One: Losing weight does not mean getting fit. Getting fit does mean losing weight. Getting fit requires protein. Without enough protein, your body will not want to exercise.

Two: Replace empty calories with high quality protein snacks. Eat 5 times a day. Use a protein snack for meals #2 & #4, a “fill in” between your normal eating. It stabilizes blood sugar, energy and metabolism.

Three: Make exercise fun. If it’s not fun, you won’t keep it up. Mix up your routines. Ask friends for exercise DVDs and equipment their not using. Invite them to join you.

Four: If you have a TV, you have time to exercise. You can exercise while you watch TV. The hardest part is getting off the couch.

I’ve been using sparkpeople.com for the last 7 months, with some success. I lost about 10 pounds in the first four months, and from there, I’ve been sitting at a plateau. I think frequent plateauing is one of the largest reasons many people stop dieting and gain back the weight they lost. They feel betrayed, as the hard work they are doing doesn’t reward them anymore. I think the women in the study experienced this as well – none of them had much success losing more than 10% of their body weight, but those who exercised more kept the weight off.

I weigh less, but my results are the same – I ride my bike about 40 minutes each day, and frequently also swim 30-40 minutes or do a second bike ride for about 40 minutes per day. The weight doesn’t change, but I still feel good doing it. This is the key to staying healthy – you need to enjoy what you are doing, or all of the hard work you have been doing will be for nothing – losing weight for life means making a change for life. That change needs to encompass exercise and eating habits to be effective in the long term.

I think weight loss is not possible unless a person watches their diet also when i decided to lose weight my aim was just to be healthy, within 2 mnths I lost 10 pounds. My diet is consistent of fruits , vegetable and eating healthy. Also on weekends I do enjoy eating choclate cake once in a while.

Friends and Family also affects your health. So its important that people u hang out with should also be healthy eaters. Laying of sugar and being with positive people also contributes a lot.

Portion control is a big thing that can happen. I see most peoples food portions equal two to three times what they should be especially when eating out. Don’t feel bad about taking half your food home, or dividing meals into smaller portions.

This past year is the first time in almost 20 years I have been successfully taking off weight rather than putting it on. I have a vegan diet to thank for that: nothing “white” (no bread, potatoes, white rice, milk, pasta), no processed sugar, and no animal products. It was hard at first, but with diet change alone, more than 30 pounds lost in past 10 months. Exercise has been harder, though-I am considerably overweight, and the increase in exercise is causing problems in my knees. Old sports injuries from my younger years trashed my knees and ankles, so nothing with running. I’m doing yoga and walking, but the pain is getting worse. I have another 100 pounds to go: any suggestions out there? No swimming, though: too humiliating to get into a bathing suit!

I have been on a diet (I hate that word) since the beginning of June. so far I have lost 20 lbs., with 20 to go. I keep to a 1800 calorie day and exercise about an hour a day, It’s not rocket science, but you have to be commit and be persistent.

I lost 160# in 11 months (From 330# to 170#) & have kept it off for 6+ YEARS so far. I did it by eliminating animal foods from my diet & excersizing for an hour every day. THAT’S ALL. I call myself ‘The Anti-Inspiration’, because EVERY fat person I knew when I lost weight has gotten even fatter! I should also mention I got zero support from anyone during my weightloss journey & am still constantly criticized for my lifestyle.

Pay some attention to building muscle as part of your program, because your resting metabolic rate is determined largely by overall muscle mass. If you build a few pounds of muscle, you’ll burn more calories at all times; if you stick strictly to cardio, you’ll lose both fat and muscle in the process, and will probably end up with less muscle mass (and a lower resting metabolic rate) than you started with. I suspect neglect of this detail is high on the list of reasons people have as hard a time as they do keeping excess weight off.

A good diet is primary, but if you don’t at least maintain the muscle mass you started with, plan on staying on a calorie-restricted diet forever. If you build up a little as part of your program, you’ll find it easier to reach your goal, and much easier to maintain your improved condition.

