Positive People, Ideas and Thoughts on Losing Weight

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Hey gang,

I've been on a serious weight loss kick over the last little while. This year has been a profound year of changes and self-discovery for me, and part of that is losing weight and seeing excessive pounds and overeating for what it is.

I really want us to talk positively and be supportive about our weight issues, as it's so important for us all to believe in each other.

Here's what I've been doing, as I've lost 20 pounds in the past three months and I want to lose another 30:

1) Cut out all alcohol, processed sugars and refined white-flower based foods. These are nothing but empty calories that accomplish nothing but provide a short-term psychological fix. They can be fun once in awhile, but some people's bodies can't handle them the way others can. I have, however, kept whole-grain carbohydrates in my diet.

2) Stay active at least 30 minutes everyday. I've joined a local volleyball league which I love, go running and power walking three times a week and hit the gym twice a week. I've done a tonne of cardio to remove excess fat and weight lift to add muscle. Thankfully, I have a football player's body (bulky up top), so this isn't a huge issue.

3) Drink tonnes of water. I rarely, if ever, drink fruit juices and virtually never have soda (a ginger ale once in awhile). Milk is now exclusively for a multi-grain cereal at the morning. Almond milk -- the best, best milk ever! -- is highly recommended in terms of its healthy content.

4) Surround myself with positive people and positive, supportive voices. There's nothing better than to hear, from multiple people who don't know each other, that you're losing weight and looking good. It's a huge incentive to keep going.

5) Take nutritional supplements. I have a very extensive regimen now of supplements (some from ORTHO-Core, which is highly recommended for multi-vitmains) that I take. Fish oil supplements, Blueberry concentrate supplements, cardiovascular supporting pills, blood sugar regulating pills (I'm not a diabetic, but I'm sure as hell not going to become one).

These are my strategies. It seems to be really working for me. How are other people doing it?

I honestly believe that part of wanting to lose weight (In total, I've been gunning for 50 pounds in total and I'm nearly half-way there) is loving yourself and appreciating all the good parts of who you are. Life is worth so much. If you can find that strength to do it, that's a wonderful thing.

I think a positive, supporting environment like this is a great place to start. I hope your journey is going well. I believe in you.

Personally (having recently lost 50 pounds), what worked for me was an hour of strenuous exercise every day (a combination of aerobic activity & weight training), along with healthy eating.

I chose to simply eat a healthy, balanced diet - I didn't cut out any specific foods (but I am picky about the way food is prepared - as close to nature as possible - no fried foods), or take any supplements.

I did (and continue to) weigh everything that I eat & make sure that I get the correct balance of carbohydrates & protein (not too much protein, as the body can only metabolize a certain amount), with the proper nutrients & lots of fiber (soluble & insoluble.) Also, I try very hard to keep my sodium intake below 2400mg per day (that's a real challenge!) I like to eat lots of fresh vegetables, fruit & whole grains, along with a little chicken, salmon & nuts.

I made sure that the foods I love are represented (including a couple pieces of dark chocolate every day) - so that I'm not tempted to binge after depriving myself. I also have a small glass of red wine every day with supper. Foods like dark chocolate, red wine & black coffee are loaded with anti-oxidants, so moderate amounts are actually beneficial.

It's nice to read such a positive post.

I've struggled with my weight nearly my entire life. Losing 50 pounds is my ultimate dream - I just keep putting off the lifestyle change. Or I'll diet for 3 days, get frustrated and 'take a break'.

It's helpful to read about other people's success. I need to get myself in gear.

I would suggest making small changes - exercise one more day than normal (and do something you like - for me it was walking), or decide to eat no more than the standard portions of the food you already eat. Don't try to lose a lot of weight in one week.

I took it one day at a time, then one week at a time. Anyone can lose one pound a week by exercising a little more & eating a little less every day - you just need a net decrease of 500 calories a day. 3,500 calories (500 x 7) = one pound.

If you lose the weight slowly, but steadily, you will increase the likelihood of keeping the weight off. You can do this!

Wonderful, positive post. I know I am one of those who needs to cut out sugar completely and reduce white flour too, my body seems to also have poor blood sugar regulation. So I know what you mean. I know cutting sugar out isnt for everyone but I think if people have that specific problem with blood sugar it is a good idea. Besides, there are always low GI fruits such as apples and berries.

I need to exercise more too. Though for me most of my strength and coordination is in my legs, my dyspraxia seems centred in my arms and hands so I will try and focus on my legs first and foremost and follow up with the upper half.

Over the past three months I've dropped from 240lb to 180lb (no longer overweight by BMI), I just decided that this was it - if I give up then I'm destined to be fat all my life and it will compound with my poor social skills to leave me totally alone for the rest of my life.

