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I need help losing weight and getting back in shape (2 Viewers)

2274 BMR.  Been eating 1400-1700 calories/day.  Working out for 30-45 mins 5 times a week + 2 hours Bball on Saturdays.

I am melting.. stopped getting on the scale at 14 pounds down.  Just gonna keep this routine for a couple months.

 
I can't run outside anymore.  Even the parks here have too much going on for me to enjoy a run in them.  I prefer a climate controlled treadmill instead of crossing streets, dodging other people, bikes, dogs, dog #### and most importantly, the increased risk of being shot by a cop.
You'd be guilty of RWC (running while creme-colored).

 
Measured my cereal this morning to compare to what I normally would eat.  Was eating 2-3 portions.  My bowl looked almost empty.
We have little bowls from Ikea for the kids - when I realized how much cereal I was eating, I switched to using those.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/131941464052669971/  It only holds a cup of cereal and a cup of milk - that helps.

On a related note, something that has made this a lot easier for me is that we have a good kitchen scale that is always out (for food prep for our kid with T1 diabetes).  It's nice to be able to just put a tortilla on a plate on the scale, tare it, throw on some beans, add/remove a little to hit 4 oz, add some cheese, add or remove a little to hit 1 oz, then know exactly what I'm adding to myfitnesspal rather than looking at a burrito and trying to match it to 20 entries on MFP that vary by 200% in their calorie count.  Is this more like a Taco Bell burrito, a Chipotle burrito, or Pam's Homemade burrito?

Sparkrecipes is good also - we use it to make nutrition labels for our homemade dishes (have to in order to get accurate carb counts for the kid), which makes it very easy to be accurate with the MFP entries.

 
We have little bowls from Ikea for the kids - when I realized how much cereal I was eating, I switched to using those.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/131941464052669971/  It only holds a cup of cereal and a cup of milk - that helps.

On a related note, something that has made this a lot easier for me is that we have a good kitchen scale that is always out (for food prep for our kid with T1 diabetes).  It's nice to be able to just put a tortilla on a plate on the scale, tare it, throw on some beans, add/remove a little to hit 4 oz, add some cheese, add or remove a little to hit 1 oz, then know exactly what I'm adding to myfitnesspal rather than looking at a burrito and trying to match it to 20 entries on MFP that vary by 200% in their calorie count.  Is this more like a Taco Bell burrito, a Chipotle burrito, or Pam's Homemade burrito?

Sparkrecipes is good also - we use it to make nutrition labels for our homemade dishes (have to in order to get accurate carb counts for the kid), which makes it very easy to be accurate with the MFP entries.
Use those same type of plastic bowls for my cereal.  I love my special k with strawberries.  I have a few bowls of it daily.

 
Tick said:
We have little bowls from Ikea for the kids - when I realized how much cereal I was eating, I switched to using those.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/131941464052669971/  It only holds a cup of cereal and a cup of milk - that helps.

On a related note, something that has made this a lot easier for me is that we have a good kitchen scale that is always out (for food prep for our kid with T1 diabetes).  It's nice to be able to just put a tortilla on a plate on the scale, tare it, throw on some beans, add/remove a little to hit 4 oz, add some cheese, add or remove a little to hit 1 oz, then know exactly what I'm adding to myfitnesspal rather than looking at a burrito and trying to match it to 20 entries on MFP that vary by 200% in their calorie count.  Is this more like a Taco Bell burrito, a Chipotle burrito, or Pam's Homemade burrito?

Sparkrecipes is good also - we use it to make nutrition labels for our homemade dishes (have to in order to get accurate carb counts for the kid), which makes it very easy to be accurate with the MFP entries.
I like the idea of the kitchen scale always being out. I been trying to figure out how I can accurately count calories etc when I start transitioning to my new normal eating of home made food. Kinda a 'duh' thing but I hadn't thought of it.

As for the myfitnesspal- is that an ap? I am using the Fitbit one since I am using a Fitbit but if there was something that was better for some reason- I am all ears.

 
I was never an avocado guy but started trying it on it's own. Actually liking it straight.

I cut it in half and walk around the office like an idiot eating like if it was a bowl of cereal.
Yea, odd.... I really do love avocado but I don't think I could eat it like that. Total opposite of you. I do like Buddy Ball's idea of using it as a mayo alternative. I expect to eat a lot less sandwiches than in the past but I was wondering how to build a healthier sandwich being that I hate 'dry' sandwiches and would put generous amounts of mayo on mine along with mustard (though mustard is not a problem). My buddy is launching a Jalapeño sauce soon which I can use to replace too.  

