My metabolism slammed on the brakes about a week ago

[Archetype]

I'm a ballooning motherfucker now. How the fuck do you get rid of this? Just gave away a bunch of unhealthy shit and I need to know what food to buy now.

[slucero]

I'm a ballooning motherfucker now. How the fuck do you get rid of this? Just gave away a bunch of unhealthy shit and I need to know what food to buy now.

you should see a doctor... sounds like your thyroid...

[Ehwmatt]

Aren't you in your early to mid 20s? I'm about to turn 26, and I've definitely noticed I have to cut back on certain foods/beer to stay as lean as I was in my early 20s, even working out quite regularly. But it still shouldn't be THAT hard if you're halfway conscientious about it. You shouldn't need to heavily diet or eat only veggies and fruits, but maybe you can have pizza and beer once a week instead of 3 or 4 times a week, for example.

So if you're kinda crossing the threshold from early 20s to mid 20s, maybe you just need to start eating a little better and/or working out more.

[TRAGChick]

...I've definitely noticed I have to cut back on certain foods/beer

Yup...that works. TRUST me.

...maybe you just need to start eating a little better and/or working out more.

I take a Dance Class for 1 hour every week....besides that, I've been unemployed since early January, and have noticed that I've lost weight from being away from the Dunkin' Donuts Breakfast Sandwiches and the work vending machine.

Just little steps...they DO add up...you can do it.

[Archetype]

I'm gonna cut back on the pizza, candy bars, and whole milk. I don't drink a whole lot of beer so that's just going to be eliminated completely. I bought a bunch of low fat yogurt to take to work for snacks rather than getting the snacks available in the vending machines. Going to add at least a quick jog everyday to my 3-4 hikes I take each week. Tomorrow night a friend is taking me shopping who is a big health nut and I'm sure she'll get me squared away. Trying to nip this in the bud!

[TRAGChick]

I'm gonna cut back on the pizza, candy bars, and whole milk. I don't drink a whole lot of beer so that's just going to be eliminated completely. I bought a bunch of low fat yogurt to take to work for snacks rather than getting the snacks available in the vending machines. Going to add at least a quick jog everyday to my 3-4 hikes I take each week. Tomorrow night a friend is taking me shopping who is a big health nut and I'm sure she'll get me squared away. Trying to nip this in the bud!

Oh, and one more thing:

SOUP.

Soup, soup, and more soup. LOL
I have a can of Progresso soup for lunch every day, with a half a sandwich. That's it.

Works WONDERS....Progresso gives you the calories right on the label....and they are SOO GOOD.
Seriously....you can't go wrong!

[TRAGChick]

Also - check your stress levels.

Cortisol builds up in the abdominal area, which can literally make you look like you've gained 5-10 pounds.
It happened to me....and once the stress-indicator was removed, it went away - but it took some work on my part.

I'm not saying that this is what's happening to you; just making you aware of it:
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/ ... ekey=53304

[The Sushi Hunter]

Key is self determination and core discipline. If you lack in one or both of those you won’t go far, especially on a diet or getting into shape and maintaining it. There is no such thing as a "Get thin overnight and keep it off forever" type of deal without hard work. I’m in my mid-40s and I still can fit into my old 80’s clothes with ease that I have saved that I wore back then, my waist is size 28….29 if I just get done running a few miles. Sure I can get fat if I didn’t pay attention to what I was doing. But I do watch what I eat and I either walk or run a few miles a day, every day. Again, self determination and core discipline is key. Got to want to do it for yourself and for no other reason. Back when my wife was first my girlfriend, upon arriving at my house, she'd kick off her pumps at the door and make a bee line to my kitchen cabinets for something to eat (she's one of the lucky ones that has a naturally fast metabolism), she's 35 years old now 98 pounds and a size zero, that's about size 22 waist in man inches. Upon going through half of the cabinets in my kitchen, deflated, she would look at me and say my house was "boring" cause there was no junk food in any of the cabinets for her to eat.

First the basic foods to stay away from:
Bread, Dairy, and starchy foods such as rice, pasta, etc.

