Posts by coatesuwyo

exercise is great and all but in my personal experiance it has little to do with weight loss.  I lose the same amount of weight in a month not worknig out as I do working out.  After I lost 100 lbs I kept trying different things to see what really works for me and concentrating on eating only while getting a small amount of excersise is the formula that works best for me personally.  

Original Post by gi-jane:

 (I shall pick on the appallingly bland 'egg white omelette' by way of illustration) 

Yea right................ Egg White omelets are AMAZING in every way.  I would propose to them if I was not already married and if it was not too taboo.  Say something nice about egg white omelets their feelings are hurt. 

 

Down with egg yolks up with Egg whites!!

I have an amazing success story to share.  My goal was to lose 107 lbs by February 20th 2009.  I started on December 17th 2007.  This past Friday I weighed in at 269.5 which put me down 107.5 lbs.  But on Monday I weighed my self and I was at 274?!?! I was devastated because my specific goal was to be at 270 by tomorrow.  sooo I spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday eating super low fat, high fiber and about 1700 calories per day.  I also eat lots of Blueberries, Oranges, bananas, apples, and drank cranberry juice to try and help me not retain water.  I also drank 150 ounces of water a day ( I usually drink 120) to flush the salt out.  I also worked out on Tuesday and did push ups on Monday and Wednesday.

So today i got up super early and i was going to pull some old high school wrestling moves and sweat out some of the extra water weight.  i weighed my self before working out and I was at 268!!!  I effing made it.  i really did it.  I can't believe that it really happened.

So the moral to the story is that f you are retaining water Cranberry juice, Blueberrys and extra water consuption really do help you with water retention.

That and I eat Black beans almost every day.  I also eat bran flakes every day for b-fast and half the time eat egg whites with lean ham steak as well. 

Now I have to get to 220 by February 1st 2010 and my reward will be to go to the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver with all the money I have saved eating right.!!

I estimate that I saved $4,000 in 2008 from dieting alone.  The bulk of the savings comes from not eating out.  As I get closer and closer to my ultimate goal I have found that I have little to no interest in eating out.  I eat mongolian bbq once a month and eat a salad or a sandwich some where once or twice a month.  I used to eat out at least one meal a day and prolly about 12 time per week.  I am also savings tons of money on alcohol consumption.  Happy hour, dinner and drinks after would routinely cost me $150 and that happened prolly 4 times a month.  Now I never do all three at once.  I may hit a happy hour, but I will go home after.  I may have dinner out but i will not drink at dinner.  And I may go out on the town later in the evening but I do not pre-party with drinks at Happy hour and at Dinner.  I use my credit card for everything to get Airline miles and I noticed that my bill every month was at least $400 less than what it was in 2007.  The cost of everything has gone up but I am consuming far less of everything so I am really not feeling the pinch of the recession because of my weight loss goals.

I eat a 4 egg white omelet with 2 ounces of super lean ham steak, onions, all cooked in a teaspoon of Olive oil.  I also eat anywhere between .75 of a cup and 2 full cups of Generic Bran Flakes (they are the best for you calorie wise) with .5 cup of skim milk.  This is about 385 calories and starts my day off proper. (the key for me is to cook the ham steak, onions and olive oil in a large batch once a week so can just add it to the eggs, it makes my prep time next to nothing every morning and helps me control the portions)

Some days I skip the bran flakes and add a quarter of a cup of black beans, some hot sauce and 1/8th of a cup of 2% cheese to my omelet.  This has about 320 calories in it

YES Jamekins lets start a peppery cottage cheese revolution!

I sit at a desk all day and I actually think that this is one of the main reasons I have lost so much weight.  Since I sit here all day I can map out my lunch and two snacks and never deviate from the plan.  Sure I have to get exercise out side of work but the calorie deficit is all that really matter to lose weight (I didn't say to be healthy, just to lose weight)  so sitting here all day makes it much easier to follow my diet err I mean life change.

I am waaaaaay to small for my fat clothes but still have a bit to go before it makes sense to buy a whole new closet.  soooo I decided that for now I am just going to roll with everything baggy and thug out some more.  Although I do look in the mirror some days and question if I should really leave the house with 3 to 4 (went from a xxxxl to a Xl) sizes too small clothes on I still look better thuggin' out than I did fat as eff!!  My belt is pretty funny since I had to use a knife and put new holes in it several times and now the extra slack goes around to my back!