 
Yea, odd.... I really do love avocado but I don't think I could eat it like that. Total opposite of you. I do like Buddy Ball's idea of using it as a mayo alternative. I expect to eat a lot less sandwiches than in the past but I was wondering how to build a healthier sandwich being that I hate 'dry' sandwiches and would put generous amounts of mayo on mine along with mustard (though mustard is not a problem). My buddy is launching a Jalapeño sauce soon which I can use to replace too.  
I actually tried this yesterday. Here's the deal - I like making homemade guac by mushing up the avocado, adding a diced tomato and a little onion, a bunch of spices and some lime juice. So then I had a leftover chicken breast and no veggies left last night from the grocery run. I did, however, have half an avocado.

So I cut it into squares and seasoned it with a little salt, pepper, and cayenne. Tasted great. Gonna do it again tonight probably. Helps since it's really quick and I have a number of nights with a super quick turnaround between things I have to do.

 
Yea, odd.... I really do love avocado but I don't think I could eat it like that. Total opposite of you. I do like Buddy Ball's idea of using it as a mayo alternative. I expect to eat a lot less sandwiches than in the past but I was wondering how to build a healthier sandwich being that I hate 'dry' sandwiches and would put generous amounts of mayo on mine along with mustard (though mustard is not a problem). My buddy is launching a Jalapeño sauce soon which I can use to replace too.  


The one piece I will add to this is when trying to make the changes that all of us are trying to accomplish, it at times comes with some "sacrifices" of trying things that we normally would never like. I NEVER thought I could have pizza without a soda or some sugary drink.
I now find myself drinking water with pizza. Never would have even fathomed being able to do it....but i "forced" myself and sure enough, it's somewhat normal for me now.

Same with just straight foods.
I buy a handful of string beans and will just snack on them every so often like they were pretzels or something. Spinach too ...lol, just be careful not to look like this when snacking on spinach at the office
spinach.jpg

Some veggies are easier to handle than others but I tell myself they are just little snacks and I get them down as such.

I guess the morale of the story is you can surprise yourself when you step out of your comfort zone and you won't know what you can get accustomed to eating until you try to tolerate it a bit.

 
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The one piece I will add to this is when trying to make the changes that all of us are trying to accomplish, it at times comes with some "sacrifices" of trying things that we normally would never like. I NEVER thought I could have pizza without a soda or some sugary drink.
I now find myself drinking water with pizza. Never would have even fathomed being able to do it....but i "forced" myself and sure enough, it's somewhat normal for me now.

Same with just straight foods.
I buy a handful of string beans and will just snack on them every so often like they were pretzels or something. Spinach too ...lol, just be careful not to look like this when snacking on spinach at the office
spinach.jpg

Some veggies are easier to handle than others but I tell myself they are just little snacks and I get them down as such.

I guess the morale of the story is you can surprise yourself when you step out of your comfort zone and you won't know what you can get accustomed to eating until you try to tolerate it a bit.
I gotcha.... I guess I can always try it. What is the worst that will happen? I spit it out? :X

I don't think I could do veggies plain though- without anything. Even the ones I like. Now, dipping in some hummus then I think I can do a number of uncooked veggies that way.

 
I gotcha.... I guess I can always try it. What is the worst that will happen? I spit it out? :X

I don't think I could do veggies plain though- without anything. Even the ones I like. Now, dipping in some hummus then I think I can do a number of uncooked veggies that way.
I hear ya, I was tempted to start putting melted cheese on things...lol

I'm gonna do this one again as a good snack.

Seasoned roasted chick peas
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-crispy-roasted-chickpeas-in-the-oven-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-219753

 
I am just a few days away from completing my first goal- under 1K a day for the month of Feb. So, that is good news.

My little brother was in a severe motorcycle accident with a semi truck and is in ICU now. It looks like he will survive at this point but he will have a very long road ahead of him (about 12 plates were placed in his head yesterday for all the shattered, fractured, broken bones in his head). I am not an emotional eater so that is not a problem but I did book flights to California to visit with him next week. So, it will be a challenge to get my activity time and eat well while traveling etc. Plus, I must have an In N Out burger when I first fly in (I have done that since I moved out to Chicago). Also, because of the emotional/mental toll I am pretty drained of energy right now. Obviously, minor things compared to what my brother is going through but that doesn't mean I just throw out trying to get healthy, lose weight, get in shape out the window. It will be an extra challenge but I guess if I can do it this way then I can do it any time.

