# 50 # too much



## charliesbugs (Feb 25, 2007)

I now need to lose about 50# . I've let the weight creep up a little at a time, thinking oh, I'll lose it in the summer,etc... last year tried walking with a friend , but found out I have a torn miniscus. Can't afford to have the surgery ,plus don't want it in summer-doing another big garden. I am 60, have one knee replacement plus the miniscus tear in the other knee so too much walking, I'm limping... I KNOw I could lose if I could walk a lot. Anybody have any suggestions for me? Other than duct tape?????????? I've never had to diet before and I have NO will power when it comes to food. I LOVE to bake and cook and EAT IT. This is the first time ever my doc talked about my weight. Help!!!!!!!!!!! He told me if I put anything in my mouth and it tastes sweet--spit it out!!!!!!!!! So , black coffee , or tea -YUK


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## scgirl (Jan 25, 2005)

How about a bike?


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

Hope you get on track and acheive your weight loss goals. I'm also very found of baking, and that is what I miss most. I've also never needed to worry about eating, and then over a period of time the weight crept up and I went from a loose 10 to a tight 14, and decided enough was enough.

I use to weight around 130, and got up over 180. I was at 183 when I started tracking things. That was in January.

I've been on a goal to eat more healthy for some time (put in a big garden last year, and a bigger one this year). My main issue was portions, I ate good food, just too much of it. 

I also have no willpower, so I can't have it in the house. DH got on board with this (he is trying to control bordeline BP issues without medication). I've found I do better to splurge once in a while instead of rationing smaller portions of the goodies over several days. 

I've bought smaller baking containers so I can still enjoy baking, but end up with half the portion. Or I'll freeze a portion uncooked (dough type stuff) and take it out a month later.

When I get a craving for sweet, I take a thick slice of my homemade WW bread and put on a layer of homemade jam and that does the trick.

I don't do much in the way of "exercise" because I'm too busy dealing with a full time job and the homestead to find much time. 

Cathy


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## charliesbugs (Feb 25, 2007)

Unfortunately, a bike won't work with my knee -causes too much pain.....I,too, have portion control problems, but i'm trying to cut them down.i've also given up the sugar-no more sweetened coffee,tea, or soda.My main thing to miss will be ice cream................i agree, Macybaby, it will have to be a 'cheat' once in a while,when a craving gets too bad. I've never had to give up anything before, but I know I can-if I have to. Will keep you posted on progress.........


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

A good thing (studies show it really does help) is to right down EVERYTHING you eat. Most people are surprised at how much they really do eat, they just "think" its not so bad. And buy a cheap scale (for cooking) and start measuring out to see how many real portions are in the one serving you put on your plate. And of coures, don't forget water, plenty of water (this one is hard for me).

Writing things down also helps you to also see if you have any specific things that are high calorie/low nutrition (like drinks) you can get rid of.

I "intended" to lose weight for a few years before I finally got to the point where I got seriously motivated. I either had to move up another size in clothing, or stop the gain.

I also have knee problems, and weak ankles so have to be careful about what type of exersise I do. I can do lots that builds strength but it's hard to do the type that burns calories, so I have to go the "watch what I eat" more seriously.

My boss was complaiing that he's exersizing more and not losing weight, but he is not watching what he is eating that well, and I told him he is probalby eating more to make up for the workouts. His big problem is he "cleans up" after his three small children. Would be OK if he did not eat his meal first. I suggested he get chickens so he did not feel the leftovers were going to waste. 

I've had to get my mind around that one too, as I hate seeing food wasted. I've had to sternly tell myself the money is already spent, so if I eat it, I'm not saving anything (I won't eat less at the next meal) and I'll gain weight. It is very hard for me to not "clean up" the last few bites of something, but that could be an extra 100 calories that I really don't need. With the dog, cats, chickens and rabbits, there is always some animal that can eat the leftovers.

Cathy


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Portions? you mean like a loaf of bread? Or a bag of cookies? <sigh>

About the sweet thing. I've been reading and hearing a lot lately about the flavored teas. Particularly how yummy and sweet tasting rooibos/berry type teas are. so..I'm going to try some. I usually order my teas from English tea store, so I'm going to try the blueberry one, and the strawberry tutti fruiti thing near the bottom of the page there. 

They mention freezing the "teas" into popcicles for kids...but I'm thinking that's WAY to tasty for kids  Going to try it and see how it does when I'm craving something sweet.


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## charliesbugs (Feb 25, 2007)

Thanks, Ann, for your info. I have a Republic of Tea "Blackberry Sage decaf" "tea for wisdom" -a fruity decaffeinated black tea blended with herbs". I don't like sage! but I LOVE this tea! The aroma is wonderful and I can drink it WITHOUT sugar.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

OO! That sound excellent  I think I shall look for that one!


