An introduction and my battle with weight loss

[groundloop]

I just noticed this group on CruiseCritic, and since dropping pounds has been close to the center of my attention for so long thought I'd post about the little bit of insight I've gained.

 

Once upon  a time in a previous life I was extremely fit....I did weight training two or three times per week, ran or cycled two or three times per week, and the remaining days I played hockey in a men's league.  6 feet, 190 pounds, and not an ounce of fat.  Over the course of many years I got away from exercising, quit worrying about what I ate, and didn't give a second thought to gaining 3 or 4 pounds per year.  Year after year after year.  Last year I was informed I was "pre-diabetic", and finally at 270 pounds decided enough was enough.

 

There's no way in hell I'm ever getting back to 190, so have decided that a realistic goal is 220 (and if I can manage to get a bit below that it'll be a bonus). 

 

Several years ago I tried one of the fad diets that was popular at the time, and did manage to lose weight really fast, but as with most everyone else who tried that I couldn't keep it off, got discouraged for a very long time, and wound up heavier than when I'd started.

 

After my doctor's visit last October I decided I'd start riding an exercise bike daily, and along with that just basically tried to quit being stupid with my eating choices (mostly nighttime snacking and junk food).  I upped the exercise to two daily sessions of about 30 minutes each, along with strength training twice a week.  (What's helped is that I had to retire last year so now it's no problem fitting exercise into my schedule). 

 

Along the way I've done a lot of research on what works long term so that I can hopefully keep it off this time around.  What most experts recommend, and it makes sense to me, is to shoot for slow and gradual loss, no more than 1 to 2 pounds per week.  After being stuck on a plateau for about 9 weeks (fairly common from what I've read) I'm finally starting to lose again.  I'm now at 231 for a total loss of 39 pounds, with 11 pounds to go.

 

I'll admit that I'm a bit nervous about getting back to cruising - the food is SOOOO GOOD!!!!!  Since I'm retired I have several cruises scheduled for later this year and next, but if nothing else instead of sitting around doing nothing every sea-day afternoon I'll either hit the gym or take a long walk on the ship.

[Ombud]

Congrats on a successful slow loss and only 11 lbs to go. Asking bc I'm cruising in 7 weeks, any tips for when I'm onboard? I plan on hiking, walking 2-3 miles a day, and ziplining (is that exercise?).

[Izena]

Groundloop.

Like you I had a health wake up call. Diabetes A1C was 9.8.  Health issue was turned out to be nothing.  BUT I decided to take wt off.  This started July of last year.  Admitted to myself I had an addiction problem with sweets - cut 95% of them out of my diet. Got serious.

 

only exercise I will do is walking. Walk avg 3 miles daily.  Limit calories to 900- 1200. (Do better actually recording daily intake). Beginning of 2020  I weighed 226.  As of last weeks weigh in I’m down 85 lbs.  Didn’t expect to get this far now shooting for total loss of 100.   What helped is I set small goals .  Don’t beat my self up if I can now lose 3.5 lbs a mo. 

[groundloop]

17 hours ago, Ombud said:

Congrats on a successful slow loss and only 11 lbs to go. Asking bc I'm cruising in 7 weeks, any tips for when I'm onboard? I plan on hiking, walking 2-3 miles a day, and ziplining (is that exercise?).

Ziplining might not burn a lot of calories but you won't be eating while you're doing it.  😁

 

I'm not certain how I'm going to handle being back on a ship with all the temptations.  I think mostly I'll just try to keep a level head and be sensible, with plenty of walking and a few visits to the workout room.  No more meals with two entrees and two desserts.

 

I know that even if I gain a few pounds on my next cruise I'll be able to get rid of it when I get home...... about halfway into my 9 week plateau I purposefully slacked off (just a bit) on my diet and exercise to prime my body for more weight loss (it sounds goofy but goes along with recent research into weight loss setpoint theory)...... once I got back to my stricter diet and exercise I started losing again.

 

 

 

[groundloop]

6 hours ago, Izena said:

Groundloop.

......   What helped is I set small goals .  Don’t beat my self up if I can now lose 3.5 lbs a mo. 

 

I wish I'd have accepted that approach the first time I tried losing weight instead of going for that fad diet.  We're all conditioned to want fast rewards, but that just doesn't work when it comes to weight loss. 

 

I've done a lot of reading and research and learned that fat cells produce several hormones for the purpose of regulating weight.  After a long enough time at a higher weight our body accepts that as the new normal and tries to maintain that.  If we suddenly drop weight our body sees that as a threat and decreases metabolism while at the same time increasing food cravings.