[itsjustme]

ihaveaheartofgold67 May 25 2007, 06:44 PM

Quote

i need advise on weight gain.i am 5'3 and 40 years old ,i use to weight 128 before i was in a chair in 2006 now i weigh 220.i put on weight on in places i never even thought possible. i have a bad shoulder from a car accident and can not do any weigtht training.how can i loose weight??

I thought that this might be seen and helpful to more people if it were a topic all it's own.

I was totally convinced that I couldn't lose weight in this chair. I've been paralyzed for 3 years and quite simply been stuffing my feelings down with food. Food has been my drug of choice all of my life so that wasn't an unusual option for me. I have no idea how much I had gained. I'm only 5'1" and I'm 56 years old. Back in Jan. I had a little heart scare. Now just tell me that someone might crack open my chest and take veins out of my legs and that's enough to make me lose my appetite.

I started on Weight Watchers simply because I had been on it years ago and I had a basic understanding of the plan. There's no tricks or gimmicks, no high this or low that. It's just a well balanced diet based on portion control and choices.

I got on Freecycle and asked if anyone was willing to share any of their new material with me on the newer point system and 2 very nice ladies sent information to me and to date, since the middle of Jan., I've lost 50+ lbs. and 16 inches around my waist.

I have bad shoulders from arthritis but I still work with weights doing what I can and when I was in the hospital I started doing crunches in bed every night. I started with about 3 sets of 10. Now I do 400 crunches in bed everynight.

I'm finding ways to cut calories here and there in small ways that add up. There is a bread called Healthy Lifestyle with only 35 calories in a slice. You can have 2 slices instead of one slice of regular bread. I eat a baked potato almost every day because I LOVE potatoes and I found a margarine that has 50 calories in a tablespoon instead of 70 or 100. I always keep my salad dressing on the side and either dip my fork or the bite instead of pouring it on and sucking it off of the lettuce. LOL!

You just don't go hungry on WW and you don't have to do without anything. There are lists to plan from when you eat out and there are extra points for special occasions or desserts and there's no expense of buying any kind of special food.

Right now I am tryng my best to learn to love fresh tomatoes. I know. Because, if I wanted to sit in the garden with a salt shaker and eat a bushel of tomatoes it would be okay because they are a free food. There are so many things like that, that are free if you like them and I'm trying and learning.

That's my suggestion. It's working for me. Good luck!

[itsjustme]

Hi Everybody,

Saw my heart doctor today for the first time since Jan. He was pretty impressed with my weight loss I'm proud to say but I had to convince him that I'm doing it the right way and healthily.

I'm so excited about this and I want to share the point system with everybody who is struggling with their weight since their SCI but I'd be in big trouble if I put that copyright infringement out here on the internet.

When you get down to it, you just basically shop the perimeter of the grocery store first and get to know how much of what you can have and plan for pizza night!

Well, I just wanted to share my good news and offer hope to anyone who thinks that they can't lose weight anymore because they are chair-bound or are less mobile than pre SCI.

[miss piggy]

Hi itsjustme
congraulations on your weight loss .Kev is just starting one so fingers crossed

[edlee]

Thank you , so much, for giving me hope. I think I will join WW and see if I can match you. I've gained entirely too much weight since 04 and three days a week at the gym isn't doing as much as I had hoped. Any more causes shoulder problems I have found.

Hopefully I can talk Judi into it as well. It's hard to stay on a system ( you'll notice I avoided using the D word) when the person across the table from you isn't ...

ed

[Texaswheelz]

I've been trying to get myself into it, but just haven't been able to. Was weighed at the Dr.'s last fall and had jumped up to 237. I was like WOW!. I've hit the park trails on and off since then but nothing hard core. This week though I've started hitting the gym and the swimming pool after the park trails, trying to burn as many calories as I can, while also chaning my eating habits. Told the wife no more fast food and no more pop. It's not like we eat fast food often, but eating it just a couple of times a week can do wonders on screwing up the good you've done the rest of the week.

Next years is my 15 year hich school reunion, I don't plan on going to it weighing over 190. Also I'm dieing to go sky diving, but the place near me won't take anyone on a tandem jump over 200lbs. So that is another incentive.

I can't do the WW's thing, my wife did it and I just didn't understand her going to her weekly meetings just to stand on a scale and have them weigh her. She could eat the same wether she was going or not and if she wanted some one ot watch her stand on a scale once a week I'd do it for free and not charge $10 every time. I know what to eat and what not to eat, it's getting my mind to do the right thing that is the problem.

