Stalls and Gains. Need help

[soozsb]

If money is the issue, did you know that the YMCA has a subsidy program? You can talkk to them about your financial situation. They take into account not only your yearly income but things such as mortgage/rent, monthly debt/credit payments, etc. Then you could end up getting a reduction in fees. Tell them what you can afford per month, I saw you mentioned under $30 per month might be affordable. Tell them this, they try to be as accomodating as poss. and its all private and you don't have tell anyone that you are being subsidized. Also, talk to them about your weight problem and the need for exercise, that may also sway them towards helping you. I know some people would feel embarrassed by the fact that they can't afford to pay the full fee, but your weight/health is more important than pride, right. Good luck.

 

[nerys-]

Stuff like that does not embarass me thats for sure.

the biggest issue is they wanted payment up front. even if they did $20 a month I could not afford it if they wanted the full $240 now

I will call them again and see what they say. My debt to income ratio brings me pretty damned close to zero every month so ...

I actually make more than enough I just don't get paid (family business long story) I am behind about 14 months pay but when the **** hits the fan everyone needs to give and take as needed for the whole to survive.

 

[KD]

fluctuating between 367 and 370 now. I will stick with it till new years and "see what happens" before changing the calories I am going to alter the amount of excersise I do and see what happens. maybe exerting more energy while staying at 1200-1400 calories will have an effect.

Be careful Nerys. You are already decreasing your calories massively (I would probably recommend about 2250 to 2500 for weightloss at your height, weight and gender) ...your AMR is approx 3,700 calories a day if I've worked that out correctly.

Swimming is a good one and as you say low impact and if you enjoy it, then go for it. It probably wont make a great difference to your weight at this stage though and could even give a gain in water retention.

Anything involving weight bearing is not too good at this point as each knee joint carries about 3 times your weight with every step. So at 367 pounds your knee joint gets about 1101 pounds of weight every step you take. Mucho wear and tear on those joints. Good to do when you are slimmer, but don't worry at the moment.

 

[nerys-]

at 2200 calories there is no point in dieting as I won't lose weight. so thats not even remotely on the table I am barely losing weight now at 1200-1400 calories (was losing tons of weight at 800-1000 calories)

more exercise will NOT burn more calories? I keep hearing this can someone explain this to me? how does this work?

yeah I did the math on actual RUNNING ie medium passed jogging and when one of my calculations showed a potential "momentary" instant G load of 900G's I said OK not going to do any running hehe

 

[KD]

more exercise will NOT burn more calories? I keep hearing this can someone explain this to me? how does this work?

Nobody is really quite sure. It's a toss up between people using less NEAT if they do lots of exercise (NEAT=non formal exercise ie fidgeting, general moving about etc), people falling off the wagon more for various psychological reasons because of formal exercise, more water retention disguising weight loss blah blah and the amount that gets burned through exercise is usually overestimated.

at 2200 calories there is no point in dieting as I won't lose weight. so thats not even remotely on the table

Your very tall, male and overweight. That means that your metabolism is running very high. If you aren't losing on 2200 cals, then you really need to get this checked out with a doc, because that's already a big deficit on what you should need. Of course, you could just be meaning that you aren't losing as fast as you want to lose You should still lose well on that though

 

[nerys-]

at 1200-1400 calories I have essentially lost nothing in over a month. I was as high as 373 and as low as 367 but today I am 370 which is the same as I was a few days before thanks giving 370.

The amount I lose IS important but off course not the end all. 1-3 pounds a month is not even worth my brains cells time to give a consideration too. its just not.

I am not going to fight for the next 4-6 years to lose 150 pounds. I am just not going to do it. No SANE person could.

it took me less than a year to gain 95% of this weight why in the world would it take 4-6 years to get rid of it?

also how did I get rid of 52 pounds in 2 months. There is no way I am retaining 52 pounds of water. I certaintly did not lose 52 pounds of organs and muscle. I feel great I am not weaker not sicker stats are all good. I can clearly see the missing (shrunken I am aware it never actually goes away) fat in my face neck and gut. Clothing fits me now that I could not fit in 5 years.

what happened? how can I repeat that SAFELY. I went up in calories because people here with more experience than I said it was very dangerous for my health.

Either its not working "OR" I am doing something wrong. on the assumption that I am doing something wrong how do I figure out what that is?

what is a REASONABLE goal for MAX weight loss per week? forget 100% safety for a moment. what is the max I can expect to lose without treading too far into the your getting dangerously unhealthy territory? ie how far can I "push" the line within reason?

then what do I need to do in order to do that? am I eating the wrong foods? wrong proportions? missing some key vitamins or something?

I don't care about boring. I don't care about taste. I don't care about monotony. Just tell me what I need to do and I will do it within my means and my budget

If I have to eat the equivalent of oatmeal every meal every day to get reasonable results I will do it if you guys say thats how to do it.

Oh I am not overweight. I am way way beyond overweight hehe (i know what you mean but its funny to me so I make fun of it)

when I get below 300 then I can say I am just "overweight" I will be THRILLED to be just overweight hehe

Sadly the one thing you want me to do I can NOT do. See a doctor. that would cost more money than I have in extra unneeded cash in a YEAR.

