Posts by lionpaw

2 pounds really has to be water weight.  As your previous responder said, 2 lbs = 7000 calories.  It's theoretically possible to eat 7000 calories *more than you burn* in a day, but it's a pretty big stretch for the most sedentary fat-addict, let alone anyone who's watching their weight.

Carbs will also make you retain water, at least according to my nutritionist.

If you're weighing every day, you really will have to ignore the little ups and downs.  They happen all the time even if you're being careful, and can be water weight but remember things like the weight of food in your GI tract can make a difference.  I weigh every day out of scientific interest in the fluxuations, but, for example, yesterday I weighed in at 234, and today I weighed in at 232.  Did I lose 2 pounds in a day?  Heck no!  My 'actual' weight is somewhere in between.  I go by the Calorie Count trend line to figure my 'real' weight.  Today it's 234.something.

Hmm, not full of calories.  Normally my sweet-tooth (which is pretty bad) is satisfied by my general diet, which is pretty sweet.  I drink carnation instant breakfast before my workout, then have a protein bar (yum) and fruit afterwards.  For lunch I give myself some fruit with the rest of it or I eat a sweet salad.  Dinners are often stir-fry in a slightly sweet sauce, and then I treat myself to dessert.

But if I just want a *taste* of something sweet, I go for:

Tootsie roll midges (the little ones): 10 cal a piece and you can savor them for a little while.

Trader Joe's coffee toffee candies: 15 cal a piece and you can savor them for a good 15-20 minutes each.

Lollipops.

Basically anything you can chew or suck on for a good long time.

As a general rule I prefer being outside, ideally on a greenway with my dog and my portable MP3 player.  With my mp3 player, though, I don't mind tracks or indoor activities, especially if I have a variety of equipment to work with.  For example, this morning I did 35 minutes jog/walk around the track, 35 minutes of elliptical, 10 minutes on the rowing machine, and 15 minutes of core exercises.

My favorite exercises include are dancing, dog-jogging, and weight-lifting.

Other people have it pegged - you're young, you can eat more calories.  Your metabolism goes down as you age and it continues to do so.  Also, I really do feel most people on this site aim way too low.

However, let me give you my numbers.  I'm 5'11", 240 lbs, and I exercise like CRAZY - 60-120 minutes a day, 5 days a week.  I have to - because I want to lose weight and I refuse to try to eat 1500 calories.  With all that exercise I burn between 2800-3200 calories a day, which means that a diet of about 2000 calories a day should give me a solid 2-lb-a-week loss.

You probably don't need to lose weight, or certainly not much at 140.  I do.  I'm still 55 pounds over my goal, and something like 70 lbs over the 'BMI ideal' range.  When I am my ideal weight, and being as active as I want to be, I'll be able to eat more than I'm eating now - maybe as much as 400 calories more.

I keep my calories low by filling up on vegetables, but strategies vary from person to person.

I don't know how many times you've called your doctor - after 3 weeks it's fair to assume they've forgotten about it and to call them again.  Doctors get pretty busy, and I find that even with the good ones you have to call them weekly or they won't always get back to you.  Get your doctor to explain exactly what they looked for on the blood test they did.  If it was just a pregnancy test, then they may need to do something else to figure out what's going on with you.  Pregnancy tests, whether commercial or given by a doctor, aren't perfect, but with so many negatives it's unlikely you are pregnant.  Call your doctor again and be assertive - this is your health, and it's important.

Thanks again to all who have responded.

As far as the fat content of my diet goes (kcal % vs. gram %) I'm going by CC's percentage counter, which uses calories.  And if I can't do it, I can't do it - I'm not going to obsess over it too much.  :)

What's quinoa?  Oh, and a friend of mine introduced me to bean/salsa/corn dip - YUM!

The seitan cutlets sound pretty good, I'll definitely have to try them.  They sound like a good 'toss in a ziplock and bring with you to lunch' kind of thing.  Gotta figure out where to get the stuff.  Where do you shop?

CC's grader goes by vitamin & mineral content for increasing the grade (and to a certain extent, low fat, low saturated fat, low sugar, low cholesterol) but high protein content doesn't affect your grade one way or the other.  I wish it did.  :)

According to calorie counter, a little more than half of tofu's calories are from fat.  Is there low-fat or fat-free tofu?

Oh, and cauliflower is definitely a vegetable.  Veggies you need to be careful with due to starch/calorie content:

Beans

Potatoes (including sweet potatoes, unfortunately)

Avocados (high fat content - but it's healthy fat)

Corn (counts as a grain)

That depends on whether you're trying to lose or maintain, and how fast you want to lose.  If you're trying to lose, the total you eat should be 500-1000 less than the total you burn.  If you're burning 3100 calories and eating 2300, (deficit of 800) then you should lose about 1.5 lbs a week.  (3500 calories deficit per week equals about a pound of weight loss.)  If you're trying to maintain, you need to be eating as much as you burn.

Keep in mind how much you are burning just being you.  Calorie count's burn counter calculates that automatically and adds your exercise to it.

Example: I burn 2200 calories during a typical sedentary day - no exercise, just sitting around.  If I bike to school and exercise before class, then bike home, I burn around 3000 calories a day.  My calorie eating goal is about 1900 calories a day - so on sedentary days my deficit is only 300 calories, but on high-activity days it's over 1000.  The important number isn't so much the daily deficit as the weekly deficit (you're aiming for 3500-7000 calorie deficit over a week if you're trying to lose weight).

Does that make sense?  I can't tell for sure but it sounds like you're trying to eat as much as you burn, which will NOT make you lose weight.