I wish someone could help me, Nothing works. I am currently on a regimine, with the help of my doctor, of diet and exercise, however, I’m very discouraged because I don’t seem to be losing any weight. The only thing I’ve ever done that I’ve lost weight at was the Atkins diet. I lost, but once I got off of it I gained back double, maybe triple. It also had some crazy side effects and I’m not willing to do it again. I’m just trying to be healthy and happy, but it’s difficult. Any suggestions would help.

I think the need for weight loss is first a problem of unhealthy eating and overeating. Exercise can help take off extra weight but the first thing to do is to not do the thing that puts the extra weight on.

Look at slender people with healthy appetites and eat what they eat and do what they do. It is not just being lucky with metabolism. Unfortunately, it’s sort of a taboo and touchy topic so people who are trying to lose weight don’t seem to ever ask skinny people what they do. And then people don’t believe what the skinny people say.

College, grad school, and young single working life give us plenty of opportunity to live with diverse roommates. Every single person I’ve lived with who had a difficult problem with weight did one or several of the following things: drink soda daily, watch television, eat little snacks and sweets throughout the day, eat dessert, eat meals consisting mostly of carbohydrates. They actually did try to exercise. The skinny ones do almost none of these. No soda, no snacks, no dessert, no candy, no television, meals have a lot of vegetables, fruit, meat, and less cereals, potatoes, breads, and pastas.

A couple of my friends turned from fat to babes after struggling with weight for years, when they actually changed their habits. I watched my friend stop eating ice cream for dessert, stop eating cheese, stop eating salad dressing, etc. and my goodness it was incredible. Once they changed those habits, the speed of weight loss was incredible.

Exercise does not have to be a separate activity from daily activities. If you can, walk or bike to work or to public transportation or to run errands. Housework is good exercise, especially vacuuming and scrubbing. If you have young children, play with them (sports, dancing, piggyback rides) and take them to the park. Don’t watch television.

I believe the biggest thing everyone needs to remember, both those wanting to lose weight and those supporting/criticizing, is that the same approach will not work for all people.

People gain weight for many different reasons and as such there are just ans many ways that weight can be lost. Listen to your body, it is smarter than you think. If something doesn’t feel right or simply makes you feel terrible it is time to look at other alternatives.

Sorry, but truthfully I hate, loathe, and despise all forms of exercise. But I do it because I have to. I’ve lost a lot of weight and the only way I can maintain that loss is by running 20 to 30 miles a week, weight training, and a consistent low carb/high protein diet. NOT being fat is practically a full time job.

Want the answer to this weighty subject? Figure out why I(and many others) have to live such a restrictive lifestyle compared to some who remain thin rather effortlessly. In an attempt to do just that, I had my BMR(basal metabolic rate) done. According to the doc, I should be able to eat twice as much as I do and still maintain my weight.

I’m still no skinny mini. The lowest my BMI has ever been is 26. But I just can’t dedicate any more time and effort towards maintaining my weight.

I find that I don’t pay any attention to the television shows that shows a group of people working out and dieting to loose weight. I find if I did a quater of what they are doing then I would losse alot more then they do. What I do is on my break at work I walk around a pond near work. It takes aout 30 minutes. A group of us walk the pond again lunch time. I might go for a walk again after work. If I want a few items at the store I would walk back and forth to the store. Stoped eatinig all junk food including gravy. But if I want something like chocolate I will by a bar and have one peice. I did that for awhile then thaught what a waste of money to buy the bar for one peice. So just stoped buying the bars. I would buy a small bag of chips and it took me three attempts to eat it. I just got right on my nerves so I just stoped buying it. I don’t keep no junk food in the house. If I want it I will have to walk to the store and buy it. So to get that one peice of bar I had to exercise to get it. This is juect somethings that has helped me to loose 35 pounds in 4 months. My goal is 50 pounds in 5 months. Good luck to everyone.

What I’ve found is that using weight machines at a gym two to three times a week (for about an hour) helps tremendously. When using these machines you want to do your legs, your stomach, your arms, and back. The weights are what tone you up the fastest and that muscle then allows you to eat and stay trimmer, longer.

When you don’t feel like going to the gym, take a 30min or hour long walk (with your pet or someone else) in the evening before it gets too dark. This activity is extremely relaxing and will especially help you clear your mind if you’re stressed. Walking builds lean muscle in your legs and gets rid of the “tire” around your waist.