[itsjustme]

Hi Everybody and thanks for the good wishes,

Texaswheelz, I agree, I wouldn't get much out of going to the meetings either and as I said in my above post 2 very nice Freecycle ladies shared their info with me which I am more than willing to do if any of you would like to email just as soon as we can get the file to send (having a little email trouble). However with that said I have a grandson who must be over 400 lbs. and I think that the support, encouragement and actually learning the program would help him in the beginning. I'm trying to help him but I just don't think that it's the same. He doesn't have a basic understanding of calories and I've tried to tell him that just because it says "healthy" on the package doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good weight loss choice. He needs some guidance.

I know that we are talking "points" but WW is actually just a basic well balanced diet of exchanges almost like a diabetic diet but there's nothing that you can't have. Just count the points. What I eat for 24 points a day is just about 1200-1500 calories with 35 flex points a week to use split up, on the weekend or not at all.

I've used the book to figure out how many points my favorite sandwiches have, and my favorite meals for that matter, how much of what I can have and still eat what I want.

I never drink my points. I'd rather have food. I stopped drinking pop several years ago and I just drink water all day long.

We were out shopping today and we ate lunch out and I still have 14 points left for supper.

I weigh my meat at home, and I measure the points foods. I don't cheat. But the veggies are all basically free foods so you don't have to weigh or measure. I crunch on baby dill pickles and tiny sweet baby carrots (both free) with sandwiches instead of chips. It works for me. Canned baked beans are only 2 points for 1/2 cup and an ear of sweet corn is only 1 point. If it's good corn I eat it with salt, no butter. I'm just finding little tricks, little ways here and there that are satisfying.

And, finally, above all, I usually think that I am still hungry when I finish eating my portion but 20 minutes, a half hour later and I realize that I am actually full. That's always what got me in trouble, eating until I felt full in the first place.

I'm not "advertising" WW as such. I just think that it's a good, no gimmicks, no high this or low that, kind of food plan that is manageable and easy to live with. And if someone like me in this chair can lose the weight that I've lost thus far without struggling and without going hungry, I just think that it's a good option for anyone dealing with with the weight issue.

[milosh]

a good hearted guy willing to donate weight to those in need. ;)

[lune14]

itsjustme, on May 30 2007, 04:23 PM, said:

I have bad shoulders from arthritis but I still work with weights doing what I can and when I was in the hospital I started doing crunches in bed every night. I started with about 3 sets of 10. Now I do 400 crunches in bed everynight.

Did you actually mean 40 crunches? I tried 20 and got tired just from counting

Also I do them with my legs laying flat... do any of you familiar with crunches in general think it's more effective (for a para) if I bring my knees up with a pillow or something? Or is it just as effective with my legs straight out in front of me??

This post has been edited by lune14: 15 June 2007 - 06:07 AM

[itsjustme]

You know John, I can remember how much I weighed when I graduated, when I got married, when I got my first job. I look at pictures and my weight is right up there with most of the milestones in my life but I don't remember ever passing 95 lbs. I must have been born bigger than that!

400!!! Thank you very much Miss Lune!!! We are talking crunches, not full sit ups. But it all started in rehab 3 years ago with 3 sets of 10. My legs are straight, well, as straight as they will go so I don't know but on some of the exercise shows they do them with legs bent and elbow toward opposite knee sometimes which would be really good for the laterals.

I was complaining to my GI doctor yesterday because I'm suppose to add yogurt to my diet. 60 calories x 365 days a year divided by 3500 calories (which is a pound) is 6 1/4 pounds of weight a year that I don't have any way to burn off. He laughed at me and gave me one of those rubber exercise bands and told me to fidget with it. When I'm watching TV or whatever just tie it on my wheelchair somewhere and move my arms while I'm sitting. He said that I'd be surprised how many extra calories I'd burn.

Isn't it too bad that typing doesn't burn calories?!?

[lune14]

itsjustme I surely wasn't questioning your stamina! LOL Actually I'm quite impressed.. I guess I better start doing more than 2 sets of 10 ... if 400 is doable I am WAY behind.

As for yogurt I eat it daily in the form of plain non or low-fat or in kefir (a probiotic available at most health food stores) I have replaced all sour cream and sweetened yogurt products with plain yogurt or kefir in all my cooking for the past 2-3 years now. I strain plain yogurt overnight in the frig then discard the liquid and use it to replace cream in sauces or as i said, sour cream. The only thing I use kefir for is to make smoothies but I guess I should experiment more with that as well. It's a wonderful thing to do for your body especially if you are on a daily or frequent antibiotic regimine.

