Wednesday Weigh-In March 18, 2009
Extreme diets do NOT work
The thing about having a weight loss blog is that we get ALL sorts of spam, email and ad pitches from people who want to sell to our readers. Most of this crap is well recognized diet pills and diet programs.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people still believe in an easy fix for weight loss. How many of you trust advertisements or so-called “health blogs” which are sponsored by phony product pushers.
I don’t know about you, but my alarm starts ringing the minute I see small print or hear an voice over speed up in an advertisement.
Usually it goes something like this:
Warning: This product has not been reviewed by the FDA and in some cases, has been known to cause bleeding, loss of appetite, increased appetite, erectile dysfunction, excessive body hair, glowing pustules, irregular bowel movements and the occasional exploding stomach which sometimes causes instant death.
Yet, people continue to buy into these things.
Part of it a naive belief that that companies won’t risk getting into trouble by selling bad products.
You’d be wrong. Possibly even dead wrong.
Here’s the thing, and I’m far too lazy/tired to go digging up the backup facts to support this (bad journalist!), these snake oil salesmen will ALWAYS come out ahead! They sell soooooo much crap, that even the slap-on-the-wrist fines and court settlements for the “few people who die” is pocket change compared to what they take in from the desperate and uninformed.
And even if a company is forced out of business, they can simply START A NEW COMPANY and do the same thing all over again until they get busted. Again. It is an endless cycle of scams. The plans might be different, the pills/supplements might be different, but the game is ALWAYS the same. And you will ALWAYS lose.
For 99.98888% of people (a stat I’m pulling out of thin air) there is no magic formula, no “secret” plan. No magic juice from countries you never heard of.
It’s ALL CRAP!
You must simply eat less than you burn. Only then can you lose weight the correct way.
Sure, you can try the quick fixes and sometimes they will work temporarily, but usually the fat comes back because you never changed the habits which caused you to gain weight to begin with. Yes, I realize that some people have physical conditions which either keep them fat or prevent them from losing weight. This blog post is not directed at them. They should consult with real health professionals to determine their best course of option.
As for the rest of us, I believe the solution is quite simple. It’s just not the one we want to hear. It’s not pretty, flashy or easily attainable in exchange for cash.
It’s hard work.
My brother has lost a significant amount of weight, more than 100 pounds on two occasions in his life. Both involved very simple methods – eating less and moving more. Just doing it day after day. It’s that simple.
And that hard.
Now, for the weekly Wednesday Weigh-In
Tara Cain
I seem to have successfully cut out the crap from my diet (not a single biscuit, cake, chocolate bar has tempted me), but truth be told I’ve just replaced it with another comfort food this week - bread.
Yesterday was the worst when I had toast for breakfast, crusty rolls for lunch, a bagel for a snack and for tea I had homemade bread with my meal.
So this week I am looking for alternatives. I’m afraid I can’t have a bowl of soup without bread to dunk in it, or scrambled egg without some toast to have it perch on so I’m trying to steer away from those things.
I’ve started having omelettes and fritattas for lunch and supplementing it with fruit in the day, but it’s getting BORING.
Any ideas folks?
The stats:
- Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
- Goal weight: 140 lbs.
- Weight last week: 162 lbs.
- Weight today: 162lbs
- Amount lost this week: 0lb
David Wright
Last week was a continuation of the sick bug in my house. Finally, everybody is healthy! Though I am a bit wiped out.
Let’s hope everybody stays well so I can get back on track here.
Small change this week. I lost one pound.
The stats: David Wright
- Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
- Goal weight: 250 lbs.
- Weight last week: 329 lbs.
- Weight today: 328 lbs.
- Amount gained this week: 1 lbs.
- Total lost since Nov. 19: 22 pounds
Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.
If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.
See you downstairs in the comments – and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.
Update
As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.
Thank you!
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18 Responses to “Wednesday Weigh-In March 18, 2009”
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If you dare to try one of these recipes, I am sure you will end up loosing a lot of weight (you can’t seriously eat any of these, I assume…). And burn a lot of calories, too, because you will be busy picking yourself up from the floor thanks to falling over with laughter.
http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html
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Fat Loss Chronicles Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 10:47 am
That was TOO funny! Thanks for sharing. I needed that.
