Losing it... weight I mean!

Hi there! I realize I'm a little late in replying, the conversation has clearly moved on from this post, but I thought I'd post my two cents anyway. Feel free to tell me to buzz off.

Congratulations on self-motivating yourself to lose weight. It took me a lot of time to get to the stage where I could self-motivate myself to lose weight. My parents were supportive till a point, when I started losing more weight than 'they thought' I should, they started stepping in and pointing out that I should stop trying to 'lose' weight. And that was frustrating. Even more so since they used to drag me to all the family get-togethers, parties, weddings and events where extended relatives, family friends and even strangers would sidle up to me and comment loudly on how I was becoming a skeleton (even when I wasn't lol. I knew clearly where I was and I was being carefully monitored by my family physician/nutritionist).

I tuned them out as much as possible, had fights with my parents, but pointed it out to them that no doctor would let me starve myself and lose muscle. If I was really going on the wrong path, my family physician (who's been seeing me since I was toddler) would step in and point it out to me. Since she doesn't have a problem, they shouldn't either. I show them my blood work reports and everything where my values were definitely better. Since hypertension and diabetes runs in my family, I showed them I was way far away from the chance of contracting it at 30 (which I was when I was morbidly obese).

TL, DR - Short Version - It's tough, took a while, but I had to develop a thick skin and turn a blind eye and dead ear to the relatives. Thankfully my parents came around after a while.

 

It’s great that you’re excited most hate to have to change their eating habits. Me I love it especially if I see results and the food is great. Going vegan a few days a week is a great idea and beneficial. I went to see a nutritionist about my weight months back and she said to try doing vegan a few times a week. I’m definitely going to try that out and see what foods I can eat. I like different protein shakes, I try to stick with the ones low or no sugar. And I started meal prepping too help when I’m so busy and don’t have time to cook.

 

Awesome!

I feel like gluten and dairy products are overrated. I'm not totally gluten-free or dairy-free, but I do avoid as much of both as possible due to dietary restrictions. (I wouldn't call myself gluten and dairy intolerant, but I think I'm over halfway there). There's so many options which don't include either. I for one can't give up yoghurt. The Indian version atleast lol. And it's probiotic. I've recently turned into a spokesperson for probiotic, fermented and gut-friendly food. They've helped me on multiple occasions. But I'll stop now lol, don't want to turn the topic for this thread into something else.

As for cooking. Oh boy! I love cooking. I'm learning to recreate traditional South-Indian recipes from my Mom. She's talking to her mom (Grandmother dear) and asking her to re-collect her mom's recipes! (Great-Grandma). So that's fun. I love it when people eat my cooking and are happy, so it's a win-win. My friends like to tease me by saying that I manage to not put on the pounds by feeding them and not eating myself, but it's a matter of perspective lol.

I'm glad you're on the path to getting off the medications. My doctor is talking to me about managing everything through food. She doesn't support taking anti-biotics or any medication at all for stuff. She prefers to treat it through diet, exercise and nature. So I'm trying to do the same. It gets tough when you have the flu or tummy bug for over a week, but the results speak for themselves.

Sorry if I went a bit off-topic there.[/USER]

 

@I'mStillStanding You've definitely come a long way. As for the calories thing, this is what I normally do. There are some standard stuff that I eat like standard dishes and snack items. Since I eat smaller meals 5 to 6 times a day and I aim to get in atleast 1200 calories if not more, I try to make sure I'm eating 200 - 250 calories per meal. I have a bunch of glass tupperware types containers (I think they can fill upto 12 oz of food) which I use to store my stuff. I eat breakfast at home, pack up 4 boxes, 2 with proper meals (Rice + Curry) and 2 with snacks (Boiled Peanuts, Assorted Cut Fruit, Cookies, et al) and munch on it during work timings. I come home and have dinner. Not sure, but maybe you can try that?

Since I shuffle the same food around with a lot of common elements, I know the average calories I'm consuming and can roughly estimate the rest at a glance.

 

My friend, I am hardly the one to give advice on weight loss, but considering the immense stress you are subject to, due to your family situation and the reality of Southern cooking, I think that you are perhaps too harsh on yourself. It's difficult to make progress when the body is stressed. That you've made the weight loss thus far is a remarkable achievement. You need to not allow yourself to get discouraged. Each day is a fresh start. And slow progress is often more lasting than quicker ones. Just keep at it. I feel that once you are in a calmer and drama-free setting, your weight loss will become easier. Stay positive. It will happen! *smile*

 

Eating a balanced diet, eating a set number of meals a day, eating healthy - nutritious meals everyday. These are challenges. In today's busy world it isn't easy. And on top of that, with the level of responsibilities you have, it does get tougher. But I'm glad you're trying your best. That is the important thing. Doing whatever you can. The little things and every bit of effort is important. It counts. Being happy is the biggest plus point, the most important thing. That's what I like to tell myself always. Took look for the happy things, the positive point in even the smallest of things. Like a cloud with a silver lining.

