Losing weight

[Mobuck]

Between the prep for haying season and the extreme heat lately, I'm soon going to need suspenders or punch another hole in my belt. I get one meal per day and a noon sandwich plus all the water I have time to drink and I'm losing about a pound a day.
I got one of those step counter thingies so Grouch Attack could maybe understand what and how much I do every day(BTW didn't make any diff). 12K-15K steps per day and sometimes it gets stuck upside down and doesn't count properly.
While taking a break yesterday I saw a commercial for some sort of exercise device that claimed to allow you to lose a pound per WEEK. I'm thinking 1#/week and they're bragging?
I wasn't over weight to begin with but there must have been some excess hiding somewhere.
Well, it's 7 am and I'm burning daylight so off to the races for another 12 hour shift.

 

[pete44ru]

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IMO, involuntary weight loss is not a good thing........ :roll:


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[vito]

Involuntary weight loss can be a sign of serious medical issues, and should be fully evaluated by health care professionals. Voluntary weight loss, where one desires to lose weight, is something totally different. And losing weight is simple, but may be hard for many to achieve. You need to take in less calories than you use. Period. The easiest way to do this is to cut down on carbohydrate intake, which is what normally constitutes the larges caloric intake. Eat ham and cheese for lunch, but without the bread. Have burgers all you want, but without the bun. Stop buying and eating cookies, donuts, cakes and pies. Learn to have meals without the bread and butter on the side. I'm not saying its easy or fun, but virtually no reasonable amount of exercise will cause real weight loss, and starvation diets never last (and when you try to suddenly massively reduce your food intake your body responds with burning less calories as a survival reaction). Exercise is good for your heart, but to lose weight you have to eat less, or eat differently or both.

My challenge is that when I have lost the weight I desired to lose, I start to slip back into my old habits of buttered bread with dinner, sandwiches and hamburger/hot dog buns, and even chocolate covered glazed donuts and before I know it the weight is back, and often worse than before I lost weight. Right now I am down about 22 pounds after almost 4 months of REDUCED, but not eliminated carb intake. I am hoping to make this my way of life, and while at home I am able to do it pretty well. It is being away from home, especially on a real vacation that all restraint seems to disappear.

But again, if you want to lose weight it can be done, and for the majority of us, merely reducing carb intake will be enough to get to the goal you dream of.

(I am not a nutrition professional but I can talk like one when the urge strikes.)

 

[ChiefMuzz]

Involuntary weight loss can be a sign of serious medical issues, and should be fully evaluated by health care professionals. Voluntary weight loss, where one desires to lose weight, is something totally different. And losing weight is simple, but may be hard for many to achieve. You need to take in less calories than you use. Period. The easiest way to do this is to cut down on carbohydrate intake, which is what normally constitutes the larges caloric intake. Eat ham and cheese for lunch, but without the bread. Have burgers all you want, but without the bun. Stop buying and eating cookies, donuts, cakes and pies. Learn to have meals without the bread and butter on the side. I'm not saying its easy or fun, but virtually no reasonable amount of exercise will cause real weight loss, and starvation diets never last (and when you try to suddenly massively reduce your food intake your body responds with burning less calories as a survival reaction). Exercise is good for your heart, but to lose weight you have to eat less, or eat differently or both.

My challenge is that when I have lost the weight I desired to lose, I start to slip back into my old habits of buttered bread with dinner, sandwiches and hamburger/hot dog buns, and even chocolate covered glazed donuts and before I know it the weight is back, and often worse than before I lost weight. Right now I am down about 22 pounds after almost 4 months of REDUCED, but not eliminated carb intake. I am hoping to make this my way of life, and while at home I am able to do it pretty well. It is being away from home, especially on a real vacation that all restraint seems to disappear.

But again, if you want to lose weight it can be done, and for the majority of us, merely reducing carb intake will be enough to get to the goal you dream of.

(I am not a nutrition professional but I can talk like one when the urge strikes.)

No offense intended Vito, some of what you said was correct but there is a large amount of misinformation in there. It's best not to advertise what worked for you as guidelines for the general public. Unintended weight loss can definitely be a sign of an undiagnosed medical issue and should be checked out if it persists.
Studies have shown the most effective way to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight long term is to both eat right and exercise.
Just cutting carbs is not really advisable and generally when you do so you lose a fair amount of fluid volume because of the role carbs play in fluid volumes. Your highest amount of kcal per gram of food is fat at 9 which is twice both protein and carbs. Are you aware that fruits and vegetables also contain carbs?

I always, always caution people who feel to give health advice to others that remember this is another persons health and body. Giving advice is a huge responsibility when you consider the consequences it could have on someone else.

 

[Biggfoot44]

More directly relating to OP, for sedentary to modest exercise people primarily losing weight on purpose by dieting, 1-3lb per week is fairly ordinary.

Having some concept of Haying Season, loosing 1lb per day, I would be concerned of dehydration and/ or insufficent intake of cals generally and protien in particular.

 

[Mobuck]

"Having some concept of Haying Season, loosing 1lb per day, I would be concerned of dehydration and/ or insufficent intake of cals generally and protien in particular."

I'm doing my best to keep up with water intake. Not so much food, though. This weight loss is fairly consistent year to year but the heat so early has made it worse. Going from a schedule of moderate effort work for a couple of hours and a coffee/snack break to 4-5 hours of more intense work w/o breaks makes a BIG diff.

 

[ChiefMuzz]

"Having some concept of Haying Season, loosing 1lb per day, I would be concerned of dehydration and/ or insufficent intake of cals generally and protien in particular."

I'm doing my best to keep up with water intake. Not so much food, though. This weight loss is fairly consistent year to year but the heat so early has made it worse. Going from a schedule of moderate effort work for a couple of hours and a coffee/snack break to 4-5 hours of more intense work w/o breaks makes a BIG diff.

You might want to consider mixing in some "sport drinks" as well like Gatorade. The extra calories plus electrolytes can be very beneficial if you're not getting adequate food intake and you're out in the sun. Another great more natural drink to try is coconut water. Same benefits with naturally occurring sugars and electrolytes. You could also just keep a piece or two or fruit and some energy bars with you.
Either way you don't want to mess with dehydration or electrolyte imbalances. That will put you in the hospital real quick and can cause some real serious issues.

 

[Ruger1441]

Tell you what, if you are worried about the loss let me know and I will send you as many pounds as you want.

 

[Mobuck]

"Tell you what, if you are worried about the loss let me know and I will send you as many pounds as you want."
Just bring those pounds by and I'll put them to work.
I think things will lighten up a wee bit now. Tom's back from vacation so I don't have to do chores at his place and mine -- that frees up close to 2 hours per day.
I got the baler running today--always a stressful operation. One never knows what sort of gremlins have come to live in such a complicated mechanical apparatus over the winter--even though it's stored dry and comfy in the barn. After that first day, it seems to settle down to it's old self with the normal quirks, clanks, and rumbles. If Tom is able to help next week, I can manage 40-60 bales per day. If I'm working alone, it's about 30-40 tops.