Fat Loss Chronicles’s last blog post..HCG Diet (Day 21)
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Tara Cain Reply:
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:56 am
Cabbage casserole? Chilled celery log? ** Shiver** me thinks not! I’d rather snack on a packet of Twiglets . . . bleurgh
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Hello! I’m back. Last week I was renovating the Lair, so check it out if you haven’t already. It’s real purh-ty! *smile*
Dave – hard work, and small incremental but lasting changes. Good rant!
Tara – I go for the bakery heavy duty seed, nuts, grains bread. Very yummy, but very filling. I only need a small slice to feel satisfied. Also, I have a super duper recipe for bran muffins if you like. It makes a huge bin of batter which you keep in the fridge and just scoop and cook as needed. They are my regular muffins. Get it? *grin*
Alright, details are on my comment luv post, but here is the executive summary:
26 consecutive push ups! More than 1/4 way to my 100 push up goal.
Which means I promised to take measurements again. Weight remains stable BUT in total have lost 1.5 inches from chest, 2.75 inches from waist, and 2 inches from hips. WOOT!
Now training for half marathon. Miles logged to date – 7
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Avlor Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Wow! you have to let us know more about the half marathon!
Avlor’s last blog post..Wii Fit and Blog to Fit Update #17
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David Wright Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Hey, the site looks nice!
Congrats on the progress! If Fowler was here, he’d probably mourn the loss from your chest inches, of course
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I was offered some diet pills by my doctor! He gave me a daily calorie goal to shoot for (1200) and said the pills would help the hunger for a while, but that they only work for a few weeks, and that they were expensive. I passed.
turfdad’s last blog post..Wednesday Weigh In Week 16
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David Wright Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Hang around any doctor’s office long enough and you’ll likely see an attractive young woman (sometimes men) stroll in with a rolling suitcase which looks like something you’d usually see a flight attendant pushing. There are the pharmaceutical sales people who press doctors to push THEIR pills on patients. Oftentimes they have incentives for doctors (gifts or bribes, if you will) to push these pills.
These drug pushers are especially good at pushing doctors to TAKE YOU OFF OF a pill that is about to go generic (and therefore cost much less money) and PUT YOU ON a NEW PILL “which works EVEN BETTER” (and of course, costs more money).
It’s a damned scam, and in my opinion, doctors should pay more attention to their patients needs than those of the drug reps.
Good for you on turning down the magic pills.
/end of rant
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I’m currently doing one of those “extreme diets”. LOL. I’m being the guinea pig so that others who want to try this diet will see exactly what it does.
So far, I’m still skeptical. But to be quite frank, my skepticism is starting to wear off a bit. I’m actually surprised by the results. (You can see more of what I’m talking about on my blog Fat Loss Chronicles. I’m still a skeptic at heart, and will refrain from making any definite conclusions until I’m finished with this HCG diet.
But I *can* tell you that my body fat has dropped. That’s more important to me than weight loss. In fact, as of today, it has dropped 2%.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the long term.
Tara– my suggestion to you is to cut out ALL carbs, unless they come from fruits or veggies. You have a carb addiction, and if you cut out sugars, your body will crave fast energy from other sources (i.e. breads, rice, etc.). Cutting out carbs is HARD (sheesh… I even dreamed about eating bread for awhile). But, like any other addiction, you need to make a clean break from it to get it out of your system. During the carb break, make sure to eat protein with every meal, and even snacks (a piece of cheese is great). Your body needs fats and proteins to feel full, keep your blood sugar even, and to get you to stop craving carbs for energy.
When I took your no sugar challenge, I knew myself well enough that I also had to cut out starchy carbs at the same time. Otherwise, I would just substitute one for the other. So not only have I avoided sugar, I have also not eaten ANY bread, rice, corn, peas, etc. It’s freaking HARD. But I’m feeling MUCH better right now.
The other nice thing about this is when I add bread back in, I can see if I have a reaction to wheat/gluten.
Current Stats:
Starting weight, Wed. Feb. 25, 2009: 185.4 lbs.
Goal weight: 155 lbs.
Weight last week: 171.4 lbs.
Weight today: 170.4 lbs.
Amount lost this week: 1.0 lbs.
And a new stat:
Body fat percentage last week: 37.7
Body fat percentage this week: 35.7
This fad diet is obviously doing *something*. LOL!
Fat Loss Chronicles’s last blog post..HCG Diet (Day 21)
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Tara Cain Reply:
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:59 am
It will be really interesting to see how you go.
There is no way I could cut out all carbs. I would just crave them and then get miserable and then make my husband’s life miserable and then I’d dream about hot bread and then I’d be one step away from madness.