 
Not sure what I'm down to now.  Had a cheat day today.  Had ice cream.  I do however have the occasional small handful of m&m's.  I've increased my probiotics in an attempt to improve my overall health.  I currently make kefir, beet kvass, and sour kraut.  I also eat kimshe daily as well as miso soup 2x times a week.  Beet kvass is by far the most difficult to get use to.  Otherwise the other stuff is now pretty good.  I find myself craving kimshe if I don't have it everyday.  Typical breakfast is 2 eggs, kimshe, glass of kefir and small spin salad.  Lunch is smoothie.  Dinner is whatever I I make for the family minus breads, pasta carbs part.  Throughout the day I drink about 3/4 quart of homemade kefir.  If anyone wants some grains and lives in MN let me know and I'll hook you up.

Also has been about 3 months with no booze.  I was drinking quite a bit before but quit cold turkey after reading 'The easy way to control drinking' by Alan Carr .  

I have also been walking 5 (10k steps for me) miles a day on treadmill for the last three weeks!!  Haven't missed a day without going 5.  The Fitbit has been very motivational in helping me do my 5 miles.  One more week of that and I'm going to start doing those CD's that were recommended.  Can't remember the name but they are made by that hot chick on biggest loser.   (Jillian I think was her name) 

Anyone have any recommendations on  a good 'smart' scale?  Fitbit has one but the reviews arn't that good.

 
Thanks guys. My little brother is in stable condition and most everything along the way has been positive as much as you can expect with being in a major motorcycle accident with a big rig  (e.g. it doesn't appear to be any major injuries to his body, plastic reconstructive surgery went well on Sat, bleeding around his brain has been minimal, etc). Things are progressing well it seems though every time that they try to bring him out of the medical coma he freaks out and they put him back under. The two major unknowns now are whether he still can see and if he had any brain damage. I also suppose being paralyzed waist down could not be ruled out right now but there is no reason to think that may be the case. He has squeezed

I will be heading out to California next week for about a week. I will be staying with a family who are very health conscious so that should be a help in not going off the rails. Spending a lot of time at the hospital will be the big challenge... I have always found humor in that it seems one of the hardest places to eat healthy seems to be hospitals. I will also have to budget in at least one trip to In N Out, Los Toros (a Mexican joint I love in Chatsworth, Ca), and a couple of other places I always miss being in Illinois but my plan is to budget the calories accordingly and not go crazy when I do visit those places. I am actually thinking the 15 minutes of activity goal should be easier as I will not have the kids (flying out alone) and plenty of down time (not too much to do when visiting him other than sit there but I wont be at the hospital 24/7). I might try to get more activity time in and bank that.

Finally, TODAY IS THE LAST DAY!!!! I will have successfully completed my first goal of being under 1K calories a day unless I just totally go crazy in the next few hours~ :D  I have lost over 20 pounds (have not re weighed myself for about a week) and the clothes are feeling very loose. I actually noticed walking into work today that my pants are loose enough that I am in danger of them falling down to my ankles if I don't pay attention. As I said in the past, I know it is not the "ideal" way to lose weight or whatever but so far I think it is working the way that I expected and hoped it would- knowing my challenges and how to leverage my strengths.

So, tomorrow, I will splurge a little but my goal for March is to be under 1,700 calories a day and have at min 15 minutes of "activity" a day. (I am very careful to use activity as I am not having a goal of exercising or working out- yet).

I am feeling good about achieving my goal but it is a bit anti-climatic with everything going on. On to the next goal.

 
Not sure what I'm down to now.  Had a cheat day today.  Had ice cream.  I do however have the occasional small handful of m&m's.  I've increased my probiotics in an attempt to improve my overall health.  I currently make kefir, beet kvass, and sour kraut.  I also eat kimshe daily as well as miso soup 2x times a week.  Beet kvass is by far the most difficult to get use to.  Otherwise the other stuff is now pretty good.  I find myself craving kimshe if I don't have it everyday.  Typical breakfast is 2 eggs, kimshe, glass of kefir and small spin salad.  Lunch is smoothie.  Dinner is whatever I I make for the family minus breads, pasta carbs part.  Throughout the day I drink about 3/4 quart of homemade kefir.  If anyone wants some grains and lives in MN let me know and I'll hook you up.

Also has been about 3 months with no booze.  I was drinking quite a bit before but quit cold turkey after reading 'The easy way to control drinking' by Alan Carr .  

I have also been walking 5 (10k steps for me) miles a day on treadmill for the last three weeks!!  Haven't missed a day without going 5.  The Fitbit has been very motivational in helping me do my 5 miles.  One more week of that and I'm going to start doing those CD's that were recommended.  Can't remember the name but they are made by that hot chick on biggest loser.   (Jillian I think was her name) 

Anyone have any recommendations on  a good 'smart' scale?  Fitbit has one but the reviews arn't that good.


The Withings scale gets decent reviews. No smart scale is really all that great.  If getting into measuring BF% you should do the hydrostatic dunking or similar method monthly while using a smart scale to get a feel for the accuracy of it.  Or just look in the mirror and move on with your life.

