[SJ] Fellow SJ's - Weight Loss Help!

[Lambchop]

As much as I hate to admit this, I've gained about 30 pounds in the last 7 years. I am having a horrible time trying to get it back off again. I used to be very OCD about my weight...the point system for Weight Watchers was perfect for me. I compulsively exercised 6 days a week and took Hydroxycut and Ephederine and even was in the Phen-Phen craze to keep my weight down. My ex that I was with for a very long time was critical of me, so that helped me keep it down as well. However, I left him and got happily married and started taking medication for OCD and hormonal issues and stopped caring so much about what I ate and was sooo terribly busy that I didn't have time for exercise and it somehow just creeped up on me. I HATE looking in the mirror some days. And I know that people have told me that I need to "accept" myself and accept the fact that as I age, I will accumulate some weight. But, I'm keep trying...and I feel like I'm getting nowhere. It's like one step forward and one step back. I eat healthy for the most part (I recently had a blood test and my cholesterol is really good, my risk of heart attack is below average and my blood glucose and blood pressure are all good) and I do manage to get exercise in at least once a week. During hormonal times, it might be none..but when it's not...it's sometimes 4 times a week. I take supplements and vitamins as well.

Does anyone have suggestions or books to recommend to me? A friend of mine told me about "The Gabriel Method" and I looked into that a little, but it has a lot to do with visualizations and meditation. Not that I'm knocking that or anything, maybe it does work. He's lost 21 pounds on it so far. He said one week he lost 3 pounds while eating like crap (fast food, etc)...just from doing the visualizations. I don't eat fast food and when I do, I gain weight immediately...so that scares me. I just feel a little lost, I guess.

Please NO "eat less and exercise more." I know that's common sense and I'm relatively bright..so I'm looking for more than that. Just wondering if anyone has struggled as well and any thoughts they might have. Thanks!!

P.S. My avatar blinks, but don't let that scare you!

 

[BlackCat]

I have gained a bit too much weight over the summer, and I hate it too. But I decided to make a change.

I'd recommend going to the gym regularly. I go every day after school, and I have class 4 days a week. That's Monday-Thursday. On other days I can't go, since my house is too far away from the gym for it to be worth going, so I go on walks and then do sit ups with filled gallon jugs of water and pull ups. Exercise will help you to lose weight if you do that along with a diet of some sort.

But some other things that have helped me are these-

1. Cut the soda. Seriously, don't regularly drink sugary drinks regularly. I only drink a soda every other day from like 3 or 4 a day, and I'm noticing a large difference just from cutting that.

2. Cut the fast food. If you have a busy work schedule, don't go by McDonald's every day, bring a sandwich and some fruit etc from home instead (it's cheaper that way too).

3. Drink more water. I know that everyone tells you this... but do it.

Also don't let weight, the actual number, bring you down. Because if you start to exercise more often then you will gain weight in muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat.

 

[Laurie]

Join the 6 month challenge thing, even if a little late. It keeps me going.

I love your avatar. I have a friend in holland MI. :O I think she is ISTJ though. Heh.

 

[BlackCat]

Yeah that's a good idea, here's the thread.

http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/health-fitness/21154-typec-exercise-challenge-contest.html

 

[Liminality]

Take it slow, chances are if you're eating a balanced diet and getting in about an hour of walking a day, you're perfectly alreet.

If you're not/want to do more, go for gentle/medium half hour jogs every other day (Very good for the heart), and cut out cheap chocolate, buiscuits, crisps etc/limit them.

Your ex boyfriend needs to be bitchslapped mega hard <_<.

Fast food is a nono health wise in general.

YouTube - McDonald's 4 Year Old Cheeseburger Video

 

[Lambchop]

Join the 6 month challenge thing, even if a little late. It keeps me going.

I love your avatar. I have a friend in holland MI. :O I think she is ISTJ though. Heh.

I just went to check it out. I will definitely be following it. It does make me feel better that other people sometimes have a hard time finding the time for exercise as well. I'm thinking of taking my tennis shoes to work and walking on my lunch hour.

