Time to rally the troops and build morale - how I've done, and what I've been doing that works.

Last edited Thu Oct 25, 2012, 02:29 PM - Edit history (1)

Hey all similarly challenged people to love to eat and probably don't quite as much love to exercize (describes me perfectly!).

January 24 2011 I was at 258 pounds (55 years old, 6 feet tall male). My daughter and wife had an "intervention" with me - said they thought I was acting depressed, was becoming a couch spud, had the laptop surgically implanted on my lap and I was surgically implanted on the sofa.

So I thanked them for their concern - my wife and I joined Weight Watchers. We committed to learning about food, eating better, being more active.

By June of 2011 I was at 210 pounds, feeling great, eating much better - my wife lost the 20 she wanted to lose.

January 2012 we did the Engine 2 Vegan challenge at Whole Foods - each of us trimmed off another 10 lbs or so. I also joined a fitness center.

So as we approach November 2012, I find myself bouncing around between 196 and 199, mostly at 197-198 - total weight loss of about 60 lbs, and it has been off for nearly two years. I still belong to the fitness center - and typically go 1-2 times per week - and we walk our dogs each day, between 2-3 miles.

But as to what worked best for me, and what I still do to this day, regarding food:

Weight Watchers has the principle of a food diary - you convert what you eat to points (not hard at all) and write down what you eat each day, and you hit a target for the day and the week. It is not restrictive as to what you eat, but clearly some foods have lots of bang for the buck calorie wise, so you eat less. for my wife and I, we always ate pretty well, but our portion sizes were out of whack, and I am a pretty bad stress and night time eater.

So here I am, nearly two years later, and I will convert what I eat to points, am dead honest with myself - if I eat or drink it and it has calories, it is entered on my laptop each evening. I track my points. If I gain for a week, it is easy to see why and vice versa. We are not strict vegans or vegetarians, but did adopt some of the principles - we've cut out most dairy and most meat - we do eat some seafood. But it is all about vegetables, grains, fruits - and we are now heavy on the greens - we love them.

And I weigh in once per week - period. And it is rarely a surprise, because I know what I've eaten, and know my activity level. Another thing I've done - anything to increase how much I walk, from not parking close to the store when I go shopping, never just driving up to the mailbox to get my mail, walking the dogs no matter what the weather, you name it. Walking. It's great!

Other food things we've done - bought a Ninja and have afternoon smoothies a few times per week (lots of fresh fruit, some almond milk, some kale). Morning and afternoon fruit breaks. Veggies with every dinner. Watch portion size....and as I said, write it all down! I aim for 40 points per day (2000 calories). Typical day for me - cereal, coffee and OJ for breakfast, fruit mid afternoon, turkey sandwich or yogurt and granola for lunch, mid afternoon fruit, vegetable/grain/legume centered or fish centered dinner with one or two veggies, square of dark chocolate or 2 or Trader Joe soy creamy for dessert.

Once or twice a week I meet my friends or go with my wife for lunch. We splurge for dinner weekly as well.

And the other biggie - we've cut our alcohol (beer/wine) down significantly - empty calories! - we will split a beer a few times a week, or have a glass of wine once or twice a week.

I will always, always love food and crave some things that are really bad for me. But exerting control, working out, being active - realizing how good my back and knees (two torn ACLs feel) - it has all been worth it, and it hasn't been very tough at all, in retrospect.

So that's where things are - I'd love to drift down maybe 7 more pounds and settle in at 190 - but if I stay around where I am for the rest of my life I will be pleased.

Edited to add one important thing....if you really want to go down the road of losing significant weight, it must be something really important to you, and it requires a true commitment, and total honesty with yourself....but anything is possible, given that.

Anyway, that's what is working for me - ask me anything - and how are y'all doing with your challenges?