OT: Weight loss...........

[Linda Lou]

With obesity being epidemic in this country now, I thought that this would be a relevant thread, especially considering that we talk alot about the showhosts weight losses or weight gains.

I'm wondering if anyone here has lost a significant amount of weight, and if so, how you achieved it.

[beekeeper]

I haven't personally ... but I read that Whitney Houston just lost about 165 lbs! ;-) Sorry ... couldn't resist!

I have a friend, who as long as I've known her, was pushing 300 lbs (she is tiny, standing at only 5'). I was always under the assumption that she was a big eater ... but boy was I wrong. After years of being a hairstylist, she got a job that offered healthcare, and was finally able to afford a doctor's visit. She found out that she had a tumor on her adrenaline gland, and once removed thru surgery ... dropped over 100 lbs, very quickly. The weight affected almost every aspect of her life and health. Being heavy, she rarely had her period, had a problem with facial hair, her mood was all over the place, asthma, blah blah blah. Now, she is living her life with no health problems, is able to exercise and buy cute clothes. It's amazing to see her now!

[Linda Lou]

That's great about your friend, although pretty rare. I've achieved a significant weight loss, but it was strictly through portion control and exercise. I'm struggling with the last 20 lbs, and was hoping to get some feedback on if others have reached their goal weight.

One thing that I've read, that I know to be true, is that it doesn't matter how much you exercise, your food intake largely determines your weight loss. You can be heavy and exercise, but if you don't curtail the amount of food going in, you will remain heavy. Have to expend those calories somehow....

[beekeeper]

Your calories burned MUST be more than those taken in, plain and simple. Patience/consistancy is the key, don't get frustrated and give up!

Good for you Linda! I think that doing it the right way, rather than the fad diets/yo-yo, will provide you with the long term goal of being healthy!

[kittyinthecity]

I've lost 10 pounds and want to lose 10 more, but no matter how little and healthy I eat, I just can't go below 125. I think its because I just don't exercise much and the less food I eat, the slower my metabolism becomes, so the calories don't get burned. So I think it goes both ways. You can eat very little and still not lose weight until you expand your exercise.

[Garnet333]

After I had my son, I went on the Atkins Diet and lost 40lbs. Of course being over the age of 40, the baby weight was not easy to get rid of. I ate only meat, fish, veggies, fruit and cheese. I tried to keep my carb intake to around 25 grams a day. I felt much better, had more energy and the weight came right off. I still try to keep my carb intake to around 50-75 grams a day but sometimes I go over. I try and stay away from white sugar and flour oh yeah perservatives also.

[kittyinthecity]

Yeah, I don't eat white flour, white sugar or white rice. also no trans fats and nothing with high-frutose corn syrup. They are super fats and super sugars.

[tooncey2]

KITC, I think you are eating too little. The great misconception on weight loss is, "The less I eat, the more I'll lose". Not so. The body is programmed to prevent starvation. Thus, if you eat so little that your body thinks it's starving, it will hang on to the weight. Your metabolism is not firing.

KITC, I highly recommend Weight Watchers. I lost 45 lbs. on their program eating normal food & with the Core program I was never hungry. In fact, I was surprised at how much I was able to eat & except for the week each month before my period (water retention), I always had a loss at the scale.

In fact, I work with a lady who ate 900 calories a day (we figured it out) & wondered why she could not lose any weight. I told her the same thing, "your body thinks it's starving because you are eating too little." She tried WW & bam, once she gave her body more good, healthy food, the weight started coming off.

[Sooner]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
beekeeper:
I haven't personally ... but I read that Whitney Houston just lost about 165 lbs! ;-) Sorry ... couldn't resist!


www.tvtalkshows.com/board/showpost.php?p=1557741
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

LOL!!


Good job to those that have lost weight!

[kittyinthecity]

that was funny, Bee!

Tooncey, Yeah I have read about that, when your body goes into starvation mode and you quit losing weight, but I figure, hey, starving people DO eventually lose weight! lol... I know I don't eat enough, I take Hoodia to supress my appetite and it works. I usually fix a big dinner, but I only eat the veggies. BUT I just weighed and it was 121! I'm afraid weight watchers would laugh at me and then kick me to the curb! BUT, you have to realize, when I was nine months pregnant I weighed 117 pounds! So I just feel better when I'm thin. I probably mostly just need to tone up!

