Losing Weight and Getting into Shape

[Craig]

Food Addiction

Simple? Yup.

Easy? Not so much, for many people.....

The thing is, I think maybe there is something to this stuff about food addition, chemical triggers, and all that.....

And now for something a little more controversial...

There are those that believe there are constituents in certain foods that cause a (physical/physiological?) addiction to the food. Do you get craving?

Furthermore, there are those that believe manufactures have researched these constituents and put the appropriate additives in their products to create this addiction in it's consumers.
Most people know tobacco companies add nicotine to their products to create a physical addition to those products.

Next time you look at the list of ingredients on that processed food label.........just think......maybe that list of strange additives is the manufacturer's way of making you a junkie.

 

[Maddy]

As I have aged I am carrying more weight than I need and have been fighting to lose it also.

Keith

Ain't that the truth!!!
As you are probably all aware, they have done studies on folks who had gastric bypass and a good number go on to becoming addicted to booze, drugs, sex, shopping, gambling, whatever. IT's common to substitute one addiction for another, or they just plain go back to their old behaviors and eat junk food at frequent intervals, gaining lots of weight back.

I would want something really good to eat after a difficult day at home or at work. It's a "feel good" reward.Comfort food. The mantra "I deserve this!"

The phrase "the battle of the bulge" is really true. It's a battle and I think maybe part of dealing with it is recognizing and accepting that it is always lurking, ready to overtake you in a moment of weakness. I used to think I could rid myself of it but it always surfaces.

Sometimes I think hiking, skiing, biking, running, anything that really burns calories and that you love to do is really helpful. You can eat more and lose weight because you expend so much energy. Like an AT thru hiker. The ultimate diet. The five we met at Stratton Pond this summer were definitely the lean, mean, hiking machines and could not get enough to eat.
Now that would be a fun way to lose weight.
It sure beats starvation or surgery.

 

[jniehof]

Simple? Yup.

Easy? Not so much, for many people.

I think that's about the size of it. It's really, really hard to dig out the real science from the studies...partly because people are so different from each other, partly because the diet industry has a huge amount of money to throw at studies. One explanation I've heard is "the human body is a system tuned for scarcity, in an environment of plenty."

My approach is: eat breakfast. Start eating early...if you're hungry all day, eventually dinner will just be a lot bigger and totally offset a sparing breakfast/lunch. If hungry between meals, eat a carrot, drink a glass of water. If still hungry, eat a little something more. Lots of veggies and water in general. Eat slowly. Chew a lot. Enjoy the food. Stop eating early...it's OK to have a small first portion and come back for seconds in an hour. Keep active daily; exercise is an appetite suppressant. Minimize sugar, white flour, white rice, refined carbohydrates. Soda is a lot of calories that don't fill you up. (So is beer, but it's harder to guzzle.) Mix fruit juice with water, and/or pour small glasses. Enjoy whole grains and fiber. Variety in food is good. Keep fresh fruit and veggies in the house (thank goodness for farmers' markets.) Don't keep cookies in the house. (This is hard since I'm at home working on my thesis much of the time, and my girlfriend isn't...thus, she'll buy cookies or peanut butter cups, and I'm at home looking for distraction, she gets home from work to find...yeah. A bigger change was when my ex-wife converted me back to eating meat...so I guess date vegetarians who don't like dessert?) Don't diet; make sustainable changes.

 

[Maddy]

Don't diet; make sustainable changes.

That's a good one. Nice mantra.

 

[SAR-EMT40]

Don't diet; make sustainable changes.

I absolutely agree with this statement. The term diet is one of the stupidest in the language because it implies that the things you were doing before were fine, and restarting after you finish your "diet" will somehow not bring you back to the same situation that you find yourself in now.

That is the definition of something that I have taught my boys since they were old enough to understand English. That is the definition of stupid. i.e. doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

You need a lifestyle change.

Keith

 

[alistair]

Adam,
I just found this thread and had fun reading it and glad to hear that i am not the old fat slob who has been trying to loose weight this summer.
I started the summer at 5'10" 225lbs ........ started running and eating less and although I am still 5'10" I am down to 200lbs.