 

[raz]

As much as I hate to admit this, I've gained about 30 pounds in the last 7 years. I am having a horrible time trying to get it back off again. I used to be very OCD about my weight...the point system for Weight Watchers was perfect for me. I compulsively exercised 6 days a week and took Hydroxycut and Ephederine and even was in the Phen-Phen craze to keep my weight down. My ex that I was with for a very long time was critical of me, so that helped me keep it down as well. However, I left him and got happily married and started taking medication for OCD and hormonal issues and stopped caring so much about what I ate and was sooo terribly busy that I didn't have time for exercise and it somehow just creeped up on me. I HATE looking in the mirror some days. And I know that people have told me that I need to "accept" myself and accept the fact that as I age, I will accumulate some weight. But, I'm keep trying...and I feel like I'm getting nowhere. It's like one step forward and one step back. I eat healthy for the most part (I recently had a blood test and my cholesterol is really good, my risk of heart attack is below average and my blood glucose and blood pressure are all good) and I do manage to get exercise in at least once a week. During hormonal times, it might be none..but when it's not...it's sometimes 4 times a week. I take supplements and vitamins as well.

Does anyone have suggestions or books to recommend to me? A friend of mine told me about "The Gabriel Method" and I looked into that a little, but it has a lot to do with visualizations and meditation. Not that I'm knocking that or anything, maybe it does work. He's lost 21 pounds on it so far. He said one week he lost 3 pounds while eating like crap (fast food, etc)...just from doing the visualizations. I don't eat fast food and when I do, I gain weight immediately...so that scares me. I just feel a little lost, I guess.

Please NO "eat less and exercise more." I know that's common sense and I'm relatively bright..so I'm looking for more than that. Just wondering if anyone has struggled as well and any thoughts they might have. Thanks!!

P.S. My avatar blinks, but don't let that scare you!

I was going to read the replies, but I said fuck it and started to dissect your post.

First - the points system for weight watchers is fantastic. I think it's the most amazing thing ever patented unless it can be proven wrong. It seems to have taken something incredibly basic and KEPT it basic. The way your body regulates food intake on a daily basis should be that simple of a concept.

Second - I will admit I haven't done much research into drugs or any pills for weight loss, but for those, I will say this, PROCEED WITH CAUTION. Any pill can be filled with bullshit. Even if you think it's an amazing NF person making the pill thinking with your best interests at heart, it can still be crap just for money.

Third - I hope to dear God that your OCD is diagnosed as actual OCD and not people misunderstanding your natural thought process.

Fourth - I refuse to accept that weight gain comes with age. Unless there is some biological reason for fat to accumulate on my body as it gets older, it's bullshit. There are two things to always keep in mind:

Calorie intake
Calories burnt

If calories burnt > calorie intake, you lose weight. If calories burnt < calorie intake, you gain weight. If both are the same, you remain the same weight. This is all dependent on one thing: your body is in healthy condition. That's your doctor's job.

As you age, you can make the claim that it's just HARDER to exercise, and it probably is, but it's up to you to take control of your body, or are you going to let your body take control of you?

Fifth - Don't try SPECIFIC methods. You have your own way of doing things. Take some hints from other methods of losing weight and try them LOOSELY, but don't expect them to be your wonder-fix when followed exactly. Your mind and your body has its own special reaction to everything. Don't forget that.

Sixth and last - Eating less and exercising more is this vague piece of crap that people tell you. There are general guidelines of nutrition that your body needs daily in order to function at its maximum. Weight Watchers states most of these as their daily habits to follow. Outside of that, you can tweak those daily needs to ensure efficient calorie usage.

I hope you get something out of that. There's just so much bullshit going around, and I would be lying to you if I said I didn't have my own problems understanding my own weight. However, the last 2 months of my life have been the first 2 months of my life trying to intentionally maintain a healthy lifestyle without TRYING to lose weight. I've already lost a lot of weight. I just need to keep it gone now while finding a balance.

 

[Lambchop]

I was going to read the replies, but I said fuck it and started to dissect your post.

First - the points system for weight watchers is fantastic. I think it's the most amazing thing ever patented unless it can be proven wrong. It seems to have taken something incredibly basic and KEPT it basic. The way your body regulates food intake on a daily basis should be that simple of a concept.

