I Wish I Knew How to LOSE You--The Weight Loss Thread (check first post)

[Front-Ranger]

I would like to lose 5 to 7 pounds. These excess pounds have been hanging around for nearly a year since my mother was in the hospital. I'm getting tired of them weighing (literally) me down. Having so many friends want to take me out to dinner for my birthday didn't help.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I would like to lose 5 to 7 pounds. These excess pounds have been hanging around for nearly a year since my mother was in the hospital. I'm getting tired of them weighing (literally) me down. Having so many friends want to take me out to dinner for my birthday didn't help.

This is quite true. Frequent restaurant dinners are not your friend when you would like to lose weight.

Quite a few years ago now, I went through a spell when I just did not feel like cooking on a Saturday evening (the one day in the week when, ordinarily, I feel that I have the time to prepare a proper meal). Every Saturday night I was having dinner at a neighborhood restaurant (now closed). That was when I packed on the pounds that I'm now unable to lose.

[serious crayons]

Time to bump this thread. I wonder where we all stand now.

Thanks for bumping this, Paul! I went back to look at 2013, the year I lost 30 pounds in six months by going on a strict low-carb diet.

My posts back in them days were about what I was eating, menus and all. I also wrote about how much better I was feeling in what ways, including no back ache and extra energy.

But in June of that year I went to Europe, where of course I went off my low-carb diet for paella in Barcelona and a few pastries in Paris and whatever else was available, carbs be damned. When I got home, I started eating what I would consider a "normal" diet. Starches for one or two meals a day. Occasional cookies, etc.

I gained back the weight. My back pain came back. My skinny clothes hung in the closet unworn. I've lost some energy. (It's interesting that European travel is the downfall of many Americans -- I can't imagine going to Italy without eating a ton of pasta and pizza --  whereas Europeans themselves tend to be slimmer than most Americans.)

Now, inspired by old me, I'm going to try it again, using my 2013 info as a guide! The food actually sounds pretty good. (Pages 88 and 89, if anyone is interested.)

I guess sometimes really long blathering posts pay off! 

[serious crayons]

Having so many friends want to take me out to dinner for my birthday didn't help.

Restaurants can be tempting! But, depending on the place, they can often provide healthy meals if you can order a la carte. In my low-carb days I used to order a salad and a piece of fish or some shrimp or whatever. Seafood, sushi and most Asian restaurants have some good options, too.

The one good lingering effect of my low-carb days is that my sweet tooth was, if not entirely eradicated, at least desweetened. Nowadays I could eat a piece of cherry cake if my hostess offered it (unless I couldn't eat no cake just then). But I don't crave it and I don't even look at restaurant dessert menus.

[Kananaskis]

Truthfully, losing weight is a nightmare that looms large in my head. I’ve been struggling to gain weight ever since I was a child. It wasn’t that much of a nuisance back then, but right now, as I’m coming out of my adolescence into my fully fledged self, I wish I could get my body into shape… and being constantly hampered by your own digestive system is a great impediment.

Suffice to say I could really use some of those excess pounds you’re talking about 

[serious crayons]

Suffice to say I could really use some of those excess pounds you’re talking about 

Wouldn't it be great if it worked that way? If we could just redistribute fat evenly? Maybe in the future. But since so far we can't even manage to distribute money remotely evenly, fat might be a ways down the road ... 

[Front-Ranger]

So, here's what I had for lunch. It was vegan since I had leftovers from a vegan buffet I put together over the weekend. Vegan cheese, meat substitute (seitan), sprouts, tomatoes, lettuce, beans, couscous, and a lemon garlic vinaigrette. It was pretty good. However, I got hungry again about 4 pm and, since I was too busy to stop and eat, it was a problem.

[CellarDweller]

Time to bump this thread. I wonder where we all stand now.

I need to start all over again.

[serious crayons]

So, there's what I had for lunch. It was vegan since I had leftovers from a vegan buffet I put together over the weekend. Vegan cheese, meat substitute (seitan), sprouts, tomatoes, lettuce, beans, couscous, and a lemon garlic vinaigrette. It was pretty good. However, I got hungry again about 4 pm and, since I was too busy to stop and eat, it was a problem.

Yeah, I would imagine seitan is less filling than meat. When I have my act together (which is only occasionally), I keep shredded chicken or smoked fish on hand for this kind of situation.

Your daughter and her husband are vegans, right? So I assume their kids are, too?

My son became a really strict vegetarian for a while. Luckily, not a vegan. That's really what you have to do if you're avoiding meat for humane purposes, but I didn't tell him that because he was already super strict about avoiding any contact with any dead-animal product. Also I worried about him not getting enough protein, but luckily he was eating eggs and cheese and seitan.

Then one day when he was seeing a doctor I made the mistake of bringing this up in front of him. I asked the doctor if she thought he was getting enough protein. She said yes, but noted that he should be careful not to go overboard with the seitan because of course the soy it's made from is a phytoestrogen.

My son never ate another bite of any soy-related product. Didn't want to grow boobs. 

A side note: Here in Minneapolis, there's a vegan butcher! I've never been there, but I've heard it's good.