Take it to the next level……
No:
-Store bought processed foods such as frozen or canned (high in sodium and full of preservatives)
-Salad dressings (oily)
-Gravies (greasy/fatty)
-Mayonnaise (fatty)
-Foods that require oil or grease in the cooking process (self explanatory)
-Cured meats such as ham, bacon, sausage, hot dogs, spam, canned meat, lunch meats, jerky (high in sodium, preservatives, chemicals, and scrap quality material.)
-Junk food such as chips, dips, cookies, etc. (self explanatory)
-Soda (high in sodium)
-Pork (Self explanatory)
-Fast food(Self explanatory)
-Restaurant food (you don’t see how it was prepped and more than likely have been made with stuff on the “NO” list)
-The "All You can eat for one entry fee price" restaurants (bad quality food made from low budget ingredients plus the over-eating factor in an attempt to stuff as much chow down your gullet as possible for your money's worth).
-Sugar and cream in coffee if that’s how you drink it, cut down on it (sugar and dairy)

Good rule of thumb, “Don’t eat anything you can’t identify what it is or where it came from”. Such examples of this are:
Chicken nuggets. Bite into one and look what’s in it. Sure it’s supposed to be chicken meat but from where at on the animal did it come from? Chances are…from places on the bird that can’t sell as is. This means it’s no good. Meat sauce pumped out onto nachos at place like Gas & Shop, Circle K, etc. In this example identification of even what type of animal the sauce is made from is in question. Again, from where at on the animal did it come from? Avoid consuming such items as frozen burritos offered at places like 7-11. Sure you can cut one open and perhaps identify a bean or two along with a few scraps of diced onion. But the remaining 99% of the goo filling is what one would expect to find cracking open a spent diaper discarded haphazardously on the side of the road. Stay away from them!

First and foremost, the average size of the small intestine in an adult human is 22 feet 6 inches long while the large intestine of the same specimen is roughly 5 feet long, thus 22 feet plus 5 feet equals a whole lot of shit! The intestine is where the body absorbs the most of what you eat. The human body is one big mystery. Food goes in, shit flows out, and one big cesspool in between. So on the day that you commit to losing some serious weight, wipe the slate clean, starting from scratch, have yourself a full-on blow out. You accomplish this by drinking an entire half gallon of prune juice in a single fifteen minute session. Then stay home until the storm passes. In a few hours you’ll feel like a million bucks plus able to move into this diet at full bore. Just remember….. key is self determination and core discipline. If your lacking what it takes, well then this diet may not be the one for you. Good luck!

[Andrew]

My body gave up on me about 3 years back. Big part of being depressed at 38 (and now 41).

Can't do half the things I used to be able to do....damn asshole back.

And I also have recently seen a big change in food intake and the results
I used to eat whatever I like, and I still do But that has to change soon...it just ain't working for me anymore.

[The Sushi Hunter]

Sorry to hear about that Andrew. The best thing you can do in this case is just be strict on what your eating. Try other types of physical fitness like swimming for example or other types of low impact activities. Without any injuries, if I'm even ten pounds over my norm, going on a long distance run as I am accustom to will hurt and even damage. Best thing to do is set a goal on how much weight to lose and once the weight limit is met, then move forward with activities such as running, mountain climbing, etc.

My body gave up on me about 3 years back. Big part of being depressed at 38 (and now 41).

Can't do half the things I used to be able to do....damn asshole back.

And I also have recently seen a big change in food intake and the results
I used to eat whatever I like, and I still do But that has to change soon...it just ain't working for me anymore.

[Yoda]

I was in the best shape of my life about two years back. Probably the best shape since high school, and then work schedule, an injury here and there, and suddenly I ballooned 30 pounds in a couple of years. I'm in my upper 30's, and I found that as soon as I hit 35, if I didn't put in a lot of hard work, I was going to be in really bad shape. Even with the hard work I put in, it's still a battle. I think a lot has to do with the preservatives in foods nowadays. Even if one eats a lot of veggies, chances are, they don't always buy fresh veggies or grow their own, so eating veggies isn't always the healthiest either. Back in my early twenties, I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted and stay around 135 pounds. Those days are over.