And of course, it’s important to eat breakfast in the mornings even if you’re like me and you hate breakfast. Eat a moderate lunch and only a plate’s-worth of dinner (no seconds). Get good sleep. Sleep helps ward off stress and warding off stress helps ward of fat! This system works for me and it’s not any kind of extreme “diet”.

I have lost sucessfully 30 pounds with a tiny little helper. It is my pedometer. I average between 10-16 thousand steps a day. I walk between 2-three miles a day in the evening which is included in those steps which takes about an hour. With a pedometer you can go anywhere and count your steps, 2000 = one mile. So it goes on in the moring and stays on all day long. Along with a bottle of water that I constantly fill up and you can refill up at any water fountain, I have found this to be sucessfull for me. Oh yes and as a reward for every pound i lost i added a song to my ipod instead of a food treat. Hope this works for someone else.
Caroline (female 44 and feeling the best I ever have)

I find it much easier to workout if I’m listening to music with a good beat. But, I find that if I don’t rotate my music I start to get bored with my workout. Downloading a few new songs a week keeps my workout fresh and enjoyable. Plus, it drowns out the noise of those people in the gym who talk on their cell phones while they’re “working out.”

To me one of the most important parts of my weight loss so far has been drinking water. I’ve read several books and magazines about exercise and nutrition and the one thing I’ve noticed consistently about every different program is that they all recommend drinking a lot of water. Most recommend drinking 64 ozs a day, and if you exercise and sweat it’s crucial to drink water to replace what you sweat out. Drink water and not sports drinks which often have a high sugar content (though the new G2 isn’t bad). Water makes all of our body processes go smoother, especially metabolism and healing which are all part of working out and losing weight.

Obivously working out and eating healthy are crucial aspects of a healthy weight loss, but drinking plenty of water is just as important.

While most of these comments parrot conventional wisdom, I find it depressing. It isn’t working for me. I am obese, but trying my hardest. Vegan diet (cucumber and lettuce salad with vinegarette, 2 oz hummus and 6 carrot sticks, with summer squash soup in front of me as I write this): yoga, 1 hour 5x per week; riding horse 3x per week, including regularly lifting 65 pound bales of hay; and walking dog, 1/2 hour 7 times per week. I’m following everything listed, but I’m still almost 100 pounds heavier than I should be.
For anyone working with, friends with, or related to some one who is obese: please, please temper your well-meaning advice with compassion. Years of hearing men moo or oink at me in public, or concerned family members refusing to include me in their trips to local restaurants hurts. The comments feel like knife cuts to my self esteem, and I can assure everyone that treating obesity as a moral failure will NOT help the overweight person succeed.
So for now, I keep plugging away at it, and hope I can get slim. There may be a medical problem at the core of the problem, according to my doctor, but my insurance company won’t cover the cost of the test I need. I can see where the insurance companies don’t want to shell out for this metabolic test when every overweight person might want to have it done. But it seems it would be cheaper to just have it done, rather than pay for all the meds and other side effects that are now starting to get me. Keeping costs down is great, but I’d rather not die for the cause.

This is something that is probably well known now but, at the time, it was surely a discovery process for me. When I was in my 20’s, it dawned on me one day that I couldn’t seem to enjoy a meal without having a sugary drink to go along with it. Since I lacked the motivation to go off improving my life in any way, shape, or form, I decided to just change one thing. I started drinking water with every meal even breakfast. Imagine, greasy eggs and bacon with water. Yum, just what the doctor ordered. Many years later, a family member asked me how I managed to stay slim. At that point, I realized that maybe that one little change I had made many years ago may have been what made the difference. To this day, I have kept this up except on special occasions when I treat myself to a glass or two of red wine or cola.

These are several things I do that has really helped. They weren’t easy to accomplish at first, but each day gets easier:

Steer clear of sugary sodas and drink a lot of water.

Eat carbs only moderately and increase protein intake.

Eat several small meals per day.

Walk at least 30 minutes per day, at least three times per week.

Take the stairs vs. the elevator.

