien Welcome Falfien! You've received some excellent advice so I won't go into details. I do agree with ditching the orange juice, lowering the carbs and adding more protein. You've taken a very sensible approach to weight loss by making small changes. You're doing great and with a few more tweaks in the diet I'm sure you'll get to your weight goal. Beverly Hi I would say you're doing all the right things. If you haven't been to a doctor, go and get your weight and a BMI reading, blood cholesterol and particle size. If that checks out, just keep on with what you're doing and when you're bored with the exercise you're doing, learn something new. If your cravings for junk food have decreased, you know what you're doing has helped. Try replacing some of the meat in your eating habits with dried beans, split peas, or lentils. -- chili with only 1 pound of meat and a whole bag of dried kidney beans. -- lamb and lentils with a big onion and 4-8 cloves of garlic, celery, and brown rice. -- What I call India style chili with chickpeas, black mustard seed, cumin, coriander, jalapeno, turmeric, and crushed tomatoes, and a spice mix called garam masala. -- crockpot navy beans with either bacon or hot dogs, molasses, onions, garlic, cloves and ground yellow mustard. -- Chicken hamin with lentils, onions garlic cilantro carrot, celery, pepper and a little carmelized sugar. -- Cholent: brisket, beans, onions, garlic, barley, and a couple TABLESPOONS paprika. The legumes add fiber, protein, iron, and help lower your LDL. You still need meat however for high-absorption iron and natural B12. > Hi everyone, > [quoted text clipped - 72 lines] > --- > Falfien > Try replacing some of the meat in your eating habits with dried beans, > split peas, or lentils. Beans are lovely carbs, but everyone else has told the OP to add more protein. Please don't listen to Patricia's advice to cut meat! (But feel free to try her recipes when you want carbs.) Everyone gave such good advice but I found a few things people didn't mention. First, 2300 calories seems like a lot for someone who weighs 180 and wants to weigh less. I eat at 10x my goal weight in calories, i.e., if you want to weigh 150 you should eat 1500 calories. Don't eat less than 8x your current weight in calories, though, or you'll go into starvation mode. In other words, eat less! I understand the hunger issue and that's a matter of experimenting. People were absolutely right that you should cut out the high glycemic carbs. But what to eat instead? Choose carbs that are high in fiber and high in nutrients and, if possible, not dense in calories. Broccoli is a perfect carb. Brown rice or 100% whole wheat sprouted bread are calorie dense but so good for you that they're worth it. Patricia's beans are a great choice, too. Someone else mentioned Atkins, but I'd say to read the Zone books before you read Atkins (or at least at the same time!) It's the more current thinking on how to manage blood sugar. The Zone, The Glycemic Index and the South Beach Diet are all pretty much the same thing. In fact, when I hear a long-term weight loser on Atkins talk I realize they're eating the same things, too: Lean protein like chicken and eggs and protein powder. Fatty fishes Whole fruits and vegetables Whole grains Low-fat dairy Healthy oils (seed oils) Okay, I'll give you one more reading assignment: go read something by Covert Bailey. You're doing long-slow cardio but you should change it up with some high intensity interval training routines sometimes: that's where you change intensity every few minutes. The workouts are shorter but better for you in some ways than the longer, slower cardio routines. (I do some of each.) I would also ignore Patricia's advice to go find out your BMI. BMI is statistically useful for large populations but useless when dealing with an individual. I think your goals should be based on getting to a specific body fat percentage (if you need goals.) Patricia did mention some nice things about lowering cholesterol. I think these are very important issues for people her age (I believe she's in her 70's.) My husband is turning 50 and we're facing his high LDL level right now, too. I'm no doctor and I am not going to pretend I understand everything about cholesterol, but my guess is that a mildly overweight 22 year old woman who eats well and exercises regularly should NOT spend a lot of time and money worrying about her LDL levels. -- Wendy Wendy, my mom is 55 and has high cholesterol, bmi about 27. I advised her to lose some weight and start walking 1 hour per day. She appears to eat a relatively decent diet as far as food composition goes. Would you consider this a valid advice? i > Wendy, my mom is 55 and has high cholesterol, bmi about 27. > I advised her to lose some weight and start walking 1 hour per > day. She appears to eat a relatively