Second - I will admit I haven't done much research into drugs or any pills for weight loss, but for those, I will say this, PROCEED WITH CAUTION. Any pill can be filled with bullshit. Even if you think it's an amazing NF person making the pill thinking with your best interests at heart, it can still be crap just for money.

Third - I hope to dear God that your OCD is diagnosed as actual OCD and not people misunderstanding your natural thought process.

Fourth - I refuse to accept that weight gain comes with age. Unless there is some biological reason for fat to accumulate on my body as it gets older, it's bullshit. There are two things to always keep in mind:

Calorie intake
Calories burnt

If calories burnt > calorie intake, you lose weight. If calories burnt < calorie intake, you gain weight. If both are the same, you remain the same weight. This is all dependent on one thing: your body is in healthy condition. That's your doctor's job.

As you age, you can make the claim that it's just HARDER to exercise, and it probably is, but it's up to you to take control of your body, or are you going to let your body take control of you?

Fifth - Don't try SPECIFIC methods. You have your own way of doing things. Take some hints from other methods of losing weight and try them LOOSELY, but don't expect them to be your wonder-fix when followed exactly. Your mind and your body has its own special reaction to everything. Don't forget that.

Sixth and last - Eating less and exercising more is this vague piece of crap that people tell you. There are general guidelines of nutrition that your body needs daily in order to function at its maximum. Weight Watchers states most of these as their daily habits to follow. Outside of that, you can tweak those daily needs to ensure efficient calorie usage.

I hope you get something out of that. There's just so much bullshit going around, and I would be lying to you if I said I didn't have my own problems understanding my own weight. However, the last 2 months of my life have been the first 2 months of my life trying to intentionally maintain a healthy lifestyle without TRYING to lose weight. I've already lost a lot of weight. I just need to keep it gone now while finding a balance.

Raz, I just saw on another post you lost over a hundred pounds over the course of 2 years!! That is outstanding and inspirational!

Yes, I loved Weight Watchers....although I mostly did it on my own. I went to 1 or 2 meetings to get the principles and then just used the message board and my own points calculator. I actually just bought a new points calculator earlier this year in an effort towards getting back on the Weight Watchers band wagon, so to speak. I lost about 30 pounds on Weight Watchers about 11 years ago and that's the weight, plus about 10 more that I've watched slowly creep back on. Although I used to stay below 18 points a day and if I could get it even lower, I would be happy (that's where my OCD came into play...and unfortunately, I did have an official OCD diagnosis years ago. I had problems counting things until they came out even and all kinds of other stuff.) I've been on and off medication for that and a hormonal issue that I have (officially called PMDD). I am currently taking a cocktail of medication for both, which I wish I could get off of. But me on medication = married, good job, decent relationship with my kids...and me = off medication is CRAZYTOWN. I know people have blamed their weight gain issues on these types of medications...but the only contributing factor that I can see is that it makes you care less. It's hard to explain. You don't get all freaked out over stuff, but you care less about a lot of stuff. So, I can see lack of motivation coming from the medication, but I refuse to use the medication as an excuse. The only thing thing is that fatigue is a definite side effect of the medication as well - which makes my motivation to exercise harder.

Also, when PMS comes around...I crave SUGAR like a madwoman. My family has learned just to throw it at me and run when I'm hormonal. My brain logically knows that I shouldn't be eating it, but my body is screaming for it.

I agree with you on the age thing. I've seen plenty of people who are older and still healthy and thin. I may agree to set my ideal weight a little higher than what I did in my 20's, but nothing else.

I do NOT want my body taking control of me, you are right. My days can be incredibly long with work, school, family (including two teenagers)...that sometimes I literally just fall into bed at night. I KNOW I need to start taking more time for myself.

When you were losing weight, did you cut out carbs and sugar? How often did you exercise? Did you ever feel so self conscious that you didn't want to go to social events? I find myself feeling like that and I hate it. All I need is ANOTHER reason not to be social.

I really like your idea of taking things from sources, but making it my own.

