Healthy Weight Loss

[Tommi]

Originally Posted by betenoire

I don't like the BMI thing at all. it doesn't take into account things like body type and muscle mass.

"Center for Disease Body Mass Index: FAQ link

""""CDC:Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number calculated from a person's weight and height. BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problem"

The better discriptors here

How reliable is BMI as an indicator of body fatness?
The correlation between the BMI number and body fatness is fairly strong; however the correlation varies by sex, race, and age. These variations include the following examples: 3, 4

At the same BMI, women tend to have more body fat than men.
At the same BMI, older people, on average, tend to have more body fat than younger adults.
Highly trained athletes may have a high BMI because of increased muscularity rather than increased body fatness.
It is also important to remember that BMI is only one factor related to risk for disease. For assessing someone's likelihood of developing overweight- or obesity-related diseases, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute guidelines recommend looking at two other predictors:

The individual's waist circumference (because abdominal fat is a predictor of risk for obesity-related diseases).
Other risk factors the individual has for diseases and conditions associated with obesity (for example, high blood pressure or physical inactivity).
For more information about the assessment of health risk for developing overweight- and obesity-related diseases, visit the following Web pages from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute:"""Assessing Your Risk
Body Mass Index Table
Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults

[shadows papa]

Originally Posted by Tommi

"Center for Disease Body Mass Index: FAQ link

""""CDC:Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number calculated from a person's weight and height. BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problem"

The better discriptors here

How reliable is BMI as an indicator of body fatness?
The correlation between the BMI number and body fatness is fairly strong; however the correlation varies by sex, race, and age. These variations include the following examples: 3, 4

At the same BMI, women tend to have more body fat than men.
At the same BMI, older people, on average, tend to have more body fat than younger adults.
Highly trained athletes may have a high BMI because of increased muscularity rather than increased body fatness.
It is also important to remember that BMI is only one factor related to risk for disease. For assessing someone's likelihood of developing overweight- or obesity-related diseases, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute guidelines recommend looking at two other predictors:

The individual's waist circumference (because abdominal fat is a predictor of risk for obesity-related diseases).
Other risk factors the individual has for diseases and conditions associated with obesity (for example, high blood pressure or physical inactivity).
For more information about the assessment of health risk for developing overweight- and obesity-related diseases, visit the following Web pages from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute:"""Assessing Your Risk
Body Mass Index Table
Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults

Tommi thanks for the additional info on the BMI. I'm not and never will be a huge proponent of using this scale but I am a nutrition wonk and LOVE learning new things!

[Tommi]

Originally Posted by shadows papa

Tommi thanks for the additional info on the BMI. I'm not and never will be a huge proponent of using this scale but I am a nutrition wonk and LOVE learning new things!

Same here, I checked out Gemme's link, and will follow up on it.

[JustJo]

Thanks for the BMI link Tommi....I came up much higher than I like. Of course, it says for my height a range of 119 to 152 is normal...and I know that the lowest weight I've had as an adult (living on fish and salad and working out 2 solid hours a day) was 155.

For me, a weight of about 175 is fabulous...I feel good, I look good, clothes fit well, my diabetes is under control...and, yes, I still have a big butt!

Weight is such an individual thing...I think as long as the numbers are good (blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.) then the rest is just a matter of where I feel good.

[sylvie]

Hellooo darlings...

Long time no see .. ♥

98 lbs as of April 2nd..
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay...

i will be in more soon, getting life back on track, i went away to visit my grandmother for a few days, and prior to that was busy with everything else it seemed.. But wanted to tell the good news!

Will catch up with you all & the posts soon as i have more time , xox!!
(tomorrow most likely, lol)
*hugggs*

[Hollylane]

Evening!

I have survived the long list of temptations spread liberally throughout the call center. I even took a walk during half of my lunch, and spent one of my breaks lifting in the gym.

One more potluck bites the dust!