The ideal situation is to get all your vitamins etc. from your food.  Personally, I find that to be difficult because I'm lactose intolerant and I don't like red meat very much, so my iron and calcium especially tend to be too low.  It's also harder to get all the vitamins you need if you're on a reduced-calorie diet (one of the reasons they say not to eat less than 1200 calories a day).  Additionally, there are some nutrients, like glucosamine and omega-3s, that are hard or expensive to get (glucosamine's natural source is crustaceans and shellfish; the best natural source of omega-3 is marine fish).

Net result:

I eat a varied diet rich in fruits and vegetables, with whole grains and mixed protein sources.

I take a one-a-day vitamin with relatively low amounts of vitamin A (the easiest vitamin to overdose on - but still not that easy, we're talking at least 500% DV every day over a period of time).

I take a calcium pill with about 35% of my daily calcium needs in it.

I take glucosamine pills; I do this because being heavily overweight for a long time messed up my knees and I want to keep them as healthy as possible.

I take a fish oil pill.

I use calorie counter to figure out how much of the major vitamins & minerals I'm getting (it can be hard to keep track of things other than A, C, iron, and calcium, since many foods don't have values for less-major nutrients).

I keep my doctor up to date on my diet and exercise plans.

There are biochemical messages designed to tell you when you are full.  Some people with weight problems actually have a problem with the cascade of events that produce those messages, which means we have a delay in realizing we are full - or we never do!  I'm not sure if that's something a doctor can confirm with a blood test, but it's possible that's part of your problem.

People here have had good ideas.  I have three suggestions, one of which will work even if you do have the problem I mention - however, it'll be hard, because your body may still tell you you're hungry!

1) Eat your prescribed amount/serving, and then wait 10-20 minutes - distract yourself with something, an online game, chores, a book, etc.  If after 10-20 minutes you're still hungry, then you can eat some more.

2) Eat more slowly.  This gives your body a chance to realize you're full and send you the messages that you're full before you overfill yourself.

3) Eat your prescribed amount/serving (plan these out during the day so you get the right number of calories) and then STOP.  This takes a lot of willpower, but the distraction technique might still help, even if you do have that biochemical-cascade issue I mentioned.

Confidence and mindset, as Shg said, are both VERY important, but the problem is, nobody can *really* teach them to you; you have to learn them on your own.

It is important to remember that this is a lifelong journey, and that you won't be perfect every day.  It's okay - you don't have to be.  When you have a good day (like I did today - biked to school, exercised before class, ate right, biked home), be proud of yourself, and when you have a bad day (like last week when I ate 5 slices of pizza for dinner) just move on. 

Good luck!  I hope you can develop and hold onto the confidence now!  You *CAN* do it, really - heck, if I can, anybody can!

Hey, if anyone revisits this post - the new (ish) Fiber One muffin mix is awesome.  They have directions on the side to do lower-fat versions with applesauce etc.  The muffins, like most Fiber One products, taste great and aren't gritty at all (something my fiance likes to complain about with high-fiber bread products).

1. you only have 15 mins to cook?

A salad with chopped up fat-free hot dogs or turkey cold-cuts on top.

2. you have 30 mins to cook?

Soup and tuna sandwiches, or chili or stew over rice from the rice cooker.

3. you have all day to prepare it?

Something in the crock pot.

4. you haven't gone grocery shopping in over a month?

Well, that happened to us recently.  It was bad.  Dinner was whatever we could scrounge up - usually lots of carbs or old protein bars.

5. you're out at a pub/brewhouse and have to eat there?

Salad, sandwich, hamburger - usually, if I'm out at a brewhouse I'm there to eat and I let myself splurge a bit.

6. you get home really late and it's past usual dinner time?

Depends.  Sometimes I don't eat if it's that late.  Other times, just a quick snack.

7. it's really early and you have to eat earlier than usual?

I don't eat earlier than usual.  Never had that happen.  I have snacks throughout the day, so if it's early for dinner, I'm normally not hungry and I try not to force myself to eat.

8. you have company that's not necessarily "dieting"?

Oh, but there are some REALLY yummy things we can make that fit well into my diet.  Stir fry and home-made fajitas and this really yummy steak pasta thing my fiance can make...

9. you're not hungry but have yet to meet your calorie goals?

Well, recently, I skip it.  I don't force myself to eat.  I compensate by giving myself a little bit more protein-rich food the next day - more nuts or an extra protein bar or another cheese stick, that kind of thing.

10. you want a decadent dessert afterward?

Decadent desserts get salads for dinner, because otherwise it's WAY over calories for the day.

11. you had a huge lunch that went over your usual calorie allotment?

I don't normally change my dinner based on my lunch.  Rather, I'll skip a snack or compensate the next day.

12. you have a cheat meal?

...what's a cheat meal?

13. you have perfect planning, ingredients, and time?

Chicken tikka masala.  YUM.

14. you must have a frozen meal?

Lean cuisine.

15. you are at an italian restaurant and HAVE to eat?

Something meaty, with pasta, and lots of salad first so I fill myself up.

16. you are at a diner and HAVE to eat?

Burger, sandwich, salad...whatever I feel like.  If I'm at a diner, I'm there because I want to eat diner food.

I started counting my losses at 290.  Very quickly, I was down to 270.  Your story is pretty common.  I think it is partially water/inflammatory loss to begin with - you 'de-swell' as you eat a little healthier.  My experience has been that the first 50 pounds were pretty easy to lose.  I've been stuck at 240 for months and months now.  My life has recently taken a major change (I got into vet school) so I'm hoping my new routine will help.

Good luck!  And I know you already feel better - after those first 20 pounds my knees were about ready to send me a thank-you card.