Park far from the entrance to a store, not close.

Choose healthy meals when dining out and limit alcohol intake.

I have been successful for the first time in my 50 years while dieting in the last ten months. I have lost almost 50 pounds. I absolutely believe what others have said: the same thing won’t work for everyone. The first thing I did was make a list of all of the things I actually LIKE to eat that are healthy. Come on, everybody likes a few healthy things. I love salmon, and shrimp and crab and other types of fish. That’s a good building block for the rest. I don’t love most veggies, but I can tolerate some of them and can possibly like them depending on how they are cooked.

I also started researching nutrition. It is amazing what vitamins and nutrients are in certain foods. I made a decision that I wouldn’t eat anything that didn’t have a moderate amount of nutritional value.

One of the major things I did was to stop drinking Coke. Now you have to realize I was a 5 Coke a day drinker. I just decided that there must be something else I can substitute. I started drinking diet green tea and vitamin water (I know, the latter is not a great substitute), but it got the caffeine out of my system and dropped quite a few calories.

Oh, right, I also started walking at lunch. I walk for 1/2 hour five days a week during my lunch hour around the block at work. I loaded up my iPod with music and absolutely LOVE the walk. It also helps de-stress me.

Now on to lose the last 20 pounds and I’m done!

Losing weight is simple, and if done correctly it’s predictable. It’s all about having a caloric deficit at the end of each day, every day, until you reach your target weight. You first have to determine your caloric intake.

Caloric intake differs for everybody, it’s a very individual thing based on a number of variables. However there are a lot of websites that will help you estimate your caloric needs to maintain your current weight based on input for your height, weight, age, sex, and activity level. Once you’ve determined your caloric needs to maintain your weight, all you have to do is subtract 500 calories from that per day and you should end up losing about a pound per week. You can cut out these 500 calories per day based purely on diet, or with a combination of both diet and exercise (3,500 calories equals one pound of body fat). If you cut too many calories, you risk losing muscle you’ll need to help keep your metabolism burning. It’s generally not recommended to cut more than 500 calories/day from your baseline. If after a week or two you find you’re not losing any weight, you might want to cut another 250 calories, as your baseline was just an estimate to begin with and you’re actual metabolism might be just a tad slower.

You should also make sure your calories are coming from the right kinds of foods with the proper nutrition, protein, carbs, and fats.

For me (6′1″, 179lbs, 30 years old, male, moderately active), I try and keep my caloric intake within 2,000 to 2,300 calorices per day, but I try to stay pretty lean in the summer. In the winter I might let this go up to roughly 2,600 calories a day, but I cut back when I see I’ve gained a couple pounds. I suggest you google “daily caloric intake calculator” to determine your own baseline. I’d try at least three of four of the available calculators on-line and come to your own conclusion, some results vary significantly.

On another note, some think tracking calories is a pain and not necessary if you’re eating the right foods. This might be true, but tracking your calories just for a single week can make a huge difference in how you view a serving size, how you look at a piece of cake, and drinking alcohol. Your calories become like money in the bank, and you have to be careful with how you spend them. I would recommend everybody track their caloric intake at least one week a year, it can be a great calibration exercise.

Also of importance is spreading these calories throughout the day. I know we’ve all heard that we need to eat 5 to 6 meals a day. Well, there’s truth to it, and you’ll find you don’t really get strong cravings if you keep to this. I don’t know that it keeps your metabolism burning at full strength, but it sure does help keep things in check. I try to break my caloric intake up as evenly as possible throughout the day. Apparently the more steady your intake of calories, the easier to lose weight it is. So try to avoid a big meal followed by a long period of starvation (more than 3 hours is too long).

Another important ingredient is water. You need to drink a lot of water. I don’t know how much I drink a day, but I start with a glass full the minute a wake up, and keep drinking as much as I can stand through out the day. My guess is it’s about 8 glasses a day (along with 2 – 3 diet cokes and a cup of coffee every day). I really don’t care about hydrating myself at all, all I know is that it helps keep me feeling full. It’s apparently got other benefits as well, but keeping me feeling full is enough for me to keep gulping it down.