I'm heading to bed early, so that my friends, Kristen and Andrew, and I can get an early start on the hiking trip tomorrow morning. I'm beat, so hopefully I'll drift off quickly.

I hope you all have a happy weekend, and enjoy life to its fullest

You rock Sylvie, keep up the amazing work!!

[RockOn]

JustJo, I am the same way about Big Macs. I have to order 2 to make it worth my while. One only leaves me with the "wanting" feeling. Not that it really helps but I do take out the middle piece of bread. I do it because I am not that fond of bread and it really only serves as bland filler for me.

[JustJo]

Originally Posted by ZimmygLrL

When I stopped drinking soda and when I craved one, I would keep a natural fruit soda called, Izze soda. It is fruit juice and sparkling water.

That's a great suggestion Zimmy! I love soda and miss it, but know that I can't drink regular soda...and diet soda isn't great for me either. Last time I was in AZ my work buddy turned me on to Zevia soda also...sweetened with Stevia, so no sugar, no artificial sweetener...and stevia actually has a stabilizing effect on diabetics' blood sugar levels. It's expensive, and I need to order it.....although I just discovered Amazon will deliver it free.

Originally Posted by Brock

JustJo, I am the same way about Big Macs. I have to order 2 to make it worth my while. One only leaves me with the "wanting" feeling. Not that it really helps but I do take out the middle piece of bread. I do it because I am not that fond of bread and it really only serves as bland filler for me.

I am convinced that Big Macs are addictive Brock....there's something about them! I do like your idea of taking out the center bread for those times when I do cave in and get one though...at least I can feel a tiny bit virtuous, even as I'm cheating!

I pretty much blew it yesterday....had such a busy day of shopping that I didn't get my walk in...so my exercise was pushing shopping cart and dodging people in WalMart, walking in BJ's, and carrying in bags. Not great. I also ate too much...and was just getting ready to be all hard on myself when I remembered that the last time the WW points thing worked for me, I took one day a week "off." I followed the points 6 out of 7 days, walked at least 5 out of 7....and it worked. So....yesterday was my day off....and I don't even have to feel bad about it!

Cheers to you all!

[RockOn]

JustJo, make sure you scrape all the dressing off the middle piece of bread and back in to the burger when you remove it. It makes the experience so much better.

Damn, it is 8:30 a.m. ... our city is preparing for an ice storm ... and all I can think of now is a couple of Big Macs. Must get a couple as soon as they start serving burgers at 10:30 a.m. - forunately I have less than a mile to drive.

Gotta have ... the craving has hit! LOL!

[sylvie]

Originally Posted by Brock

JustJo, make sure you scrape all the dressing off the middle piece of bread and back in to the burger when you remove it. It makes the experience so much better.

Damn, it is 8:30 a.m. ... our city is preparing for an ice storm ... and all I can think of now is a couple of Big Macs. Must get a couple as soon as they start serving burgers at 10:30 a.m. - forunately I have less than a mile to drive.

Gotta have ... the craving has hit! LOL!

omg, i haven't had a big mac in ages, LOL.. *pushes that thought out of my mind fasssst*
ice storms suck Brock, i remember a bad one we had this way some years ago, knocked electricity off for a week ! stay warm and safe !

[sylvie]

tomorrow is my really big day - ive been workin alot the last 2 days, but im sooo pushing myself into getting seriously seriously serious (lol) about this..
ive been doing great for drinking lots of water - think ive got that down, and it *is* helping for curbing the appetite some..

my doctor gave me a prescription for a medication called xenical (i think its called that) and i havent picked it up yet, but she says its very, very safe to use when i talked to her about my worry with my appetite.. i hate feeling like im hungry after ive eaten something healthy, lol.. she said that if i stopped taking this medication i wouldnt gain my weight back, like you would with diet pills, that these arent diet pills.. she explained it to me, however i want to do a lil research on it first to be sure .. but in the meantime, maybe drinking all this water will help and i wont need the medication at all, i'd much rather not take anything..

i am starting off at the gym tomorrow, i can DO this.. =)
i feel extremely motivated to do this, actually! it's a great feeling!