[itsjustme]

Just a little more FYI.......always concerned about adding extra uneccessary calories to my diet, I spoke with my druggist about my yogurt dilema and he suggested Florajen3. It's a capsule that contains 15 billion live cultures of probiotic per capsule and it does not contain yeast, sugar, soy, eggs, corn, wheat, gluten, coloring or preservatives if you have any of those concerns.

And did you know...........The human body burns just about 12 calories per pound of body weight per day at rest just to live. For example if you weigh 150 pounds x 12 calories = 1800 calories per day. There fore if you cut your calorie intake to 1500 calories per day you have a deficit of 300 calories resulting in a weight loss, granted a slow weight loss, but a loss none the less, and that's at total rest.

Now if you can move at all, anything that you can do to burn a few calories and build muslce mass will help. If you can hold a can of soup in your hand and raise it up to your shoulder 10 times a couple of times a day, do it. If you can raise your hand up to your shoulder 10 times a couple of times a day do that and when you can do it 11 times you've accomplished something!

Just because we are sitting in these chairs, we are not helpless and we are not hopeless and we do not have to be slaves to the food that we are depending on to comfort us. I'm saying that because I know that some of you have to be in the frame of mind that I was in back in Jan.

My picture is in Let's See Those Faces and I'm looking forward to posting a new one when I am closer to reaching my size goal. It may be a year because I know that the more that I lose the slower my weight loss will be because my body will simply use less calories to live. My doctor and I were talking about that just yesterday. But I have that goal and a simple calorie cutting, portion control food plan is working. YOU can do it too!

[Apparelyzed]

Quote

and did you know...........The human body burns just about 12 calories per pound of body weight per day at rest just to live. For example if you weigh 150 pounds x 12 calories = 1800 calories per day. There fore if you cut your calorie intake to 1500 calories per day you have a deficit of 300 calories resulting in a weight loss, granted a slow weight loss, but a loss none the less, and that's at total rest.

Bear in mind that this is for an able bodied person with average muscle mass. Unfortunatly, sci people have less muscle mass, and therefor burn fewer calories at rest. It's still interesting though.

You may find the following of interest:

http://www.spinalcor...asp?durki=77527

I have attached a pdf of a sample from the diet program.

Regards

Simon

Extract:

Eat Right ® Home-Based Weight Management Program for Individuals with SCI

Program Description
Everyone has no doubt heard of a variety of weight loss programs. Although many programs rely on reducing calories to lose weight, the loss is often temporary because most people don’t learn to properly adjust from weight loss to weight management. Management requires the use of learned skills to lose and maintain weight loss through diet, participation in physical activities and behavioral changes to promote improved long-term health.

As a person with spinal cord impairment (SCI), you can benefit from weight management. You can lower your risk for premature death and the development of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, respiratory illness, pressure sores, urinary tract infection (UTI) urinary stones and some forms of cancer. Weight management can help decrease feelings of anxiety, loneliness and stress while improving muscle strength, endurance, self image, and your ability to fall asleep and sleep well. Plus, weight management can help you better manage your muscle spasms, chronic pain and bowel program. These combined benefits can help you live a longer, healthier life and improve your abilities to accomplish every day tasks.

However, most weight management programs aren’t designed for persons with SCI. Your nutritional needs and physical abilities aren’t likely similar to people in the general population. For example, you’re at higher risk for kidney problems when following diets low in carbohydrates and high in protein. If you don’t exercise properly, you can add stress and strain to your muscles and joints, which can cause chronic pain.

In 2003, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) completed a four year study of a modified version of the EATRIGHT® Weight Management Program, which was originally developed in 1976 for the general population by a team of UAB physicians, dietitians and psychologists. Although the basics of the original EATRIGHT program remained intact, modifications were made to meet the unique diet and physical demands of persons with SCI who were overweight or obese. Study participants then attended 12 weekly classes to learn the necessary skills for effective weight management. The modified EATRIGHT program was shown to be a safe and effective weight management program, which can also reduce medical risks and improve quality of life for persons with SCI.

To make this new program accessible to consumers, UAB received a grant from the PVA Education Foundation to create the EATRIGHT Home-Based Weight Management Program for Individuals with Spinal Cord Impairments. This comprehensive program utilizes video lessons and workbook assignments to guide consumers through the 12 proven elements of effective weight management.

