Weight Loss planning in the Playground

[Mr. Friendly]

Well, the time has come for me to lose weight, as I feel it is actually making an impact on my life.

Anyone have any good guides or websites to assist?

Really, what I'd like would be some sort of interactive menu planner that would let me write up a menu for each day that included calorie totals and such.

[RTGoodman]

I'm not sure about it, as a happy fat guy, but I think there's someone here on the forums that works with stuff like this. He had it in his signature for a while. Crow, maybe?

EDIT: Yeah, it is Crow (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/member.php?u=29433). Maybe try to get in touch with him.

[valadil]

As far as calorie trackers go I liked sparkpeople.com. The problem I had with it was that I had a hard time figuring out how much food I ate. I mean, if the cafeteria at work gives me a plate of pasta, how many cups is that? But you're going to have that problem with any tracker.

What I found was that I generally eat well (aside from snacking while waiting for dinner to cook), but I need to exercise more. Then I found out that walking 1.5-2.0miles a day wasn't quite enough exercise.

[dish]

I think calorie count (http://caloriecount.about.com/) is quite a good website. They've got a huge database of foods and exercise, some decent information articles, and some reasonable people in the community.

[Mr. Friendly]

Thanks for the replies, I will give those a shot.

[Ranna]

I wish you the best of luck with your organised weight loss why not try a site such as weight loss I prefer the type of diets that allow you to eat whatever you like just in different amounts. Also try drinking water! It helps fill you up and you get to feel all healthy and stuff :) oh and subway sandwiches, I know its the old cliché but really the veggie delite is only 260 cals (i think) which is really really good because it fills you up quite nicely oh and theres the turkey sandwiches too I think.

Anyway before I get carried away with weight loss (I think I already did) Best of Luck again!

Failing that, just get a really really bad throat infection I lost two stone that way and kept it off muwhahaha!

[I'm da Rogue!]

Whatever you do, just remember that exercise is much more important than calorie counting.

And you should not take less that 1500 calories/day if you're a male, 1200 for females.

[Cuddly]

I second that- exercise is where it's at. Restricting food intake will only be a solution as long as you are restricting food intake.

Endurance exercise will be the best- long walks with a pack on (like hiking up and down hills/mountains), riding your bike for 20 or 30 miles, etc.

Depending on your age, some blue collar summer work will help you lose weight, make money, and maybe even pick up a skill set.

[Pyrian]

Whatever you do, just remember that exercise is much more important than calorie counting.In my experience, if I exercise more but don't track my calories, I eat more and basically don't get anywhere (add a bit of muscle but don't drop any fat). Similarly, if I set my caloric intake but don't set an exercise goal, I'll get lazy and not get anywhere.

So, for at least some people, the only effective solution is to attack the problem from both ends. It's a pain in the neck, for sure, but it does work.

[I'm da Rogue!]

In my experience, if I exercise more but don't track my calories, I eat more and basically don't get anywhere (add a bit of muscle but don't drop any fat). Similarly, if I set my caloric intake but don't set an exercise goal, I'll get lazy and not get anywhere.

So, for at least some people, the only effective solution is to attack the problem from both ends. It's a pain in the neck, for sure, but it does work.

Yeah, I'm just saying that exercise is more important.

If you try to lose weight, the first kilos you lose are water and not fat.
And don't care bout weight only; muscles weight more than fat.(I, for example, am thin and weight 10 kilos more than most of my friends.)

Just eat more healthily and exercise. That should do.

[Pyrian]

Yeah, I'm just saying that exercise is more important.Yes, definitely, but it's frequently not enough.


Just eat more healthily and exercise. That should do."Should"? Didn't for me, doesn't for a lot of people. Worth trying, sure, but don't be surprised if you find yourself automatically compensating - our bodies are well-programmed to keep our fat reserves. :smallcool:

[I'm da Rogue!]

"Should"? Didn't for me, doesn't for a lot of people. Worth trying, sure, but don't be surprised if you find yourself automatically compensating - our bodies are well-programmed to keep our fat reserves. :smallcool:

I know.:smallsigh:

But the only way to reduce the fat is burn more than you eat.
Which means you should exercise more, and choose your food more carefully.