Thanks for the advice and good luck with your program. Sounds like you are right on track.

[Sooner]

You can buy WW food without paying them to do their program.

I considered them once for a few pounds, and researched online and found how they figure their points. If you want that I can send it to you.

I never did buy their food. Well, that's not true. They have a shrimp pasta dish I like and eat on occasion.

[sam king cat]

Sharing with you 8 FOODS THAT HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT
-FIBER, keeps you fuller longer
JUICY FOODS, high water content helps you fill up
LEAN PROTIEN, rev your metabolism
FOODS THAT MAKE YOU WORK, shelled peanuts, peas in pods
SUGARLESS GUM, keeps you from popping other foods into your mouth
HOT BEVERAGES, sipping green tea, diet cocoa, skim latte cappuccino
SPICY FOODS, normally eat slower, drink more water,
PRE-PORTIONED SNACKS, 100 CALORE rule instead of eating the whole darn bag/box/container

[Linda Lou]

*kicks Kitty's butt for weighing 125 and wanting to be less* lol! JK, kinda. ;)

Sam king cat, those are some good healthy suggestions.

The ONLY thing that ever worked for me was a program called "Thin Within". I bought the book and motivational tapes, and followed them to the letter.

It is based on the premise that diet's don't work, and they never did for me. I always wanted what I couldn't have. With this program, you eat ONLY when you're hungry, and stop when satisfied, not full. Sounds easy, but it isn't. It took months to learn to eat this way, but nothing has ever produced such good results for me. Plus, I could eat whatever I wanted when I was hungry.

I think my metabolism has slowed with time, and even if I never get these last 19 lbs. off, I'm kinda tall, and carry it well. But still...........

[applepie]

Sooner, you don't have to buy any WW food... the program is based on all normal foods. The WW food is for convience or if you are in a hurry. I've been on the program for a while and lost about 15 pounds. They give you the tools to figure points on anything..but it just boils down to portion control and upping your exercise. It is not fast but pretty steady and you can function in the "real world" and not feel deprived. You just have to find what works for you...this seems to work for me. JMHO

[Sevaroonie]

I actually lost about 35 pounds on WW a couple of years ago, in a period of about 3 months. I did the point system, but didn't count points from 5pm Friday evening until I got up Monday morning. So I cheated, but still lost weight. My thoughts are that WW taught me portion control, as well as healthier foods. It' s not for everyone, but if and when I feel I need to drop sone pounds again, I'll go back to WW.

[Linda Lou]

I have to admit, whenever I've talked with someone that's had a big weight loss, they always seem to mention W. Watchers! Must be something to it. I just don't like having to count points and what not. That's just me.

[kittyinthecity]

LL:
*kicks Kitty's butt for weighing 125 and wanting to be less* lol! JK, kinda. ;)

Did you miss that today it was 121!!! lol...

I think i just need a tummy tuck, actually.

[Sooner]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
applepie:
Sooner, you don't have to buy any WW food... the program is based on all normal foods. The WW food is for convience or if you are in a hurry. I've been on the program for a while and lost about 15 pounds. They give you the tools to figure points on anything..but it just boils down to portion control and upping your exercise. It is not fast but pretty steady and you can function in the "real world" and not feel deprived. You just have to find what works for you...this seems to work for me. JMHO
www.tvtalkshows.com/board/showpost.php?p=1557858
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah well, I'm like Linda, I don't like having to count points.

I lost quite a bit of weight seven years ago. I did it by staying very active and being careful with what I eat. I don't eat that much so I don't have to worry about portions.

[Linda Lou]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
kittyinthecity:
LL:
*kicks Kitty's butt for weighing 125 and wanting to be less* lol! JK, kinda. ;)

Did you miss that today it was 121!!! lol...

I think i just need a tummy tuck, actually.
www.tvtalkshows.com/board/showpost.php?p=1557877
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Backhands kitty* Oh, thanks for the update on your weight.

lol!

[irishlass]

WW is the only diet that I know of that is healthy, you don't have to eliminate any foods and you can stay on that plan for the rest of your life. I have a friend that is currently on it and has lost about 25lbs. in the last 2 months or so.

