Loosing weight as an Aspie

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Hi, i lose weight using Slim Fast (and still losing it) It's great for us Aspies as we like an element of control! I just use the shakes, one for brekkie and one for lunch and a kitkat and a coffee in between. I have a normal meal for dinner with the kids. I have a day off at the weekends (usually saturday) when i can eat what i want. If you've been good all week you won't feel guilty believe me. I'm still losing weight but at least i won't loose interest by having my day off. It gives you something to look forward to aswell.

Holy s**t, that's a hell of a lot of sugar you're eating. Slim Fast is basically just sugar - read the carton. You're having sugar for breakfast, then a candy bar, then sugar for lunch. You may be losing pounds because of calorie restriction, but you're not doing your body much of a favor. You can fry yourself a single egg and drink a glass of milk in the morning for a similar caloric load, maybe an apple for a snack, and a piece of whole-grain bread and cheese for lunch. It'd be better for you, and if you're into extreme caloric restriction it'd have the same effect as slimfast.

i find that being poor is an excellent way to lose weight. having a limited stock of foodstuffs discourages overeating. not that i am accusing anybody of overeating, we all have our problems.

Someone mentioned counting calories. Sparkpeople.com has a great calorie counter. You just plug in what food you ate, and the amount, and it totals it up for you -- they even have the info for particular brands of fast foods and frozen dinners.

As far as the metabolism goes, one way to speed up your metabolism is building muscle. I find that the magic number for me is 30 minutes of brisk cardio daily (enough that your heart rate rises, but not so brisk that you can't carry on a conversation), followed by 30 minutes of weight and resistance. You are supposed to take a day off after working each muscle group to let your body repair itself and to prevent overuse injuries, so I will do lower body one day and upper body the next. If lack of coordination is a problem, I find that it's easier to do cardio on the elliptical (the treadmill is terrifying!) and the circuit (Nautilus or similar machines) helps you keep proper form during weight-bearing exercises. Trainers may try to suggest fancy-schmancy routines using your body weight or those weighted balls, but that just seems like a disaster waiting to happen if you break form. So I am fine with looking like a dork on the elliptical and circuit. Still gets me in shape and I can eat the foods I like, in moderation.

If you want to build muscle quickly (to help speed your metabolisms) you can do burnouts -- use the highest amount of weight you can use on each machine while still maintaining form, and do as many reps as you can before your muscles can't take it any more. Then adjust to a slightly lower weight and repeat. Then the next weight down, and repeat. It kills you, but it also gets you in shape fast. And if you only do this for a week or so to kick-start your metabolism, it will not create ginormous bodybuilder muscles. I like to do these four days a week and devote one day to an hourlong cardio session, and then take the weekend off. It may seem like a lot of time in the gym, but it beats trying to diet! (I have a history of anorexia, so I don't actually allow myself to diet or even count calories.)

Hope this helps! If you like consuming calories, it seems more logical (and realistic) to burn them rather than deprive yourself of them.

Spending that amount of time in the gym is only realistic if you have that amount of time to spare - with work, school, and family, many (most) people don't. Sure sounds like you're hella fit, though.

It's just an hour a day (and that's assuming you do it every day instead of three times a week). Many gyms offer child care (mine does, or I'd never get a workout in!). If it's important to you, you'll find time for it, just like anything we do. Of course, if you don't do "the gym", the important thing is that you get 30+ minutes of aerobic exercise at a time (say a couple-mile jog around the neighborhood or bouncing on a mini-tramp while watching a TV show or listening to music) to reap the full cardiovascular benefits. And you can build muscle at home, doing chest presses with a baby (beware the drool, though). Diet is only part of the weight-loss equation (and the most annoying one for those of us who like the taste of food!).

Heathera, I had to skip my organic chemistry lecture day before yesterday to take care of an errand regarding my PG&E bill. That lecture was the *most* disposable part of my day to run the necessary errand. I have a hard time making sure my dog gets walked, much less spending an hour at the gym - if I had the extra time, I'd walk him for an hour instead of for just 10-20 minutes. Then, if I had more time, I'd catch up on my reading. Then I'd do my homework. Then I'd clean the house. I know it seems pretty easy to you, but believe me: I spend ~20 minutes a day, total (I'm taking a break at work right now), catching up on internet sites like this one - and that's what my free time is.

Furthermore, gym memberships are not cheap and neither is childcare. Walking the dog is free. Eating less is not only free, it actually saves time rather than consuming it.

It's great that you have the time to do that, and it's great that you're in good shape - but it's arrogant for you to think that you know the one and only way that's best for people in all situations.

"Eating until satiation" has rarely been a factor in my life. I eat by portion/ration. Hunger at most determines the timing of a meal unless I get the feeling that I really need more.

