What did you give up that helped you lose pounds?

Mercurial

Mercurial

Cathlete
(This post has been slightly editted. The topic and intent remains the same, however.)

Inspired by the Bye Diet Coke, I'm going to miss you thread.

Also inspired by the fact that I work out for two hours each day (1 hour cardio, the second core exercises), the fact that I consume far less calories than I eat, and the fact that despite the previous two facts, I cant seem to lose weight very quickly at all. I can only assume that it must be something I'm eating?

I implore you to help the Cathe Nation Family ( :) ) by responding:

What delicious vice did you give up, and, to your pleasant surprise, helped you lose more pounds?

And, if applicable, what was your replacement to avoid the cravings for the old vice? (Diet Coke can be replaced with sparkling water, for example.)

Love!
 
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The main thing I gave up was fast food! I found myself picking up lunch 3x a week! Too lazy to find something at home. Next, I cut my serving sizes and added more vegetables and fruit! After all that, I found clean eating and I've been doing great ever since!

I think if you're working out 2 hours a day, you're taking in enough calories and that is hindering your weight loss! Goes against every fiber of your being I know, but it's true. You have to have enough calories to fuel the work you're doing everyday and cut only by around 500 calores to lose 1 pound a week - as a general rule.
 
It doesn't sound like you consume enough calories for working out 2 hours a day.

You need to visit a nutritionist or re-evaluate your diet choices/calorie count; also is your diet well rounded? Enough fats/grains/veg and fruit/dairy etc? Try keeping a daily food diary and evaluate what you are eating and go from there.

Sheryl
 
How long has your body been in starvation mode? Because that's what's going on - your body is holding desperately to every ounce of fat you have to try to survive the famine you're putting yourself through voluntarily. Don't give up anything- eat, for cryin' loud!
 
Wow! I am actually shocked that you can even manage to work out for 2 hours a day with such a limited intake of calories. I work out about 1 and a half hours a day, but I consume your entire daily calorie allowance in just the first 2 to 3 hours of my day.

Everybody else has already said it, but please increase your food consumption!!
 
Okay, well this didnt turn out the way I hoped it would. :eek:

I want to let you guys know, just for your information, that I'm a very tiny person when I'm at a good weight for my height... I'm just south of five feet tall, so I always have to eat a lot less than a person of average height even when I'm not trying to lose weight. I probably should have mentioned that in the initial post. And also, one hour is cardio and the second hour is core exercises, so it's not like I'm completing two hours of solid cardio!

Interestingly enough, before I logged back on to the site, I was reading an old diet book I have called The Diet (For Teenagers Only) --I'll be nineteen in September-- and it mentioned some similar about my eating habits that you guys have picked up on too. I'd followed the diet it suggests for all of January and lost five pounds. But I've been having trouble losing weight during February and March (I havent lost five pounds total with both months combined!), so I'm going to follow that again, which would mean I need to eat 1400 calories.

Sme702, you asked if I was following a properly balanced diet... I'm not sure, to be honest. I know I probably eat more carbohydrates than I should. The book suggests that 50% of consumed calories should come from carbs, 30% from protein, and 20% from fat. I've devised a few daily meal plans that I believe follow that breakdown pretty effectively, so if I'm not on a proper diet right now, I will be by Tuesday. (I'll go grocery shopping tomorrow.)

I would like to know what people think about swapping certain foods and drinks for others still, though. :) For a long time I drank Diet Coke, thinking that it was okay for me --but then I learned the truth about the aspartame in it. :( So I dont drink it anymore. I'm sincerely concerned that I might be eating foods that are negating all the progress I make when I work out, so I'd love to hear what tips and tricks you guys have.

Thanks so much for caring, though, all of you. I've revised my original post though, so that maybe future posts can be more focused on the question, and I can let my diet by my problem that I'm dealing with and changing now. :)
 
I'm sorry you didn't get the responses you wanted, but it's not really considered great message board etiquette to edit a post after people have already replied to it. You removed the content that makes all of our posts make sense. If you wanted to edit to clarify, that's fine, but please don't remove information after the fact.:)

In my opinion, even if you are petite, you are not consuming enough calories. As someone else said, your body is hanging onto whatever it can because it isn't getting enough nutrition.

I see that you still want to know what to change in your diet. If you are already eating healthy, it's not about changing something or dropping a certain thing. I pretty much eat what I want, but watch portion control. I don't drink or eat the obvious things that are bad (no excess sugar, soda drinks, carbs).

I wouldn't call myself tiny because I am fairly tall (5'7"), but I weigh between 112 and 115 lbs. HTH!
 
