190

[LucrativeSid]

I thought my face seemed rounder than usual, so I wondered if I had gained weight. Yes. Yes, I have.

I weigh 190 pounds! For years, I ate tons of junk food and didn't exercise and my weight always stayed between 170 and 175. When I hit 180, I thought it was a fluke. That was probably only 6 or 12 months ago. When I hit 185 a few months ago, I laughed and thought that my bad habits (and metabolism) were finally catching up to me. Tonight, at 190, I'm blown away. (I'm only 5'10''.)

I'm not really worried. It will just make for a better story once I'm sexy and chiseled again. Two years ago, I was in the best shape of my life after working out and eating right for a mere 3 months or so. I weighed 167, had barely any body fat, and could lift more weight than ever before. Right now as I'm sitting here I can look down and see my stomach hanging over my belt and most of my pants don't fit me anymore.

 

[proteanmix]

Have you gone to the doctor and had any blood work done?

Most important things are your blood pressure and basic metabolic panel (cholesterol, glucose levels, etc.). If you're 5'10/190 your BMI is overweight, so just a few pounds will put you back within healthy weight range.

Weight fluxes happen so but it can be quite shocking to gain a lot of weight in a short amount of time. Didn't you used to ride your bike everywhere, do you still do that?

 

[LucrativeSid]

I don't think a doctor is necessary. I've just really let my habits turn to shit. I used to ride a bike, but it was a bike that I borrowed and I only used it because my car wasn't working. (Plus the occasional joy ride.)

For the most part, I do no exercising at all and I eat a lot of really unhealthy foods. I binge eat. On a regular day after work, I may eat a large portion of fast food, an entire box of fruit roll ups, chips and salsa, a few small snickers bars, some candy, some beef jerky, etc... I eat stuff that I don't have to cook or prepare and I just keep going and going. For me, there is no such thing as dinner. If I'm awake and not at work, I'm probably munching on something.

Every once in a while, I decide to start being healthy again and I'll eat better and exercise, but it hardly ever lasts more than a week and the longest I've ever made it was 3 months.

I've conquered terrible habits before so I know I can do this. Maybe I can accomplish a few things at once... For example, If I wasn't sitting around and doing nothing every day, I'd be too busy having fun and doing something with my life to binge eat.

Wish me luck.

 

[proteanmix]

My eating habits aren't bad, but I'm a sporadic exerciser, maybe three times per month rather than three times per week.

It sounds like you eat a lot of processed food and foods that don't require much preparation. I know that when my eating habits were much worse (in college but I was getting WAY more exercise walking around campus) the bad foods that killed you were the cheap food a poor college student could afford.

A way that I forced myself to stop eating that crap is to only buy food that I had to cook. Nothing I could just throw in a microwave and eat in less than five minutes. I'd make a big pot of fresh chili on Sunday for lunch and for dinner I'd get fresh chicken breasts, throw them in the oven for 20 minutes and put on some frozen veggies and that was my dinner. I lost like 30 lbs just doing that + exercising.

But then I went to work as an office drone and gained that plus more. So you know I'm feeling you. Just stay encouraged, you did it before you can do it again. It's horrible to cycle back and forth, getting something under control then slacking and seeing yourself back in the original situation a year later.

Good idea to start making small changes, get used to those, then make other small changes. For example, if you eat breakfast (which you should!) switch out the sugary cereals for a whole grain cereal, if you don't want to prepare a whole breakfast. That way you didn't change much in terms of your time, but what you're eating is healthier.

Do a couple of changes every few weeks with each meal. Make the changes healthier alternatives.

Instead of snacking on Slim Jims, buy a pack of almonds and snack on them. Instead of getting the burger and fries, get the salad and fries. Instead of the snickers bars try a granola bar or some other healthy snack bar (read the label though!), just change little stuff. It helps, although I had to change my taste buds a bit.

When I want something sweet, I pre-cut some fruit (strawberries and kiwi mainly) and leave it in the fridge. When I want ice cream, I've taken to buying those tiny cartons of Ben and Jerry so that I don't end up eating the big ones and feeling depressed. I'm not totally denying myself what I want, but I've reduced my portion size. That also helps with the binge eating because once it's gone it's gone. I only buy two so I can't eat any more than what I have.

There's so much stuff out there on the internet about weight loss strategies so you can find really good advice. Anyway, good luck!

 

[LucrativeSid]

I used to cook, but somehow along the way I got too lazy. I live in a small town and there's only one grocery store and the food is expensive. But there is a dollar store that has a small food section! Frozen pizza, canned foods, packaged foods, chips, snacks, etc.. No fresh fruit, vegetables, or meat, of course, it's only a dollar store. But I've been shopping there instead of driving 25 minutes to a cheap grocery store in the city next to me. And I've been doing this for at least a year and half. Everything there is so cheap and delicious and it's so close to my house! I need to start driving to the real grocery stores again and to start cooking again.

Thanks for the tips and encouragement.

 

[ubiquitous1]

That is some great advice Proteanmix! I also lost weight buy eliminating prepared foods from my diet.Eating foods with a low glycemic index may help.
Sid -look on the bright side there is just more of you to love!

 

[LucrativeSid]

I've lost ten pounds already and I don't know how. I've barely cut down on anything and I haven't exercised at all. I doubt it will last, it must be a fluke.