Support posts.. for days we need support

[Spectre]

but decided yesterday to nix it all together (after the usual 1 in the morning car-ride to work)...there's a lonely open case at home...I wonder how long it will last.

[ok ok ok.. i know.. I'm not allowed to post in this thread.. feel free to delete it]

Tony. I -definately- know where you are at. Dew is a really tough beast on both the calories and the caffine. But the caffine truely is the worst part of it.

What I did:

Dumped the Mt. Dew cold. I switched to Sprite and I allowed myself one big coffee for breakfast on my way to work every weekday. If I needed something during the day, I drank a sprite... after about a week, it started to taste like Mt. Dew! If the headaches got too bad, then I'd get myself hte smallest cup of coffee I could find, pour out half, and drink that.

After a couple weeks, I switched to water... Even now, 10 years later, I always have a bottle of water on me. A few sips and it controls the headaches [which I suspect now are dehydration based, not caffine based].

After about a month, I replaced the sprite with water; or juice with meals

A few years later, I started phasing caffine back in; but never more than one or two cokes a day plus my morning coffee. When I start noticing the insomnia return... I go back to just my morning coffee, and water.

water is your friend. g'luck!

 

[TCDiver1]

Ha...I made it 24 hours so far...

For those who don't know...I'm a Mt Dew Addict.....

Yeah, i remember you. I've seen you on the Dew commercials. Your the dude who head butts the Ram, right?

Nasty habit you got there guy!

 

[Spectre]

was always a coffee drinker, sometimes 20 cups a day when in my prime (makes me wonder now how I ever managed to sleep) and found that caffine and weight loss didn't go together too well. So I mixed my regular coffee, 50/50 with decaf.

50/50 decaf. Wow.. great idea. I hadn't thought of that [I've got issues with decaf coffee by principle ]

 

[Spectre]

Since I've not been deleted... yet [I like pushing the envelope]...

There is something I've not noticed mentioned in this thread, it might be there, but maybe not.

Be wary of just using the scale as a guage. It doesn't always give you truely what you want to know. My story... About 3... 3 1/2 years ago, I dropped about 25% of my body weight in 3 or 4 months. Don't get enthused, this was definately -not- a good thing. Yes, I could have used to lose some weight at the time, but the amount I lost was very much to the extreme. I currently have that weight back on, if not a little more, but it's been... shall we say... redistributed.

You can lose weight by dieting. However there is no guarantee that it's going to be healthy. In fact by just dieting, most likely it is -not- going to be healthy. diet -and- exercise are key to keeping it healthy. For me, I actually weigh more than I did when I crashed my body weight; but the number on the scale isn't necessarily the important factor here... fat weight was replaced with muscle weight.

My point is, exercise is going to add some muscle; and for the guys, it could add a lot of muscle depending on how you approach your workout. You may see only a small change in what the scale reads, while actually making drastic changes.

As weight loss and fitness take time, it's very likely you won't notice the changes, but rather just use the scale as a guage, and make yourself frustrated even though you are actually doing quite well. You may want to consider taking a photo of yourself each time you weigh in. Now you have -both- the scale readout, and you can compare your shape to what your shape was when you started.

Another important part is maintenance. You can't just focus on losing weight, you actually need to focus on changing your routine and the fitness will follow. Perhaps chose some things to start that just aren't necessary. For example, I rarely eat fried foods anymore. I never felt very good after too much fried stuff, and I just didn't need it. I don't miss it. I still endulge a little [mmmm... jalapeno poppers!], but I'll go with the rice or baked potato over the fries on most occasions. Little changes can go a long way... you stand by the car, you look at the boat a short distance away... you look at your doubles in the car. Go grab the cart, or put 'em on your back and carry them? I make a point to carry 'em.

Eventually you'll get to a point where you can recognize changes in your routine, and change your diet accordingly. When I wrecked my knee last year, my activity level tumbled. I recognized this after about a week, and made dietary choices to work in line with that change in activity. Instead of going for something like pasta alfredo with chicken, I decided to bite the bullet, get some green on that plate, and go with the chicken ceaser salad instead.

At this point, I could probably use to redistribute a couple pounds, but it's nothing that won't be covered with a little discipline to stick to regular workouts.

Once again... best of luck to you all!

Edit: Oops. My apologies.... http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=559066&postcount=6

I'll go shut up now.

