While working out in any form is much better than being a couch potato, making a change in diet is a major factor in losing weight if that is your goal. One thing I have noticed from watching other people is that they make a major change in their diet which in the beginning works like magic but they have made such a drastic change that is is unsustainable in the long term. Then they slowly revert back to their old eating habits.
Weight loss and working out
- Thread starter nv-hunter
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hoshour
Veteran member
You've put your finger on the two hardest things - permanently changing habits of eating and exercising that are decades-old.
For me, extremes are easier than moderation and habits are easier than flexibility.Actually, flexibility comes very easily to me, but I mean that in changing things, I have to forego flexibility.
By extremes, I don't mean telling yourself that you'll work out an hour a day seven days a week or live on stuff you don't like. I mean that you permanently cross certain foods off your menu and treat them as dangerous to your health. You form new habits and discipline yourself long enough that the habit of eating the new foods takes over, like eggs every morning instead of breakfast cereal every morning. I do a lot of simple omelettes now.
You form a new habit of having two snacks a day and they don't come in wrappers or bags, they come from the produce aisle or something like deer jerky or Greek yogurt. Friday night pizza becomes Friday night whatever. McDonald's and Wendy's become Subway. You give yourself no mercy about going in convenience stores.
Tell your wife you really need her not to buy the foods that got you where you were, to please dish up reasonable portions and avoid making meals with grease and heavy sauces like spaghetti and meatballs. if she won't jump on board, and she will probably complain at first, it will be difficult. You might keep a backup meal in the freezer when she makes something you shouldn't eat.
For exercise, set a reasonable workout regimen you can keep because you at least halfway enjoy it. More sports or outdoor activities, less treadmill. Get in the habit of doing it at a certain time of day so your body and mind remind you. It helps if it includes someone else that expects to see you, like a workout partner or running partner or a team of some kind and if it is every weekday before work.
For as long as you need to, you keep a log of calories and exercise. My Fitness Pal is a good app for that but I just use a spreadsheet on my desktop. If you set rewards, make sure they are not things that are temptations like eating whatever you want the last day of the week, but something entirely unrelated and enjoyable like extra $$ in a savings account toward a new rifle.
Attitude - success breeds success, discipline breeds discipline. Enjoy looking better and having more energy, simple food tasting better and being wiser about your health. If others aren't complimenting you, make sure you do. It's not silly. You would compliment your wife if she was losing weight and it's important reinforcement. I don't look in the mirror and tell myself I'm a champion or anything. I don't like puffing myself up. But I do tell myself that I'm looking better and I should.
Don't go back. Buy a new belt and throw out the old one. If it gets tight again, tell yourself it's too bad, you're not buying a bigger size, get back on the wagon or suffer. Make no exceptions for old favorites like donuts or cheesecake. It won't kill you to give some things up when you have good replacements. Remember, you used to date different people before you got married, but now you date the same person every week and hopefully that's working out well.
That's my recipe. If you can do moderation, go for it. But if you need to lose more than 20 lbs. my guess is that you don't do moderation as well as you think.
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UPDATE
End of week one down 5 lbs
This week started out rough had to figure out what and when to eat to be able to make it through a day. Still think that oatmeal should be used to feed cows for steak production. Eggs are ok but not for breakfast, ive been cutting them up and adding them to my salad at lunch along with salmon i baked. Found that i cant handle super low carb diet so ive been shooting for 50 to 100 carbs a day. Would love to find a protein shake that didnt taste like one .
Typical days menu
Breakfast
1 slice toast
1 thin deli slice cheese
2 slices deli ham or turkey
1 glass v8
1 glass water
I dont drink coffee but fill my 36 oz tumbler with ice and tea/lemmon for drive to work
Ill fill the tumbler 2 or 3 times in the am with water
930 snack
Protein shake or 2 hard boiled eggs
Lunch
Big salad with 4 to 6 oz salmon ( will use chicken some this coming week) red wine vinegar as dressing
Afternoon snack
1/2 cup cottage cheese
Sliced tomato, cucumber, half an avacodo
Dinner
This varies but mostly been deer or elk tacos with 1/2 a torttla , some type of veggie maybe a little brown rice ( we eat kinda late about 7 as my gal doesn't get home till then)
Been trying to avoid any food after dinner but have eaten a bite or 2 about 9 or i wake up in the middle of the night needing something in my stomach or i get nauseous.
