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General => General Discussion & Topics => General Discussion => Topic started by: Wingman on June 17, 2014, 12:17:43 PM

Title: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: Wingman on June 17, 2014, 12:17:43 PM
I watched with interest Spuds juice diet posts.  He did an amazing job, but there is no way I could do that diet.  For one, it requires willpower and a juicer and I have neither.  I do want to lose weight though, so I looked around online a bit and found something that is working for me.  It’s a very popular, free application for smartphones and PC’s called MyFitnessPal.  Loaded onto your devices they will sync so your entries will show up on all of them.  You can track lots of nutritional info although I use it only for calorie counting.  The key to its success is a huge data base of foods (user entered) so it’s quick and easy to find your food’s calories, or you can also enter your own.  The learning curve is relatively small so you can be using it within minutes of downloading.
So I eat all the foods that I like, just less of them.  That’s a diet I can handle.  One benefit from this method is the forced nutritional awareness to what one eats.  I had no idea about some of the foods that we consume.  I never knew that a tablespoon of Helmanns mayo was 90 calories or that the ham I normally eat is only 35 calories per ounce.  I can have a ham and egg breakfast for about 350 calories.
Anyway, I have lost 15 pounds and my honey lost 11 in 35 days without once being hangry so if you are thinking about this sort of thing you might want to check out MyFitnessPal.
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: Las Vegan Cajun on June 17, 2014, 12:44:11 PM
I have used MFP and it is a great tool for tracking food/calories.  Then I discovered <a href="https://www.fitbit.com/flex">Fitbit</a> and have been using it over the past several months.  This device, you wear on your wrist will track all your daily activity like calories burned and steps/miles walked.  It also has a database of foods that you can log what you eat and it will compare your calories in vs calories out so you can see your progress or lack of on a daily basis.   It will also monitor how well you sleep, good quality sleep is essential to weight management as well as what we eat and how active we are.
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: spuds on June 17, 2014, 05:03:48 PM
I watched with interest Spuds juice diet posts.  He did an amazing job, but there is no way I could do that diet.  For one, it requires willpower and a juicer and I have neither.  I do want to lose weight though, so I looked around online a bit and found something that is working for me.  It’s a very popular, free application for smartphones and PC’s called MyFitnessPal.  Loaded onto your devices they will sync so your entries will show up on all of them.  You can track lots of nutritional info although I use it only for calorie counting.  The key to its success is a huge data base of foods (user entered) so it’s quick and easy to find your food’s calories, or you can also enter your own.  The learning curve is relatively small so you can be using it within minutes of downloading.
So I eat all the foods that I like, just less of them.  That’s a diet I can handle.  One benefit from this method is the forced nutritional awareness to what one eats.  I had no idea about some of the foods that we consume.  I never knew that a tablespoon of Helmanns mayo was 90 calories or that the ham I normally eat is only 35 calories per ounce.  I can have a ham and egg breakfast for about 350 calories.
Anyway, I have lost 15 pounds and my honey lost 11 in 35 days without once being hangry so if you are thinking about this sort of thing you might want to check out MyFitnessPal.
Wingman,first off CONGRATULATIONS!! WELL DONE.

Im an RN and THOUGHT I had a clue about nutrition from what I had been taught,found out when dieting I DIDNT HAVE A CLUE!! ???

The learning experience is tremendous isnt it? Try miracle whip over mayo,IIRC its only 15 cals per tbsp,huge savings,dang tuna or eggsalad is killer cals with mayo.Sauces are HUGE calorie hiding spots.

And bread,a lot is 120 cals a slice,so I cut it back and now only use the absolutely most nutrition filled I can buy,dont need hollow cals.

For those without an app,try this for cals.Just type in any food,hit the green magnifying lens and its all there.

http://caloriecount.about.com/flog/
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: Jaxon on June 17, 2014, 06:24:07 PM


Anyway, I have lost 15 pounds and my honey lost 11 in 35 days without once being hangry

When my friend goes on a diet, I don't want to be around him because he, too, gets "hangry"...hungry and angry.

just sayin'...              8)
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: spuds on June 17, 2014, 07:07:52 PM


Anyway, I have lost 15 pounds and my honey lost 11 in 35 days without once being hangry

When my friend goes on a diet, I don't want to be around him because he, too, gets "hangry"...hungry and angry.

just sayin'...              8)
;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: Wingman on June 17, 2014, 07:30:49 PM
Try miracle whip over mayo,IIRC its only 15 cals per tbsp,huge savings,dang tuna or eggsalad is killer cals with mayo.


