Sad reality.

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  • javamoaka
    javamoaka Posts: 19 Member
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    NovusDies wrote: »
    javamoaka wrote: »
    I am currently helping a buddy who is very overweight get healthy. My biggest piece of advice is don't stress out about it. If you eat healthy food and exercise your health will improve. Pay attention to your calories (in and out) but I'm personally not a huge fan of tracking the scale every couple days or checking how many calories you burned on a run. It doesn't sound like your health is dire so I would just enjoy the progress and keep going :). Nice job thus far!

    How do you pay attention to your calories out if you do not calculate the calories you burn on a run?

    Be careful trying to help another person. The physical aspects of weight loss are not especially complicated most of the time. The mental aspects can be very complicated.

    All I am saying is dont be legalistic. Enjoy the journey and progress. From this persons post I gather they want a lifestyle change not a 5 month change. People who go on a bike ride for the sake of seeing how many calories their fit bit says they burned, plug that into their perfect formula they got off Google and rinse and repeat that process for weeks and months dont often last long. Understanding calories in and out so you make sure you are fueling your body properly is important but doesn't need to be monitored constantly. My buddy is currently 27 lbs down and and I have trained 2 others as well all 3 having long term lifestyle changes. That is just my opinion.
  • javamoaka
    javamoaka Posts: 19 Member
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    Duck_Puddle wrote: »
    javamoaka wrote: »
    NovusDies wrote: »
    javamoaka wrote: »
    I am currently helping a buddy who is very overweight get healthy. My biggest piece of advice is don't stress out about it. If you eat healthy food and exercise your health will improve. Pay attention to your calories (in and out) but I'm personally not a huge fan of tracking the scale every couple days or checking how many calories you burned on a run. It doesn't sound like your health is dire so I would just enjoy the progress and keep going :). Nice job thus far!

    How do you pay attention to your calories out if you do not calculate the calories you burn on a run?

    Be careful trying to help another person. The physical aspects of weight loss are not especially complicated most of the time. The mental aspects can be very complicated.

    All I am saying is dont be legalistic. Enjoy the journey and progress. From this persons post I gather they want a lifestyle change not a 5 month change. People who go on a bike ride for the sake of seeing how many calories their fit bit says they burned, plug that into their perfect formula they got off Google and rinse and repeat that process for weeks and months dont often last long. Understanding calories in and out so you make sure you are fueling your body properly is important but doesn't need to be monitored constantly. My buddy is currently 27 lbs down and and I have trained 2 others as well all 3 having long term lifestyle changes. That is just my opinion.

    You’re probably going to want to give that post another read.

    Then try the advice again-perhaps addressing OP’s actual concerns and maybe not assuming automatically that she isn’t eating “healthy” and exercising.

    I never said she isn't eating healthy or not exercising.... literally the only point to my initial comment was keep up the good work and don't stress out. So you can reread my comment and not in between the lines.
  • joyanna2016
    joyanna2016 Posts: 323 Member
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    LiLee2018 wrote: »
    I know what you mean when you say it feels like it's going to take forever, but try looking at it this way.
    How fast does a year go by?? You know how Thanksgiving and then Christmas rolls around and pretty much everyone wonders where the heck the year has gone?
    Now imagine having that feeling, but you've stuck with your healthier lifestyle during all of that time. Maybe/probably with some blips, but you've stuck with it and made progress and wondering where the heck that year has gone.
    It feels like forever sometimes, but it really isn't while you're just doing your daily thing. Don't lose hope just b/c you're not going to lose a certain amount each week.

    You are totally right! Years seem to be flying by faster and faster (about to be 50 this year 😬)
  • miscgraphics
    miscgraphics Posts: 24 Member
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    In the beginning I didn’t even weigh myself every week. I started walking a mile every day before breakfast (add in a hill and watch inches shed off) when I was just starting out I’d have a protein shake with almond milk in the morning... 210 calories... if I was going out for dinner, I’d have that for lunch sometimes too. It’s all about choices. Start substituting lower calorie options and you can eat more.. I’ve been doing it for a year, and have lost 95 and 13 inches off my hips. I have a whey protein shake in am (I hate eating breakfast and have issues of not eating so this is a good starter for me not to think about food in the morning) a big salad with chicken for lunch... then some lean protein and vegetable for dinner. Sometimes I move things around and have pizza... lol. Your calories are like budgeting money. What are your big expenses and what can you save on? Choice is everything. Never a diet but a LIVEit.
  • joyanna2016
    joyanna2016 Posts: 323 Member
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    springlering62 wrote: »
    Igfrie, I’ve followed your story and posts with interest, but I gotta disagree with you for a moment.

    I’m afraid the moment I start to consider it a “slog”, I’ll take the wrong fork in the road.

    You have to think of it as a permanent change, and be willing to open yourself up to other opportunities and more creativity. You have to make sure you have options that you enjoy and that you’re flexible enough with it to make the most of them.

