Tree Trimming

Submitted by Tree on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 10:09am

I started going to a 12 week nutrition & weight control class on Wednesday nights. Just had my 3rd meeting, I’ve lost 14 pounds.

My Brother had lost 25 pounds in the previous session and was going back for another round. He also convinced a 400-plus pound buddy of his to join.

$25 class fee, but the top 3 "losers" win cash. $300, $180, and $150. I’m doing it because I need to lose the weight, but the cash is an incentive.

The first week we weighed in, talked a lot about protein in the diet and that was about it. I followed their advice that first week, came in the second week to find I’d lost 13 pounds. They hooked us up to some machine that reads your body-mass index, and the results were supposed to tell us things like, how many calories we burn in a resting state, how many calories we should eat, and how many grams of protein we need in our daily diet to fuel our metabolism and promote weight loss. When I got my numbers, I was skeptical. They suggested that at a resting state, my body burns well over 3000 calories a day. My diet plan called for taking in 2200 calories, and consuming 150 grams of protein every day. They suggested 5 protein heavy meals every day.

That sounded like way too much to me. Sounded like they were just making crap up, so…

For week 2, I was pretty strict. (Except for Friday beers…) I ate less than I’d done the first week, made sure I ate plenty of protein and fresh veggies. No fast food, very little sugar or breads, and I drank about a gallon of water every day. Definitely ate less than I’d done that first week. Really expected some good results, but…

I only lost 1 pound.

Now that’s better than nothing, definitely better than gaining (which I’ve been doing steadily for a long time now) but really? A friggin’ pound? I really tried hard that week! I knew I couldn’t expect anything like that first week, since at least half of that was water weight from cutting back on sodium, but I still expected more than a pound!

When we talked about our diets for that previous week, I was told that I hadn’t eaten nearly enough. I’d heard that when you don’t eat enough, you go into "starvation mode" and your body hangs onto everything longer, but I wasn’t staving. Wasn’t even hungry most of the time.

Anyway, I’m going to play by their rules this week. 5 meals a day, loads of protein. Going to step up the bike riding a bit and might even take that new medicine ball out of it’s box. Anybody wanna play catch? I’ll let you know how things go next week.

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I, too, have fond that when i try to actually follow something like, say, the Dash Diet (which was developed by the american Heart Association or somethin’ like that), I am NEVER OVERLY-HUNGRY and I actually do lose weight….exercise, of course, helps too, but it’s crazy when you just follow nutritional guidelines instead of "a diet plan." It’s a LOT of food that you’re expected to eat every day, it’s just that it’s all food that’s actually good for you. Fruits, veg, whole grains, low-fat, etc.

The whole cutting back on carbs and sugars is the hard part for me. I didn’t know that going so protein-heavy was good. hmn! Maybe I need to reconfigure my half-assed planning!

now you got me thinking. I should probably start doing a food log again. That helps me keep track and stay on board. Just a way of marking down how many servings from each group you get each day. when you start focusing on making sure you fill all of those, suddenly some of the candy cravings go away because you’re so full of other stuff that actually fuels you…

That sounds fabulous! Because I know that I’m a very special case, and the regular rules don’t apply to me, and such a machine could totally prove it.

But yeah, the only thing that ever worked for me was the food journal. Oddly, the first step is not eating while standing. You THINK you never eat while you’re standing up, but the problem is that you do eat, and don’t remember it. Try it. It’s tricky. In fact, just now I went to a co-worker lunch thingy with cake, and I totally stood around a conference room and ate crappy walmart cake, and will try and block it out later with the whole delusion, "Oh, you deserve a treat! It’s been quite a while since you’ve had one!"

Now THAT’S positive feedback. Tree, this is great — I’m happy for you. I bet at the end of that first week you felt a lot better than usual, huh? I notice a huge difference when I go off H’s wheat-and-dairy-restricted diet (we’re all pretty much eating that way, because well, I don’t run a short-order kitchen). A few times a year I make sweet forbidden love to some pasta, and I end up with, like, a wheat hangover. I feel like shite for the next 12-24 hours, yet I still crave more. Fuckin’ crackers, man. That ain’t Taco puttin’ on the Ritz — it’s Satan. Best of luck and lots of support being sent your way, Tree! I hope you’ll keep us updated.

I’m impressed. I’ve stayed about the same for a long time now, which is good and better than adding pounds! I did find online a free calorie counter thing, but mostly I think it’s good for logging down what you ate. It’s free, but so is writing your food down on a sheet of paper. Eh.

are you sure they weren’t Scientologists? You should be in the clear.