Unfortunately, although I am run for about 75minutes/6-7miles 4 times a week, with one night of core work, I can not get my weight under 200. I do not eat candy or soda,

Any thoughts how I can get my weight lower?
What is the best exercise to get you in shape for a winter hiking season?

 

[Maddy]

Have you checked the web for info on glycemic load and low glycemic diets. These are not low carb diets but eating certain portions of "good carbs". The other thing is portion control of all foods because we can eat too much of a good thing. There is a huge variety of food you can eat on this diet in moderation.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/topics/glycemic-index
This is a good one and if you scan down it gives you a list of foods and their GI/GL values.
There are lots of lists and explanations on the net and in books which are very easy to access.
They keep improving the cookbooks to so you can make tasty meals and still stay within the parameters.
It's all based on eating the right stuff so you don't overproduce insulin resulting in even more hunger and overeating.
I love winter and cross country skiing and snowshoeing are lots of fun, burn lots of calories, and can be done in local state parks or even regular parks. Our rail trails do not allow snowmobiles so if nature accommodates they are great places to bring you snowhshoes/skis.
The Trustees of Reservation areas area also terrific and the visuals are great.
Good luck.
Don't give up even if you are stuck.
I like this way of eating because it doesn't seem like you are "on a diet" and it really controls your appetite because your blood sugar is stable.

Edit: You can also buy low gylcemic pasta and breads that are very tasty in your major grocery stores. Just read the labels and you can really cut out bad carbs by doing this.

 

[1ADAM12]

Adam,
I just found this thread and had fun reading it and glad to hear that i am not the old fat slob who has been trying to loose weight this summer.
I started the summer at 5'10" 225lbs ........ started running and eating less and although I am still 5'10" I am down to 200lbs.

Unfortunately, although I am run for about 75minutes/6-7miles 4 times a week, with one night of core work, I can not get my weight under 200. I do not eat candy or soda,

Any thoughts how I can get my weight lower?
What is the best exercise to get you in shape for a winter hiking season?

Hi Alistair! I am like you right now. I am kind of at a stand still. I am 5'8 started out at 235 and now I am at 198 and holding. I did fall under the 200 lb mark last week and this makes the first time in about 15 years or so I have been this "skinny"

For the last three weekends I have been hiking locally on trails and almost every night after work I am walking a brisk pace of about 4 miles or so. I will let you know if this will help me this winter. It sure cant hurt!

Congrats on your weight loss my friend!

Adam

 

[The Unstrung Harp]

Alistair, sounds like you've already accomplished a lot. That's a nice running schedule for sure.

I'm no expert, but.....

If I were in your shoes and really wanted to shed more lbs without changing a whole lot, I would start creeping in long runs once a week. In fact, I'd either add or substitute one of the runs for swimming/biking/xc-skiing/ something like that. (Me, I'd add a workout some weeks and sub it out others. Changing it up is good.)

You're already doing core stuff which is great. Even 5-8 minutes of core every night is good too, if you want to ramp it up a little more.

Anyway, for long runs, just do them once a week. Say Saturdays. Instead of 6-7 miles, go 8-9 on your Saturday workout. Then back to 6-7 during the week. In a few weeks, make your long run 9-10. Sounds like a lot at first, but just do it! You'll be surprised to find that it should be pretty easy by this point. In another week, your long run can be 10-11. You can shorten your previous workout a little if you want, to save your energy. Make your own rules based on how you feel.

Important note: Every 3-5 weeks, don't increase the time/distance. Give yourself a "slack" week, hold steady or do a little less than usual. Resume the following week. You might want to look at a few half-marathon training plans and just check out the schedule patterns that people are using. It's interesting, at least, and maybe will give you the nudge to get yourself to the next level.

Happy running and congrats on your success already.

 

[The Unstrung Harp]

Oooh, another thing you can do, it mess with your pace. Go faster, go slower, go faster again. What I find when I do this is that I end up with a better time overall for set-distance runs. There are a lot of technical ways and systems you can do this, but if you want to keep it simple, just simply run faster from the tree to the meadow, take it easy until the crossroads, bolt up the hill, recover until the corner, etc. PS, even some walking is allowed! Just enjoy and play and experience what happens.

