Healthier Riders - How I lost weight

FZ1inTX

Adminstrator
I wanted to start a new thread knowing that some of us wish to lose weight, some are trying to lose while others have had astounding results. This is inspired by Bogie's amazing transformation.

I thought that a place for people to discuss what is or is not working for them would be most helpful in one spot. I'm also going to sticky this!

Please discuss:

  • What worked for you.
  • What didn't work for you.
  • Goals
  • Achievements
  • Nutrition
  • Meal plans
  • Recipes that actually are low fat AND taste good!
  • Support for those members who are struggling.
  • Anything else that you feel will help with weight loss.

If you feel OK sharing this, use the following in your initial post please. It's OK if you don't want to share!

My Heaviest = ?
Lowest in 5 years = ?
Current weight = ?
Target weight = ?
Target date = ?
How I weighed in = ?

Thanks and remember, no matter the amount, ANY loss is a victory!
 
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I'd found Weight Watchers to be the best help for me in the past. It was working and working well. After I didn't renew, I went back to *some* old habits and stopped tracking. I've never put back on all the weight I lost but I know I can do a LOT better. My new plan is more inline with Bogie's day and to stick within the Weight Watcher's Power Foods group. I'll compile a list of those and post them here within the next week.

My Heaviest = 242
Lowest in 5 years = 212
Current weight = 220
Target weight = 190
Target date = Jan 11th, 2015
How I weighed in = birthday suit, morning, after bathroom break and before breakfast or coffee.

Why so specific a date for a target? I am compelled to lose 50 lbs before my 50th birthday which is Jan 12th. The ideal weight of 190 is the goal but my actual target is 192.
 
I use an app called MyFitnessPal to count daily calories in and out. It works once you realize how much you tend to overeat. I use it before I buy/eat anything to see how many calories it has and what I will have left for the day. I'm on a 1,700 cal/day diet.

My Heaviest = 195
Lowest in 5 years = 175
Current weight = 182
Target weight = 170
Target date = 12/31/13
How I weighed in = Once a week in my birthday suit before breakfast.
 
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Stats

My Heaviest = 296
Lowest in 5 years = 170
Current weight = 179
Target weight = 174
Target date = 10/1/13
How I weighed in = every morning after bathroom break, before food/drink

So here is my story:
Ive been overweight since I was 16, it got out of hand and I could never get back. Starting Feb 1st, 2011, my wife and I decided to get healthy. We wanted kids and wanted to be healthy and good examples I weighed in at 296lbs. Using myfitnesspal.com and just living healthy, I hit my target of 170 in Oct 2012. Currently I am at 179lbs, been slacking a bit this summer with so many trips, its hard to be healthy when on the go. My goal is to stay between 170-175, and so far it usually hasn't been difficult. I eat a lot of fish, chicken, salads. I do not eat out much, take lunch to work, drink mainly water and a lot of it, about 200+ ounces a day. I play hockey and ride dirtbikes as well. Its a lot of work, but it is worth it in the long run. I BBQ a lot of the food, just slow cook with not a lot of sauce for reduced calories. Lots of veggies and little bread/starch foods.

Here is a pic of me and wife, she lost a lot of weight also.

BEFORE


AFTER:


I dropped almost 130lbs, she did just over 100 and she still has a bit more to go for her goal. Hope this is some inspiration and please ask if you have any questions.
 
I hate that I have to use the Blackberry Z10 at times.... MyFitnessPal isn't available for that OS yet. I can use the web version though! :D

One thing that Bogie mentioned that I've always agreed with.... diet isn't a good word for your goal. Diet does mean going without and to me, it means a temporary plan to temporarily lose weight. Diet means you intend to stop what you were doing and return to unhealthy eating habits. We should not think of losing weight as any form of diet other than you need to change your own diet and make it a lifestyle.

