Getting Fit on the Gray Side

[SarDragon]

Get yourself a Bubba Cup. Keep it topped off with (ice) water, and when you feel "hungry", take a drink. I used to go through 4 or 5 a day when I was working, and it really helped me resist the urge to snack.

[jimmydeanno]

I don't know what you have for health insurance, but, many plans have coverage for gym memberships.  Either way remember that your ultimate
Goal should be for your overall health, not just weight loss.

[♠SARKID♠]

I guess my problem is maintaining motivation. I just need to stay on myself about that.

Don't stay on yourself about it.  Find a buddy in the same situation and stay on EACH OTHER about it.  The easiest thing in the world is to forgive yourself for messing up, its only your own eyes that judge.  When you break a deal with a friend to stay healthy, that's the kick in the nads.

[davedove]

I watched one TV show about healthy eating.  The speaker made the point that you could eat anything you wanted, as long as you prepared it yourself.  That would tend to keep you away from a lot of the high calorie dishes and snacks, because they're a lot of trouble to make.

Now, preparing it yourself doesn't mean opening the bag of chips.  It means peeling and slicing the potatoes and frying them yourselves.  How many of us would eat a bunch of chips if we had to do that every time.

Think of lasagna.  It was originally special occasion food because it takes some time and effort to prepare.  now all we have to do is run down to the Italian restaurant or the frozen food section of the store to have some.

Packaging and convenience have ruined our diet.

[RiverAux]

They asked when would it become socially acceptable to heckle fat people eating at McDonald's etc.

You've got to be careful about that .... you can probably outrun them, but if you trip and fall they'll sit on you and that will be the end of it... 

[Fifinella]

coughcough(girthist)cough

[Flying Pig]

Your motivation will come with results.  Its motivation that is earned.  One day youll look in the mirror getting ready to shave (your a guy right?) and suddenly notice you have a jaw line slowly coming back.

[RiverAux]

It is nice to see that jaw again.  Made a lot of progress myself over the last 8 months and am now well under the CAP requirements and am edging towards the old AF standards on the CAP chart.  Not sure I'm going to get that 34 inch waist anytime soon though. 

[EMT-83]

Your motivation will come with results.  Its motivation that is earned.

When I decided to get serious and lose some weight, it was surprising just how much it meant to drop a couple of pounds. I'd look forward to jumping on the scale every week, and get pretty excited about 2 or 3 pounds being gone. It also felt good when my friends started noticing.

It's not magic - just eat right and do some exercise; stuff we already know. I dropped 40 pounds, but it didn't happen until I made up my mind that I was tired of being heavy. The first step is always the hardest.

[IceNine]

This may sound a little less than manly but,

My Girlfriend has started watching this new cooking show that I'm finding myself intrigued with. 

"Cook yourself thin" is a show about eating the same foods you already eat, prepared differently and with some interesting ingredients.  They compare the calories between the old and the new and usually its less than half or even less than than.

She bough the cookbook and without telling me (because my conscience hates healthy food) has been preparing these meals and so far so go.  I've lost 5 pounds in less than 2 weeks and I have literally done nothing else different with my life.

It's aimed towards women but the concept still rings true.  They say you should be consuming 10 times your ideal weight in calories a day.  It's slightly more for men but you get the idea.

[Spike]

Here it is simple and easy! 

Americans (and most of Western Culture) eat their biggest meal at night.  If you would eat your biggest meal in the morning (and I mean switching dinner portions for breakfast portions and calories, you would burn what you eat during the day.  Eat a small dinner (and I mean small) that way you go to bed and burn the little meal during sleep.  The dinner then does not turn into fat. 

Try this and you will be surprised!

Also stay away from soda, and any type of sugar.  Sugar (even fruit sugars) are bad for you!

Coffee and tea has been shown to burn calories if you drink them plain.  If you must sweeten them, use a plant sweetener like stevia.  Limit caffeine altogether though, since it is a diuretic it will dehydrate you, and you will search for sweet foods (subconsciously) to get a quick "sugar high" to eliminate the feeling of dehydration.

Best options.....get a sugar free gum, to chew between meals.  If you must eat out get foliage, and a small starch.  Mixing starches and leafy plants cause the two items to expand in your stomach taking away the hunger feeling faster.

Finally......it is hard to start a diet!  However those hunger pains will go away after three (3) days!!!!   Our bodies are designed to adapt to "starvation".  Our stomachs shrink in less than 48 hours on a reduced calorie diet.  Our small and large intestines constrict to hold the food we do eat longer and take more nutrients out of the food.

Starvation and starving/ fasting have gotten a bad rap in the past 40 years.  There is nothing wrong with drastically cutting calorie consumption.  Our ancestors did it, and we are here today!  Just because we have access to food does not mean we have to consume it all the time.


NOTE:  Scientist are discovering that being fat is a true disease.  It is genetically passed on to children by the mother.  One research group has found that it may actually be a virus that you can contract from fat people.

