Obesity Discussion Forums

[PassTheBypass]

Okay, here goes an attempt at a blog. I have already been here three weeks, but I chose 6/1/2007 as the start of my new "not-a-diet". Since diets don't work, for the next 18 months I will just be eating less, without using the Diet word.

So far, I have been reducing my intake by increasing the amount of time it takes for me to eat. I pick basic foods, a dairy, bread, vegetable, meat, and fruit. I take one bite of each, in order, but I wait five minutes between bites. I use water to fill and to rinse my palate. So, the bite of cheese, or yogurt, or cottage cheese, is lingering for five minutes, even after the taste is gone from the mouth. Then, the same with each of the others. Next thing you know, 25 minutes have gone by, and I feel less hungry by the time I start with the reamining bites. I have reduced calorie intake, but do not feel hungry or deprived. It has been working so far.

The plan is that when the house payment is done, I will be at my goal weight. I have some help along the way, (this website for example), and 15 pounds have already left me. Of course, there are issues that I still have to deal with, but that will just be entries in the blog.

[PassTheBypass]

First off, I found a spreadsheet on the web where the person tracked their calories and weight on a chart. I made some changes to match what I wanted to see, and to reduce the manual data entry involved, and it is now a twice daily reinforcement to see my intake and my weight change.

Second, those big glasses that used to get filled with soda are now filled with water, so that I get lots of sips between meal bites.

Third, I got the approval of my boss (my wife, that is ) to avoid the fast food rush, so even if the kids get their burger and fries, we bring it home so I can get my balanced meal. They are too old for the tunnels at BK and Mickey D anyway...

Finally, I have been using my-calorie-counter to get the correct calculation of the calories I take in. So, if a serving of cottage cheese is 1 cup, (lets say 4 Tablespoons) at 120 calories, that first bite is 30 calories.

Next, the difficulties encountered so far...

[PassTheBypass]

1. A Cub scout campout, where the dads all got together to drink beer and chat once the kids were down. Have a beer, then two, then three. The food brought is doughnuts, fixings for smores, spaghetti with sausage, and cuban sandwiches. Not a good boy weekend. And it was the second weekend of the not-a-diet, so my 10 pounds lost jumped up by five. It took me days to get back to pre-campout.

2. Friday lunch with friends. They are supportive (one is on Atkins, so they understand), but finding a restaurant with five items while not a buffet is impossible. So, Wendy's, with the cheese on the side, one Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger gave me beef, cheese, bread, and lettuce, and I had raisins along for help. Lots of water, and I was able to pull it off, and had more time to actually talk to friends instead of chewing.

3. Father's day. Traditional Barbeque, both grandfathers to the kids there. Sweet potato, beef, fruit salad, cuban bread, and a glass of milk. Did it slowly, but not at the five minute level. Then rice, and later ice cream jumped on the plate. I fought them like crazy, but they snuck past my teeth. over 2100 calories, worst day since I started. Today, the scale says I lost a pound. Must have been in my sleep.

4. Late nights with the family. I try to prepare the breakfast and have the 1/2 hour + time to eat it, and the lunch to bring to work, but some mornings, it is impossible to wake up after having been up late the night before. So, I end up with a protein bar eaten slowly in the car, and another one for lunch. Not as fulfilling, and it only has one taste. Makes the temptation to binge at dinner a larger obstacle. Tonight for example, I have to go straight to kid's baseball, so dinner won't be till past 8:30. The first five bites will be peaceful, (patterns help), but the stopping point will be tougher to reach without feeling deprived.

So, the plans for my food get impacted by the freaking real world. Any suggestions?

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by PassTheBypass

Okay, here goes an attempt at a blog. I have already been here three weeks, but I chose 6/1/2007 as the start of my new "not-a-diet". Since diets don't work, for the next 18 months I will just be eating less, without using the Diet word.

This is a great start, great mentality and you aren't pushing yourself too hard.

So far, I have been reducing my intake by increasing the amount of time it takes for me to eat. I pick basic foods, a dairy, bread, vegetable, meat, and fruit. I take one bite of each, in order, but I wait five minutes between bites. I use water to fill and to rinse my palate. So, the bite of cheese, or yogurt, or cottage cheese, is lingering for five minutes, even after the taste is gone from the mouth. Then, the same with each of the others. Next thing you know, 25 minutes have gone by, and I feel less hungry by the time I start with the reamining bites. I have reduced calorie intake, but do not feel hungry or deprived. It has been working so far.[/quote]Great news! Isn't amazing how something so simple could make such a big difference?