For me, I always do better when I think about "adding", rather than giving up something. So, I make myself eat five servings of veggies, a couple of fruit servings, the good protein.

But, if you have to give up something, watch the sugar intake. That helps me not only to drop weight but to get rid of the cravings, too.

Good luck.
 
It looks like I missed some of the initial exchange. However, to answer your question, there were a few things I cut that had a pretty immediate impact.

1. cream in my coffee - I actually drank cream on a daily basis and I am so so glad that I no longer do.

2. Eating at night - No more food or drink after dinner except for water or tea. Heading to bed earlier was necessary for me so that I didn't sit on the couch feeling the urge to eat. That also prompted me to get out of bed and eat earlier in the morning, hence NOT...

3. Skipping breakfast - Who knew that eating more really would have a positive effect. Gotta be the right foods, of course.

4. As someone else mentioned, I also cut my portions in half. Doesn't sound like this makes sense for you but I personally struggle with serious portion control issues. Things that help with this are packing 1/2 the food to go before I even start eating my plate at a restaurant and also literally removing food from my plate at home after I have served it. If my husband and teenaged son have the same amount or more than me, I need to take some off.

#s 1, 2 and 3 have stuck and are mostly not a problem for me anymore, its been years now. #4 I still struggle with and I think always will. It seems to be my nature and I also have a family full of overeaters.
 
Giving up wine helped a lot. I didn't mean to or want to give up wine, but it wasn't mixing well with the medications I was taking, so I had to let it go. Wine is empty calories, but in addition, when I drank it, it increased my appetite for other empty calories. My weight still fluctuates a bit, but now it fluctuates within a lower range.
 
I hated to do it, but I had to - I gave up Organic Peanut Butter (Kirkland Brand). I've decided my body stores nuts of any kind (usually on my thighs :(). So I gave it up and lost some weight really quickly.

Tracey
 
What foods to give up.

Mercurial said:
Okay, well this didnt turn out the way I hoped it would. :eek:

I want to let you guys know, just for your information, that I'm a very tiny person when I'm at a good weight for my height... I'm just south of five feet tall, so I always have to eat a lot less than a person of average height even when I'm not trying to lose weight. I probably should have mentioned that in the initial post. And also, one hour is cardio and the second hour is core exercises, so it's not like I'm completing two hours of solid cardio!

Interestingly enough, before I logged back on to the site, I was reading an old diet book I have called The Diet (For Teenagers Only) --I'll be nineteen in September-- and it mentioned some similar about my eating habits that you guys have picked up on too. I'd followed the diet it suggests for all of January and lost five pounds. But I've been having trouble losing weight during February and March (I havent lost five pounds total with both months combined!), so I'm going to follow that again, which would mean I need to eat 1400 calories.

Sme702, you asked if I was following a properly balanced diet... I'm not sure, to be honest. I know I probably eat more carbohydrates than I should. The book suggests that 50% of consumed calories should come from carbs, 30% from protein, and 20% from fat. I've devised a few daily meal plans that I believe follow that breakdown pretty effectively, so if I'm not on a proper diet right now, I will be by Tuesday. (I'll go grocery shopping tomorrow.)

I would like to know what people think about swapping certain foods and drinks for others still, though. :) For a long time I drank Diet Coke, thinking that it was okay for me --but then I learned the truth about the aspartame in it. :( So I dont drink it anymore. I'm sincerely concerned that I might be eating foods that are negating all the progress I make when I work out, so I'd love to hear what tips and tricks you guys have.

Thanks so much for caring, though, all of you. I've revised my original post though, so that maybe future posts can be more focused on the question, and I can let my diet by my problem that I'm dealing with and changing now. :)
Click to expand...

Ok,,lets see if I can help. In my opinion, you have to get rid of that ' You need to eat every three hours' crap., or you HAVE to have X amount of calories a day. I don't buy it. Example. I have this gal I know who is trying to loose weight. it's been months. She doesn't look one pound less than she did months ago. SHE was the one telling ME that 'oh you need to eat this and eat that, and you have to eat certain amount of calroes a day, and,,,," All I heard was eat. I am 5 3'' and weigh 125. I'm a size 3/4 . perfect for my weight and height. I work out 5 - 6 days a week. Mostly cardio, but twice a week, I add weights and abs to the cardio. Trust me , my cardio work outs are the tough ones that Cathe has and I do them start to finish ( Imax2, Lo Max, Kick Max, KPC. ) Guess what. I DON'T eat every three hours. In fact, I take the human route. I eat when I am hungry. If it's been five hours since I last ate and I am not hungry, I don't eat. I have never in the time I started my weight loss counted calories. EVER.

