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Improving my health

00wyk

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I'm gonna ignore the conversation about lung cancer, even if the cig companies knew of it for decades and marketed around it...

I lost weight by cutting out fatty foods and sugars. I had to, I had a heart attack and I have diabetes.
So my motivation may be a bit stronger than the OP's. Having said it, it likely is eventually gonna be the same as the OPs...
But not only cutting out fats and sugars, I also cut down my portions.
I also only eat out 1-2X a month at most. Fast food and restaurant foods are stuffed full of sugars, salts and fats.

I was always very physical and athletic. Growing older and becoming more sedentary and retaining my appetite eventually nearly killed me. Something had to change.

After a fashion, you get used to it. You have to for your health. The dopamine feedback loop slowly dissipates.
You have to approach this as a life choice and not just a weight loss choice or hobby.
Everything you do has to revolve around your health. It has to be your way of living.

I actually fought with my wife to stop her from cooking dinner. She is a 'feeder'. Her father was fat, and slowly died in hospital from it not long ago. She took it very personally and was always taught dinner was the big meal. And I mean it took an actual heart attack and hospital stay for her to capitulate. So you have to have support and you have to remove yourself from situations that are not good for your health like parties, pizza restaurants, and especially Shipleys Doughnuts and their fabulous fuggin kolaches you can buy by the dozen...

I make my own dinners most of the time, and make sure it is not the largest meal of the day. Sometimes it is just a snack or several small snacks.
This leaves lunch as the biggest meal, but since I can not work on a full stomach, it means I still do not eat very much even at lunch.
The most egregious breakfast I might have with any consistency is coffee with no sugar and a croissant.

5% of all adults have diabetes, and 10% over 35 do. Yet we cater most of our food product warnings towards that less than 1% that are allergic to wheat and peanut protein. Got to love marketing. If you are lethally allergic to some foods that are ubiquitous, why trust someone else to feed you? That just makes no sense. Anywho, what we should also be doing is alerting people to how much sugars their food has.

Oh, I also quit smoking, too. Well, I quit smoking tobacco, anyways...

Test your blood sugar levels. That is a good example of how your diet and body is working. Get a tester and use it right when you get up, and right after a meal, and then an hour after. It shows you how your levels are and how you are dealing with it and how much sugars you are dealing with in your diet. Everyone is different. What you want to do is keep them low as possible, but at the very least keep them within healthy levels. It is the easiest way to accurately control your diet and tune it to your own body. Blood sugar testers are dirt cheap.

Now, if your body can handle it and you are prediabetic or diabetic, I suggest a Metformin rX. It really sucks the sugars out of your blood, and some studies suggest it has many other health benefits, too. It's an interesting read. I have an rX myself, but my body does not like most medicines. However, when I used it, by blood sugars would drop to nearly half their usual amount, and this is with being careful to avoid sugars. So it's rather impressive medicine.
 

damifino

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I'm proof of that.. i know my 2 biggest downfalls are Pepsi and portion size
I was addicted to diet coke for years. That CRAP had a grip on me and was hard to quit. I've been clean for 5 or 6 years now. Just 1 or 2 cups of coffee in the morning now.
 

nbbt

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I'm proof of that.. i know my 2 biggest downfalls are Pepsi and portion size
Mine were 'Dew and portion sizes as well.
The Dew went away maybe 20 years ago, but good home cooking and grilling are still likely to have a oversized portion consumed on occasion.
Grilled meats and spaghetti's, with everything from the garden except the Mexican oregano. And if the seed was found I'm sure that would become home grown as well.
 

John Wargo

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Fourth day without drinking Pepsi. Definitely have a headache. No official exercise yet but i will be grinding stumps tomorrow for 8-10 hours. Even with a hydraulic machine it will be a good amount of moving around
 

Loony661

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Fourth day without drinking Pepsi. Definitely have a headache. No official exercise yet but i will be grinding stumps tomorrow for 8-10 hours. Even with a hydraulic machine it will be a good amount of moving around
Stay hydrated tomorrow!
 

jacob j.