And lastly… Sleep for a minimum of 7 hours per night, another hour or two is better. I don’t know why this is important, but I try and stick to it.

Following these steps (along with weighing myself daily) has really helped me regulate my weight efficiently and predictably. Before I incorporated all these changes, losing weight was hit or miss for me, probably based on how close I accidentally did the right things. Now it’s easy and predictable. Incorporating one or two of these measures won’t reliably get you the results you’re looking for. You have to make a commitment to do them all.

And if you want to build an impressive, aesthetically pleasing body, dieting alone isn’t enough. Weight lifting is essential and will also help speed up your resting metabolism. Not to mention the lifting itself will burn additional calories. Plus, who doesn’t look better with a couple lbs of muscle?

Good luck!

I have found that if i go to the store and/restaurant…i look at what the obese people eat and choose something different. If they are obese and eating/buying that, as much as I want what they are eating, the disgust will make me want a different healthier choice.

I used to weigh 458# 10 years ago and now I’m down to 170# because I started eating healthy It was not easy at first but it got easier as time went on I found out it’s not what you eat; it”s how much of what you eat

After a decade or two of looking around, a finally wrote out a “5W” plan for my patients to lose weight by. I’d probably be rich if this were fancy or book length, instead, I still enjoy primary care medicine:

1. Wake up and eat breakfast
2. Write down everything you eat (it will surprise you)
3. Water – not pop – lots
4. Walk , then walk some more
5. Wait until morning to eat again after supper

All these comments are inspiring and so very truthful. I’ve repeatedly gained and lost about 25-30 pounds over the years, but I’m currently at the low end … basically where I want to be (BMI 21). I’ve always HATED formal exercise so I’m learning to keep it off through dietary choices (high protein, very low carb). Echoing many of the comments already appearing here, and mindful that every body is different, I recommend the following:

1. Always eat breakfast, preferably heavy on protein.
2. Avoid white foods (bread, sugar, rice, potatoes, pasta etc. – high in carbs and low in nutrition).
3. Aim for 4-5 different colors on your plate: colorful veggies and fruits are high in nutrients!
4. Drink lots of water; no soft drinks (even diet) or sugary juices.
5. Try to walk at least 10,000 steps a day (wear a pedometer; park far away from entrances).
6. Educate yourself: learn about good nutrition through books or online.
7. Set benchmarks, and reward yourself with non-food treats. If you must have an occasional food treat (and I must), a small piece of dark chocolate is good.
8. Plateaus are normal, unfortunately. Read about the body “set point.” It took you a long time to get to this weight; it may take a long time to lose it.
9. Regularly remind yourself that you are consciously choosing to eat this way: you are intelligently leading your body to optimal appearance and health. It is a lifestyle improvement, a significant gift you’re giving yourself. This helps avoid the sense of deprivation and punishment associated with being “on a diet.”

Good luck to all!

Here is the confusion! Americans are too infatuated with what the scale reads. The truth is muscle weighs alot more than fat. It is denser and leaner than fat and takes up a lot less room in clothing. You need to concentrate on body shape not body weight. Start taking down measurements on your arms, thighs, butt, hips and waist. As long as all those measurements are going down and your pants are fitting better who cares what the scale reads. The scale doesn’t know any difference between muscle or fat.

For fat loss
1.) “Man’s best medicine is walking.” Hippocrates- 30 min day
2.) Eat from the trees! More fruits and veggies
3.) Less animal products, Less meat.
4.) Fish should be meat of choice
5.) Water- drink a ton of it. No Soda or sugar water.

For muscle gain- Important because Muscle burns calories
1.) Eat 4-5 meals daily
2.)Work out with weights at least 3x week
3) Give time for muscles to heal

