I’ve lost 32 pounds this year. It was pretty easy. Here’s my formula.

1. Count calories
2. Work out every day

OK, so that doesn’t sound so easy. That's what everyone always says to do and it sucks. I had to make it easier by working with my own psychology. I know I'm lazy and prone to "relapsing". ;-)

I work out 20 minutes per day. 7 days per week. Sometimes up to 45 but never less than 20. Sometimes I walk, sometimes I jog, sometimes I lift weights. On days where I really don’t feel like working out I walk for 5 minutes, bike for 5 minutes, jog for 5 minutes and lift for 5 minutes. Anything to break the monotony. Anything to reach that 20 minutes. I workout 7 days a week because I know skipping weekends or any other days increases the chances I will never work out again. Every day I think about not working out I view as possibly the first day of many that I will not work out. I know myself.

Working out can be really boring for me. On really bad days, I walk 10 minutes away from my house knowing I have to get back. That way I only need 10 minutes of motivation.

Counting Calories. I used this calculator to figure how many calories I need to take in every day to maintain weight. http://www.caloriecontrol.org/calcalsm.html

All other things being equal (sometimes they are not), you need to burn or not eat 3500 less calories than what the above calculator gives in order to lose one pound. What I did is to subtract 500 calories from what the calorie calculator gave me and so then I expected to lose 1 pound a week (7*500 = 3500). That’s a pretty steady pace and I figured I didn’t want to overdo it. 1 pound a week is great. Since I’ve been working out and my metabolism is a little higher I’ve actually been losing weight faster than that.

Every time I am going to eat I go to google and type in “calories chicken” or whatever. Pretty soon you have most of the foods you normally eat memorized (many foods have the info on them). There is lean hamburger that is very low in calories. Pizza Hut cheese pizza is about 300 calories a slice (med. Pizza) . I had 4 slices for dinner last night.

The most important thing I’ve found is that soda is the nectar of the devil. I used to grab a 20 oz. soda from the store all the time. 250 calories! A few of those and you’re about done for the day. Diet Dr. Pepper has 0 calories and so does diet iced tea (Comes in a 2 liter, tastes sweet sugary).

Really, a lot of it is about portions and staying away from sugar which is calorie-laden. There is no food I’ve had to give up. I just eat smaller portions. If I get really hungry I drink a big glass of Diet Dr. Pepper or Diet Iced Tea.

Colin that's great. I think that it's hard to keep weight off working in front of a PC 10 hours or more a day and that you need a good plan.

I can't count calories. A few months ago I became vegetarian. I didn’t do it to loose weight. It just happened. I think I became more conscious of food because you need to consider more to make sure you get enough proteins. Doing that drives me eat more healthy and I pretty much eat as much as I want, when I want. I’m loosing a few pounds a week. Some weeks a little slower. What I want to start doing is exercise and think that will accelerate things and want to firm up.

good job colin :) I agree with ya on a very important part, and that is it's about "portions". About 4-5 months after I got out of the marine corps I was shopping for shorts. It took a size 42 to fit me. Now The largest I've ever been before that was 34 and that was a little before boot camp started. What caused my weight gain was simplely to much! In the marine corps you ate everything you could anytime you could. You burnt it all off plus more. But then after I got out, I kept those eating patterns up for a few months and went from 210(fighting weight:) to 260. After that day I started eating like a normal guy should and I"ve been around my present weight ever since......and fine 220 :cdance:

P.S I've only had a couple smokes in the last 2 weeks and have started playing tennis and Basketball several times a week.......Colin I think I'll emulate your workout plan some. I can do 20 min aday :))


damn, that's a lot to write before my first cup of joe, hope it made a little sence ;)

Great Job Man!

:)

when can we expect pics?

Wow, man. Quitting smoking must be tough. Anyone here used to smoke and have quit permanently? If so, how did you do it?

Yeah, 20 minutes isn't difficult at all. I estimate I burn about 200 calories per workout when I do cardio and since I workout in the morning I assume my metabolism is raised a bit too.