If you resolve to be healthier and remain that way going forward, you need to change your life and not look back. Some things I've done over the last couple years are as follows:

  • I used to enjoy a pint of Ben & Jerry's at least twice a week. No longer. Ice Cream is now a small treat perhaps 3 or four times a year and certainly never a pint in a sitting ever again!
  • Sam Adams is a good old friend. Really love that guy and the variety he brings to me for beers. I used to take in 12 - 24 bottles a week. No longer… I have 2 - 4 bottles a week now.
  • Sugar. No more…. Splenda!
  • Flour! Loved the breads and pastas! Now, bread is sparingly and in the form of wheat, whole grain or oatmeal. Pasta is now ONLY Barilla whole wheat and once every couple weeks, not white pasta every two to three days!
  • Candy is all now sugarless or a rare treat in the form of 85% Cocoa in moderation and still rare.
  • Coffee is now black with one Splenda. Used to be a fair amount of Half & Half!
  • Starchy veggies are nearly excluded.
  • Butter is replaced with olive oil.
  • Never liked mucg red meat so this is a built-in bonus but also started eating all lean white meats and more fish.
  • Replaced all sodas with flavored seltzers, zero sugars, calories, etc...
  • Eating a lot more raw veggies and fruits. Dinner is typically a veggie and a lean meat. Dessert is an apple.

What's not working? I need to start packing lunches for work as my pitfalls will happen at lunch. I need to motivate myself to exercise. I know I'll not make it below 212 unless I step it up to burn more than what I take in.

Weight loss is simple math. How many calories in - how many calories burned = a plus or minus weight change. It's that simple!
 
JM, that is awesome and a real inspiration! To have both of you commit and follow through is a great accomplishment. Kudos to the both of you as you both look FANTASTIC!

What you've described is what I've been striving for. I need to forget the lunches out, make better choices and get off my butt and move... I suspect anything outside of Minecraft in the evening will be a plus for me!

:thewave:
 
JM, that is awesome and a real inspiration! To have both of you commit and follow through is a great accomplishment. Kudos to the both of you as you both look FANTASTIC!

What you've described is what I've been striving for. I need to forget the lunches out, make better choices and get off my butt and move... I suspect anything outside of Minecraft in the evening will be a plus for me!

:thewave:

Thanks. Really eating healthy was the big one and tracking EVERYTHING I put in my mouth really helps. Its hard, but knowing how bad indulging in that bit of ice cream will set me back really helped. Weighing and tracking daily is what works best for me.
 
I was never severely overweight, but I was always a chubby kid and had childhood asthma. Started working out when I turned 14 and have been doing it ever since (39 now). Became a personal trainer when I was 20 and did that for 6 years. Had to quit to make actual money, but never stopped working out.

My diet for the past 20 years or so is pretty simple and has worked very well for me. It's called zig-zaging. I eat healthy (relatively boring.. pretty much same good stuff every day) for 5 days. For the next 2 days (Saturday and Sunday), I eat the stuff I enjoy (like pizza, burgers, ice cream.. whatever). The idea is that if you exercise and eat light all the time, your metabolism will slow down and you will hit a plateau, but if you shock the system for 2 days by introducing higher calories, it keeps metabolism going. Not to mention the awesome benefit of eating the things you actually want to eat!

As for exercise programs.. I'll be honest with you, it makes no difference whatsoever WHAT you do, as long as you do SOMETHING! Just MOVE.. use up the calories. In the end it all comes down to how much you put in (food) and how much you use up (BMI + movement).

Certainly some routines are more intense and effective than others, but an easy, simple, fun routine you'll want to do is better than hardcore, intense routine which will make you hate exercising.

If you're going to exercise, you a tape around your waste to measure progress instead of scale. When you exercise, you gain muscle, which weighs more than fat, so even if it looks like your weight isn't going down, you may be losing inches, which is a better indicator of health.
 
I was up to 235 ish in 06 when I went to Kuwait. I decided since I couldnt drink anymore I would eat better too. I went down to about 195 then about a year later 185 which i was pretty lean then (8ish % body fat). Now Im back up around 195. Its not so much even what you eat vs how you eat. Ive been eating terrible lately. (Wifey buys lots of junk) I eat at least 5x a day. I dont exercise but I also don't sit on my arse all day at work either.
 
