Weight Loss Programs
 

I'm overweight. 8 years ago I used a Weight Watchers at-work program and over 8 months lost 60 pounds. That gave me a BMI under 25. I kept the weight off for 3 years. Then I moved and ended up living in a hotel room with a bored spouse for 9 weeks. At the end of the 9 weeks, I had gained 10 pounds. This was due to dining out and throwing the Weight Watchers program in the bin. I tried to restart but the local WW office held meetings at inconvenient times and was staffed by a couple scrawny old women who offered no encouragement or help. So over the next 3.5 year, I grew another 25 pounds.

On December 1, I began a Whole30 program. For those not familiar, it involves eating no dairy, no grains, no alcohol, and no added sugar or artificial sweeteners. Also legumes are off limits. There are a few exceptions; kombucha is okay despite a small amount of alcohol, green beans and sugar snap peas are more pod than seed. It's not easy but only lasts 30 days. You read every label and discover a lot of sugar and soy in everything. But I've managed. Oh, and you're not allowed on a scale until you're finished. And if you make a mistake or cheat, you have to start over.

My big mistake was to start without reading the book. It arrived at 8:00 PM the night before I planned to start so I skimmed the first 2 chapters. On the 6th evening, I passed out due to low blood sugar. That was corrected and I'm doing better. Since I was given non-compliant foods to boost my blood sugar, I started over. Since I was starting over, I weighed myself and I had lost 6.5 pounds in 6 days. That's 6.5 pounds off of 190. At this point, I'd estimate it's closer to 10+ pounds lost and I had to shift into the smaller pants in my closet, a 2" waist size difference. I still have 24 days to go before I can reintroduce the forbidden foods, but I'm far from hungry. And the hospital found nothing else to be concerned about with blood work and urinalysis (or EKG or CT scan). I miss beer. I miss bread, but I will not be adding either back in the volumes I previously consumed them. I think I can live like this.

What's your program?

I don't have a program and have struggled to lose the same 15 lbs for most of my life. I enjoy a mostly-nightly cocktail or two. I try to eat mostly lesser-processed things and limit meat. Today for lunch, for example, I ordered a chili lime chicken wrap and just ate the filling.

I did lose about 20 lbs on Jenny Craig 10 years ago, but it was only possible because I was living in White Plains, NY and didn't have any friends there, so I ate at home every day/night. Got so tired of a salad and a JC microwave meal, but it worked. I've now gained that weight back. I really like how I looked at 180 and think 175 would be a great weight for me. I"ve been hovering around 200-203 since moving to Maine and discovering the local beer scene.

I recently joined Orange Theory, a gym here that just does group cross-training classes - we row, do the treadmill, and lift. I like it because it's a hell of a work out and I just have to show up and do what I'm told. You wear a heart rate monitor, and they email you a summary afterwards. I usually burn a little shy of 1000 calories in the hour. So we'll see what that does. I'm resolved to go 3x/week.

My mom struggled with her weight her entire life until one day she just cut out sugar and other refined carbohydrates. She didn't touch them for several years and lost about 65 lbs. She now eats them again but feels like she is in control instead of the sugar. She has kept off the majority of the weight - I thought she was too skinny after losing 65 lbs so I'm glad she gained a little bit back.

I lost 10kg earlier his year by just giving up wine during the week.
And trying to average 10,000 steps/day, using a tracker.

It was tough!

Mostly stayed off although I regained 1kg recently with all this subzero weather in ABZ.

I signed up to Anyman Fitness about 7 months ago. Jason behind Anyman is a former school teacher turned online coach. The program is simple, but works: Take accountability for the macro-nutrients you eat daily (protein, carbs, fats) on a relatively high protein diet and lift weights at least three times a week. All it takes is consistency and overcoming a bit of a learning curve at the beginning and you can just watch everyone in the online Facebook community as they get into better shape.

I've had to build in a certain amount of flexibility to deal with >100 flights this year and many weekends partying too hard, but I've lost several inches from my waist, built some noticeable muscle and saw my blood pressure and other indicators take a dramatic change for the better. I have a while to go on both fitness and strength but I'm now very clear on what it will take to get there.