January in Vegas ;-)

Me! Quit cold turkey (this was 15+ years ago before all the doodads they have now...). But I'm stubborn and when I put my mind to something, I do ti. :) I got the kid to stop smoking and I'll be glad to do the same for anyone else. Please bring your own toilet bowl. :P

I've been trying to more exercise and I think my problem is that I'm aiming for an hour+ every few days which is hard to fit into a schedule. The 20 minutes EVERY day seems a lot more reasonable, but I have trouble getting my heartrate up (3.5 miles an hour on the treadmill) even at an hour. I wonder if 20 minutes will get my heartrate up enough. But I'm going to try it! :)

Thanks and MANY congrats!!!! :rokk:

I found the same thing - I replaced soda/beer etc. with water, and my body loves me for it :)

Another good tip beside eating smaller portions is to set a time doing the day where you do not eat anything, but only drink water... ex. do not eat anything between 8pm-7am... this keep those late night meals/drinks away, which are usual quick, but not always so healty

wow this sounds alot better then my plan of having risky sex and sharing needles on my heroin diet

So the crack smoking diet didn't work for you? :(

So the crack smoking diet didn't work for you? :([/b][/quote]
naaaa just made me lazy

although that was up from my comatose state of normal

Man, I was gaining more than a pound a week from soda alone.

8 oz of soda is about 100 calories so three 20 oz. sodas a day is 750 calories/day or about 2 pounds every 9 days.

Without soda I actually have a difficult time most days reaching the 2200 I need to lose a pound a week (Just 8 more pounds to reach my "ideal weight").

Colin, that is awesome! Congrats. I agree with you 100% on the soda thing. Those are just the hidden calories that normally you wouldn't even think of. Cut those out, or down, and you have 1/2 the battle won already. Using short bouts of exercise is another great idea. Cudos. :D

umm mountain Dew B)

Just reading this thread could get me thrown out of "fat guys can fuck".

Colin what do you do for fun? You dont drink anymore and now I find out you dont chow down...next youll be telling me you dont have sex either!

Colin, congrats! I lost about 55lbs 18 months ago. Put back on about 10 over that time, and am now slimming down for my wedding, lost 7 of those 10 I put back on. Hope to be 190 by Dec 7, about 10 more lbs to go. Been eating well, now I just need to start exercising!

Colin, you are very lucky you found a plan that works for you. I can't believe all the *lose weight* books in the stores. New ones keep popping up every year, and many make the best seller list. When that irritating fuck, Dr. Phil, came out with a book recently about staying fit, I really wanted to slap him silly. I'm so sick of Oprah and her pets. She is a billionaire, and she preaches to us about how to lose weight. She goes to spas which cost thousands of dollars a day, and she buys their chef...their exercise guy, and she returns home. So many people are at her beck and call to help her lose weight and stay fit.

It's a known medical fact that men loser faster than women. Tall women lose faster than short women. We have to deal with HORMONES! It seems you are doing fine, Colin. Your routine makes sense to me. You are an inspiration to all of us. :wnw:

I have seen new pics of Colin... he is noticeably smaller.

My secrets are:

Fiber = good
Bunch of smaller meals throughout the day (except for dinner) = good
Exercise = very good

Signed up for Disney Marathon in January.



Last edited by Jesse_DD at Sep 30 2003, 07:15 AM

Congrats Colin - that's a great plan! :rokk:

Anyone who's ever lost a good amount of weight or has had a good amount of weight to lose can totally appreciate the effort it takes to stick with something.

My daughter and I started walking every morning last week - we do about a good hour of brisk walking (without the dog - that totally breaks up the pace we found) and started doing laps in the pool at night. It really gives you a lot more energy - and hopefully we'll start seeing results soon

I did really well on Atkins but it's SO hard to stick to for a long period of time... we learned a lot about what to eat and what NOT to eat so it was educational... but hard to stick to 100% IMHO.

CONGRATS to all who have posted here about losses. Keep up the good work! :okthumb:

I've lost 55 pounds in the past 6 months. I'm at 190 now. All I did was quit eating so much and started doing some walking and hiking. Was pretty painless really since I didn't change my diet at all just ate less.