 
Thanks guys. My little brother is in stable condition and most everything along the way has been positive as much as you can expect with being in a major motorcycle accident with a big rig  (e.g. it doesn't appear to be any major injuries to his body, plastic reconstructive surgery went well on Sat, bleeding around his brain has been minimal, etc). Things are progressing well it seems though every time that they try to bring him out of the medical coma he freaks out and they put him back under. The two major unknowns now are whether he still can see and if he had any brain damage. I also suppose being paralyzed waist down could not be ruled out right now but there is no reason to think that may be the case. He has squeezed

I will be heading out to California next week for about a week. I will be staying with a family who are very health conscious so that should be a help in not going off the rails. Spending a lot of time at the hospital will be the big challenge... I have always found humor in that it seems one of the hardest places to eat healthy seems to be hospitals. I will also have to budget in at least one trip to In N Out, Los Toros (a Mexican joint I love in Chatsworth, Ca), and a couple of other places I always miss being in Illinois but my plan is to budget the calories accordingly and not go crazy when I do visit those places. I am actually thinking the 15 minutes of activity goal should be easier as I will not have the kids (flying out alone) and plenty of down time (not too much to do when visiting him other than sit there but I wont be at the hospital 24/7). I might try to get more activity time in and bank that.

Finally, TODAY IS THE LAST DAY!!!! I will have successfully completed my first goal of being under 1K calories a day unless I just totally go crazy in the next few hours~ :D  I have lost over 20 pounds (have not re weighed myself for about a week) and the clothes are feeling very loose. I actually noticed walking into work today that my pants are loose enough that I am in danger of them falling down to my ankles if I don't pay attention. As I said in the past, I know it is not the "ideal" way to lose weight or whatever but so far I think it is working the way that I expected and hoped it would- knowing my challenges and how to leverage my strengths.

So, tomorrow, I will splurge a little but my goal for March is to be under 1,700 calories a day and have at min 15 minutes of "activity" a day. (I am very careful to use activity as I am not having a goal of exercising or working out- yet).

I am feeling good about achieving my goal but it is a bit anti-climatic with everything going on. On to the next goal.
Awesome job! I think you are doing the right thing. If you can eat 1000 calories a day and be OK, then do it. Hang in there and take it easy on the burgers. In-n-out has a way of sucking you in - I love that place.

And I hope your brother is OK. 

 
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Awesome job! I think you are doing the right thing. If you can eat 1000 calories a day and be OK, then do it. Hang in there and take it easy on the burgers. In-n-out has a way of sucking you in - I love that place.

And I hope your brother is OK. 
An In N Out Cheeseburger is 400 calories. I can easily fit that into a budget for the day. Plus, I have a built in failsafe in that I fly back to Illinois after a week.

 
I'm also facing a wardrobe change - my pants are falling off and my shirts look like curtains.  166.8 this morning, so down another pound last week.  Slow and steady...

 
Believe me, I'm not trying to hate. I would love for you to be able to stick to this temporarily as you'd drop a #### load of weight. I just fear that you falling off the wagon may fracture a perfectly good road (jk, brother, jk).

Anyway, I'm happy to put some cash on this and I would trust you to tell the truth. Maybe your will power far exceeds mine. But, succeed or fail this month, how about you mix in some weight training the rest of the time so you can mold some of the muscle you're aiming to bring to the daylight. Nothing crazy, just some light resistance work at first.

How much do you want to bet? $50 via paypal enough? You can even average 1,000 calories over the month and I'd consider you to have won. Sound cool?
Chad, sounds like I lost this bet.  PM me your paypal details and keep up the good work.

 
I'm also facing a wardrobe change - my pants are falling off and my shirts look like curtains.  166.8 this morning, so down another pound last week.  Slow and steady...
Same here. My work clothes have gone from being looser to now I am constantly pulling my pants up with it not being too far down the road of them potentially falling down to the ankles. I will need to get suspenders. I am not sure how to best navigate this as if I continue down the road I am planning and trying for- if I buy new clothes soon they will end up being too big again not too far down the road. It is sort of a nice problem to have but we are so broke right now getting new suits will be a hefty addition to debt that has been getting added to on anyways. It is debt that will eventually go down as our expenses go down (the major expense is child care/school which will go down thanks to a FIL who is willing to pay for private school as long as it is Catholic) and hopefully get a bump in pay as I move on to a position more suited to my level of experience/competence but still..... more debt means a bigger hole to dig out of again. First world problems. :lmao:

 
Doesn't one of the major suit warehouse places allow you to turn in a suit in some timeframe for a smaller size at a major discount?  They then donate them and give you like half off or more.

Mens Warehouse maybe?  