Originally Posted by PassTheBypass

The plan is that when the house payment is done, I will be at my goal weight. I have some help along the way, (this website for example), and 15 pounds have already left me. Of course, there are issues that I still have to deal with, but that will just be entries in the blog.

This is a great start to your blog, and I know you will have great success! Keep us posted!

[Merle]

Originally Posted by PassTheBypass

First off, I found a spreadsheet on the web where the person tracked their calories and weight on a chart. I made some changes to match what I wanted to see, and to reduce the manual data entry involved, and it is now a twice daily reinforcement to see my intake and my weight change.

Second, those big glasses that used to get filled with soda are now filled with water, so that I get lots of sips between meal bites.

Third, I got the approval of my boss (my wife, that is ) to avoid the fast food rush, so even if the kids get their burger and fries, we bring it home so I can get my balanced meal. They are too old for the tunnels at BK and Mickey D anyway...

Finally, I have been using my-calorie-counter to get the correct calculation of the calories I take in. So, if a serving of cottage cheese is 1 cup, (lets say 4 Tablespoons) at 120 calories, that first bite is 30 calories.

Next, the difficulties encountered so far...

Yes yes yes and yes!!!! You are so on the right path and you are eating much smarter. Good for you! Very proud of you so far, you are on the right power and are showing amazing will power. Keep it up and your goals will be yours soon!

[MikeB]

Good job, keep it up.
Now teach your kids the same and remove the fast food from their diet also. The key is not only to fix your eating habits but make it a family project. Teach your kids how not to eat and how to exercise now and make it their habit too. Start with walks with the fam and move up to jogs or hill climbing.

Keep at it!

[Irving]

Originally Posted by PassTheBypass

1. A Cub scout campout, where the dads all got together to drink beer and chat once the kids were down. Have a beer, then two, then three. The food brought is doughnuts, fixings for smores, spaghetti with sausage, and cuban sandwiches. Not a good boy weekend. And it was the second weekend of the not-a-diet, so my 10 pounds lost jumped up by five. It took me days to get back to pre-campout.

2. Friday lunch with friends. They are supportive (one is on Atkins, so they understand), but finding a restaurant with five items while not a buffet is impossible. So, Wendy's, with the cheese on the side, one Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger gave me beef, cheese, bread, and lettuce, and I had raisins along for help. Lots of water, and I was able to pull it off, and had more time to actually talk to friends instead of chewing.

3. Father's day. Traditional Barbeque, both grandfathers to the kids there. Sweet potato, beef, fruit salad, cuban bread, and a glass of milk. Did it slowly, but not at the five minute level. Then rice, and later ice cream jumped on the plate. I fought them like crazy, but they snuck past my teeth. over 2100 calories, worst day since I started. Today, the scale says I lost a pound. Must have been in my sleep.

4. Late nights with the family. I try to prepare the breakfast and have the 1/2 hour + time to eat it, and the lunch to bring to work, but some mornings, it is impossible to wake up after having been up late the night before. So, I end up with a protein bar eaten slowly in the car, and another one for lunch. Not as fulfilling, and it only has one taste. Makes the temptation to binge at dinner a larger obstacle. Tonight for example, I have to go straight to kid's baseball, so dinner won't be till past 8:30. The first five bites will be peaceful, (patterns help), but the stopping point will be tougher to reach without feeling deprived.

So, the plans for my food get impacted by the freaking real world. Any suggestions?

i think most of your problems can be solved by better preparation

1. could you have brought your own food or at least drank a light beer or two? if you have done this type of thing before i am sure you knew this was coming. next time bring your own food and light beer.

2. i am confused about this 5 items thing? is it a diet you are on? is it one of each food group? why bother with the iceburg lettuce as a veggie which has no nutritional value whatsoever?

don't know if you are a chicken fan or not but the only meat i eat at a fast food place is a chicken breast sandwich which would have been a lot healthier. they also have salads do they not? also if you know you have to eat somewhere that is not very healthy could you have a healthy snack right before you go so you aren't as hungry when you get there and therefore won't eat as much of the bad stuff? also look at a nutritional menu for whereever you are going and see what is and what isn't healthy. i think you can find nutritional values on every fast food website

3. that's a tough one. i have gone so far that i brought my own meat to grill at others parties knowing they are cooking fatty things. yes it's a pain but how much do you want to lose this weight? i will eat 2 chicken breast sandwiches or super lean ground beef burgers on whole wheat buns with only healthy toppings and by filling up on that and a lot of water i am less tempted to eat the other garbage because i am too full.