My last post in this thread described my Peloton experience over the past month:

I’ve had weight issues almost all of my life. When I was a kid I was really skinny and my mom thought I needed to be fattened up. After her success I’ve bounced around. Right now I am about 70 or 75 pounds less than my heaviest. That was a series of bounces too. I lost about 70 pounds with a variety of strategies. I tried vegetarianism, only doing treats with really special things, ie no junk food and various form of low carb diets. All worked soom because I think the act of watching what you eat helps in general. I think the very low carb worked best.

Then I was prescribed high doses of a drug notorious for causing weight gain. I gained 20 pounds and my doctor said he was amazed it was so little.

Then I got really sick. I was in a hospital or rehab center for about 4 months. I lost 80 pounds but was also so weak I couldn’t walk. And I gained about 80 pounds back and started back to work, walking and so forth. So I’m back on the dieting with guidance from a doctor. She said one of the meds I was on, not the one before, could lead to weight gain so she cut it in half and I got rid of it completely. She also upped my proteins and I’m not eating dinner most days. Just breakfast and lunch and fairly low carbs. And I’ve lost about 20 or 25 pounds. So it continues.

For a time I was doing intermittent fasting (16 hours no food followed by 8 hours of food being allowed) and seemed to do okay. I'd just skip breakfast and only eat lunch and dinner, stopping all food after around 8pm or so. I remember losing ~10lbs before I stopped.

Other than that, I mostly just walk. A lot. My Apple Watch definitely helps with the motivation there.

Having gained and lost the same 25 pounds repeatedly over the last 30 years I’ve finally reached a point where I can keep it off. Here are my random thoughts:

Programs set you up for failure. Don’t eat this, don’t eat that, don’t do this. It is a constant stream of negative thought. What’s required is to reshape your relationship with food. The objective is nutrition not emotional satisfaction. Gas in the tank.

There is an immense pressure to eat in North America with terms like "comfort food" and the other BS emotional enticements to consume calories. We are bombarded with food and restaurant ads.

Think about what you eat, don’t be obsessed about it but keep in mind that everything that goes into your mouth counts.

Weigh yourself once a week at the same time every week and keep track of your gain/loss. Success is not gaining weight. Don’t be in a hurry. The weight will come off eventually. One or two pounds a week.

Do the math. One pound is approximately 3,500 calories. To achieve a one pound loss per week you need to reduce your intake by 500 calories at day or just under 170 calories per meal. It's not an insurmountable number.

Condition yourself to eat when you are hungry, eat more slowly and think about what you are eating when you are eating it. You may be surprised to discover what you eat isn’t all that appealing. It’s how I stopped eating potato chips.

There is a difference between being full and no longer hungry. When you are no longer hungry stop eating.

Eat everything and anything you want just not as much or as often. Programs that declare something like, "Thou shall not eat pizza!" don’t work for me. Tell me that and I will crave pizza constantly until I break down and gorge on it.

Make an appointment for cravings. When a craving hits I set a time several hours or even days ahead to satisfy it. Quite often when that time arrives I no longer want what I craved but otherwise I will eat it without feeling guilty.

There are certain unhealthy foods I like but will only eat them in the very specific places where they are the best. I only eat chicken wings in one place and nowhere else, same with pizza, onion rings and other indulgences. They are never eaten at home.

Restaurant eating is a challenge. What helped me was setting aside a two-month period where I deliberately ate half of every restaurant meal. This helped me discover that I could reduce my intake without feeling short-changed. The downside is there is an apparent expectation you will clean your plate as a half-eaten meal will prompt a solicitous server to ask if there is anything wrong with the meal or whether you want a “doggie bag.” The answer to both questions is a polite, “No.”

Eat well. I have stopped eating on airplanes unless ravenously hungry because the food is crap even in “J”. It’s a relief when I’m no longer hungry.

