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jobear2013
jobear2013 Posts: 4
in Introduce Yourself
When I came back from my deployment to Iraq I was in the best shape of my life. I had the highest PT score in my company and I felt great. Then came the partying and drinking and no gym time. I gained about 40 pounds over the past couple of years and now I'm serious about my health again. I got rid of all drinking and I maintain a generally health eating habit during the day. I cook my own chicken and bring it to work and usually eat that for breakfast and lunch. When I get home I might have a sandwich or some portioned pasta. I also work out vigorously for at least 1 hr, 5 days out of the week and sometimes 6. I have been doing this for 10 weeks now and in the beginning I started at about 241 and I weighed in this morning at 234. I have 1 obstacle standing in my way and I feel like it is hindering my weight loss greatly. While 7 pounds sounds great, I feel like I should be losing more. I tend to be very critical of myself so maybe I'm over analyzing it. The one thing that makes me feel I could be sabotaging my weight loss is my eating habits at night. Oh boy!!! So here's the issue, I eat great all day but before I go to bed I smoke some pot to help me sleep. It is the ONLY thing that helps me sleep. Problem is I go from a calorie counting exercise fanatic, to a refrigerator devouring mad man. It's like something out of the walking dead. I can't help but get a nice bowl of ice cream, or another big ol' sub sandwich. The worst part is I'm doing this right before bed. I always feel terrible the next day, like I just threw away everything I had accomplished that day. But at the same time I feel like how I eat during the day, coupled with the amount of exercise I do (I only do intense circuit training with a 2 mile warm up jog with interval running) should negate my little fridge binge at night. My body has def. formed up and I have decent sized arms and chest, but I am not happy with my stomach and ridiculous man handles. Nothing is worse than busting your butt for 10 weeks and realizing you haven't been moving down much in weight. I feel I should be at the most 225 right now.

Now I know the overwhelmingly obvious answer is to stop smoking weed, but again, this is what allows me to sleep through the night without nightmares and constant worry. I guess I'm just looking for any feedback or tips on what I might be able to do. It just doesn't make sense to me, I mean before I was eating whatever I wanted, little to no exercise, and drinking 5 nights out of the week. I have since cut out all drinking, go to the gym regularly, and watch what I eat during the day save my night terrors against the fridge. So I feel based on simple human biology that I should be losing a good amount of weight. Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks,
Jobear

Replies

  • jkowula
    jkowula Posts: 447
    1st thing - From Canada, a big thank you for serving! My family and I appreciate your hard work and are very grateful.

    2nd - I too have horrible sleeps, I have tried all sorts of things, pot would help me sleep but man, food is so good after smoking. I don't smoke weed because of this. I have really found nothing to help with my sleep habits (I know it is nowhere near the same as yours) but I am in for the suggestions from other folks.
  • KaylaBushman
    KaylaBushman Posts: 69
    There are two options.

    1. Stop smoking pot, which would result in less ice cream eaten which would result in a bigger deficit which would result in bigger weight loss

    or

    2. Be happy that you have a routine (that hopefully is something you see yourself doing for the rest of your life) that allows you to eat icecream every day and still lose weight.


    I could lose weight a lot quicker too if I cut out all ice cream and high calorie treats like pizza and burgers, but I don't plan on doing that forever so why would I do it now?
  • jobear2013
    jobear2013 Posts: 4
    Thanks man. Ya when I got back they put me on all kinds of medication. I just hate living by the pill and they had bad side effects. If you can't do the pot they do have some natural herbs that can help. I take passion flower and and 5 HTTP. You can get these at your local drug store and they def. do help with the sleep and maintaining a calm mood and less anxiety. The 5 HTTP takes a few weeks to start working but I believe the passion flower takes less time.

    But I hear you on the food and pot thing. I could eat anything on weed. Sometimes I'm like a stoner Chef Emeril and I whip up some crazy elaborate pothead meal and just devour it.
  • jobear2013
    jobear2013 Posts: 4
    Thanks Kayla, that's one way to look at it. I guess what I'm hoping is that I am losing weight and I'm not just at a plateau. that 7 pounds could just be water weight and all I'm doing is busting my butt just to maintain an overweight status. But at the same time when I was drinking and not exercising I was smoking too so I was eating a lot and that's why I gained weight. So thinking logically, eliminating the drinking and exercising 5 days a week should be shedding weight. Maybe I just need to give it more time.
  • KaylaBushman
    KaylaBushman Posts: 69
    The very most important lesson I have learned about weight loss, is that it takes so much longer than you think it is going to take. which is a sad reality.

    and Generally, plateaus are only plateaus if they last something like a month or two with no weight loss. And that is only if you are 100% certain that your math (calories in vs calories out) is spot on.

    Most find its because their math is off. Like in your case, if you really do find that you stall for a month or two and you have continued to eat ice cream every night, you are probably eating WAAY more than you think, resulting in a higher intake than calories burned.
  • SofaKingRad_II
    SofaKingRad_II Posts: 591
    Thanks man. Ya when I got back they put me on all kinds of medication. I just hate living by the pill and they had bad side effects. If you can't do the pot they do have some natural herbs that can help. I take passion flower and and 5 HTTP. You can get these at your local drug store and they def. do help with the sleep and maintaining a calm mood and less anxiety. The 5 HTTP takes a few weeks to start working but I believe the passion flower takes less time.

    But I hear you on the food and pot thing. I could eat anything on weed. Sometimes I'm like a stoner Chef Emeril and I whip up some crazy elaborate pothead meal and just devour it.

    If you're able to eat anything on weed, just make a salad. :smile:

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