 

[TCDiver1]

I started the get back in shape thing about a year earlier than you folks. Last year about this time i was looking at 250 and wondering how i got there. I've always been athletic and active but the knees go and a shoulder goes ... etc, and before you know it your activity level goes way down. Obviously a lot of denial involved here but it really snuck up on me.

Looking at 250, (by far the heaviest i have ever been after packin on a quick 25 pounds from dropping a 20 year nicotine habit), shocked me into action.

I don't mean this to be a slimfast or gut buster commercial but 10 months later i've lost a little over 40 pounds. I got about 20 more to go before i'm where i want to be. Right now i'm losing about 1/2 to 1 pound a week. Hopefully that encourages some of you to keep it up.

How am i/did i do it?

I started with a quasi-atkins diet thing. What i mean by quasi is i only limit my carb intake, trying to keep it below 100 carbs a day. Cutting out most all sugars is what i think made the biggest difference for me. For the most part, the only sugars i eat come from fruits or fruit juices.

The next best thing i did was get back into doing good cardio work outs 4 to 5 times a week. With my bad knees that is easier said than done. I found my salvation in elliptical machines. You can a great workout and not hammer your joints on those machines. I do pretty good at averaging 150 to 200 minutes a week at 80-85% of my target heart rate.

http://www.justmove.org/fitnessnews/healthf.cfm?Target=/hartrates.html

However, i suggest you start slow with your doctors advise. In my case i did one week at 50%, one week at 55% and so on, upping my heart rate 5% each week until i got to my target of 85%. Everyone is different so make sure to check with a health pro before you start working out.

Get yourself a good walkman and go for it. :bravo:

 

[netmage]

Since I've not been deleted... yet [I like pushing the envelope]...

......
I'll go shut up now.

Jeff, As always - a thought filled and meaningfull post...
I think the mod's main concern is keeping the threads positive and motivating vs. some of the mud slinging that can happen.

Back to the original topic of soda, or pop as we in the midwest like to call it....

Back in the day I used to go through 6-7 Mt. Dews a day. For some reason I just drink like a fish. Be it soda, kool-air, water, beer, etc... After realizing Dew was 200+ calories per can, I switched to diet. Over time I weaned myself complelty to it. Since doing Atkins I always keep water handy. Get a Brita or PUR faucet mouted filter and you'll be set forever. When I need a soda fix I reach for Diet Rite. 0 calories, 0 carbs, 0 caffeine and it mixes well with Rum when I want a booze fix.

 

[rab]

I know that just the change from regular soda to diet used to be all that I need to do to be "dieting". My wife hated that I would start losing weight without any other change. Of course, I was a lot more active then!

One mental trick that can really help with the increase in water: GET A BIG CUP.
I've a big, 32 oz. plastic cup at work that I fill in the morning and drain it before lunch (and sometimes it's really chugging the last half!). Another fill for the afternoon to be finished before leaving. That's a half gallon of water in TWO glasses even though it counts as EIGHT "servings" (8oz) of water. No need to remember how many times you've filled up the smaller cup.

I also have a big coffee mug, but that's a caffinated liquid and I don't really count that as a water (unless I made a "mocha" with the no-sugar hot chocoloate mix and decaf coffe).

-Rob

 

[Spectre]

I actually avoid diet anything... soda, ice cream, beer, etc. If the calories or sugar is a level that concerns me, I look for an alternative instead. It's probably just an extreme impression I have, but there is something about chemically engineered sweeteners that I just don't like the idea of. At one point I even considered trying to dump anything with artificial anything.... but then I realized that was just nuts and I don't have the discipline for that; yet I do make an attempt to be conscious of artificial additives and actively think if there is an alternative I can settle with.

 

[simbrooks]

I know it may not be very chemically sound, but i do actually find the taste of diet coke much better than regular its less "sweet" tasting. But yes i see various people swigging down on soda all day and caffine rich hot drinks. I just sit there with my water, trying not to drink soda.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Couple thoughts. When I told my Dr. last year I wanted to lose weight, he suggested the diabetic diet. Didn't really like much on it, so asked a diabetic friend and he suggested looking at the ingredients. He doesn't put anything in his mouth if sugar or a sugar related product (corn syrup for instance) is one of the first 3 ingredients. BTW, anybody have the latest count on names for sugar? Incredible how its hidden.

And then there was the guy at church that lost a lot of weight by simply putting his fork down between bites. Ate whatever he wanted, but took one bite, and swallowed it before picking up the next.

Simple stuff...now if I can just adhere to my own wisdom...