Sales items are awesome and I could get new gear for prolly 100 bucks but I enjoy swimming in my clothes since one short year ago my xxxxl gear did not fit me.

Chicken breast.  They are good cold and warm.  Just cook like 5 of them with a tad bit of olive oil and pepper and you can have those for snacks at any time.  I ate two snacks of just Chicken breast today, AND I had cottage cheese with lunch! mmmmmm protein

Cottage cheese is awesome but watch out for that sodium, drink lots of water with it.

Norwegian flat bread only has 50 cals and 11 grams of Carbs.  i roll some Turkey slices with mustard and Jalapenos with the flat bread and enjoy a nice low carb high protein snack. 

Super lean ham steak that you fry up with a touch of olive oil is also super good cold or warm as a snack.

Promax70 cookies and cream snack bar.  high in protein and not too bad on carbs.  Plus they make mini 70 cal ones that taste pretty good and have 5 grams of Protein in each one.  These are not the best thing since sliced bread but they are a great alternative to all the already mentioned ideas when you are in a hurry.  I ordered mine online somewhere

MILK!!

YOGA!! tones up everything.  I am down 101.5 in 12 ish months and i have yet to see skin sag.  Yoga once a week feels like I am toning everything.  At some point I will do more Yoga and exercise to tone up a bit but I am just taking it one small step at a time.

Cherylsy just skip the multi vitamin for 60 days and see what happens.  You will be ok with out it for now and if it works out then toss them nasty tasting pills away.

I have heard the exact same thing from several sources.  But hey it is exactly the same as everything else that is thrown out on the post and in dieting articles.  No matter what you are doing and no matter what you are told about weight loss some one else has a different theory and opinion. AND to make it better each side is equally as passionate and has medical data to prove their point.  I have lost a crap ton of weight but apparently I have done it all wrong.  All of you are doing it wrong according to some one some where. 

It's infuriating (to say the least) but at least we know that is how this weight loss racket goes.  The differing opinions/doctor recommendations seem to be exactly the same as how different people/doctors/experts claim what is the right way to take care of an infant.  For instance, since it is an odd numbered year we all need babies to sleep on their back, next year they have to sleep on their stomachs at all times since we are in an even year.  (that may have been a bad example but I hope you get my point)

I took the advice of both of my doctors and doctor friend (just normal doctors) and stopped taking multi-vitamins.  As a matter of fact I have always been under the belief that multi-vitamins are a huge waste of time but choose to take some for a while to try and be as healthy as possible.  I got duped and i will again.

Marinehead I am right there with you.  All of last year I needed a footlong since I was so big but now  6" with double the meat gets it done most of the time (most not always).  Some times i get cheese.  Sometimes i get them to put light mayo on very lightly.  And sometimes i go for double meat.  I always eat a ham and Turkey on wheat.  I lost by far the most amount of weight while eating foot longs for lunch three or four times a week.  That and cottage cheese for snack.  I have got away from Subway lately (started eating wraps and those Norwegian flat bread things with meat only) but i will be back.

When my wife is trying to drop some lbs she eats 6" turkey with double the meat.  I strongly recommend doubling up the meat.  The only down side is the sodium in the meat but we both regulate that by drinking tons of water before and after the meal.  And being extra considerate of the sodium in all other foods that day.  Eating subway or fast food is just fine in moderation but I really have to pay even more attention to salt all day because of the inherently high salt content in these types of food.

I count every last effing thing I put in my mouth.  i started for 6 months just counting calories and not worrying about the rest.  As I got more and more obsessed with counting I started paying extremely close attention to the pie chart.  I think that just counting calories at first is the way to go and then move into worrying about the rest.  If I am going out I even do several scenarios to see how i can eat and drink the most food with out going to far over my limit.  That takes some serious time (and maybe I need to be committed as well) but that has really helped me not blow it while I was out.