I know how hard weight loss is for people, as I used to weigh 225 at 5′ 9″, which translates to a 32-33 BMI. I just decided to go on South Beach one day after an older friend recommended it and my life has changed dramatically ever since. I lost weight very rapidly, in retrospect probably not the healthiest thing to do, but managed to get down to approximately 165 over the course of 3 months. I maintained that weight for over a year. God knows how I did it, but then relapsed a bit and spent the next year b/w 175 and 180 and felt very unhealthy. I finally decided that it was time to go back down, but all I did was crash diet. I cut my caloric intake down to 1200-1500 calories a day and it worked well–during the week. On the weekends, I would usually binge and just gain back most of what I had lost during the week. I knew that this was unhealthy, but the results were quick. breaking this cycle is tremendously difficult. Once you start crash dieting, it is almost impossible to break. I did it for well over a year and actually managed to get down to 160 lbs, but then relapsed during a vacation. I finally decided, after fluctuating from 168 to 175 almost every weekend that enough was enough. I found an interval training program and am following that. I’m not losing that much weight, but I feel my clothes fitting much better than before.

Listen to those around you that don’t struggle with their weight. While I realize that everyone’s body is different, people often use this as an excuse to crash diet or simply avoid weight loss altogether. Do not expect immediate results. Perhaps the biggest mistake any individual can make when trying to lose weight is weighing him or herself too often. Do this during the maintenance phase. Keep in mind though that a few pounds weight gain or loss is natural. Some days you’ll eat slightly more than other days and other days you’ll eat less. A few pounds either way is no cause for despair. Don’t completely give up on your diet if you cheat just a little bit. if you have an extra helping of ice cream don’t have three more just because you already “violated” your diet.

On a final note, Americans really need to be more open with each other about weight. I was obese throughout middle school and into my freshman year of high school and no one really told me that it was a huge deal. Had someone sat me down and explained how much better I would feel if I maintained a healthier weight, perhaps I wouldn’t have to watch my weight as closely as I do now.

CAA, how about rowing and biking to be easier on the joints than running?

Admit that you need some help. Either Weight Watchers, the cookie diet folks (my choice), low carb, south beach, etc.. But try to pick something that makes sense nutritionally. Getting your eating habits under control is absolutely key. Learn about how to make smarter choices about what you eat. Substituting fruit juice instead of soda sounds like a smart choice but in reality it’s just as bad in terms of calories. Might as well go with a diet drink, low cal sports drink like Propel or just plain water. That’s just one example and believe me there are plenty others.

Prepare yourself mentally for the road ahead. You will be surprised at the reactions folks will have. You will see everything from positive and encouraging comments to snide back handed remarks as well as folks telling you to just plain stop because you’ve lost too much and you’ll just gain it all back anyway. Learn to tune out the jealousy and focus on the positive. There really are people who can’t stand watching you do what they cannot.

Learn to love exercising. Once you’ve lost some weight your body will be like a bear waking up in spring and no matter what you eat or in whatever amounts it will try to build up fat reserves for the next ‘winter’. It takes years for your body to relearn what’s an acceptable amount of body fat. Once you get to that point it’s not nearly as bad since you’ll be a lot lighter and not causing as much stress to your knees, back, and so forth. You also won’t feel as though you stick out like a sore thumb at a gym. Consider sessions with a personal trainer if you’ve never been to a gym before. It’ll really help get you get started.

get yourself some 5LB weights, and do them for 30min every morning and whenever you have a few minutes, the weight will come off

Sanjay,

A year and a half ago, at 47, I topped off at 200 lbs. Although I wasn’t grossly overweight, I found myself feeling extremely slugish, not having the energy to keep up with my schdule which entails lots of travel. I decided to make a change in January, 2007. My goal was to lose 35 lbs. I utilized a computerized calorie counter and began to jog more consistently. To that I added a couple of days at the gym, working out vigorously for no more than 35 minutes, twice a week. By the end of March, I had lost 30 lbs and by June, I had lost 50. When I went to my doctor for my yearly checkup, he was amazed. All of my numbers were good and my body fat was incredibly low. More than a year later, the weight is still off and I now run five miles several times a week and work out twice a week at a gym. The weight came off and stayed off. I agree with the doctor today—it’s all about counting calories and exercise.

