Health scares and weight loss.

One of the biggest problems with having such a sedantary job, and spending time on the computer at home as well, is that your health suffers

 I took a blood pressure test recently and it was rather high (dangerously so) and it is kinda  very scarey.  So as a result I have stopped smoking and am going for some weight loss (aiming for <1500 calories a day) and looking to lose 4 stone (~25K).  Once the weight starts going, and hopefully my BP comes down to something resembling human it will be a lot easier to exercise more and lose it that little bit faster.

So, to my point -

  1. Have you lost weight successfully, how? How long did it take?

  2. When did you last have your BP taken? If >1 year why not pop along to a doctor and have it taken again, it doesn't hurt* and better safe than sorry.





 * Unless you have high blood pressure and then it hurts a little.

Your story sounds real, real familiar.  I've been doing this stuff since 1978 so I've been there several times.

TIPS

Don't shoot for more than 2 pounds / week.

Don't wait for the weight to come off to start excercising! Excercies several times a day for short periods - it will greatly helpl boost your metabolic rate and keep it up there burning calories all day.  Stumped on a problem take a 20 minute walk. Keep some weights near by and do some curls or situps or pushups - anything just do it.

Don't just stop eating everything you enjoy - cut way, way, way down on the portion size.  A great place to get an idea of what a healthy portion size is and the caloric count is to check out the frozen dinners like Healthy Choice etc. etc.

Drink 10 - 12 ounces of water 15 minutes before you sit down to eat and then another 10 - 12 with your meal.  Takes up a lot of space with zero calories.

When you are finished eating a controlled portion size and you still feel hungry wait at least 20 minutes before thinking about it again.  By then your brain will catch up with you stomach and realize that it's not as hungry as first thought.

If you are using a lot of sugar cut way back or cut it out completely.  Sugar is the dirtiest burning fuel you can put it your tank.

Here's how I think about it when I think I am too busy to give my body the attention it deserves:

Your neglected body has been providing a trouble free home for your brain for a long, long time.  Are you telling me that your brain can't give up an hour a day to give the body a helping hand?  Sure it can and it oughta be thankful that it's only an hour a day!

Good luck! Now go do it - you know you can and should and that means your half way there already.

That cigarette thing is the toughest to quit. Just walking past smokers brings back sweet, sweet memories. But nicotine hardens your blood vessels & raise pressure.

Exercise. Get a hobby (sports, running, dancing).

Take your bicycle instead of your car.

Maybe take walks during your lunch breaks. Drink lotsa water to speed up your metabolism.

What jpondy said was pretty spot on.  One of the most important things to understand is do not shock your system.  Don't try to starve yourself.  If you eat too little your body tries to hold on to the fat stores it has to try to prevent you from starving to death.

Eat in purportion to the amount you excercise.  If you don't do any excercise shoot for 1800-1900 calories.  If you do a lot of excercise shoot for 2000-2200 calories.

I found it helpful to write down what I eat in a day to help me figure out how much I am suppose to be eating in a day.  You can go to sites like http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/Nutrition_Facts.asp to figure out calories when you don't have a label to look at.

Shoot for slow and steady weight loss.  1-2 pounds a week max.  It helps your body to adapt to the new weight.

Hope that helps.

Rossj wrote:

1. Have you lost weight successfully, how? How long did it take?

Yes, I lost over 250 pounds in a year. I did NOT use surgery, but I did have to have surgery afterwards to remove the extra skin 25 or so years of being obese left me with (I know, nice visual). I have posted how I did it on my blog. Basically (you guessed it) diet and exercise. Believe me, after the first thee weeks, it is not as hard as you think.

Rossj wrote:

2. When did you last have your BP taken? If >1 year why not pop along to a doctor and have it taken again, it doesn't hurt* and better safe than sorry.