    I’m not good at explaining this, but for example, I just started a new batch of beef jerky and automatically put the last of the old batch in today’s diary. I also have a slice of going-stale kefir cake left that needs to be eaten up.

    I realized I’m way over on protein per today’s (pre-filled) diary, but low on carbs like usual, so I pulled the jerky, replaces it with the bit of leftover cake, along with a squirt of cream and 3 grams of shredded coconut. Fairly close to an even swap for the jerky, which will wait.

    I will probably sub something else later in the day so I can have a cucumber and a couple tablespoons of homemade lebnah that are calling my name.

    By giving myself constant opportunity to change, I’m trying to replace the “slog” aspect of it with the “hey, that sounds tasty and is still acceptable”.

    It’s a mind game, a puzzle, a challenge, a reward system all rolled into one.

    I know that’s how a lot of folks do it here, but simply replacing the word “slog”, drudgery, boredom or similar with “opportunity” keeps it fresh for me. Word have meaning, even if we only say them in our heads.

    You keep on doing what works for you, though. You’ve done wonderfully and are a sincerely great and encouraging asset to this group!

    This! It IS a mind game, a puzzle, a challenge, a reward system all rolled into one! Yes, it is! Every...every...day we have to take what this world throws at us mentally, what food (and exercise) opportunities come our way, and our self care needs and make choices to make all the parts of the puzzle to come together for the end goal. Usually our most important self care need will be staying true to our desire to be thinner and healthier. But, we have to be understanding with ourselves in not making our demands/goals on ourselves so difficult that the "mind game" aspect of the battle is what defeats us. Sort of an internal imploding. Most days we will have to rise to the "challenge" of figuring out a way to make it all work. Thankfully we do get "rewards" along the way that validate we are succeeding...slowly but surely. In my original post I did express impatience re: how long it would take me to lose the weight. However, ive had a realization about this. It is just like most thing in life...the grass is NOT greener on the other side. For the rest of my life I will have to monitor my diet. After I get to my goal weight I will have maybe a couple hundred more calories to play with each day and I might get to tweak the shape of my body with exercise, but maintenance wont be nearly as fun as witnessing the overweight body youve known your whole life change before your very eyes. It wont be nearly as amazing and wonderful. So, on that note, lets all truly enjoy this part of the journey. It is challenging but just like everything else in this world it will be over before you know it and I dont know for sure yet because I havent been there but I think it may be the most fun part.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
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    I'm with @amusedmonkey on this. Counting the exercise calories and adding them to my food intake makes the whole project work. Without the add'l food, I would be starving and miserable. And without measuring the exercise I wouldn't know how much more food I'm entitled to.

    I weigh in every single day on the scale. I find it motivating. My wife, who's been dieting alongside me the whole way and losing weight at a similar pace, weighs in maybe 3-4 times per year and only when I remind her. She'd probably never get on a scale if just left to her own devices. People are so different when it comes to whether data motivates or demotivates them. It's very individual.
  • javamoaka
    javamoaka Posts: 19 Member
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    javamoaka wrote: »
    I am currently helping a buddy who is very overweight get healthy. My biggest piece of advice is don't stress out about it. If you eat healthy food and exercise your health will improve. Pay attention to your calories (in and out) but I'm personally not a huge fan of tracking the scale every couple days or checking how many calories you burned on a run. It doesn't sound like your health is dire so I would just enjoy the progress and keep going :). Nice job thus far!

    It depends on the person, so I hope you know how the person you're helping thinks. People are individuals and what they find stressful/stress relieving varies.

    To me, exercise calories are not stressful, they're the biggest motivation. It was freeing to know that I can live a semi-normal life and still lose weight. Burning calories on a run usually means being able to eat my main meal normally with my family without feeling left out or having to make huge changes, including occasional high calorie things like tahini cauliflower, eggplant caviar (a dish that involves eggplant and a lot of oil), potatoes au gratin... and so on. I also get to fit in higher calorie desserts from time to time when they feel worth it. Knowing exercise calorie eliminates a lot of stress for me and knowing I have choices is empowering.

    I also weigh myself daily. It would be more stressful for me to weigh in once a week and not know if my lack of weight loss is temporary due to water weight or if I need to change something about my diet. Having a weight trend with daily data points makes it easier to understand my weight change patterns and turns the whole process into a fun data game. I'm less emotionally attached to the number on the scale as a result, and my "weight" is a range not a number.

    No, this wasn't a 5 month change. I have lost a little over 140 lbs and have been tracking for a little over 7 years and still going.

    Right on and congrats! The only reason I offered the advice I did was because in the original post she mentioned a lot of numbers and math and feeling discouraged. Not always, but in my experience people like that tend to allow numbers to cause stress and anxiety which is not good for mental and physical health. Absolutely everyone is different. If anyone finds the daily calorie counting a weighing beneficial all the power to them. And yes the people I have worked with tend to be the eat one bad meal and throw the remainder of the day down the toilet types. Great job!

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