CZ9mm's Weight Loss Extravaganza

[GlockSpock]

I can see the badges CZ, running firefox. Can't see them mobile using my iphone.


And yes, portion sizes are tough to wrap your head around. I struggle with that myself. It takes a while for your stomach to shrink down to where a meal of correct portions actually fills you up. When you're a stress eater (like me) and life is stressful, it gets quite difficult at times. The best thing I know of is to simply get all the bad stuff out of the house, car, office, ... If you don't have it, you can't eat it. Not so easy when you've got kids who require cookies and such in their lunches.

Exactly! So on mobile the badges won't show up because the forums' signature function isn't pushed to Tapatalk. That being said, the first post should display them now.

I don't know how much merit there is to this, but the few times in the last I have attempted to cut down I always like to try an eat very little the first few days. This, I hypothesize, allows your stomach to shrink. Then you won't be as hungry for the long haul.

We don't really have "bad stuff" at home. My Wife is super healthy. That being said, my downfall is driving around town for work sometimes 6 hours a day and not only seeing fast food advertisements everywhere but also hearing them on the radio.

[BigK]

See.

I don't think it is a good thing to avoid green beans, Brussels sprouts, and asparagus just because they have some carbs.

As stated, I'm focusing on quality, healthy food and keeping my calorie count under a certain amount.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I honestly just kinda took a little bit of all of it and figured out what worked for me. I did 50 carbs or less per day and no less than 660 grams of protein. Lots of green beans, broccoli , and the like with the protein. Cut out the cokes and the sweets.

 

I agree with both of you that there's nothing inherently wrong with veggies in general. However, if you get your metabolism running purely on ketones instead of glucose (nutritional ketosis), you have to cut out some veggies to get your carbs down to 25g and you have to  lower your protein to about 0.5 grams/lb of your ideal body weight. That left me with about 90g of protein/day in order to stay in ketosis. I know all that sounds extreme, but factor in my very strong dislike for exercise, LOL. Now that I've dropped the first 50#, I can exercise more, which is why I'm not doing that keto diet anymore. Nonetheless, I don't think I could have dropped that much that fast without exercise and without being hungry at all.

[MacGyver]

I honestly just kinda took a little bit of all of it and figured out what worked for me. I did 50 carbs or less per day and no less than 660 grams of protein. Lots of green beans, broccoli , and the like with the protein. Cut out the cokes and the sweets.

660 grams? How much water were you drinking? Did your kidneys threaten to walk out on you?

[DT INC.]

660 grams? How much water were you drinking? Did your kidneys threaten to walk out on you?

I usually try my best to get 6-8 liters of water in per day. Didn't have any kidney trouble that I'm aware of.

[GlockSpock]

Best of luck to you. I like your strategy. I'm using MyFitnessPal as well. Great app! I love how if you're at a restaurant it can even use GPS to guess where you are and show you the menu. That makes it even easier to log the food you eat. The popularity of the app helps too. That's how the food database is able to have hundreds of thousands of foods from every restaurant.

Best of all it integrates seamlessly with my Jawbone UP24's software. They share data both ways, so that not only does the step tracker update the calorie tracker to adjust your available calories based on activity, but the tracker software I use can also score my eating habits, sleeping habits, and exercise habits to give me the big pic of how I'm doing.

I combined the 2 with a very very low carb diet for the last 3 months and lost 50# with almost no effort.

Are you on iOS or Android?

I found an article on the web showing where the location button for a restaurant but I do not have it.

[BigK]

Are you on iOS or Android?

I found an article on the web showing where the location button for a restaurant but I do not have it.

 

I'm on Android...

 

>Diary

>>Add Food (any meal)

>>>GPS icon (see below) is between the "Search for a Food" text box and the barcode icon

>>>>list of restaurants w/ mini Google map shows up

 

[NextExit]

I'm using SparkPeople app on my Droid.  It tracks your calorie intake.  The only thing with low calorie food is that it's generally high in sodium.   However, as the pounds come off, the BP is dropping. :up:  Been on it for 5 weeks and I've lost 24 pounds so guess it works.  :clap:  No Waffle House, Hardees, Popeye's, canned food and Hungry Man dinners.   The first 2 weeks were tough but I've stuck to it and don't even care to have that crap now.  Also, I have an elliptical machine in my spare room that I use once or twice a day.  I try to burn off at least 400 calories.   Just need to drop another 25 pounds and maybe my doctor will be happy.  Actually he won't.... doctors are never happy until you quit drinking, run a triathlon every day, and weigh 130 pounds. :wall:

[BigK]

I'm using SparkPeople app on my Droid.  It tracks your calorie intake.  The only thing with low calorie food is that it's generally high in sodium.   However, as the pounds come off, the BP is dropping. :up:  Been on it for 5 weeks and I've lost 24 pounds so guess it works.  :clap:  No Waffle House, Hardees, Popeye's, canned food and Hungry Man dinners.   The first 2 weeks were tough but I've stuck to it and don't even care to have that crap now.  Also, I have an elliptical machine in my spare room that I use once or twice a day.  I try to burn off at least 400 calories.   Just need to drop another 25 pounds and maybe my doctor will be happy.  Actually he won't.... doctors are never happy until you quit drinking, run a triathlon every day, and weigh 130 pounds. :wall:

 

24 lbs in 5 weeks is seriously impressive!