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by JustJo

That's a great suggestion Zimmy! I love soda and miss it, but know that I can't drink regular soda...and diet soda isn't great for me either. Last time I was in AZ my work buddy turned me on to Zevia soda also...sweetened with Stevia, so no sugar, no artificial sweetener...and stevia actually has a stabilizing effect on diabetics' blood sugar levels. It's expensive, and I need to order it.....although I just discovered Amazon will deliver it free.

I plan to try this soda. Just heard about it and found out I should be able to get it in my area.

Personally, I don't like Stevia as a sugar substitute, but I am going to see what it is like in the soda.

Until recently I used this: http://www.wheylow.com/ as my sugar substitute and it was far the best I have found.

Recently I started using Agave Nectar, natural, made from the juice of the agave. This is the brand I have acccess to in my area: http://www.madhavahoney.com/AgaveNectar.aspx

Good thread, Jo.

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Brock

JustJo, make sure you scrape all the dressing off the middle piece of bread and back in to the burger when you remove it. It makes the experience so much better.

Damn, it is 8:30 a.m. ... our city is preparing for an ice storm ... and all I can think of now is a couple of Big Macs. Must get a couple as soon as they start serving burgers at 10:30 a.m. - forunately I have less than a mile to drive.

Gotta have ... the craving has hit! LOL!

For some cravings like this, I make my own version at home that's better for me and often more cost effective. After all, the special sauce is derived from simple, ordinary household foods.

Originally Posted by sylvie

ooo Zimmy, interesting, thank you! ive not thought of that..
i know what i 'was' doing was allowing myself a can when i truly, truly craved it .. which seemed to work for about the first week but, then i kinda fell off the wagon and so i'm thinking i just need to stop it altogether..

one day i was watching Dr Oz (I LOVE DR OZ!!!) and the program had a bit in it about diet soda, and i learned that diet soda although low in calories really isn't great and a lot of people cannot lose weight while drinking it, kinda screws things up.. wonder if i could find the article on his site somewhere...
ANYway, i've been a diet pepsi drinker, so i know i really need to quit it! lol..

finding something as an alternate for when i really crave it would be a great idea, thank you! i'm going to look for something like that.. because i know if i drank mostly water and then had a craving, a small glass of something would be enough to curb my realllllllly wanting that diet pepsi, eh! hehe..

Diet drinks have formaldehyde in them. While it may help to keep you looking younger, I'm not sure the inside of your body will be as lucky.

Originally Posted by JustJo

Hi sylvie,

I'm so glad you posted this! I was hunting for a link that I (thought) I had put in the diabetes thread...but now I'm not finding it....grrrrrrr....

Anyway, there have been studies that show that diet soda (and artifical sweeteners) while having zero calories themselves, actually increase your cravings for sweet foods...and also change the way your body processes the calories it receives from other sources and makes you more likely to store them as fat.

I'll keep looking for the article...

Sweets do tend to create the desire for more in me. The same for carbs. I can eat both until it's coming out of my ears but once I break that cycle, it's harder to slip back into it.

Originally Posted by sylvie

ohh, wow, thank you Toughy..
see this is why i want to research anything, my doctor is very much a pill pusher, and i'm very much against taking medication for no good reason..
i really, seriously appreciate the link, don't think i'll be trying that , seems the water is curbing it and if i can get over a one or two week period i'm sure the appetite problem will start to get easier. (least i hope so)..

When I first started working out more, my appetite became rampant. In about two to two and a half weeks, it calmed down and a lot of my very intense cravings disappeared. I only rarely get cravings now.

