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2003/08/25, 06:00 PM
Hello, my name is Gretchen and I am a Sugar-coholic! The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem right? I will be 30 is November and have heard that when you turn 30 your Metabolism slows down over night..well my metabolism is basically non-exsistant as it is, so that scares me to death!! I am 5'3ish and weigh 145ish. I get real severe sugar cravings on a daily basis and I can go for weeks without indulging, but then I crack and go WAY over board!! I try to exercise daily doing a run/walk of 5 to 7 miles a night and have been doing that since December. Started in Dec weighing 156-158...and did reall well with my exercise until I hit a brick wall..I always plateau every darned time! and that is the killer. Then I get frustrated and give up for a week or so then back to square one. I work everyday 7:30-5:30...bartend every other saturday 4pm to 2am...have 2 kids..boy 8 girl 5..and I take college classes on two nights a week from 6:30-9:30..I am the largest female in my family and I have got to get a grip!! This extra weight tears me down so low, I do not want to go out in public for fear of peoples judgements..And i am a very unhappy girl. I want 1 time in my life to look in the mirror and be happy with what I see. I carry the majority of my weight in my hips/thighs/butt and that flap of nasty extra called the "baby section"...not a pretty sight.. I am as insecure as they come folks..My day job consists of sitting at a desk behind a computer all day (which is where i am right this very minute),I used to do my exercising first thing in the morning, but I can not seem to get my lazy a$$ out of bed anymore..I have tried every diet known to man, especially if it is a promise in a pill....I am so open to ANY suggestions from ANYONE! Thanks for letting me ramble...now that you are all asleep, WAKE up and write me back please :) thanks!!
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2003/08/25, 06:21 PM
Other than sugar, what is your diet like? Your job is like mine, so I absolutely have to get to the gym 4 days a week. I've heard that sugar cravings lessen when you start to eat a well balanced, nutritious diet. I still get them, but can usually be satisfied bya couple Hershey's kisses or something small like that. Mine is mostly chocolate. You have a very busy life so I can see where trying to fit in exercise might be a challenge, but you can do it. If you tell yourself it is worth it and mean it, you will make the time. (We can usually find time to sit and watch and hour long TV program can't we?) If you start with 1 hour 3-4 times a week you'll be amazed at how fast you get used to it and look forward to it as "me time". There was a post last week about this and some of us hit the gym on the way home from work, so that our "workday" isn't really over with until after our workout. You need to figure out your maintenance calories and subtract 400-500 calories per day from that. For example if your base cals are 2000, then you need to drop down around 1500 and eat those in 5-6 small meals a day. Try to eat at least 75g of protein. That is only .5g per pound of bodyweight. I try to get closer to 1g per pound myself. Drink lots of water, like 120oz a day. There are a lot of posts here that will tell you what kinds of foods to eat and when and what to avoid. It can be done, but it's not easy. If it was this website would be out of business...lol. Good luck.
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~Victoria~
...There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.--Beverly Sills
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2003/08/26, 05:55 PM
Ok, problem is that yes ,I start out having a "just a few" pieces of candy and before you know it, the bag is empty...there are no gyms in my town and I have to commute 30 minutes to my home, and as soon as I get off work, I have to pick up my kids from the daycare....cannot afford the extra expense of leaving them at the daycare any longer than I already do..I do LOVE my work out time, it keeps me sane, but the problem is that I am no longer seeing any results from my running/walking...and I fall off the wagon because of that.