4. can you make food the night before since mornings are so hard? maybe even prepare 2 nights before the really hard nights? if you know it's going to be a late night do it the day before? try to get more portable healthy foods. i use protein bars too, but also try taking single serving packets of protein powder with me to mix with water or milk, have an apple handy, a mozzerella string cheese, some beef jerky, meal replacement shakes etc

jerky, meal replacement shakes, packets of protein powder are easy to store at work because no refridgeration is needed. you don't need to refridgerate fruit either.

[PassTheBypass]

Well, I seem to have hit my first plateau. Got to 270, thought I would see that 26X the next morning, and have gotten five days of 271 and 270 in the mornings. I knew it was coming, but it sucks that it happened right at the 26X mark. I am gonna have to chase kids a bit more to see if that will help get rid of that dreaded pound. On my trendline I am 10 pounds(!) ahead of schedule, so I am not disheartened, but I was hoping for that positive reinforcement of calling my wife over to show her the 26X on the scale.

[PassTheBypass]

And, on an opposite note, the worst wife scale moment was one day at Publix, after a full three meals, with all my work clothes on, change in the pockets, etc. The kids hop on, she hops on, and then I hop on. It went to the 300. She freaked. Evening ruined as I heard about it the rest of the night. Not fun. That was a while back, and I proved to her that I was really only like 290 the next morning, (yeah I know that is still too much), but the tylenol supply was dropping that night. I hope this is not TMI.

[PassTheBypass]

Originally Posted by Irving

i think most of your problems can be solved by better preparation

True. If I had prepared for these moments, they would not have happened. But then I would have had nothing to write about.

Originally Posted by Irving

1. could you have brought your own food or at least drank a light beer or two? if you have done this type of thing before i am sure you knew this was coming. next time bring your own food and light beer.

True. This was the first campout where we were told that food was provided. The others we have brought our own. But since the theme of the campout was healthy eating, i thought there would be more healthy alternatives there. Bad assumption.

Originally Posted by Irving

2. i am confused about this 5 items thing? is it a diet you are on? is it one of each food group? why bother with the iceburg lettuce as a veggie which has no nutritional value whatsoever?

I made it up. It isn't a diet so much as a delay method, and a way to help ensure balanced meals. This also keeps me from feeling deprived of something the way Atkins or Powter left me feeling. I knew I wanted to slow down my eating speed, so i figured on one bite with a delay before the next bite. The drinking of water to rince the palate is helping because the flavor of the first bite sticks around, making my brain (the unconcious part) think that more than one bite of that item has been taken. Then, after the five bites and 25 minutes has passed, I can eat as usual, but by then the fullness message has started getting sent to the brain, so I end up eating less. Kind of a Pavlovian response in reverse. The veggie of lettuce is just about the only choice available, since the pickle is gonna be a salt bomb, and i hate tomatoes. I could go with the potato, but that seems like too much waste.

Originally Posted by Irving

don't know if you are a chicken fan or not but the only meat i eat at a fast food place is a chicken breast sandwich which would have been a lot healthier. they also have salads do they not? also if you know you have to eat somewhere that is not very healthy could you have a healthy snack right before you go so you aren't as hungry when you get there and therefore won't eat as much of the bad stuff? also look at a nutritional menu for whereever you are going and see what is and what isn't healthy. i think you can find nutritional values on every fast food website

The chicken sandwiches have tons of breading on them. I don't like them. I can have a plain chicken breast, but I am also very cheap. A dollar for a bacon cheesburger versus four for a chicken sandwich just rubs me wrong. Over time, I see the money disappearing. Let's just say I wish I had done with calories what I do with pennies, i would be much thinner today.

Originally Posted by Irving

3. that's a tough one. i have gone so far that i brought my own meat to grill at others parties knowing they are cooking fatty things. yes it's a pain but how much do you want to lose this weight? i will eat 2 chicken breast sandwiches or super lean ground beef burgers on whole wheat buns with only healthy toppings and by filling up on that and a lot of water i am less tempted to eat the other garbage because i am too full.

