Well a situation that is right on the money for me right now.

Even though I am a guy, some of eat the wrong foods when depressed, lonely or just plain watching a movie. My weight has been an issue for me for a number of years now. Recently I gained back all the weight that was lost working hard and watching my food, due to being sick for 4 months. Too easy to fall into the whole, fast food and processed food issues especially since I am single. I do not like to cook for myself, love to cook for a group though, shared times.

I watched the movie, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, did some investigation and decided an immune system re-boot would be great for what ails me and my weight. Problem is in Canada in the winter, unless you own your own green house or aquaponics setup, doing a juice only diet is very expensive. I did do 4 days of juice and smoothies only, and was feeling very good, though the cost was high!
Van stolen, fell off the wagon, eating some crap processed foods. Now I do not feel as good as I did last week, though back to cooking for myself and making smoothies. Being sick still is hard as my body needs to move due to a low metabolism, so right now I can only do basic workouts inside, very basic.

Gaining weight back is one of the pitfalls when people “diet” instead of changing their “lifestyle.”
Both my wife and I were very overweight and decided to do something about it and so we took a good look at everything we did, or in some cases didn’t do and made a commitment to change our entire lifestyle. We enjoyed it so much and were so successful that we both became personal trainers and have worked with hundreds of people who just like us, needed to not only lose weight but stop it from coming back.
There really is no SECRET to weight loss, as many people on TV try to get you to believe. It really comes down to eating right and exercising.
By eating right I don’t mean bland tasting food with labels that say low fat and low carbs and by exercising I don’t mean going to the gym every day for hours at a time.
If approached sensibly anyone can lose weight and get into great shape.
Best of luck.

Yes,
that is why I changed my lifestyle this time, total diet watch and lifestyle changes over just dieting.

OffThePath, good on you for taking this step. Good luck!

I do a lot of snowshoeing, and I recieved some collapsable walking poles for xmas. I find they increase my cardio workout, they keep my arms moving, and actually increase strength as well. Secondly, I carry my BOB anytime I head off for a walk - the extra weight burns calories. bonus is I'm totally used to carrying it, and I have the gear at hand if I ever need it.

Definitely interested. I am 61yo, weigh 223 and would like to get down to around 195(ish)...LOL. Any support or assistance would be greatly appreciated.

JAB

Thanks Cap'n Ahab, and yes I get that. I did change my lifestyle and enjoyed a couple years of success and healthy living. Sometime stuff happens (like knee injury, terrible triad is what I had) and some family issues back east and it is all to easy to fall back onto bad habits.
My thought is I don't give up, and keep pushing forward and I will find success again, and hopefully learn a great balance.

BSafe, thank you for the wishes and advice that can be used...I am hoping to get up to mountains a few times where I can try out those snowshoes we got a couple years ago, as it seems like it would be a great outdoor adventure...as well the BOB on walks is an absolutely great idea that I am going to institute into some good walks...I love that idea, thank you very much!

JAB, not sure, but if you have some bad eating habits, let's slowly look to replace one bad with one good each day, see if you can build on that...not sure your eating habits, but maybe replace those potatoes with greens instead...small steps, seems is all you need as you're not to far off...if no exercise, go for a short walk after dinner, or in early morn...see how it feels. Let me know how you make out and we can help keep each other on focus...

Anyway, I will keep posting and answering if folks remain, as I believe this to be the most important prep here is! I m very versed in nutrition, and proper exercise, as I have struggled with weight most of the past 15 years, and go up and down...this time I am determined to stay down!

Cheers all,
OffThePath

Wilderness return...I think for starters my friend, you need to start cooking a few times per week some healthy meals, just to break the cycle...look forward to it, some music, and make it something totally healthy that gets great review...tons of good recipes on line...pick some good clean protein, and build from there with lot's o veggies...