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2003/08/30, 09:07 PM
One product that I love is Splenda...it's made from sugar so you can cook with it and everything=)
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2003/09/01, 04:42 PM
gretch. Now take a deep breath. I am a single mom of 3 grown and raised them on my own in poverty. Beans and rice were staple in my home. I used a lot of canned and frozen veggies and fresh produce is very expensive. They did not get a lot of junk and no soda or kook aid. I baked cookies and cakes and chose ones I could control ingrediants. They went outside to play. They did not get a Ninetendo till they were over 10 and I was out of poverty. Collect coupons, go for sales. Plan out your meals in advance using your coupons and the flyers with the sales. Go to Wal Mart and get a swiss ball, some weights and videos on how to use them. You could get one thing at a time for a few weeks till you have your collection. TheN DO the videos. You will find your kids will jump in too. Talk walks with the kids. My kids are slim and eat good food till this day, They move. That is all they knew. Poverty did me a twisted favor. I could not afford MacDonalds, or games. Therefore we ate simple but healthy and got out and moved our buttes. You sound like an emotional eater. It is not what you always eat but what is eating you. Find substitutes for eating when stressed, angry , bored or sad. Exercise, go for a walk, drink water, read, play with the kids, go on the computer, pray etc.. Don't buy the junk and don't keep it in the house till you get control. Then eat a small piece. You will never see the asthetic results of exercise without a proper diet. EAt more protein than carbs. Anything white goes to garbage. The more protein you consume, the less the sugar cravings get. Control your portions, very important. EAt half of what you normally eat in 5-6 small meals. Drink tons of water. Keep exercising no matter what. You may not see the physical outside benefits but there is a lot more to it than the looks. First of all you will keep muscle mass and firm, Your skin will look better, it is a natural tranquilizer and will help with stress and your emotional eating. It lowers your cholesterol, it builds bone mass something you will be grateful for when you hit 50. It is the biggest form of insurance you have in life besides diet. When you set out to exercise and accomplish it that day you get the psychological benefit of accomplishment and control in your life. My motto one day at a time, one meal at a time. Check to see if your insurance will cover a session with a nutritionist. I could go on and on but nothing is impossible if you really want to do it. Believe me I know...
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2003/09/01, 07:06 PM
Good post rickyshot.
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Beleive you can, and you are halfway there.
Ivan Montreal Canada (aka SpongeBob Square Pants to some!)
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2003/09/02, 05:10 AM
It sounds to me like you are yo-yo dieting, trying to do too much to fast, and then cracking. Normally your body has glycogen stored for short term energy use, if you starve yourself this gets used up and not replaced from fat reserves. For every gram of glycogen you body uses 2.7g of water to keep it in solution, so if you starve yourself there will initially be a huge weight drop in the first week or two of dieting, not from fat but from this energy supply and the water holding it in solution. However you body thinking about the long term consequences of starvation will lower your metabolism and not allow fat reserves to get burnt up. As a result you will feel lethargic and irritable, and continually think about foods (particularly carbs), and look worse (your fat layer will now cover less so appear bigger). End result, you crack and replace all the lost glycogen, and instantly regain all the weight without ever shedding a pound of fat.
In short if you keep doing this you will not lose weight, you will just get depressed over the fact you can’t achieve your goals. Remember with this approach no one would long term lose any fat. You need to take things slowly and making lifestyle changes rather than periodic bursts of starvation. Start replacing refined sugars with unrefined carbs (whole wheat bread, pasta, brown rice oatmeal ect), avoid processed foods. Cut the fat of meat before cooking it. A few years back there is no way I could have enjoyed what I eat now, but because I made slow gradual changes I enjoy every meal I eat and because I know they are healthy I feel twice as satisfied.
Over 30 your metabolism reduces 10cal per day per year, where 3500 calories is about 1lb of body fat. So if you kept eating exactly what you needed to survive under 30 very roughly by 31 you would weight about a pound more, by 32 about 3lb more, by 33 about 5lb more and so on, getting worse each year. On the upside to combat this all you need do is each year drop around a tenth of a slice of toast! Very small changes given time have noticeable effects, you have already received some great advice from other people; just have faith in yourself not some fad diet. The problem is the truth to losing fat does not make money, so no one ever explains it.
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2003/09/02, 03:29 PM
Thanks for the bio lesson ERivine. So true and explains perfectly why diets do NOT work. Gretch are you out there?? We are here for you.
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2003/09/02, 09:42 PM
Hello ricky and erirvine!! Thank you ever so much for taking the time to reply! If there were a Yo Yo diet olympics, I would easily take the gold! I am really trying this time, of course I say that everytime, but I really appreciate all the advice and examples that you two have given me..I really do know what it takes to get there and how to eat and how to exercise, it is just real tough to stick with it, when you are constantly being pulled in every which direction with kids and work and keeping up with the bills and house work and yard work..etc....I sound like I am making excuses huh? I have a very unsupportive Husband and he thinks that the minute I start losing weight I am out trying to find a replacement for him...He says he would love me even if I weighed 350 lbs!! What an A$$!! That makes me furious!! So finding the time to exercise is difficult because he thinks I have alterior motives! So recently I bought a house..granted it needs a lot of work and I have been spending my weekends trying to make it livable, so now I am trying to keep up with 2 houses.. I still live in my first house with husband and kids, because my greatest fear is spending one moment without my children and I don't think I could do it..financially and mentally...I am just one big ball of confusion. So from the fitness aspect of it all, I am pretty screwed up huh ??