Great thread!

Weight has the one of the biggest hits when it comes to a bikes performance and that motivated me to lose a lot of weight.

At my largest I was 118kg (260lb)

Right now im closer to 80kg (176lb)

which is the "right" weight for my size/height (180cm)(5.9)

I lost weight primarily by eating a lot less than i used to.

Exercise plays a big part too but mainly its about eating less and eating healthier. Ive always been physically big and do work out at the gym when i can. Muscle of course, weighs more than fat, so that plays into it too.

On average I eat about 2000 calories a day. Sometimes a little more sometimes a little less.

Its very important to cut out junk food and other pointless food and just stick to healthy foods. Mainly lean meats, veg and fruit.

I still eat bread and pasta and potatoes. I dont care about any stupid diet everyone swears by (atkins and so on).

There is no "trick" to loosing weight. You just have to train yourself to eat less.
Its all about self control.

The results over time have been amazing! when i got on my bike after losing a lot of weight in instantly felt the difference. Bike felt softer, accelerated faster, and seemed to turn more easily too.
 
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My weight story

At my heaviest I weighed 235 lbs
My lightest in the past 5 years was 210 lbs.
I'm currently at 215 lbs.

What worked for you.
Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live diet
What didn't work for you.
watching caloric intake
Goals
I'd like to get to 200 lbs.
Achievements
I followed the Eat to live diet for a solid 3 months religiously and dropped
20 lbs. After the first couple of weeks your tastes change and you actually
enjoy eating fruit and vegetables and salads. In fact you feel unwell if you
stray from the diet.
Nutrition
The eat to live diet is based on nutritionally dense low calorie foods. This means lots of vegetables, fruit, and two big salads a day. no meat other than fish, baked or steamed, once a week. no bread, pasta, or refined foods. Very little dressing on the salads.
On this diet I've never felt better in my life.
Meal plans
Read Dr. Fuhrmans book.
Recipes that actually are low fat AND taste good!
I really enjoyed the salads.
Support for those members who are struggling.
There are lots of ways to lose weight. But the most important one is to eat healthy, always. And don't give up. Don't think of it as a diet think of it as living well the rest of your life.
 
If you resolve to be healthier and remain that way going forward, you need to change your life and not look back. Some things I've done over the last couple years are as follows:

  • I used to enjoy a pint of Ben & Jerry's at least twice a week. No longer. Ice Cream is now a small treat perhaps 3 or four times a year and certainly never a pint in a sitting ever again!
  • Sam Adams is a good old friend. Really love that guy and the variety he brings to me for beers. I used to take in 12 - 24 bottles a week. No longer… I have 2 - 4 bottles a week now.
  • Sugar. No more…. Splenda!
  • Flour! Loved the breads and pastas! Now, bread is sparingly and in the form of wheat, whole grain or oatmeal. Pasta is now ONLY Barilla whole wheat and once every couple weeks, not white pasta every two to three days!
  • Candy is all now sugarless or a rare treat in the form of 85% Cocoa in moderation and still rare.
  • Coffee is now black with one Splenda. Used to be a fair amount of Half & Half!
  • Starchy veggies are nearly excluded.
  • Butter is replaced with olive oil.
  • Never liked mucg red meat so this is a built-in bonus but also started eating all lean white meats and more fish.
  • Replaced all sodas with flavored seltzers, zero sugars, calories, etc...
  • Eating a lot more raw veggies and fruits. Dinner is typically a veggie and a lean meat. Dessert is an apple.

What's not working? I need to start packing lunches for work as my pitfalls will happen at lunch. I need to motivate myself to exercise. I know I'll not make it below 212 unless I step it up to burn more than what I take in.

Weight loss is simple math. How many calories in - how many calories burned = a plus or minus weight change. It's that simple!

A lot of good healthy suggestions there.

However, in my natural medicine practice I will just call a caution to the use of Splenda and Sucralose. No long term studies were done on humans prior to the approval of Splenda by the FDA. The longest study was 4 days and they tested if Splenda could cause tooth decay in adults, IN 4 DAYS, and of course the result was they said it was safe for teeth.