Here are the foods and thier replacements that I chose and I went from 165 to 135. ( Back in 2001. ) after my 135, I decided to shed another 10 pounds and used the same tactic back in 2005. Ive' pretty much been 125 ever since. ( give or take a few lbs here and there when my cycle comes around. I retain water pretty hard core )

No more fast food !! When you are in a pinch and need something quick ( Mc Donalds, Burger King ). Go for the salad with dressing on the side. If you can handle it , try your salad with no dressing. In place of the fast food, because we all know the cravings never go away forever , I still went to Subway, ( just turned my sub into a salad ) and taco johns. Get that taco, two in fact, just avoid the potato oles. Still get your fast food, only nix the major grease. If you really need it, Mc D's lets you order your burger with out the bun.
More more pop !! If I really needed a fix, Ginger Ale, or Sprite Zero.
No more chips, pasta, or breads !! If I needed the fix, I'd go for Rice noodles with Peanut Sauce, grain crackers in place of bread, and for chips, there are these awesome 'rice crisps' that you can find in most organic sections of grocery stores. Can't remember who makes them , but they taster better than potato chips.Rice cakes do well too if you are looking for a crunch.
No More Candy !! But if I do feel the need, I go for the minis. I pack four mini snickers in my lunch every day , Been doing that for the last three years. No prob !!

Main deal was fast food. I swore that off for good. Believe it or not, I have a burger maybe once a year. I just choose to be that way. A while back I had a guy I work with bring in some burgers and fries and of coarse I dug in, but felt really bad after that. My body just did not respond to it well cause it had been so long since I had that stuff.

Back to my friend who claims I need certain calories during the day ?? I don't buy it. Like I said, I consume way less than what she has told me I need, and I have plenty of energy, do great during my work outs, and I have been able to loose back in '05, plus maintain without a problem. Just eat when you are hungry make it a healthy choice. Weather it's twice a day, or five times a day. Hope this helps

Morgs
 
About the carb ratios, the more active you are the more carbs you will need! Your body needs them for energy and your brain for food! I've eaten up to 60% carbs and been just fine. Now the type of carbs are whole grains, fruits, veggies, seeds, ect...not overly processed foods.

I don't nor did I really switch one food for another. I'm not a diet kind of gal. I made some substitutions for health reasons and those are ones I actually enjoy. I don't use white sugar anymore when cooking/baking but instead raw sugar. It doesn't spike/crash my blood sugar levels nearly as often. I use 50/50 white to whole wheat flours for baking and if Im making breads, I'll use 100% whole wheat with added wheat gluten to keep it soft. When I make cornbread I use stone ground as it has a lot more fiber. Basically finding healtheir options for the foods I already enjoy. Add lettuce to my sandwiches and extra fruits and flaxseed to my smoothies.

I watch my portion sizes really. I don't use sugar substitutes including diet products and diet drinks. Much research has show that in a large sampling of ppl that sugar cravings actually increase using those products which can in turn stimulate your appetite. Aspartame (sp?) has the largest occurance of this. Haven't seen much on stevia though with regards to this. I though don't like the way stevia tastes. It's a personal preference. I enjoy 1 pop a day, eat dark to extra dark chocolate, eat slowly, enjoy my food, and eat 80+ % of my foods whole and minimally processed. It's helped my IBS, my cravings, and helps to get rid of some of the access weight IF you again watch your portions. I don't calories anymore and I won't again either. So far so good.

I also eat when hungry but do not give up food groups. Carbs, bread, and pasta are not the enemy.
 
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I would follow the others advice first, since I don't know what your original post was, I'm going to make some broad guesses. I'm short too. However, I'm not slim (yet) I would suggest just eating foods as close to clean as possible. The most informative thing I did for myself was I started journaling my eats and tracking when I would see an increase and look into my food journal to see what I had eaten the day before or if my activity level was less. I developed a 'do not eat list' which is just foods that always produces a weight gain. My top offenders were KFC, donuts, soda, McDonald's, or Chinese food. I know that seems obvious, but when you know that it means more fat on your butt by 4 pounds, then you will be less likely to eat it. Juice is also a big offender, eat whole fruits, the carbs/sugar content is the same as a regular soda. There is nothing wrong with weaning yourself off foods, having a little less or something that is a healthier version. I don't eat every three hours. Its usually 3x a day with a snack before my workout.