If all you do is diet, you'll prob just lose weight, but not enough fat, and your body won't like it.
It won't look good either, and you'll gain this weight back.

So I think you should focus on the quality of what you eat, and try exercise more.

[Charity]

I'm going to chime in with the whole Exercise >> calorie control when trying to lose weight.

My sister lost nearly half her body weight in a year, by going swimming every morning for an hour or two and eating baked potatoes, tuna and salad... yeah dull, dull, dull, but effective as hell.

Good luck to you matey, astonishingly (to me) i actually went up a jeans size recently, guess the old metabolism cant keep up with the gluttony quite as well as it used to... also the desk job doesn't help... nor quitting the evil weed.

[cucchulainnn]

The equation for losing weight is easy but the task is hard. Eat good food, which means limiting carbs, like rice, bread, pasta, breading, potatoes chips, completely eliminate sugar. Eat some meat and lots of veggies depending on what you are aiming at achieving.

3 months ago I received my paper work for a local metropolitan firefighter job I took a test for a few years go. Since taking the test I put on a lot of weight. 2 months ago I was 260 lbs; currently I’m 220 and need to go down to 198 with in the next two months. What did I do? Cut all carbs except from veggies. The only sugar I consume is 1 teaspoon in my coffee. No ice-cream, cake, candy, none of that, no fast food, limit ketchup, mayo, sauces in general. Cook for my self, if I didn’t cook it I don’t eat it. Restaurants and frozen food makers put a lot of sugar (real sugar and corn syrup) in their food. The first month I went vegetarian and when down to 230 and hit a wall. I am a carnivore in my heart; I like the taste of meat. After that I tried Atkins and lost the ten more. do what you enjoy if you like veggie don’t do Atkins if you like meat don’t go veggie you will not stick with it. Get you apatite under control. Here is a mind trick that I do; hunger is the feeling of your body burning fat. Do not cut down to only one or two meals a day eat lots of very, very, very small snacks. What do I mean by that? I wake up and have a cup of coffee and an apple or a single egg for breakfast, around 2 hours latter I have a carrot, for lunch I have a ssmmaaalllll salad, 2-3 hours later a few strawberries, for dinner a chicken cutlet and veggies, a few hours latter an other piece of fruit or vegetable. Absolutely no soda at all cut it out completely; I enjoy water cold water so that was easy for me, maybe drink unsweetened tea. Not sure, you have to figure that out for your self and find something you enjoy. Again at first you will crave bad food, but in time you will get past it. My Achilles heal are potato chips, pasta, bread, stuffing and sauces.

The second part of the equation is exorcising. I enjoy weight lifting, more then cardio. But I have bit the bullet and am doing cardio. Weight lifting is good because mussel burns fat even when you are resting. The key to cardio is picking something you enjoy. That way you will stick with it. It doesn’t matter if it is fencing, hand-ball, running, bicycle riding or what ever. Pick some thing you will do. I personally hate running so I don’t do it. I weight lift (strength training not body building), fence, do step aerobics and a stair machine and walk too most places. for instance when i go to a movie i park in the back of the lot, at work i take the stairs instead of the elevator. all these things add up.

The first few weeks you exorcize are hell but once you get used to it you will feel much better and miss it if you stop. Every one has strong days and weak days. You have to do some thing almost every day even on the days you feel crappy. Don’t expect every day to be superman.

[OverdrivePrime]

Ah yeah. The more I work out, the more I eat, it seems. I've been trying to lose weight for a while, and have the most trouble with two main areas:
1. Portion Control
2. Boredom.

With #1, I've had it drilled into me from a very young age to eat what's put in front of me. So, even if I'm not that hungry, I'll eat a full meal. This is even worse when I go out to eat or get fast food, where they give you portions that are absolutely ridiculous, even for someone my size. I'll finish a whole pizza, not because I'm hungry, but because it's there and some part of me doesn't want it to go to waste. Unfortunately, it then goes to waist. :smallsigh:

With #2, I have a lot of trouble at work. I have a desk job that is not exactly stimulating, and so a couple times a day I find myself leaving my desk in search of food. It's not because I'm hungry, it's because I crave some sort of stimulus.