decent diet as far as food > composition goes. > Would you consider this a valid advice? Valid? Yes. Useless? Very. Losing weight is a journey of self-discovery. You can't just tell someone to do it. They've got to stumble on the methods themselves. In my experience it always comes as a shock when someone figures out how to do it. Wendy >> Wendy, my mom is 55 and has high cholesterol, bmi about 27. > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > experience it always comes as a shock when someone figures out how to do > it. Thanks. You see, the thing is, my mom is not in denial or anything and she is health conscious. My emphasis to her was mor eon exercise than on weight loss. She is not that fat, obviously at 27-28 BMI and modest muscle she could stand to lose some weight, but she is not outrageously fat. What she does need though, is exercise. She knows she needs it, and yet she does not do it. i >>> I advised her to lose some weight and start walking 1 hour per >>> day. She appears to eat a relatively decent diet as far as food >>> composition goes. >> >>> Would you consider this a valid advice? > My emphasis to her was mor eon exercise than on weight loss. She is > not that fat, obviously at 27-28 BMI and modest muscle she could stand > to lose some weight, but she is not outrageously fat. What she does > need though, is exercise. She knows she needs it, and yet she does not > do it. My guess is that her main risk is heart disease just because that's everyone's main risk. The exercise prescription to combat heart disease is to work out intensely (raising a sweat) at around 80% of her heart rate (a perceived exertion of "hard") for half an hour three times a week for heart health. Wendy Wendy, That's good advice re: exercise. Quality counts maybe more than quantity. I'd also suggest ditching the "Western" diet of meat, white bread and potatoes if that's whats she's on. Dr. Willett from Harvard says that 80% of heart disease is due to our Western diet and our lack of exercise. See http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0007C5B6-7152-1DF6-9733809EC588EEDF > >>> I advised her to lose some weight and start walking 1 hour per > >>> day. She appears to eat a relatively decent diet as far as food [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Wendy "Falfien" <sfalfien@hot_nospam_mail.com> wrote in message >I also try drink 1.5 to 2 litres of > liquid (mostly orange juice 2 litres of OJ is about 1000 calories - do you really drink that much? Switch to water or crystal lite > Recently, I've embarked on my second habit-forming ordeal, which is to > start exercising on a regular basis... > I take an hour-long water aerobics class once a week. Water aerobics doesn't burn very many calories, plus, you need to be getting your heart rate up 4-6 times a week for 30-60 minutes. Try walking for 30 minutes a day. I've also > started walking to the store instead of taking the bus, and I bought > some weights last week. I'm planning on starting weight training at my > university gym next semester. Losing weight isn't as much the problem > as losing fat... I don't care if I end up stuck at 160 pounds, as long > as it's not 37% fat!!! check out http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html > Now that everyone's read my boring story ;P I have a question. > > See, I am *always* hungry. It just nags me to no end. I'm not sure > what I'm doing or eating wrong to be like this. I mean, I'm ALWAYS > eating small amounts or drinking *lots* (to the point where I can't > drink a drop more or I'll explode.) Eat more. You should be able to lose at 8-10 x current lbs of bodyweight. And break it into small meals of proteins, good carbs and fats. > Shouldn't that cut the hunger down a bit?? Yet it doesn't seem to be > working, and for the past few months it's even worsened. Every hour I [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > fat and 10% protein out of 2300 calories. I figure a lot of that 60% > is sugars of some kind, so why do I keep wanting MORE??? Try dropping carbs to 40-50%, protein around 20-30% and the rest fat. Try eliminating or seriously reducing simple carbs like bread, white rice, potatoes, sugary drinks like juice and soda, etc. det > "Falfien" <sfalfien@hot_nospam_mail.com> wrote in message > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > 2 litres of OJ is about 1000 calories - do you really drink that much? > Switch to water or crystal lite Or, if you absolutely must have some orange juice, seriously cut back how much you are drinking in a day and dilute it with water. If it's the taste you really love, eat an orange instead of drinking juice. That way you get the flavour, plus fibre and far fewer calories. -dissonance |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2012 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.