[The Sushi Hunter]

Yeah, those days are over for me as well, starting about ten/eleven years ago.

[Rick]

My body gave up on me about 3 years back. Big part of being depressed at 38 (and now 41).

Can't do half the things I used to be able to do....damn asshole back.

And I also have recently seen a big change in food intake and the results
I used to eat whatever I like, and I still do But that has to change soon...it just ain't working for me anymore.

How did you hurt your back originally?

[Andrew]

How did you hurt your back originally?

Lifting luggage overseas, but in reality is was a problem waiitng to happen. I have a narrowing of the spine and spurs under two plates....something like that. So my back was going under for a while....now it requires surgery and pinning, but I'm mostly pain free if I don't do anything (that's hard!), so I'm putting it off...

[Rick]

How did you hurt your back originally?

Lifting luggage overseas, but in reality is was a problem waiting to happen. I have a narrowing of the spine and spurs under two plates....something like that. So my back was going under for a while....now it requires surgery and pinning, but I'm mostly pain free if I don't do anything (that's hard!), so I'm putting it off...

I understand. Back surgery is pretty scary.

[The Sushi Hunter]

How did you hurt your back originally?

Lifting luggage overseas, but in reality is was a problem waiitng to happen. I have a narrowing of the spine and spurs under two plates....something like that. So my back was going under for a while....now it requires surgery and pinning, but I'm mostly pain free if I don't do anything (that's hard!), so I'm putting it off...

Yep, very limited physical activity is probably the best thing in this situation. Good luck on the operation and rehabilitation process.

[Andrew]

How did you hurt your back originally?

Lifting luggage overseas, but in reality is was a problem waiitng to happen. I have a narrowing of the spine and spurs under two plates....something like that. So my back was going under for a while....now it requires surgery and pinning, but I'm mostly pain free if I don't do anything (that's hard!), so I'm putting it off...

Yep, very limited physical activity is probably the best thing in this situation. Good luck on the operation and rehabilitation process.

I'm not doing any operation

[steveo777]

How did you hurt your back originally?

Lifting luggage overseas, but in reality is was a problem waiitng to happen. I have a narrowing of the spine and spurs under two plates....something like that. So my back was going under for a while....now it requires surgery and pinning, but I'm mostly pain free if I don't do anything (that's hard!), so I'm putting it off...

Yep, very limited physical activity is probably the best thing in this situation. Good luck on the operation and rehabilitation process.

I'm not doing any operation

As long as you can still lift a beer to your gobbler, you'll be ok.

[SunshineTwilight]

How did you hurt your back originally?

Lifting luggage overseas, but in reality is was a problem waiitng to happen. I have a narrowing of the spine and spurs under two plates....something like that. So my back was going under for a while....now it requires surgery and pinning, but I'm mostly pain free if I don't do anything (that's hard!), so I'm putting it off...

Yep, very limited physical activity is probably the best thing in this situation. Good luck on the operation and rehabilitation process.

I'm not doing any operation

Andrew, put it off as long as you can!! I've had 2 neck surgeries due to degenerative disc disease and I'm in worse pain now, then before the surgeries. I had no choice in having them as the discs were shattered and pressing into my spinal column. One false move and it could have paralyzed me! I have another disc that is about to go, but I'm holding out until I can't stand it any longer. Neck surgery was the most painful surgery I have ever experienced, and I've had quite a few! It's extremely difficult to exercise when you are in constant pain, so I know what you're going through. Couple that with thyroid problems and I'm one fat miserable mess!!

[mikemarrs]

I'm 37 years old myself and i am a size 32 in the waist i weigh around 165 and i am around 5 ft. 11 inches.i went from a size 29 in the waist five years ago to 30 about a year back and now i am up to 32 in the waist.

I used to keep in shape because i did a lot of walking doing my key rounds in the security work i did for a factory and i was there about a decade before the job ended a couple years back.

