Feeling great, losing weight!

This is 2nd week since returning to LC2 (low cal, lower carbs).

While technically I only lost a net 0.5 kg (1.1 lb) this past week compared
to last Friday's scale measurement, last Friday was, as I suspected, a one
day fluctuation due to unusually high activity and almost no eating the day
before. In fact, Saturday showed an uptick of 1 kg, meaning the real net
loss for the first week was really only 1.5 kg and not 2.5 kg, as I first
thought.

Then the weight continued to drop on schedule over this week. So it really
was 1.5 kg the first week and 1.5 kg this week. At any rate, no matter how
you calculate it, it is a total loss of 3.0 kg (6.6 lb) the past two weeks.

And I feel great! Very energetic! And hunger is under control.

I'm keeping calories to an average of 1500 or less and "being mindful" of
carbs, avoiding high-glycemic carbs that I know cause hunger cravings. This
usually means I am eating about 60 carbs a day or so, plug/minus 10.

doug

Day 457
lb: 288.2 / 238.7
kg: 131 / 108.5
Body mass loss: 17.2%
goal: undecided

Sadly, if you continue at that rate, you're going to lose too much muscle
mass and end up being flabby when you get to an acceptable weight. You
might want to slow the rate of loss down a bit.

Doug Lerner wrote:
:: This is 2nd week since returning to LC2 (low cal, lower carbs).
::
:: While technically I only lost a net 0.5 kg (1.1 lb) this past week
:: compared to last Friday's scale measurement, last Friday was, as I
:: suspected, a one day fluctuation due to unusually high activity and
:: almost no eating the day before. In fact, Saturday showed an uptick
:: of 1 kg, meaning the real net loss for the first week was really
:: only 1.5 kg and not 2.5 kg, as I first thought.
::
:: Then the weight continued to drop on schedule over this week. So it
:: really was 1.5 kg the first week and 1.5 kg this week. At any rate,
:: no matter how you calculate it, it is a total loss of 3.0 kg (6.6
:: lb) the past two weeks.
::
:: And I feel great! Very energetic! And hunger is under control.
::
:: I'm keeping calories to an average of 1500 or less and "being
:: mindful" of carbs, avoiding high-glycemic carbs that I know cause
:: hunger cravings. This usually means I am eating about 60 carbs a day
:: or so, plug/minus 10.
::
:: doug
::
:: Day 457
:: lb: 288.2 / 238.7
:: kg: 131 / 108.5
:: Body mass loss: 17.2%
:: goal: undecided

I've had so many stalls this past year and a half, I'd like to enjoy at
least a couple of months of decent weight loss before worrying about stuff
like that.

What I *am* doing, to be proactive about this, is increasing exercise. I use
the bullworker every morning. And have added situps to my morning routine.

Also, I believe weight loss will naturally slow down as 1500 calories turns
out to be closer and closer to maintenance intake for my reducing body
weight. In fact, at some point weight loss should naturally slow to a crawl.

doug

On 5/21/04 12:00 PM, in article , "Roger
Zoul" wrote:

Sadly, if you continue at that rate, you're going to lose too much muscle
mass and end up being flabby when you get to an acceptable weight. You
might want to slow the rate of loss down a bit.

Doug Lerner wrote:
:: This is 2nd week since returning to LC2 (low cal, lower carbs).
::
:: While technically I only lost a net 0.5 kg (1.1 lb) this past week
:: compared to last Friday's scale measurement, last Friday was, as I
:: suspected, a one day fluctuation due to unusually high activity and
:: almost no eating the day before. In fact, Saturday showed an uptick
:: of 1 kg, meaning the real net loss for the first week was really
:: only 1.5 kg and not 2.5 kg, as I first thought.
::
:: Then the weight continued to drop on schedule over this week. So it
:: really was 1.5 kg the first week and 1.5 kg this week. At any rate,
:: no matter how you calculate it, it is a total loss of 3.0 kg (6.6
:: lb) the past two weeks.
::
:: And I feel great! Very energetic! And hunger is under control.
::
:: I'm keeping calories to an average of 1500 or less and "being
:: mindful" of carbs, avoiding high-glycemic carbs that I know cause
:: hunger cravings. This usually means I am eating about 60 carbs a day
:: or so, plug/minus 10.
::
:: doug
::
:: Day 457
:: lb: 288.2 / 238.7
:: kg: 131 / 108.5
:: Body mass loss: 17.2%
:: goal: undecided

Doug Lerner wrote:
:: I've had so many stalls this past year and a half, I'd like to enjoy
:: at least a couple of months of decent weight loss before worrying
:: about stuff like that.

Why can't you enjoy losing 5 lbs a month, instead of 6.6 lbs in two weeks?
You're wrecking your body for no good reason.

::
:: What I *am* doing, to be proactive about this, is increasing
:: exercise. I use the bullworker every morning. And have added situps
:: to my morning routine.

Is there no other option than the bullworker? Can you not at least get a
good set of dumbells / barbells and an adjustable bench, or better yet, join
a gym? ARe you doing situps are crunches?