I have cut it right back. I’ve stopped having any carbs at one meal a day and cut back the amount I do have at meals. Because I would happily just eat hot bread and butter as a meal given half the chance.!
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Tara: Seeds and nuts are a good filling snack.
Dave: May you and your family stay well now for a good long time!
Turfdad: Good for you turning down the diet pills.
I finally got over the 160s hump! I took a while. (now to not go back…) Down 1.5 lbs.
Avlor’s last blog post..Wii Fit and Blog to Fit Update #17
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Tara Cain Reply:
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:02 am
Woo hoo, well done Avlor for breaking that barrier. Keep up the good work now, don’t get feeling all smug and ‘treating’ yourself to a box of chocolate fingers (or is that just me?)
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Avlor Reply:
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:11 am
Well, I did have a few chocolate chip cookies. (Made some to go with dinner for a grieving family.) I couldn’t give ALL the cookies away!
Avlor’s last blog post..Bento with what you have: furikake and mayo container
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A drive by post for now, I will come back…Down 4 pounds and I just left the Dr.’s office…. very excited about that…also got a prescription for Metformin because I failed to lose the 40 pounds by now – I just made some Pharmaceutical rep more money and if I don’t get off it now in the next quarter of the year (by losing 40 pounds) I will lose my health insurance. So I also feel sad and a sense of failure. The torn muscle is very localized pain now and that is such a relief.
Thank you David for the good rant…as a person who just lost $78.84 to the Total Cleanse/Acai Berry scam , I wish I had read this earlier….
Tara I have some good ideas about the bread saturation/ substitution problems, but in the mean time switch to a dry bread/flat bread like Wasa Brod – if you have it Rye….I will go look them up….bread and sugar are connected in Serotonin receptors in the brain…after working with people who have fasted for 3 or 4 months….this can be a problem…the brain wants that sugar…. B vitamins (which are water soluble and need to be replaced daily) were what we used at the Hospital when someone was craving bread after fasting….the Naturopath gave folks shots…full spectrum B. This is a common response to giving up sugar.
Urban Panther you site is lovely. I will get there but my email went down again yesterday and I am having to get around to everyone by linking and reset up my reader again…
Patricia’s last blog post..Announcing a Writing Contest – With a Financial Incentive!
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Tara Cain Reply:
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:07 am
Oo, haven’t heard of Wasa Brod but can get my hands on Rye bread. Willing to give anything a try – and what you say about craving it makes real sense.
Many thanks for that Patricia.
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Okay, I did it. I went a whole week without eating one of my mega-chocolate bars as an afternoon treat. However, much like Tara, I did some substituting that probably kept me from seeing dramatic results. Nonetheless, I’m rather pleased that I stayed off the chocolate AND that I wasn’t tempted to buy some to have in the house “just in case.” My next goal is to cut down on the substitutes. I did lose 1 lb. this week so I’m somewhat encouraged, even though I would have hoped for more.
Starting weight – 132
Current weight – 131
Goal weight – 120 (but 125 is more realistic)
Thanks again guys for the motivation to finally kick the over-the-top chocolate habit.
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Tara Cain Reply:
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:09 am
Wow good for you Susan! That’s brilliant.
It’s these small changes that are going to make all the difference in the long run, I’m convinced of it.
Plus I’ve found now that after 3 weeks, I’m not really missing chocolate all that much. Sure I could eat some, but I’m not my usual slavering beast who MUST HAVE A BAR OF CHOC TO GET BY!
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I only made it to the gym 5 days instead of my usual 6 out of 7. I’m down another 1.8 lbs for a total of 16.6 lbs since the beginning of November.
I’m NOT dieting, though I am staying away from high calorie snacks. My normal meals are two packages of granola bars for breakfast, ramen noodles for lunch unless there are some leftovers, and a goodly portion of whatever Karen fixes for supper. The only things I am snacking on are trail mix — a mixture of a variety of nuts plus raisins and M&Ms — and popcorn.
Since I’m not dieting, I’m working on the other side of the equation. Taking today for example, I spent 2 hours working out at the gym this morning — 65 minutes on the elliptical machine, 30 minutes on the stair-stepper and the rest walking the indoor track, for just over 1600 calories according to my heart monitor. Then at home, I worked on building storage shelving in the second floor of my shop — more stairs and more sweat.
I figure if my weight loss hits a plateau, then I’ll start thinking about dieting.
Mike Goad’s last blog post..Wednesday Weigh-In – March 18, 2009
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