Everyone forgot something .. Don’t drink milk regardless what others say… People are not able to drink cows milk.. Cows milk are for cows and not for humans.. It’s not your milk to drink.. I’ve known that for 20 years.. Look what the vets inject the cows.. Anti Bi’s, Hormones and even growth hormones.. The idea is to produce more milk than what is not normal.. It’s not natural… Children today at the age of 8 are growing breast now.. And they blame it on the water we drink…. I am not a member of PETA as I don’t like them.. I love good burgers and a slowly cooked pot roast… Milk is not good for anyone.. If you can read this on the internet.. Go look for yourself on your favorite search engine about this..

minnesotarick@yahoo.com

I have to say that I’ve been generally running every other day for the last 6 months and it’s helped to maintain my weight but has not done anything substantial. I started getting so discouraged until I read online that water helps people to lose weight. I understood the appetite suppressant part of it. I also read about how drinking water will help eliminate the stubborn pounds of water weight that the body holds onto when you don’t drink enough. I started wholeheartedly drinking water a few days ago, and just like that I lost about 3 lbs. It’s exciting! I hate the taste of water and I put in “Lipton Ice Tea to Go”. It’s green tea so I understand that this also helps increase metabolism. It has no sugar or sodium, so it’s basically flavored water with benefits. I’m so inspired to keep the exercise going now. I drink 4 full glasses of water each day (one before or after each meal). Each glass is equivalent to 16 ounces, so there’s your 64 oz. of water. And it really does make me want to eat less (but not starve myself). It’s easier than I thought it would be and I hate the taste of it. Hope this helps!

You mentioned in passing, livestrong.com. That is a great site. I started tracking my calories in and exercise calories out and set a goal of losing a pound a week. Key to success is the tracking and knowing what calories you are consuming. That keeps you committed. That site led me to the 100 pushups club and I’ve started that and have gotten my wife, son and grandson started. You started it all. Thanks

Weight loss seems to be a central issue that many Americans face on a daily basis. We see it in advertisements or we know someone who is dieting, if we ourselves aren’t putting ourselves through grueling starvation practices and intense work outs. When it comes to weight loss, it amazes me that we don’t look to our past for cues. During that time we weren’t battling with food and we weren’t counting calories and exercising rigorously. Instead, we ate regularly and maintained a healthy relationship with our food.
Also, I am a true believer of weight maintenance. This is an idea that is rarely embraced in our society, and that’s unfortunate. Most of us will never achieve the supermodel ideal that’s presented throughout mass media (especially if, in my case, you’re 4′11″). I say, why try? Instead, attempt a weight that’s your own and maintain it. After all, health and happiness are the most important things we, as individuals, could have. Unfortunately, we cannot achieve both ideals if we’re working ourselves to death for that perfect body, that frankly doesn’t exist.

The best advice for losing weight is eating RIGHT, exercising moderately, drinking lots of water. Forget diet pills, drinks, skipping meals – which results in overall bad medicine and poor habits for your body. Stay away from junk food, sodas, juices and eating at night. Stay away from desserts. Stop smoking and drinking. Eat lots of salads, wheat wraps, yogurt, oatmeal, fish, chicken. etc. Red meat is really bad for you – linked to cancer, etc. Remove all processed eating from your menu – none of it is any good for you anyways – a bunch of fats, chemicals – bad digestion with low nutritional values. Even the frozen foods are a tempory solution, not a meal replacement on a regular basis. It doesn’t take science or a brain storm to figure out what your body needs – just healthy food, water and exercise when you can. All those diet shakes, pills – most are fraudulent – and again, not good for you! All that convenient eating out, take out – cut down on it and take a few minutes to eat at home – real food, prepared by YOU!! Anyone can do it and anyone has time – just excuses to be lazy not to create your own diet and stick to it. Real food is what your body has always wanted, not chemicals, sugars, salts, or processed foods.
It’s all what the doctor has recommended for decades – there’s no changing the facts!!!

I started my journey to losing weight in early June. I was 266 at the time. I am currently 240 (I would be a lot less if I hasnt been eating so much take out these past two weeks). You have to change the way you eat and do a little work to keep healthy. I count calories. I range from 1500-2000 a day. This to me has been the best and most successful way to lose weight. It not only allows you to lose weight but also teaches you how to portion yourself.

I do most of this mentally but most people should write a food journal. Every day, just write down everything you eat. Its simple and doesnt take alot of time. This will allow you to track your food intake and the amount of calories your eating.