About three weeks ago when I gave blood. Most pharmacys have those automated blood pressure machines, but I'm not sure how accurate they are.

jpondy wrote:

Don't just stop eating everything you enjoy - cut way, way, way down on the portion size.  A great place to get an idea of what a healthy portion size is and the caloric count is to check out the frozen dinners like Healthy Choice etc. etc.

Be careful of eating too much processed food though. A lot of it is packed with salt or other preservatives.

Better than that, learn to cook for yourself! I've always been a bit of a foodie (I was actually supposed to go into culinary school out of high school, not computers) and I really enjoy preparing my own meals. Plus, you can control what goes into it and make it healthier.

Watched this on the BBC a few weeks ago.  Quite interesting, with a few gems like 'Soup fills you up for longer'.

Herbie

Dr Herbie wrote:

Watched this on the BBC a few weeks ago.  Quite interesting, with a few gems like 'Soup fills you up for longer'.

Hot liquids make you feel full (and sleepy, but that's another matter) longer, so you can get the same effect with tea.

If you buy/make soup just be sure to watch the salt content.

Rossj wrote:


One of the biggest problems with having such a sedantary job, and spending time on the computer at home as well, is that your health suffers

 I took a blood pressure test recently and it was rather high (dangerously so) and it is kinda  very scarey.  So as a result I have stopped smoking and am going for some weight loss (aiming for <1500 calories a day) and looking to lose 4 stone (~25K).  Once the weight starts going, and hopefully my BP comes down to something resembling human it will be a lot easier to exercise more and lose it that little bit faster.

So, to my point -

  1. Have you lost weight successfully, how? How long did it take?

  2. When did you last have your BP taken? If >1 year why not pop along to a doctor and have it taken again, it doesn't hurt* and better safe than sorry.


 * Unless you have high blood pressure and then it hurts a little.

You're right, this is not a job for the living.

You don't have to be thin to exercise.  Walk to work if you can, and gradually build up speed and distance.  Swimming is really good for you too.

Don't skip breakfast, have a good lunch. If you have a really bad snack habit, then you can get small boxes of raisins, or take carrot sticks and just munch on one or two if you feel peckish.
If you think you're hungry, try a large glass of water before hitting the snack machine; chances are you're thirsty, not hungry.

Excercising is pretty dull, so get yourself an Mp3 player (not a HD-based one), and load it with the sort of music that makes you want to drive your own car like you just nicked it.

Determine what your priorities are, then change your habits, activities, and diet accordingly. Be patient about measurable results; this is about fitness and health, right? (Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor and don't play one on TV.)

My own rule is to work out *before* heading off to work, otherwise I get busy and distracted and just won't fit it into the day.

Most of my workouts would be pretty boring except for my mp3 player. I load it up with tech podcasts and it helps keep me distracted. It also gives me an additional positive aspect of working out that I look forward to. I'm currently in the middle of listening to an interview with Raymond Chen.

Rossj wrote:



  1. Have you lost weight successfully, how? How long did it take?

Yes.  I've successfully used the Atkins diet several times (lost 30+ lbs each time over the course of about 3-4 months).  What most people don't understand about losing weight is that you can't just starve yourself.  In most cases, it is all about a total change in lifestyle, including both eating habits AND exercise habits.  With Atkins, the basic premise is that you cut out most simple carbs (sugars, breads, etc.) that your body breaks down very easily, and eat more proteins.  Your body has to work harder to break down proteins, and proteins provide a more sustainable source of energy (unlike carbs, which are quick, and often spike blood sugar content, leading to a crash in blood sugar content, and craving more).

I don't weigh a lot by any means, and Atkins isn't for everyone, but it works for me.  I like it because I can still eat meats and vegetables (which are both good for you).  Cutting out carbs is admittedly hard, but once you have cut them out for a week or so, I find I lose most of the cravings for them.

Once you are done losing weight, the idea is to help you identify the amount of carbs that you can eat per day and still maintain your weight.  For most people, that ends up being somewhere between 60-120g carbs per day.  When you consider that the RDA for Carbohydrates is something like 300g/day (for a 2000 calorie diet), that is ridiculous.

