Weight loss back on track (I think/hope)

We need you too, F8L. :grouphug:

 

Have you told them that? What keeps most people from cycling is the lack of infrastructure and 'end of use' facilities like secure parking and showers. If your employer truly wants to promote energy efficiency (and maybe save some money on parking costs), adding a few bike racks and a shower or two would be a great way to do that. Make the suggestion and see what they say.

 

i found my eating habits to make the real difference when i decided it was time to lose some weight. i had been relying on comfort type foods (heavy in simple carbohydrates- breads, pastas, etc) to get through broke and stressful times like the end of grad school and my first not-so-great job. i broke those old habits and switched to lots of vegetables and protein- but i didn't give up any one thing completely. from heaviest to thinnest, i lost 25+ lbs and got back to what i weighed before i did the soul-destroying grad school thing. i was never "overweight" but i weighed more than what my body gravitated toward on its own with a healthy diet. my BMI went from 24.2 to 21.0. i ended up gaining a couple lbs back, because i felt that i looked almost too thin for a while there, now i'm around 21.5.

it's not easy, but you can do it. it works differently for different individuals, which complicates things a lot. if you find something that works and keeps you on track, go with it.

 

The Fountain of Youth is diet and exercise.

No, it does not come in pill form.

 

Ha, they already have people's cubicles in a hallway at work (me included). I'm not sure they'd ever do anything for us peon's.

They finally are working on getting the parking garage at work fixed before it falls apart (they've been working on it now since April). They won't even replace a freaking light bulb unless someone calls and reports it.

I've also heard rumors they're going to re-stack another building here into ours. I have no clue where they plan to put everyone or where they will park, though. I guess that's their way of cutting costs now. One less building to light, heat, etc.

I'm truly thinking that they are only talking energy efficiency, but not all that interested in doing it in some of the existing buildings.

Just the other day, I noticed that right near my desk the roof is leaking. Most of the windows in the hallway aren't properly sealed anymore, either.

I'll mention it to them, but considering they can't even keep our building properly maintained, I would be utterly shocked if they added showers. I swear their maintenance people don't actually do anything unless you call and report a problem.

 

Humm...even though you previously claimed it's been a valid diet for over 50 years. If such was the case, why then is there an obesity "epidemic" now? You keep showing you're the type to believe in any magic bullet. Successful diet plans that seem most effective are ones that effects the person's lifestyle: whether it's becoming more active and/or consuming less calories.

 

Ahhh, the heart of the matter, exercising is relative, yes, it's great for the heart and bones but unless your intake is controlled, exercise is going to increase your intake, unless you have the will power to not eat more, which is the point, eat less...
If you have the will to exercise more and not increase the amount you eat, great, you will lose weight, but, why not use your superhuman will power to control your intake without exercising?

Now___ that you can control your weight, exercising is tremendous for the body and mind(better blood flow), make sure you increase your caloric intake because of the body mass you're burning while exercising.

Exercise will keep you trim if you watch your diet, when you stop exercising(environment,health) how are you going to control your diet?

Why treat the symptom, treat the cause, eat less.

common sense, not rocket science,jmho

 

Your appetite is not dependant on your activity level: it's not a correlation that the more you exercise the more you'll crave. Anecdotally, I've found the opposite with myself. When I got into regular 2 mile a day runs, I found my appetite went down. There's a balance when it comes to diet and exercise that's healthy. More Americans can elect to walk a little longer or take the stairs to improve their health...that is more prevalent then people developing joint problems from over-exercise.

 

One thing about biking to work: It's not necessary to ride at maximum possible speed, like when you're riding for a workout. Ride more slowly. Get a commuter bike with panniers for your stuff, to avoid the backpack/sweaty back syndrome. I cover approximately 10 miles each way to work; it takes only a few minutes more on my slow bike and I don't have to shower and do a complete change of clothes when I get there.

As far as a 'real' bike vs. a stationary one...well, riding on the roads is lots more dangerous, for sure. But I'm a motion junkie; anything that gives me that feeling of moving turns me on. For that reason, sometimes it's difficult for me to ride slowly. Thing is, it's even worse if I'm at home, staring at a wall while I ride a stationary bike.

I ran for a few years when I was younger but I'm not really built for it. I suppose that I'm one of the other 20% who wouldn't trade her body type. I'm tall and have a larger frame, and I like it that way.

 

As for personal anecdotes, I find my appetite changes considerably with exercise levels. It's also decreased with age. Sitting around working on the computer all day, my stomach tells me when it's mealtime, and I don't get overly hungry. I've cut out my usual 'bedtime snack' of a large bowl of cereal, because I just don't need it any more. When young and active, say on a bike tour, I could eat a large pizza by myself for lunch, and then have several hundred calories worth of snacks while deciding what to make for dinner. My Mother always warned me that I'd wake up one morning and suddenly be 400 pounds, yet I've never in my life had a BMI that was considered overweight. If only I could sell my metabolism....

 

Daniel, I assume you are doing body fat tests as well? So this extra weight is not just muscle mass?

Congrats to you though. It's always good to see someone set a goal and work hard to achieve it. You can do it, my friend.

 

daniel; you are doing a great job and keep in mind that losing weight is basically eliminating a percentage of body fat either thru burning it or converting it to muscle. so its the % loss is what you want to look at. losing 2½ lbs a month when close to your goal is actually more impressive than losing 5 lbs at the beginning of the program.

for example if you started at 155 with a goal of 135.

losing 5 lbs of the 20 is a 25% goal at the beginning, but losing 2½ lbs from 142½ to 140 (ish) with a goal of 135 is losing 33% of the REMAINING weight.

i would expect your weight loss to slow down and dont let that get you down as that is exactly how it should. this also gives your body more time to acclimate

 

first thing that came to mind is an article i read about a company who provided data for Insurance companies and such where "ideal" weights for Americans were revised upwards due to too many Americans falling outside the median ranges, so instead of encouraging Americans to lose weight (a losing battle at best!!) they simply made the chart fit the demographic!

funny

 

exactamundo

 

From what Daniel has written, I think the two of us have similar frames. I am 5' 6", small boned, and when I accumulate weight it goes to my trunk. Until age 40 or so I never gave much thought to weight control because exercise kept me thin. Not the 124 pounds thin of adolescence, but 130 - 135 pounds. Then my shoulders rebelled at the hours playing squash and racketball with poor technique, and I have been gaining weight slowly but surely ever since even though my diet has improved considerably. Sedentary lifestyle and a tendency to eat large portions of food were the causes.

These past two weeks I have shock dieted involuntarily due to illness and now weigh 132 pounds. I am going to try and at least stabilize at this weight through resumption of exercise using an elliptical (and maybe running, which I used to enjoy a lot) and forced portion size restriction. I presume my muscle mass is less than when I was young, so even 124 pounds is overweight for me, but if I stabilize in the 12x range I'll call it victory.

While weight gain is all too common as we age, it is neither 'natural' or healthy or advised.