Not perfect but worlds better then before and im not hungry or cranky like the beginning of last week. Working out Tuesday , Thursday and Saturday at home with the girlfriend. Jogging the days in between. Thanksgiving wasnt too bad but just watched portions and stayed away from leftovers and the pies we ended up with. Did a 45 min core workout Friday night instead of pie and felt proud that i did it. Haven't been too sore but did pinch a nerve in my shoulder that slowed me down for a couple days but and i hate to say it her yoga streching workout helpped alot.
Want to say thanks to everyone for the tips and encouragement. Funny i can buck hay or do chores and think nothing of it but do a workout and i find muscles that i didn't know existed.
No beer and i drank 4 or 6 a day before while working outside afterwork. Do drink tea in the afternoon and when i get home from work now tho.
End of week one down 5 lbs
This week started out rough had to figure out what and when to eat to be able to make it through a day. Still think that oatmeal should be used to feed cows for steak production. Eggs are ok but not for breakfast, ive been cutting them up and adding them to my salad at lunch along with salmon i baked. Found that i cant handle super low carb diet so ive been shooting for 50 to 100 carbs a day. Would love to find a protein shake that didnt taste like one .
Typical days menu
Breakfast
1 slice toast
1 thin deli slice cheese
2 slices deli ham or turkey
1 glass v8
1 glass water
I dont drink coffee but fill my 36 oz tumbler with ice and tea/lemmon for drive to work
Ill fill the tumbler 2 or 3 times in the am with water
930 snack
Protein shake or 2 hard boiled eggs
Lunch
Big salad with 4 to 6 oz salmon ( will use chicken some this coming week) red wine vinegar as dressing
Afternoon snack
1/2 cup cottage cheese
Sliced tomato, cucumber, half an avacodo
Dinner
This varies but mostly been deer or elk tacos with 1/2 a torttla , some type of veggie maybe a little brown rice ( we eat kinda late about 7 as my gal doesn't get home till then)
Been trying to avoid any food after dinner but have eaten a bite or 2 about 9 or i wake up in the middle of the night needing something in my stomach or i get nauseous.
Not perfect but worlds better then before and im not hungry or cranky like the beginning of last week. Working out Tuesday , Thursday and Saturday at home with the girlfriend. Jogging the days in between. Thanksgiving wasnt too bad but just watched portions and stayed away from leftovers and the pies we ended up with. Did a 45 min core workout Friday night instead of pie and felt proud that i did it. Haven't been too sore but did pinch a nerve in my shoulder that slowed me down for a couple days but and i hate to say it her yoga streching workout helpped alot.
Want to say thanks to everyone for the tips and encouragement. Funny i can buck hay or do chores and think nothing of it but do a workout and i find muscles that i didn't know existed.
No beer and i drank 4 or 6 a day before while working outside afterwork. Do drink tea in the afternoon and when i get home from work now tho.
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tim
Veteran member
what is this? I found the paleo diet did not work for me, not enough complex carbs to fuel the bike rides.
I had a hard time with the paleo diet, it seemed great for people who do gym workouts, but sucked for any type of endurance activity.
tim
Veteran member
I wish I could follow that. Dinner has always signified the end of the day. usually around 8 pm.
bghunter
Active Member
I don't understand, all animals trying to gain some fat before winter but hunters want to loose wait before hard hunting season. Maybe we should change our theory and start gaining weight before hunting season, at least it is much easier than loosing weight : )
I think there's something to that. You can't hunt well if you have no energy. Food is fuel, used properly it is one of the most important parts of your health picture. However, too much of anything isn't good and that includes weight. I'm my most lethal at around 215 lbs. last fall I weighed in closer to 250 and my hunting suffered because of it, too much weight. At 215 I'm not super lean but I'm fit and mobile. A couple times I've dipped down to 200 and while I was lean and mean I didn't have much in the tank because of the caloric deficit I was running to stay there. A little extra weight isn't really a bad thing, look at athletes not models... performance not aesthetics.
HuskyMusky
Veteran member
My advice...
find a sport,activity, team sport, or multiple activities you enjoy that are fun, ie Play, vs going to the gym to lift or run...
racquetball, ice hockey, rock climbing, etc...etc..., soccer, basketball.
Meetup apps have a ton of activities from hiking, running to whatever.
find a sport,activity, team sport, or multiple activities you enjoy that are fun, ie Play, vs going to the gym to lift or run...
racquetball, ice hockey, rock climbing, etc...etc..., soccer, basketball.
Meetup apps have a ton of activities from hiking, running to whatever.
Finsandtines
Very Active Member
NV-this is right up my alley, all good advice here. Different things work for different people. More than happy to make some time to discuss with you if you wish.