 

I'm with ya about that junk food. I used to live off Taco Bell and fast food burgers. 

[NextExit]

So how are my fellow "losers" doing?   I bought a Fitbit Alta but think I'll take it back.  It doesn't track my workout on the elliptical unless I manually tell it I'm working out.  Even then, it's way off.  Anything it detects automatically (walking or running) doesn't show as exercise until 10 minutes after I've started.  For some reason, it's programmed to ignore the first 10 minutes (meaningless exercise???)  $130 +tax isn't worth it.  I'll go back to "estimating" calories burned.  It's worked so far (I'm down 31lbs in 8 weeks) so don't think there's a need to micro-manage calories.   And I must say it's a great feeling to buy smaller jeans.

[DT INC.]

I have been slacking as of late but it is time to get back on track.

[BigK]

I've been slacking for almost 4 weeks (only lost 3 or 4 pounds). I guess that beats gaining.

Now that warm weather is here, I better get my act together if I wanna fit into that 2 pc, LOL.

[crossfire]

9 hours ago, NextExit said:

So how are my fellow "losers" doing?   I bought a Fitbit Alta but think I'll take it back.  It doesn't track my workout on the elliptical unless I manually tell it I'm working out.  Even then, it's way off.  Anything it detects automatically (walking or running) doesn't show as exercise until 10 minutes after I've started.  For some reason, it's programmed to ignore the first 10 minutes (meaningless exercise???)  $130 +tax isn't worth it.  I'll go back to "estimating" calories burned.  It's worked so far (I'm down 31lbs in 8 weeks) so don't think there's a need to micro-manage calories.   And I must say it's a great feeling to buy smaller jeans.

I have the Fitbit Charger HR and a tread mill. The Fitbit  is up and down in readings compared to the tread mill. I set the treadmill at 3mph and do 5 miles every day walking. I gave up the soda and bread and dropped 20 pounds. Just watch what I eat and cut back on how much.

[dralarms]

My wake up call was when I got life insurance and I weighed in at 381 lbs,  thinking something was off I ignored that and continued about my life. I estimate I was around 395 before I took control.  I've lost 50 lbs since Nov 1st.  I use the fitbit charge hr as well. And yes it's off a bit but what helps me most is tracking everything I eat.  I've cut out most sodas. I might drink 3/4 a 16.9 Oz bottle a day,  most of the time it's closer to 1/2 bottle. I drink plenty of water 5 to 7  bottles a day. I'm down to 340 and my goal is 265. I'm 6'4" so it was not apparent I was that heavy. My knees quit hurting and my aches and pains have diminished substantially. 

[crossfire]

My problem wasn't so much weight, it was high cholesterol, so watching what I eat, walking and meds have that in check. The fitbit gets me off my ass and moving. I have a Nordictrack treadmill and do my 5 miles every morning and a 3 mph walking pass is not bad on the knees. At 69 my running days are in the past but  now when we walk out side I can do the hills without stopping every 50 feet to catch my breath and we have no shortage of hills around here.

[jgradyc]

Anyone here using the Apple Watch? There's a fitness app for it that tracks calories burned. My training partner really obsesses over hers. It beeps or something if you're sedentary for an hour to remind you to get up and move around. I think she tries to burn 500 calories per day. It's pretty accurate for running and rowing, but not too good for exercises where your hands don't move, like Farmers Carry.

I only need to lose five pounds, so I monitor body fat percentage instead using calipers that cost about $9 and an online calculator here. 

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/how-to-measure-your-body-fat.html

EDITED: The reason I like this approach is that even though my weight is about the same as one month ago, my body fat percent as dropped from 13.8% to 13.2%. 

Edited May 15, 2016 by jgradyc

[dralarms]

3 minutes ago, crossfire said:

My problem wasn't so much weight, it was high cholesterol, so watching what I eat, walking and meds have that in check. The fitbit gets me off my ass and moving. I have a Nordictrack treadmill and do my 5 miles every morning and a 3 mph walking pass is not bad on the knees. At 69 my running days are in the past but  now when we walk out side I can do the hills without stopping every 50 feet to catch my breath and we have no shortage of hills around here.