1. Getting Started
2. Making Healthy Food Choices
3. Improving Self-Talk
4. Setting Goals
5. Planning Meals
6. Participating in Physical Activities
7. Shopping
8. Understanding Nutrition
9. Cooking
10. Reducing Stress
11. Dining Out
12. Maintaining Long-Term Success

Attached File(s)

•  Info_8.pdf (155.07K)
  Number of downloads: 470

[itsjustme]

The Eat-Right Weight Loss system is quite simply the same thing as Weight Watchers. It's exactly what I have been doing for 6 months. It's learning to use your food allotment with portion control to get a nutritionally balanced food plan. It's a daily allotment of 1200-1500 calories everyday (as a female) because I just don't eat everything everyday and it's the right balance of food.

As you learn to eat, you learn to limit fats and sugars in order to get the most satisfying, filling meals that include whole grains and vegetables along with reasonable amounts of protein and complex carbs. If you absolutely stick to your points allotment you find that you can't fit your junk food into diet on a daily basis. You are forced to find a way to get bang for your buck so to speak because one trip to McDonald's and your points for an average day are shot. And that's not to say that you still can't plan for that ONCE IN A WHILE. I had pizza last week because I planned for it.

As I said in a prior post, you learn to shop the perimeter of the grocery store for fresh food, not processed packaged high calorie foods.

The point is that we are paralyzed people can lose weight. Is it more difficult for us in varying degrees? Certainly. Do we burn less calories sitting still than an AB, perhaps, but we still burn. Just do what you can do today. I was headed toward 300 pounds and feeling pretty hopeless about it. But in one day, I turned it around. I made a decision to stop eating the way that I was eating because I got the you know what scared out of me. I asked for help and 2 ladies sent the WW material to me free.

I'm still not advocating WW. It's just what works for me because it's just a good well balanced food plan with no tricks or gimmicks and it was free. I'm convinced that in the beginning the founder must have just looked at a diabetic diet and then got a marketing genius thought as to how to sell that food plan to the dieting masses. They just tweek it and put it in a different package every now and then. It's called "points" this time around. Proof being it's nothing but the Eat-Right Weight Loss System this time being touted for SCI's at a total cost of $95 with shipping.

The equation is simple=if you take in 3500 more than you burn up you will gain 1 pound. If you have a deficit of 3500 calories, you will lose 1 pound. One pound at a time.

[itsjustme]

I saw my heart doctor this week. He released me and told me just to keep doing what I'm doing.

After thinking that I'd really hit a plateau and not being able to weigh to see any results, I decided to measure and my waist is down another 3". I've lost a total of 20" around my waist in just about 6 months.

I'm eating more food and consuming less points because of fresh sliced tomatoes, sweet cold watermelon, and other seasonal veggies along with my almost daily baked potato, and meat. I've even been on a BLT kick. I've been eating a bacon and lettuce sandwich on toast with a whole sliced tomato for lunch.

If you manage to cut your calorie intake just 300 calories per day over what your body burns you will lose 1 pound in 12 days. Now that's just about 30 pounds in a year's time. And who is going to miss 300 calories a day? And where has the last year gone already?

Some of you can do better than that. Some of you can do a little more exercise than others. I'm in a power chair. I don't even get the added exercise of upper body wheeling. I just want to encourage you all. If you think that you can't lose weight sitting in a chair, it's just not true. If you think that you can't lose weight because you can't exercise like before SCI, it's just not true. If you think that you have to eat salad all of the time, it's just not true.

I hated tomatoes at the beginning of summer and now I can truly say that I love them, satisfying and quite filling and 0 points!

[russ1]

itsjustme, on Jul 18 2007, 03:19 AM, said:

I've lost a total of 20" around my waist in just about 6 months.

Stunning result, well done - just shows what you can do if you decide to take charge of your life.

[itsjustme]

Thanks russ1!

People ask the same question over and over, what can I do and how can I lose weight. This past 6 months absolutely flew by for me. We just got home from our family reunion in Kentucky. Most of the family hadn't seen me since Christmas and they were amazed at what I had been able to accomplish as far as losing weight, even though I am a paraplegic, in these few months.

The Weight Watchers food plan absolutely works for me and Simon put some information above in this post that basically describes the same kind eating plan. If you work it, it works.

Thanks again! I always appreciate encouraging words!

[itsjustme]

Hi Everybody!

I've been away for a while. Just been very busy. I wondered if this topic was still alive!