::
:: Also, I believe weight loss will naturally slow down as 1500
:: calories turns out to be closer and closer to maintenance intake for
:: my reducing body weight. In fact, at some point weight loss should
:: naturally slow to a crawl.

At which point you will have lost much valuable muscle mass. Not good. Not
being fat should not be your only concern, doug.

::
:: doug
::
:: On 5/21/04 12:00 PM, in article ,
:: "Roger Zoul" wrote:
::
::: Sadly, if you continue at that rate, you're going to lose too much
::: muscle mass and end up being flabby when you get to an acceptable
::: weight. You might want to slow the rate of loss down a bit.
:::
::: Doug Lerner wrote:
::::: This is 2nd week since returning to LC2 (low cal, lower carbs).
:::::
::::: While technically I only lost a net 0.5 kg (1.1 lb) this past week
::::: compared to last Friday's scale measurement, last Friday was, as I
::::: suspected, a one day fluctuation due to unusually high activity
::::: and almost no eating the day before. In fact, Saturday showed an
::::: uptick
::::: of 1 kg, meaning the real net loss for the first week was really
::::: only 1.5 kg and not 2.5 kg, as I first thought.
:::::
::::: Then the weight continued to drop on schedule over this week. So
::::: it really was 1.5 kg the first week and 1.5 kg this week. At any
::::: rate,
::::: no matter how you calculate it, it is a total loss of 3.0 kg (6.6
::::: lb) the past two weeks.
:::::
::::: And I feel great! Very energetic! And hunger is under control.
:::::
::::: I'm keeping calories to an average of 1500 or less and "being
::::: mindful" of carbs, avoiding high-glycemic carbs that I know cause
::::: hunger cravings. This usually means I am eating about 60 carbs a
::::: day or so, plug/minus 10.
:::::
::::: doug
:::::
::::: Day 457
::::: lb: 288.2 / 238.7
::::: kg: 131 / 108.5
::::: Body mass loss: 17.2%
::::: goal: undecided

Crosspost alert
alt.support.diet.low-carb,
alt.support.diet

Lee Rodgers

On 5/21/04 12:34 PM, in article , "Roger
Zoul" wrote:

Doug Lerner wrote:
:: I've had so many stalls this past year and a half, I'd like to enjoy
:: at least a couple of months of decent weight loss before worrying
:: about stuff like that.

Why can't you enjoy losing 5 lbs a month, instead of 6.6 lbs in two weeks?
You're wrecking your body for no good reason.

First, I appreciate your messages and your concern.

But I don't understand why you think this particular amount of weight loss
is so much at my weight.

We are talking about aiming for 2-3 lb per week or so. I always thought that
was considered a very normal, well-paced diet. I am extremely overweight,
after all! Even by conservative estimates I am about 90 lb overweight! If I
lost 5 lb per month it would still take me a year and a half to get down to
goal. I'd be almost 50 by then.

I too am against radically rapid weight loss. But starting like this, and
realizing that slowdown will inevitably occur along the way seemed like a
reasonable, practical pace. If I started with the goal of losing just 5 lb
per month and then had it slow down from there it could take *years* to get
down to goal. Is that really necessary?

Isn't it reasonable for an extremely obese person like me to lose a bit on
the rapid side, at least to start with?


::
:: What I *am* doing, to be proactive about this, is increasing
:: exercise. I use the bullworker every morning. And have added situps
:: to my morning routine.

Is there no other option than the bullworker? Can you not at least get a
good set of dumbells / barbells and an adjustable bench, or better yet, join
a gym? ARe you doing situps are crunches?

I could get a set of dumbells. But why are they any better than the
bullworker? The bullworker seems to do everything!

As for an adjustable bench, you are obviously not well-aquainted with the
size of typical Japanese dwellings.

I've tried joining a gym before, but the problem is that I have to go out of
my way, by moped or train, to get there. So it becomes so much of a nuisance
it's not something I can readily add to my daily routine.

I don't understand the question about situps or crunches. I don't know what
crunches are.


::
:: Also, I believe weight loss will naturally slow down as 1500
:: calories turns out to be closer and closer to maintenance intake for
:: my reducing body weight. In fact, at some point weight loss should
:: naturally slow to a crawl.

At which point you will have lost much valuable muscle mass. Not good. Not
being fat should not be your only concern, doug.

I'm eating sufficient protein though. Shouldn't that help?

doug

Doug Lerner wrote in message ...
This is 2nd week since returning to LC2 (low cal, lower carbs).

While technically I only lost a net 0.5 kg (1.1 lb) this past week compared
to last Friday's scale measurement, last Friday was, as I suspected, a one
day fluctuation due to unusually high activity and almost no eating the day
before. In fact, Saturday showed an uptick of 1 kg, meaning the real net
loss for the first week was really only 1.5 kg and not 2.5 kg, as I first
thought.

