I started this year at 270lb, and am currently at 230lb!

Its been a rough, silly road, and the journey isn't over!

Good luck to everyone who is in the same boat!

Congratz.
Anyone keeping track of the losses?

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

I started this year at 270lb, and am currently at 230lb!

Its been a rough, silly road, and the journey isn't over!

Good luck to everyone who is in the same boat!

Thats a great effort mherr170. Welcome to our little support group and good luck to you too.

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Anyone keeping track of the losses?

Only my own.

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Monday - Awesome!!! Excellent!!! Wonderful!!!

mherr170 - A loss of 50 pounds is something to be celebrated. Welcome to the weight loss thread. You are beating all of us so far. Fabulous!!!

It is not Monday here yet so I'm not getting on that darn scale until tomorrow morning!

As for keeping track, we each seem to be keeping track of our own weight losses. (Here's hoping I have a loss to report in the morning...)

P.S. Monday - the first thing Eric and I noticed when we went to Australia is that you folks down under have plastic Monopoly money for currency. After the initial shock though, we started wondering why the USA still uses paper money. It wears out quickly and then has to be reprinted. Polyester pink play money is the only way to go.

P.S. Monday - the first thing Eric and I noticed when we went to Australia is that you folks down under have plastic Monopoly money for currency. After the initial shock though, we started wondering why the USA still uses paper money. It wears out quickly and then has to be reprinted. Polyester pink play money is the only way to go.

The best thing about it is that they survive just fine when you leave them in your pants pocket and run them through the washing machine.

It was wild and wooly down the waterfront on my walk today with 68 to 80 km per hour head winds coming home. I had to have a little sleep I was so worn out.

Too bad it's summer over there, my diet soup would have the pounds dripping off you. good luck tomorrow morning. :-)

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Pudgy Little Raccoon Weigh-In #1
168.2 pounds (AKA 76 kg; 294.23g)

Pudgy Little Raccoon Weigh-In #2
167.6 pounds (AKA 76 kg; 22.08 g)

Pudgy Little Raccoon Weigh-In #3
166.4 pounds (AKA 75 kg; 477.8 g)

Net weight loss to date 1.8 lbs. (816.47 grams)

I am still not certain that this is a statistically significant loss, but I like the direction of the data trend.

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

Everyone can accomplish their weight loss goals if they put their minds to it!

So, extrapolating forward 6 months to Xmas, what is the expected result assumimg the current progress?

That my weight will plateau well before Christmas and I will still have the perfect body build to play Mrs. Claus in our community holiday pageant.

I will write down a few things that has helped me thus far.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I have no credentials to offer advice. I realize that no one has asked me for advice. Everyone needs to figure out what works for them, just as I have. Often times that may mean talking with your Doctor before you try ANYTHING. If anything I write here helps any 1 person, it is worth it. Be careful, and be sensible.

-General
Weight loss is very much boiled down into something quite simple. Calories ingested vs calories burned. Roughly counting your calories for a given day is a great way to make sure you aren't starving yourself while also cutting back. Friends of mine have used an online tool called "My Fitness Pal" which allows your to set goals, make a plan, enter foods eaten, and etc. I myself have not used this, however. I just kept a mental note of what I was eating during a given day. Note: I actually reduced the amount of what I was eating in a day by half, which was surprising to me.

- Diet is the most important thing in my opinion to weight loss. I made this mistake for 2+ years at first. I exercised like a crazy person. 5-6 days a week, several times a day. But in the end, the pizza and chinese food I would eat for dinner anyway would cancel out my efforts immediately. Not only was my food choices poor, but so was my portion sizes. Two, three, maybe even four times as much as I needed to be eating. If you eat good foods, and controlled amounts of them, that is the first step to weight loss if you ask me.

- That being said, exercise is still very important. The benefits are unlistable. Metabolism boosts, mood boosts, burning calories, feeling better, being in better shape. I exercise probably the most out of anyone I know personally. Walking, biking, running, and weights.

- Portion control ideas. This is my advice for portion control. I looked around my house and found a medium size bowl. Not too large, and not too small. Whatever I am eating that day, I fill up my bowl, and have it for lunch and again for dinner. I have found that this is a perfect way to always know how much you are eating, even if you aren't sure of the calories. You don't have the opportunity to eat too much if you stick to your set portion size.