A year came and went as of January 14 and so has 100 lbs. and 14 dress or pant sizes. My waist was 64" and now it's 39" I've gone from a size 32 to a size 18 so far just by living my life one day at a time and a basic Weight Watchers way of life. I don't call it a Weight Watchers diet because it's not. It's eating what I should eat and MOST of what I want to eat in the quantities that I can eat and still lose weight. It's all of the things that I mentioned in my above posts and few extras that I've learned along the way.

Right now I am trying to incorporate some tips from Prevention magazines Flat Belly Diet. It's is simply adding good fats to each meal, like nuts (2 tablespoons, I add walnuts to my morning oatmeal), olive oil (1 tablespoon, I cook veggies in it and even add it to my soup sometimes just to get it in), olives (don't love them), avacado (Can you believe that I've never tasted one in my life yet), dark chocolate (1 oz.), and Peanut Butter (I believe that it is 2 Tablespoons). They call them MUFAs (I think that is mono unsaturated fatty acids) and they say that the research shows that they help lose belly fat in particular. The dreaded spare tire is a constant cause of frustration for me when trying to buy tops! So, we shall see.

I found a good soup that WW counts as 0 points and I load it up with extra 0 point veggies. Very filling and comforting this winter. I can hardly wait for summer tomatoes and watermelon though!

I know how much I can eat when we have pizza or when we go out to eat. I eat the lasagna when I fix it for the family.

I feel wonderful. I can accomplish more in a day than I thought that I could when I was so fat. I'm not as tired and sleepy all of the time. I hate to sleep. It's a waste of life as far as I'm concerned!

My walking friends are cursing me because they can't blame it on lack of exercise anymore! Ha!Ha! And, we are all in it together. My best friend has lost 35 lbs. so far and she has severe knee problems and can't exercise vigorously either. We all just do what we can do when we can do it and it's working, one day at a time, no long term goals really, just one day at a time until...a year has gone and so has 100 lbs.

This post has been edited by itsjustme: 14 March 2008 - 07:33 PM

[itsjustme]

WOOHOO! I hit a milstone yesterday. I wore a pair of regular size 18 jeans! Now I know that there aren't many people who would celebrate a size 18 however they were regular jeans, no cheating with elastic waist, just real jeans like I wore pre para and pre 100 lb. weight gain post para, not sweats or pull ons, just real, normal, jeans!

My 4 year para anniversary was this month and I finally tackled the job of sorting my clothes. I had every size from 7 to 26 in regular jeans. I was wearing the 20s when I became a para sooooo I'm smaller now than I was 4 years ago and I feel like that is an accomplishment in this chair.

Did you ever find a brand, a size, a fit of jeans that was just perfect? I did one time. Would you believe that I had 25 pairs of size 9, slim fit Chic jeans with the tags still on them? They were discontinuing "my" jeans and I bought every pair that I could find when they went on clearance back in the day. I donated all of those jeans to a school which has a springtime yard sale to raise money for projects. I really don't hold out much hope for my butt seeing a size 9, slim fit again but I did hold on to the 14s. I gave my neighbor friend all of the 12s and 13s. If and when I manage that I'll just "have" to go out and buy some new jeans! HA! HA!

I just want to encourage all of you who are struggling and if I can help in any way above and beyond the things that I've written about my journey thus far including sharing my food plan, I will be more than happy to do that. You don't have to spend money to lose lbs.

My newest thing is trying to incorporate the MUFAs according to Prevention Magazine's Flat Belly Diet that I wrote about in my previous post, into my diet. I also said that I didn't LOVE asparagus but OMG! I'm on an asparagus binge. We drizzle some olive oil over it, season it with salt, pepper and garlic powder and sprinkle on raw almonds and roast it in the oven just until it is tender crisp. I've eaten it every night since Easter with a baked potato, some salad, tomatoes, and leftover Easter ham. That's how I binge now. If something tastes good and satisfies me I just eat it until the next binge takes over. It was on sale this week so we stocked up yesterday. And, trust me, even in this U.S. economy a couple of pounds of asparagus cost way less than a bag of chips or other junk food. Don't ever think that you can't afford to eat right and eat good.

[kewlcatkez]

Hello,

I just wanted to say congratulations on the milestone. You really are doing fabulously well. I hear ya about the cost of living, it is even more expensive to live here ( think treble gas prices and hiked food) Just thought that I would cheer you up with that!

