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Author: Spica
Date: 11-13-02 08:31
Hi folks, me again! Remember, I have lost about 50 lbs. since this past summer - from 275 or so down to 222 right now. I'm 6'-1" with a large frame and I lift weights. I would like to settle in the 200-210 lb range, but it has been Hell trying to take off this last 15 lbs or so. I have been stuck at 222-225 for over 2 weeks. Just began interval training Monday so it really has not had time to work yet. However, I was also thinking of a short fast (24 hours or so) to try to kick-in my metabolism. Has anyone tried this? Will it work for me, or against me? Any thoughts from the brain trust out there?
Mike
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Author: Susan
Date: 11-13-02 08:37
Can you share with me how you lost weight. I been trying with no success.
thanks
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Author: Spica
Date: 11-13-02 09:05
Susan:
I tried for a few years with no success - I do not think I was really committed to it. However, this summer, just before I turned 43, I had a physical and it really hit me that I was unhealthy with my weight and habits at the time. I resolved to change it.
Using no formal diet, I decided to limit my caloric intake to less than 2000 cal/day (women might try 1500) and severely cut back on all fats. To this, I added work-outs 4-5 days a week. At the beginning, I only worked out for 20 minutes or so, then slowly increased to 30, 40, 45 up to about 60 mins now. In theose 60 mins., I usually do cardio-vascular stuff (tread-mill, elliptical, etc.) for 40 min and weights for 20. Early on, though, I just focued on the C-V then slowly added the weights. The weight came off very nicely. My pants size was 48 in Aug and now is 38/40. My face is noticable thinner, I feel great - heck, even my watch band is an inch too big now. I keep it that way to remind me how much progress I have made and to not go back to where I was - EVER! I have a follow-up physical in Dec and I cannot wait until the doc sees me!
Susan, believe me, if I can do this, ANYONE can. You can work it slow and steady or faster depending upon your life style. However, the most important thing is really committing to it and changing old eating habits. Heck, I even used to sleep 10-12 hours a day. Now, I only sleep 6-8 hours and feel great - my body does not have to carry that extra load around. Go for it! You can do it.
Mike
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Author: Dee
Date: 11-13-02 09:43
Hi Ya Mike,
I'm in my 40s too, and have lost about 19 lbs, putting me at a very nice 131 lbs, 20 % body fat, and fitter than at any time since I was playing ball at high school! Anyway, I lost weight the same way you did (by eating 1500 calories per day, lowering -- but not eliminating -- my fat, and exercising for 25 minutes a day that gradually increased to one full hour!!) I jog outside, run up and down steps, and weight train using hand weights. As for fasting, I generally think it's for the birds, but 3 times per month, I spend 3 days eating a raw food totally vegan diet. I am not a vegetarian, but on those 3 days, I have fruit and a few nuts for breakfast, with a cup of weak green tea. I have a big veggie salad for lunch (I add a few red kidney beans to it, and a few peach slices) on which I put a dressing made from 1 TEASPOON of olive oil mixed with 2 TEASPOONS of nice vinegar. In the afternoon, I use the juicer, and make a glass of juice from a green veggie (kale, or lettuce, or spinach), carrot, and orange or tangerine. At dinner, I have another veggie salad, with the same dressing as I had at lunchtime, and I add a couple of spoonfulls of some canned baked beans to it (I use beans that have no pork in them.) In the evening, I have a small 6 oz glass of orange juice, and a weak cup of green tea. After 3 days of that, I'm ready to eat again, and so on the 4th day, I have oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, and for both lunch and dinner, I have salmon and salad, with fruit for dessert. On the fifth day, I go back to my normal food. As for reaching a plateau in weight loss, well, that happened to me to when I got down into the high 130s (I was 150 lbs at my chubby top, with very high cholesterol, which has since fallen.) What I did was shake things up. I ran faster for short intervals while jogging, had 1 week off from weights (and after that started doing a totally different routine), stopped eating breakfast for a week (the same week I stopped weight training) and just had a very small orange or apple in the morning, and drank lots of water until lunch, though I did have veggie juice for a mid morning snack. That got me losing again, at the rate of 1 lb per week, and I thought I was done when i hit 135 lbs and stayed there for 2 weeks, but when I relaxed, stopped watching my food intake, and put my morning jog back to its original 20 minutes (followed by 10 minutes running up and down a set of steps), my weight fell to 131 lbs, and it has held steady there for about 3 or 4 weeks or more now...Go figure! Anyway, since people in their 40s seem to be rare on here, I wanted to share my experiences, and wish you all the best in continuing your very, very commendable weight loss! Cheers, Dee
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Author: Melanie
Date: 11-13-02 09:48
Hi Mike,
I think a 24-hour fast is "against you". When the body is suddenly not getting any food, it goes into "starvation mode" - it thinks it is starving and tries to protect itself by slowing down its metabolism.
At least that's the theory...
Best regards,
Melanie
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Author: Spica
Date: 11-13-02 10:08
Thanks Melanie - I was thinking the same but was just looking for a way to break out of this plateau. Maybe I'll just let the interval training work a little longer.
Mike
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Author: Dee
Date: 11-13-02 12:51
Hi again Mike,
I just read your reply, and realised i made a mistake when i typed my original message. I don't want to mislead or confuse anyone who reads it, so here is my corection:
Jeepers, I wrote this, and it's wrong --
>As for fasting, I generally think it's for the birds, but 3 >times per month, I spend 3 days eating a raw food totally
>vegan diet.
I DID NOT mean that I do that 3 times per month! I meant to say that ONE time per month, I spend 3 consecutive days eating a raw food vegan diet! Since most months have 30 days, I figure that eating clean for just those 3 days each month gives my system a rest from wheat products (love whole grain bread and whole grain cereals), dairy products (love yogurt and cheese), meat, and SUGAR (my downfall), and has me eating like my cave women ancestors on days the cave men were not able to hunt successfully!! I find that the 3 raw food vegan days per month help to control my sugar sweet tooth, give me 3 very fiber rich days, and help me to keep my coffee drinking to the one cup a day I normally allow myself. My overall day-to-day eating hasn't been this good since I was a child and ate at my mother's table (ate a horrible diet while I was in college, and for years after), but I still like to have that 3 day "liver cleansing" period each month. We eat organic veggies, organic fruits, as well as organic meat, organic bread, butter, and dairy products (thanks to supermarkets like Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and Wild Oats, plus a delivery service called Organic Express, and our own home-grown produce and fruit trees), but i still eat too much sugar, and feel I need the 3 days without!!! Hate to say things that are not what I meant, so thought I'd type a correction! As for beans, I think they are GREAT food! I use red kidney beans, pinto beans, vegetarian baked beans, and butter beans. I use them as vegatables at dinner, put them cold in salads, add them to many kinds of soup we eat in the cooler months, and puree them in the blender with a bit of hot sauce to make bean dip for baked tortilla chips that my kids like!! Hope that gives you some more bean ideas, since they rreally are good food! Cheer, Dee
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Author: Jamie
Date: 11-13-02 16:34
Keep going with the intervals and I think you will see a jump on the scale soon./ That is what happened to me! Jamie
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