 
So, here is a funny thing. Today is a sort of 'free day' for me but I don't want to go off the deep end. I been trying to figure out what to get for lunch. But now that I am counting calories I went online to look at the calories of a few things....

I thought of a chicken sandwich that I like a lot from Buona Beef. Char-Grilled Chicken Avocado. Sounds fairly healthy, no? 998 calories, 64 grams of fat, 1037 sodium. So, I looked up a BK Whopper without pickles: 650 calories, 37 grams of fat, 700 sodium. That blew my mind. Now, I know avocado has a lot of the good fat for you and the fried Jalapeño's sure don't help keep calories down but still.... mind blown. I thought it would be roughly the same, not so way off in favor of the BK burger!

Another interesting thing is that since I am indulging a bit here- I really don't want to waste my indulgence on BK. I would really like a burger but not just any burger. It is kind of funny how making a conscious effort to lower and count your calories really changes how you look at food. How many times in my past have I just gone to BK because it was easy, fast and well- it is not that bad of a burger? Now, it just has very little appeal.

 
Doesn't one of the major suit warehouse places allow you to turn in a suit in some timeframe for a smaller size at a major discount?  They then donate them and give you like half off or more.

Mens Warehouse maybe?  
I seem to remember something at Mens Warehouse when I got some suits there about free alterations but there is only so much that they can alter before you just need a new suit. Beyond that, I don't know.  

I guess the silver lining is that I have been getting in the warning zone of needing a refresh of my business suits anyways. I'll have to look around and see what kind of options there are.

 
So, here is a funny thing. Today is a sort of 'free day' for me but I don't want to go off the deep end. I been trying to figure out what to get for lunch. But now that I am counting calories I went online to look at the calories of a few things....

I thought of a chicken sandwich that I like a lot from Buona Beef. Char-Grilled Chicken Avocado. Sounds fairly healthy, no? 998 calories, 64 grams of fat, 1037 sodium. So, I looked up a BK Whopper without pickles: 650 calories, 37 grams of fat, 700 sodium. That blew my mind. Now, I know avocado has a lot of the good fat for you and the fried Jalapeño's sure don't help keep calories down but still.... mind blown. I thought it would be roughly the same, not so way off in favor of the BK burger!

Another interesting thing is that since I am indulging a bit here- I really don't want to waste my indulgence on BK. I would really like a burger but not just any burger. It is kind of funny how making a conscious effort to lower and count your calories really changes how you look at food. How many times in my past have I just gone to BK because it was easy, fast and well- it is not that bad of a burger? Now, it just has very little appeal.
Probably a ton of calories in the bread that those places are using too. Most people underestimate how many calories in those big rolls. And fast food condiments get loaded with unnecessary calories.

I was going to make a similar suggestion when you were talking about In and Out or whatever the other day. Go to a real restaurant and get a burger if you want it that bad. The calories will be around the same but instead of getting a patty that is packed full of god knows what and will never rot, you'll get a nice blend of quality meat that your body won't reject.

 
Probably a ton of calories in the bread that those places are using too. Most people underestimate how many calories in those big rolls. And fast food condiments get loaded with unnecessary calories.

I was going to make a similar suggestion when you were talking about In and Out or whatever the other day. Go to a real restaurant and get a burger if you want it that bad. The calories will be around the same but instead of getting a patty that is packed full of god knows what and will never rot, you'll get a nice blend of quality meat that your body won't reject.
You have never been to In N Out, have you? It is fast food but it ain't fast food. I would opt for an In N Out burger over any restaurant burger any day. They have been very slow to expand out of California because for a long time they said that they could not find the vendors who would meet their standards on quality for their meat and stuff. Third only to family/friends and weather is what I miss the most of California.

But yea, the bun adds a number of calories I am sure for that Buona Beef chicken sandwich.

 
Not sure what I'm down to now.  Had a cheat day today.  Had ice cream.  I do however have the occasional small handful of m&m's.  I've increased my probiotics in an attempt to improve my overall health.  I currently make kefir, beet kvass, and sour kraut.  I also eat kimshe daily as well as miso soup 2x times a week.  Beet kvass is by far the most difficult to get use to.  Otherwise the other stuff is now pretty good.  I find myself craving kimshe if I don't have it everyday.  Typical breakfast is 2 eggs, kimshe, glass of kefir and small spin salad.  Lunch is smoothie.  Dinner is whatever I I make for the family minus breads, pasta carbs part.  Throughout the day I drink about 3/4 quart of homemade kefir.  If anyone wants some grains and lives in MN let me know and I'll hook you up.

Also has been about 3 months with no booze.  I was drinking quite a bit before but quit cold turkey after reading 'The easy way to control drinking' by Alan Carr .  

