Whiskers Weight Loss Advice Thread
 

Instead of writing a book and getting rich, I decided to share my weight loss secrets with all of you.
Each week, I will share some information that helped me loose the weight.


Here are the rules of this thread:

-I am not a professional dietician. The advice I post here is only information that has helped me. I have done a lot of good things, but I know I have also done things wrong. I will post only things I feel are fairly uncontroversial. If you feel my information is way off base (with possible bad effects, please PM me and I will correct my information). If you have any questions about any controversial methods I have used, please ask in this thread. I will respond, but again keep in mind that my answer will solely be based upon my personal experiences.


-I will answer questions posted in this thread. I would prefer only to discuss the current weekly tip, but I can incorporate the question into a future tip. I would like to keep this thread clean and rather not debate issues here. Again, these are things that worked for me. If you would like to debate an issue, please PM me.


-This thread will focus on weight loss only. I will leave the body building advice to the other experts here, in which I am now a student of.


Thanks……


Since this is the first week, I will give you a 3 for 1.

Late Night Exercise – I suggest doing some sort of cardio (at least 30 minutes) about an hour after dinner. This could be treadmill, walking, jogging, biking, etc. If you go outside, wear bright and reflective clothing. I find that nothing beats taking a jog in the crisp night air.


The reason I suggest this is because exercise seems to be a natural appetite suppressant. You will be surprised that once you come back from your cardio, you will not want that late night snack.


Don’t worry about showering afterwards. You are trying to get healthy, let you SO deal with your stench for the night.


Sweet Tooth? - Most of my previous failures have been because of my evil sweet tooth. My secret to fighting this enemy is sugar free sucking candy. Instead of having ice cream or cake after a meal, try one or two pieces of sugar free sucking candy. Lifesavers, Spenda, Sweet and Low and Werthers all have pretty good ones. Usually 6 pieces contain about 30 calories.


Beware of sugar free chocolate! These are not for weight loss, they are for diabetics. They have a lot of calories and fat (with the exception of Weight Watchers, which still have more calories and fat then sucking candy, but is not as bad as a true piece of candy).


Peppermint from Sweet and Low is my favorite because it gets the bad tastes out of your mouth. Additionally there are some studies that say peppermint is a natural stimulant, which keeps you awake.


I prefer sugar free candy to sugar free gum because the candy’s taste lasts longer. However, there is a slight advantage to gum; chewing. Chewing sugar free gum probably burns off the calories of the gum itself.


Portable Green Tea – Get this stuff. It’s Lipton Green Tea To Go. Just mix it with water.
http://www.lipton.com/our_products/i...oney_lemon.asp
http://www.lipton.com/images/product...oney_lemon.jpg

Alcohol and Cheating
 

Alcohol - I got tired of reading all the literature telling you not to drink alcohol. In my experience you can loose weight even if you drink, you just need to drink a little differently (of course, if you don’t drink, you will have an advantage). Alcohol has it’s problems when dieting. From my point of view, the main problems with drinking are a) Empty calories and b) When drunk you loose your dieting inhibitions (there are others as well, most importantly how it affects your metabolism, but I didn’t think about that too much).

Before my weight loss, I could easily drink a 12 pack of beer per week, during the week. I stopped drinking during the week (with the exception of Monday night football and other social occasions). I allowed myself to drink on weekends as long as it was a social setting such as hanging out with friends or at a casino or bar. Basically I stopped drinking at home alone (except for football).

I always considered this when drinking; a light beer or a drink with a diet soda has about 90 calories where a fancy mixed drink (such as a long island iced tea or a margarita) can approach 500 calories (I’m not a big wine drinker, but wine has about 90 calories as well). I usually try to make sure I don’t drink more then 600-700 calories when drinking (but I have gotten drunk and way exceeded that).

Keep in mind that the more you drink the drunker you get :ponder: . The drunker you get, the more you don’t care about stuff (this is why you get free drinks at the casinos). On many occasions I would start out drinking a few light beers (by the way, my favorite is Michelob Ultra), but then make my way to any beer or any drink. This is usually followed up by a trip to the Noodle Bar for late night noodles and a trip to the candy shop for fudge. This leads me to my next tip.

Cheating – The experts will tell you that you shouldn’t diet, but should change your lifestyle. While I agree with this, there will be days where you eat and drink too much of the wrong foods. I cheated many times, and you will too. Here is what to do; a) Don’t freak out. Every morning you wake up is a new day b) When cheating, try to take the lesser of the evils (if you had a choice between cookies or a soft pretzel, take the pretzel) and c) limit your cheating (if you cheat every day, you are fooling yourself).

I suggest that this thread becomes Sticky! Excellent advice Whiskers :thumbsup:.

Thanks, I have lots more to share......

