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Would like some ideas from the group, please?

Old 12-06-2010, 05:46 AM
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Default Would like some ideas from the group, please?

Me: Albie@round, married male, age 58, unemployed and depressed but self-aware and motivated. In September I recognized various symptoms of a pre-diabetic condition and high cholesterol and high BP. I saw my GP and had blood work done that confirmed my suspicions. I met with the staff dietitian to plan out a well balanced diet, which I have followed with resolve.

Starting on October 4th, through December 5th, in eight weeks, I have dropped 35 lbs, from 252 down to 217. For me, the past 63 days have been the easy part. I am trying to find additional motivation and trying to set additional realistic goals so that I can maintain a sustainable disciplined healthy lifestyle. At times, I will admit that I miss my lazy gluttonous ways. Sweets, treats and fatty meats! My biggest fear is comfort motivated or stress motivated binge eating, unhealthy food and huge portions. I am not a huge guy but I assure you that I can pack it away like Adam Richman from the TV show, Man vs Food.

My original goal was to lose 30 lbs by January 15th, 2011. I have achieved that and now I want to do more.
I would like feedback and suggestions for a new goal and ideas for a nice reward for achieving it within the next 40 days. I will entertain all suggestions so please be as open minded and creative as you like. I will report back via the forum as I progress toward my new goal. Let’s have fun with this!

The dreaded days of weakness will require our utmost awareness, focus and discipline.
Good luck to all of us. Be strong and don’t cave in to temptation
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Old 12-07-2010, 02:33 AM
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Hi Albie...welcome and congrats on achieving your first goal! You've obviously worked really hard and I'm glad you can see it start to pay off.

I don't know you well enough to suggests goals and rewards, but basically people tend to do one of two things...set weight goals or behavioral goals. For example, your first goal was a weight goal. You could either do that again or you could get yourself together a list of things as a goal, like exercise 20/31 days this month, drink X number of ounces of water per day, stay 500-1000 calories under what you burn, whatever.

By the same token (maybe the guys will have more of a handle on this), rewards can be tangible or not. You could purchase something for yourself if it's in your budget; if not, promise yourself a day of doing whatever you like with no interruptions or responsibilities (I gotta admit, as a working mom, this is my favorite). I also found it neat to reward myself with new exercise gear or DVDs or song downloads. An afternoon of finding and preparing a good healthy meal is also fun, as is shopping for new and healthy ingredients you haven't tried before, as is getting a book or movie from the library and taking the time to spend with it.

Also, connecting with the forum here gives you great feedback, but you can also have a visual at home...put a star on the calendar or a smiley face in your date book when you've had a good day.

I think you've done great so far and keep in mind how far you've come. Yep, a nonstop eat-fest is a lot of fun, but we pay for it in the long (and short) run. The longer you stay on the new habits, the more firm they'll become. It reminds me of a saying I heard: "What you feed grows, what you starve dies." Feed the good habits and starve the bad ones, and you'll be in good shape.
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Old 12-07-2010, 02:42 AM
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Congratulations on your success so far. What is your fitness level? Part of a long term healthy life style is physical activity. Maybe you need a fitness goal like doing p90x or Couch to 5k to compliment your weight loss. You didn't state your height or what your ideal weight would be so I'm not sure what your long range weight goal is? Losing 35lbs in 8 weeks is over 4lbs a week. Rough calculations put you at about a 2000 calorie deficit per day. 1 to 2lbs per week is considered a healthy sustainable rate of loss. If your goal is to continue to lose weight you should aim for a calorie deficit of 500 to 1000 per day. You might also consider weight lifting or a body transformation. Check out Bodybuilding.com. They have a transformation of the week archive that I personally find inspirational. They also have a Fat to Fit thread in the forums with some great success stories. Welcome to Fitday!
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Old 12-08-2010, 05:25 PM
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I can only share my strategies, and hope they're useful.

1. I simply don't buy or keep things in the house that prompt crazy eating. Because when I do, it's a guaranteed failure. (For me, these would be popcorn, corn chips, and poutine. I love me some fat and carbs).

I'm lucky in that the people I live with are also trying to follow low-glycemic principles. Is your wife eating the way you are?

Every now and then a guest will bring over a treat, though, and I indulge. Enough to do my best to keep these incursions to a bare minimum.

2. I try to eat on time and fill up early on the right things. If I eat a proper breakfast, I'm less vulnerable to cravings later in the day, when I have less control over temptations. (Or, when I'm out and about.) Planning helps. I aim to keep healthy snacks on me, though I can do better with that.

3. I eat out less often.

4. I know that I'm weak when I don't follow these guidelines. It's predictable. So if I slip, I don't beat myself up, I just try to correct it at the next opportunity (the next meal, or the next day if I slipped at dinner).

5. I'm trying to weigh myself more often. It's imperfect, since weight fluctuates, isn't always an index of health, etc, but seeing more than a couple of pounds' gain helps keep me aware, and again, lets me feel I can adjust behaviour without feeling guilt. I weigh myself a few times a week.
-------------------

Ok, I reread your post. I'm unemployed at the moment too. It's a tough time. (Though it helps when it comes to keeping me out of restaurants )

It's essential to get out of the house, every day. That alone is cheering, and moves your focus away from eating or worrying. It's nicer if you get out and about with people, in common purpose. I've been taking a class related to performance. The investment is small compared to the returns - a guaranteed weekly appointment; a developing sense of competence in a new field; plus other benefits specific to the thing I'm doing. (Some colleges, schools, and even workshops offer means-tested discounts.)

Nice too to share with your partner - perhaps you and your wife could take up salsa dancing? Join a hiking or running club, or just plan your own hike? Go ice skating, or snowshoeing? (My ex and I got free bikes to poodle around the park on, through Freecycle. It's a summer thing, sure, but you could get gear for other sports that way too...) Many weekend activities like this are fairly cheap. Most papers carry listings.

I guess, phrased in 'goal' terms, the suggestion would be: plan and do one such activity every weekend. Changing them up could be part of the fun.

Last edited by pinenutcasserole; 12-08-2010 at 05:52 PM.
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Old 12-09-2010, 04:48 AM
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Cassie, Ron and Pinenut…Thanks so much for your thoughtful responses, and thanks to those others who read my post. I am trying to be mindful of temptations and being a member of the Fitday community is a very helpful thing. Though we are all virtual friends, it helps to read about everyone’s challenges and successes. It helps to keep it real for me and I hope that by participating in this forum that I can help others, as well. If I can be of help, please reach out to me.

And now…..The Albie-darned, holy socks, inspirational poem of the day.

Night and day, ain’t no doubt. Calories in, calories out.
Attitude up, attitude down. Eyes on the prize. Focus on the crown!
And if you stumble, don’t waste your time cryin’.
Live your life forever, or die tryin’! LOL

I burned 5 extra calories just writing that poem!
My best to everyone. Keep on keepin’ on!
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