 

[Slickness]

It's easy. I can say this because I weigh about 110 pounds and am about 6 feet tall. All you have to do is some very simple things (wow, that was a really awkward sentence):

1. As stated above, cut down on soda.
2. Also stated above, drink more water.
3. Eat more small meals, rather than less big meals. It doesn't seem like it would work, but trust me.
4. Exercise doesn't have much to do with it, unless you want a little more muscle mass.
5. This is the most important thing: Eat fruits and vegetables mainly throughout the week, and pig out on the weekends. Your body's weight will then regulate itself.

 

[Lambchop]

I used to go to Spin classes at least twice a week at my last job. The gym was right by my work and the classes started at 5:30. Since then, I got laid off...found another job and that gym closed. I joined another gym, but they don't have classes there. I can do cardio and weights on my own, it's just that I love the momentum of classes. And the new gym is a lot further away than the old gym.

I miss my spin classes! During the time I was laid off, I was going to the gym 4-5 times a week (I had nothing else to do!) and was starting to look and feel really good. Then I found another demanding, high stress job.

 

[Lambchop]

It's easy. I can say this because I weigh about 110 pounds and am about 6 feet tall. All you have to do is some very simple things (wow, that was a really awkward sentence):

1. As stated above, cut down on soda.
2. Also stated above, drink more water.
3. Eat more small meals, rather than less big meals. It doesn't seem like it would work, but trust me.
4. Exercise doesn't have much to do with it, unless you want a little more muscle mass.
5. This is the most important thing: Eat fruits and vegetables mainly throughout the week, and pig out on the weekends. Your body's weight will then regulate itself.

Slickness:

I don't drink soda, never have.
I drink water all the time.
I usually eat 6 small meals a day.
Exercise is not only good for weight, but good for the heart and cardiovascular system.
If I just eat fruits and vegetables and no protein...I will be starving. What you are describing sounds very much like the starve/binge cycle.

I think maybe eating might have to do with my emotions and other things. How I wish I could just be like you, Slickness and just be naturally thin!!!! Even at my thinnest (size 3/4), I still had curves and a ghetto booty.

 

[Lambchop]

I sit next to a "Slickness" at work. My boss always says that I'm the healthiest eater he's ever known. My co-worker eats pop-tarts for breakfast, pizza and regular Pepsi for lunch. When we get Starbucks, I always get a "skinny" and she gets regular. She is tall and thin just like Slickness! She never exercises and she drinks beer all the time on the weekends (I rarely drink and don't need the extra calories.)

One of the questions that has always plagued me -- why is that? I try so hard, she doesn't...and I'm the one with the weight problem!

 

[raz]

I do NOT want my body taking control of me, you are right. My days can be incredibly long with work, school, family (including two teenagers)...that sometimes I literally just fall into bed at night. I KNOW I need to start taking more time for myself.

When you were losing weight, did you cut out carbs and sugar? How often did you exercise? Did you ever feel so self conscious that you didn't want to go to social events? I find myself feeling like that and I hate it. All I need is ANOTHER reason not to be social.

I really like your idea of taking things from sources, but making it my own.

I was in a depression that lasted over 6 years. I was ~225 lbs and 14 when I went into it. By 17-18, I was ~350 lbs. At that point, I had been diagnosed with depression by a psychologist and was taking a large amount of anti-depressant medication. I was also diagnosed with Diabetes and was taking 3 pills a day. I got my first job at that point, working fast food, and that managed to drop me down to 300 just being active.

When I was 20, my doctor diagnosed my Diabetes, and told me that my weight was still not under control enough, and that he was putting me on shots if I wasn't able to do something. At that point, my mother had been following weight watchers and explained it to me. I didn't go to any meetings, but I read up on it online and used her calculator. I started figuring out points of all the things I ate usually and figured out how bad it really was just by seeing the points. The points made it make sense.

Being a Diabetic at the time, I had to cut out a lot of sugar, finding sugar-free items everywhere I could or just lower sugar items. I experimented with different foods to see the impact of eating certain things on my Blood Sugar. It was really interesting. I really just stopped eating sugar-filled stuff.

As an ISTJ, I turned it into plans. I found things at local restaurants that acted as potential meals and divided my total points for the day into meals. I told myself to not go over a certain amount of points for snacks or meals. The thing is also, I live at home, so I've had a lot of healthier home cooked meals, as my mother tends to get healthy foods a lot. I almost never cook my own dinner if I'm not at work.

