Weight loss

[Ronstar]

I used to be able to eat anything I wanted and control my weight through exercise. Mostly running. But I can't do enough running these days to lose weight without having impact related injuries.

I enjoy hiking, biking and kayaking. So I've turned to these along with weight training in order to lose the 10 pounds that don't want to come off. And I'm thinking that I need to improve my diet. Ice cream, coke and french fries might be holding me back.

 

[Chuckanut]

+1

When we were actively losing weight I had a very predictable loss of 20 pounds. From all the data I had on calories and exercise I'd lost 16 pounds due to diet and 4 to exercise.

From what I have read the diet/exercise weight loss ratio is about 80/20 at best and may be as low as 95/5 for some. It all depends on how an individual's body reacts to food and exercise.

What exercise does do is add some muscle which certainly adds to the aura of health that most people find positive in themselves and others. It also makes life easier when one doens't have to struggle to get out of a chair, or can't put a sack of flour on shelf above one's head.

FWIW, I don't care for exercise either. I find it boring except when it is a by product of having fun. I finally quite my gym a while back after they changed their music to more bang-bang-bang stuff, and increased the number of commercials on their video system for all sorts of junk that 'challenged' me to this and that, tried to sell me expensive supplements, and generally made me feel like I had to be a macho, grunt and groan fanatic to be there.

Don't get me started on the extra loud music in the fitness classes that drown out the instructor's instructions if one is within 25 feet of speaker.

 

[mpeirce]

Music at the gym? Wow I'd never ever go!

Our local Y is pretty silent. Everyone who wants to listen to something wears headsets. Even the TVs are silent and the audio broadcast on FM - though I see one guy use an app that syncs with the TV (he aims it at the TV and it figures out what he's watching) so he can listen on his phone.

I don't listen to music but rather either streaming radio or podcasts. Either distracts me from the exercise thank goodness.

 

[Chuckanut]

Music at the gym? Wow I'd never ever go!

Our local Y is pretty silent. Everyone who wants to listen to something wears headsets. Even the TVs are silent and the audio broadcast on FM - though I see one guy use an app that syncs with the TV (he aims it at the TV and it figures out what he's watching) so he can listen on his phone.

I don't listen to music but rather either streaming radio or podcasts. Either distracts me from the exercise thank goodness.

Interestingly, in one evaluation survey I got from the gym, I mentioned the music as being unnecessary. At least 50% of the people in the gym are using headphones or earbuds of some sort to listen to their own music. From talking to people, I figure another 10-20% don't care for the music. The only reason I figure they play it is to dilute the commercials for protein powders, low-carb bars, fancy classes and various 'challenges' that also come over the same system.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I think the music in gyms is strictly for the pleasure of the employees—every member is wearing headphones. I go to a very small gym and always tell the employees I can’t hear my own music over the piped in stuff so they’ll turn it down. I would pay extra for no gym music (or any public music, actually).

Activity for health reasons to me is like brushing my teeth; it’s just a habit. It doesn’t have any effect on my weight though—for me that’s all on portion control.

 

[Momcpa]

Walking everyday has just become a natural habit for me. I've been walking 3 - 5 miles a day on the treadmill. My husband and I just started walking 3.1 most mornings on our country road. We do it at a little slower pace than I'm used to as he has a couple artificial joints and some lingering aches from them. But still, we are out there and trying to be a little more active together.

 

[Hyper]

Graduated low 170's and was in extremely good shape. Spent the next 33 yrs around 188 and was in fairly good shape and exercised regularly, actually could run with males 20 yrs younger. A cpl of really bad shoulder accidents over the last five yrs, knees are gone, body shot. Last November I dropped to mid 170's and still there. Never really a big eater as was way too busy to gain weight. Kinda worried me to drop weight like that but feel really good. Aches still there though.

 

[audreyh1]

I used to be able to eat anything I wanted and control my weight through exercise. Mostly running. But I can't do enough running these days to lose weight without having impact related injuries.

I enjoy hiking, biking and kayaking. So I've turned to these along with weight training in order to lose the 10 pounds that don't want to come off. And I'm thinking that I need to improve my diet. Ice cream, coke and french fries might be holding me back.