Fruits - Fruits are a good snack in between meals. Just be aware that some fruits are better then others when it comes to fat and calories. I generally have two apples a day and one banana. Try to stay away from very sweet fruits (such as mangos). Putting a banana in your cereal makes you less hungry after you eat.


Cardio vs. Weights - Here is how I approached it.
-At start to about 30% of my goal weight, I did all cardio once a day for 30 minutes.
-Around 30% to 60% to goal weight I did cardio twice a day (afternoon and night) for 30 minutes each.
-Around 60% to 80% of goal weight I did then same as the 30% to 60% except I began weights (machines) and did it once for 30 minutes. Here I would occasionally skip my night jog.
-Around 80% to Goal I did the same as the 60% to 80% except I did weights at least twice a week for 30 minutes. I usually skip my night jogs.
-At goal I do about 4 days of 30 minute cardio, 2 days of weights and 1 optional day (I can do nothing or a mixture of both).

:goldcup: how long did it take ya?

About 7 months. I hit my first goal weight at around 6 months, but then lowered it another 10 lbs and hit that one a month later.

Goal Weight - I came up with a realistic goal weight. My thought was that the goal could be changed. I never increased my goal weight, I only lowered. I didn't say I want to weight x lbs by a certian date, I didn't set a time frame. I got my last goal weight by using the BMI.

very nice write up wsklar :thumbsup:

:ninja: Who's that :D - thanks. More to come.

I like the late night cardio thing....I usually eat, then go to the gym....I've been losing a lot of boday fat this way, but I've been staying at around 176 lbs....and I still drink probably 2 nights of the week too.

Motivation – By far the most asked question I get is what motivated me to loose the weight. My answer is usually because I wanted to be in shape for me son…good role model, able to keep up, blah, blah, blah…..While true to an extent, this is sort of a lie. My secret is this; This just started as another stupid New Years resolution that I expected very little of.


The real motivation began when I started seeing results. When I was able to do cardio for 30 minutes and not fell like dying, I got motivated. When I didn’t crave sugar and cake late at night, I got motivated. When my clothes got too big, I got motivated.


The lesson I learned is that you don’t need a reason.

Weighing In – I have read pros and cons of weighing yourself everyday. I personally decided to weigh myself every day, same time (morning when I wake up) and same scale. I did this no so I would freak out when I gained weight, but more to understand my body. I was able to see patterns after a while and got to a point where I could understand why I gained or lost weight. You do need to factor in things like water weight, muscle vs fat and other external factors though.


Keeping track of this information is a good thing. I learned about the site www.fitday.com a little late in the game, but it’s very useful (and free).


Slim Fast – Love it or hate it, it helped me. A shake in the morning (with ice and a banana on weekends) did me well (I still have a shake here and there).

:bow:

Some specific things that you've eaten would be helpful as well.

great thread. you should post some before/after pics of yourself.


quick tip of my own - take an oatmeal raisin cookie recipe, replace the oil/butter with applesauce, and cut the sugar in half, and you can make kick ass energy bars.

:ibwhiskersismadeamoderator:

Some of my favorites:

Special K (low carb) with Skim Milk, Slim Fast shake, Apples, Bananas, Boca Burger on a low fast multigrain english muffin with salsa or A1, frozen spinich or broccolli, rice cakes with salsa, salad with tuna or turkey.

I think people are sick of seeing pics of me ;) (I know I am sick of seeing the fat me).

Sounds like a good energy bar.

Energy Bars - I started with Pria bars only because they were the fewest calories of all the others. It's just a preference though. Now I use Balance.

Well the sticky is a start ;) Thanks for the sticky status.

I think this explains some of your posts in D&R :snicker:

:sniff:

i need to get back on track :snipe: :rocket: :uzi: :shoot:

You've posted before and after pics elsewhere, but they are pertinent to this thread, Whiskers. Demonstrates the reality of your efforts.

:thumbsup: i am, schools back in session so i have a gym to use again :woot:

Ok, once again:

Fat (253 lbs):
https://tinypic.com/651q1z

Now (163 lbs)
https://tinypic.com/dxolk8.jpg

Cardio Machines - My favorite cardio machine is the Eliptical (the ones that make you move the arms and legs). Do it for at least 30 minutes constantly bumping up the target heart rate setting.

Also, do yourself a favor and take a Spinning Class at the gym. Don't worry if you are the only guy in the class, it will be the best cardio you can do. Don't worry about keeping pace with the class at first, do what you can (the instructor will know that you are in training). Don't worry about getting Spinning Shoes or shorts, they are garbage.

:workout: :bow:

Seriously wsklar, your my idol. I'm just thanful I only have to lose ~30lbs and not 80.

1) Decide to do it.
2) Exercise
3) The rest comes naturally

Whether it's 80 lbs or 5 lbs, it doesn't matter. Loose the weight, exercise and monitor.