Yep.  It's amazing how many things require mayo.  We settled on Helmanns Light at 35 cal./tbsp as a replacement for the real stuff.  It was acceptable while nothing else was for us.  Something I forgot to mention is that we are also trying to eliminate all processed foods.  We can't do it completely but are doing our best.
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: spuds on June 17, 2014, 08:39:56 PM
Try miracle whip over mayo,IIRC its only 15 cals per tbsp,huge savings,dang tuna or eggsalad is killer cals with mayo.


Yep.  It's amazing how many things require mayo.  We settled on Helmanns Light at 35 cal./tbsp as a replacement for the real stuff.  It was acceptable while nothing else was for us.  Something I forgot to mention is that we are also trying to eliminate all processed foods.  We can't do it completely but are doing our best.
So true,its very hard to drop all processed food.Today I bought whole wheat hamburger buns and it was a major disappointment.Think I will measure my flour,figure cals,then see how many products it makes and see if that gets me any savings,at least its just flour,salt, water and a tiny bit yeast.Gets all the chemistry names out of it.

Thought maybe I could make a harder bun that isnt as thick to cut the hamburger holder down to size,kinda like a crunchy crust?Darn hamburgers get loaded with cals real fast and rather have more meat than flour for essentially same calorie count.

Paleo is very interesting,getting more and more of my attention.Wish more paleos would comment more on what they are doing.HINT HINT!
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: 1Bigg_ER on July 03, 2014, 09:39:35 AM
I do intermittent fasting. It's not really a diet per se, just an easier lifestyle. Skip Breakfast, eat lunch if you feel like, have regular dinner with the family. Once or twice a week when I get busy I just go until dinner. Pretty simple, no fussing with calories, what to eat etc.

I do powerlifting 3 times a week.
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: spuds on July 03, 2014, 10:56:35 AM
Read somewhere recently,think it was in England,where they did a study to find out if fasting was harmful.What they found was a three day water fast your body destroyed your white cells,and replaced them with all new ones.

This had the benefit of giving you a renewed immune system.They were able to replicate the results.It came as quite a shock to the researchers.

Its now being studied in many places as an adjunct to treatment for cancer patients.

Im wondering if this has any correlation with wife having a nasty flu right now,and me being unaffected.Or maybe I just have immunity from having had this strain before.Dont know.Also BIL has same flu and had flu shot,we dont do flu shots,Im all for natural immunities.I dont believe in artificial immunity being superior to,or even equal to,what the body itself can and does do regarding immunities to certain non life threatening diseases.IMO only.I dont knock other folks choices.We all must make our own choices.

Amazes me that these dietary religious mandates have a basis in healthy living.Just what did they know way back when?
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: 1Bigg_ER on July 03, 2014, 11:24:15 AM
Spuds, fasting is my cure for common cold. Once I feel the bug I just fast for a day.
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: spuds on July 03, 2014, 02:43:45 PM
Spuds, fasting is my cure for common cold. Once I feel the bug I just fast for a day.
Amazing,go figure.
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: catinatree on July 12, 2014, 10:00:26 AM
I do intermittent fasting. It's not really a diet per se, just an easier lifestyle. Skip Breakfast, eat lunch if you feel like, have regular dinner with the family. Once or twice a week when I get busy I just go until dinner. Pretty simple, no fussing with calories, what to eat etc.

I do powerlifting 3 times a week.

My approach also .... except the power lifting, I've already lifted too many logs for one life time !
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: Wingman on July 12, 2014, 11:42:44 AM

Anyway, I have lost 15 pounds and my honey lost 11 in 35 days without once being hangry so if you are thinking about this sort of thing you might want to check out MyFitnessPal.

Cat bumped this so I'll take the opportunity to brag a wee bit - 22+ pounds for me and 17+ for my Honey in 62 days. 

It's time to dig out the box marked "Clothes too small - will never wear again"!    ;D
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: spuds on July 12, 2014, 06:53:52 PM

Anyway, I have lost 15 pounds and my honey lost 11 in 35 days without once being hangry so if you are thinking about this sort of thing you might want to check out MyFitnessPal.

Cat bumped this so I'll take the opportunity to brag a wee bit - 22+ pounds for me and 17+ for my Honey in 62 days. 

It's time to dig out the box marked "Clothes too small - will never wear again"!    ;D
AWESOME!!