Before I started I would be out of breath if I walked to the dumpster and back. I'm doing much better now. Of course I crashed it last night. Had fried shrimp, flounder, hushpuppies, and soft shell crabs. I guess it's back to the ole drawing board. But it was so good. 

[NextExit]

1 hour ago, dralarms said:

Before I started I would be out of breath if I walked to the dumpster and back. I'm doing much better now. Of course I crashed it last night. Had fried shrimp, flounder, hushpuppies, and soft shell crabs. I guess it's back to the ole drawing board. But it was so good. 

Fried shrimp and hush puppies are thru the roof on cholesterol and sodium.  But we all have our moments.... think of it as 2 steps forward, 1 step back.  Three weeks ago I "indulged" and had a cheeseburger.  Unfortunately, it wasn't cooked thoroughly and I got sick.  Didn't eat for a day and a half.  So it all worked out. 

[BigK]

1 minute ago, NextExit said:

Fried shrimp and hush puppies are thru the roof on cholesterol and sodium.  But we all have our moments.... think of it as 2 steps forward, 1 step back.  Three weeks ago I "indulged" and had a cheeseburger.  Unfortunately, it wasn't cooked thoroughly and I got sick.  Didn't eat for a day and a half.  So it all worked out. 

 

Life has a funny way of working out. Nothing brings balance to one's life like a good ol' case of food poisoning.

[dralarms]

1 hour ago, NextExit said:

Fried shrimp and hush puppies are thru the roof on cholesterol and sodium.  But we all have our moments.... think of it as 2 steps forward, 1 step back.  Three weeks ago I "indulged" and had a cheeseburger.  Unfortunately, it wasn't cooked thoroughly and I got sick.  Didn't eat for a day and a half.  So it all worked out. 

Well it was fresh wild caught and I cooked it myself. Not a bunch of breading and very little salt. I came back from eastern north Carolina a few months ago and brought back about 100 lbs of jumbo shrim . 

[peejman]

2 hours ago, dralarms said:

Well it was fresh wild caught and I cooked it myself. Not a bunch of breading and very little salt. I came back from eastern north Carolina a few months ago and brought back about 100 lbs of jumbo shrim . 

Mmmmmmm.... fresh shrimp.   Everybody gets cheat days every now and then, and I can't think of  a better way to cheat.

 

Once you get comfortable with the waking, add in a bit of strength training. You'd be surprised how much you can do with a couple 15lb Dumbbells, and how much difference it makes. 

Edited May 15, 2016 by peejman

[DT INC.]

I went to the dr. yesterday and had everything checked out. Starting today I'm back on the low carb/ high protein wagon. I weighed in at 286 this morning which means I have put back on 23 lbs of the 90 that I had lost. We shall see what happens. Wish me luck .

[btq96r]

16 minutes ago, DT INC. said:

I went to the dr. yesterday and had everything checked out. Starting today I'm back on the low carb/ high protein wagon. I weighed in at 286 this morning which means I have put back on 23 lbs of the 90 that I had lost. We shall see what happens. Wish me luck .

I've been told I need to dial back the carbs in a big way myself.  Would that it was that simple. 

[DT INC.]

41 minutes ago, btq96r said:

I've been told I need to dial back the carbs in a big way myself.  Would that it was that simple. 

I'm my experience the first 4 to 6 weeks is the hardest. After that point I didn't even have a taste for many carbs anymore. My lack of progress is entirely due to laziness on my part. I was doing great and then just lost interest. It wasn't even wanting the food that derailed me .

[btq96r]

18 minutes ago, DT INC. said:

I'm my experience the first 4 to 6 weeks is the hardest. After that point I didn't even have a taste for many carbs anymore. My lack of progress is entirely due to laziness on my part. I was doing great and then just lost interest. It wasn't even wanting the food that derailed me .

I'm weaning myself off of carbs, cold turkey ain't gonna work for a guy raised on pasta and bread.  I haven't had pizza in a while, and am only eating bread when it's with a sandwich, not as a table filler before a meal comes out or anything of the sort.  Also cutting the portions of chips at Mexican restaurants, and side items with carbs like potatoes and rice.  My biggest problem is being hungry since the carbs filled me up well enough. 

[peejman]

@btq96r  Being hungry.... ugh.  I frickin' hate that.  I've made no progress in several months, it seems I've reached one of those proverbial plateaus.  Haven't gone backwards, but haven't gone forward either.  Given my schedule, fitting in more time for exercise isn't terribly likely so that means I've got to pay more attention to my diet, and most likely trying to reduce my portion sizes, again.   As @DT INC. said, the first few weeks kinda suck.