Good job on losing so much. get a stationary bike and ride it during Sanford & Son re-runs, that’s all the advice I have for you.

Lost just under 2 pounds this week. Not bad I guess, considering the week got off to a rocky start and I sort of expected to have gained a pound or two.

I was a little disheartened after dropping just 1 pound last week and I went on a minor binge of chips and chocolate that night. On Thursday, while waiting for Treela’s plane to land, I broke my fast food fast and had a Wendy’s single w/cheese and a side salad. I was, however, in Indiana at the time, and it’s well known that out-of-state food doesn’t count.

Had some big Friday beers, but wisely chose chicken & fruit instead of what I really wanted, (the Cheddar Ale soup in a bread bowl with a bucket of mashed potatoes on the side.)

Then I really did it. We took the Grandson to the county fair on Saturday and I had one of them big Italian sausage sandwiches with the peppers and onions and a couple of giant onion rings.

Side note about the fair: while checking out the soon-to-be burgers and nuggets, my Grandson suddenly yelled "Yuck Grandpa, poop!" I turned to see that a calf had pooped a perfect pile of fertilific beef marinade right in the middle of the back of another calf that was lying next to him. (Her?) I mean it was perfect! I couldn’t have placed it there any better. Treela, Tree Jr and I laughed but Grandson was disgusted. I know he was because he said "That’s dee-kusting!"

For the rest of our trip he was the poop police, pointing out the soiled backside of every browned cow he saw, and there were a lot of them. I wonder if that’s because they were penned up and couldn’t sort of, walk away from it as it fell? Must check free-range cow quarter panels and complete my investigation.

Anyway, that was pretty all the "cheating" I did this week. Got back in the groove on Sunday, went for a couple of walks, and actually took that new medicine ball for a test drive. Already off to a better start this week, so I’m still in the game!

Good work! I suspect that, like you say, a lot of the first week’s massive loss was water weight. Us ladies know a lot about that stuff—kind of comforting to know that men have some degree of it as well. A pound or two a week is a safe, steady way to go and damned admirable, sir. I’ve given up weighing myself every day because it is too frustrating. I think I should start doing it weekly instead to get a more solid gauge of what’s happening in the big picture. I’ve been good and bad and good as well. But not as bad as the inter-pooping cows. Dee-KUSTING!

Dropped 4 pounds this week. Been riding my bike a lot, and I started doing "sit ups" every morning. Seems to be paying off.

This may be a tough week though, what with all the grilling and drinking that traditionally comes with a 3-day weekend.

Maybe I’ll watch the telethon. Dixieland and tap-dancing seems to curb my appetite.

What good is being all Slim Goodbody and stuff if you can’t have any fun? I don’t want to live to be 100 if I can’t have beer and brie in my life. I know this is not news to anybody, but sometimes it bears repeating: Too much dietary restriction usually backfires, usually in the form of (not even enjoyable) bingeing, and it is really more fun and more healthy to just ease up on your sweet self and have that third brat and BOTH kinds of potato salad at the cookout. Sorry if I sound preachy and obnoxious — I really don’t mean to. I just want you, Tree, to be happy, not just healthy, and not feel like you done bad or be too hard on yourself. You are doing really well.

Agreed. I’m really just making better choices…most of the time. It’s been 1 month since I had a fast-food breakfast!

Cutting back hasn’t been all that hard. It’s amazing how much good food I can eat and still drop a pound or two every week.

The class is motivating, and so is this thread. I sort of look forward to being able to give a positive report.

I like to stuff face with food. And I know all sorts of food tastes good. Not just the easy-greazy stuff. I figure any reduction is good for me. And I don’t beat myself up too badly when I do Hamburgle or BK Broil. I’ve read that it’s not good to deny your cravings entirely, but satisfy them in small amounts.

But then, too, I’ve read “Al Walls sucks my balls,” written on the stall in my high school toilet.

Just know that I’m with you 100%, you Ponderosa Pine, you!

At our first meeting, 5 weeks ago, we not only weighed in, but they took measurements. Chest, belly, legs, arms… like that.

Yesterday was (approximately) our half-way mark, so we weighed in and were measured again. The measurement thing is strange. I mean, they could measure in more (or fewer) places, and that would give different results, right? Whatever.