To fight #1, I try to remember to save some of my food, and tell myself that I can have it for lunch the next day and save time making lunches. This frequently fails. I do much better when I cook my own food and can determine a more resonable amount myself.

To fight #2, I try to remember to not bring any cash or change to work, so that I can't blow it in the vending machine. I've found that I can save $5-7 a week this way.


My goal is to lose 20 pounds over the next year. I'm 6'-3" and 230 right now. That stupid BMI test says that I'm overweight and close to obese, but I try to rationalize it away by with the fact that I lift weights pretty often and have more muscle mass on me than the average person. Still... by the BMI, someone my height is supposed to weigh in the neighborhood of 180 pounds, so I figure 210 would be a nice compromise.

To do so, my wife and I are enlisting the help of a pretty good new book about the glycemic index, which has a lot of interesting perspective about changing the way you eat, and changing what you eat. Have a look. (http://www.gidiet.com/) <- linkey!

[Thes Hunter]

As far as weight tracking goes, I find I like the tools in the hackers diet. They are effective for computing a weighted average to cut down on the noise associated with the inaccurate measurement of weight. Since weight can flux a lot just based on how hydrated you are at that moment.

http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/online/hdo.html

I also like how it helps you compute your weight loss goal, how long it will take you to make that goal, and your daily calorie deficit.

With the weighted average it even tells you what your caloric deficit is based on your weight loss.

As for what your maintenance caloric intake should be, I have found many differing formulas on the web, and not many I trust. I have been meaning to dig my notes from med school out and look for that, because too many of the calorie calculators I found seemed rather fishy.

One even calculated my BMI to be 38476.8 :smallbiggrin:



Thanks peeps for the food trackers. I am in the market for a good user friendly food database with all nutrition information. It's hard for me to make sure I am coming in 500 calories shy a day, when I don't know how many I am eating in the first place.

[SilentNight]

Just gonna add in my two cents. Excersise is more important than calorie counting. Basically try to excersize about six to eight hours a week, drink water instead of things like soda and eat spicy foods. Spice makes the food more filling which will help with over eating (which may or may not be a problem) and hey, it will make you drink more water:smallwink:. Even though it's less improtant however, calorie counting doesn't hurt. That's about al I can say. Keep in mind though that this is being written by a teenager with a teenage metabolism so what works for me may not work for you.

[Serpentine]

I, too, am trying to lose some weight. I'm not that bad, nearish the lower end of "overweight" according to the BMI, but I'm very unhealthy and don't much like the look of myself. Last I checked I was around 85kg. The last time I felt good about my body and could be described as "slender", I was 68kg and dead in the centre of "healthy weight". So, I'd really like to get down to at least 75kg, preferably 70.
A couple of points:
The people worrying about their weight and how the BMI might not be an accurate representation of their health, I suggest you look at the waist-hip ratio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist-hip_ratio), which is apparently significantly more reliable (mine was something like 0.9 :smallsigh:).
Logically, if your weight is steady but there's just too much of it, if you just make your lifestyle better - do more exercise and eat healthier food - you should lose some weight. Your input must be in approximate equilibrium with your output. To lose weight, you just need to shift it just a bit to make a change. Of course, the more exercise you do and the healthier you eat, the quicker you will improve, but so long as you're doing more than you are now, it will happen.
"Eating healthily" does not mean "starving yourself". Have you seen the food pyramid? According to the wiki version, it's currently 6-11 serves of carbohydrates, 3-5 vegies, 2-4 fruits (the current Australian ads say "5 veg and 2 fruits"), 2-3 dairy, and 2-3 (maximum) meat/meat alternatives. This is a crapsload of food. You Should Not Feel Hungry. What you don't want is a "diet". What you do want is a healthy diet. Uh... it's hard to get across what I mean. Basically, you don't have to pick and choose what you eat based on some book espoused by Oprah. You do have to consistently eat things that are good for you and try to avoid excessive consuption of the things that are not. That said, I suppose it's reasonable to go on a (carefully considered, preferably scientifically supported) "diet" in order to quickly get to a desirable weight, but if you don't surround that with a healthy lifestyle, it's simply not going to last.
Simply chewing more can also help stop you feeling hungry. Take your time over food, chew it as much as it needs to be, and you'll feel like you've eaten more than if you gulp it down.
You don't have to do without the things you like. If you don't allow yourself the occasional fall, you'll never stick to your healthy lifestyle. It doesn't matter if you go to a party and scoff a full bag of chips, 3 slices of cake and as much KFC as you could hold. What matters is what you do for the rest of that week, and the week after that. You don't need to deprive yourself of the things you want. Have that bit of chocolate cake (or, you know, whatever) if you want it. Just make it a centimetre or two smaller than what you normally/used to have.

