winterbadger | losing weight

...is so amazingly hard to do. At least for me. I've been keeping track in my LJ since 2005, and I've been between 265 and 277 the whole time. The notoriously questionable BMI scale says I should be between 145 and 190. I was slender at 185, so I would be happy with 220 or so, but it seems like the Moon to get there, let alone stay there.

I really hate the way I look. Tight clothes NOT good; loose, baggy clothes make one look even bigger. I also know it's unhealthy; I've had one inguinal hernia that I'm pretty sure was indirectly caused by the strain of the extra weight on my abdomen, and I can tell that carrying a lot of extra weight makes my heart rate go higher when I exercise, makes it harder to exercise, and makes me sweat a whole lot more even under mild exertion (which is also icky and embarrassing). I'm sure it affects my breathing and my sleep patterns.

I'm determined to get back to exercising regularly, the way I used to when I lived by myself. What's harder is trying to regulate my diet when I share a lot of meals with someone else. And I know from experience that I may get more fit that way but I still don't lose that much weight. I was working out *hard* a couple of years ago getting lots of running and climbing exercise, and while my wind improved and my muscles were better toned, I lost only a few pounds.

I'm frustrated and not sure what to do.

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Join weight watchers and get a trainer.

And I'm not being flip. Having a program that gives you good food guidelines and takes into account you working out is a great thing. Having a professional who can work with you a couple of times a month to maximize calorie burning/muscle building/size reducing can make your working out most effective.

And I don't necessarily mean a trainer in a gym - a good one will ask what you love to do and help find ways to work that in so you're not bored and you can make it a lifestyle change and not just something to do to reduce your ass size.

There's a trainer at the gym at work who is free for any of us to use (at least on a limited basis), and I've been planning on consulting him/her.

I've tried WW (with Chris) and it didn't work for me. South Beach does, but it's hard to establish (and stick to) an eating regimen when you're living with someone it doesn't work for (it's hard enough doing it on my own, given that I love to eat and drink all the thingst hat are not good for you...)

I'm having a similar problem.

I was working out for months and while I was in better shape, I wasn't losing weight. So I finally got serious about eating right. My goal was to lose 15 pounds by the start of the (MLS) season, but it looks like I'll only hit 8-10. I didn't go on a "diet" per se, just stopped eating crap and tried to remember WWSBD (what would South Beach do). Seems to be working because I haven't changed much else.

It is hard to be good when you're living with someone. c will make some wonderful thing that involves oil and cream (!) and all sorts of bad-for-you but yummy stuff, and it's not like I'm going to say "sorry, I'm on a diet!" I do try to eat smaller portions though.

Would you like a carrot?

Ha! Carrots! :-)

Good for you on the 8-10! That's good work. I've managed to do about 5 in one sustained go; it's good when you start, because the positive reinforcement of "hey, it's working" does wonders (at least for me).

The last 5-6 I put on are bad and deflating, but I put them down to stress (desperately wanting *something* comforting and wanting to avoid drink or spending too much money, food can seem like an attractive option or at least the least of evils). One thing that's good about having a log of past efforts is that I know I've been here before and worked my way down.

I *have* to lose some weight before the weather gets hot; ARing two games at the height of last summer nearly did me in--I want to be in better shape before *that* comes around again!

May I recommend this book? I lost about 30lbs doing this and I can honestly say it was the easiest weight I've ever lost. And more than the weight loss, I felt brilliant on it and had loads more energy. Although I eventually went down the slippery slope back to many of my previous eating patterns and consequently gained the weight back, it did change my habits permanently and much for the better, getting me off most heavily processed foods altogether. I'm quite evangelical about it, it's certainly the most sensible eating/weight loss plan I have ever seen and seemed to work beautifully.

Sounds just from the reviews as if it is similar to South Beach; I will give it a read. It certainly seems to inspire devotion! :-)

Someone once told me diets are like old boyfriends in that once you've left one behind, you can't go back, and it does seem to be inordinately difficult to climb back on any particular wagon once I've fallen off. But I really am quite evangelical about Schwarzbein and have always thought I should do it again and indeed will probably go bck to soemthing quite similar once I've lost all my weight. It really did seem miiraculous to me, the weight came off surprisingly easily (with still having occasional cheats on substantial amounts of posh ice cream) and it's difficult to overstate the difference I felt physically aside from the weight loss. Woke up refreshed every morning, had no headaches at all (coming from someone who has suffered almot daily headaches all her life, this was huge), got through the day with no naps (again, this at a time when I had quite regularly been napping for a couple hours of an afternoon) and I got a truly surprising number of comments from people (who didn't know I was dieting) about how well I was looking, how glowing and healthy my skin, and so forth. Also worked wonders on my hormones, but I don't expect you'd see quite the same effect there! I was even able to come off my meds for a long time with noticeably less severe side effects than I would normally have.

But I will come off the soap box now and just say that I have every, every sympathy to your plight. it's a horrible thing to try and lose weight, and the more you want to lose the harder it is. I feel like I have been on a diet for most of my adult life and never actually been thin. So I really do feel for you and wish you luck and more importantly, motivation. If you discover the secret of that, do let me know. I still haven't got the exercise thing down.

Thank you for all the support, J! I really appreciate it! :-)

Getting a good, consistent schedule helps (me, at least) with the exercise. If I get up regularly at the same time, have some time to stretch and then bike (or whatever), I feel better going in to work and I sleep better. But if something throws off my schedule, it's hell getting back to it.

We find it helps not to keep crap in the house - cookies, chips, whatever. I mean, we still end up having some (hey, free cookies in the bmi lounge! etc.) but it really cuts down on the bored snacking.

Agreed! I only buy snack food when I'm having a get together, and I try rarely to buy candy, cookies, anything like that at all. I've never bee much of a soda drinker, so even when N wants some soda around, it doesn't tempt me much (poor AD!) Beer, wine, and spirits are my big downfall, but I've cut back a lot over the last couple of years; I'd guess I've gone from having a couple of drinks a night as a regular thing to have 1 or 2 sometimes and sometimes none, and from a tear being 6-8 to being 4 or 5.

It's tough subbing in enough fresh veg; by it at the beginning of the week, and if you miss a couple of nights at home by eating out (a) you generally eat less healthy food and (b) your veg goes bad.

Oh well, we all keep trying!

Sympathise A LOT with this.

I recently read a great book (Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink) which talks about eating less without realising - lots about portion size etc. It's interesting in its own right, but I've found it helpful with weight loss efforts.

Good luck. It's not easy.

Thanks for the encouragement and the suggestion!

I've been on a diet solidly for getting on for 9 years now. sigh :0(

And that's the thing; it really has to become a diet, rather than be a diet. IOW, one has to make a fundamental change to the way one eats, or it all just sloughs back in the end. Or at least that's what happens to me...

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