When you lose weight and drop down a clothing size get rid of your old clothes. What you are wearing now is your new size. Should you lose more do the same again. If you gain weight and go up a size keep your thin clothes. You will be in them again and is awesome when they fit again.

It took me a long time to discover that losing weight and keeping it off isn’t a paid-for “program” it’s a process and a mindset. If you stay with it you can lose weight and keep it off.

Good day, all.

I am retired and rarely travel by air any longer, but I do continue to read Flyer Talk daily.
Anyway, the Weight Loss Programs thread.
I've been on Weight Watchers for several years. Started at about 245 lbs and set 185 as
my goal weight. I made my goal (actually hit 180) about three years ago and have maintained
it since then. When you reach your goal, you become a Lifetime Member and are no longer
charged a membership fee (if your weight stays within 5 lbs of goal, weighing in monthly).

As you probably know, WW uses a point system. You get a certain number of points per day
and some extra each week. No foods are excluded, including alcoholic beverages.
WW has recently introduced a bunch of zero point foods like fat-free yogurt and skinless
chicken breast.

Anyway, just though I would share my experiences. Wish you all a happy and healthy journey
whether it's on a plane or at a table.

I follow something called "sense". It is a Danish variation of the regular plate-model. It goes roughly like this:

3 meals a day, consisting of:
1-2 handfuls of veg
1 handful protein (less factory processed is better)
1 handful carb (incl fruit, this handful is optional)
1-3 tbl spoon fat ("real" fats preferred, ie real butter over more processed stuff)

spices, herbs, flavouring in smart amounts (so fx teaspoon of ketchup for flavour is fine, drenching your meal in it not smart)

Add to this 3dl (just over a cup) of dairy (<5% fat) per day

There are no forbidden foods, but some are not smart. If I know that I will be eating bread in the afternoon at work, I skip my carb at lunchtime, f.x. Flex is allowed, even encouraged.

Last school year, I lost around 50 lbs on this, from 210. This school year I have been too stressed to continue, but I have maintined my weight and am going back on after Christmas.

For me, it works because I don't have to count calories, or weigh stuff. Just do it by sight. It is about amounts and proportions. And I felt right from the start, that this is a way of eating that I can live with for the rest of my life. Which for me was a pretty cool revelation, having never ate particularly healthy before.

So, it is not a very virtuous diet, but it is overall pretty healthy, and although the rules could be stricter to be more health concious, it seems like a sensible diet, making it easier to follow long term. I use diet not about weightloss eating, but just about what I eat.

DanishFlyer

Paleo - Cut out the carbs

I am finished with the Whole 30 and lost exactly10 pounds in 30 days. I'm sure it was more midway through the program but I let my snacking habits creep back and eating a cupful of nuts and a half a bag of potato chips, while technically not in violation, was simply adding too many calories to my daily intake. Also I found little to order in restaurants and ended up having fries on the side of anything I ordered.

I took a day off yesterday and ate pretty sensibly but had my hamburger in a bun and a taste of aged cheese, a few crackers, a 16 oz. beer and a few glasses of sparkling wine. I managed to avoid sugar though, except for the small amount in the bun and crackers.

I'm back on it today for another 30 days and we'll see if I can tweak things a little to stay in compliance without gorging myself on what is allowed but foolish anyway.

Lost 100 pounds in 5 months doing <1200 cal a day and zero carb. Your body will find its set point eventually and the weight loss will slow.

Kept it off for 8 years so far. Once or twice a month I'll eat one big meal of crap........blow my brains out with 4,000 cal in one sitting..........just to balance my sanity........without any effects as the 3-4 pound gain is gone in 4-5 days. I only drink whiskey or vodka as they are zero carb........and it only takes 1/3 of what it used to for the effect I desire.

SUGAR IN ANY OF IT'S FORMS IS A FATAL POISON. LEARN IT'S NAMES AND READ YOUR LABELS.

I only eat 1200 calories a day now and <10% is simple carbs. Weight 180 pounds and <15% body fat. Doctors say I am in amazing health and all tests are always normal. I feel outstanding and sleep very well now.