[puddy]

Wow. What a great thread. Several people I know have had great results on Weight Watchers. The lady that owns the nail shop I go to is on it right now and looks great. There is something that happened though. I have never heard of this but she brought in a letter from her doctor stating that WW's goal weight was too low for her to reach. The letter said that based on her height and frame, she could only reach the goal with starvation and potentially dangerous prescribed drugs. I guess she got the letter so she could still get her lifetime membership benefits through WW. She told me that they even had her height recorded incorrectly. She's 5'2" and they list her as being 5'3-1/2", which gives her a few extra pounds on her goal weight. She said that her goal would be even lower if they had the correct height!

[puddy]

Now for the saga that is my life...

I was an overweight child. I remember being on the Atkin's diet the FIRST time it came out. I was in the sixth grade. (OK, I can hear you all adding and subtracting to figure out my age!) I lost 32 pounds. It was right before we went on a cruise and I looked good. It was also the first time I came to the realization that weight mattered. It never mattered to me but there was no question that other people were very interested in my size. In school, I was always the tallest and I've always managed to carry my weight very well. There was one girl that was fatter than I was but she was much shorter. No one really poked fun at either of us so we were both lucky in that respect. When I tell people what I weigh, they never believe me. I was always a good student and got along with all of the other kids. I sucked at gym class but I did what I had to do (I never got a note from the school nurse, either! LOL!) and plugged away at whatever 'sport' we were learning that month. It's probably where my sense of humor came from. Even when we picked teams, I got picked last and I prefer to think that it was my diva-ness rather than my weight that meant I was not going to be hitting the winning home run in basball 'class'. My favorite gym class was modern dance. It was fun to pick out a song and make up a routine. I got an A and a huge surge of self-esteem.

I remember taking diet pills at that time, too. Does anyone remember the original Dexatrim? Little white and pink capsules? I used to take one in the morning and one in the afternoon when I got home from school. My ass dragged off of that school bus. (It was back in the day before all of the laws and regulations.) It finally dawned on me that I was on speed and needed to stop. I was 'up' for school in the morning and then needed another 'up' to do my homework in the afternoon. A sixth grade junkie!!! And my mom had no idea. Thats when I learned about the secrets that can go hand in hand with weight issues.

High school was total fun. My weight was under control, gym class never mattered and I dressed well. I even went on dates and made it to two proms. Both times, we were voted best dressed couple and I enjoyed high school a lot. It was what I had imagined and I was glad it turned out that way. Phew!

In my late twenties, my weight started to creep up. I decided to do the dumbest thing a person could do. I got "injections". Only God knows what was in those shots, but I paid hundreds of dollars to get shot in the ass (upper ass actually) six days a week. I was thin and it seemed to happen over night. Sixty pounds in four months. (And I just KNOW what Janet Jackson did to lose HER sixty pounds in four months!) I did not care. I would have paid the devil to be thin and that is exactly what I did. Sure, I was thin but I was cold all of the time. In the winter, I slept with an electric blanket and a space heater on high in my sealed up bedroom and still froze. In the morning, it was over ninety degrees in my room. I used to wake up because my boney knees would hurt from sleeping on my side and I would jam a pillow between my legs to pad them. I had no energy and got yelled at by the 'nurse' because I would not exercise. I was getting absent-minded at work and sometimes I forgot where it was that I was driving to. Mom said I looked like a vulture because my posture was so hunched over and my head appeared to be coming out of my chest. Hell, I couldn't hold my head up.

I was on a 500 calorie a day diet. After the initial bulk of my weight was off, I hit a plateau so I had to improvise a bit. This was my weekly eating pattern: No food all day Friday and Saturday because I was going out on Friday and Saturday night and I had to 'save up' for the calorie counting. Sunday, no food at all. Just water and Correctol. (Note: I started with one pill and when I needed two to get the same result, I stopped this stupidity 100%) Monday, no food until after my weigh in which was after work and about 500 trips to the bathroom and a gross of toilet paper. I developed a really juicy hemorrihod as a result. Nice. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, one Lean Cuisine type entree per day. That was it for the food intake. The best part were the two huge bruises that adorned my upper ass area. Boy, it was fun undressing in front of a man. Keeping your eye on him from the front and trying to avoid mirrors from the back was a real challenge. And hey, of course I felt sexy. I was thin, damn it. I managed to keep the bruises hidden during my trysts but being on the bottom was painful. I still have scar tissue to this day as a reminder of my desperate stupidity. (I learned a great lesson though. I would never be "desperate" again in any way. Money, men, work, whatever - never again. I meant it and I still mean it.)

