I've lost about 80 lbs with maybe another 50 to go. I wonder if my "strategy" would

[brewens]

help anyone else. I was 6'1" 360lbs. I'm naturally large, so about 230 would be nice.

I think this would be most useful for a big fat guy that is that fat because he eats way too much, like I was.

I started out just winging it and trying to cut my meals in about half and eat fruit in between to get me by. That worked real well. I dropped 20 without even having to try very hard then got stuck.

So I heard cutting carbs is the thing and substituted other healthy choices for about half the carbs I was eating and lost another nice chunk. I was still paying very little attention to calories in what I had been used to eating. There were some real gut bombs in there. It turns out most people don't butter their cheese, who knew?

One thing that seems nice is that I still had the calorie counting weapon to pull out when I hit the wall again. I see all kinds of stuff I can eliminate or substitute for that will save me a ton of calories. I told my girlfriend the other night that I was at about 1250 cals for the day and it seemed like I was eating all day.

[FM123]

1. Wow! What an accomplishment.

[Me.]

2. Brilliant

good for you. loved that line about cheese and butter.

[OregonBlue]

3. WOW. You should be really proud of yourself. I'm amazed.

[qazplm135]

4. great job

obviously fewer calories and eating better plus exercise is the key but there are many paths to get there and every body is different.

[Phoenix61]

5. Congratulations!!!

You are so right! When you eat healthy it’s amazing how much you can eat. My problem is I have a wicked sweet tooth and I’m a great baker. Not such a great combination.

[MontanaMama]

6. That's an amazing accomplishment!

Congratulations to you!!

My primary care physician recommended taking a look at therapeutic intermittent fasting per Dr. Jason Fung. He's all over Youtube and has written many books. Dr. Fung is a nephrologist and expert in intermittent fasting and low carb diets to treat type 2 diabetes. I don't have diabetes but my Dr. said I could benefit from losing 25 lbs so I gave it a shot. The good news about intermittent fasting is that the time you are sleeping counts toward fasting. I try not to eat past 8 pm and then don't eat anything before 11am...coffee doesn't count per Dr. Fung, thank goodness. I've lost 23 pounds since January and haven't really changed what I eat at all...just when I eat. I was kind of eating lower carb foods as it was...not a lot of white bread/rice etc. I didn't give up wine - because that would be a deal breaker in this political shit show we are enduring. Dr. Fung's theory is interesting and he has had great success in treating diabetic patients and those at risk of diabetes due to weight gain etc.

Again, a pat on the back for your hard work!

[brewens]

7. I radiologist friend of mine had just posted about that fasting diet awhile back as

I was tweaking my diet. I already had been coming close to his time table. I was eating my larger meal last and he recommended eating until full the first meal and a lighter meal late. It sounds pretty good but it's hard to go the whole 14 hours. I may not worry about that for now and try it if I get stuck again.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

25. Ben Franklin: Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper. . . . nt

[mahina]

27. Wow congrats. Can you put milk in your coffee?

[hlthe2b]

8. Congratulations! 'Feel good about your accomplisments. You deserve to.

[underpants]

9. Congrats. I dropped 60 in 2007

My wife is a great cook and the baby started eating real food. She doesn’t know how to cook for 2 1/2 and I hate wasting food.

Aside from starting to run again - I literally started by dancing to music on a kid’s show my daughter watched - I chewed my food 32 times. It’s something I’d heard from my mom and her family for a long time. I think it’s a Depression Era thing. Basically I extended the eating process so I ate less in the same amount of time. I’ve found that I only have the time/patience to eat for so long.

300 to 240 and I’ve kept it off. Actually went under my obese level 230 a month ago. No one beloved I weigh that much - I’m just big boned I guess.

Have eaten French fries exactly 3 times this year. It’s a stupid New Years Resolution I do every other year or so.

[Lonestarblue]

10. That's wonderful! Good for you.

I follow a low carb way of eating, too, and it makes a big difference. I eat mostly just lean protein, low sugar fruits (berries versus bananas for example), simply prepared vegetables (mostly steamed or roasted), and salads. Wine every now and then. No fast food, no processed food, very little sugar. My local senior center also has many exercise classes, several of which are free, so senior centers are a great resource not only for getting some exercise but also for some socializing.

Keep up the good work!

[bucolic_frolic]

11. There's something about fruit

it seems like the same calories as sugar, but yes it satisfies longer, curbs appetite, and the weight just goes.

[SCantiGOP]

12. Because of the fiber

The sugar doesn’t absorb as quickly. Better for lessening T2 diabetes risk and weight gain.

[left-of-center2012]

13. most people don't butter their cheese

I never heard of 'buttering cheese'

[PennyK]

14. I think that was a joke n/t

[left-of-center2012]

15. It 'slipped' past me

[Gore1FL]

16. I am gonna try it now, though... nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. You got it! Gradually substitute healthy TASTY food for processed & high cal food. Rome not built in

The other thing is that Rome was not built in a day.

People spend years building up to their weight and then go on a "diet" or some combination involving some drastic action hoping that the pounds will disappear in a month or two. They either fail quickly or bounce back as soon as the "diet" is over, thinking that the problem is fixed, whereas the real problem is the daily eating patterns.

If it took ten years to gain a lot of weight, make a plan to take it off in 3 years, maybe 5 (figures are speculation, not based on any study). If you click with eating healthily and exercising, then maybe and only then and only maybe will you be able to take it off faster and keep it off.