It was at my house, and the steaks were lean. I just said "let me take a day off from calorie counting" and then went back and counted them anyway. It was still less than I could binge on if I tried. I will move to chicken and more water next time, I doubt anybody would mind. Thanks for the suggestion.

Originally Posted by Irving

4. can you make food the night before since mornings are so hard? maybe even prepare 2 nights before the really hard nights? if you know it's going to be a late night do it the day before? try to get more portable healthy foods. i use protein bars too, but also try taking single serving packets of protein powder with me to mix with water or milk, have an apple handy, a mozzerella string cheese, some beef jerky, meal replacement shakes etc

I guess I could, they just would seem less "fresh". Do you know of a low salt beef jerky out there? The publix here just has the salty ones. I have high blood pressure, so I try to avoid extra salts. Where do you get protein powder packets?

Originally Posted by Irving

jerky, meal replacement shakes, packets of protein powder are easy to store at work because no refridgeration is needed. you don't need to refridgerate fruit either.

I have raisins, protein bars, slimfast optima, and aspirin in my drawer. Also, I have the dexatrim berry flavored diet supplement. Only used three of them in the past three weeks, but they do taste good for 14 calories. However, a second look showed me that they were a bit tricky in their labelling. It is basically a salt tablet (470 mg more than half the total weight of the tablet) with flavoring and ug and mg levels of vitamins to fill up the list. It does rid the craving, but I am still annoyed that I got tricked. I read the label, just was too dumb to read between the lines and understand it.

Thanks for the feedback, That is why I posted in the first place, to see how others have handled the same situations.

[PassTheBypass]

Originally Posted by Merle

Yes yes yes and yes!!!! You are so on the right path and you are eating much smarter. Good for you! Very proud of you so far, you are on the right power and are showing amazing will power. Keep it up and your goals will be yours soon!

I noticed that your goal date is near mine, and that our current weights are similar, even though you started off a bit more than me. Anything I need to look out for that you encountered the first six months?

[PassTheBypass]

Originally Posted by MikeB

Good job, keep it up.
Now teach your kids the same and remove the fast food from their diet also. The key is not only to fix your eating habits but make it a family project. Teach your kids how not to eat and how to exercise now and make it their habit too. Start with walks with the fam and move up to jogs or hill climbing.

Keep at it!

We are biking together now that the sun is out longer, and we use the pool. They get lots of exersize just from playing tag and baseball and using the pool and playing pickle. Before my eye injury I was like that. I cannot jog, since the jostling can detach my retina, so my exercise is limited to swimming and biking and light weights (no straining allowed) and no impact aerobics. My sons have some kind of natural aversion to fat, and are both twigs. I was actually like that as a kid, and got placed on Nutriment to bulk up. I am figuring they will go through a natural bulking phase, and have so far tried to avoid getting them on suppliments at 9 and 7. And we have no hills in Miami, other than overpasses.

I like to hope that they are learning from my bad example as to what can happen if they don't keep in shape. Kind of like how I learned by bad example not to smoke from my pack-a-day parents.

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by PassTheBypass

I made it up. It isn't a diet so much as a delay method, and a way to help ensure balanced meals. This also keeps me from feeling deprived of something the way Atkins or Powter left me feeling..

So is this more of a taste preference than anything else, because a small piece of iceberg lettuce which contains 0 calories and 0 nutrients doesn't really qualify as adding to a balanced meal

If you look at the 5 items you had during that meal, they weren't exactly 5 healthy items, however, the burger is about 350 calories. 350 calories alone shouldn't be enough to break the bank so to speak.

Originally Posted by PassTheBypass

I knew I wanted to slow down my eating speed, so i figured on one bite with a delay before the next bite. The drinking of water to rince the palate is helping because the flavor of the first bite sticks around, making my brain (the unconcious part) think that more than one bite of that item has been taken. Then, after the five bites and 25 minutes has passed, I can eat as usual, but by then the fullness message has started getting sent to the brain, so I end up eating less. Kind of a Pavlovian response in reverse. The veggie of lettuce is just about the only choice available, since the pickle is gonna be a salt bomb, and i hate tomatoes. I could go with the potato, but that seems like too much waste.