[sylvie]

yess Gemme i heard that usually once you are over that 2 week hump, it gets easier (and yay you!! must be awesome to rarely have the cravings).. i seem to cave in prior to that 2 week hump - lol !!! but, i am going to do lots of water drinking, i actually find now that im being more faithful with getting lots of water into me, my appetite isn't all too bad!
i definitely won't be trying that xenical now, eesh!
i think my biggest thing i need to work on right now, is the diet soda..
from reading everything posted, and some articiles on sparkpeople, my appetite is probably increased more with all the diet soda drinking i was doing too.. so, my best bet is to quit it.. QUIT IT LOL.. (thats a message to myself in caps) and go from there.. the rest i am pretty sure i'm getting on track with...

so my plan is, not doing this one day and another one day.. but staying firm on working on it all together, now! =)

[Captain Franki]

Any tips for fat loss when you're already quite slim? I'm 5" 3' and 110 pound ish . a small proportion of that is muscle.
i've been trying to balance weightloss with muscle gain (mostly biceps/triceps work) but i'm hitting a bit of a plateau now.
my fat distribution is weird.the first place it comes off is my back. i've only ever been unhappy with my back when i was at my highest weight. my arms, hips (yes!!), legs, face. chest and butt lose next. thighs are a bit slow. but... i have stubborn fat around my waist and stomach that just won't go without a huge fight. my middle section clings and clings. i guess i'm a skinny apple, perhaps. i look slim in clothing sometimes but when it comes off: blech.

I'm thinking of giving up on weightloss and just concentrating completely on muscle gain. but if there's any good advice i might keep on keeping on.

i'm ultimately after a toned andro look but i'm pretty skinnyfat type.

[Blade]

Originally Posted by Captain Franki

Any tips for fat loss when you're already quite slim? I'm 5" 3' and 110 pound ish . a small proportion of that is muscle.
i've been trying to balance weightloss with muscle gain (mostly biceps/triceps work) but i'm hitting a bit of a plateau now.
my fat distribution is weird.the first place it comes off is my back. i've only ever been unhappy with my back when i was at my highest weight. my arms, hips (yes!!), legs, face. chest and butt lose next. thighs are a bit slow. but... i have stubborn fat around my waist and stomach that just won't go without a huge fight. my middle section clings and clings. i guess i'm a skinny apple, perhaps. i look slim in clothing sometimes but when it comes off: blech.

I'm thinking of giving up on weightloss and just concentrating completely on muscle gain. but if there's any good advice i might keep on keeping on.

i'm ultimately after a toned andro look but i'm pretty skinnyfat type.

Muscle weighs more than fat. You have to have some fat on your body. Eat plenty of protein, meat, eggs, protein shakes and work those muscles. You probably need to gain weight threw muscle mass, but again you are going to have some fat.

[Captain Franki]

Originally Posted by Blade

Muscle weighs more than fat. You have to have some fat on your body. Eat plenty of protein, meat, eggs, protein shakes and work those muscles. You probably need to gain weight threw muscle mass, but again you are going to have some fat.

Yeah i've already my diet over to more protein and less carbs as best I can on my impoverished budget and seen good results from that. I just hate my fat though. I hate my stomach that sticks out. I can defo pinch an inch. I'd kill to have definition and i read over and over that you don't get definition if a layer of fat is hiding your muscles.

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Blade

Muscle weighs more than fat.

Actually, it does't. A pound of muscle equals a pound of fat because a pound is a pound.

BUT

Muscle is much more dense than fat, so it takes up less SPACE in the body...about a third of the space that fat does, if memory serves me correctly.



I weigh about the same as I did several months ago when I started working again and stopped working out so much (pretty much at all, really), but my clothes are getting tighter so I know I'm spreading out and gaining more of the jiggly stuff and losing or at least not helping the good stuff. I will be getting back into some sort of a work out routine, even if it's only 20 minutes here and there. Anything's better than nothing, right?

[sylvie]

*waves to everyone*

i feel so behind in this thread, i have some posts to catch up with!
but, i'll have to come back to do that - because upon entering this thread, i got a text on my cell kicking my rear out to go walking --


how's that for motivation - hehe, off i go!
be back in awhile to update and catch up! =)

[violaine]

http://www.house-foods.com/tofu/tofu_shirataki.aspx