Just in time for your resolutions: The "Key" to Losing Weight (and Keeping It Off)

ExurbanLeague.com ^ | Dec. 31, 2008 | Jon

[inkling]

For the first time in a decade, losing weight will NOT be one of my New Year's resolutions. The reason? After years of piling on the padding (and a few failed weight-loss attempts) I've lost 60 lbs. over the past four months.

I've only blogged about diet once and did so hesitantly. But that two-year-old post is still getting consistent hits. Everybody is Googling for the silver bullet to shedding pounds. They think that there must be some secret diet, high-tech fitness equipment, or miracle pill that will finally give them health.

As I said back then, fat people offer the most dieting advice. So I swore that I wouldn't address the subject again until I was a much thinner man. Now that I've achieved a moderate level of scrawn, I wanted to share several counter-intuitive observations about weight loss. Every diet works.

South Beach, Jenny Craig, Atkins, Slim Fast, Medifast, Zone, Modified Zone, Nutrisystem, Jared's Subway Spectacular — each one of these mainstream diets works like a charm. As will any diet or exercise program that takes in less calories than it expends...

[Alberta's Child]

Interesting thoughts there in that article.

Over the years I've found that SLEEP may be the most important element in a weight-loss program. Getting enough sleep -- and the right kind of sleep -- on a regular basis helps keep your metabolism up, keeps you fit and well-motivated, and reduces cravings for food that you don't really need.

My advice would be as follows:

1. Give yourself sufficient time to get 8 hours of sleep every night, even if you wake up earlier on your own.

2. Go to bed at the same time every night, to the extent this is possible.

3. Get all your sleep when it's dark out. Sleeping 6 hours from 10:00 PM to 4:00 AM will be better for you than sleeping 8 hours from 1:00 AM to 9:00 AM.

[dilvish]

It’s no different for women.

There are certain keys:
1 - make sure your goals are achievable, every body has a natural weight range if you’re trying to bust past that no good will come from it, might need to consult a doctor or two to find out
2 - it’s eat less exercise more not eat next to nothing, crash dieting doesn’t work and on it’s way to failing does incredible damage to your body, if your average weight loss is more than 2 maybe 3 pounds a week you’re actually killing yourself
3 - there are no temporary solutions that create permanent change, this has to be a reboot of your lifestyle, don’t lose X pounds and go back to the way you were before, the way you were before gave you those X pounds to lose and will put them back PDQ

This all from a guy that took about 2 years to drop 70 pounds and has, with a few minor bounces, kept it off for 2 and half and counting.

[webstersII]

Bush’s Obama's fault

[sourcery]

I currently weigh 165 lbs (I’m 5’10”). My top weight was a tad over 300 lbs. 13 months ago I weighed 275 lbs. Then I started a program that treats being overweight as an addiction to food.

I used to think that being fat was something my body was doing to me. Now I know it’s what I was doing to my body.

Diets do work. But dieters generally can’t follow them well or long enough to lose the fat, and keep it off. Few are ever able to do so without help. Here’s the help that worked for me: foodaddicts.org

[dilvish]

I have the same thing about weight “loss”, though I sometimes forget my preferred phrase is “got rid of”.

Really I think all safe diets (we’ll ignore those “eat nothing but apples for a week” type things) work for some people, so long as they make the commitment to a permanent lifestyle change. I’ve got friends that used Atkins. Me I’m too lazy for all that counting, I went for eat less and exercise more because you can do it without counting (I honestly have no idea what my normal calorie intake was before, was during, or is now, I can tell you I cut my soda intake in half 2 glasses instead of 4 is all the counting I’ve got the patience for).

Everybody has to make their decisions, a co-worker dropped about twice as much weight as I did in half the time, we compared notes on methods and we were doing basically the same stuff except he was eating even less and exercising even more, enough less and more that there’s no way I’d be able to stick to it. You need to know who you are, yes you can drop more weight exercising two hours a day compared to one... if you can stick to it. If you say “no way I’m doing two hours a day” then do one, any plan you stick to is better than any plan you don’t.

