My humblebrag regarding weight loss

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing. I can't help but think that the sense of competition is what most people need for motivation to keep a good routine. That or a crush. The apps that track activity seem to enliven that competitive drive. Speaking from my experience, without a crush and/or sense of competition, I fall off track easily. Zero motivation.

Looks like it's time for me to start using one of these electronic devices!

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Did you, by chance, use phentermine? I know that was a really hot topic in the fall. I just cannot imagine how you could eat so few calories yet never feel fatigued or lacking in energy.

No. I don't even know that that is. By nature I don't trust any sort of "miracle" anything, whether it is supposed to make you rich or thin. I do wonder how much of the fatigue associated with low calorie diets is psychological. I have no explanation for why I didn't suffer from it.

To address some of the other points that have been raised, I don't plan to continue the diet I've been following now that I am in the "normal" BMI range. My focus now is on maintenance. Yesterday, for instance, I had a peanut butter sandwich on actual bread for lunch (what can I say, I had a craving but sadly it failed to meet expectations) and pork tacos for dinner.

I've already made an appointment with my PCP for a physical. It turns out that my insurance company will pay me $150 for simply getting a physical and filling out a survey.

[Anonymous]

That really doesn't seem like enough food. Don't starve yourself!

Also, did you mention how tall you are?

149 for an adult male is very very slim.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for sharing. I can't help but think that the sense of competition is what most people need for motivation to keep a good routine. That or a crush. The apps that track activity seem to enliven that competitive drive. Speaking from my experience, without a crush and/or sense of competition, I fall off track easily. Zero motivation.

Looks like it's time for me to start using one of these electronic devices!

There is no doubt that I benefited from this sense of competition. I can't count the times I hopped up from the couch to walk around the house because I had to meet my "stand" goal or got on the treadmill or bike at 11:30 at night because I needed to work off 100 more calories to meet my "move" goal. I've always had a bit of a competitive streak, but it was really awaken during the is process. Many times when I started an exercise I felt like just phoning it in, but before l knew it, I was racing to beat my previous record.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:That really doesn't seem like enough food. Don't starve yourself!

Also, did you mention how tall you are?

149 for an adult male is very very slim.

I'm short, just 5' 5". My BMI today is 24.46.

A little bit more about my low calorie diet (which, again, I am now transitioning away from). I didn't plan such a thing in the beginning but just sort of fell into it. I first started simply eliminating the usual suspects such as desserts. especially fattening foods. and reducing portions. When that didn't yield results, I decided more drastic action was needed. That's when I started my morning routine and decided to see if I could skip dinner. Skipping dinner caused me to be hungry all evening and I settled on berries and nuts because I could snack on them without too much of a calorie hit.

One sort of weird motivation was also a little coincidental. When I first started exercising back in August, I was watching Ken Burn's "The Vietnam War" during my workouts. I kept thinking of the stories of Viet Cong soldiers who would march for days surviving on nothing but a handful of rice. I realize those stories may not be true and, even if they were, probably resulted in huge nutritional issues. But, nevertheless, I kept thinking, "if these guys can survive on a little rice and still challenge the most powerful military on earth, I can sure as hell do 100 minutes of exercise while on my diet." It's a crazy, and probably politically incorrect, motivator I know. But, whatever works.

[Anonymous]

Congratulations!

[jsteele]

Just an update for anyone who is interested. I had a physical and the blood test results came back. Everything was fine except for a vitamin D deficiency. That is probably a result of the combination of my limited diet and not getting much sun in the winter. So, I have to take a supplement.

Otherwise, the results were quite good. My cholesterol level was much better than in the past and glucose level was right in the middle of the standard range.

After my original post, I continued losing a few more pounds and then stopped my low calorie diet and began transitioning to a more normal diet. I've been eating three meals a day, staying away from snacking, and even gone out to eat and had carry out a couple of times. I put on a pound or two, but I'm still below my target weight. Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about things

I do want to acknowledge a point made in another thread that it seems men can lose weight easier than women. Losing this weight required significant effort and a lot of discipline on my part, but to be honest it wasn't that hard. Having seen women struggle with weight loss, I am inclined to agree that this is one more area in which women face unfairness. So, I am calibrating my smugness accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Congrats, Jeff! 2002 DCUM listserv OG here. So excited for you! Not at *all* surprised that you had such discipline. If it sounds fun to you, I'd recommend that you reward yourself by seeing a nutritionist/food coach &/or taking some cooking classes with one. I know this woman (http://www.simplewellbeing.com/) as she's a fellow parent at my kids' school. I like her approach & her recipes & have gone to one of her cooking classes (on soups - it was fun & delicious). Ignore the "detox" language; she has really common-sense, healthy ideas & can help you tailor your pantry/routines to support your healthier lifestyle. Or, since you are a researcher, I'm sure you can find a million healthy eating templates online. FYI I use gatheredtable (online meal planning & recipe software that has a monthly subscription fee) to organize my cooking/shopping & I really like the format, despite not liking the monthly fee since it feels extravagant. I've tried a few others & didn't like them as well. Keep us posted! Also, let us know if you are curious about meal planning or recipes or tricks for eating healthily. You have the ultimate crowd sourcing tool! Hive mind of DCUM can help!!

[Anonymous]

Yay Jeff!

[Anonymous]

Congratulations, Jeff! You should be proud of yourself.

[Anonymous]

Jeff, I have so enjoyed reading these posts from you. Informational, motivational, sweet, sensitive...your writing has it all.

[Anonymous]

Congrats Jeff. This is inspirational and the detail you go into is very helpful. Did you initially have any headaches when you cut the carbs?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Congrats Jeff. This is inspirational and the detail you go into is very helpful. Did you initially have any headaches when you cut the carbs?

Thanks to the posters above. Regarding headaches, I don’t remember that being a problem. When I first started exercising, I was constantly a little sore and after I started my diet I was always a little hungry. Neither of those was anything more than an irritation and I got used to them.

[Anonymous]

Wow!!! You are phenomenal! That is quite a story. I'm happy for you!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for an inspiring post!!