I thought 2000-2500 cals was normal? 3700 calories should be my normal? wow.

are you telling me that if I started eating 3700 calories a day I should NOT gain weight? Doing quicky head math I don't think I can PHYSICALLY eat 3700 calories in a day without including junk food fast food and candy in the menu.

Using only normal food thats a LOT of freaking food and trust me I CAN EAT You don;t get to 418 pounds (possibly as high as 460 not sure no scale would weight me at the time) without knowing how to seriously eat

 

[KD]

I am not going to fight for the next 4-6 years to lose 150 pounds.

It wouldn't take that long.

also how did I get rid of 52 pounds in 2 months. There is no way I am retaining 52 pounds of water. I certaintly did not lose 52 pounds of organs and muscle.

Nope, but a lot would have been glycogen/water/leans mass and an even greater BMR. But anyway, the 52lbs was good, but it's unlikely to continue at that rate regardless of calories in. Just doesn't work that way.

I don't care about boring. I don't care about taste. I don't care about monotony. Just tell me what I need to do and I will do it within my means and my budget

Stop stressing? Stop trying to rush it?

I dunno Nerys. You seem like a nice guy, but why do I have this sneaking suspicion that you know the answers anyway. That you know what you should to do, why somethings work and somethings don't, but continue to fight against them.

Have you tried doing this before, losing lots of weight fast? How well did it work? How well did you keep it off?

 

[nerys-]

If I knew the answers I sure would not need to be here.

Most diets I have tried were simply to expensive. I tried low carbing once but when I stalled 4 or so months in for over a month I gave it up (lost 40 pounds kept that 40 pounds off) because again it was simply too expensive.

I guess we have different ideas of RUSH IT. 9 months is not rushing it to me. thats the same time it took to DO this to me.

rushing it would be less than 9 months to me. even a YEAR I could tolerate.

I also still have not heard from anyone as to what rate of loss is safely achievable IE pounds per week.

 

[tarotwoman]

Hi Nerys,

You have said in some of your posts that you can't be sure exactly how many calories you are eating. Have you tried buying a calorie booklet (you buy them at newsagents usually) and writing down exactly what you are eating and it's calorie value?

These booklets give all the calorie value of basic foods, potatos, bread, chicken etc and they also give the calorie value of packaged foods (most foods state the calorie value per item or per 100g on the packet).

Weigh or measure everything that you eat and write it down, then you will get a true picture of what you are eating. Don't forget anything you use to cook the foods in has to be added eg oil so if possible boil, steam or bake foods. The scales you use to weigh your foods are more important than the ones you use to weigh yourself. If you guess weights you are usually eating bigger portions than you think.

Tracey

 

[KD]

If I knew the answers I sure would not need to be here.

True, but perhaps your are waiting for us to tell you what you want to hear, rather than what you should do.

I tried low carbing once but when I stalled 4 or so months in for over a month I gave it up

I'd place a bet that you were trying to really low calorie at the same time to get fast losses.

I also still have not heard from anyone as to what rate of loss is safely achievable IE pounds per week.

That's because there isn't one really. A safe rate of fat loss is doing the right things for your body with the right attitude. Rates of fat loss at 'Xlbs' a week right down to goal when those two things are in place

 

[nerys-]

Actually no and that might be partly why I stalled. I was eating pretty plentifully on the low carbing. at a PURE guess based on what I remember from a day or 2 of that time period I would guess around 3000cals a day roughly sometimes 4000 calories (I really loved Chicken Eggs and pepperoni)

a typical meal for me low carbbing was 2 eggs a piece of chicken a few slices of pepperoni and 2 cans of green beans (really love GB's) so roughly 680 calories for that meal plus the butter when cooking the chicken.

Well what is a ROUGH IDEA of a safe rate of loss. I desire "numbers" how can I possibly gauge success or whether I am doing well or not without some "measure" to compare it with?

When I say I am unsure of the calories I mean I "guess" at a lot of things. Example a medium tomato is 30calories. well did the tomato I just eat count as small medium larger of slightly bigger or smaller than medium? 30 cals 35 cals 40 cals?

ie its approximate but not more than 100-200 cals a day this is why I say I eat 1200-1400. I shoot for the middle and 100 either way is my "fudge" factor.

In the beginning I was eating ONLY prepacked foods (plus veggies) for just that reason I could log the precise calories.

This thursday we have a big family dinner. I won't be denied my lasagna but after that I will go back to prepacked and I will log EVERYTHING.

YES I am aware of the cooking stuff. a RUDE awakening for sure I stopped using butter (massive calories) and figured hey Olive Oil works good too.

HOLY CRAP that stuff is loaded with cals! I just never knew. so from that day nothing went into my mouth unless I had some idea of whats its caloric content was.

I will switch back to logged managed intake but stay at the 1200-1400 and post a log here daily. maybe you guys will notice something that is causing my problems.

it will also make me more accountable

 

[tarotwoman]

Hi Nerys,

To give you some idea of what I eat in a day I've put a couple of average days foods for me. The basic diet is 1000 cals and I have 300 extra (I use them for chocolate, alcohol or any other treats I want.