[dwb]

Can you ride a bike to work?  You may only be able to do it during the summer, but it'd help a lot.

If you can't bike to work, and you sit at a desk all day, then the best way to lose weight is to eat about 1/2 - 2/3 of what you're eating now.  Basically, starving yourself in a controlled fashion.

If you're not going to exercise, then eating less is the only option.  Oh, and ditch the energy drinks.

[EMT-83]

Here it is simple and easy! 

Americans (and most of Western Culture) eat their biggest meal at night.  If you would eat your biggest meal in the morning (and I mean switching dinner portions for breakfast portions and calories, you would burn what you eat during the day.  Eat a small dinner (and I mean small) that way you go to bed and burn the little meal during sleep.  The dinner then does not turn into fat.

The information I received from my physician indicates that the timing of meals has no effect on how your body processes the food. It's the quality and quantity that's important.

[Spike]

Here it is simple and easy! 

Americans (and most of Western Culture) eat their biggest meal at night.  If you would eat your biggest meal in the morning (and I mean switching dinner portions for breakfast portions and calories, you would burn what you eat during the day.  Eat a small dinner (and I mean small) that way you go to bed and burn the little meal during sleep.  The dinner then does not turn into fat.

The information I received from my physician indicates that the timing of meals has no effect on how your body processes the food. It's the quality and quantity that's important.

Your doctor is almost correct!  Quantity is a big factor in weight gain.  Like I said, eat your biggest meal in the morning, and you will burn it off throughout the day!

[BrandonKea]

Can you ride a bike to work?  You may only be able to do it during the summer, but it'd help a lot.

If you can't bike to work, and you sit at a desk all day, then the best way to lose weight is to eat about 1/2 - 2/3 of what you're eating now.  Basically, starving yourself in a controlled fashion.

If you're not going to exercise, then eating less is the only option.  Oh, and ditch the energy drinks.

Can't bike, sadly. It's quite a distance to my work.

One thing I had always heard was not to starve yourself, but to eat smaller, more healthy "meals" throughout the day. Not like a full out meal, but basically a healthy snack like grapes, an apple, granola, peanuts, etc etc. Any truth to that?

[davedove]

Can you ride a bike to work?  You may only be able to do it during the summer, but it'd help a lot.

If you can't bike to work, and you sit at a desk all day, then the best way to lose weight is to eat about 1/2 - 2/3 of what you're eating now.  Basically, starving yourself in a controlled fashion.

If you're not going to exercise, then eating less is the only option.  Oh, and ditch the energy drinks.

Can't bike, sadly. It's quite a distance to my work.

One thing I had always heard was not to starve yourself, but to eat smaller, more healthy "meals" throughout the day. Not like a full out meal, but basically a healthy snack like grapes, an apple, granola, peanuts, etc etc. Any truth to that?

The more you spread your meals out the better.  It helps to maintain a level blood sugar level, controlling the highs and lows.  I've often seen that one should eat five smaller meals spaced out through the day.  Remember that's five smaller meals; you still have to watch the total daily calorie intake.

[Flying Pig]

I don't know what you have for health insurance, but, many plans have coverage for gym memberships.  Either way remember that your ultimate
Goal should be for your overall health, not just weight loss.

Reallly?  It pays for the memberships?  Holy Cow.  I mean....Holy Tofu

[BrandonKea]

Anybody ever know of anyone using Nutrisystem? I'm curious if that works as well as Larry the Cable Guy says...

[jimmydeanno]

I don't know what you have for health insurance, but, many plans have coverage for gym memberships.  Either way remember that your ultimate
Goal should be for your overall health, not just weight loss.

Reallly?  It pays for the memberships?  Holy Cow.  I mean....Holy Tofu

My health insurance plan has a reimbursement for gym membership under the "preventative coverage."  I'm allowed to spend up to $150.00/year of their money, the rest is on me.

However, most of the gyms around here have annual fees of around $100.00. 

[jimmydeanno]

Just found this article published over the AP:

Why Are We Fatter? We Eat More

Study Finds Food Intake Up Since 1970s

New research says that the cause of rising obesity rates in the U.S. is simple: People eat more food.

The research presented at the 2009 European Congress on Obesity by Dr. Boyd Swinburn of Deakin University in Australia said that a lack of physical activity doesn't play a role in the trend.

Swinburn said it's not easy for people to cut down because the food industry does a good job of making tasty, reasonably priced food that is always available.
His conclusions about food being the culprit instead of changes in exercise were based on studying energy intake and overall food supply.

"We still need to continue to promote increases in physical activity, because exercise has a lot of positive physiologic benefits, but our level of expectation about the impact of physical activity on weight gain has to be a bit more tempered," he said...


...Dr. Matthew Sorrentino, who represents the ACC, also agreed. "The main cause of the obesity epidemic in this country is the wide availability of high-caloric foods and the fact that we are eating way too many calories in the course of a day. Exercise has much less impact," he said.