skyy's shout trail with Solid - Help.com

Yes i look bigger because im gaining muscle (i can actually see them!!!! Sorry but its hard for me to gain muscle so im kind of excited lol). I know im losing weight or burning calories. I put my index finger and thumb around my wrist. If its some space thats a sign that im doing something right.

Wow im learning so much. Thanks!!! :D

I went to the gym again this morning and i feel good. I not only do cardio but i weight train as well.

I would write on forever but i have to get ready to go. Im leaving to go to Florida at 12 (different time zones lol because you said i hope you have a great night but its morning here). Thanks for the site and explaining the process in losing weight because i didnt know a lot of the things you mentioned.

The portion control was GREAT!! Im just like that its ingrained in my mind to NOT waste food not because of my mom but me (i just love food and hate wasting it).

Good luck to you as well and ill talk to you when i get back!! :)

Lol, now I feel special. You seem pretty cooland down to earth yourself.

Apologies about the yankee thing! I think that’s generally what the rest of the world seems to use to refer to all Americans.

Yeah, the portion control thing really gets me too. When I do have an off day and give in to the golden arches, I always focus on how I feel after I eat too much (because I always do when I go to MacDonalds). Then when I’m eating a large portion next time I try and remember how I felt last time I ate too much and then just eat enough so I feel good and satisfied. I have also really tried to get used to throwing things out.

In our culture we are so programmed when we are young to not waste food and our parents’ often make us feel guilty about not finishing things because ‘all the starving children in Africa’ and ‘food is really expensive’. The reality is that the food wouldn’t help any Africans anyway and we both come from ‘have’ nations who typically consume too many calories with EVERY meal where the portions aren’t carefully measured.

One thing I started to do is to consciously make myself throw out food. It was soooo hard when I started and I was really surprised how ingrained it is in our heads that it’s wrong to throw out food…even when you have taked in sufficient calories. I have made it my goal to never finish all my food when eating out at a restuarant. When they ask me if I want a doggy bag I say ‘no, that’s ok.’

Also, when I order too much pizza (and when I order pizza, I always order too much), I never let myself spoil two meals because when I’m full I throw the leftovers in the garbage. (my girlfriend lives with me now and she goes crazy when I do this, lol. I need to really use my will-power when ordering pizza from now on I think.)

The scale is hard to resist, huh. You should focus more on measurements since the scale can be misleading…if you are working out a lot you could be putting on some muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat so you could be getting smaller but the scale could stay the same or even go up. That is always pretty discouraging…I personally don’t like to feel discouraged unnecessarily so if I find my weight doesn’t change much I wait until my end of month measurements before I re-examine my weight loss efforts. So don’t worry about the weight so much. You should measure your neck, bust, waist, hips, arms, and your legs every month (if you haven’t already) if you want a more accurate way to track your progress.

Here is the address to the Canada Food Guide…take a look: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-gui…

I’m lucky because I’m pretty tall so I can still eat quite a bit and lose weight (lol, sorry, I don’t mean to rub it in). I’m 6′2″ and I started out at 246lbs on January 11, 2008. I got down to 205lbs by November ‘08 and jumped back to 220lbs by not working out or eating well through Dec, Jan, and Feb this year. Now I’m 215lbs and I want to get to 185lbs. Then I want to put on about 15 pounds in muscle so I will eventually sit at around 200lbs.

Lol, there I go rambling on again. I really hope you don’t mind the tips and find them useful. I guess you probably figured out a lot of this on your own, but even if one of them is new to you and helps, well, that would be awesome. It sounds like you are doing really awesome on your own though!

Oh, another point about scales…if you do decide to weigh yourself every day you should only weigh yourself in the morning as soon as you wake up, but after you go pee. Water weight causes massive weight fluctuations throughout the day and the time when your bodies water content is usually the most consistent is in the morning as soon as you wake up. If think about it, if you drink a litre of water…which isn’t too hard to do, you are going to have an extra pound or two of liquid in your belly which isn’t fat.