Its fabulous to read of your journey and I am sure that you get a kick out of looking back over the past "entries". DO keep on letting us know how you are going, and sharing your experiences. I also LOVE jacket potatoes (baked potatoes) and could easily eat them or rice every day...Actually I live off fruit...seriously, I hardly eat anything else, I just don't have the apatite for anything..oh aside from occasionally craving sweeties, not chocolate but sweets! lol...Fortunately, even though my thyroid is dead (Hashimotos thyroid disease, yeah I know, what is right with me!) I manage to keep pretty much level weight wise. I do think it gets more of a factor/consideration the older I get/more my "disability" affects me. Thanks for sharing..

Just looking back at the thread, on the topic of "sour cream" I actually use Creme Fraiche whenever a recipe or dish calls for soured cream. It even works well with chilli con carne and Nachos! Also, can't eat a lot at one sitting and so tend to 'nibble' and 'graze'. I have found that keeping a jug with Carrot sticks and celery and even Turnip! in the fridge is a good way of satisfying my fruit and veg urges and ensuring I graze on the good stuff.

Also due to my Thyroid issue, I avoid snacking on raw Broccoli and green Cabbage (on the whole) due to to them contributing to/aggravating of low thyroid function. (Brussel sprouts, corn oil, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, radishes, rutabaga, soy and turnips are others), This is only an issue when eating them raw as cooking sorts it out on the whole.

Oh and the size 11 and 13s stumped me at first and then I realised that you are in the US! Here our sizes are different ( a UK 8 = US 10, so a US 14=a UK 12 etc) and here we don;t generally have size 13 or 11. Although I recall when C&A had women's size 9 jeans eons ago, and before they shut down..

Keep up the great work!

K

This post has been edited by kewlcatkez: 28 March 2008 - 03:45 AM

[itsjustme]

Hi K!

Thanks so much for your kind words and encouragement!

Sizes...in the U.S. there are different classifications of sizes. The odd sizes are considered "junior" sizes and are cut skinnier through the seat and thighs. The even sizes are "misses" sizes and are cut a little fuller through the seat and thigh for girlish figures that are "maturing". Then we have this whole thing with "relaxed fit" that tries to fool us into thinking that we wear the same size just because we can button the waist all the while the seat and thigh is even fuller to really accomodate our "maturing" figures. After that you just give up, stop kidding yourself and go to "women's" sizes which generally have a really generous cut to try to make us feel better about whatever size we are in. Ahhh...the American mentality...denial...ha!ha!

I do wish that I really loved more fruit. I like certain fruits at certain times of the year. I can't wait for summer sweet watermelon. I triple love Mutsu apples in the fall. I like oranges okay and I can eat a banana anytime. I just never think, "Oh I'd love to have a piece of fruit" except for that watermelon and those apples. My 87 year old mom eats several pieces of fruit everyday. Sometimes we have to coax her into eating anything else because we think that she needs protein and other stuff but maybe not.

There was a guy who wrote to us about his totally uncooked vegan diet. Now, I'm trying my best to learn to "eat to live rather than living to eat" but I just don't think that I could handle that extreme. However, if I could figure out where that thread was some of his diet might be helpful or even enjoyable with your thyroid condition.

I'm always open for help and suggestions. Babybear just started a thread about her spreading behind in spite of weight loss and healthy eating and I'm waiting for the suggestions to roll in on that one!

[sliqnes]

itsjustme


I'd like to congradulate you on your success,your my main reason for registering to this site.I'm a 6'2 overwheight quad that gets no excersize at all,ive cut out soda junk food & white bread from my diet but cant seem to lose weight, can you please give me some very much needed help im very depressed and discouradged.......thx

[itsjustme]

Hi slignes, I've sent you a Personal Message but I just want to say to you and any one else who struggles with the weight issue, we are truly all in this together. We can all share and encourage each other.

Some of you will totally understand this...it's like there is some little monster inside of me that screams for food. Sometimes, a lot of the time, I go to sleep thinking about food and when I wake up the first thing that pops into my head, usually, is what I'm going to eat today. My daughter goes to sleep with after one last cigarette and smokes as soon as she gets out of the bed. I'm sure that a drug addict has no thought except where the next fix is coming from. My addiction is food. I don't understand it. I dont' know why. I just know it is. I think that "normal" people don't give a second thought to food until they are truly, physically hungry and ready to feed their stomachs. In that respect, I'm not "normal".

For others I'm sure that the weight issue is just a matter of boredom with a little mix of depression. Eating is something to do, entertainment, something enjoyable to occupy time, and take our minds off of right this minute in our lives.