Great advice.


You look great :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Carbs – Probably the second most asked question I get is whether I followed a low / no carb diet; I didn’t. I could lie and say that I didn’t because I have read that these diets have high failure rates and are unhealthy, but the real reason is this. I thought the Atkins diet was too hard to follow and I got bored reading the South Beach diet book.


While I didn’t follow one of these diets, I was very carb conscious. I looked at three nutritional values in food (in this order) Calories, Fat and Carbs. If something was high in carbs (over 25g) I generally avoided it. Additionally if there was a lower carb alternative (for ex. Low Carb Special K vs. regular), I took the lower carb option. I did not eat (except when cheating – see Cheating) white bread, pasta, chips, pretzels and other high carb snacks. I did eat whole grain bread or wheat and whole wheat pasta, but in moderation. I never avoided fruits and vegetables due to carbs.


Vacation – Vacation equals food and drink and it scared the hell out of me before I left. But I did survive Vegas, Jamaica, Florida and Atlantic City. Here was my plan; a) Do my best to avoid fried food and deserts b) have a light breakfast and lunch to prepare for the night of food and alcohol c) bring workout clothes and sneakers – most places have a gym, but I have found some of my best jogs have been in a new place (my absolute best jogs have been on the beach).


Weight Loss Supplements – Back to my warning – I am not a nutritionist or dietitian, I am just sharing what I did. I was on Trimspa for about 3 months and a few others during the other months. With one exception (see below) I felt that the supplements were mostly a mental thing. I mean that maybe I felt less hungry sometimes, but maybe it was because of the exercise and not the pills. My suggestion is try them if you think it will help, otherwise don’t.


If you haven’t guessed the one exception by now, here you go. At around 200 lbs I bought a bottle of ephedrine (synthetic ephedra) at a flee market. The bottle lasted about 17 days. At that time, I hit a plateau and was curious, although I knew the risks. My thought was only to take one bottles worth.


The ephedrine did what everyone says it does, it killed my appetite. I was probably eating about 800-1000 calories a day in those 17 days, and I lost about 10 lbs. However, I knew it was time to stop after the third time I almost blacked out (once while carrying my son). My wife doesn’t know about the ephedrine and the near blackouts to this day.

Probably a better example:

Before:
https://tinypic.com/e0sf8i.jpg

Today:
https://tinypic.com/e0sfbd.jpg

Dairy and Nuts - I pretty much stuck to skim milk, low fat yogurt and fat free cheese.


Meat / Poultry / Fish - Lots of tuna (out of the can with nothing mixed in) and chicken breast (skinless and plain). Occasional steak (filet) and very lean beef (but mostly soy burgers). With the exception of tuna, I do not like seafood, but seafood is a good option if you like it.

:bow:

and i thought this was supposed to be a weekly weight loss advice thread :scratch:

Too little questions from you guys and too much information in my head. So I will post them as I think of them....

Please - I encourage questions, I know there are a lot. PM me if you don't want your info shared.

:doh: Forgot to mention Nuts - I stuck with only pistachios and peanuts, but very little.....

Drinks (non-alcohol) - Lots of water, some diet soda, some coffee with skim milk and two Equal packets, diet or sugarfree tea (green and regular), skim milk. I stayed away from regular soda, juices, sports drinks and whole milk.

Good lord. That's insane. Great job Whiskers.

edit: did you lose your smile with the 80 lbs? :D

looking good man

Snacks - Here are some of the snacks I would have which I didn't considered cheating.
-Popcorn - Jiffy Pop makes a 100 calorie bag thats pretty good.
-Frozen Yogurt - Some places like Baskin Robins also has low fat / sugar free (I think it has Spenda) which is pretty good. Always try to go non-fat and not low fat.
-Diet Ice Cream - Seems that ice cream companies are trying to compete with frozen yogurt companies so there are many out there. Weight Watchers and No Pudge are fairly good.
Sugar Free Candy - I already discussed this.
-Slim Fast bar - In a pinch

With anything else, if you go crazy with the snacks, you will not loose weight. When I first started dieting I maybe had one of the above (except for the sugar free candy) once a week. As I lost more, I would go to maybe 2-3 times a week. Sometimes I will look back at my day and realize that I had very little calories so I will try to choose a snack that I lacked in during the day. So if I didn't have much calcuim that day, I may have some yogurt or diet ice cream, etc. Even now at my goal weight, I got so used to these snacks, that I continue with them.

Fat men are jolly and thin men are hungry and angry.....

And it's 90 lbs ;)

Very impressive, Whiskers! :)

Congrats on what you've achieved already! :cheers:

hmm.. im fat and im not really that jolly so maybe itd be the opposite it for me?

and good job on the 90lbs wsklar

i am going to lose that much weight.. well ok not that much cause then id be like 130lbs...