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2003/09/03, 04:47 AM
Hey rickyshot,
I always like to know why things do or do not work not just that someone says they do, I guess that why I do what I do. I find that looking a bit harder at something stops me falling for someone else’s get rich scheme.
gretchb73,
With everything else you have going on its all the more reason to take things slow, if you try to shift all your focus onto yet another project something will fail. Think of a series of small improvements you can make then do another one each week. Eventually you and all those around you will be on a much healthier path without even realising it.
Try cutting the fat / skin of meat before cooking it,
Walking/jogging not driving,
Don’t butter your sandwiches
Grilling not frying,
Eating more regular smaller meals,
Not eating your biggest meal of the day right last thing at night,
Drink lots of water and no fizzy pop,
Eat more fresh fruit and veg,
Always have a good breakfast,
Eat whole-wheat bread not white,
Have semi skimmed milk not full fat,
Buy small packets of sweets or share a pack with your child instead of having one each,
Cook sauces instead of buying them,
Limit the amount of candy each week,
Buy low fat/ skip dessert
Cut out fast food or hit subway rather than MacDonald’s
No TV snacks (make yourself sit in the kitchen to eat),
Eat fish and skinless chicken breasts
Replace normal cheese with cottage cheese
Reading food labels and avoid high sugar / fat products.
Of the top of my head I have in no particular order come up with enough suggestions to last you till Christmas. Each of these suggestions will only have a small effect, but progressively implemented over time you and those around you should not feel like you are on a diet. You should also feel less stressed because you are not failing at one of your goals.
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2003/09/06, 09:21 AM
Great posts!! Rickyshot, I admire you and erirvine, you have a great take on it all!
gretchb73, it sounds like things are as hard as they could be right now, you have so many things going on in your life. Stress - good or bad - makes it difficult to lose weight, but that is not to say you can't do it.
Your husbands reaction, unfortunately, is very typical. I used to have clients who would come to the club and train with me while their husband was at work so he wouldn't find out. Hard situation. When I first started improving myself my husband was a little resistant, especially with food issues. As we go on, he has come to realize many of the health benefits and mostly eats the way I do, and gets his workouts in when possible.
Sounds like things are past that point if you have already bought a 2nd home. If only men could understand that it is about how we feel about ourselves, not about attracting other men or pleasing them.
Set a good example for your children by gradually eating and being healthier. It is all you can do.
And tell yourself things in the here and now ' I am stronger and healthier' ' I am eating healthier' instead of focusing on past experiences and saying 'I am really trying' try " I am doing it'. Your brain really listens to what you tell yourself and how you word it.
Learn from past efforts and figure out what the hurdles were and how you can meet them this time to overcome them. If you keep running into the same result, you need to change the equation. How can you appraoch these things differently to get the result you want?
Also, even experienced lifters hit plateaus. It is going to happen at one point or another because our bodies are very smart and adapt well (its a survival thing). You just have to switch up your routine to boost up the burn a little. You also have to tell yourself it is working. When you get to the point where you think it isn't working, you need to tell yourself, one more day, one more workout, one more meal, over and over. Results will come.
Add litle sprints to your walk/run when you plateau. Or stop evry five minutes and do five push-ups. Anything to change the routine.
Good luck, stick with it, it can't rain forever.
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Challenge + Consistency = Results
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2003/09/08, 03:47 PM
Asimmer, you really know how to make people feel better!! I have been "doing" very well since last week..did some research on the HIIT Training, so I have been "spicing" up my routines a bit, and feeling a difference. Although I get frustrated when I don't see a difference, I am trying to get past that this time. I don't know much about the exact exercises to get the results I want, but I have already learned so much from this site. Never stops amazing me!! Thank you all so much!!!!
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2003/09/09, 02:03 PM
Good! Just keep doing it!!!
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2003/09/09, 06:19 PM
Ok weighed 147ish?? upon starting here..this morning 142! hope it is not all in my head :) not literally in my head...but well you know what I mean
I am pretty excited about that little amount ... can not imagine how I WILL feel when I DO lose more .. hee hee hee..trying to sike myself up :)
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