I can only tell you what has worked for me. I can truly say that this past 14 months has been fairly easy for me. I learned how much I could eat of what. I took a notebook along with my Weight Watcher's points list and figured out how much of what I could have of my favorite foods and what I could eat the most of for the most satisfaction. I know how many points a bacon and egg sandwich is and yeah, I do eat bread. I've had birthday cake to celebrate. The hardest for me was through the holidays but it's not like that is anything very unusual for anyone. I love to bake and cook for family and friends and I tried lots of new recipes this year giving me the perfect "excuse" to try things and at times I tried too much.

But just because I may have felt like I'd totally blown it one day, the next morning was the first day of the rest of my life again and I just went right back to my program. The WW program has 35 Flex points a week built into it so there's just feeling like you are cheating and then there's CHEATING! I rarely use those flex points in a week but when we do have occasion to celebrate a birthday or have pizza night I can totally plan for it and know that I'm still doing okay. I never ate so much extra that I gained any back, I maybe just didn't lose any that week and I just went on from there.

You do need a good, balanced, healthy food plan to learn how to eat, but that is really secondary to your mindset.

[longhaul]

Hey drugs like Prozac can make some people gain weight. If the ingredients in the food you are eating takes a dictionary to understand don't eat it if it has corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup don't eat it. I read an article that said if a person took a table spoon of honey a half hour before bed that during sleep the liver uses the glucose to work better and that helps us lose weight.Hang in there....

[itsjustme]

Okay you guys...preliminary results of adding the MUFAs to my diet that I mentioned in an above post.

I started this experiment with the Prevention Magazine Flat Belly MUFAs on the 25th of Feb. I intended to measure on the 25th of March but we had a family member passing so I didn't get around to it until today. On Feb. 25 my waist measured 39". Today, April 4, my waist measures 37 1/2".

Today I'm wearing a top that I love (so much that I bought 4 of them) but could only wear it under something else because it was too tight around the "spare tire" to be comfortable and look decent. Today there is actually some room in it!

That's one months results by adding mainly raw almonds, walnuts, Olive Oil, and my favorite...semi-sweet chocolate. The research associated with this promises mid-section loss but we'll see if the positive results continue or if it was just a metabolism shake up for a limited time.

And, so far this month the bra size hasn't changed! LOL!!!

[Mike (c4-5) & Lorena]

itsjustme, on May 30 2007, 07:23 PM, said:

ihaveaheartofgold67 May 25 2007, 06:44 PM

Quote

i need advise on weight gain.i am 5'3 and 40 years old ,i use to weight 128 before i was in a chair in 2006 now i weigh 220.i put on weight on in places i never even thought possible. i have a bad shoulder from a car accident and can not do any weigtht training.how can i loose weight??

I thought that this might be seen and helpful to more people if it were a topic all it's own.

I was totally convinced that I couldn't lose weight in this chair. I've been paralyzed for 3 years and quite simply been stuffing my feelings down with food. Food has been my drug of choice all of my life so that wasn't an unusual option for me. I have no idea how much I had gained. I'm only 5'1" and I'm 56 years old. Back in Jan. I had a little heart scare. Now just tell me that someone might crack open my chest and take veins out of my legs and that's enough to make me lose my appetite.

I started on Weight Watchers simply because I had been on it years ago and I had a basic understanding of the plan. There's no tricks or gimmicks, no high this or low that. It's just a well balanced diet based on portion control and choices.

I got on Freecycle and asked if anyone was willing to share any of their new material with me on the newer point system and 2 very nice ladies sent information to me and to date, since the middle of Jan., I've lost 50+ lbs. and 16 inches around my waist.

I have bad shoulders from arthritis but I still work with weights doing what I can and when I was in the hospital I started doing crunches in bed every night. I started with about 3 sets of 10. Now I do 400 crunches in bed everynight.

I'm finding ways to cut calories here and there in small ways that add up. There is a bread called Healthy Lifestyle with only 35 calories in a slice. You can have 2 slices instead of one slice of regular bread. I eat a baked potato almost every day because I LOVE potatoes and I found a margarine that has 50 calories in a tablespoon instead of 70 or 100. I always keep my salad dressing on the side and either dip my fork or the bite instead of pouring it on and sucking it off of the lettuce. LOL!

You just don't go hungry on WW and you don't have to do without anything. There are lists to plan from when you eat out and there are extra points for special occasions or desserts and there's no expense of buying any kind of special food.

Right now I am tryng my best to learn to love fresh tomatoes. I know. Because, if I wanted to sit in the garden with a salt shaker and eat a bushel of tomatoes it would be okay because they are a free food. There are so many things like that, that are free if you like them and I'm trying and learning.