In my experience I have seen multiple negative effects from Splenda user/abusers. Headaches/Migraines, paresthesia (numbness/tingling/burning nerve pain), yo-yo weight gain (research shows that the use of artificial sweeteners is linked to weight gain, more later), neurological issues like Multiple Sclerosis (these patients get the MRI's done which come back clear yet, they have the symptoms of MS, they stop the Splenda/Aspartame/Saccharin and it goes away).

I know this doesn't happen to everybody and there is the concept of total body burden. Meaning that say one persons genetics are good at metabolizing certain toxins and eliminating from the body, so they could have a higher total body burden, as opposed to someone who has a slower detoxification metabolism and fewer insults will result in symptoms of illness.

Ok, so here's some ways in how the artificial sweeteners cause weight gain. One, the bacteria in you digestive tract are constantly in a balance between healthy bacteria (ones that help the body) and bad bacteria (those that contribute to disease). Artificial sweeteners often have a negative impact on healthy bacteria reducing their total population in the intestines. These bacteria help your body absorb vitamin and minerals which are required to convert the food you take in into energy your body can use. Artificial sweeteners stimulate fat storage. Artificial sweeteners also increase carbohydrate craving by negatively affecting your brains ability to feel satisfied from what it takes in.

Be wary, Splenda/Sucralose is in everything, including those sweet waters you are probably drinking. If you want a sweet drink buy soda water or sparkling mineral water and mix in 2-4 oz of 100% juice (I prefer Knudsen Farms Just Black Cherry (taste like Dr. Pepper) or Trader Joe's blueberry/pommegranate and avoid Ocean Spray and other conventional brands) You would only get 45-90 calories out of that which if you're really worried about can burn off walking around your house for 10 minutes.

Try cutting the Sucralose out for awhile and see if you don't make the next jump in weight loss.

More reading
The Potential Harmful Effects of Splenda (Sucralose)
 
I'm glad you started this thread as I have been thinking recently on posting all the health tips I would have for making riding more enjoyable. Sometimes I feel like an ass because I have a ton of information and often don't figure out the right way to share. Weight is definitely a great topic to approach and support from fellows going along on the journey makes it better. In America the scales are literally stacked against eating healthy and maintaining a good body weight.

Personally I have struggled with weight for the last 7-8 years. Before that I was always a gym rat and even had been approached a couple times to do modeling. I was in my residency and I just started gaining weight about 10 lbs a year until I stopped it last year and started to turn it around. High stress and bad food choices is a nasty cycle because the bad food choices increases the stress which lead to bad food choices.

My heaviest: 265 lbs in July 2012
Lowest in 5 years: 225 in July 2008
Current weight: 235-240
Target Weight 210-215
How I weighed in: Birthday suit after morning dropping off the kids in the pool before shower.

