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  1. #1
    Formerly thickredhair Gaiter's Avatar
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    Question Weight Loss Plan????

    For those of us that have a few extra pounds: Whats your weight loss plan??? What has and hasn't worked for you?


    I'm a firm believer in NO DIETS!!! I have watched my mom and family members unsuccessfully yo-yo diet for years. I believe that diets don't work.

    I'm more concerned about my weight than my pack weight. After my long section this past summer, I spent lots of time resting and continueing to eat as i did while hiking, and suprise suprise, all my weight that i lost is back! But what I realized is that I know now that all I have to do is exercise and that I can do it.
    So my plan is working out 6 days a week: 3 days Deep Water Aerobics (no-impact!) 3 days 30min Eliptical Machine 1.5 hr Weight Machines, beginer yoga class once a week, and a beginer pilates class once a week. I've noticed in the month and a half that I've been working out, that other things started to change too, I'm not on a diet but I eat healthy now.
    Gaiter
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  2. #2
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    Default Weight Loss Plan????

    The year I thru hiked I hardly did anything the winter before hiking. I was afraid of having an accident skiing or anything else that would prevent me from having my shot at the AT. I hunkered down with Ben&Jerry's ice cream and watched TV all winter. I had also quit smoking after puffing away for 35 years. The new and improved me waddled to Springer and I began to question my sanity of avoiding exercise and thus the risk of injury. Oh golly gee the first part of the AT made me say words that would make the Beaver's mom blush. Being fit at the beginning of the AT may not determine if you will finish but you don't have to make it harder on yourself as I did.
    My plan is to stay fit and not get old. Each year I loose the battle a little more on both fronts. It's almost time to hike and hallucinate about being young and fit.

  3. #3
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    You are correct, no diets. It requires you to totally change your way of life. That being said, I chose to use the Weight Watcher's "Winning Points" program as my "roadmap" to my lifestyle change.

    Before my weight loss, I couldn't climb the stairs at work, let alone think about climbing a steep trail. I successfully used Weight Watchers to drop 60+ pounds and I have pretty much maintained that weight loss.

    I gain a little in the winter months, but always shed the winter weight once I start cycling and backpacking.

  4. #4
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    Lil Red, I commend you on your exercise program! It sounds like you are doing some great and fun things and will hit the trail in much better shape for some strenuous hiking.

    I went through very much the same thing you did on weight-loss. I hiked heavier through a couple of seasons, had an epiphany that it didn't have to be so tortuous, and lost 20 lbs. to get down to a better hiking (and living) weight.

    Remember that eating "healthy" and exercising more do not necessarily translate into weight loss, however. A pound is 3500 calories. Unless someone is hiking all day, every day, it's pretty much impossible to accrue that much of a deficit simply by virtue of exercise. (Going by averages, for instance, a person burns about 100 calories/mile of running. You'd need to run 35 miles/week just to lose one pound, assuming your calorie intake was enough to keep your weight stable.) Although people can have short-run losses due to, for instance, cutting out sodium, the reality of the situation is that you have to continually rack up deficits in your daily caloric balance in order to lose weight, or you won't.

    Whether or not you call your eating plan or program a "diet," this means you still need to watch the intake as well as the outgo. In this country, we are surrounded by an unlimited supply of high-calorie, tasty food, and non-stop messages to eat it. It is incredibly easy to add on those extra 100-200 calories per day, enough to outweigh most if not all the effects of an exercise program.

    Most people, myself most definitely included, overestimate the number of calories they're burning via exercise, and underestimate the amount of calories they take in. This is why, no matter how "bad" I've been the day before, I hit that scale every ding-dang morning. I hate it, but it has to be done... otherwise it is incredibly easy to fool myself about where I'm at, and about how that calorie balance is working for me as time goes by. It actually turned out that losing the 20 pounds was the easy part, the hard part is not letting it creep back on as it seems so eager to do!

    No matter what you call your program, the very most important part of it is getting honest with yourself about what you're doing. Once you do that, you can figure out what really works for you, and apply it to solve this problem (and keep it solved for good). Good luck!

    Jane in CT

  5. #5
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    Not sure I'm one to offer advice, but for what it's worth...
    1. Eat less carbs, more protein.
    2. Exercise after eating. Don't eat just before bedtime or late in the evening.
    3. Drink lots of water, all day long.
    4. Yeah, exercise... even if it's just a walk around the neighborhood. Hiking is even better.

  6. #6
    LT '79; AT '73-'14 in sections; Donating Member Kerosene's Avatar
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    I concur; shoot for a balanced diet, never clean your plate (even if it's just a bite left), eat 4-6 "mini-meals" a day, and exercise religiously (even if you can only do 15 minutes in a particularly busy day).

