Originally Posted by
bautieri
So let's see, it's taken a little over a year but I went from 245 to 207 after tonights racquetball game. I stopped drinking alcohol, stopped both diet and regular soda, quit smoking, and have cut out as much corn syrup as practically possible. My meals have become brutally boring with the same three meals for weeks on end. I find the less and less I look forward to meal time due to the monotony, the less and less I enjoy eating past when I feel full. I really think that is the key part, once you get over the love affair with food and begin to treat it for what it is the weight will come off. I've also become much more physically active between cycling, jogging, weight lifting, and now my new love of the only sport where it's great to have little blue balls. Granted I gradually added new activities to my list, but cycling was the first and it is still number one in my books.
UGH, NO! No, no, no. Food should be joyous. Sucking the joy out of life is a terrible idea. Between March 2007 and March 2008 I went from 252 to 213 pounds. I am a hobby chef, my housemate is a hobby chef. We regularly fed 8-12 people 3-4 times a week during that entire period. We ate delicious and varied meals and managed to have a spectacular time without sucking the joy from life. We drank lots of wine, beer, and whatnot.
Now, that's not to say I didn't change my diet. I did. I cut way down on snacking, I had a piece of bread to mop up the sauce, not a half dozen pieces. I stopped getting seconds. I changed what I cooked to be a little healthier overall. Now, obviously, that kind of moderate change doesn't explain that kind of weight loss. I sold my car, started bike commuting, weekend riding, and doing basic fitness work at the gym for core strength.
For us clydes who have perhaps more reasonable amounts to lose (I don't know about physiology and severity for people with 100+ pounds to lose, and can't claim to speak for them), there's no reason to do that.
I treat food for what it is. A necessary substance for survival. An excuse for social gathering. A source of great joy.
EDIT: I haven't lost (or gained weight) since March 2008 because of an injury and the sedentaryness that results. I just got back on my bike last week, and to the gym this week, so I should get back to shedding pounds in not so long.