You can also experiment with your workouts to see which kind of rotation produces the best results for your body type.

btw, doing that has helped me lose 80 pounds and keep off 75 for over three years.
 
Replace all white flour carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice) with a truly whole-grain version.

Eliminate sugar but don't replace it with artificial sweeteners. Natural sugars (in whole foods like fruits, etc) are okay but not if they are in processed foods (ie., sodas sweetened with condensed fruit juices, etc).

Replace your hour of core exercises with weight lifting.

Lisa
 
For me it was the mental excuses. The old, 'Oh I worked out for an 90minutes so this one piece of choco cake won't hurt...even though it's the same size at the small plates it's on!'. I used to play those stupid head games with myself. Once I was able to let that go, the weight started to come off pretty easily.
 
morgs said:
Ok,,lets see if I can help. In my opinion, you have to get rid of that ' You need to eat every three hours' crap., or you HAVE to have X amount of calories a day. I don't buy it. Example. I have this gal I know who is trying to loose weight. it's been months. She doesn't look one pound less than she did months ago. SHE was the one telling ME that 'oh you need to eat this and eat that, and you have to eat certain amount of calroes a day, and,,,," All I heard was eat. I am 5 3'' and weigh 125. I'm a size 3/4 . perfect for my weight and height. I work out 5 - 6 days a week. Mostly cardio, but twice a week, I add weights and abs to the cardio. Trust me , my cardio work outs are the tough ones that Cathe has and I do them start to finish ( Imax2, Lo Max, Kick Max, KPC. ) Guess what. I DON'T eat every three hours. In fact, I take the human route. I eat when I am hungry. If it's been five hours since I last ate and I am not hungry, I don't eat. I have never in the time I started my weight loss counted calories. EVER.

Here are the foods and thier replacements that I chose and I went from 165 to 135. ( Back in 2001. ) after my 135, I decided to shed another 10 pounds and used the same tactic back in 2005. Ive' pretty much been 125 ever since. ( give or take a few lbs here and there when my cycle comes around. I retain water pretty hard core )

No more fast food !! When you are in a pinch and need something quick ( Mc Donalds, Burger King ). Go for the salad with dressing on the side. If you can handle it , try your salad with no dressing. In place of the fast food, because we all know the cravings never go away forever , I still went to Subway, ( just turned my sub into a salad ) and taco johns. Get that taco, two in fact, just avoid the potato oles. Still get your fast food, only nix the major grease. If you really need it, Mc D's lets you order your burger with out the bun.
More more pop !! If I really needed a fix, Ginger Ale, or Sprite Zero.
No more chips, pasta, or breads !! If I needed the fix, I'd go for Rice noodles with Peanut Sauce, grain crackers in place of bread, and for chips, there are these awesome 'rice crisps' that you can find in most organic sections of grocery stores. Can't remember who makes them , but they taster better than potato chips.Rice cakes do well too if you are looking for a crunch.
No More Candy !! But if I do feel the need, I go for the minis. I pack four mini snickers in my lunch every day , Been doing that for the last three years. No prob !!

Main deal was fast food. I swore that off for good. Believe it or not, I have a burger maybe once a year. I just choose to be that way. A while back I had a guy I work with bring in some burgers and fries and of coarse I dug in, but felt really bad after that. My body just did not respond to it well cause it had been so long since I had that stuff.

Back to my friend who claims I need certain calories during the day ?? I don't buy it. Like I said, I consume way less than what she has told me I need, and I have plenty of energy, do great during my work outs, and I have been able to loose back in '05, plus maintain without a problem. Just eat when you are hungry make it a healthy choice. Weather it's twice a day, or five times a day. Hope this helps

Morgs
Click to expand...

What a great post!

I also agree about eating when hungry only instead of every 2 to 3 hours. I always have something for breakfast, but if I'm not hungry I'll have just a piece of fruit. For me, eating constantly even when I'm not really feeling it, promotes snacking.

Like Nancy, I gave up wine most nights, I don't know if anyone else gets this, but I get wine-belly or you can substitute that for beer belly, etc.

I would try and get some weight lifting in for your back and legs since they are larger muscles and will contribute to the burn.
 
I dropped sugar a couple of months ago - and the only reason that I did it was because I was tired of being a slave to my cravings. I would be in the kitchen all day looking for sweet stuff even if I knew I didn't have it and I was tired of that insanity controlling me. I am not sure if I lost much weight, but a pleasant side effect is that my legs are pretty toned now. I am really surprised to have toned legs because I have been Ms. Chubby Thighs since I started having kids over 10 years ago.

Melissa
 
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