What's worked
1. Breakfast: When I eat breakfast it fires up the metabolism and it literally 'breaks fast'. When you're body is in a fasting state it actually looks to store calories as fat for use later. By breaking fast the body will speed up it's metabolism because it believes it is in a time of abundance and calories don't need to be saved for later (remember from an evolution standpoint for human genetics, it's only been the last 60-80 years that we've had such an abundant food supply). For breakfast I like to get 15-20 grams of protein with approximate 1/2 cup of vegetables.
2. Eating within every 3 hours balanced meals and snacks of protein and carbohydrates: After you eat your digestive system goes to work on the food you took in, breaking it down and then absorbing it into the body. The digestive process takes about 20 minutes to 2 hours depending on the food eaten. After the food is absorbed primarily blood glucose is circulated around to feed the brain, organs and muscles, protein follows and finally fat. With a well balanced meal between carbohydrate and proteins (and fiber) the blood sugar will not spike as much resulting in less insulin production and greater utilization of the food taken in to be used as energy. If you have a poorly balanced meal, (high refined carbohydrate, no protein, no fiber i.e. pizza, pasta, french fries, etc) then the body absorbs the sugars faster and the blood glucose goes higher spiking insulin levels. INSULIN IS THE FAT, LAZY and STUPID hormone. Literally it stimulates the body to convert excess sugar into triglycerides which is then stored preferentially as abdominal fat. It also decreases perceived energy levels, increasing feelings of fatigue and decreases cognitive function. The other part of science in why to eat every 2-3 hours is that after the body has utilized the food converted into blood sugar then the blood sugar will begin to drop a little bit. In response at first the liver will released glucagon to release stored up glucose to help but often this is a very short temporary help, and in turn cortisol is released. Cortisol subsequently will block insulin receptors at the cellular level. So, when you eat say 5 hours later after the cortisol has been release, the glucose will not get into the cell easily resulting in an elevated glucose. In response the body releases more insulin to force the glucose into the cell and again the elevated insulin results in converting the extra sugar to triglyceride that get stored as abdominal fat preferentially. This is the metabolic foundation for Type II Diabetes as well.
3. Take my supplements: I have a men's combination vitamin/supplement packets that I take. It focuses on a multi-vitamin with bio-available vitamins and minerals (I can go into more detail on this later), vitamin D (immune, prostate, and bone health), fish oil (insulin sensitivity and prostate health), and saw palmetto (prostate health and testosterone balance). When I take these my food cravings decrease and my total caloric intake usually goes down because my body is getting the nutrients it needs that are not in the food (do your research, the vitamin and mineral content is 30-80% less than 40 years ago).
4. Exercise: Like it was said before, do something. I have shifted my life to 2 wheels. I have a bicycle and motorcycle. The bicycle I often use to go get groceries, dinner and to the gym. The motorcycle is for commuting to work, which you wall know you are more active on a motorcycle than driving a car.
5. A cheat day: I have 1 day a week that I cheat for sweets and stuff. My day is Friday because I feel after a week of work I want to eat whatever crap I want Friday night. Then I put in the extra time for healthier choices on Saturday and Sunday. I usually have something like Chocolate cake or a bag of Peanut Butter M&M's
6. Psychology: Researching is finding that the food we take in and our digestive health actually affects our mood. I try to maintain a positive attitude. Recently I cut a negative person out of my life and I dropped 10 pounds in the following 2 weeks. Biggest weight drop I've had in over 8 months. Maintaining a positive attitude also makes it easier to stick to healthy choices and not give in to the "awww fuckit don't matter" moods.

What didn't work
1. Cutting too many calories. Read body going into stress/fasting mood and trying to store.
2. cutting too much protein. I have a lower threshold of at least 60 grams of protein. Much below that and I get really fatigued.
3 Cutting too much fat. Having good fat is essential to satiety (feeling satisfied after eating).

Goals
1. I would like to over the next 6 months drop another 20 pounds.
2. My ideal body weight for my height is a max of 205. However psychologically I have felt more comfortable carrying more weight. I used to be a skinny/athletic 6'4" 185 pounds until I started to gain weight. When I was that weight I always felt a little more vulnerable because I wasn't as big. Comfortable weight for me was right around 205-215.

Achievements
1. I completed 2 minitriathlons in June and July of this year.

Recipes
1. I disagree with the low fat recipes. I prefer healthy fats. Fat is incorporated into every cell of your body in the cell membrane. Fat is required for healthy nervous system. Good cholesterol is required for hormone production. Good fat is important for satiety (feeling satisfied after eating). A lot of research out there points to low fat diets leading to health problems and weight gain.
 
A lot of good healthy suggestions there.

However, in my natural medicine practice I will just call a caution to the use of Splenda and Sucralose. No long term studies were done on humans prior to the approval of Splenda by the FDA. The longest study was 4 days and they tested if Splenda could cause tooth decay in adults, IN 4 DAYS, and of course the result was they said it was safe for teeth.

In my experience I have seen multiple negative effects from Splenda user/abusers. Headaches/Migraines, paresthesia (numbness/tingling/burning nerve pain), yo-yo weight gain (research shows that the use of artificial sweeteners is linked to weight gain, more later), neurological issues like Multiple Sclerosis (these patients get the MRI's done which come back clear yet, they have the symptoms of MS, they stop the Splenda/Aspartame/Saccharin and it goes away).