Logging the weight once a month is the right way to go in my opinion. I stopped weighing myself everyday though, it just drove my crazy. I weigh myself once a month, measure my body using tape and log those numbers. I do try and maintain a daily food diary. If I can't log every piece of food I eat at that moment, I try to remember it and then log the approx values at the end of the day. That way, I know if I've eaten more than normal or less than normal when I look over the trend weekly. That keeps me from beating myself up if my weight doesn't show much difference during my log-day.

Maybe you can come down to weighing yourself twice a week? Then once a week? Then once in 2 weeks? All the way till once a month. Slowly of course.

 

Your doing really good, I'mstillstanding, that's really clear to see in the picture above. I lost a bit by running and eating less. I have a personal trainer. Only see him once a week but he sets me homework. I had my second session yesterday. My upper arms are ripped today, even holding my phone to type kills......just keep going I know it's hard, I had a difficult week last week but I'm in a better place mentally to exercise this week.
Jon

 

The trainer is expensive but his knowledge is so useful. I actually got the push ups correct, I went home buzzing.

 

I'm jumping in late in this discussion! Congratulations @I'mStillStanding about the weight loss. You look great (in both the before and after!), being healthy is the aim here. Whether you have a few extra pounds or not, if you're eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly, the weight thing is going to resolve itself with time. I figured out that it is the habits that we follow are what make us.

I started dieting and exercising December first of 2018. I do use a personal trainer as well. Although a bit expensive but well worth it. He is educating me about the whole thing. I read a lot, but when it comes to implementing what you read I need someone to discuss it with and have regular input. Anyways. It working well for me, but slowly. I started over 260lbs in December, now I'm about 234lbs. I exercise two times a week, which is not a lot, but my work schedule is kind of limiting too. I use MyFitnessPal app from Under Armour to track my food intake, calories and nutrients. It has been helping a lot to educate me about each type of food, and track carbs, fats, and protein intake on a daily basis. I'm not in a hurry to lose weight though, it is not a race. So yes, a few weeks ago, with dieting and everything, I didn't lose any weight for weeks. Frustrating, but kept going, changed a little my diet intake percentages and quantities, and my personal trainer changed some of the exercise techniques, adding more weights and repetitions, mixing up exercises in different ways in order to fool your body to react by burning the extra fat.

So, don't get frustrated, just keep doing what you're doing, your body will eventually get to get rid of the extra fat to compensate for the lost calories somehow. I also weight myself almost every morning too, it makes my day when the reading moves down! It i s encouraging but sometimes it is frustrating too! I don't expect a huge sudden weight loss either.

Good job, keep doing what you are doing. You'll eventually reach your goal.

 

I think that one important thing is to lose weight for your own health and boost your self esteem, but being overweight can be a turn on for many men the same way as a toned body. Either way you're doing it for yourself not to impress anyone else.

I personally find that a man with a will to exercise and to diet is attractive by attitude; the discipline and the way he's handling his own health is a big plus towards a positive personality.

My personal trainer these days follow a four day cycle: shoulders, back, biceps and triceps, then legs/lower body. Sometimes he increases set repititions (10, 12, 15 then 20 repititions each exercise) and sometimes he increases weight for each repitition), between each there is no rest, I'll be doing some sort of jumping, between the sets there will be a jogging that I have to do. The exercise lasts for about an hour continuous. I always start with 30min brisk walk (treadmill) and end the exercise with another 30min. I finish the session unable to move properly! Tiring but rewarding. Feel accomplished.

The diet, now I'm increasing protein intake (about 200gm) and decreasing carbs (50gm) and fats (20gm). Basically it's like 2lbs of chicken breast plus a small can of tuna in water throughout the day, plus salad and veggies of course, and two toasts with non fat cheese and egg white at breakfast (sometimes I cheat with a full egg instead!). I'm allowed one free meal every 5 days in order to stimulate my body and not let it get used to the diet.

I didn't start like this 3 months ago of course. The diet and exercise patterns were different.

 

I'm pretty sure that "being sexy" is a major reason why a lot of people are interested in losing weight.

One's appearance, in general, is probably why many (most?) people are interested in losing weight. This time of year, one may well hear, in fact, someone talking about wanting to look good wearing a swimsuit in summer, and so it's time to lose a few pounds.