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## Ruby (May 10, 2002)

Is there somewhere near you where you can take water arobics? People with bad joints do better exersizing in water because the bouncy of the water takes the pressure off the joint. Some time YMCA gives clases or hospitals sometime give them.


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## marytx (Dec 4, 2002)

The easiest exercise on your joints is going to be swimming. My mom has terrible arthritis, especially in her knees, and that is what she does.


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## kimmom2five (Apr 19, 2009)

Hi. I've never posted in this forum before.
Have you tried a recumbent bike? I have had bad joints my whole life. Nothing really specific just hypermobile(double-jointed) all over. A regular bike hurts my knees but I can pedal a recumbent one without pain.
Water exercise is also good, including swimming laps, water aerobics and walking laps in the water.


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## charliesbugs (Feb 25, 2007)

Thanks for all your tips.Keep'em comin'.


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## charliesbugs (Feb 25, 2007)

Ive lost 5# so far!


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## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

Nothing will help long-term unless you reduce calorie intake. Do that, and exercise will then help.

Watch your drinks - a lot of calories sneak in this way. Sweetened drinks, whether sugar or honey, are not healthy. Alcohol needs watching - there's some darned concentrated calories there. And particularly, fruit juice is not your friend. Fruit juice is sugar water. If you want fruit, eat the whole fruit, fibre and all; rather than just taking a glass of sugar-water that you can toss down in seconds.

Fat is bad in more than teaspoon quantities - minimise it. Fat gives you a comfortable full feeling, but you can get the same a few minutes later from lean protein.

Too much carbohydrate is bad. An easy substitute for pasta or rice is the same quantity of chopped celery, rinsed and steamed or nuked. Instead of bread, use a salad with celery, fine-cut carrot disks or sticks, and maybe cucumber and torn lettuce leaves. Be careful of fat and sugar in salad dressings - lemon or lime juice is a good dressing. In fact, they're good on cooked vegetables as well, so you don't need to add butter or sour cream. If you particularly want the sour-cream effect, use skim-milk yoghurt.

If you use milk (not a bad idea) train yourself to drink skim milk or at most 1% fat. Skim-milk yoghurt can go well with your salad if it's to your taste.

Foods have subtle tastes that salt kills. Cut the salt and you'll not only cut fluid retention, but you'll be able to eat slower, appreciating the flavours in your food.

Desserts - no added sugar (as is, or as bits of fruit), or fat (cream).

Okay, now you've cut your intake, so exercise can help. Low-impact is best. Swimming is good - concentrate on good style slowly, then build distance. Aquarobics sounds good, but I've no experience. Air-walker type machines are useful too. Nowhere near as miraculous as their advertising, but if you can pick up a second-hand one they are zero-impact, low or no strain on your knees, and can give you an aerobic workout.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

oh...just remembered something I've been doing for a couple of years now....It's just a small thing, but if you like sour cream on taters, or on burritos, etc....yogurt works just as well.  nonfat yogurt actually works better than the whole milk because it stands up better to the heat of the burrito/potato. 

about the bikes....good friend of mine has a husband who bikes everywhere. She used to try to bike with him, but just couldn't keep up (overweight for years that ruined her knees and ankles). Well...he had a bike accident and was unable to stand riding a regular bike for long so he bought a recumbent. He loved it. SHE tried it and lo and behold!! She could ride it without pain.

They can be pricey, but for her, it was worth it. Hers is actually a sort of trike....has a side wheel so she doesn't have to worry about stability.


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## Triffin (Apr 20, 2005)

Modified Atkins worked best for me ..

Cut out the carbs ..
No breads, rice, pasta, spuds ..
No sugary drinks .. 

Eat 4 small meals of meats, fish, veggies, fruit, eggs .. per day
Drink liquids when you 'feel' hungry ( I use Crystal Lite )

I went from 257 to 215 in 3 1/2 months doing this a few years ago 

Triff ..


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Weight loss is related to diet and exercise has little or nothing to do with weight loss. There's a saying "Eat to lose weight and exercise to look good".

Let's say you exercise 4 hours a week and burn 350 calories/hr. That's 1400 calories a week, or about 6,000 calories a month or 36,000 calories in 6 months. Since a pound is about 3500 calories, exercising 4 hours a week for 6 months would burn about 36,000 calories or 10 lbs. But what they always leave out is that you would have been burning calories even if you didn't exercise. So the additional calories burned is probably closer to 25,000 calories or 7 lbs. So a normal amount of exercise will probably only result in an additional 1 lb loss per month.