The food industry and weight loss exercise industry are full of criminals for the most part.

My second Whole30 didn't start until April and I had the same result - a 10 pound loss that resulted in my lowest weight in years. Man, did I ever miss beer though, so I tended to overcompensate afterwards. I've stuck with that weight for 2 months and just came back from knee replacement surgery. So I won't be running out for snacks or coming downstairs at midnight for a while. Also the anesthesia tends to suppress the appetite for a couple weeks. I do not recommend surgery for weight loss. This is just coincidental. Ideally I'd like to lose another 20 pounds and hit my WW goal weight again. Im not sure I will make any further diet changes but having 2 good knees for the first time in decades will certainly impact my activity level. Hopefully thats all I need.

My sister just had a knee replacement after losing 100 pounds.

Doctor told her the same thing about anesthetics.

Wow, good for you! I agree sugar is a drug. I still have a bit of a sweet tooth, but I've come to realize I don't need a full serving of ice cream. I can have a few spoonfuls and be happy. I also don't eat foods with added sugar.

My favorite euhpemism for sugar I've found on labels is "evaporated cane juice".

I lost a few pounds in France last week, eating tons of bread, foie gras, cream sauces, and wine. But very little sugar. :)

Do you mean that they have actual sugar added to them (which I doubt in most case) or that they are a simple starch that your body converts readily to sugar (which is true)?

The latter. Although I think a lot of fast food fries are coated in sugar to help them crisp and brown during cooking, and taste better.

Ah yes, I think you're right.

No program here. But willing to try less carbs to stsrt. As well as less diet sodas.

I bought a SodaStream a while back and use it to make plain fizzy water. It makes me feel like I'm having a beverage that isn't water. Sometimes I put a little squirt of lime juice in it.

Lately I have been through more and more places with urns of chilled fruited water available to guests and residents. I've noticed it in hotel lobbies as well as the assisted living center and nursing home where my mother has lived the last year. I worry about the cleanliness of these and for whatever reason the urns always have the most recalcitrant stopcocks. Despite health worries and the mess I inevitably make, I have found most of these incredibly refreshing.

Pamplemousse is my favorite. It's just kind of annoying to schlep the cans around.

I have found calorie and macro tracking useful rather than specific diets which can backfire after prolonged restriction.

Tried keto (no carbs/ less than 20g net) for a month in October 2017 which led to a host of health issues for me including amenhorrea and thinning hair and to this date I still have not got my period back. Also restrictive dieting led me to undereat and occasionally binge due to cravings.

However I did learn a lot from various diets including being much more aware of my sugar intake especially from fruits. I used to have a lot of acne on my face and since I started tracking my macros (and hence sugar which causes inflammation), the acne has disappeared and never returned. Having gone extremely low carb also makes it easier for me to maintain a moderate carb intake by substituting carb heavy ingredients such as flours in baked goods etc. - for example I now regularly make chocolate pancakes using just a banana, cocoa powder and two eggs - no sugar and the only way I eat bananas nowadays!

Here's a bit of advice from what I've learned through my weight loss journey.
From my experiences I think the first step would be to cut down on sugar and really read the ingredient labels on packaged foods. Be aware of your macros and the number of calories you are consuming but don't be obsessive, remember to leave some room for treats once in a while. The fundamental principle of weight loss is to consume fewer calories than what your body burns, which allows your body to use its energy stores to fuel itself. Also do remember not to diet for extended periods of time as it will cause your metabolism to slow down, hence making it harder for you to lose weight again. Inevitably, your metabolism will slow as you lose weight due to there being less of you.