Weight training adds muscle which is much denser than fat, so you can slim down but actually gain weight. However you are much healthier.

 

[Pellice]

Another study edges back from the low-low carbs prescriptions: https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/17/health/low-carb-high-carbohydrate-diet-risk-of-death-intl/index.html

I really believe that there are many paths to weight loss and dietary health. The violent swing from low fat to low carb (word for word, people sounded just as vehemently passionate about low fat as they have about low carb) has convinced me that "nutrition science" offers no answers. I think people can find their own path. Starting with the question: "what would be easiest for you to do to start down the path of weight loss and improved health?" Maybe it's a *start* to exchange regular soda for diet. Or to carry your own coffee in a thermos and skip the big calorie purchase. Or cut out eating after 7 pm.

I have been surprised how FIRE has eliminated (usually) my craving for a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack. I suspect that was a mechanism for coping with anxiety at work.

 

[LOL!]

Another study edges back from the low-low carbs prescriptions:....

I didn't read the original study, but the low carb folks were on a spectrum of how they got their calories that they missed from eating a moderate or more amount of carbs. The ones who ate a mostly plant-based diet and did not fill up on animal-based meats and fats seem to have done differently than those that did.

 

[mystang52]

I am not a dietician. Somewhere in this thread I've commented previously, so this may be a repeat: The only way to lose weight is to consume less calories than one burns. It isn't particularly healthy, but a diet of pure Oreo cookies will still lead one to lose weight presuming they don't eat enough, calorie-wise.

I eat bagel for breakfast virtually every day, and a sandwich (more like half a sandwich) nearly every day for lunch. So I'm definitely not low carb. I took off, and kept it off for the first time in my life, some 45 pounds 20 years ago. I "discovered" exercise and portion control.

One thing that may help me in the future, now that I just turned 66, is that I now only like to eat small portions. I'm not forcing myself to eat less; I just find it extremely uncomfortable to have that full sensation after a moderate or large sized meal.

 

[athena53]

I didn't read the original study, but the low carb folks were on a spectrum of how they got their calories that they missed from eating a moderate or more amount of carbs. The ones who ate a mostly plant-based diet and did not fill up on animal-based meats and fats seem to have done differently than those that did.

I agree with this- a friend ended up with some sort of lasting problems when he went on a low-carb diet and apparently ate too much animal protein- now he has to be very careful about not eating too much meat. I've tried to cut out pasta, potatoes, refined sugar, bread, etc. but am eating more lentils, beans, quinoa, bulghur and other substitutes that still have carbs, and I don't eat much meat except for fish. Big difference.

Yep, this sounds like the office where I used to work also. Almost every day there were donuts, cake, or cookies on the break room table, that someone had brought in. I'd say 95% of the folks grabbed that stuff (and I did for a while too), but several years before I retired I decided to stop. If you stop, you get a reputation as a "health food nut". And sometimes the people that brought the stuff in were actually hurt that you did not want some. Unfortunately, snacking like this every day is a big reason why we have such a problem with diabetes, obesity, etc., in this country.

I worked in a place with a break room like that, too, but at least there was no pressure. And sometimes if it was something I REALLY liked I'd slice off a sliver and get out of the room. I used to hang out on myfitnesspaldotcom and I saw so much of that pressure to eat whatever goodies someone brought in. Obesity loves company, I guess. (Some people would take the cupcake or whatever and quietly pitch it later.) Fortunately, my company had a wellness program and I had a boss who once ran a 50-mile race. (He got lost so it was more like 54 miles.) I never saw him drink alcohol, even at evening events, and he didn't bat an eyelash when we were at a steakhouse for lunch and I ordered a lovely plate of asparagus as a main dish. Nice when others understand and support your wish to stay healthy.

 

[braumeister]

In most of these studies, the “low carb diet” they evaluate isn’t really low carb. Typically 30-40% carbs, so take them with a grain of sodium chloride, preferably free-range.

 

[RAE]

I think people can find their own path. Starting with the question: "what would be easiest for you to do to start down the path of weight loss and improved health?" Maybe it's a *start* to exchange regular soda for diet. Or to carry your own coffee in a thermos and skip the big calorie purchase. Or cut out eating after 7 pm.