I know this doesn't happen to everybody and there is the concept of total body burden. Meaning that say one persons genetics are good at metabolizing certain toxins and eliminating from the body, so they could have a higher total body burden, as opposed to someone who has a slower detoxification metabolism and fewer insults will result in symptoms of illness.

Ok, so here's some ways in how the artificial sweeteners cause weight gain. One, the bacteria in you digestive tract are constantly in a balance between healthy bacteria (ones that help the body) and bad bacteria (those that contribute to disease). Artificial sweeteners often have a negative impact on healthy bacteria reducing their total population in the intestines. These bacteria help your body absorb vitamin and minerals which are required to convert the food you take in into energy your body can use. Artificial sweeteners stimulate fat storage. Artificial sweeteners also increase carbohydrate craving by negatively affecting your brains ability to feel satisfied from what it takes in.

Be wary, Splenda/Sucralose is in everything, including those sweet waters you are probably drinking. If you want a sweet drink buy soda water or sparkling mineral water and mix in 2-4 oz of 100% juice (I prefer Knudsen Farms Just Black Cherry (taste like Dr. Pepper) or Trader Joe's blueberry/pommegranate and avoid Ocean Spray and other conventional brands) You would only get 45-90 calories out of that which if you're really worried about can burn off walking around your house for 10 minutes.

Try cutting the Sucralose out for awhile and see if you don't make the next jump in weight loss.

More reading
The Potential Harmful Effects of Splenda (Sucralose)

I knew some of this but not all of it. So I read this carefully and also followed the link and a couple more links from that page. The person writing has concluded that Stevia is the single-best alternative sweetener available with the least amount of side effects. Time to give that a try.

In reading all of the issues, I do not display any of the side effects of Splenda so I'm wondering just how much people take in to show those effects? My intake is limited to one packet per coffee, three or four times a day. My boss however, does display a lot of issues. He drinks the same 10oz cup up to 25 times a day with 3 to 4 Splenda's in EACH. So I guess I've answered my own question.... Thanks for sharing that information.

Regarding the sodas, the ones I have are the seltzers from Polar which contain no sweeteners, sugars, carbs, calories, etc.... The nutritional info on the label is all zero'd out. ;)

I'll try and convince the boss now. :D
 
I knew some of this but not all of it. So I read this carefully and also followed the link and a couple more links from that page. The person writing has concluded that Stevia is the single-best alternative sweetener available with the least amount of side effects. Time to give that a try.

In reading all of the issues, I do not display any of the side effects of Splenda so I'm wondering just how much people take in to show those effects? My intake is limited to one packet per coffee, three or four times a day. My boss however, does display a lot of issues. He drinks the same 10oz cup up to 25 times a day with 3 to 4 Splenda's in EACH. So I guess I've answered my own question.... Thanks for sharing that information.

Regarding the sodas, the ones I have are the seltzers from Polar which contain no sweeteners, sugars, carbs, calories, etc.... The nutritional info on the label is all zero'd out. ;)

I'll try and convince the boss now. :D

For the soda's my point is that a few calories (under 100) is ok, you can burn that in walking around the office around 30 minutes. Try the sparkling water and juice. And actually the history of soda goes back to the soda fountain which was found at the pharmacist. Soda's were designed with health in mind. Typically they were some combination of herbs in tincture form (or glycerol) mixed with some sugar and soda water to make them into a refreshing drink. That's how the pharmacist figured to get the herbal medicine in people.

And the comparison between you and your boss as you have noticed is the difference in that total body burden. If he is experiencing symptoms then the amount of Splenda he is putting in, is exceeding his bodies ability to deal with it, and the result is obvious damage happening to his body.

Stevia is ok, it is a little too bitter for my taste, it is however good for improving insulin sensitivity and keeping blood sugars in healthy ranges. Truvia (erythritol) is ok too but can be a little upsetting to the digestive system.
 