If you enjoy snacking, then eat snacks. I love chips and dip. So what do I eat now? I eat mutligrain baked chips and flavored hummus. It is not the same but it tastes good. It serves my need of chips and dip.

Exercise is key. I work for two hours lifting and running 4 days a week. I do this through a sports training facility. I know not everyone can afford to do this or even keep up, but thats not the point. Try to run at least 2-3 miles a day. Do interval sprints on the treadmill, one week and then a str8 jog the next. The key is to not let your body get used to what your doing. This will help what is called the plateau effect.

These are my helpful hints. I think this is the best way to go. It will not be a diet but a change of lifestyle. Also, do not forget that eating out and enjoying yourself once in a while is not bad. I say once a month is probably best. -

I agree with Mike – no one ever supports their friends in weight-loss programs and success is usually matched with extreme frustration with those around you. I ate healthy and exercised and lost a significant amount of weight and have kept it off. I went from being the fattest of my friends to the most in-shape – 37 waist to 30. Not a single person (except my parents) encouraged me or said anything positive. Every day when I ate a salad for lunch I was an “anorexic” and some people had the nerve to tell me “don’t enjoy it, it won’t last” and how “exercise doesn’t work.” Everyone did virtually everything in their power to put me down, make me feel bad, and essentially wreck my program through words and actions (short of actually shoving food down my throat), particularly the people who were as big as I was. Well, here I am, and those mean stares show nothing but envy.

Ditto to all the good advice and try to eat lots of fiber – at least 25 grams a day – and even though fish is excellent also try to eat beans (gradually build up to) as your number one source of protein – no toxins and lots of fiber and keep active.

To CAA-
Can you join a gym for women only? Shapes is women only and they have a pool. (assuming you’re a woman cause men usually don’t care).

Dr. Gupta, what are your thoughts on “Lipozene”? Does it work, or is it all hype?

Diet sodas are not good for you. Have you ever noticed how the simple act of drinking a diet cola will make you crave more food and sweets. Everyone has said, and I will repeat it- WATER. But I don’t think it necessarily has be a ton. Fruit for a snack instead of chocolate. What is better than a ripe peach?

I read a great book, EAT LOTS! Be Slim, and it is really interesting. After reading it, I felt less inclined to sit on the couch for hours and I started enjoying whatever I was doing. The basis of the book is to eat what and when you need to, so you can do what you want to do. But the doing what you want to do – is what it encourages. It says sensible things about food too but not what to eat or what not to eat!
I found after reading it (I made my plump daughter read it too) that we were more active and we tried out different things to see if we enjoyed them. Now my daughter goes to dance classes – loves them – and I started playing golf – which I love!
We both lost weight without even noticing or trying and we hardly ever think about it! I’d highly recommend it. I like myself now and my daughter is much more confident.

I keep a food journal, tracking what and when I eat as well as the mood that I’m in at the time. It makes me aware of any emotional eating I’m prone to do. After assessing my journal entries, I eliminated unhealthy foods and portions from my diet. I’ve adopted a pescatarian dietary routine. I do activities that I enjoy doing or learn a new sport, such as swimming or rock climbing. It’s good to mix your exercise routine so your body will not become accustomed to the same motions day in, day out.

Ok here is it! to loose weight you go on a shreaded wheat diet. that is it shreaded wheat and lite milk or just water 3 times a day and after 3 to 6 months you will be loosing weight. Trust me It did work for me and I’m very healthy
Erick

For those of you who cannot exercise may I recommend Weight Watchers. I have lost 30+ pounds in 7 months through diet alone. I purposely wanted to have the program work for me, not work for the program to measure success. It is nice to find something sustainable – I think the big push to work out becomes tiresome and puts a burden on a lot of people. Once they start missing workouts, they give up thinking they are failing. Persistance is the key, and discipline. If your weight prohibits you from lengthly “Biggest Loser” workouts, try and let the diet work for you and be patient. The weight loss may be slower, but it’s healthier in the long term. Good luck!
P.S. I am insulin dependent diabetic (Type 1) and have had great success, and lowered my Insulin requirements and A1c too.