As much of a salt bomb you think the pickle is, the burger you had was much worse. One dill pickle spear has 80mg of sodium, or 3% of your daily value. The burger you ate without the pickle has 10 times the sodium in that pickle, about 800mg, or about 30%.

Originally Posted by PassTheBypass

The chicken sandwiches have tons of breading on them. I don't like them. I can have a plain chicken breast, but I am also very cheap. A dollar for a bacon cheesburger versus four for a chicken sandwich just rubs me wrong. Over time, I see the money disappearing. Let's just say I wish I had done with calories what I do with pennies, i would be much thinner today. .

I think Irving was referring to grilled chicken breast sandwiches, which have no breading. I frequently eat those too in situations such as the ones you encountered.

Originally Posted by PassTheBypass

I guess I could, they just would seem less "fresh". Do you know of a low salt beef jerky out there? The publix here just has the salty ones. I have high blood pressure, so I try to avoid extra salts. Where do you get protein powder packets?

I have not heard of a low sodium beef jerky, but I'm sure it exists somewhere? I did a google search and found a few companies that make low sodium jerky that sell it online.

Originally Posted by PassTheBypass

I have raisins, protein bars, slimfast optima, and aspirin in my drawer. Also, I have the dexatrim berry flavored diet supplement. Only used three of them in the past three weeks, but they do taste good for 14 calories. However, a second look showed me that they were a bit tricky in their labelling. It is basically a salt tablet (470 mg more than half the total weight of the tablet) with flavoring and ug and mg levels of vitamins to fill up the list. It does rid the craving, but I am still annoyed that I got tricked. I read the label, just was too dumb to read between the lines and understand it.

Thanks for the feedback, That is why I posted in the first place, to see how others have handled the same situations.

I would be careful on the raisins. They don't have much nutritional value and are loaded in sugar.

I too am skeptical of low fat, low sugar and low carb items, because the item the remove is usually replace with more of something else that is unhealthy.

[William Wallace]

Originally Posted by PassTheBypass

I like to hope that they are learning from my bad example as to what can happen if they don't keep in shape. Kind of like how I learned by bad example not to smoke from my pack-a-day parents.

This is important. I feel that your children will be better off healthwise in the longrun if you act healtlhy through good eating and exercise. Monkey see monkey do, right? Of course we all want our kids to avoid our mistakes, but the best way is to show them how to avoid them by doing it instead of just talking to them or hoping they won't follow in your footsteps. Remember, they look up to you more than anyone else.

This blog is great so far, and I hope to read more about your progress as you go along!

[William Wallace]

Originally Posted by PassTheBypass

First off, I found a spreadsheet on the web where the person tracked their calories and weight on a chart. I made some changes to match what I wanted to see, and to reduce the manual data entry involved, and it is now a twice daily reinforcement to see my intake and my weight change.

Second, those big glasses that used to get filled with soda are now filled with water, so that I get lots of sips between meal bites.

Third, I got the approval of my boss (my wife, that is ) to avoid the fast food rush, so even if the kids get their burger and fries, we bring it home so I can get my balanced meal. They are too old for the tunnels at BK and Mickey D anyway...

Finally, I have been using my-calorie-counter to get the correct calculation of the calories I take in. So, if a serving of cottage cheese is 1 cup, (lets say 4 Tablespoons) at 120 calories, that first bite is 30 calories.

Next, the difficulties encountered so far...

Four very positive steps. Great job. Keep it up.

[PassTheBypass]

Good News - Bad News - Good News.

So, I was in a threshold, and the next morning, I weighed myself and got that magic 269! I brought the wife over and showed her, and then went off to work. "Oooh, that's good!"

After work, I bought the Sunbeam Healthometer that Mike B suggested. I hopped on it and it said I was 271! I got on my old one, it still said 269. I have been weighing 2 pounds light, and I was still in the 270s! "Oooh, that's bad!"

So then, the next morning, I weighed myself on the new scale, and it said 268! I have officially gotten below 270! "Oooh, that's good!"

It felt good.

[PassTheBypass]

Another good thing about losing the weight, I got the chance to use the dremel I bought for my kid's pine car derby sculpting to drill three holes into my belt. It was cool to shrink my belt size.

So, 268 pounds, 38.1 BMI, and 44 hydration. (I just got the scale, so I gotta read up on the hydration.)

Going in the right direction. Had a funny bit happen at work when they saw my lunch was prechopped. They wondered if I had my kid's meal by accident.