I should mention that I'm a total hypocrite and don't take a lot of the advice I offer. That doesn't make the advice any less valid, though! :smalltongue:

[Archonic Energy]

acording to my BMI (as calcuated by Wii Fit) i'm Obese... :smalleek:

this is unacceptable.
while i've never been one to care about my weight i do wory about my general health, this has lead me to my first ... well i can't really call it a diet, how about "intake reduction".
I don't drink or smoke so my vice has always been "nice food" and cutting back has been difficult at times, but i figure as long as i cut down on things i don't have to eliminate them entirely, maybe treat myself 2-3 times a week instead of 7.

i'm slowly clawing my way into the "Overweight" catagory... but that's fine i'm in no rush.

[Pwenet]

Over the past 2 years I have gone from 230 lbs to slightly under 190 lbs. For reference I am a 5'8" Male.

Part of the reason was a increasing awareness of some family traits I will probably have to deal with thanks to genetics. Another part was that I was unhappy with how I was looking and feeling when I tried to so something physical. And a more recent reason is that I just want to look decent and feel good about myself.

I never went with an official plan that is posted on a website, but I made a series of life-choices. What follows is some of the steps I have taken, mayn of which have already been posted by others:
No More Soda - I used to have a couple of cans of soda a day and used it as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up and a nice something to have with dinner. However there is some lines of research that the ingredients in many soda's AID in the body to store fat. I'm not saying you need to cut it 100% out but I found as I reduced my intake I lost my taste for soda and nowadays I might have a small glass if it is the only thing around if I'm out (or if it is a really good properly made root beer).
No More Junk Food - Cheeto's, Pretzels and other similar types of junk food. How I used to eat these regularly. I started off working with portion control, having less at a time. This then gave way towards having them less often till now where I maybe might have a small amount once in a rare while, usually at a party. Again like the soda I listed above this ended up becoming something for me that I cut out completely cause I lost my taste for it.
Regular Exercise - I don't like to think I have gone completely crazy with working out, but for the past two years, usually every other day. I typically start with 30 minutes of cardio using elliptical machines (can't run due to shin splits that I hope will ease up as I have less weight on the legs over time). Afterwards I would do some lifting. I just switched to a new gym recently and I find myself doing about 30 minutes of lifting/toning on various machines.

Even just going out for a walk during your lunch break helps. After I eat my lunch I typically will go walking around for the next 20 minutes until it ends.
Portion Control - For me the biggest change I notice is what I used to have for lunches. I would have a sandwich, some chips, vegetables, fruit, can of soda and a energy bar or two in my lunch bag. Now I'm not saying you need to starve yourself but your body will learn it can run on a little less. For me it involved smaller portions of all at first, and slowly cutting out other stuff for lunch until now I just have a sandwich for lunch. I also have either a banana or cup of yogurt in between breakfast and lunch and a cup of yogurt between lunch and dinner so that I don't get hungry.
Don't Starve Yourself - When you starve yourself your body starts thinking that it needs to store food. Guess what that means your body now starts trying to store even more fat when you do it. Spread out little healthy snacks throughout the day, like vegetables, fruit or a cup of yogurt.
Slow and Steady - From what I have read and my own personal experiences, yes you can loose X amount of weight in a short period of time, but the real indication that you are doing something right is if that weight stays off for good. It has taken me 2 years to loose the 40 lbs so far, but I have already lost a good 4 inches off my waist (I was wearing 38" jeans which I can't wear period, 36" beg for a belt now so I'm probably getting 34" when I buy some new ones this weekend) and have been toning up in the upper body.

It will be hard at times, and don't feel like you failed cause you indulged in some extra food. That's just an excuse to go work out longer or eat healthier the next day.

Anyways I hope that these comments help you.