Just thought I'd add to this as I had the same revelation about a year back after coming back from a snowboarding holiday that nearly killed me I was so unfit, just didn't enjoy it any more. 

Since then I've lost about ~75lb (~32Kg) and it's made a world of difference.  I changed what I eat and started do real exercise for the first time in about 10 years.  Took me about 12 months total with a couple of false starts, really committed to the 'project' about 7 months ago and that’s when things really started to happen.

A few of the things I realized along the way:

0)  It will rule your life for the first few months.  You will be hungry most of the time at the start, it goes away after a while as your body adjusts.

1) Set yourself realistic targets!  Don't aim to lose 10lb a week, but don't set them to low, you have to push yourself a bit.

2) Set yourself a goal and work towards it, be it a holiday or event or whatever.  Always work out what the next goal/target is before you reach the current, so you have no excuse to slack off.

3)  If you’re really unfit, don't rush in and start going down the gym 5 times a week for 2 hours!  Work yourself up to the real exercise by going for progressively longer walks for a few months.

5) Talk to someone who knows what they’re doing and let them guide you.  If you join a gym shop around, having good staff that know their stuff and that will guide your exercise routine and chase you up when you don't turn up for several weeks helps   Also make sure the place you chose has a good atmosphere, light airy etc, you'll like be spending quite a while there over the years.

6) Don't get obsessed and weigh yourself every day!  Your weight will fluctuate, get used to it!  If you must, put it on a graph so you can see your progress over time.

7)  Take some photos of yourself as you are now, it really helps to look back and see how much you have changed.

Ray6 wrote:


Excercising is pretty dull, so get yourself an Mp3 player (not a HD-based one), and load it with the sort of music that makes you want to drive your own car like you just nicked it.

I like that quote

Anyway I notice that several people listen to tech while working out, I actually find exercising as a great time to just switch off, empty my mind for a while, I'm quite happy to disapear into my own little world for an hour or so, I find it quite relaxing

dahat wrote:

The funny thing about this... is that the biggest problem I’ve encountered with the loss is clothing... not only do I have oodles of too big for me shirts and pants about and belts with extra holes drilled into them... but an empty pocket book from buying new clothes

I know the feeling, just finally thrown all my larger size clothes away.  I see it as a nice barrier to any lapses as I would have to go and buy a whole batch of new clothes.... again!  It's so nice to be able to walk into any shop and they actually have sizes that fit me!

I used (and am using) NutriSystem for men.  For me, it works really well and your not really hungry.  My first month I lost like 30 pounds and lost 100 points in colesterol and the BP went to normal! - I could not believe that.  I like it, cause the food is right there (except your veg, yogart, etc) ready to go and I don't need to shop or put together a menu each day which would not work for me as it is too easy to slip and eat that whole pizza.  At 10 bucks a day (plus your veg, fruit, etc) you also can save some money.  You also may want to add a RedYeast rice pill to your daily vitamin.

Ross mate ... I'm in the same boat.

No magic formula mate, just have to knuckle down and look after yourself.

My suggestion to you, when I lost 30 lbs and went from 30% Body Fat to 14%, this is what I did.

Eat Breakfast!!! Do not skip.

Eat Small and Frequently - Every 3 hours...
   (Going on memory here) When you eat food, your body doesn't immediately convert your excess energy to fat. It converts to Glycogen. By eating small, but frequent meals every three hours (except when you sleep), you keep this cycle up, without storing your food as fat.

Drink lots of water: 64 oz a day, mininimum. (8 glasses of Water). You can't burn fat without water. Coffee and Soda (even diet) does not count towards this.

Exercise moderately. Even if you only a brisk 30-40 minute walk, you're good. More is better (although not when you first begin), but use your common sense.

Can't stress enough the small meals. Even if you eat 1500 calories a day, if you eat them all at the same time, you'll be fat... Stagger your calories, more in the morning (when you need them), less in the evening.

Good luck!