bikini

Cuz that's been on my mind for awhile now.

I've long suspected this. Whenever I hear people talk about exercising to lose weight I  mentally shake my head. Have you ever counted calories expended on a typical 20 minute exercise bike? You use up enough to make up for a cookie. Not even a very big cookie. I realize about metabolism, yeah. I plan on walking the dog (now that The Winter of Our Discontent is behind us). But I won't do anything too strenuous; it's tough for me to take an hour out anyway and exercise makes me hungry.

I lost 30 pounds a few years back by basically counting calories. I did two things.

1. I kept the diet to about 1100-1400 per day, though I really did well, obviously, when I was on the shorter end of that. 2. I also wrote down what I ate.

I had to get pretty rigorous to really lose, pretty much looking at every bite that went in my mouth. That's what it takes. I didn't exercise a whit. I also never felt better in my life.

I did Weight Watchers, which lets you "bank" calories and also gives you enough to go tie one on of an evening, as long as it's light beer. I tried WW two years ago again but the plan had changed and I lost so slowly it was painful. (They let you eat more, for one.. Hey, the slower you lose, the more money they make, right?) So now I'm going it on my own, which I figure would be better for me in the long run anyway.


I'm doing it again, but it's a bit of a slow start. New habits and all that. But  I've managed okay and lost a pound and a half. Not stellar. But I know that, say, next week, if I stick to the program I could drop as much as five pounds in a week. That's pretty common, actually, to drop a lot at first like that if you're really doing the program.

I don't have as much to lose as when I did weight watchers, and I'm not planning on getting that low again. For one, I'm almost ten years on and I'm not sure I'm supposed to be that skinny. But we'll see. I wasn't planning on getting as low as I did when I did WW either, so it might happen. 

Anyway, that's one of the things I'm doing.

Insert your weight loss successes and trials and tribulations in the comments. :D


5 comments:

Kenny Soward said...

I'm in a constant fight with my weight. I keep it simple. If I don't have time to exercise, I make sure to snack on veggies and healthy foods. I completely avoid fast food except in emergencies. That's why I've managed to keep the weight off. I'm around 218, but could easily be 250 if I let it go. My bloodwork is pretty good.

As far as working out, there's something to be said when you lift a box and are sore the next day :) It's probably a good idea to have some muscle tone too.

Simple is best for me. Treadmill for 20 minutes or yoga.

I see the difference in lifestyle choices when I look at my grandparents. Grandpa walks daily and eats well (has his whole life). 84 years old and dude trucks around perfectly fine. Grandma, life in the sun and no exercise. Two broken hips and can hardly get around.

It is something to think about, especially as a writer. We all want to write as long as we can :)

Merry Monteleone said...

I've actually been working on this for the past few months. I think a large portion of the weight gain was the day job. Eight hours a day sitting in a cubicle will take a toll on the width of your ass.

Dieting alone didn't work for me, and in looking into it further, I think I was actually under calories. I was really watching, my breakfast/lunch/and snacks came in under 500 calories. And dinner was reasonable. Didn't lose a thing.

Now, I've added just 15 - 20 minutes of working out (just stuff you can do at home, light weights and crunches, that sort of thing). Instead of keeping such a rigid hold on my eating, I just try to make sure it's somewhat healthy. I tend to like salads and fruit anyway.

I've lost 8 pounds so far. I don't think it's the diet as much as it's the addition of some exercise and the change in my work routine. I work out of my brother's office, but there's running around mixed in there... picking up the kids in the afternoon and getting back to the computer later at night...

Liz said...

If I can do it Betsy, so can you! Over the past two years I've gone from mostly sedentary and over weight to a 60 pound weight loss and recently ran a marathon. I've gone up and down millions of times, having struggled with weight since I was a teenager. The key for me was not just counting calories but figuring out what food types work best for me. For me, more protein and less simple carbs just feel better for my body. Also being active is not only good for me physically, but I'm much much happier mentally. I'll go walk with you any time!

Pete said...

Shit, man, counting. It always makes me start to question the necessity for my breakfast beer, 10:00 snack beer, lunch beer, 2:15 snack beer, and of course happy hour. Don't even get me started on post dinner cocktail parties. That's all before I start counting food.

It's a sad place for me, so I just run to absolve my guilt.

Just kidding, I crank out 28-3600 cal per day with a desk job and keep a consistent weight. I built stand up desks every where I work, I turned off my tv, walk up stairs, and that very small increase in activity at home/work has helped quite a bit. I'm not the kind of person that could run ever, so I made it a point to move just a fraction more through out the day.

Anonymous said...

My body doesn't like to lose weight, so I have to exercise a lot. It's elliptical machine, at least two aerobic classes each week, bench, squats, and kettlebells.

It's nice to see everything get firmer of course, but I wish my actual weight was going down a little more. Your feet don't care so much whether you're in great shape, they just want you LIGHTER.