Bear in mind that I am a 5' 3" female so you should be able to lose weight on more than this.

1oz any breakfast cerial, 4oz banana (weighed with skin),milk from allowance.
7oz jacket potato, 2oz tuna, salad
4oz lean chicken, 2oz rice (weighed raw), vegetables
half pint skimmed milk (or 2 diet yogourts)
apple

quarter pint fresh orange juice, boiled egg, 1 slice toast (no butter)
sandwich, 2 slices bread, 2oz chicken, salad,
3oz beef, lamb or pork (no fat), 5oz potato, vegetables.
half pint skimmed milk (or 2 diet yogourts)
8oz strawberries

Added to this I have 300 cals (you could have more) and as much 'free' veg as I want, carrots, cauli, brocoli, leeks, greenbeans (not broadbeans or peas), tomatos, celery, lettice, onions,mushrooms and peppers. As much zero cal drinks as I want too.

If you like pasta you can have pasta instead of rice, but it has to be weighed, 2oz raw weight is what I have.

Most important is the weighing and the writing down.

Hope this helps

Tracey

 

[KD]

Actually no and that might be partly why I stalled. I was eating pretty plentifully on the low carbing. at a PURE guess based on what I remember from a day or 2 of that time period I would guess around 3000cals a day roughly sometimes 4000 calories

I believe we were doing Atkins at approx the same time and you were on the same forum as me I remember it well as I have an excellent memory when it comes to 'lively' threads There again, the one I remember you were eating a lot less and getting pretty much the same advice as you are here ie BMR, recording, starvation mode, making sure you count everything etc, so your message above might be relating to a previous dieting episode

We could do it all again here, but if you do a search for yourself you may come across them again and have a reread to see if there is anything you've missed. Could save yourself some time and I know time is of the essence for you

 

[nerys-]

would love to see that because one of the things I loved about the low carb diet initially was that there was no calorie limit. So I ate till I was satisfied.

I am not looking to be antagonistic. I can and will drop any method or plan that does not get me results. I am tired of being fat. its just that simple and YEARS is not an acceptable answer to me.

I already know weight loss at the rate I desire is possible. I stopped that method because you guys said it was dangerous.

If the alternative is THIS BAD I don't really have any incentive to stick with it now do I?

I am opened minded to solutions. I am open minded to alterations. I am not open minded to taking YEARS to lose the weight.

I am even open to weight loss at HALF the rate I was getting just a month ago. .5 pounds a day would be quite tolerable to me.

Maybe my troubles in real life are TAINTING my perception of the admittedly hard to interpret emotional context of internet conversation but it seems like people are being viciously sarcastic with hidden messages and inuendo's.

Is that whats happening or is it just me?

 

[KD]

would love to see that because one of the things I loved about the low carb diet initially was that there was no calorie limit. So I ate till I was satisfied.

You were losing on 2,000 cals, but wanted a quicker weightloss. You weighed in at a similar weight. It was a few years ago.

I already know weight loss at the rate I desire is possible. I stopped that method because you guys said it was dangerous.

I said it can be fatal. I didn't say it would be in your case as I didn't know your present state of health, what you were eating, and don't have a profile of your genetics.

Maybe my troubles in real life are TAINTING my perception of the admittedly hard to interpret emotional context of internet conversation but it seems like people are being viciously sarcastic with hidden messages and inuendo's.

Is that whats happening or is it just me?

Possibly just you. I notice that your threads on other forums do tend to turn ugly as people's frustrations increase and I hope that doesn't happen here. If I have said anything that may have come over as a 'hidden message with innuendos' it hasn't been my intent. Have just tried not to embarrass you by quoting your questions and the replies you've received elsewhere. It would make more sense if you googled yourself as much of the advice was good and delivered by people who appeared to know what they were talking about

 

[KD]

Nerys: My wish for you is that you get to your goal and stay there. Whether I agree with your way of thinking about it is neither here nor there, so I will 'try' to butt out of this thread. No promises mind you

If you need this forum for support from those who feel they can assist you in your goals, then I hope it helps, but your long term success will come from learning about what didn't work for us in the past and adapting. After all, as they say "If you want what you do not have, you must do what you have not done."

 

[nerys-]

well help me out here. My google fu is failing me. I found some post about the new wawa salad in 2004 and thats it. got a link to this forum?

 

[soozsb]

Stuff like that does not embarass me thats for sure.

the biggest issue is they wanted payment up front. even if they did $20 a month I could not afford it if they wanted the full $240 now

I will call them again and see what they say. My debt to income ratio brings me pretty damned close to zero every month so ...

I actually make more than enough I just don't get paid (family business long story) I am behind about 14 months pay but when the **** hits the fan everyone needs to give and take as needed for the whole to survive.

That's to bad about the YMCA expecting payment up fron. Here they take it off in a monthly payment (its pay by the month, no lump sum) .
Maybe they could do it that way.

 

[BREN]

Hi Nerys, Happy New Year! I'm sending you lots of good luck and vibes for this year and you achieving your goals.

Bren
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