When I reached the 240 lbs point about 2 years ago, the Diabetes went away. I was excited about the milestone, but I knew there was still more to go. I was only losing weight to get rid of the Diabetes, but as I lost weight, I realized I could actually lose more than the amount I needed to for the Diabetes to go away, so I kept going. Now, at 23, I've reached 175 lbs about 2 months ago.

I'm really not sure what I do. The thing is, I tend to just eat at some fast food restaurants like Subway or Chick-Fil-A during the week, and then I eat at home. I've found a bunch of snack cakes, fruits and vegetables at the grocery store that are low points and are good snacks. I'm at about 36 points. What I did was split it into 4: 6-12-6-12, 6 for breakfast, 12 for lunch, 6 for afternoon snack and 12 for dinner.

I weigh 50 lbs less right now than I did 10 years ago in middle school. That is just hard to believe for me. It's hard to take much advice from me because I'm an ISTJ. This stuff is something I force myself to do because I feel it's something I should be doing. My case is so isolated that I'm really not that great to compare to. My reason for gaining weight, motivation to lose weight and circumstances for losing weight is so uncommon.

I don't feel self-conscious about how I look. I think this is another T vs. F thing. I look at my weight as just another thing to control. My weight as a factor into my looks rarely crosses my mind. The main reason I dislike being overweight is because I see a correlation between being overweight and lack of self-control. I feel as if I come off as incompetent or susceptible to indulging to others by being overweight.

As far as exercise, I started out 3 years ago walking 8/10 of a mile once a day. As I gained more stamina and endurance, I started walking like, a mile a day, or I'd go places and walk a few miles a few times a week. I'd just walk a lot. When I went to stores, I'd park in the furthest spots. Then I tried a gym once, but couldn't keep it up and left after a month. I tried a gym again over this summer, but quit after 2 months after losing 20 lbs. I just go for walks/jogs when I can, or go for random walks whenever I have the chance. I love greenways, and I know of some around me like one that is 3 miles, one that is 6, another that's 3.

The one thing that's bothered me the most about losing weight is BUYING CLOTHES. Fucking expensive. I'm in between medium and large right now, which is so weird. I don't want to gain weight because I don't want to spend money buying unnecessary clothes just because I couldn't control myself. I would absolutely hate myself if I found myself walking into a store to buy new clothes because I *gained* weight. I'm sorry if it comes across as offensive. I work in a department store, so I see women like this all the time. I just couldn't do it.

 

[FallaciaSonata]

I'm about 6' and I weigh approximately 208 lbs. I'm within this "OK zone" according to a chart in my doctor's office. But technically, I should not weigh more than 200 lbs at 6'.

I used to weigh a little more, about 215 or so, and for me it was only one factor. Most of the above statements are just common sense to me....cut out pop, drink more water, eat certain things, blah blah, blah blah.

It all boiled down to this: Willpower. Worded in a question, "How bad do you want it?"

I've read that we ISTJs all have something in common, and I'm sure other SJs have it as well, that being rock-solid determination. To quote that commonly-used adage, "You can do anything if you set your mind to it."

This is true when applied to weight loss and a few other things. However, I don't think you'll sprout wings and fly no matter how much you want to. ; )



Don't worry about it --- just decide if it's truly what you want to do or not, and if you do, just do it.

 

[Habba]

This is how I lost 40 lbs:

- I changed white breads to whole wheat breads.
- Increased the amount of vegetables I eat (from 'almost none' to 'some')
- I favor meat with lower fat ratio
- More white meat, less red meat
- No candy, no chocolate, no puns, no potato chips
- I began playing football more (3 to 4 times a week, 40 to 90min per training). Long-term excercise is important. Your pulse has to rise and you got to be sweating all over, if you want results.
- More protein
- I walk and bicycle everywhere I go. Every day I bicycle to my work place (4 kilometers, about 2,5 miles). Essentially I biked about 10 km (about 6 miles) each day.