That's my suggestion. It's working for me. Good luck!

Great going. I went to WW but they didn't seem to interested in helping an SCI guy with only women in the room. I wanted to ask them if they thought WW would work for someone in my position (ie Non-walking). They wouldn't even talk to me unless i [plopped down my $12 fee plus whatever else. So, I bolted. See ya

I have started drinking a chineese tea called Oolong. It seems to be helping my wife not eat as much. Along with her elliptical msachine she's lookin good. I'll try the tea and hope it curbs my intake.

[itsjustme]

Hi Mike and Lorena! It's great to meet you! Thank you so much for your encouragement.

I don't go to WW meetings. I haven't paid a nickle to lose this weight. Two very nice ladies from Freecycle shared their WW information with me and I took it, learned it and started working on changing my life, no teas, no pills, no gimmicks.

Nothing did it for me. Nothing helped me do it except accountability and an honest effort to eat differently, sensibly, healthily and be able to do it without feeling hungry all of the time.

All I needed was a well balanced diet that told me how much of what I could eat and lose weight. I mean that's what everybody keeps asking over and over on this forum.

There's no secret. There's no magic bullet. It just comes down to how much of what can I eat and lose weight and then being honest with yourself about how much of what you put in your mouth.

[itsjustme]

Hi everybody!

I worked in a factory for 25 years and I ran into my very best co-worker friend Saturday and she looks fabulous! She has lost 65 lbs., my best childhood friend has lost 40 lbs., and I'm just treading water right now at over 100 lbs. (I've been struggling a bit-it happens from time to time) but summer foods are here, corn on the cob (sprayed with Crisco butter flavor spray and seasonings from just salt and pepper to chili powder-1 point per ear), watermelon (1 point per cup), tomatoes (0 points!) so I'm glad to be getting away from hot soups and heavier winter foods that are generally heavier in points too!

If anyone else out there is having success living the Weight Watchers way too please share with us. We all know that tricks and gimmicks only work short term which is why "diets" don't work, if they did we'd all be skinny and stay that way. It just takes commitment to a new way of eating balanced, healthy, portion control and WW has done that for me and my friends.

[itsjustme]

Just wanted to say that I saw a report on the TV this morning from Consumer Reports on the top 3 most successful diets.

#3 was Nutrisystem. And that's great if you make up your mind to live on their food for the rest of your life because it doesn't teach you how to eat in the real world.

#2 was Weight Watchers because you aren't limited to your choices. You can eat anything as long as you stay within your portions.

#1 was Volumetrics which they said that most people hadn't heard of. Developed by a university professor you eat by volume. For instance, they asked if you'd rather have 1/2 cup of raisins or 2 cups of grapes. Foods full of water and fiber are more filling.

Unknowingly, I'd been practicing Volumetrics along with my WW because I was eating large quantities of 0 points foods to fill me up along with my points foods which incidently was my problem if you read my last post saying that I was struggling a bit. I wasn't eating enough of those 0 points foods to feel really full and satisfied so I began to think about being "hungry" too much of the time.

I don't beat myself up though. I lost over 100 lbs. in a little less than a year and as long as I don't gain, as long as "cheating" is a form of maintanence, treading water so to speak, then I feel like I'm successful. However I am back on program now and my goal is to lose just 5 more inches around my waist. Then we'll see if I need to lose anymore or just to maintain. My ultimate goal is just to be able to live healthily and maintain.

[ParaforGod]

I started Weight Watchers back in Feb. 08 and I have lost about 25 pounds. My thyroid had been low and the doctor told me to get 2000units of vit. D because it has been know to help boost your thyroid plus Im on medication for my thyroid and I've lost the 23 pounds. Im so excited! Don't take the vit. D unless your doctor says its ok.

[Texaswheelz]

I have no idea how much weight I've lost since I'm not going to go down a rehab center just to use one of their roll up scales. I have dropped from a tight 40 inch waist to a nice fitting 36 inch waist though. I'm currently wearing a shirt that I've had for several years and summer it wouldn't fit me at all, now it's loose on me. I haven't followed any diet plans, I just cut out eating fast food and processed food as well as stopped drinking cola's or anything else with sugar added to it. Pretty much just water and tea. That has has caused most of the weight loss, but I've also started playing tennis and basketball over the last couple of months, which I'm sure has helped some. I've had 1 coke since Christmas and haven't had fast food since Nov of last year. It's made a huge difference, now the only problem I have is that my 1 year old chair is to wide....