Hey dattaplot I feel you on the broke college student thing but my grocery bill has gone down at least 50% since I started dieting err I mean life changing.  Dry beans, brown rice, what ever fruit and veggie that is on sale, 96% lean ham steak, eggs, whole turkeys etc are so freaking cheap.  The most expensive thing I buy is Olive oil and I eat like a King every single day.  I wish I was trying to lose weight in college because i would have had WAY more money if I was eating right. For me losing weight during a recession has been the single best thing i have done for my self financially.

I have the Sunday ticket and two crappy tv's so the minute football starts on Sunday I am done for the entire day and well into the night.  Football days have become much easier because I do these several things.

1. Wake up and eat as much protein as possible (with in reason).  Generally this means a 4 egg white omelet with 3 ounces of 96% lean ham, some onions, and some red peppers.  I also use a full teaspoon of Olive oil.  This meal usually has around 240 calories.  If I think I am going to suck at eating right that day I throw in a apple or a banana to keep me full.

2.  Right when the games start (11:00 here) I eat a cliff bar.  That way i am keeping my metabolism going strong.  I also should already have 60 ounces of water in me by 11:00

3.  I drink ungodly amounts of water.  On a normal day i drink about 120 to 140 ounces of water.  on Sundays I try and push that to 150 to 160 ounces of water.  I am generally hung over anyway so that helps but I really drink the water to keep me full and because it is a natural diuretic.

4. At about 3:00 i go one of two ways.  I either say eff it and go to Taco Bell and get so much food that it makes me sick.  This works well because I eat the fresca menu stuff (no Cheese) and 9 times out of ten I am done eating for the day because I stuff my self full.  The things I get at Taco Bell really are not too bad and in the end if the last thing I eat for the day is Taco Bell I end up with about 2000 calories for the day.  If I want to eater healthier and with less calories I eat two cups of black beans and a chicken breast at about 3:00.  Follow that up with a piece of fruit around 5:00.  I then have chicken stir fry with no rice, or spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and lean ground turkey.  If I go that route i end up at about 1800 calories for the day with 30% protein, 18%fat and 52% carbs ratios.

The key to Sunday's for me is not letting myself get hungry.  If I eat one cliff bar and I am still hungry at 11:00 i will eat another one, or eat some fruit.  If I am still hungry after the black beans I will eat more chicken, or some fruit.  I literally make sure I eat every couple of hours and that has helped me skip any and all snacking.  Also I love to drink on Sunday but I have only done that once this season.  in that case, i wake up and eat egg white omlett, eat just chicken at 11:00, eat just chicken again at 2:00, and make Chili from Ground Turkey for dinner.  If I drink 1200 calories of light beer i can get nice and drunk and finish the day at around 2500 calories.  I also make sure to drink one beer and one water to keep my self hydrated so i am not hung over for work the next day. 

I have been doing these kind of things for 12 months and literally lost 1/3rd of my body weight.  Sometimes I blow it on Sunday and drink 20 beers for old time sakes and end up hammered and eating crap all night.  if that happens I just get my work boots on and take down only 1500 protein filled calories on Monday and Tuesday and go about my business.  I have had so many bad 3000 plus calorie days over the past year but as long as I keep to it on all other days I still lose at least 1.5 lbs per week.  Zig-zagging is the way to go, it is so easy to make this eating right thing work when you zig zag every day.

This weight loss stuff is easy so far, I am dreading when it gets hard.

I have literally been planning for the holidays says July.  I wanted to be at my goal weight by December 1st, so if I do gain I would leave my self enough time to lose before my real goal date.

I am SUPER nervous about the holidays.  it is not so much the food that I am worried about because I can handle my self.  It is the Beer, wine and spirits that make me nervous.  My family loves to party and Thanksgiving, the two days after and Christmas eve and Christmas day are traditionally days where my brothers and I and our parents get lit up.  I love that part of the holidays for us and I refuse to skip it.  So basically no matter what I am going to intake 3200 to 5000 calories on 6 separate days between now and December 25th.  I am going to try and off set that by eating well on all the other days,  not drinking on any of the other days and trying my very best to get some sort of work out every day that I consume that many calories.  I am damn near my goal and my goal date is not until Feb 20th 2009 so I think even if I do gain 5 lbs I will still be able to kill it in the new year and get to where I want to be by Feb 20th.