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Fourth day without drinking Pepsi. Definitely have a headache. No official exercise yet but i will be grinding stumps tomorrow for 8-10 hours. Even with a hydraulic machine it will be a good amount of moving around

If your old lady knocks you around pretty good, that would also count. :2guns:
 

RCBS

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I'm same age as you Ferguson. The highest number I ever saw on a scale was 272lbs. (5 years ago) This morning I weighed 212 on the same scale at work. It didn't take me five years to get here. It took about two. Been holding this weight for 2-1/2 years now. I have not set foot in a gym for over 15 years. Most of the acheivement goes to *cleaning up my diet*. Not a diet plan...the food I eat every day and will eat going forwards. Being active is the second ingredient. Though I do not have a gym membership, I have plenty of ways to get aerobic & anerobic exercise via chores around the property or riding the dirtbike. First things first...cut all drinks except water (and milk if you like it) Coffee is fine so long as it's coffee and not desert disguised as. It seemed like it'd be horrible to me as all I used to drink was soda and sugar drinks. These days I *prefer water over anything else. Are you always hungry at dinner time, or do you just eat because it is dinner time? Unless I'm active (desk jockey job) I rarely eat supper anymore. A small snack is usually sufficient. Shedding excess weight is a game of calories. Your every day, day to day requires X amount of calories. If you take in more than that, you gain fat. If you take in less than that you lose weight. Finding your regular caloric need is key and how I have been able to stay comfortably at ~210lbs. Many people will just increase the amount of physical activity to offset a junk diet. I feel that both diet and exercise combined are more beneficial. That way, you don't have to exercise all the time. I'm planning to make a run at 200 as it is where my final goal rests. Got down to 206 before the holidays last year. For me, 5lb increment goals worked extremely well. Get down 5 and make sure you can stay there, then set goal for additional 5. I lost it more slowly than most want to, but it has not returned and is not going to.

Best of luck. When/if you make the decision, time is the only remaining factor. I should mention that I kicked a 21 year, pack a day habit at the same time that I stared to shed weight. Anything's possible man...if you want it. What better reason is there to expend effort towards than your own wellbeing?
 

jacob j.

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Fourth day without drinking Pepsi. Definitely have a headache. No official exercise yet but i will be grinding stumps tomorrow for 8-10 hours. Even with a hydraulic machine it will be a good amount of moving around
Awesome John! Too much pop ain't good for you and it's too dang expensive to boot. Keep it up my man!

My opinion has always been soda pop is worse for your health than beer. It certainly rots your teeth faster.

And those energy drinks....yuck.
 

Khntr85

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Eating right is great but I know a lot of beer drinking, tabacco using, horrible diet workers that look lean, because they are always in the move….movement/ excessive whatever you want to label it is key…the “lazy boy” is the killer of many men…
 

FergusonTO35

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I'm same age as you Ferguson. The highest number I ever saw on a scale was 272lbs. (5 years ago) This morning I weighed 212 on the same scale at work. It didn't take me five years to get here. It took about two. Been holding this weight for 2-1/2 years now. I have not set foot in a gym for over 15 years. Most of the acheivement goes to *cleaning up my diet*. Not a diet plan...the food I eat every day and will eat going forwards. Being active is the second ingredient. Though I do not have a gym membership, I have plenty of ways to get aerobic & anerobic exercise via chores around the property or riding the dirtbike. First things first...cut all drinks except water (and milk if you like it) Coffee is fine so long as it's coffee and not desert disguised as. It seemed like it'd be horrible to me as all I used to drink was soda and sugar drinks. These days I *prefer water over anything else. Are you always hungry at dinner time, or do you just eat because it is dinner time? Unless I'm active (desk jockey job) I rarely eat supper anymore. A small snack is usually sufficient. Shedding excess weight is a game of calories. Your every day, day to day requires X amount of calories. If you take in more than that, you gain fat. If you take in less than that you lose weight. Finding your regular caloric need is key and how I have been able to stay comfortably at ~210lbs. Many people will just increase the amount of physical activity to offset a junk diet. I feel that both diet and exercise combined are more beneficial. That way, you don't have to exercise all the time. I'm planning to make a run at 200 as it is where my final goal rests. Got down to 206 before the holidays last year. For me, 5lb increment goals worked extremely well. Get down 5 and make sure you can stay there, then set goal for additional 5. I lost it more slowly than most want to, but it has not returned and is not going to.

Best of luck. When/if you make the decision, time is the only remaining factor. I should mention that I kicked a 21 year, pack a day habit at the same time that I stared to shed weight. Anything's possible man...if you want it. What better reason is there to expend effort towards than your own wellbeing?

Yeah, I'm trying to change what I eat every day as a matter of course, not a temporary diet. I already don't drink pop with sugar and don't eat much sweets. Biggest problem with my eating is I simply eat too much!
 
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