[The Duke]

I’ve found that, while it takes years, it is possible to change lifestyle habits incrementally. There was a time when I couldn’t drive past a doughnut place without stopping, or to stop in a convenience store without getting some type of candy - but over time those things have become unthinkable.

I’ve done a good job with breakfast and lunch, but this year am turning my attention to the nighttime meal. There are going to be a lot of Caesar salads in my future this year, and many miles of walking. Maybe later in the year I’ll start lifting some weights.

If you change your goal to a rate of weight loss, then you can reach your goal in a single day.

Also, I recommend that you measure progress in terms of your real goal. If the goal is to reduce in size, then keep track of your size and not your weight. If your goal is to feel better, track how you’re feeling or how far you’re walking rather than weight.

[HungarianGypsy]

You forgot the druggie diet. That works, too. j/k

I will admit, I will never be a size 3 again. I'll even post my measurements as *gulp* 42-36-42. Yet, I look curvy, rather than fat. I rarely overeat and I keep working on exercise. I have had men I didn't know say I looked good (no, I'm not bragging), so finally have decided I'll just keep active and if I lose, great. So long as I don't blimp up. Of course, my skinny, energetic, eats anything and everything little 6 year old has decided to start his own family health club, so that might work on maintenance.

[dilvish]

Adding exercise is good for more than just weight loss. Exercise usually includes impact which builds stronger bones and helps prevent osteoporosis, exercise also frequently includes being outside which means more vitamin D which helps your body digest calcium and again helps prevent osteo. Also by doing work to add muscle you’re helping to make sure your calorie restriction isn’t going so far that you start burning muscle (and bone and internal organ) at the very least when you find you suddenly can’t lift the same weight you did last week you’ll KNOW you’re burning muscle and know to increase your calorie intake. Then of course it does help you drop weight, every pound of muscle on your body adds 50 calories a day to your base burn, adding as little as 5 pounds of muscle can really help improve your calorie balance.

[rarestia]

Sugar is the biggest usurper of good eating habits. I was absolutely blown away by how much sugar is in our food! The “low-fat” craze of the 80’s turned us into bloated slobs bowing at the feet of HFCS and sugar substitutes (Equal, Sweet & Low, etc). Look at any bottle of “low-fat” salad dressing, and you’ll see that they have to replace that lost fat with some type of flavor enhancer. If the sugar content isn’t through the roof, the sodium is!

It’s really insane how much power sugar has over us. I remember “giving up” sugar when I started my lifestyle change. The withdrawal was unreal! I craved sugar like an alcoholic craves a drink. After about 10 days, the cravings subsided, and I actually got physically ill once after eating half a doughnut. Drop the sugar, your blood sugar stabilizes, and without insulin, your body doesn’t store fat as readily as with a high-carb diet.

Everyone’s concept of this is “dieting,” and I contend that dieting is temporary. Change your lifestyle (eating, exercise, work, and home), and your life will change. Dave Ramsey’s clarion call with money works with life and diet: “Live like no one else so that you can live like no one else!”

[Christian4Bush]

marking for later

[Twinkie]

Actually, if you “just stop eating”, it will stall and even can destroy your metabolism. If you eat a little bit of food every few hours, (not junk, though), it keeps your metabolism humming and over time you will gradually just lose weight.

I had that stomach flu that’s going around about two months ago, and ever since then I haven’t been able to eat a lot of spicy foods. So, I’ve been eating bland foods, a lot of low sodium soups, and some holiday goodies as well, but still lost four pounds. Have had more chicken and fish than beef as I’ve been less fond of beef since the flu hit me. In short, starvation and fasting isn’t the answer, because total deprivation just eventually causes bingeing.

[mysterio]

if you’ve lost 60lbs that fast, you have next to no chance of keeping it off for good.

I lost 110, 60 of that in a very short period of time. The key is that the "diet" doesn't end. You're not starving yourself anymore and you're eating some non-diet foods, but you never stop watching your weight. For me, I exercise, weigh daily, and still choose a lot of more diet-type foods as my main meals.

However, I'm still hungry a good deal of the time. I want to stay thin more than I want to be not hungry.

[Hoosierdvk]

If you don’t put it in your piehole, you don’t have to lose it.