- Dealing with hunger. Over the last 6 months, being hungry was a way of life for me. Sometimes I chose to just put up with it, and other times I would have small snacks to ease the pain. Granola bars (about 150-200 calories) were a great choice for me. They often contain good ingredients as well, such as various nuts. Know that for 20 minutes after eating the snack, you will still be hungry. Find something else to do. Tv, books, anything. Once 20 minutes goes by, you may not even remember you were hungry, and you avoid eating more items.

- Every choice is an individual one. Did you make a bad choice for lunch? Fine. It happened. Come dinner time, you have the opportunity to make another choice. This time, it can be a good one. If it wasn't, you get yet another choice to make at the following breakfast. We all make mistakes when we are feeling weak. That doesn't mean we have to give up and decide we can't do it. Every choice is a choice. If the good choices outweigh the bad ones, you're off to a good start.

- Cheat Days. This is an important one in my opinion. Give yourself the chance to have a cheat day. Eat all of the terrible things you've missed and craved all week. But, make it just one day. Mine is Saturday. Usually by the end of Saturday, I feel so terrible from eating bad food that I regret it. Then by Sunday morning, I am more than ready to get back on the horse and make good decisions again.

- Cut out the easy mistakes. What I did personally was think about my daily habits and point out where I could improve. Do I really need milk and sugar with my tea or coffee? No. I drink it black/plain now. If you have a few cups a day, that is easily a few hundred calories you've saved yourself in just one day! Over the course of 1 year, that is a lot of pounds. Water and plain tea are my drinks of choice. Diet soda is for my cheat day. Think about a typical day for yourself and identify areas where you could do without. Some are easier than you'd think!

- Final thoughts. This isn't about being on a diet. It is about shaping your life to include good habits. This may sound cliche, but it is 100% true. Diets end, lifestyles do not. Personally, I have a lot more weight to lose, and I am no expert. But it is great to have a place for everyone to chat and discuss this difficult task. I hope my thoughts and tips can provide some insight!

Down from 100kg to 96.3 kg in just about a month.
(That's about 8lb loss)

Edit - That means I'm just "overweight" instead on the margins of "obese" :-)

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Down from 100kg to 96.3 kg in just about a month.
(That's about 8lb loss)

Edit - That means I'm just "overweight" instead on the margins of "obese" :-)

8lb in 1 month is really fantastic!

Mherr170, thank you for your thoughtfully written post and congratulations, again, on your fabulous success with life style changes.

Mherr170, thank you for your thoughtfully written post and congratulations, again, on your fabulous success with life style changes.

Thanks very much!

I'd love to hear if anyone else has some tips and tricks they have found has worked for them!

- Portion control ideas. This is my advice for portion control. I looked around my house and found a medium size bowl. Not too large, and not too small. Whatever I am eating that day, I fill up my bowl, and have it for lunch and again for dinner. I have found that this is a perfect way to always know how much you are eating, even if you aren't sure of the calories. You don't have the opportunity to eat too much if you stick to your set portion size.

- Dealing with hunger. Over the last 6 months, being hungry was a way of life for me. Sometimes I chose to just put up with it, and other times I would have small snacks to ease the pain. Granola bars (about 150-200 calories) were a great choice for me. They often contain good ingredients as well, such as various nuts. Know that for 20 minutes after eating the snack, you will still be hungry. Find something else to do. Tv, books, anything. Once 20 minutes goes by, you may not even remember you were hungry, and you avoid eating more items.

These two tips in particular are really great. Boredom for some odd reason causes snacking and bad choices. More constructive distraction, i.e. your suggestions, definitely helps.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Another trick for reducing your food demand at meal times - have a glass of water a few minutes before sitting down to eat. I think this works by fooling the stomach into thinking its already part full, so you feel full earlier....

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

A nice little quiz to help (or annoy)...

What kind of emotional eater are you?

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Weighed in today. 276.6 lbs. Two pound loss. Total loss 15.4 lbs.. from 4-1-2014 to present.

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TimeLord04
Have TARDIS, will travel...
Come along K-9!
Join Calm Chaos

TimeLord - great job!!!

Went to the doctor yesterday. Was down 4 lbs. from 3 months ago. But I haven't been keeping track, so I may have bounced up and down by 10 during that time.

Dr. is sort of pushing me toward lap band, but I really don't want to do it.

Right now, I am getting a bit hungry. Trying to remind myself not to eat a huge blob of rice or pasta.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.