In terms of exercise, weight and resistance training is more beneficial than cardio, as it helps to reduce muscle loss as you lose weight. I'm no professional but also went through a fat loss journey and would be happy to offer some advice and insight if any of you have questions and queries! Also would be glad to offer emotional support when times are tough :)

I haven't needed to diet in years, but a combo of factors (mainly some health issues that prevented me from getting the cardio my body needs) meant I needed to lose some weight. Last year I did Fast Metabolism Diet and lost about 12 pounds in 3 months, which was great, but I gained it back over the holidays and winter. More recently I've been doing Isagenix, which was very successful for one of my close friends, and I managed to lose about 18 pounds in 2 months. Both want you to eat 5 times a day and both follow some rules that are similar to whole30:
* No caffeine, alcohol or soda of any kind (including diet)
* No dairy
* No artificial sweeteners except stevia or xylotol
* No wheat unless it's sprouted

The food rules diverge a bit after that -- Isagenix avoids pork and beef, which was allowed under FMD. The list of acceptable fruits and veggies vary a bit.

Isagenix does a form of intermittent fasting that's very effective (2 consecutive days, twice a month, where you eat something small every hour you're awake, resulting in about 500-600 calories in the day). Isagenix is, at its core, a multi-level marketing thing. They sell you shakes and supplements. (And some of the rules are contrary to their product ingredients -- for example, there is whey in the shakes.) But it's working so I can't argue!

I've been moderately successful with few limiting factors:
1) Log and track everything you eat, every day (I use an app)
2) Set macro-nutrient goals (I don't do Keto or other restrictive diets, but I set to 25% carb 35% fat 40% protein)
3) manage micro-nutrient goals (I set my overall daily sugar goal to 20g, which is super low but do-able - I don't currently track/manage sodium or cholesterol in a meaningful way)
4) Set intake goals for your weight loss objective (I want -2lb/wk, so my intake goals adjust as I weigh in weekly)
5) Breakpoints for added effort (e.g. hit a specific level of whatever objective, add in another step like weight training or additional cardio)
I cut out almost all alcohol not related to cocktail parties or whatever, which really cuts the superfluous calories.

Just by KNOWING what I'm doing and having a history and log on a daily basis, over time I've learned to make healthier choices, manage intake and limit sugars.

In the past, if I've gone off the rails my brain essentially says it's over, then It's over. A benefit to this strategy has been that if you want to blow-out on a weekend BBQ pool-party, do it. Log it. Know what you're doing and get back to it the next day.

Anyway, it's working for me.


Edit: I also drink what is, frankly, an obscene amount of La Croix now.

I'm on day 2 of my third Whole30 in 8 months. In each of the previous two I have lost around 10 pounds. I weighed myself yesterday morning (no weigh-ins during a Whole30) and was surprised to find my weight down another 5 pounds. I think it resulted from no alcohol for a month while I was on a blood thinner after knee replacement surgery. The knee replacement, my second, is also permitting a degree of activity that was not possible due to the arthritis.

So the good news is my BMI is at 25 for the first time in 3 or 4 years. I don't necessarily want to lose a lot more weight but each Whole30 is helping me redesign my eating habits away from sugar and wheat (dairy was never a problem and I really do only drink in moderation). I see that as a good thing and if I lose another 5 or 10 in addition to the 25 I've lost in the last 8 months, that's okay too.

I was smart this time and kept the smaller waist size pants in a back closet. Pulling them out last week was as fun as buying them in the first place - and way cheaper.

Weight loss
 

Any good food tips

Weight loss
 

I don’t eat in the mornings as I have no appetite! Any ways to help me eat in the mornings

Hello, Samsmith86, and welcome to Flyertalk.
This is quite an old thread, it would help if you introduced yourself a little, perhaps tell us what it was about this thread that made it seem relevant to your question - are you looking to lose weight or just want something general (which this forum is packed with).
If it’s about losing weight, you might want to say what kind of “food tips” you have tried, what has worked for you, and what kind you are looking for more of.

Just seen this since my last post.
Are you looking to gain weight?

Didn’t realise it was an old post sorry.I hardly have a appetite so I need nice foods flavours and recipes thanks

I’m pregnant at the moment so I’m not trying to gain or lose weight at the moment I just need healthy food ideas which are good for baby too

It would seem that speaking with an RDN or the ob/gyn is a far better place to get reliable information than a website primarily designed to find out how cheaply you can sit in First Class and binge on $200/bottle bubbles.