I would say what worked for me was:

-eating breakfast, cereal
-no red meat
-smaller meals
-less fried foods
-fiber
-treadmill

Goddamn, man. CONGRATULATIONS. That's amazing.

weighing in from the thin patrol, those who have a challenging time maintaining (much less gaining) weight

AGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

(admittedly I smoke, drink 3 double espressos a day, haven't worked out in 3 years, don't like or drink soda, plus I'm naturally energetic/hyper/high strung/high metabolism or whatever you want to call it and love red meat)


Edit - p.s. to all those who have lost weight - many congrats, keep up the good work - just send me a few pounds :D



Last edited by Vick at Sep 30 2003, 10:29 AM

Anyone have any tips for keeping weight off? It's one thing to lose it and another entirely to keep it off. My plan is to continually change my self-image. I'm trying to do more outside. Go to the beach more, jog outside, go jet-skiing. I'm going to start taking a martial arts class. I figured I need to think of myself as something other than a keyboard warrior to have a permanent change. One of my biggest problems with weight has been thinking of myself as a guy that sits in the house on the computer all the time and never does anything outdoors.

I lost a lot of weight a few years ago when partying all the time (out of the house all the time, at clubs, and so on). The go-go life-style actually helped. ;-)

Colin, as you know as you get older, and you are certainly getting older, you will have to do more and more of that exercise thing. Based on what you said above you already know what to do - it is just doing it. ;)

The most important thing would be to do things that are physical that you enjoy doing like the martial arts things, skiing, etc. Good that you are on the right path. I was thinking about doing the martial arts thing myself... i have a place that I can walk to from my house.

Getting emails from our father who had heart surgery last year saying things like "Ran 6 miles today. 8 minute miles" is pretty motivating.

Trust me, I live with someone who does everything he can TO gain weight and will still lose 5 pounds. :angry: All of us "fat" people hate you. :awinky:

My motivation started the day I bent over to tie my shoes and couldn't reach them without holding my breath. That same day I played 9 holes of golf and felt like I was going to have a heart attack after walking 9 holes. Little voice in my head said better lose some weight or you're going to be dead before you're 40.

And here I would have thought you to say my bitching at you drove you to try and run away, you just didn't realize you couldn't really get anywhere on the treadmill ;)

You lucky lucky lucky bastard!!! ;-))

Colin,Congrats! :)

Since getting back to work and stopping the partying, I've gained about 30lbs.

I have only Just started watching what I eat,and exercising.(Swimming with the kids,and playing "throw the baby" which involves throwing my 5 yr old accross the pool...what can I do? she likes it?:-)

No red meat and less fried food?!

Blasphomy!!

I hope there's someone on the other side to catch her! :o

:awinky:

Pearl!

That's exactly it.

Smaller, smarter, more frequent meals to boost metabolism. Drinking water instead of sodas and such. Regular exercise at least 3 times a week.

Eating more slowly by chewing more is good also. Late night eating is the devil :)

About the voluminous amount of diet books...

People typically ignore the real/right way to get their bodies in check (or damn near anything else) by simply doing what they know would work (sensible diet, exercise, water, etc). and want that magic pill, diet or piece of exercise equipment that will make it faster and easier than is realistic when the "secret" is right in our face 24/7:

Stop whining and making excuses, somewhat proper diet and exercise isn't THAT hard once you make it a new habit. Essentially "shut the hell up and get at it" which has been my personal motto for the past couple years... works like a charm.

Congratulations Colin and the others who have taken control and are winning their own personal battles! :okthumb:

It's always one vice or another for us pornographers.

I throw her up in the air,and she sorta does a ncannonball/dive/bellyflop back into the water :)

The older two (ages 9 and nearly 11) prefer the game..."Happy Whale"...I'm not even getting into that one ;)

I think that is VERY true. :)

20 pounds ago I told someone I had lost a little more than 10 pounds. They said "what diet are you on?" I said "Old school. Low calories and exercise". They said - and I quote - "that won't work" ;-)

You're so right on with that magic pill thing. They sell those too.

Agreed!

Old school imho is the only way to go.
Eat less ,mo frequently though,and exercise.

I refuse to buy into those fad diets.
I mean I've been an adult webmaster for 6yrs full time now.