[CORedneck]

Eat less, move more. Very simple.

Cutting out the crap such as McDonald's, deep fried food and instead eating more veggies.

In my mind, McD's represent mediocrity like Wal-Mart. It is ironic that McD's are in Wal-Marts. Where I use to work at, we had this one 300 pound person come in everyday with McDonald's food. He was also considered management. The guy was a jerk and one time I badmouthed McD's like I am doing now. This fat@$$ got on my case and told me in no uncertain terms to shut my mouth and told me I had no right to say anything bad about McD's. I also got called in by my manager and told to keep my mouth shut. I was told that I had to show respect and saying bad things about McD's was disrespectful. I got in trouble for badmouthing Wal-Mart as well. This fat@$$ was also a workaholic and he complained about people taking vacation (like my butthead manager) and leaving early on Fridays which was permitted anyway.

One thing is when I go out to eat, I usually save half the food for later since you get so much. Sometimes I will order the kids meal. The other day my brother-in-law and I were talking and we discussed how foreign people like Europeans and Asians aren't overweight like us Americans. One thing I remembered when I was in New Zealand two years ago, I noticed there were very, very few fat people. Myself, I am 42 years old and I am around 155 to 160 lbs. When my father was my age, he weighed around 200 lbs. About 5 years ago when I did a lot of biking, I was around 140 lbs. I am around 5'11". I would like to go back to biking again.

One time, I got dressed into my biking clothes (no spandex - refuse to wear it) at the end of the work day at the office and the 300 lb jerk saw me and jumped my case for not being in professional type of attire. I tried to tell him my work day is done and I was now on my own time and that even p*ssed him off more. The place we worked at, management restricted the stairs to emergency use only so you had to use the elevator. I tried to work with them to get that changed to no avail. Their response is "we are professional and using the stairs are not professional". The management were former IBM types.

[utahagen]

You’re right about the value of exercise, for sure. My point is that, as Voltaire said, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” Many people just aren’t going to exercise, but that doesn’t mean they can’t cut down on their calories. I’ve read that many people are motivated to exercise after they’ve lost a few initial pounds. (I know that’s the case with me.)

[MarkL]

There is no such thing as an old fat person.

Sure there are... Lots of them. I had a 300# 5'5" aunt who lived to be 85. Unless you don't consider a 300# 5'5" person fat, or 85 years of age to be old.

On the other hand, I had an incredibly fit uncle (a former Marine, who kept in terrific shape, working out every day, running 25 miles a week) who died at 39.

Sure the odds were much better for him to live longer than my aunt, but making sweeping statements like yours just doesn't make sense.

Mark

[MarkL]

Beware the boxed food diets, Jenny Craig, Nurtisystems, etc. They contain massive amounts of chemicals that can become a bigger problem than extra weight for those who are sensitive to them. Prepare your own food and you know what you are getting.

90% of the "meals" I eat from from convenience stores, like Quik Trip and 7/11. My favorite side dish are "Funyuns," which are made of styrofoam and onion salt. Of course, it would probably be healthier to eat the foil bag that they come in, since at least I'd be getting some minerals... But I don't think that there are any naturally occurring ingredients in Funyuns. The best part is when I die, they won't need to embalm me!

Mark

[dilvish]

Absolutely. Like I said in another post, the program you can stick to in always better than the one you can’t.

I can see that people will get more motivated once the weight loss starts. The less of you there is to carry around the less energy you burn just getting out of bed and stuff. You start getting that energy going and you want to use it, might as well exercise at that point.

I still don’t actually like exercise but I do like the results. I do most of mine at lunch, it’s a good way to get away from the office without spending money on food that’s probably not that good for you anyway.

[444Flyer]

“I like Dr. Laura's simple advice:

EAT LESS, MOVE MORE!”

I like to put it “Eat less move your _ss!”

[wintertime]

I really do think you should reevaluate your attitude about your bosses and your work.

By the way....When traveling I know that a Mc Donalds hamburger is about 250 calories which fits into my diet plans very well, and the calories of all McDonalds foods are easily to find on the back of the paper lining the tray.

I lost 80 lbs. and it has now been 3 years that this weight has been off.