I think this is a really good idea. One of the biggest problems most people have is keeping focused and motivated. My diet is usually pretty healthy. The issue I have is when it is unhealthy it is REALLY unhealthy and in large quantities. I agree with the exercise part. A little every day or every other day is key. Developing and keeping routine. Lastly... it is ok to admit backsliding. We all do it and it is a part of life. So long as we gain(lose) over all we win. I look forward to working together with you all.

JAB

Hi OffThePath
Hi WildernessReturn
Hi JustABear

I wish you all the success possible and if you ever feel that there is anything that I can assist you with please don’t hesitate to give me a yell.
What worked so well for me and my wife and what we use for the first ninety days of our nutrition program with almost all of our clients is the Body for Life (BFL) eating program.
The philosophy behind BFL is to eat often, basically 5 to 6 small, high protein, low good carb and low fat meals per day. The reason behind eating small meals more often and why it works is that every 2 1/2 to 3 hours you are giving your body nutrition that it must digest and to digest the food it needs to work to burn calories. Don’t think that you need to sit down to a full meal every 2 1/2 to 3 hours but rather what I recommend is having a good breakfast - then later a protein shake, lunch -then later a protein shake, supper and later a protein shake or protein pudding. That is six meals and your body stays full and there is never any hunger related to this program, in fact just the opposite, many of my clients tell me that they have to remember to eat.
One other beautiful part of this program is that you follow the meal plan for 6 days in a row and on the seventh day you can eat whatever and whenever you choose. So if you decide to watch the super Bowl or a hockey game and want a pizza or bucket of KFC and even a beer or two you can have it.
While just eating right will help you it works best if you exercise for 45 minutes to 1 hour at least 3 times per week. You need to get your heart rate up and push your body. That combined with the nutrition program will allow not only the weight to disappear but your body to become toned and firm.
Again best of luck.

Gaining weight back is one of the pitfalls when people “diet” instead of changing their “lifestyle.”
Both my wife and I were very overweight and decided to do something about it and so we took a good look at everything we did, or in some cases didn’t do and made a commitment to change our entire lifestyle. We enjoyed it so much and were so successful that we both became personal trainers and have worked with hundreds of people who just like us, needed to not only lose weight but stop it from coming back.
There really is no SECRET to weight loss, as many people on TV try to get you to believe. It really comes down to eating right and exercising.
By eating right I don’t mean bland tasting food with labels that say low fat and low carbs and by exercising I don’t mean going to the gym every day for hours at a time.
If approached sensibly anyone can lose weight and get into great shape.
Best of luck.

This is exactly the secret of getting back to your desired weight/fitness level, or whatever the end goal you have is. The secret is...there is no secret. No majic pill or fad...but making changes to your lifestyle that are there forever. Well put Captain.

I was getting fairly "pudgy" in my early 30's being stuck behind a desk, bad eating/drinking habits, eating out and eating the wrong stuff, and virtually no physical exercise. But, as Capt. Ahab put it, gradual changes in lifestyle will bring results. And they will stick around.

Not sure if this is for everyone, but hope it helps. Just some ideas to toss around:

-Record your food intake for a week. Everything. The time, what you eat, and what you drink. Then take a look at it at the end of that week. Just by looking at an overall picture it really hits home what your eating and a lot of the poor choices and smart choices are quite evident. Then you can start making changes. One thing I did after a helpful suggestion: Instead of buying hamburger meat, I know get minced turkey meat. I use that for hamburgers or pasta instead. I rarely eat at fast food restaurants anymore. It didn't happen overnight..but set small goals...like limiting fast food to twice a week to start, then once a week, then once every two weeks, etc. Small steps.