I like to be the hunter,not the hunted ;-))

:lol:
yeah, definitely had my share of those conversations too..

it's kind of amazing to me at times how we as 'responsible adults' can hold on to so many cop-outs and fearful attitudes created as kids out of basically ignoring facts and making crap up to suit ourselves..

A big "good on ya" for coming and publicly setting the record straight :bjump:

Congrats, Colin! A little every day is the best I think.

I think people fail on diets and exercise becasue they overdue it, they've set too high a goal for themselves that they can't accomplish. Moderation is best.

To put it another way, the weight often got there over the course of many years, so thinking it can all be taken off in a matter of weeks or a couple months usually is not reasonable.

I want to lose some weight *and* quit smoking. I'm too concerned to quit smoking first, since that is so often followed by the eating-substitution, that I feel I need to lose the weight first. Not sure if that sounds reasonable or not.

Beauty.

Knowing your kids, I could venture a guess if you like ;)

This is my workout now.

Every night my girls want to play "superbaby".
Man, holding them up in the air while they pretend to fly gives you a hell of a work out in the arms.

I eat anything I want, drink anything I want, was excercising, but
even stopped that now. I simply dont have time to do anything
healthy, or if I do have the time, I dont have the ambition.

I always said, you only live once, live life to its fullest, as there
is no guarentee when you will go.

In any case, congrats Colin and everyone whom lost the weight,
losing weight, quit smoking, etc.

Congrats Colin!

I've been battling the bulge also lately. For the past few years I have been very tired even if I sleep a full 9 hours a night. Being tired meant I wanted to do less and excerise was almost completely forgotten. The less I did the more tired I got and the less I was able to concentrate.
Finally went to a Dr. and he asked me some questions about my daily routine and sleep habits. He had me stay overnight several nights at the hospital to do sleep studies. I was hooked up to an EEG, breathing monitor, videotaped, etc..
Found out I had sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a condition that affects 5-10% of people and most don't even know it. When you sleep your body relaxes and the muscles that hold your tongue in place forget to do their job. Your tongue slides back and blocks the airflow in your throat. The oxygen levels in your body drop until your body realizes it is suffocating and jerks you awake to get the tongue out of the way. This happens several times an hour (for me it was an average of 11 times an hour). Since your oxygen levels are low at night your metabolism slows down and you lose weight much slower plus when you wake you are too tired to exercise.
I now have a CPAP breathing machine that I wear at night. The machine is like an oxygen mask that covers your nose and increases the pressure inside your lungs and throat so that the tongue does not block the airflow (kind of like an invisible splint inside). Now I sleep soundly at night and wake up feeling MUCH better. I just started on the machine last week and this past week I have definately felt much more alive and energetic. I am going to Curacao in a few days and plan on being active instead of sleeping in till mid-afternoon.

If anyone has symptoms such as : loud snoring, jerking awake at night, kicking while asleep, feeling tired during the day, falling asleep easily while reading, watching TV, or online.. you might have sleep apnea. If you think you might be a candidate, do yourself a favor and talk to a doctor. The breathing machine is easy to use, you hardly notice it at night. and it can make a world of difference in how you feel.

Maybe I'll be able to give Colin a run for his money before Vegas. I could easily lose 50lbs and now that I feel better I am going to try to do so!

Wow... glad you got this diagnosed and are getting treatment for it! :okthumb:

What's odd is that I know of at least a half-dozen webmasters who ALSO have this disorder. I wonder how common this is overall - and how common it is for webmasters as a whole?

I know I have a LOT of those symptoms and my hubby does too... I guess it's about time to go get this checked out. Your description was more scary than just thinking about the 'disturbed sleep' we've been experiencing.

:unsure:

If you do, we'll go for a run in vegas. ;-)

Yup, definately on to something there Brad! I found that just by eating breakfast (not waiting till like 2 pm to eat my first meal) and decreasing portion size just a bit, pounds come off easily. Not quickly (maybe 1/2 to 1 a week), but easily. :D

I dated a guy who has it and it would freak me out - he would snore and then just stop breathing. He thought he didn't have it any more because he ex-wife told him she didn't notice it the last year they were married - I suspect that's because she was the life insurance beneficiary. B)

Hey Peaches, did you know that your jaw snaps shut when I put stuff in your mouth while your sleeping?