So very tired. I need to remember this day when I don't want to go to bed at 10 and end up passing out in my computer chair watching How I Met Your Mother
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Honestly, anyone that claims losing weight is easy is full of shit. It's hard, and it sucks, and it requires literally changing your lifestyle permanently to make it work.
For what it's worth, this is what I've found worked well for me:
1) Work on getting your eating habits healthy. What's worked for me is using a calorie tracker (I use sparkpeople just because it's got a nice phone app) and being very strict about it. I also found what helped is cutting down on my meat intake. I haven't gone anywhere near vegetarian, but I only allow myself meat at one meal per day, and that takes out some of the more calorie dense stuff. If you do decide to use a calorie tracker, plan ahead so you know how much you can eat at any given meal until you're comfortable with how it works. And make sure to plan for snacks. Those help, they really do. I've found that after a few months, eating less becomes a habit, and I actually get sick now if I try to eat as much as I used to.
2) Make sure you're getting enough sleep. I gained a shitton of weight when I was depressed and not sleeping well. I feel like maybe the body tries to compensate for lack of energy from sleeping by demanding that you eat more.
3) Find an exercise that you like. I used to do swimming, and it felt like punishment because I just found it so boring. I do kung fu because I love it, and the exercise is just kind of a side benefit to the fun. It's just way easier to exercise if it's something you think is fun. I think most geeks feel like exercise is a punishment (I know I normally do) so it takes a lot of effort to find something that you enjoy doing.
4) Make the exercise a set schedule. Which sucks for about the first month, but after you get it to be a habit, you start feeling compelled to exercise because it's a thing you do on days X, Y, and Z. That makes it harder to weenie out of exercising.
5) Don't get fixated on numbers. It's easier to get depressed when you get fixated on a weight number. And I think it's overall better to approach this from the idea of "I want to be healthy" so you're motivated to be fit and eat right, and then the weight loss is just sort of a happy side benefit. That said, I do weigh myself close to daily, but I try to view it more as just making sure I'm not *gaining* weight as opposed to tracking how much I'm *losing*. Because after you drop about 10% of your current body weight, weight loss slows down horrifically and it can get really frustrating.
6) Don't be too hard on yourself. And I learned this meant not changing your diet radically all at once (slowly ratchetting down my calories has really worked for me) or overtraining for exercise. It's harder to adjust to huge changes than something you work up to over time, I think.
But all that said, you have to find out what works for you. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise. <3
I wish I could help out more. It is a lot easier to do these things when you've got someone else helping you out. I've been on my own for the food stuff mostly, but Mike's really been riding my butt about the exercise, and that helps. (Though him riding my butt often means that he forces me to not overtrain, because I'm a little too enthusiastic. :P)
Thanks very much for all the tips. I think both sleep and finding something I find fun will help. Maybe I could get bikes for Duncan and I, but then I'd also need a bike rack. hnnnnngh
If it's something you like doing, it's worth the cost. Actually, if you start biking and really like that, I think it's ultimately a way to save money if you can get yourself, say, biking to work or doing your trips to the grocery store that way. Because then it saves gas. ^_^
Honestly, anyone that claims losing weight is easy is full of shit. It's hard, and it sucks, and it requires literally changing your lifestyle permanently to make it work.
For what it's worth, this is what I've found worked well for me:
1) Work on getting your eating habits healthy. What's worked for me is using a calorie tracker (I use sparkpeople just because it's got a nice phone app) and being very strict about it. I also found what helped is cutting down on my meat intake. I haven't gone anywhere near vegetarian, but I only allow myself meat at one meal per day, and that takes out some of the more calorie dense stuff. If you do decide to use a calorie tracker, plan ahead so you know how much you can eat at any given meal until you're comfortable with how it works. And make sure to plan for snacks. Those help, they really do. I've found that after a few months, eating less becomes a habit, and I actually get sick now if I try to eat as much as I used to.
2) Make sure you're getting enough sleep. I gained a shitton of weight when I was depressed and not sleeping well. I feel like maybe the body tries to compensate for lack of energy from sleeping by demanding that you eat more.
3) Find an exercise that you like. I used to do swimming, and it felt like punishment because I just found it so boring. I do kung fu because I love it, and the exercise is just kind of a side benefit to the fun. It's just way easier to exercise if it's something you think is fun. I think most geeks feel like exercise is a punishment (I know I normally do) so it takes a lot of effort to find something that you enjoy doing.
4) Make the exercise a set schedule. Which sucks for about the first month, but after you get it to be a habit, you start feeling compelled to exercise because it's a thing you do on days X, Y, and Z. That makes it harder to weenie out of exercising.
5) Don't get fixated on numbers. It's easier to get depressed when you get fixated on a weight number. And I think it's overall better to approach this from the idea of "I want to be healthy" so you're motivated to be fit and eat right, and then the weight loss is just sort of a happy side benefit. That said, I do weigh myself close to daily, but I try to view it more as just making sure I'm not *gaining* weight as opposed to tracking how much I'm *losing*. Because after you drop about 10% of your current body weight, weight loss slows down horrifically and it can get really frustrating.
6) Don't be too hard on yourself. And I learned this meant not changing your diet radically all at once (slowly ratchetting down my calories has really worked for me) or overtraining for exercise. It's harder to adjust to huge changes than something you work up to over time, I think.
But all that said, you have to find out what works for you. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise. <3
I wish I could help out more. It is a lot easier to do these things when you've got someone else helping you out. I've been on my own for the food stuff mostly, but Mike's really been riding my butt about the exercise, and that helps. (Though him riding my butt often means that he forces me to not overtrain, because I'm a little too enthusiastic. :P)
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