-Make small steps. Everyone (and me included.) wants to jump on the health wagon, suddenly go vegan, drink 8L of water a day, get a fancy running suit and hit the gym for a couple hours every morning.... Totally destined for failure. Just make small adjustments. Write down 10 goals..and implement them over a longer stretch of time. If you want to exercise and fail...start off doing that activity every day like mad...in a week you'l quit! XD Same with food and diet. Make small adjustments...ie. slowly cutting out the fast food. Then it becomes part of your lifestyle and not a sudden "chore"

-Find an activity you like. If you hate lifting weights...don't do that. If you like tennis...do that. If you like a variety of activities and want to mix it up. Do that. And ease into it. in my early 30's I started Krav Maga. I thought if I was gonna get in shape, might as well learn how to defend myself at the same time. It was twice a week for an hour each time. That was just fine for me. Two hours was plenty. It evolved into more, but wasn't a sudden "jolt" into some bizarre 20 hours a week boot camp! When we see those crazy health nuts who run 50 miles a day, or cross fit gurus who train 8 hours every morning...they didn't just wake up one day and start that...they slowly worked up to that where it became part of there routine. Asking a super crazy skiier to go without his standard workout would be like asking him to go a night without sleep, or skip a meal...but by starting small, and working to as much or as little as you want to fit into your lifestyle is under your control.

-If you have the money, time. Talk to a nutritionist, or your doctor. Be wary of alternative approaches, or cleansing methods that have no scientific basis. There is a whole market out there to lure you into expensive treatments, programs, etc. But the basics for food and nutrition are fairly simple, and you probably know more that you actually think.

-Don't get dismayed without immediate results. It just doesn't happen! 🙂 And if you breakdown and eat a huge dessert, or go out and buy a bag of chips...who cares. The idea is to keep pushing forward. If you miss a work out, or a swim class...it isn't the end of the world...just continue on where you left off and all is good. 🙂

I'm interested in other people's ideas/thoughts. Please post. The OP of this thread had a good idea. Thanks!

Well said thecrownsown:

What I do when I train people is try to work nutrition and exercise into their schedule in a real world way.
Most people don’t have hours and hours to spend at the gym or running etc. and have to work for a living. I look at their schedule and help them find 45 minutes to an hour every other day or at the very least 3 times a week for some exercise.
I also don’t expect people to just quit eating fast food or stop having a beer or two but just like you I try to help them cut back and work towards cutting it out except on their “free days,” which I mentioned in my previous post as the 7th day of the Body for Life eating program.
I also tell people that even if you have the best intentions and for some reason “fall off the fitness wagon” DO NOT QUIT.
So you had a bad day and ate a gallon of ice cream or a whole bucket of KFC...so what. Just write it off to what it was ...a bad day and get up the next morning and get right back at it.
I have known too many people who tried to diet and exercise and who messed up and decided to quit all together. It is just like when someone is trying to quit smoking, makes it a week without a cigarette and for whatever reason gave in and lit up. Big deal, write it off as a moment of weakness, focus on the fact you went a week without and try to go even longer next time rather than saying to hell with it and go back to smoking full time.
Same with fitness. it takes effort and just like everything else in life sometimes you mess up. Don’t pack it all in. Keep at it, the rewards are incredible, believe me I know it for a fact.

Thank you for the concerns and great plans. The special juice then smoothie plan is a short term immune system fix as well as diet loss. Then a maintenance of smoothies and healthy eating. Much of it will be raw, organic, paleo style mostly vegetarian. In the last 3 weeks with only a couple of breakdowns, no processed foods. Due to some issues though I had to put the juice only diet on hold for now.
cheers

I have a few prep goals this year and losing weight, fitting up better is a big one . I started just adding better quality food, eliminating things like bread but I have no hard and fast rules for myself , just to keep trying to make good choices like more raw meals .
I have made some starts on adding exercise , I started wearing a pedometer while walking doing farm chores before Christmas and pushed up to adding some additional walking to get my mileage up a bit more but my legs are suffering for it ( old knee injury with instability ) so I am on the the indoor bike and have had to modify a video workout so I eliminate aggravating this to the point I cannot walk ( I am limping now ).
So my plan of attack this week is getting on the indoor bike 3 x a day for short sessions and setting an alarm to wake an hour early and make that a designated time for an exercise routine because otherwise it is just too easy for me to slough off.

SYN,
a runner told me to drink an once or two of pickle juice if you get cramps or shin splints, well it worked for me.