 

[smitty77]

Oooh, another thing you can do, it mess with your pace. Go faster, go slower, go faster again. What I find when I do this is that I end up with a better time overall for set-distance runs. There are a lot of technical ways and systems you can do this, but if you want to keep it simple, just simply run faster from the tree to the meadow, take it easy until the crossroads, bolt up the hill, recover until the corner, etc. PS, even some walking is allowed! Just enjoy and play and experience what happens.

This seems to work for a lot of people to break that plateau. I intend to start up my interval training again now that I'm done with whatever cold/allergy/swine flu that I had. Previously I was doing intervals on the treadmill 2 nights a week just to shake up the muscles and the lungs. After a couple of weeks I noticed my sustainable running/jogging speed was starting to creep up. I think that will be my key to getting these next ten pounds off of my frame and getting the belt one more notch tighter.

Like many of you, I have also noticed that I can't eat as much as before. Previous to this change in my life habits I used to be able to polish-off a takeout dinner from the local chinese take-out joint (typical fare of a decent helping of General Tsos with a pile of fried rice, a stick of beef teryaki, and 2 crab rangoons) and now I can't even get through half of it without feeling stuffed.

 

[Chip]

But it's not their fault, it's an addiction.

While nothing's perfect, this online "ideal" weight calculator seems reasonable and duplicates my "ideal". To put my weight where my mouth is and with all this talk here, I've decided to lose 8 lbs, which is 2/3's of the distance to my "ideal". I'll let you know how it goes. If anyone else wants to take this up as a "challenge", let me know.

 

[Craig]

While nothing's perfect, this online "ideal" weight calculator seems reasonable and duplicates my "ideal". To put my weight where my mouth is and with all this talk here, I've decided to lose 8 lbs, which is 2/3's of the distance to my "ideal". I'll let you know how it goes. If anyone else wants to take this up as a "challenge", let me know.

8 lbs? Pff, I could loose that with a good movement.
Come on, Git ur dun.

 

[alistair]

It seems that running is the exercise of choice if you plan to lose some weight, but what exercise method should I perform if I wanted to get fit and ready for a winter hiking season ( assuming I don't hike much in the other three seasons)?

 

[Chip]

8 lbs? Pff, I could loose that with a good movement.
Come on, Git ur dun.

I know it doesn't sound like much, but I've found that the closer you get to "ideal weight" the tougher it is; so if I'm 12 lbs over I believe that losing 8 lbs would be comparable to someone else that's 30 lbs over losing 20 lbs. Their first 8 lbs should fly off, whereas my first 3 lbs might, you know ?

 

[Chip]

It seems that running is the exercise of choice if you plan to lose some weight, but what exercise method should I perform if I wanted to get fit and ready for a winter hiking season ( assuming I don't hike much in the other three seasons)?

The best thing I've done locally is hiking up and down a short, steep hill with a pack on at our high school. When I was in good shape I was doing 50 to 60 "reps" with a 40 or 50 lb pack, several times a week.

 

[Little Rickie]

I think I could lose more weight if: I didn't work, didn't have a family life, lived all by myself, had no social life, exercised all day and napped a lot. Then I could focuse on my diet.

 

[WhiteMTHike]

It seems that running is the exercise of choice if you plan to lose some weight, but what exercise method should I perform if I wanted to get fit and ready for a winter hiking season ( assuming I don't hike much in the other three seasons)?

Nordic Ski Track machine works pretty well for that.

 

[smitty77]

While nothing's perfect, this online "ideal" weight calculator seems reasonable and duplicates my "ideal".

Thanks for this Chip!

Here's my stats - Male, 5'10", 32 y/o.

At my starting weight of 201, my BMI was 28.8, smack in the middle of "overweight". The "People's Choice ideal weight is 181 lbs, which is where I'm at now.

Plugging in my new weight, my BMI has gone down to 25.8 and is "in normal range ideal weight". The "People's Choice" dropped to 170, which is also my target weight.

I'd love to get to 160 some day. I don't know if I'll ever get there, but I suppose having a goal "just out of reach" may help keep me on track for the long-term instead of slipping back into old habits. Only time will tell.

 

[Chip]

I'm no trainer/dietician, but if I get within a few pounds of my "ideal", my focus would shift away from losing weight to my Body Fat Percentage.