[brandonx76]

Update from new years resolution - I dropped 35 lbs since december and have kept it off,- problem is , I need to drop another 35 and seem to have stalled over the last month - perhaps that's a good thing to give my body time to adjust to the new body weight- but I can specifically pin point drinking beer and alcohol as slowing down (pizza and burgers on the weekend doesn't help) over the last month. Why is it when you drink you want to eat crap food? hahaha

[TRAGChick]

I'm gonna cut back on the pizza, candy bars, and whole milk. I don't drink a whole lot of beer so that's just going to be eliminated completely. I bought a bunch of low fat yogurt to take to work for snacks rather than getting the snacks available in the vending machines. Going to add at least a quick jog everyday to my 3-4 hikes I take each week. Tomorrow night a friend is taking me shopping who is a big health nut and I'm sure she'll get me squared away. Trying to nip this in the bud!

Bumping for an update / Paging Archetype.

How are things going?

[Andrew]

Andrew, put it off as long as you can!! I've had 2 neck surgeries due to degenerative disc disease and I'm in worse pain now, then before the surgeries. I had no choice in having them as the discs were shattered and pressing into my spinal column. One false move and it could have paralyzed me! I have another disc that is about to go, but I'm holding out until I can't stand it any longer. Neck surgery was the most painful surgery I have ever experienced, and I've had quite a few! It's extremely difficult to exercise when you are in constant pain, so I know what you're going through. Couple that with thyroid problems and I'm one fat miserable mess!!

Hang in there!
And will do...or not do...staying away from surgery.

[Andrew]

Update from new years resolution - I dropped 35 lbs since december and have kept it off,- problem is , I need to drop another 35 and seem to have stalled over the last month - perhaps that's a good thing to give my body time to adjust to the new body weight- but I can specifically pin point drinking beer and alcohol as slowing down (pizza and burgers on the weekend doesn't help) over the last month. Why is it when you drink you want to eat crap food? hahaha

Good man!

[YoungJRNY]

I'm a ballooning motherfucker now. How the fuck do you get rid of this? Just gave away a bunch of unhealthy shit and I need to know what food to buy now.

Cut out caffeine, junk food and sugars first and foremost. Become more active when you can and exercise whenever you have the time to do so. You don't have to maintain boot-camp, but a walk around the block or simple movements like jump-roping can kick up your metabolism. Like pasta? Invest in wheat-pasta instead. Like burgers? Invest in turkey burger's instead. Greens are good and so are fresh veggies and fruit, mainly apples. Oh yeah, sleep. Get more of it.

[Angel]

Become more active when you can and exercise whenever you have the time to do so.

If you wait till you have time you'll never do it....make the time, it's more important than anything else you have to do. 30 minutes a day is a bare minimum and that's if you want to maintain weight. 60 minutes a day at least four days a week is necessary if you want to lose. Also avoid refined sugars and eat foods as close to their natural source as possible. Drink at least 64 oz of water a day and don't count any water that you drink during exercise...and be sure to drink water while you exercise. Drink even more water if it's hot outside...in fact, a gallon of water a day is probably closer to the real amount of water a person needs to drink. Also take a multivitamin supplement and be sure you are getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Also avoid diet soda and caffeine. If none of that is effective you should have some testing done including thyroid and insulin resistance and possibly other testing based on your history and other symptoms. That's the nutshell version....I'll send you a bill for my services..

[TRAGChick]

((( Paging Archetype....Archetype, please answer your Thread & give an update.)))

[JRNYMAN]

I'm not doing any operation

Well, DUH! Those types of things are best left to the professionals!
{{JRNYMAN walks away shaking his head and mumbling under his breath...}} What the Hell's wrong with him, thinking he's capable of operating on his own back....?!

[JRNYMAN]

And if the slowdown in metabolism and seemingly the ability to gain weight eating celery and drinking water.... studies show that once you hit 40, you lose approx 8-10% of your muscle density every 7-10 years without employing some sort of routine exercise/activity and supplementing your diet with the proper protein. God it sucks to get old-er!

[Archetype]

((( Paging Archetype....Archetype, please answer your Thread & give an update.)))

I don't really have much to offer right now, I have made slight dietary changes and have begun to go for a run 2-3 times a week. Not a whole lot of difference has been made; I need to look into other solutions