I have also been walking 5 (10k steps for me) miles a day on treadmill for the last three weeks!!  Haven't missed a day without going 5.  The Fitbit has been very motivational in helping me do my 5 miles.  One more week of that and I'm going to start doing those CD's that were recommended.  Can't remember the name but they are made by that hot chick on biggest loser.   (Jillian I think was her name) 

Anyone have any recommendations on  a good 'smart' scale?  Fitbit has one but the reviews arn't that good.
I have and like the Fitibit one (Aria). Works great, automatically updates to my myfitnesspal, and I have set up an IFTTT to input all the readings automatically into a Google Drive spreadsheet. One day can use that to create all sorts of graphs etc. 

anyway no complaints about the scale. :shrug:

 
Amazing progress in here boys.  Inspiring.  Keep at it. I'm going to try and come along for the ride as best I can. 

 
So, here is a funny thing. Today is a sort of 'free day' for me but I don't want to go off the deep end. I been trying to figure out what to get for lunch. But now that I am counting calories I went online to look at the calories of a few things....

I thought of a chicken sandwich that I like a lot from Buona Beef. Char-Grilled Chicken Avocado. Sounds fairly healthy, no? 998 calories, 64 grams of fat, 1037 sodium. So, I looked up a BK Whopper without pickles: 650 calories, 37 grams of fat, 700 sodium. That blew my mind. Now, I know avocado has a lot of the good fat for you and the fried Jalapeño's sure don't help keep calories down but still.... mind blown. I thought it would be roughly the same, not so way off in favor of the BK burger!

Another interesting thing is that since I am indulging a bit here- I really don't want to waste my indulgence on BK. I would really like a burger but not just any burger. It is kind of funny how making a conscious effort to lower and count your calories really changes how you look at food. How many times in my past have I just gone to BK because it was easy, fast and well- it is not that bad of a burger? Now, it just has very little appeal.
Yeah, some foods just fall off the list due to the low quality/calorie ratio.  Donuts were top of that list for me - if there are free donuts at work, I find out after I've eaten breakfast.  If I eat the donut, I'm in the hole on calories the rest of the day, and donuts just aren't good enough to justify that.  Sugared drinks, too.

I have a nice built-in cheat day - I have 2 hours of indoor soccer every Sunday night, at a time when I can't really eat a full dinner before playing.  Based on number of subs and whether I play goalie for any of the game, that varies from 70 to 90 minutes of field play.  That's just a ridiculous number of calories burned, so on the way home I can eat whatever I want, though it's late enough that I get drive-through or takeout.  It's some pretty crappy food in general, but it's nice to have a free meal each week where I don't have any real restrictions.

 
Decided to indulge healthy style. Went to Panera Bread and got a Turkey Avocado BLT sandwich. Swiped out the sourdough for whole wheat. Got a fruit cup instead of bread or chips and I went ahead and got a blueberry pom smoothie (easily could have not but this was an indulgent lunch after all) . All about 780 calories or in other words pretty close to what I was taking in for the whole day in Feb. It puts me at 1,126 calories for the day. I do plan on some pasta tonight so I will go over my 1,700 goal but that was already planned as this is my 'reward' day for hitting my goal for Feb but I like the fact that even indulging a bit still has me in manageable calorie territory. I could easily have a decent dinner tonight and be well under 1,700 calories. Like I said, I likely will go over today but that is ok as I planned that way back in Jan.

 
Avocado and carrots for lunch last 2 days and some almonds..... and half a mango.... and a kiwi...
Finally getting out for some long runs of 10/13 miles last week and 3 half marathon's scheduled for next month.

 
Sorry in advance for the length: My wife and I just started down this diet road. She wants to lose 15 pounds. I need to lose more--like 30.

I am 46--5'11 and 220. We both got the myfitnesspal app two weeks ago and have used it every day I really wish I would have used it before and saw how much I was actually eating to get a baseline, but I have kept my calorie intake around 1200 each day this week. This has really been problematic because I have been a type 1 diabetic for almost 40 years and I take 4 shots a days. Cutting down this quickly on my food intake has really created some problems with low blood sugar episodes as we are primarily following an Atkkns based diet. I see a lot of diets with smoothies and those are next to impossible to counter with the correct insulin amount. 

I admit I live a very sedentary lifestyle. I am either in my office or in a courtroom most days. I don't have a regular exercise routine simply because I have two very busy daughters 16-11 who have activities every day and there simply is no time for me to exercise. I am proud of myself because I have reached 5000 steps each day this week (I know small potatoes compared to what you guys do) but I want to get that up to 6000 next week. I simply do not have time to join a gym. I get up at 5:30 and we get the kids ready. Out the door by 7:00 and I usually get home at 5:00, cook dinner and back out the door with any of the dozen kids activities they are in . 