They said that I’ve lost a total of 18 1/2 inches. Mostly in my chest and belly, but some in my neck and upper arms. Legs stayed exactly the same, but I never had fat legs anyway. Although I’ve gone in a notch or so on my belt, I mostly notice the difference in my boobies.

I dropped another 2 pounds this week, bringing my 5-week weight loss total to 21.5 pounds. 2 pounds this week was fantastic considering that Treela and I went to Mackinac Island this past weekend, where fudge samples are handed out every 20 paces. I splurged a bit, buffalo burger and steak fries at the brewery in Gaylord, sampled fudge, taffy, peanut brittle, even had a Culver’s burger for breakfast Sunday morning. But I’ve stepped up the cycling, started doing crunches twice a day, and other than during our northern overnight, I’ve stayed very focused on eating healthy foods.

See you next week!

That’s GREAT, Tree! And you did have to walk to get to all those fudge samples—I’m sure that evens it out. I’m so happy for you that I’m not even going to make a stupid "18-inches" size joke. I’ll leave that to you. (And how was the trip? It sounds good — and delicious!)

Trip was great! I surprised Treela, she had no idea we were leaving until I woke her up, then had no idea where we were going until about an hour before we got there. More to the story, but I’ll let her tell ya when she sees ya.

Went to a Tuesday class this week instead of Wednesday.

This week’s discussion was about eating at restaurants.

Discussed some chain restaurant menus, learned about some of the best and worst choices on those menus.

Not sure if it’s true, but they said, for example, that Ruby Tuesdays soaks their mushrooms in butter overnight.

Couple of worst choices:

At Chilis, it’s the deep fried onion appetizer, (duh…) however at Outback Steakhouse it is NOT the Bloomin’ Onion, but only because they offer what was considered the "worst menu choice in America" by Men’s Health magazine; the Aussie Cheese Fries. Nearly 3000 calories of heart-stopping goodness!

All the good choices were, like, baked fish, shrimp dishes, grilled chicken…exactly what you’d expect I guess.

But that’s enough about "not me."

I lost 3.5 pounds this week, bringing my 6 week weight loss total to 25 pounds.

Also, I mentioned before that I’ve been doing sit-ups. Been doing those for about 3 weeks now.

I’d been doing 25, once or twice a day. Actually "crunching" twice for every "crunch."

You know, right elbow to left knee, then left elbow to right knee…count that as one.

Anyway, 2 things have changed there. 25 has gotten pretty easy, so I’m doing 30 or 35 now, depending on how tired I get.

But the BIG change is that I can actually touch my elbows to my knees now! That just started a few days ago.

Just want to add that, I like posting my results here, but not for the "atta boys." It’s something I’m doing to keep myself in check, I guess.

Just like with the classes, knowing that others might be peeking at the results helps me. So thank you.

See you next week!

Damn Tree you rule! Great work my friend. We need to go for a bike ride soon…

Stop him before Tree becomes Twiggy!

..cuz dammit, ATTABOY! Holy crap, man! Nice work!

[quote=dingey]

…garner "attaboys"

[/quote]

Maverick was the only Garner…I…um…he went into space with Dirty Harry in that movie…um…

RAMONES!

aka "You Don’t Need to Take Your Bladder Control Pills in Space".

aka "In Space, No One Can See You Piss".

I really WASN’T ready for that!

Or is it just me?

Lost 5.5 pounds this week. Never expected that, thought 2, maybe.

(Was only able to get a couple of decent bike rides in, mostly because of the weather.)

Ate a little more this week, which seems to confirm the "fuel your metabolism" theory.

Class focused on fiber. Eat fiber. Fiber binds with some fats and helps get them out before they digest. Fiber cleans your colon and allows it to better absorb nutrients. Fiber binds with water and makes you feel full. Fiber slows your body’s absorption of glucose and can help control diabetes.

GO FIBER!

Congratulations again, skinny!

WHOLE GRAINS FIBERLICIOUS! I have been learning more about them and going to the Food Co-OP and buying things like brown rice, barley, etc.

Try this! It makes way too much, but I think you could adjust the recipe to half and use a smaller pot with the same water measurement description….

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/grandmas-grain-recipe.html

I used it as a dinner side dish and as a breakfast treat (with dried fruit and a few nuts..mmmmmmm)

By the way, you’re inspiring me to get my heinie back in gear. I went great guns on the nutrition/exercise thing for a while, then have been REALLY LAME lately. And I FEEL it. Time to lose some damned water weight.

