Posted on 06/29/2003 5:42:00 PM PDT by SamAdams76
While I agree with this statement it still comes down to calories.
I've been on both low fat and low carb and lost weight both ways. The one constant was calories.
Fortunately, they aren't part of my diet. My diet is actually quite simple. I eat just "whole" foods. Basically just meat, fish, vegetables, fruits and nuts. For breakfast, I have a couple of hard boiled (sometimes fried) eggs. For lunch, I have a tin of sardines packed in olive oil or a banana. Dinner is pretty much whatever I want, so long as the food is "whole" and not processed junk. Since April 1, I haven't had any junk food or fast food whatsoever.
In addition to that, I walk everyday and like the article above states, I use a pedometer to ensure I walk 10,000 steps a day. In fact, I usually do 15,000 to 20,000 steps a day which amounts to 7-10 miles. I walk three miles every morning around my neighborhood at 5AM. Then I walk 4 miles during my lunch hour. These two walks supercharge my metabolism and is probably the biggest contributing factor in my weight loss. On weekends or other days when I don't have to work, I do one super long walk of at least 6-8 miles. In fact, I did a 10 mile walk yesterday morning.
As one who has been overweight for some 20 years, I don't buy the excuses everybody else has for being overweight. It's all about calories burned and calories taken in. If you burn more calories than you take in day after day, you will lose weight. Simple as that.
Dan? Dan, is that you? Long time, no see.
Thanks for asking. Please read my reply #25 for more details. Basically it is working fantastic. All you need is the discipline to do the miles and to avoid the "bad" foods and the weight problem takes care of itself.
When I returned from my annual convention in Florida at the end of March, I discovered that for the first time in my life, I weighed 300 pounds. That is because I decided to weigh myself after a week of gorging on all the food that was available during the convention. I was disgusted with myself and resolved to do something about it. I had been overweight since I got out of the Marines back in 1985 and I have been slowly adding on since then. I never thought it was a major problem until then. 300 pounds was a lot!
So I basically put myself "back in boot camp". I started waking up at 5AM so that I could walk 3 miles before going to work. Three months later, I am still getting up at 5AM - every day, even weekends. Only now I am also walking at other times during the day so that I now average 7-8 miles a day. The only thing that keeps me from walking more is time. But even so, I am losing 2-3 pounds a week on average.
Losing weight ain't easy but it can be done.
To pick up his Suzy Qs, doughnuts and a fruit pie, no doubt.
Barf, I get sick just thinking about that much sweet stuff!
I know exactly what you mean. In fact, my wife thinks I've simply traded one addiction for another. But this addiction is much better for my health. I have resolved to wake up at 5AM to do my first walk every morning until I reach my target weight of 185. A couple weeks ago, I didn't get home until 1:30AM (I was at a party), I still woke up at 5AM to do my walk. Though I did take an hour nap later that day (it was a Sunday) and then after my nap, I went out and walked another 3 miles!
Last Wednesday, I flew home from Alabama and due to timing of the flights, I didn't get to do my regular walking (still woke up at 5AM but had to be at the Birmingham airport by 7:30). During a layover in Baltimore, I walked up and down the terminal just to get some miles in.
Other than the fact this is totally unprovable, with this kind of argument, all we have to do is lay around and wait for our genes to evolve. Problem Solved. No need for government to come in and wreck the natural order.
Put the word "salad" on the menu, and I'll guarantee you some people will convince themselves that it's healthy and low-cal, no matter what the ingredients. I had lunch a few weeks ago with a weight-conscious (and mildly overweight) young lady who informed me in advance that she would have only a salad. So of course, she had a salad of baby greens (good, so far), topped with slices of blackened chicken (well... OK, if it stopped there, but...), bacon (a generous sprinkling), cheese (lots), and about a half-cup of blue cheese dressing. Of course, she had a Diet Coke.
Lest it be said that this is because upper-class people have the time, money, and energy to work out, I'd have to differ, for two reasons.
First, upper class people are thin even if they're broke and couldn't dream of belonging to a health club, so money is clearly not the issue.
Second, upper class people tend not to "jog" or belong to gyms. They keep their weight down by dietary self-discipline and by mucking out the stalls or scraping barnacles off the hull again. Cato, do you agree?
I am reading about the Civil War right now and those soldiers would think nothing of walking 20-30 miles a day. All that on slim rations of mostly hardtack and whatever else passed for food back then. In fact, Abraham Lincoln was so strong that he could hold an axe straight out by the end of the handle without his arm even shaking. That was only about 150 years ago.
Over the past 50 years, the need to walk has virtually been eliminated. Even jobs that used to involve a lot of menial labor have been automated to some extent. If one is to burn additional calories to avoid gaining weight, one must choose to exercise (walking, jogging, weightlifting, etc.).
Ironically, choosing to exercise makes it easier to eat less because exercise suppresses hunger. That is why those who attempt to lose weight by diet alone often fail. I've lost 44 pounds in three months and not once have I been particularly hungry due to my walking 7-8 miles a day. Yes, when good food is placed in front of me, I'll eat with gusto. But I don't have any "cravings" that cause me to eat junk or fast foods.
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