Opinions please

newtohosta-no more · Post by **newtohosta-no more** » Jul 17, 2005 6:27 am

Well...I have noticed that some of the weight I lost 6-7 yrs. ago has creeped back on and I'm getting to the point that I feel I need to do something about it. I'm not really overweight by any means, but just feel "thick" where I shouldn't be and I feel out of condition. My daughter wants us to do yoga and belly dancing.

Can't see myself belly dancing and my balance stinks, so yoga might even be a problem for me. (I've watched some of the videos she has been trying). Years ago I did Tae Bo and really slimmed down and toned up. So that is an option to go back to that and watch what I eat better. I like the fact that I can do the Tae Bo at home, since I am not a person who likes to join "fitness clubs".
I've been scanning this forum and see that many of you have tried various diets and exercise programs with varied success, so I'd like your opinions on what you have tried. So would you please advise me on what did and , most important, what didn't work for you (with an explanation of why it didn't work , why you couldn't stick to it, or problems you had with it.)?
TIA for your input.

I'll check back in a few days to see what the verdict is.

viktoria · Post by **viktoria** » Jul 17, 2005 7:03 am

Eat less and exercise more!

Diets do not work (for me) because I do not want to prepare foods for other people and not eat them myself. Whatever the diet, sooner or later you will want to eat what everyone else eats. Type of exercise does not matter as long as you exercise, so do what you like!

In general terms, eat less fat, bread; give up desserts, no fried foods, no cocoa on a cold winter's day...

...and after all that, I am still overweight!

A final word of encouragement: as you get older, each day you have to eat less...and less...and less...and less...and less...

janet · Post by **janet** » Jul 17, 2005 2:43 pm

I agree. Weight is just like money. If you spend more than you make, you'll reduce the balance. It's that simple. No magic involved.

Portion control is where I start. One easy trick is to use smaller plates and bowls. Use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate and your brain will see a full plate and forget about the size of it. You could even try a salad fork instead of a dinner fork. Same for bowls and spoons. Eat slowly and you will feel full sooner than if you wolf it down. And stop eating when you feel full. The starving children in China will never know the difference!

Exercise does not have to be anything formal. Think of it as activity instead of exercise and you'll come up with many more ways to get it done. Park further from the office door, make two trips up the stairs instead of one, carry in one bag of groceries at a time instead of two, put your weeds in a smaller 'dump bucket' and empty it more often, you get the idea. Just move more. You can even wiggle/twist/stretch a whole bunch of parts as you read the forum!

newtohosta-no more · Post by **newtohosta-no more** » Aug 09, 2005 11:21 am

Yep...that's what worked for me in the past. Increasing my activity (in that case Tae bo) and watching what I ate. I would only eat dessert or have soda on the weekend instead of everyday. Made a HUGE difference! I don't eat lots of breads anyway. And we try not to buy things like chips and other snacks too often. If they are here, I eat them. If they aren't here ,I rarely miss them. My weakness is ice cream. I LOVE ice cream! I will eat a bowlful every day if it's here. I tried to stick to just a cone, but that just doesn't cut it.

We do try to buy the low fat or the frozen yogurt and some of them are very good.
I guess I will just have to set a goal and then stick to it. I know I have the willpower once I get going. It's just the "get going" part that's hard to start.

Herb · Post by **Herb** » Oct 08, 2005 3:29 am

Cattle evolved to eat only vegetation & cats evolved to eat only meat. What did we evolve to eat? We evolved to live as hunter/gatherers. We were adapted to eat vegetation, nuts, berries, fruit, eggs, and the occasional fish or bit of meat. That, I theorise, is what we should be eating now, but we aren't.

Just think - people began to practise agriculture when? Not much longer than about 10,000 years ago. It no doubt saved people from starvation. But it produced huge quantities of the sorts of food - wheat, rice and more recently sugar - that we had not evolved to eat in such quantities. I think that most of us still haven't evolved to eat them, because 10,000 years isn't anything like long enough. I think that eating so much starch just isn't natural. Worse, it does two things - it makes us fat & especially so because eating starch makes us crave more of it. It gives a lot of us diabetes too.

6 months ago, my doctor said I was too fat & my blood pressure was too high. So I decided to stop eating starch - i.e. nothing with flour in it - no bread, cakes, pastry, doughnouts etc.) no rice, no potatoes, (& no alcohol either). But lots of green vegetables, salads, cucumbers, celery, green beans, tomatoes, onion, garlic, etc. (usually dressed with Olive oil) eggs, fish, & small helpings of lean meat (when our ancestors managed to get meat it was from wild animals & wild animals don't have much fat on them).

Result? I've lost over 10lbs, I feel way better, I haven't felt hungry, & I plan to lose at least another 10.

Herb · Post by **Herb** » Dec 10, 2005 5:40 pm

Update - I've been continuing to eat in the way I described in the previous post & this morning (Dec10) I was 147 lbs.

This made me check with my doctor's office & they said their records showed that last January I was 170lbs.

Here are two Internet sites that advocate much the same way of eating -
http://www.nerdheaven.dk/~jevk/paleo_intro.php

http://www.lowcarb.ca/atkins-diet-and-l ... rness.html

jaye · Post by **jaye** » Dec 12, 2005 8:24 pm

Herb - Congratulations! You're doing great!! Your weight sounds like it must be near your goal. Has your blood pressure improved? - Jaye

Herb · Post by **Herb** » Dec 12, 2005 9:03 pm

Jaye - Yes it has - very markedly! If I remember to do it, I'll report back again next spring or summer. H.

Wheasie · Post by **Wheasie** » Jul 12, 2006 9:23 pm

Eat right, live well, die anyway. Enjoy what you eat, don't over-indulge.

Wheasie

newtohosta-no more · Post by **newtohosta-no more** » Jul 13, 2006 10:25 pm

Yep, Wheasie......everything in moderation.

Wheasie · Post by **Wheasie** » Jul 14, 2006 10:19 pm

I simply DON'T enjoy exercising for exercise sake. Now if it is a social activity as well, THEN I stick with it. Or, if it is gardening (digging, transplanting, etc.) I can do it for HOURS! (And not even THINK about eating the whole time.)

Wheasie

ademink · Post by **ademink** » Aug 28, 2006 6:39 pm

I used to be a diehard runner/lifter/etc'er and watched what I ate. I always seemed to have an extra 10-20 I had to lose.

A couple of years ago, I read 'French Women Don't Get Fat' and the book made an amazing amount of sense to me. I started eating mostly the way that she recommended and decided every day to be ACTIVE in some way.

I varied the type of activity that I did all over the place. No more 3 days a week running and 3 days a week lifting. I started doing much LESS exercise..only *different* stuff each day for a short amount of time.

The result? 20 pounds lost and kept off w/ 5ish pound fluctuation over the last 2 years.

Go figure!

Try reading the book, it's excellent. Fat is my friend. LOL