And sorry, I’m going to get a little technical with you, I am a little bored at work so I’m unapoligetically rambling now. But when it comes to weight fluctuation:

Keep in mind that your body likes to store some excess glycogen in your muscles for quick energy. Glycogen is a sugar and sugar alone can’t be stored in body tissue, it has to be suspended in liquid. For every molecule of glycogen, the body needs three or four molecules of water to suspend it in. So most people’s bodies have 5 to 15 pounds or so of this retained water that suspends glycogen in their muscles.

Now, when people start an exercise program the body uses up these glycogen stores first because the human body naturally resists burning its fat stores. When you burn this glcogen in your muscles the body no longer needs the water that it was suspended in so it is excreted. This is why people lose quite a lot of weight when starting an exercise regieme or diet. They think ‘this is awesome’ and it encourages them to work really hard and stick with their exercise and/or diet. Then, when the excess glycogen is burned off, and the suspending liquid has all been flushed from their systems, their bodies begin burning actual fat which occurs at a much slower pace. They stop losing weight as quickly as they had been and they get discouraged and pick up a couple of pizzas.

Now, the thing to remember is, when these people are actually beginning to succeed in burning fat they quit and when they go back to their old ways they put the weight back on very, very quickly because it wasn’t actual fat they had lost previously. It was just basically, sugar and water. One pound of fat has roughly 3500 calories of energy stored in it. On the strictest diet you can be on without triggering your bodies starvation mode you can lose about 500 calories a day with exercise and restrict your diet by 500 fewer calories. You would be losing 1000 calories a day. So to burn one pound of fat, it will take you 3 and a half days…or you will lose 2 pounds a week.

So think about that when you find that the scale isn’t moving much and don’t get discouraged. When things do slow down you are actually doing more of what you set out to do; provided that you don’t cheat too much on your exercise and diet program.

Lol, so now that I have written a novel! I had better get back to my studying that I have been avoiding. I hope you’re having a great night and I’ll talk to you later. Keep up the great work!

Dean,

Aww i feel so special lol :).

You and i seem to have struggled with the same issues when it comes to weight loss. I lost weight when i was high school and gained some back over the years. I was 150 (im only 5′0 1/2 so thats obese for my height) and dropped down to 125). I never went back to my maximum weight but i was still disappointed in myself. Now i believe im 130 something i havent been on a scale in a while. I use to be on one everyday boy was that thing addictive lol. Every morning night and evening

I wouldnt mind taking a look at the Canada food guide. And yes my main problem is portion control. Some days i can eat in moderation others i tend to binge.

This is so exciting because im starting to see changes when i look in the mirror. I know i should weigh myself but i dont want to. Im not a Yank btw i was born in the south. Thats what they call northerns lol :P. (at least thats what i remember from high school)

But i dont mind sharing my progress with you at all. The thing i want to get rid of are my freaking love handles!!! Those things irk me! My face fills out when i gain which bugs the heck out of me. My stomach needs to flatten out. I have some ways to go but im not where i use to be a few weeks ago. So im happy :). And it must feel good to have your significant other with you along the way. Man i wish i knew you you seem so cool and down to earth

Lol, of course I didn’t forget about you. I haven’t been on here as much because I have been studying quite a lot lately.

It is like a game…you can’t give up though. I have been playing for about 8 years and I have finally just figured out how to win.

A couple of years ago I noticed myself saying certain things from time to time…it would be my birthday or when I got invited to the waterpark or where ever and I found myself always like “if I would of started working out 6 months ago like I was going to I would be looking pretty damn good now!”. I always had it on my mind and I just never started…finally, I set a goal to be in shape for summer so I wouldn’t be embarassed to hit the pool so I finally decided to make a real commitment.

Since I had picked a time 6 months down the road I wasn’t too worried about getting those ‘instant results’ that everyone talks about when it comes to weight loss. I did what I had to, dieted, worked out, and weighed myself once a week and measured myself every month.