I agree that the same approach to weight loss does not work for everyone, but I would be very careful about some things........like switching to diet soda, for one. There is some good evidence now that diet soda can not only lead to more weight GAIN, but some pretty nasty adverse health effects, also. Here's a link to one short article about that: https://clark.com/health-health-care/diet-soda-risks-diet-coke/


My feeling is that it's much better to stay away from all soda, and for that matter eliminate as much highly-processed stuff as possible from your diet, and stick to eating mostly whole foods.

 

[mpeirce]

I agree that the same approach to weight loss does not work for everyone, but I would be very careful about some things........like switching to diet soda, for one. There is some good evidence now that diet soda can not only lead to more weight GAIN, but some pretty nasty adverse health effects, also. Here's a link to one short article about that: https://clark.com/health-health-care/diet-soda-risks-diet-coke/

Wow, this article is pretty much junk sciience. None of the studies show causation, simply correlation.

Of course drinking diet sodas is associated with all sorts of health problems - most people start drinking diet drinks because they weigh too much.

Show me a study where they take two similar groups of people and have one half add diet drinks, then see if these people develop certain problems. I’ve yet to see a good study that does that.

 

[googily]

I agree that the same approach to weight loss does not work for everyone, but I would be very careful about some things........like switching to diet soda, for one. There is some good evidence now that diet soda can not only lead to more weight GAIN, but some pretty nasty adverse health effects, also. Here's a link to one short article about that: https://clark.com/health-health-care/diet-soda-risks-diet-coke/


My feeling is that it's much better to stay away from all soda, and for that matter eliminate as much highly-processed stuff as possible from your diet, and stick to eating mostly whole foods.

There is nobody who drinks more Diet Coke than I do, and I am now down 36 lbs since November, and 75 lbs down from my highest 10 years ago.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

In most of these studies, the “low carb diet” they evaluate isn’t really low carb. Typically 30-40% carbs, so take them with a grain of sodium chloride, preferably free-range.

In that Lancet study referred to by Pellice, they were looking at long term all cause mortality (not diet to lose weight per se) distinguished by three main cohorts - 50-55%, 40< and >70% of calories form carbohydrates.

 

[EastWest Gal]

:Most population studies are like that.

Remember all the articles that keep popping up, reminding us that early-retirees may die younger? Of course the studies never separate out those who are forced to retire early for health reasons.

 

[RAE]

There is nobody who drinks more Diet Coke than I do, and I am now down 36 lbs since November, and 75 lbs down from my highest 10 years ago.

Hey, if it's helping you lose some weight, that's great. It certainly doesn't work that way for everyone that drinks diet soda, though. And although this thread is about weight loss, if I drank a lot of diet soda I would be concerned about the studies that indicate other possible adverse effects. The article I linked to earlier was just for general information, but for those of you that would rather see peer-reviewed studies, here is a link to one recent one (and an excerpt from the summary) about consumption of diet soda and possible health consequences:


"In summary, daily diet soda consumption was associated with significantly greater risks of two metabolic syndrome components (incident high waist circumference and fasting glucose) and type 2 diabetes in this large, multi-ethnic cohort. These results corroborate findings from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities and Framingham studies and show that stronger adverse associations exist between diet soda and type 2 diabetes. Diet soda consumption, either independently or in conjunction with other dietary and lifestyle behaviors, may lead to weight gain, impaired glucose control, and eventual diabetes."
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Diet Soda Intake and Risk of Incident Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) | Diabetes Care

[FONT=&quot]Again, I'm just sharing information here, for those that are interested.



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[Chuckanut]

I agree with this- a friend ended up with some sort of lasting problems when he went on a low-carb diet and apparently ate too much animal protein- now he has to be very careful about not eating too much meat. I've tried to cut out pasta, potatoes, refined sugar, bread, etc. but am eating more lentils, beans, quinoa, bulghur and other substitutes that still have carbs, and I don't eat much meat except for fish. Big difference.

+1

While I did low-carb (actually lower-carb) for a while, and it worked, but I found it was not sustainable for me. What I now do is sometimes called slower-carb since it allows carbs but in less processed, healthier forms such as the beans, quinoa, etc. described above. The idea is to stop/reduce the insulin spike that drives the process of storing caloric energy into our fat cells. So far it is working well for me and it seems sustainable.