Sincerely,

Bloatalina

Almost forgot. Lost 1.5 pounds this week.

I’m pleased with that, considering all the UFO beers I drunked last weekend. Plus, I had fast food on my way home both nights. Expecting to reach a big milestone this week. (4 turkeys?)

Down another 4.5 pounds. I think that’s a total of 36.5 so far.

Only a few weeks left, but I think I’m going to sign up for a second round. I’ve learned a lot from the classes, and the contest aspect of it has been fun and motivating. Feeling pretty good, clothes fit better, and my penis-to-belly ratio has improved significantly!

That’s a lot of weight! Two thumbs up.

overheard on the intercom at Meijer during all holidays, "Trim-A-Tree department, call SIX SIX SIX".

Lost 3 pounds last week. Actually, that was last Wednesday’s weigh in. This Wednesday is the last meeting. Don’t think I’m gonna take first place, but I’m pretty sure second place is mine. I’ll let you know soon, ‘cause I know you’re all on pins and needles.

do it! Totally rooting for you tomorrow. Take 5 shits tomorrow and spit out your saliva like a high school wrestler!

Final results last night.

Having lost 40.5 pounds in 11 weeks, I came in second place in "percentage of body weight lost," and won $180.00 cash money.

Celebrated this morning with a chocolate covered donut.

I’ll be starting a new session next Wednesday, and I’ll return to this thread in 10 weeks with those results.

Thanks for playing along at home,

Otis

Congratulations, man! That is super-impressive. And you look good, too! 40 lbs?! WTF?! That’s ASTOUNDING!

i have gotta get off my ass and back onto the healthy-living, exercise pony.

Anybody know of the whereabouts of a reasonably-priced, very basic treadmill? I’d kinda like to get one. Figure I’ll start looking on Craig’s list and the used Catholic store….Sometimes it’s unrealistic/extremely difficult for me to walk to work in the wintertime because of the unplowed nature of my neighborhood. I guess I could buy me some 8-buckle Arctics and really get into the trompin groove….

Do they offer any of these "sessions" in kalamazoo?

Tree- That is very inpressive and inspiring! I have loved following your progress with this and hope you keep writing about it every week. I especially like when you include the info about nutrition they are giving you and your impressions about how the changes you adopt are making you feel.

Dingey- I have a treadmill that you can have. I bought it new a few years ago and used it A LOT the first two years, but now only use it a few times a year. I stopped exercising regularly, mainly because the dietary changes I made calmed me down a lot and took away most of my crankiness, so I am no longer motivated to exercise for that adrenaline rush to get happy. I am not saying it is a good thing that I stopped exercising… it is just a fact. The treadmill is pretty nice. It works well. It is a Schwinn, and has the ability to incline, give you your heart rate, and other things I can’t remember because I hardly use the thing. The only drawback is it is pretty big. Let me know if you are interested!

Made of fat.

You so crazy! I suspect that we will gladly take you up on that offer. Does it have "foldaway" options, by any chance? Even if not, I’m thinking a totally nice free treadmill is way better than one FROM A STRAYNGER!

STRAYNGER DAYNGER!

Also, ARthur made me bark with laughter at an inappropriate time.

It folds, but not really away. It still looks like a giant black monolith. You can come over and see it, try it out, whatever you want. You can take it, and if you don’t like it, bring it back. Or you can leave it here and say, "No way do I want that thing!"

you are so nice. We were just talking about hauling stuff out to the curb for large garbage day, so maybe once we remove a destroyed chair and couch this weekend, we could arrange a time to come on by! YAY! thank you so much for the offer!

Is there some significance to the number of dollars in $180, like, “you did a 180, congratulations!”?

Really, that’s sweet! Today, I watched my pseudo-polo’d torso bounce up and down in the reflection of the plexiglass shield on the underside of a work handrail and felt kinda sad. Perhaps it’s the wardrobe depressing me as much as the state of the ward. Maybe you should tell me where you clothes-shop instead?

That’s just how it worked out. There was $600 in "the pool." First place won $300. $180 for second, $120 for third.

A lady came up to me at work yesterday, commenting that I look "a lot younger." (I shaved my very grey beard off this week…)

She said, "You look like you’re 40!" I said that was good, since I’m only 43. She laughed and said "yeah, right…"

Thanks, Lady!