Sure enough, things slowly started to come off and people started noticing that I was losing weight. Then, in the summer, a group of my friends that I hadn’t seen since I started my mission wanted to have a little reunion and we planned to go out to a pub. I finally wasn’t able to say “I wish I had started 6 months ago like I was going to”. I wasn’t exactly where I wanted to be, but I finally had a flat stomach and no more friggin’ double chin (I hated my double chin…probably most of all.) I’m not a big attention seeker or anything, in fact, I usually like to fade into the background and do my own thing (something that seems to rarely happen despite my best efforts I should add, lol.) but everyone couldn’t believe how different I looked. It felt pretty damn good.

I’m a little mad at myself…I have struggled with a back injury for a while and I tweaked while working out in November ‘08. I used that as an excuse to eat like a mad man until about 2 weeks ago. I gained back about half what I had lost which is hard, but the secret is to get back on the wagon ASAP. Already I’m down about 5 pounds and I have about 30 pounds to my ultimate goal. I should be able to reach it by the summer if I stay on track.

I found that following a strict eating plan for a while really helped me to learn proper portion sizes which is KEY to losing weight. I recommend checking out the Canada food guide. (I know you’re American and I’m sure you Yanks have your own food guide, but I don’t have any experience with it and I know that the Canada food guide works because I eat the same portions it encourages.)

Keep me updated on your progress if you like. I can keep you accountable! I know it’s hard stuff to talk about with people, especially for women, so if you find it is easier to talk to some stranger on the internet, I will try to help the best I can. My girlfriend is really trying to lose weight too now so I can let you know of things that work for her…I know women’s physiology is a little different then men’s so maybe she will figure out a few things that will work really well for you too.

Lol, sorry for such a long message. I really hope you don’t mind talking about this stuff. Well, talk to you later Skyy!

Hey thank you soo much! I thought you were not going to respond because of my whinning lol. Im starting to see small results everyday i just have to learn to be VERY patient. This seems like a game or something lol. Like im excited because we are both trying to get in top shape. Which is excellent :). I only wish i had a personal trainer thats my dream actually. To make enough money to hire a personal trainer and nutritionist.

I pride myself on health to me its very essential

We havent talked in a while i remember when we first met lol… I thought you forgot about me for a sec :P

Im going to be working with animals :). Reptiles and birds in particular. We have a wildlife center on my college campus and i went up there yesterday to get info on volunteering and they said i can start today! So im going back up there to get familiar with the place and start my training.

And no its not official yet and from last night its not going to be. I personally think the guy overreacted. I dont blame him but he should be willing to accept and understand rather than call me names. I didnt appreciate it one bit. I know i have issues and i told him i have issues before we started having feelings for eachother.

Someone on here made me open my eyes and that maybe i just need someone who will understand that dont need any explanation.

I have people like that in my life now and i am thankful they accepted me instead of pinning me to the cross.

But yea no problem i know it took a lot of thinking to develop that. People need time to think in order to sort things out properly.

Have a wonderful day :)

thanks…it took a long time to develop that point of view but I’m comfortable with it.

That’s awesome about the volunteering. What are you going to be doing?

So you are still not dating your friend?

I didnt even know you responded to my shout lol. I mustve missed it because i was shouting other ppl.

Im good i finally called the guy who i was ignoring, didnt go as planned. But besides that everythings been good. Im starting volunteer work later on today. So im happy about that.

And you welcome that was a great reply and as much as i dont believe in cheating i have to agree with you.

Thanks for the ‘top reply’ skyy!

Hi…not bad. How have you been? How’s everything.

Hey Solid havent talked to you in a while. How are things going??

I didnt even see your shout :S.. Im good just still missing *him*. Im ready for school to start and start putting action to my new plans. How’s life with you, if you know what i mean ;) lol

(if you dont i mean how’s life with you and the miss?)

I’ve been really good thanks! How about you? How’s life?

I sure did and it was so easy ;) lol. How have you been??

Thanks Skyy! You took my shout virginity! lol

Just stopping by to say hey! I also wanted to be the first person who shouted you lol :D