 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it - MORE BRAG, NO PICS
Post by: Wingman on August 07, 2014, 07:25:49 AM
Last night for dinner I had 5 ounces of rib eye steak, a beautiful garden salad heavy on cukes and tomatoes, sautéed Vidalia onions splashed with 18 yr. old balsamic vinegar, and a glass of wine.  It all fit easily into the 1970 calories I’m allowed each day.  Now the brag part - at 88 days in, I have lost 28 pounds, my wife has lost 21, and we still haven’t been hangry.  This diet is a piece of cake.

This is a great time of the year to diet since fresh produce is starting to show up and veggies right out of the garden are so good as well as low in calories.  Our cukes this year are some of the best we’ve ever had.

As you might imagine my pants no longer fit so I had to search out some old ones from my lighter days.  My wife says I look funny in bell-bottoms.
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: Pam Gould on August 07, 2014, 07:53:02 AM

Anyway, I have lost 15 pounds and my honey lost 11 in 35 days without once being hangry so if you are thinking about this sort of thing you might want to check out MyFitnessPal.

Cat bumped this so I'll take the opportunity to brag a wee bit - 22+ pounds for me and 17+ for my Honey in 62 days. 

It's time to dig out the box marked "Clothes too small - will never wear again"!    ;D
Wingman..tell Mrs. Wingman that if she sews, I do, she can take in her pants to fit nicely, just gotta take them in from the inside seams, not the outside seams, then they do not distort in size. If not..have fun shopping. I had gastric bypass surgery years ago and learned this very valuable trick while/after losing 80 lbs. I finally had to go shopping , but it saved a lot of $$$$ till I got to my size 8/10.  Pam  .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ. 
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: 1Bigg_ER on August 07, 2014, 09:45:19 AM
Another way would be NOT to look at it as a diet. Diets DO NOT work, gotta overhaul lifestyle.
Why do I say that? Because one can not diet forever.
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: Wingman on August 07, 2014, 11:35:28 AM
Wingman..tell Mrs. Wingman that if she sews, I do, she can take in her pants to fit nicely, just gotta take them in from the inside seams, not the outside seams, then they do not distort in size. If not..have fun shopping. I had gastric bypass surgery years ago and learned this very valuable trick while/after losing 80 lbs. I finally had to go shopping , but it saved a lot of $$$$ till I got to my size 8/10.  Pam  .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ.

Pam, oh she sews... two trips to the National Quilt Museum in Paducah in the last 3 years (some of her work) (http://www.deansmiley.com/Gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1358).  She has indicated that she will be taking clothes in.  But we both need new clothes anyway, so as you pointed out, it will be to get us to the end of the diet which I expect will be in 3-4 months.  My goal is 50 pounds.  By then I hope to have achieved an "overhauled lifestyle" as 1Bigg_ER pointed out.  My biggest adjustment will be knowing when to put the fork down; my wife's cooking is so good it's a chore not to eat more.  I mean I struggle with it.  We laugh about it now, but one time after we were first married 43 years ago she served us fried beef shins.  Needless to say, we ended up ordering pizza.
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: spuds on August 15, 2014, 01:53:00 AM
Very good job Wingman,I missed that post,Kudos to you and the Mrs!!!

(http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/1spudster/applause_zps96355cbf.gif) (http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/1spudster/media/applause_zps96355cbf.gif.html)(http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/1spudster/applause_zps96355cbf.gif) (http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/1spudster/media/applause_zps96355cbf.gif.html)
Title: Re: Cool tool for heavyweights… or, you can count on it
Post by: happyappy on July 21, 2016, 11:38:39 AM
Congratulations to all the folks having success fighting personal expansion.  I let myself go for too long and recently dedicated myself to healthier eating and weight reduction.  I'm down just over 20lbs in 5 weeks mostly by cutting out junk food and empty calories.  I use MFP to track my food religiously which really brings home how much more food you can enjoy if you eat smart.

My favorite substitution is zoodles (noodles made from zucchini) for pasta.  Two cups of zoodles have 66 calories, 12 grams of carbs, and 4 grams of fiber compared to 2 cups of traditional pasta with 480 calories, 90 grams of carbs, and 2 grams of fiber.  The kicker for me is I actually like the zoodles better!

The hard part is making these healthy choices a new lifestyle while surrounded by foods that aren't.  BTW...meats cooked on my pellet grill are definitely a healthy choice!