Losing it

[Rapscallion]

Possibly in both ways I can think of.

Been putting weight on over the last however long. A chum of mine ended up with a health analysis that resulted in the doctor saying all his vitals were fine, but he was 'ridiculously fat'.

Yesterday, I challenged him to twelve weeks to see who could lose the most weight (based on percentage of total bodyweight) and the loser of the least weight pays the winner £50. Sufficient money to concentrate the mind, but also an amount we can easily save in food in that time.

This is going to be interesting.

Rapsallion

[csquared]

Go raps!

Taking side bets?

[Jester]

Do you have a plan for how to win this bet?

And would you like some help?

[Rapscallion]

Plan is to eat less, mostly by looking at food and thinking too much could cost me £50. If I lose a load of weight and have to pay out £50, it's a win for me anyway.

If you can locate forks and spoons weighing roughly 20lb, that would be a great help!

Rapscallion

[SuckMyFuxkCustomers]

We have this amazing weight-loss drug called crack.
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[cindybubbles]

NEVER starve yourself just to win the bet!

But seriously, drink lots of water and eat more fruits and veggies. You'll also set a good example for all the parents of CS.com out there trying to get their kids to eat "just one bite!"

Mom to kid: See? If Rapscallion can do it, then so can you! Now EAT YOUR VEGGIES!

[SuckMyFuxkCustomers]

NEVER starve yourself just to win the bet!

\

Doing that can be pretty counterproductive anyhow since it slows down your metabolism.

[mathnerd]

Mom to kid: See? If Rapscallion can do it, then so can you! Now EAT YOUR VEGGIES!

Unless you happen to be parenting my kids, in which you find yourself in some alternate universe where you, with all the exasperation you can summon, sigh and tell your kids "STOP EATING SO MANY DAMNED VEGGIES! I can't afford to keep buying them!"

Seriously though, Raps, good luck! Just imagine one pound chunks of butter hanging off your thighs, butt, and belly every time you want to eat too much. That works pretty well for me.

[Rapscallion]

I work in a wholefood warehouse. I can imagine it in sacks of flour. When I went on the hypnoboob plan diet way back when, I lost over a large sack.

Rapscallion

[NecessaryCatharsis]

I made a similar bet with 2 guys over cigerettes. One lost, but technically the bet is still going on, me and the other guy haven't had a smoke in months - turns out I can't quit smoking on my own, but I'll be damned if I have to pay him the money for having one, so I can imagine this bet will give you great motivation. No smokes also equalled major weight gain for me, so I've been working on weight loss. I haven't been on a scale but I'm down three pants sizes since I started. What's been working for me:

- lose the liquid calories - drink black coffee, water, clear tea, carbonated flavoured water, and homemade broth only (store bought broth is high in sodium)
- turn my day upside down - I used to grab snacks through the day, then have a big supper. Now I have a big breakfast (of supper things usually - fish, roast, whatever) and snack through the day.
- keep snacks that are high in fat and sugar on me, things like carrot sticks, roasted soybeans, cherry tomatoes, grapes or sunflower seeds. When I'm hungry I'll have a few, then wait 10 minutes to see if I'm still hungry before eating more - I'm usually not. (The nurse who counselled me on diet told me this would only work with high fat and sugar snacks like above - not with things like celery)
- after about 6pm if I want a snack that is time for super-low calorie snacking - popcorn, celery sticks, puffed cereals

I don't know if that will work for you, I had a consultation with a nurse who specialized in weight loss diets, who made me track what I eat and drink for a week before I went in. This is what she recommended for me, but I guess her recommendations differ depending on what you are eating to start with, and what kink of exercise you get throughout the day.

[Gizmo]

Doing that can be pretty counterproductive anyhow since it slows down your metabolism.

Yeah. Whenever I try a "little fat" diet I end up piling on the pounds as my body goes into "oh damn, we are ill" mode and hoards everything.

I gave up dieting... lol

[Chromatix]

The metabolism thing is probably why it's recommended to combine dieting with exercise. Exercise forces your body to turn the fat into muscle (or at least to use any surplus energy) instead of hoarding it. Muscle can itself be rather heavy, but it certainly looks better than fat, and it's healthier as well.

[Jester]

It's all about exercise and diet. And all three words are important here.

EXERCISE: something that makes you exert energy and gets the heart rate going. Preferably making you sweat. Bicycling, swimming, jogging, push-ups, weight training, shoveling snow, moving furniture, road construction, laying bricks, basketball, baseball, football, cricket, soccer, ice skating, skiing, roller skating/roller blading, tae kwan do, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, knee bends, gymnastics, wrestling, boat cleaning, horseback riding, hockey, tennis, raquet ball, boxing, and so on. My point is it doesn't have to be standard gym type exercise...anything that gets your body moving and or blood and sweat flowing will work. So, no, video games, golf, TV watching, movie watching, people watching, bird watching, watcher watching, watchmaking, matchmaking, piano playing, and karaoke are NOT exercises.

DIET: it can never be about starving yourself. Eating less is fine if it is doing so intelligently. What you eat, as well as what you don't eat, is generally more important than how much you eat, though of course you can overeat on anything. Fish, seafood, vegetables, leafy vegetables, fruit, dried fruit, fruit juices, lean meat, lean poultry, whole grain breads, some pasta, lighter sauces, lighter salad dressings*, and plenty of water are all good. Junk food, candy, sugary snacks, artificial nonsense, cookies, cakes, pies, and heavier sauces and dressings, fatty proteins, not so good.

*Regarding dressings, when I say lighter, I mean naturally lighter, such as oil and vinegar, lime juice and olive oil, a vinaigrette, etc. artificially light dressings, i.e., prepackaged "light," "low fat," "fat free," and the quintessentially American "lite" dressings are generally chemical cocktails, and can actually be much worse for you in the long haul. There are some exceptions to this, which is why you should always check labels if you're uncertain. But it's hard to go wrong with, say, a tablespoon of olive oil and the juice of a lime or a lemon. And that particular dressing goes a lot further than you would except. Happens to taste damn good, too.

AND: this may the most important of the three words. It's about cardiovascular exercise AND an intelligent diet. One without the other will not have as much effect, and could be downright dangerous. Too much exercise without getting enough to eat can be very dangerous. Exercise with a steady diet of junk food won't have much effect on most people. An intelligent diet without exercise will probably make you feel somewhat better, but won't help you achieve much weight loss. But you combine good exercise with good diet, and even if you don't lose as much poundage as your competitor, you will be in much better shape than you were in beforehand. I speak from experience.

Good luck, Raps. And kick his ass!

[Sapphire Silk]

Jester speaks true words of wisdom. His advice is what I do myself.

Three years ago I lost 30 lbs with this method. Then I regained about 25 of it when I went off my diet. Then I've lost another 30 in the past six months. I hoping to lose another 30 in the next six months or so.

[KatherineB]

I also advise keeping a food diary. You're far less likely to have something you know you shouldn't if you are accountable, even if it's just to yourself. You could also keep a 'craving' diary to see when you want certain things and then you can find better alternatives. The other advantage is that, if you aren't losing weight as fast as you'd like, you could get someone to cast an eye over your eating and see if there any improvements you could make.