(January 14, 2016 at 7:40 pm)Chad32 Wrote: I changed my diet a couple of years ago, and lost 15 lbs. I didn't exactly keep it off, but I still feel better, and dropped my pants size from a loose 40" to a snug 36".

(January 14, 2016 at 7:44 pm)Whateverist the White Wrote:

(January 14, 2016 at 7:40 pm)Chad32 Wrote: I changed my diet a couple of years ago, and lost 15 lbs. I didn't exactly keep it off, but I still feel better, and dropped my pants size from a loose 40" to a snug 36".

Well done.  Man, I can't wait to lose pant sizes.  I've got old pants standing ready along the way.  Today I'm wearing a 44 (ouch).

(January 14, 2016 at 7:13 pm)Whateverist the White Wrote: I quit eating for pleasure without regard for the consequences.

I quit acting like a teenager in choosing to eat like a teenager long after my metabolism has lost the capacity to keep up.

My new year's resolution was to get to a healthy weight.  By New Year's eve I was at 240 pounds, the most I have ever weighted and way more than my nearly six foot, fine boned frame could support.  I stopped all snacking and ate what I thought was moderately.  I also signed on for a ten week Healthy Weight class at Kaiser which started January 5th.

At the first class, with my cloths on, I weighted 236 pounds so my own efforts weren't entirely ineffectual.  Yay!  This past Tuesday, January 12th, I weighted in at 229 pounds, also fully clothed.  The class has not been exactly rigorous but I have bought in to being accountable for what I eat, and I'm rigorously recording everything.  The app MyFitnessPal has been really helpful for keeping track of calories of things.  It tells me how much I need to eat to keep shedding a pound a week.  (I wanted to sign up for 2 pounds/week but was warned that was really a lot to commit to.  Pussies.)  I like that after entering my last food for the day it tells me "if every day was like today you would weight ... pounds in five weeks".  I find that motivating.

So long as I can remain mindful about how I'm eating, I think I got this.  I plan to go on using the app to track calorie intake everyday until I'm dead sure I've changed my habits.  It is time consuming, as is preparing good meals, but I figure hell, I'm retired.  This is my job now.  It would have been so much harder when I was teaching not to use food as an incentive to deal with deadlines, not to mention the tiny bit of discretionary time remaining in a day to deal with food prep.  

An unexpected upside:  I'm enjoying food more than I have in a long time.  My go-to lunch every single day is a sandwich on two slices of Dave's Killer bread (70 cal/slice), two tablespoons of Cashew butter, one tablespoon of spun honey and one half a medium sized banana, sliced.  Man, don't even talk to me when I'm eating my sandwich.  Breakfast is either steel cut oatmeal with lots of goodies (yesterday's was kumquats, walnuts, raisins and bosc pear), or two eggs with goodies (todays: sautéed beets, a cup of rice and a half a grapefruit).  Dinner varies but always includes a ton of fresh veggies and some meat.  Last week I slow cooked a rack of baby back pork ribs for three hours and then broiled them for a few minutes with BBQ sauce.  I cut those up by twos and it made dinner for two for three nights.  All very doable within my calorie allowance.  No snacking between meals though and I've stopped having dessert after meals.  

But to enjoy life I've got to have a cuppa with a splash of half and half with cookies when I first get up in the morning.  Sometimes I'll do it again in the afternoon before supper.  But now I have just two cookies each time.  I pretty much get whatever kind I like, but I won't be getting any more Walkers Shortbread cookies (that's 'biscuits' for you English blighters).  The damned things cost 100 calories apiece.  They're just not that good. 

I'd like to share this thread with anyone else interested in becoming lighter on your feet.  But I never mind whatever other tangents may arise.  I'm not dieting to lose weight, I'm just eating healthfully and mindfully from now on; so my goals are life time, not short term.

(January 14, 2016 at 11:26 pm)LadyForCamus Wrote: Good for you, Whateverist!  Just so you know, I am a registered dietitian, so if you ever have any questions feel free to PM me!  I'm happy to help. [emoji18]

(January 14, 2016 at 11:59 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Pubes