Plus some studies indicate that many people eat more calories when they increase exercise. So eat to lose weight and exercise for the benefits that exercise provides.

Diet, not exercise, plays key role in weight loss


> Though better nutrition coupled with exercise has long been the favored prescription for losing weight and avoiding obesity, a new study suggests diet actually plays the key role.


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

Take it from someone who's dieted their whole life without success until very recently, I'm totally convinced that the only successful long-term eating plan is healthy foods in portion controlled amounts. I still have a lot of weight yet to loose, but it's getting easier.

My main problem all these years is that I couldn't control my portions. I figured if I just ate healthy long enough, I'd lose weight. Now I know this sounds utterly stupid, but when I finally got through my head what a 'portion' was, I was shocked! Gesh, that amount was a 'snack', surely not a meal size? LOL! 

Ice cream was my downfall too. It's taken a whole new mind set to just accept those facts and work with it, instead of trying to fight against all the times I felt deprived or wanted something else. I just keep thinking, not having ice cream isn't going to kill me. Getting it just might!

There are a lot of diets that work, but unless you change your eating habits for life, you will gain it all back. By eating healthy, _with portion control_, that won't happen and is how our bodies are built to utilize the foods we eat anyway. For about the first 3 months I hated those words: portion control! Now, it truly has become a habit and it's a LOT easier.

Now that doesn't mean you can't have a treat once in a while. Again, watch the portion and the 'once in whiles'. Something that has helped me is substituting. For instance, although I'm not wild about the taste of low fat, low sugar items (few things actually taste like the real thing to me), it's better than nothing and I've come to the point where their not so bad once you get it through your head it isn't going to taste "exactly" like the real thing, but it's okay. I'll have a low fat, sugar free, ice cream bar. It's not as good as the real thing, but it's not too far off and satisfies that desire. 

Something else that I've found that is helping me a lot; if I get honest with myself, I know before I even start that I'm not going to able to stop with the appropriate portion. Chips is one; cookies another. Although I am so sure I will just have one cookie or 5 chips, I know I have too high of a potential to not stop at that one cookie or 5 chips. It's like something inside me sends off a compulsive overload and, although I had good intentions, it turned into a serious set-back. Therefore, I just avoid cookies and chips altogether like the plague. I no longer look at them as my friend; rather my enemy. There the bad guys that want to wipe out all the good habits I've worked so hard to accomplish!

Some of this might sound really stupid to some people, but it's what's working for me, and everyone has to find their own 'key'. That's why it's important for us to share our experiences. If we haven't found the key yet, then someone else's experience might just work for us and be 'our key'. I really believe that only 10% of weight loss (and keeping it off) is food; the other 80% is mental attitude. Picking healthy foods is easy; the mental battle over food is the hard part.


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## cider (Nov 13, 2004)

Karen- Stupid? I think that is the most sensible weight loss advice I have read in a very long time!


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

I'm also not able to stop of one or a few of some things. So once in a great while I'm make up three dozen cookies, and then pretty much eat them all up in a day or two. I find that totally falling of the wagon once in a while does me much less long term harm than getting use to having a few cookies every day.

I've tried hard to get out of the snacking habit, it's easy to think you are only having a little bit, but by the afternoon you "sneak" a few more and find the container empty - and I'm the only one in the house. 

I do better in the summer, usually I'm outside and my hands are dirty - not worth the effort to go in the house and clean up just to grab a few crackers. I honestly think I eat of out boredom more than anything else. Maybe it is just wanting to get away from what ever I'm doing for a bit . . . something to think about. 

Cathy


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## charliesbugs (Feb 25, 2007)

3 more pounds gone!!!! Keep taking,everybody.. All your hints are helping and posting keeps me "honest".


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## Nancy (May 14, 2002)

If I remember correctly you use gluten free flours? I have found that I've had to give up most of my gluten free baking as I gain weight to easily when I eat to many carbs. Gluten free or not a carb is a carb. Good luck with the weight loss.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

When I say I _can't_ have something, I tend to obsess, so I'll have that piece of cake then eat less the next few days to make up for the calories. 

I also have to psych my brain by saying I'm just going to eat healthier. If I say I'm going on a diet, my brain interprets that to mean deprivation & I gain weight. 

I just gave up my P. O. Box and now will have to walk 1.3 miles (one way) if I want my mail. The things I do to motivate me, sigh. Now if I can loose my truck keys.......


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## ronbre (Apr 26, 2009)

please begin to track your food intake and your activities on this free web site that i love

www.fitday.com

i know you'll love it if you try it for a couple of weeks.


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