I'm probably lucky in that I became obsessed with weight loss, it became one of my special interests and I haven't deviated from my set plan once. (no snacks, cheat meals or skipped exercise)

Really you just need to rationalise it, you eat food to live and not the other way around, I don't even view food in the same light now - it's just a bunch of biomatter now. People try and tempt me with chocolate etc and I laugh at them.

Wow - 60 pounds in three months - it took me almost two years to lose 50! You must have had a hard time with your wardrobe - your clothing sizes must have been changing from week to week.

You are absolutely right that it helps if it becomes a special interest. That's what kept me going to the gym every day.

But I still live to eat - I love to eat! It's just that my meals & snacks have become healthier (and portion sizes have become moderate.) I truly can't imagine living without chocolate, though!

Depression helped me lose weight. When I found out I was ineligible for varsity status and stopped rowing toward the end of September I got depressed and started smoking (vaporising, I got a vaporizer because I don't plan on completely stopping my use but smoking doesn't work very well with competitive sports) a lot of pot, which only made things worse. Anyways I was up to about 176lbs at my heaviest this fall but the depression cut my appetite and made me too lazy to go buy food (marijuana abuse didn't help this either) so I lost some weight. I was still exercising intermittently, I would run between 5 and 10km every once in a while and go swimming sometimes, but it wasn't nearly enough for my taste.

After a few weeks I decided to take a long break from pot. I stopped at the end of October and don't plan on touching the stuff until sometime in December. I don't find my consumption a problem when I keep it under control, I just have to be extra careful not to use it as a coping mechanism when I get depressed, meaning I shouldn't use it at all while depressed, as I do with alcohol for the same reasons.

Anyways, I also started taking a vitamin D supplement because I always seem to get depressed around this time, could be seasonal affective disorder but I'm not 100% convinced, and my depression cleared up pretty quickly. I also got a prescription for my ADHD medication about a week ago, I don't use it when I'm not in school (i.e. during the summer) and it took a while to see a doc since I forgot to set up an appointment. That stuff kills my appetite and since I'm not used to it yet (it takes a little while for me to get used to the effects) so for a few days I wasn't eating much. Yesterday I started eating more, I still have to get my diet straightened out but at least I'm getting the calories in.

I'm down to around 168lbs now. I have to be under 160lbs in the summer to compete as a lightweight rower. I'm not really going to be focusing on weight loss this winter because my training plan likely won't allow me to maintain weight, I'll have to think more about getting enough food in since I tend to eat too little when I train hard. I've finished designing my strength training program for the next 8 months and I'm finishing up the cardio portion of it. I'm training for a triathlon (rowing training in the winter is boring as hell) so I'll be swimming 2-3 times a week, running 3 times a week, and biking, rowing, and weight training twice a week.

I don't suggest anyone use my method to lose weight, it's not the healthiest or the most pleasant way to do it, but it sure is making my body look better. I'm actually pretty satisfied with my body at this point, I still want to lose weight, 10lbs would be nice but we'll see how much I can drop without going below 5% body fat. I was always pretty chubby growing up, I was up to 198lbs at the end of high school, which is pretty heavy for 5'9". When I started rowing competitively I slowly lost weight. I should have lost it faster but my dedication wasn't there at first, I didn't row in the summer, and I didn't train enough in the winter. By the end of first year I was down to 180-185lbs, 176lbs after second year.

Summer 2008, the summer after second year, I dropped down to 158lbs, losing 18lbs in about 2 months. Rowing twice a day and working a physical job made it easy to lose weight, and hard to eat enough. I ended up burning out because I wasn't eating enough. The following winter I gained a lot of weight, going up to 185lbs at my heaviest, most of which I lost this summer. I've also got a lot more muscle now, when I moved into this house there was a pull up bar installed in the living room and I'd go do some when I got bored so my lats got a lot bigger, it's like I've got wings now haha. My legs are also significantly bigger from all the biking I did this summer and I think that added muscle is what's making fat loss and weight maintenance so much easier than it has been in previous years.

Anyways that's my story. It sounds like what you're doing is working for you, and it looks like a healthy lifestyle, so keep it up and those pounds will come off over time. If you want any advice on weight training or cardio feel free to ask, a balanced program is important to avoid muscular imbalances that can cause problems. On the topic of muscular imbalances, that's also one of my focuses for this winter. Rowing has made muscles on both sides of my body develop differently so I've got a very common port-side lean (I lean about 15 degrees to the right while standing normally) so I need to fix those imbalances before back problems and injuries arise.