 

[LOL!]

So ...

Has anyone who went low/moderate carbs using the slower-carb thing (quinoa, oatmeal, maybe beans, maybe brown rice) NOT lost weight and NOT kept it off?

 

[youbet]

I "discovered" exercise and portion control.

+1

I started working with a dietician in Sept, 2017 using a Medicare program that paid for it. At the first meeting, she announced that unless I wanted to lose weight via exercise and portion control, I'd need to find another dietician. She refuses to support any of the temporary "fad" diets, including extreme low carb diets. Her position was completely in synch with our long time family doc.

Her explanation made sense to me. Eat a balanced diet based on widely accepted nutrition studies but reduce portions and add exercise so you slowly lose weight. And that's what I did.

I've lost 57 pounds in 11 months, a tad bit more than a pound a week. And it's been very linear. I held relatively steady during the month we were in Florida last winter but otherwise it's been a relatively constant rate decent.

The best part is that as I approach my goal weight, there's no need to change what I'm doing to any great extent. I can add a second glass of wine to my evenings and maybe a treat or larger portion here and there. But, generally life going forward will be a continuation of what I've been doing this past year but with the addition of 300 - 400 calories a day.

 

[athena53]

So ...

Has anyone who went low/moderate carbs using the slower-carb thing (quinoa, oatmeal, maybe beans, maybe brown rice) NOT lost weight and NOT kept it off?

So far I've kept it off- I'd say I started to change my habits after my husband died nearly 2 years ago. He was more into meat and potatoes and cornbread; realizing that I no longer needed those things in the house, I gradually changed my eating and buying habits and my refrigerator, freezer and pantry are quite different now. I found myself creeping up about a year ago- never weighed myself but the blood bank showed 6 lbs. over 6 months and I stopped buying 4-lb. containers of grapes at Costco and watched portions on everything else. I lost the weight I gained and then lost some more.

My main concern, now that I'm thinking of dating again, is that I'll end up eating more like "normal" people if I get involved with someone who's not as health-conscious and will eat more restaurant meals, fast food, etc. I hope not. I'm really happy at my current weight and my bloodwork is petty respectable, too.

 

[6miths]

Hey, if it's helping you lose some weight, that's great. It certainly doesn't work that way for everyone that drinks diet soda, though. And although this thread is about weight loss, if I drank a lot of diet soda I would be concerned about the studies that indicate other possible adverse effects. The article I linked to earlier was just for general information, but for those of you that would rather see peer-reviewed studies, here is a link to one recent one (and an excerpt from the summary) about consumption of diet soda and possible health consequences:


"In summary, daily diet soda consumption was associated with significantly greater risks of two metabolic syndrome components (incident high waist circumference and fasting glucose) and type 2 diabetes in this large, multi-ethnic cohort. These results corroborate findings from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities and Framingham studies and show that stronger adverse associations exist between diet soda and type 2 diabetes. Diet soda consumption, either independently or in conjunction with other dietary and lifestyle behaviors, may lead to weight gain, impaired glucose control, and eventual diabetes."
[FONT=&quot]
Diet Soda Intake and Risk of Incident Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) | Diabetes Care

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Again, I'm just sharing information here, for those that are interested.
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[FONT=&quot]
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The authors of this study and the other studies cited within it are quite clear about this being 'association'. The cohort used in their paper was not originally meant to look for the effects of diet soda so this is what is called 'data dredging' part of publish or perish but also useful for forming hypotheses which then can be further evaluated. The media loves to trumpet these. Life, it turns out is a fatal condition. The authors also state that there are few rationale for why diet soda would cause these effects and that the most plausible are behavioral rather than metabolic so it still comes down to not over eating.

I am certainly biased having drunk swimming pools of Diet Coke since the 80s. Still have the same normal BMI as ever did. Frankly, I am more concerned about the phosphorous content than the two amino acids that make up the sweetener.

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[Cut-Throat]

I’ve always had a difference in my head from things my body wants to eat to things that taste good.
Lots of diet advice. Beer carbs are mostly from the alcohol - hard liquor won’t change that.

Nope.