As I've posted here many times, what I do to avoid these swings is
follow the advice from _The Hacker's Diet_, namely to monitor daily
weight readings via a smoothing function.

The formula is relatively simple:

Today's average = Yesterday's average + (Today's weight - Yesterday's
average) * 0.25.

This really cuts out the random noise of daily weighings, while giving
you a good estimate of your true current weight each day, since
sustained measurements under the average will pull it down at a
pleasant enough pace.

What's also cool as that even if I stall for 3-4 days, as long as the
scale weight is less than the average, the average WILL still go down.
This is "virtual" progress, but it's all the same if you ignore the
scale and think of the averaged weight as your "real" weight. Eg even
if I stay at 200.5 (today's measured weight) for the next 4 days my
averaged weight will drop a full pound over that time, from 202.0 to
201.0.

I maintain an excel spreedsheet, one row for each day. In addition to
the averaged weight number, I also calculate my daily loss
(yesterday's average - today's average), how many lbs to go (20.0 for
today), how far along I am (58.3%), and my current BMI (26.65), and
mass lost (12.4%). I also have weekly entries for pounds lost that
week, and pounds lost total, and pounds lost from 4 weeks prior.

I like numbers!

Then the weight continued to drop on schedule over this week. So it really
was 1.5 kg the first week and 1.5 kg this week. At any rate, no matter how
you calculate it, it is a total loss of 3.0 kg (6.6 lb) the past two weeks.

And I feel great! Very energetic! And hunger is under control.

I'm keeping calories to an average of 1500 or less and "being mindful" of
carbs, avoiding high-glycemic carbs that I know cause hunger cravings. This
usually means I am eating about 60 carbs a day or so, plug/minus 10.

Sounds like my diet plan. It seems that 3 lbs/week is my natural loss
rate, too. What with the rather low carb and high exercise diet I've
got going, I'm getting very faint "eat now!" stomach messages
throughout the day, much fainter than the growling I'd get after
downing 16oz Mt Dews and pasta for lunch.

Today I bought some whey protein powder, a box of cliff bars, and some
instant oatmeal to beef up my eating regimen, to try to keep the loss
at 2lbs/week.

Trader Joes and Whole Foods -- now there's 2 stores I'd like to see in
Japan. National Azabu is somewhat close to that experience I guess --
the koukyuu grocery stores have pretty good quality...

Heywood

On 5/21/04 3:40 PM, in article
, "Heywood Mogroot"
wrote:


The formula is relatively simple:

Today's average = Yesterday's average + (Today's weight - Yesterday's
average) * 0.25.
...snip...

I like numbers!

Me too. Some people here seem to think it is obsessive to dwell on them. But
I think it's fun and interesting to set up spreadsheets like that, create
graphs, track trends, etc.

doug

Me too. Some people here seem to think it is obsessive to dwell on them. But
I think it's fun and interesting to set up spreadsheets like that, create
graphs, track trends, etc.

doug

Hey, its your way of doing things. If it makes you happy, don't worry what
others think. If its working for you and you are losing weight, don't sweat it.

Myself, I can do excel, math, numbers, etc.. even the graphs and charts. But I
only do it if I have to. It boggles my mind down, I hate it. Its not fun at
all.

When I was taking a excel course. I liked making the worksheets pretty.
Applying special effects, colors, fonts, etc. I am more of a creative person.

"Doug Lerner" wrote in message
...
On 5/21/04 12:34 PM, in article , "Roger
Zoul" wrote:

Doug Lerner wrote:
:: I've had so many stalls this past year and a half, I'd like to enjoy
:: at least a couple of months of decent weight loss before worrying
:: about stuff like that.

Why can't you enjoy losing 5 lbs a month, instead of 6.6 lbs in two
weeks?
You're wrecking your body for no good reason.

First, I appreciate your messages and your concern.

But I don't understand why you think this particular amount of weight loss
is so much at my weight.

We are talking about aiming for 2-3 lb per week or so. I always thought
that
was considered a very normal, well-paced diet. I am extremely overweight,
after all! Even by conservative estimates I am about 90 lb overweight! If
I
lost 5 lb per month it would still take me a year and a half to get down
to
goal. I'd be almost 50 by then.

I too am against radically rapid weight loss. But starting like this, and
realizing that slowdown will inevitably occur along the way seemed like a
reasonable, practical pace. If I started with the goal of losing just 5 lb
per month and then had it slow down from there it could take *years* to
get
down to goal. Is that really necessary?

Isn't it reasonable for an extremely obese person like me to lose a bit on
the rapid side, at least to start with?

I don't see a problem with your weight loss plan. Whatever works. I have
lost muscle in my upper body from running and I really wanted to. IMHO, was
too big for the sports I want to enjoy into my 50's. You can always put the
muscle back on later and if you shrink your body enough your skin will be
tighter when you do start lifting again or at least that is my thoughts.

Curt
--
Started low carb May '03 this time.
211/182/180 . . 6'2" 15.78% BF?
Age 38
Highest weight 250 5+ years ago