    One thing that has worked for me is the Body For Life exercise regimen. In 50 minutes, 4 times a week, I work all major muscle groups. What I like is that the regimen is based on your level of fitness, and even how you feel on any one day. Basically you start quite light with 12 reps, rest a minute and increase the weight, 10 reps/rest, 8 reps with more weight/rest, then do 6 reps at a target weight where you could do 1-2 more before muscle failure. Rest a minute, do 12 reps at about your 10 rep weight, then immediately do another 12 reps on a machine/exercise that works the same muscle group. It works better than circuits in my mind.
    GA←↕→ME: 1973 to 2014

  7. #7
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    Kerosene beat me to it. Bill Phillips and Body for Life. Lost 40 lbs a couple years ago, it was the easiest thing I have ever done in my life. He has 2 books out, one a program book, one a very good cookbook.

  8. #8
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    Good advice so far. Here's what has worked for me, -40 lbs. so far.
    1. Never skip breakfast. You must eat breakfast to start your body's metabolism each day. Instant oatmeal and an apple will do. No breakfast equals overeating at lunch for me.
    2. Have an afternoon snack. Split the time between lunch and dinner in half and eat a small healthly snack. This prevents snacking while dinner is cooking.
    3. Don't eat after 9 PM as a general rule.
    4. For weight loss.... exercising 15 minutes every day is better than an hour three times a week. Make your body burn calories daily.

  9. #9
    Registered User Ewker's Avatar
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    I use Weight Watchers with the point system. So far so good. WW is not considered a diet plan. It is a plan to help you learn about food. The biggest thing to learn is how to eat and what a serving size is and WW has done that for me.
    Conquest: It is not the Mountain we conquer but Ourselves

  10. #10
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    eat less and better, and exercise more. that simple

  11. #11
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    L.Wolf:

    I thought that Marlboro and Jack Daniels was your secret weight loss regimen?

  12. #12
    Donating Member/AT Class of 2003 - The WET year
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    [quote=thickredhair;337952]For those of us that have a few extra pounds: Whats your weight loss plan??? What has and hasn't worked for you?

    ==========================================

    Not sure it constitutes a "plan" but last January I cut out snacks and eliminated pretty much all sugar from my intake. I increased exercise but not by any great amount. After 3 months I had lost 26 lbs.

    Decided I could live without the snacks and didn't miss the sugar. Began keeping fruit on hand (apples/oranges/nectarines/grapes). Have been able to hover at/around that post 3 month weight now for about a year.

    Winter is tougher but with the weather starting to warm up I'll be outside a lot more and hope to drop another 10 by just incorporating additional exercise.

    Sounds trite but my experience is more of a lifestyle change than a diet. A lot easier when you don't feel like you're "on" some sort of imposed program.

    'Slogger
    The more I learn ...the more I realize I don't know.

  13. #13
    avatar= bushwhackin' mount kancamagus nh 5-8-04 neighbor dave's Avatar
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    Talking got giardia??

    fiber and water, eat as much as you like

  14. #14
    Registered User Hoku's Avatar
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    Eat a variety of foods in moderate amounts. Never eat until you are "full" and learn to be happy to throw food away. Eat all day long - the ultimate diet plan is one handful of reasonably healthy food every hour you're awake but no "meals". Your metabolism will stay high all the time. Once you reach your goal, add small "meals" back in to maintain it. The gym is good for sculpting, but weight is all about diet.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tabasco View Post
    L.Wolf:

    I thought that Marlboro and Jack Daniels was your secret weight loss regimen?
    i don't smoke or drink whiskey. you're thinkin' of someone else.

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hoku View Post
    ...learn to be happy to throw food away.
    ........can't agree with that. Sorry. How about learn some self control?

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by saimyoji View Post
    ........can't agree with that. Sorry. How about learn some self control?
    Should probably qualify my remark: lost 60 lbs in 6 months....the healthy way: eat less/better; exercise more/better.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by saimyoji View Post


    Should probably qualify my remark: lost 60 lbs in 6 months....the healthy way: eat less/better; exercise more/better.
    i lost 70lbs. in 6 months. didn't go on a diet. just got up off my fat ass and started running and eating less. pretty simple.

  19. #19
    Registered User jesse's Avatar
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    I lost 25 lbs 3 years ago. I have to ditto LW
    eat less and better, and exercise more. that simple
    That was all I did.
    One thing I did and reccommend to anyone wanting to lose weight; Stop eating out. Also eat lots of raw fruit and veggies. Stay away from processed foods.

  20. #20
    Registered User stuco's Avatar
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    Eat less, exercise more. I'm not trying to be a smart ass, it's just as simple as that.

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