My biggest vice over the past 20 years has been drinking. I drink Coors light (yeah snicker away) but it is not uncommon for me to put away 40-48 of these a week (primarily on weekends) especially during football season. I cut that down to 20 last week and I am planning on taking that down to 12 this weekend. I am hoping this alone may lead to some drastic weight loss. However I fear the reduction in calories plus the reduction in beer is a lot to take on all at once and could lead to some slipping off the wagon. What's odd is, despite the beer, my diabetes is pretty well controlled (a1c around 7) 

I have been pushing eggs in the morning, walnuts and water mid morning and then tuna and fruit for lunch, dinner is usually what I cook for the family but significantly portioned controlled (last night I had a Big Mac no bun). 

Maybe it is my imagination but I feel lighter already. I know I am already sleeping better and I feel like I have more energy. It is hard to judge because we had an old scale that was hard to read so I bought a new one this weekend and it showed me weighing 7 pounds more than the other scale. So I didn't enter my weight into the app because it will look like I gained all his weight. 

Sorry for me spilling my guts here, but I am tired of this beer gut, my size 40 waist and getting winded climbing two flights of steps. 

 
Sorry in advance for the length: My wife and I just started down this diet road. She wants to lose 15 pounds. I need to lose more--like 30.

I am 46--5'11 and 220. We both got the myfitnesspal app two weeks ago and have used it every day I really wish I would have used it before and saw how much I was actually eating to get a baseline, but I have kept my calorie intake around 1200 each day this week. This has really been problematic because I have been a type 1 diabetic for almost 40 years and I take 4 shots a days. Cutting down this quickly on my food intake has really created some problems with low blood sugar episodes as we are primarily following an Atkkns based diet. I see a lot of diets with smoothies and those are next to impossible to counter with the correct insulin amount. 

I admit I live a very sedentary lifestyle. I am either in my office or in a courtroom most days. I don't have a regular exercise routine simply because I have two very busy daughters 16-11 who have activities every day and there simply is no time for me to exercise. I am proud of myself because I have reached 5000 steps each day this week (I know small potatoes compared to what you guys do) but I want to get that up to 6000 next week. I simply do not have time to join a gym. I get up at 5:30 and we get the kids ready. Out the door by 7:00 and I usually get home at 5:00, cook dinner and back out the door with any of the dozen kids activities they are in . 

My biggest vice over the past 20 years has been drinking. I drink Coors light (yeah snicker away) but it is not uncommon for me to put away 40-48 of these a week (primarily on weekends) especially during football season. I cut that down to 20 last week and I am planning on taking that down to 12 this weekend. I am hoping this alone may lead to some drastic weight loss. However I fear the reduction in calories plus the reduction in beer is a lot to take on all at once and could lead to some slipping off the wagon. What's odd is, despite the beer, my diabetes is pretty well controlled (a1c around 7) 

I have been pushing eggs in the morning, walnuts and water mid morning and then tuna and fruit for lunch, dinner is usually what I cook for the family but significantly portioned controlled (last night I had a Big Mac no bun). 

Maybe it is my imagination but I feel lighter already. I know I am already sleeping better and I feel like I have more energy. It is hard to judge because we had an old scale that was hard to read so I bought a new one this weekend and it showed me weighing 7 pounds more than the other scale. So I didn't enter my weight into the app because it will look like I gained all his weight. 

Sorry for me spilling my guts here, but I am tired of this beer gut, my size 40 waist and getting winded climbing two flights of steps. 
My couple of thoughts (take or leave as you wish)

This is coming from the guy who kept my calories to under 1,000 for the month. I am worried about you being down in the 1,200 range with the diabetes. If I had diabetes there is no way that I would have tried to do what I did. Also, I did what I did because I really felt I had to in order to kind of reset my brain. If you are successful cutting calories and counting moving forward- increasing your calories to stabilize your blood sugar shouldn't be a problem in losing weight.

What seems to be working for me is focusing on one thing and then moving on the next after success. If you can tackle the cutting calories, cutting beer and walking more all the same time then great! But for me, I think I would go crazy if I tried to do everything at once.

The Coors seems to me the biggest problem for you. 40-48 a week... that is like 500-700 calories a day just in the beer. Cutting that down to the 3 a day (20 a week) you are drinking in 300 calories. That is a lot of calories that you are drinking there before a single bite of food hits your mouth. For myself, I think I would focus on that first and then build from there. But- I am a firm believer in that different people need to approach this lifestyle change for health in different ways.

Congrats on making the choice to work on it! That is the most important goal to hit first! And by the way, spill all you want. I think it is helpful to read/write- I know it is for me!