Some lessons I learned from that fiasco? #1) If you lose weight too fast, your brain never catches up to your body. You still see a fat person in the mirror no matter what your size tag says. No matter what anyone says to you, you just don't get the connection. #2) I lived in fear of a guy saying something like, "Hey, you aren't bad but you would be great if you lost ten pounds or so". It never happened but the fear was always there. How could I lose ten pounds? Cut off a leg? #3) I also lived in fear of a steady guy finding out that I was an ex-fatty. Hey, we all know that if you WERE fat, you WILL be fat again, right? And who wants to date a future fat ass? At the time, I was convinced that it would have been a deal breaker faster than garlic breath and stinky feet.

My weight came back but I managed to keep it off for over three years. Eventually, I gained back all sixty pounds plus another sixty for good measure. It took a long time but hey, I'm in there for the long haul and I'm not a quitter! Not only did I do a good job at gaining the weight back but I did a double-good job. Yeah, buddy!

After a while, it was apparent to me that there really was no magic bullet/quick fix. Yes, we all know this but we all think that it does not apply to US. We need to do the stupid/expensive/dangerous/depressing stuff to ourself, by ourself. How else do we learn, right?

I started out by walking one mile in the morning and one mile at night and did an aerobic tape every day after work. I took Sundays off. I cut down on the junk food but still ate a lot of food. Then my appetite seemed to turn off when the exercise started. Who-da-thunk? I lost thirty pounds and was I ever proud. I took a while before I lost more weight. When I got back on the wagon, it was harder. Sure I was older but not that old. I went to two different doctors and both said I did not have a thyroid problem. Both gave me the same tests and the same medication. I had a frigging goiter in my throat but no thyroid problem! Dumb asses. One even said that the thyroid medication would not help me with weight loss. I have never been so discouraged in my life. The problem is that the test that is normally run is not good enough by itself. Another test has to be done to see WHAT your body does with the thyroid hormone the first test says you are producing. They just tested for one thing and it showed up in the results, automatically telling them I had no problem.

I knew there was more out there. After I watched Suzanne Somers on HSN a few times, I bought her book, The Sexy Years. She just did a ton of research and compiled it in one book. She does not claim to have a cure-all, snake oil solution but several ideas of what causes and cures lots of things besides weight. Bottom line, no matter what, get a doctor that believes in YOU. If the doctor believes in you, you will believe in that doctor. I took other people's half-assed advice and it was half-assed because their opinion of me was half-assed and they did not respect me or my concerns. Now, I have a doctor that listens, cares and most of all, does not have a problem with spending his entire weekend researching a problem for a patient. I am happy to say that my weight has been decreasing for a while and my zest for life increases every day. There is no quick AND permanent fix. I think they are mutually exclusive.

And after seeing the ladies on HSN trim down, the Michael Thurmond plan is looking better all of the time! Now, if they could just do something with Tony Little...

[missitaly]

puddy -

I was 5'0" and 112 lbs in sixth grade and I was considered too heavy. Course, this was back in 1978 and the kids were thinner back then. I thought I looked fine and, well, today no one would have said a word.

[Linda Lou]

Puddy, thank you so much for posting your experiences. It's so true...what some of us will do to try to achieve thinness is unbelievable. I can truly relate to much of what you have said, less the injections. Phew. My Mother also put me on diet pills by the sixth grade as well, and they were prescribed by a Doctor that should've known better. They made me so jittery and I felt ill while taking them.

It's also true that young girls are much heavier today, then they were in the 70's when I was a teen. I was so hard on myself, but really, I look back and I was not that heavy at all, in comparison. And what's up with that "muffin top" look with the low rise jeans?? Not a good look. I would've never dared to wear something like that when I was younger.

[puddy]

On that muffin top thingy - It just goes to show you, the more you see something that is wrong, the more it begins to look right. For most people, that is! LOL!


I think dark roots also fall into this category, too! ;p

[Linda Lou]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
puddy:
On that muffin top thingy - It just goes to show you, the more you see something that is wrong, the more it begins to look right. For most people, that is! LOL!


I think dark roots also fall into this category, too! ;p
www.tvtalkshows.com/board/showpost.php?p=1559238
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh, I know. I was doing one young girl's makeup last year, and she told me that the muffin top look was actually "in". Flub, hanging over the top of your pants, "in". Unreal. LOL!

I gotta go do my roots. :D

[puddy]

That is what baseball caps are for!