clay7160

Mike, i started slowly, quite drinking sodas, no fried foods, ate wheat instead of white products (bread, rice), skim milk, ate more vegetables (i got bored of fruits the 1st month so i kinda eliminated them again), used splenda when sugar is called for, ate more chicken, fish and turkey and logged everything i ate, i wanted to be accountable, which caused me to be more cautious of what i ate, because i would have to look at it on the food log. I did not do really any form of exercise for the 1st couple of months, i wanted to get a system down for eating and logging 1st before trying to complicate things. 7 months later i'm down 141 pounds. And last but not least, consume less calories than you burn daily = weight loss

memiller1

Thanks for the pointers Clay. Congratulations on your weight loss! I will be ecstatic if I do as well as you have so far. I have cut out all soda as well, and I have started drinking a LOT of water. Maybe too much?? I have been logging my food since I started (this past Saturday), and I feel pretty good about it. I'm still trying to transition to the healthy eating. I grew up pretty poor & we ate pretty much whatever we had, which usually wasn't lean meats & vegetables. May I as this, how do you cook your meats? is it best to grill them or bake them? what kind of oil should I use for cooking? I joined a gym last night that offers free trainers to their members, I have my first session tomorrow after work

memiller1

Oh, one more thing Clay, may I ask how many calories you aimed for in a day? I am shooting for 2000 - 2100, but I'm not sure if that is too drastic of a drop all at once. thanks

fenderville

Well, I decided to join the thread.. I was hesitant but you'all inspire me to get this party started.

I was 404 in july of 2011.. I joined FD and have slowly began figuring this stuff out... It was amazing to see what I had been eating to get there.

I am about a month in (oct 31, 2011) to my serious effort.

I look forward to taking this journey with you all..

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October 31, 2011 - 404
December 12, 2011 - 392

mecompco

Well, I went from eating whatever it was I was eating (had to have been 4 or 5,000 a day or more) to 1,500. Let me tell you, the weight peeled off pretty quickly. As time progressed, my average went slowly up to around 2K now going on two years (in May) after I started.

So, any consistant calorie deficit will ensure weight loss, up to a point, the higher the deficit, the faster you'll lose. Of course, you may want to lose more slowly, as was my plan this time around. The "last time" I lost a bunch of weight, I was a bit more obsessive having started with a zero cal, 30 day water fast followed by nine months of 1,000 cals.

Just my .02 from someone who's been there, done that. Whatever level you choose, make sure it's something that you can live with and that won't drive you to "cheat".

Regards,

Michael

clay7160

I only use PAM or non stick cooking spray, i sometimes use non stick skillet, but i mostly use george foreman grill, and use salt and red pepper for seasoning, i know salt is bad, but if it tastes good, i tend to want to "cheat" less, if i do decide to eat more for the day, i might eat more of one of the healthier items. As far as calories, i never logged what i normally eat, the first day i started i was mindful of what i put in my body, and the first week i hovered around 2200 calories with a bmr of about 4100 calories, with carbs/fats/proteins averaging about 40/30/30% which i found out later was a pretty good balance. The 2nd week, i guess because my appetite had maybe "shrunk" my calorie range dropped to 2000 calories, then i purposely limited myself to 1900 calories the 3rd week, and i stayed full all day, and had no trouble maintaining that calorie range, i kept that range for a whole month, then each month i dropped the calorie range by 100 calories, until i reached 1300 calories, then i noticed that i was hungry allot, so i upped it to 1350-1400 calories and that is what i figured the calorie range i am able to handle at this point and still keep losing. Since my bmr will keep going down, and i am still eating that average, my weight loss will start to be less and less each month. Since your starting weight is higher than mine, your bmr will also be higher, i basically used the formula of 1750 calorie difference a day would lead to 1 pound of weight loss every 2 days. Until my bmr became low enough, that now i average 1350-1500 calorie difference, which is still okay as long as i am see results and not gaining. Hope this helps.

mecompco

Great plan, Clay. I find it very hard to go down in cals once I've gone up, but if one can do it, it's great. I agree that around 1500 "good" calories is a very doable level--no need to get uncomfortably hungry but you can still maintain a good loss.

It's funny, I, too, stumbled upon the "Zone" 40/30/30 mix well after I noticed that was approx. what my numbers were on a consistant basis. I think it works well. Now I don't have the patience to keep that mix every meal like the Zone diets requires, but on a daily/weekly average, it makes sense. I get at least 100 grams of protein a day and don't worry about carbs and fat (though I don't to trans fats at all).

Regards,
Michael

memiller1

Well I've been really cutting back, and it feels pretty good. I was worried that it would be so hard to stay under 2000 calories, but some days, I'm only getting 1300-1400. I have already taken my belt in 1 notch & today after my workout at the gym, I weighed myself. 530.3 lbs When I was weighed at the Dr.'s office on the 9th, it was 552.8 or 558.2. I know that there will be some variation in the scales, not THAT much. I'm feeling more motivated now than ever!!

tyranna

OMG, you guys are so motivating!!! I need to lose 100 pounds but I'd be happy with any downward movement on the scale. I'm aiming for 2000 calories right now but will follow your lead and gradually cut back once I know I can live with 2000. Thanks so much for posting.

mecompco

Nora, I think you could do very well on 1500-1600. 2000 cals is really quite a lot of food. I did notice your calorie mix looks pretty carb-heavy. I like to keep a loose 40/30/30 carb/protein/fat mix and get at least 100 grams of protein a day. Protein will keep you feeling full much longer than carbs and helps keep your glucose peaks and valleys to a minimum.

But by all means, do whatever works for YOU--we're all different!

Regards,
Michael