For the soda's my point is that a few calories (under 100) is ok, you can burn that in walking around the office around 30 minutes. Try the sparkling water and juice. And actually the history of soda goes back to the soda fountain which was found at the pharmacist. Soda's were designed with health in mind. Typically they were some combination of herbs in tincture form (or glycerol) mixed with some sugar and soda water to make them into a refreshing drink. That's how the pharmacist figured to get the herbal medicine in people.

And the comparison between you and your boss as you have noticed is the difference in that total body burden. If he is experiencing symptoms then the amount of Splenda he is putting in, is exceeding his bodies ability to deal with it, and the result is obvious damage happening to his body.

Stevia is ok, it is a little too bitter for my taste, it is however good for improving insulin sensitivity and keeping blood sugars in healthy ranges. Truvia (erythritol) is ok too but can be a little upsetting to the digestive system.

Ssky...
In your studies of sweetners and their effects, have you looked at aspartame - nutrasweet? It is in so many things. Almost all diet drinks.
The FDA describes it as one of the most thoroughly tested food additives ever - and has been deemed safe from many points of view and through many studies both domestic and international.
It had a period or two where it was attacked severely - but seems to have weathered those storms well.
Any opinions?


JMundy and wife!! You are superstars!! Congratulations!!!
 
Ssky...
In your studies of sweetners and their effects, have you looked at aspartame - nutrasweet? It is in so many things. Almost all diet drinks.
The FDA describes it as one of the most thoroughly tested food additives ever - and has been deemed safe from many points of view and through many studies both domestic and international.
It had a period or two where it was attacked severely - but seems to have weathered those storms well.
Any opinions?


JMundy and wife!! You are superstars!! Congratulations!!!

Aspartame has weathered the storm. From the research generally any contradictory studies pointing toward health concerns, mainly bladder cancer or other carcinogenicity are dismissed for their methodology. For me though if you have enough versions of studying carcinogenicity and you can only nitpick at methodology, something must be going on there.

Anecdotal experience. I have seen people with chronic headaches (not migraines), improve by stopping Aspartame products. I have seen diabetics actually have an easier time regulating their blood sugar and reduce their medications when they stop Aspartame. I have seen weight loss become easier when stopping Aspartame.

So the research war seems to have tipped in Aspartame's favor for the time being, but my experience has seen people/patients benefit from eliminating it from the diet.
 
My Heaviest = >285 lbs
Lowest in 5 years = <170 lbs
Current weight = <170 lbs
Target weight = No target
Target date = No target
How I weighed in = 3:30 PM every Thursday

My process has been interesting over the last few years. I slowly escaped from the fog of modern eating by cutting things out bit by bit. I used to be your average North American; I would eat and drink whatever I wanted without much consideration for what it was or where it came from or what it did to my body. I would drink soda, beer, eat burgers, pizza, whatever. All garbage. All of it.

I began to discover a love of cooking and with that came an understanding of what food really is and how it affects our lives. Slowly I began to remove things from my diet and started doing things from scratch more and more often. The first thing I eliminated was soda. Next came alcohol and I haven't had a drink for over 10 years now. My love of food and cooking fostered a career as a chef for over 5 years as well. I got burnt out with long hours and tremendous stress but I never lost my love of cooking.

Fast forward to today and I have made some substantial changes compared to all those years ago. At the moment I am both a vegan and gluten-free and I couldn't be happier. I enjoy challenging myself and if there is some compelling reason for me to accept the challenge, I will.

In the end it has to be whatever works for you. I feel strongly that weight loss is all diet. It's so easy to out-eat even an extreme amount of exercise, it becomes pointless to chase that. Healthy eating must come first and I am very much against calorie counting and things like 'cheat days'. It's simple: crap in, crap out. Even if you have only 200 calories worth of cinnamon bun, the toll it takes on your body is more than the mere numbers will lead you to believe. 200 calories of leafy greens have a completely different effect on your body.

Read the ingredients of what you buy. Be aware of where your food comes from. Understand what it does to you. Listen to your body.

Be happy :)
 
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