Trying to get in shape...

[jellydonut25]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[Green Dragon]

Drop the sodas, if you drink them. Diet soda, non diet soda, or whatever.... soft drinks are a killer. Replace it with ice tea, water or juice, but careful about the juice...Ocean Spray is mostly sugar water, for example. High fructose corn syrup is something else to try to stay away from, and it's used in everything. Anything sweet really is not your friend. I'm not saying you can never ever indulge, but if you recognize that you want to change, you're at least aware you have to take steps toward your goal.

It takes time to break habits and replace them with new ones, but it does happen.

http://eatthis.menshealth.com/home aka "Eat This Not That" is a fascinating website, full of useful and interesting info on what to eat and what NOT to eat.

If nothing else, get their daily email updates, and check them out. Some of the things you'll learn (such as what food companies do and the loopholes they exploit in their labeling) will strengthen your resolve to not let another ounce of the crap that gets passed off as food to ever enter your body again!

The things I look out for today is carbs, fat and sodium. I'm no expert, but being middle aged, to avoid learning about these things is to pretty much sign a death warrant.

You certainly don't have to go vegan. I'll never do that, and I do like to know what you can get away with, and just eat sensibly. I don't always adhere to it, but more often than not I do, and I can at least maintain weight and not gain any.

I have very few supplements, from flax seed oil (good for lowering bad LDL cholesterol), and some vitamins.

Exercise-wise.... Swimming is a great way to burn it off, but even just go for a walk....and working on the 'puter as much as I do, I make myself get up and go for a walk around the block, (did it 3 times last night) and a few minutes later I'm back and somewhat recharged..... but aside from that, walking is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

I have a home fitness machine thing, someone gave it to me, but it rarely gets used, by me or any of my friends that see it and want to use it.

[MekaGojira3k]

I have no control. I can never stay in shape. I left highschool weighing 210 pounds or so, got down to 155 by the end of my freshman year of college. The more stressed from classes I got the less I focused on exercising, so I'm finally back up to about 191. Which is terribly depressing.

I agree on cutting out the pop. That's what I did and I pretty much slid from 210 to 175 with little to no effort. I've started back into a regular schedule of exercise this semester and I really hope it works this time.

[Cookie]

I'm in the same boat... I lost weight, and was at about 170... now I'm back at about 200. Getting married, and waiting 9 months for your baby makes you have a lot of stress I guess. When you're stressed, food makes you feel comfortable(comfort food)... so we eat it. Unfortunately, if you have a "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" metabolism, you're going to gain the weight you worked so hard off.. back on.

Here's the key things to help you lose weight, without going on ridiculous diet plans:

- Portion your meals. Instead of filling the plate up, maybe just half the plate.

- Eliminate junk food and soda. My wife ALWAYS buys ice cream... she's lucky, her metabolism is awesome lol.

- Take a walk around your neighborhood every night... make it fun. Take your dog or something.

- Water pills AND Greentea pills. Greentea is THE natural pill to take. Most greentea pills already have the Hoodia in it.

Hey look at that... I just created my OWN list. lol... now hopefully I can follow it.

[jellydonut25]

[mrbluehair]

First of all, round is a shape...LOL

OK, your real first problem is your name, jelly donut does make a good starting point. Time to change it to, lean turkey or garden salad.

Now, I am going to use P90x, have had a couple friends use it (partially half assed too) and they said it was hard but really leaned them out.

I myself have lost over 40 pounds in the last 6 months. The key for me was to walk a bit more and simply watch what I eat. It's ok to have a treat, just keep it small. It's ok to have food you enjoy, just moderate (I know it's hard but I find it better to eat what you enjoy than crave and binge)

Now here is the key, you need to find out how to make things a bit healthier. I personally learned how to cook things I like different, and I am such a cook with butter person I love rich foods. But switching to ground turkey and dressing it up with some Worcestershire sauce and diced onion, or if you need beef, go lean and make your own burger instead of buying from a burger place. You then control your sodium and fat better and if you do it right, get a better tasting burger.

Couple examples, last night I grilled some chicken on a panini press with a bit of salt, garlic salt and pepper. Cut and add to a salad with dried cranberries, feta cheese, chopped candied pecans and a raspberry vinaigrette. One portion was healthy and tastes so good.

But here's another way to cut down on bad stuff. I love fried egg sandwiches for breakfast. Fry everything in butter, Yum Yum...not so good for the waist. So now I fry only the egg in canola oil (best for general frying) toast the bread, USE FULL FAT CHEESE, light is no good...little salt and pepper and if you want extra flavor try Veganaise, no joke this taste just as good as real mayo, NOT like that sandwich spread junk. It's really good and lower in fat. ***Just do not consume daily**

Heck, I even took a Benihana Cooking lesson, and make it myself, save 75% of my money, only make as much as we need so you don't feel compelled to eat out and gorge yourself because you don't want to waste money.

(Sorry this is long)
Finally, do not be afraid of the scale and know it takes time. I was at 255 3 years ago, 245 in January and have been holding at 200-205 for 2 months. I am doing this to let my body get used to this weight and then proceed to move down to about 185-190..whatever looks and feels best.
The scale saved me though because I can make sure I do not rebound and see the 1 or 2 pounds come off. When they do I press on doing what got me there and never get down if there is a few 0 pounds from time to time. That said, if I know I had a indulgent weekend, I can see how it affects my weight and correct any damage that might have been done. Don't look at the scale and 10-15 pounds can come back with a vengeance.

[jellydonut25]

[mrbluehair]

[jellydonut25]

[Green Dragon]

Here is one example of what "Eat This Not That" is good for. Apart from their restaurant listings where they are graded A to F, they frequently post articles like this:

http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slideshow ... HTML-_-dek

Just look at the calorie / sodium / fat count on some of these things, not to mention carbs.

It's helped my resolve to swear off most restaurants.

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[jellydonut25]

[Green Dragon]

Best kind of weight loss is gradual, anyway.

Just through cutting out certain things (more than average, personally) should guarantee some loss. Sugars and sodium are my biggest concern, and cutting a lot of the crap that's loaded with this stuff, the weight loss is a nice bonus.

Here's Eat This Not That's post from this morning

[jellydonut25]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[jellydonut25]

[jellydonut25]

today's the first day i'll have missed a workout since i started...

and that's only because i was RIDICULOUSLY hungover from a LOOOOOOOONG night of drinking...

gonna do double tomorrow. i know that's not really "how it works" but it'll make me feel better about being a complete bum today.

[The Top Crusader]

[jellydonut25]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[jellydonut25]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[jellydonut25]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]