Unhealthy food leaves the body unsatisfied, so people eat more and more.

Healthy food (low or no processing, little added sugar or fat, lots of fiber, lots of anti-oxidants) satisfies the body easily especially when it includes delicious fiber-filled food to bulk it out a bit.

Exercise is not for the calorie burning. It is for the efficient metabolism and invigorating gains to circulation.

[safeinOhio]

23. Yep, a pound a week and there goes your 50 in less than a year.

Best advise I can give is Eat to Live, don't live to eat.

[AllaN01Bear]

19. congrats for your efforts . i am offically impressed.

[Rorey]

20. I lost about 170 pounds on February 28th. One day weight loss.

Divorce.

[Rorey]

21. In all seriousness....

I've been steadily losing weight since that time. I guess I was doing some stress eating, and it helps that I don't have to try to resist things that aren't good for me when someone else has them in the house.

[KT2000]

22. Very smart

I believe the best way to drop pounds should be determined by the individual. I think we instinctively know what to do because no matter what we tell a doctor or others - we know the habits that need to be changed. Guess I should get started.
Congrats!!

[ProudMNDemocrat]

24. Congratulations on your weight loss so far...

Speaking from experience here, losing weight and keeping it off is a LIFESTYLE change that is a Marathon and not a sprint. It is for life, not an event or to please someone else.

Eating healthy takes a lifelong plan, tracking, getting in exercise, knowing what your numbers mean, changing the way you look at food, seeing your Doctor a few times a year, etc. It is a learning process where you find out what works for you.


I am a Lifetime Member of Weight Watchers. In June of 2013, I made the decision to go back to Weight Watchers and re-earn my Lifetime member benefits. Being just under 5'6" and hitting the scales at 208 pounds, I was miserable. I recommitted myself to lose the weight and keep it off. It took me 13 months to lose 55 pounds. It was slow, but worth it. I attend meetings to this very day as I have been keeping way under my 155 goal. I am unable to eat any foods with Wheat, Sugars, Soy, Dairy products. I avoid most grain breads, Pastas, White Rice, Potatoes(they ferment in me). Brown Rice and Brown Rice pastas on occasion. Lean Proteins, Veggies, low sugar fruits, and plenty of Healthy Fats like Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Avocados. I also walk 20 to 25 miles a week and work out with weights. I am currently 67 going on 19. I have more energy and feel the best I have in as many years.

Good luck to you. at 6'1". a goal weight of 200 to 215, depending on your bone structure and muscle mass sounds reasonable.

[blm]

26. Congratulations

You might look into this book. Tommy is a great journalist and he completely opens up about his path.

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/20/686945060/he-was-460-pounds-what-confronting-his-weight-taught-him-about-obesity-in-americ

[Newest Reality]

28. Congrats!

Good health to you!

I have had more than one friend tell me that they included avoiding all foods with HFCS and it made weight loss much easier, as well as helping them keep it off. They haven't bounced back.

There is a lot of it in many foods, (which might indicate where we have a problem) so check your labels and maybe try to cut down.

Just a suggestion. I avoid it myself as much as possible the the spread is gone now.

[brewens]

31. I recently looked at a bunch of stuff to see if it had HFCS. Teriyaki sauce I expected, and it's

in canned tomato soup too. That one sucks, but I probably wouldn't be eating much of that anyway until I'm down to where I want to be. Sometimes only tomato soup made with milk and a grilled cheese sandwich will do for lunch.

[Newest Reality]

32. I am glad you are paying

attention to that, then. Being mindful of what's in your food can be as important as quantity, etc.

That's the right attitude for staying where you are at. As support, one of those friends, (and his long time partner) lost about 40lbs. each and are at their normal weight now and have not regained it!!! Yay! So, no teeter-totter effect. The same for my middle-age spread. Actually he was the one who clued me in on that, so I owe it all to him.

So, keep up the good care of your body and enjoy the health and energy you get from that. It is always good to know that the long-term positive benefits really make it worth it and you will have much less of a tendency towards being a statistic of the increase in many, diet-based chronic diseases later in life, (I have done much reading on the subject). Well, less meat and more green, green greens, help too!

Plus, you are an inspiration for others by example

[pbmus]

29. Congrats to everyone on this thread...you are all heroes to me.

I have different problems, diabetic type 2, and not genetic but agent orange ..

I also find diet to be essential in maintaining some semblance of normalcy in my blood sugar...

Eliminating most pasta, breads, potatoes, in other words carbs, I have dropped under 7 A1C , of course I still have to do insulin, metformin, and glipizide..

But again , to all of you out there who have struggled with dietary restrictions, I totally get it., and keep on keeping on.

[MFM008]

30. Warm congratulations

I had bariatric surgery and i still cant lose it.
This is one time of my life I would love to be a loser...
Hang in there!

[central scrutinizer]

33. Going on the wagon is working for me.

Not just the empty extra calories in alcohol but the lapses of judgment. Plus, my garden is pumping out the veggies right now and I'm trying to keep up. That plus two tablespoons of Metamucil every day. My mornings are very "productive". And biking 25 miles four plus times a week. But I feel cutting out the alcohol is most responsible. Lost 30 pounds in 35 days so far

[tazkcmo]

34. Good on you!

Congratulations.