LKL - I think you are completely misreading my post. I didn't say anywhere that everyone MUST exercise for 30+ minutes per day (although it is the minimum recommended by the ACSM for cardiovascular health and only half the amount recommended by the AMA for weight loss). I simply put it out there as one of the most effective ways to lose weight. I quote: One way to speed up your metabolism is building muscle.

I'm sorry that you, personally, do not have the time in your day to get adequate exercise, but with the Aspie employment rate being what it is, many people do. And if you attend a high school or a university, you do generally have privileges at the gyms in those institutions without having to pay. If not, there's stuff you can do at home. I'm pretty sure that nowhere in my post did I say that exercise was the best route in all situations. I simply clarified in my second post that it's AN hour, and posited a few ways people can work out at home if they can't do the gym. Just because you don't work out doesn't mean I can't suggest it for other people.

It's interesting that you didn't have a problem with people suggesting dietary modifications and tell them they were arrogant for assuming that everyone else could count calories or watch their carbs. Eating disorders are more prevalent in the ASD population, so creating a set of rules for our food certainly isn't an ideal solution for everyone, but far be it from me to tell people it's a terrible and unrealistic suggestion. I happen to think 30-60 minutes of daily or every-few-days exercise IS doable for 90 percent of people if they are willing to carve out time for it, and that it's a great alternative for people who have a spare hour a day and don't like or shouldn't be restricting their food intake.

Heathera-
thank you for your clarification. What got to me was the statement, "It's just an hour a day...If it's important to you, you'll find time for it..." Which I read as being somewhat judgmental. It is now clear that such was not your intent, although I have encountered more than one person for whom it is a judgmental positon. In addition, I do *wish* that I had more time for exercise - particularly walking my poor dog - so there was a little of my own guilty conscience speaking as well.

As for why I haven't jumped all over everyone else, I haven't been following this thread very tightly until the last couple of days. You might notice, however, that I did disagree strongly with the idea of sugar drinks as weight loss tools, above.

For the record, I think that most poplar weight loss regimens are bunk. There's no magic bullet; if you want to lose weight, you have to eat less and/or exercise more. There are some dramatic health benefits to just maintaining a healthy weight, but if you want to be 'in good shape,' you have to exercise.

This is very interesting. I have been wondering about Asperger's and weight issues.

I want to say as well how simple the maths is if you want it to be. Forget everything else, forget sugar and fat and protein and GI index, if you use more calaries than you consume you will lose weight. End of story.

Of course you can also spend your whole life on the subject of weight loss, diets, healthy lifestyles, macronutrients etc, but for pure weight loss, in<out, sorted.

My AS helps me here as i don't get bored with things and don't crave variety. My normal eating means i slowly put on weight and now and then i diet to take it off. My diet is currently this -

Morning, bowl of cerial (cornflakes or pure wheat etc, not chocolate or sugar stuff) or if i'm running late a glass of milk and a nutrigrain elevenses bar

late morning (11-2ish) - microwave rice and veg bag (i have one with mushrooms for some flavour and another with a little butter sauce) plus some slices of chicken

Late lunch/early afternoon (2-3ish) - microwave rice bag plus some chicken

Evening - either chicken and veg or once a week or so i'll have salmon or if feeling lazy a diet ready meal.

I also take another nutrigrain to work and eat it at some point.

Preparation required? make breakfast and eat it, get 2 rice bags from freezer to take to work, pick up packet of chicken from fridge, pick up 2 nutrigrain bars. Cook chicken/boil veg in the evening.

Repeat every day for a few weeks = consistant weight loss of 2lb per week (it's never consistant really, there's a constant 2-3lb margin of error based on human physiology).

Watch your caloric intake. Like, *really pay attention* to how many calories are in each thing you eat. Just having that awareness will make it easier for you to cut down.

Like, for instance, there are more calories in a burger king "veggie burger" than in one of their regular hamburgers.

Also, get a *lot* of raw veggies in your diet. They are nutritious and they help keep your system clean. Even if you still eat "junk food," work the veggies in too. And drink water with everything you eat, even if you still drink soda at other times of the day.

These are things that have helped me lose a lot of the weight I gained last summer when I was injuring myself left and right and spent a lot of time in bed.

One more thing: the 2000 calorie/day diet isn't for everyone. I am finding I can easily maintain my weight on 1400 cal/day, and lose weight when I try to stick to 1000 cal/day. 2000 cal/day is probably a lot more than most people need.

Also, exercise is great for maintaining the overall health of your body. But the bulk of weight loss comes from eating a healthier diet.

CrossFit
Worked great for me. But I had to quit - no money.
That + a good diet (stop eating bread/grain/rice products & sugar).

Hit up Google now, and type in Crossfit, and the nearest large city. Then go check it out. Other fitness routines simply don't compare.