 
With all that going on, you should probably talk to your doctor about the planned change in diet or work with a nutritionist. Good luck, and keep working on cutting down on the beer. Even at 12 beers, you're adding on an entire extra day's worth of food. 

 
Thanks guys for the encouragement. I just keep telling myself it took 20 years to get to this point--I am not getting out of it in a month. So I need to be thankful for the small victories. 

 
Sorry in advance for the length: My wife and I just started down this diet road. She wants to lose 15 pounds. I need to lose more--like 30.

I am 46--5'11 and 220. We both got the myfitnesspal app two weeks ago and have used it every day I really wish I would have used it before and saw how much I was actually eating to get a baseline, but I have kept my calorie intake around 1200 each day this week. This has really been problematic because I have been a type 1 diabetic for almost 40 years and I take 4 shots a days. Cutting down this quickly on my food intake has really created some problems with low blood sugar episodes as we are primarily following an Atkkns based diet. I see a lot of diets with smoothies and those are next to impossible to counter with the correct insulin amount. 

I admit I live a very sedentary lifestyle. I am either in my office or in a courtroom most days. I don't have a regular exercise routine simply because I have two very busy daughters 16-11 who have activities every day and there simply is no time for me to exercise. I am proud of myself because I have reached 5000 steps each day this week (I know small potatoes compared to what you guys do) but I want to get that up to 6000 next week. I simply do not have time to join a gym. I get up at 5:30 and we get the kids ready. Out the door by 7:00 and I usually get home at 5:00, cook dinner and back out the door with any of the dozen kids activities they are in . 

My biggest vice over the past 20 years has been drinking. I drink Coors light (yeah snicker away) but it is not uncommon for me to put away 40-48 of these a week (primarily on weekends) especially during football season. I cut that down to 20 last week and I am planning on taking that down to 12 this weekend. I am hoping this alone may lead to some drastic weight loss. However I fear the reduction in calories plus the reduction in beer is a lot to take on all at once and could lead to some slipping off the wagon. What's odd is, despite the beer, my diabetes is pretty well controlled (a1c around 7) 

I have been pushing eggs in the morning, walnuts and water mid morning and then tuna and fruit for lunch, dinner is usually what I cook for the family but significantly portioned controlled (last night I had a Big Mac no bun). 

Maybe it is my imagination but I feel lighter already. I know I am already sleeping better and I feel like I have more energy. It is hard to judge because we had an old scale that was hard to read so I bought a new one this weekend and it showed me weighing 7 pounds more than the other scale. So I didn't enter my weight into the app because it will look like I gained all his weight. 

Sorry for me spilling my guts here, but I am tired of this beer gut, my size 40 waist and getting winded climbing two flights of steps. 
Some thoughts...

  • Good for you - it's great that your wife is working with you, it should help.
  • Have you looked into Type 1 Grit?  It's a group of T1Ds who keep their carbs really low and seem to end up with tight control and very low A1Cs.  My wife read the book it's based on and after talking with our son's endo, we lowered the amount of carbs he gets per day by about 25%.  However, she felt that the book sounded a little too fanatical and pseudosciency so we're not trying the full plan.  It might interest you, though - worth discussing with your endo at least.  https://www.facebook.com/Type1Grit
  • You can reset your MFP baseline to the weight you are now on your current scale.  It's not about how much you've lost anyway, it's about hitting your target weight.  https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/10592-how-do-i-change-my-starting-weight-or-edit-incorrect-weight-entries-
  • 1200 seems low to me - to lose a pound a week at your weight and sedentary lifestyle, I would guess that MFP would recommend 1800 calories or so.  1200 seems a little extreme.
  • The nutritionist at our son's endo clinic said he should just avoid alcohol forever.  What are supposed to be the consequences?  https://jdrf.org.uk/living-with-type-1/type-1-and/drinking/ - never mind, looks like it's not so clear-cut and it was just easier to cut it out than figure it out.
 
Yeah if it weren't for insulin, I probably would have been a lot heavier than I am now. 

I think this will be a work in progress as my calorie intake could be too low. Today according to the app (and I am following it closely including adding the salsa I added to my eggs this morning) I ended up at 1345 calories--the goal according to the app is 1860. It says I ended up close to 6000 steps  :thumbup: . Got on the scale and I am 216.3--like I posted that scale had me at 223 this weekend. So wow, that's pretty good--especially weighing at night. 

My wife and I have been together 26 years and we have never done a diet together but she is so excited about this.  She weighed today and lost 2 pounds which is a lot when your goal is 15. She already has all our food set up in little Tupperware for tomorrow. 

Thanks again for all the responses. This place always is so supportive!! 

 

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