So the basics are:
- Cut the carbs
- More protein
- Active excercises
- No sweat, no weight loss

And if this isn't helping you, maybe you should check your doctor if you might have some medical condition that affects your metabolism. I heard that malfunction of Thyroid gland might affect one's weight.

EDIT: Most importantly, losing weight requires a working system. No one can't just wish pounds off, so it's not just a question of having an Iron Will. You need rules and you need systems. It is a lot easier if you decide that the Sunday is the only day you are allowed to eat sweets, rather than trying to resist the urge every single day for the rest of your life.

 

[NewEra]

I sit next to a "Slickness" at work. My boss always says that I'm the healthiest eater he's ever known. My co-worker eats pop-tarts for breakfast, pizza and regular Pepsi for lunch. When we get Starbucks, I always get a "skinny" and she gets regular. She is tall and thin just like Slickness! She never exercises and she drinks beer all the time on the weekends (I rarely drink and don't need the extra calories.)

One of the questions that has always plagued me -- why is that? I try so hard, she doesn't...and I'm the one with the weight problem!

High metabolism, she probably has it, and yours is lower. Those with low metabolisms unfortunately have more trouble losing weight. I agree with everyone's posts so far about diet change (drink more water, cut the soda out, etc.). I know it's said often, don't mean to be a broken record, but exercise is vital. My advice would be don't take too many supplements.

I've read that we ISTJs all have something in common, and I'm sure other SJs have it as well, that being rock-solid determination. To quote that commonly-used adage, "You can do anything if you set your mind to it."

Agreed.

 

[Saslou]

I haven't read all the posts and i am in a quirky/weird/silly mood so here is my 2 cents.

1 - Take speed. You'll soon burn off that excess weight
2 - Down tablets that the opposite to Imodium, IE shit water all day
3 - Just don't eat
4 - Buy those slimming pills that are advertised everywhere on line .. They must work, or else why are they advertising them, lol
5 - Start smoking, you can't eat if you have a cigarette in your mouth 24/7.
6 - I am sooo plugging this book .. Fuck it By John C. Parkin (read it and say fuck it to all of life's problems, just give it a read before you possibly criticise)

7 - I suppose you could drive less, walk more, eat smaller portions, chew your food 17 times before swallowing (apparently that is what we are supposed to do) .. Sounds boring though.

Babe, live life on your terms, if you want to eat all the cakes, then you do it. Beautiful is beautiful no matter what your size. Now shut up and pass me a cake, the one with the cream inside please. :yim_rolling_on_the_


Please, please, please be laughing.

 

[raz]

I haven't read all the posts and i am in a quirky/weird/silly mood so here is my 2 cents.

1 - Take speed. You'll soon burn off that excess weight
2 - Down tablets that the opposite to Imodium, IE shit water all day
3 - Just don't eat
4 - Buy those slimming pills that are advertised everywhere on line .. They must work, or else why are they advertising them, lol
5 - Start smoking, you can't eat if you have a cigarette in your mouth 24/7.
6 - I am sooo plugging this book .. Fuck it By John C. Parkin (read it and say fuck it to all of life's problems, just give it a read before you possibly criticise)

7 - I suppose you could drive less, walk more, eat smaller portions, chew your food 17 times before swallowing (apparently that is what we are supposed to do) .. Sounds boring though.

Babe, live life on your terms, if you want to eat all the cakes, then you do it. Beautiful is beautiful no matter what your size. Now shut up and pass me a cake, the one with the cream inside please. :yim_rolling_on_the_


Please, please, please be laughing.

I'll never understand Fe. ><

 

[Giggly]

I'll never understand Fe. ><

Shush, you. That was a great post. I don't have much to contribute here except to say that if you ever feel hungry but don't want to add calories, eat pickles. The big jumbo ones are filling but have minimal calories.

Good luck!

 

[raz]

Shush, you. That was a great post. I don't have much to contribute here except to say that if you ever feel hungry but don't want to add calories, eat pickles. The big jumbo ones are filling but have minimal calories.

Good luck!

There are like, 15 calorie popsicles, fat free popcorn, sugar free gum and possibly others. I chew gum all the time. I <3 popcorn. Half the reason I go to the movies is for the popcorn.