Ignore the back-hand, and accept the compliment. Someone asked me if a huge yellow stripe of hair on the back of my head was "natural" the other day. I would have made them feel better with a "yes" if I could have thought of the backstory fast enough. Now I know I should have said, "Head injury". Anyway, you can tell her you’re like Gary Coleman, only the opposite, so you’re only 19, actually. And then snort, sniff, and sigh.

Alright, I’m going to keep this going.

Why? Because Nancy asked me to.

And to tell the truth, I haven’t done as well since I stopped!

(Plus it wouldn’t feel right to report all the good stuff and none of the bad.)

Last week was the first week of the new session. I weighed exactly the same as I did the week before.

That didn’t bug me, really. I’d planned all along to sort of splurge after that final weigh in. And I did. Not that I gorged myself or anything, but I did have fast food a few times. Ate some late-night pizza, drank a few more beers than I had been, and I definitely took in more sodium than I needed.

Frankly, it made me feel real crappy. I mean, I enjoyed it, but after just a couple of days I started feeling run down and bloated.

And you know what? Even though I’ve seen what eating right can do for me, I’m still having a hard time getting back into the groove. This past weekend was a total bust. Beer, party food, late night standing-in-the-kitchen hunting for something that’s going to slow the flow of beer-to-bloodstream…"What’s that in there? HURRAY! PAPA JOHN’S CHEESY BREADSTICKS!" (Foolish children, thinking they’d have leftovers for lunch…)

Evenings have been kind of tough for the past week. I’m good at work, but the family has been gone a lot, and I’ve been eating out of boredom.

I’m still MOSTLY making better choices than before I started, but I’ve been making MORE choices. Peanut butter, for example, is great in small doses. High in protein, the flavor lasts, makes you feel full, but it sure has a lot of calories. You really shouldn’t eat a lot if you want to lose weight. Unfortunately, I’ve been hitting the Extra Crunch Jiff pretty hard. Also just realized that I’m not drinking nearly as much water as I had been right up until a couple of weeks ago.

So, I’m going to get back at it. More water, more protein, more sleep. Going to take it easy on the peanut butter, and try to get that sodium back under control. I weigh in tomorrow, and good or bad, I’ll post my results here on Thursday.

why IS it so hard to get back on the wagon when you’ve fallen off, even though you can actually feel the crappy effects on your system? I’m back to exercising every day and TRYING to get my food habits back under control. That, for me, is way harder than exercising. Do okay at meals (well, except for this weekend). It’s the in-between binging that does me in. Hmph! Gotta stop keeping ANYTHING deletriously snackable in the house, I guess. Waaaaaaah.

Good luck, Tree! I know you can trim trim trim, yo! Lumberjacks got nothin’ on YOU!

It’s great that you are so far along the path that you get that icky feeling when you’ve veered toward the nutritional dark side. Your own body will keep you in check even when your appetites don’t. And, goddamn congratulations, man! I’m happy for you.

Sometimes it is jumpstarting the exercise. I have been riding the new Kal-Haven trail (Metro to caboose) quite a bit since mid-August. Knocked about 20 points off my average blood sugar. I had an A1C today that was 6.0 which is the lowest it has been since before I went on medication. Still eating too much crap though and of course beer and haven’t lost much weight (maybe 3-5 lbs.). I feel more solid though and the feeling of completing a nice bike ride just can’t be beat. So Tree and Dingey just remember that every day is a new day and any day can be the start of something great.

Lost half a pound. Better’n a kick in the head, huh?

I was pretty much back on track by Monday, but I really owe it to that *second crap I took yesterday.

*AKA "Witches Shit" -Ed.

****************************************************

PS. PLEASE help me get "witches shit" into our national lexicon. "Say it when you play it." I want to be remembered for something.

You can count on me.

Goddamn Eatin’ Season! It’s open and I’m going to town on an expired license!

Sunday night, an entire container of Ben and Jerry’s Fudgy Chocolate Fudge with Packed Fudge.

And then there’s been the Obama pizza. If I don’t eat delivered pizza three days out of the week, then Obama might lose. Don’t ask.

"I ate it. Sunday night, an entire container of Ben and Jerry’s Fudgy Chocolate Fudge with Packed Fudge.

And then there’s been the Obama pizza. If I don’t eat delivered pizza three days out of the week, then Obama might lose. Don’t ask."

Arthur, you sound like one of them deadbeat, hippie, no-good-niks all high on the grass. The bums lost, Arthur.

Sailin for Palin in ‘12

Tree Trimming

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