Weight Loss Support Group

I will say this because it is true of myself.  The stress isn't causing you to eat--you've programmed yourself to eat when stressed.  Sticking to something like the challenge can be a great way to reset your mind.  Also, when you take away some foods and portions, you've gotta replace it with God's word and with prayer.  Without that, we are just trying to do something by ourself that we cannot fix.  We are addicts in need of real repentance.

alldatndensum wrote:

I will say this because it is true of myself.  The stress isn't causing you to eat--you've programmed yourself to eat when stressed.  Sticking to something like the challenge can be a great way to reset your mind.  Also, when you take away some foods and portions, you've gotta replace it with God's word and with prayer.  Without that, we are just trying to do something by ourself that we cannot fix.  We are addicts in need of real repentance.

Yep.  That's a tough mindset to overcome, but it is a vital one.  Also remember the "one day at a time" thing.  If today doesn't go well, you get a fresh start tomorrow.

For me, the problem is finishing strong.  I can go from wake-up through dinner and be just fine, stick to my plan and everything, but then for some reason in the evenings I just act like I'm done with that for the day and eat whatever I feel like.

alldatndensum wrote:

I will say this because it is true of myself.  The stress isn't causing you to eat--you've programmed yourself to eat when stressed.  Sticking to something like the challenge can be a great way to reset your mind.  Also, when you take away some foods and portions, you've gotta replace it with God's word and with prayer.  Without that, we are just trying to do something by ourself that we cannot fix.  We are addicts in need of real repentance.

Thanks for the kick in the pants.

I've done terribly. I don't even know if this is possible for me.

What exactly did you do terrible at?

Staybrite wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

I will say this because it is true of myself.  The stress isn't causing you to eat--you've programmed yourself to eat when stressed.  Sticking to something like the challenge can be a great way to reset your mind.  Also, when you take away some foods and portions, you've gotta replace it with God's word and with prayer.  Without that, we are just trying to do something by ourself that we cannot fix.  We are addicts in need of real repentance.

Thanks for the kick in the pants.

Feel free, if I start saying the same things you did, to do the same.  That is what this group is supposed to be about.  I'm only holding up because I feel that I need to lead right now.  I can't expect you guys to do it if I don't.

Samson wrote:

I've done terribly. I don't even know if this is possible for me.

It is more than possible.  We are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through Christ.  How can you be more than a conqueror?  How about by being someone who knows they have already conquered?  Jesus has already defeated this for us if we are willing to accept the change.  At my largest, I was at 325 lbs.  I am a food addict in the worst possible ways.  Yet, before I gave up, I had lost 58 of that.  I do not want to go back there.

We have to look at this several ways.  A)  We are not losing weight as we always fail doing that.  We are trying to be more healthy.  B)  This is not a diet.  We are working towards a permanent change.  C)  The battle isn't just ours.  The battle belongs to the Lord, and not fighting this shows that our faith is weak in Him.  D)  We are in this together.  Allowing ourselves to fail at this point means that we are letting the others down by making them go on alone.  So, fight to the death we must for our health, a lifestyle change, our faith in Christ, and our support for our friendship.

You CAN do it.  Even if you do mess up on a meal, you can be back on track at the very next meal.  If you fall, repent again and start moving.  I want us to get to the place where people can ask us what day we are on with the challenge and we can actually say, "Day 47," and still be succeeding.

I will encourage you all to support each other in your weight battle.
You can win this.

Today I was not as strong, but I have still done fairly well.  I did have an egg roll and a fortune cookie for lunch, but I did order some garlic chicken and fried rice.  The rice, in moderation, is a complex carb.  So, I just didn't eat all of it.  I didn't do as good as I wanted, but it is still a vast improvement.

I have to make a confession.

This morning, somebody hacked my debit card and charged 113 dollars to amazon. And I got PO'd. And I wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume those who wronged me.

And then, I ate. Lots and lots of chicken.

Wow, that's pretty bad.  The debit card hacking part, not the eating lots and lots of chicken.  Maybe there was better way to handle the frustration and anger, but chicken certainly isn't the worst thing in the world for ya.

Samson wrote:

I have to make a confession.

This morning, somebody hacked my debit card and charged 113 dollars to amazon. And I got PO'd. And I wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume those who wronged me.

And then, I ate. Lots and lots of chicken.

With that, most of us would have fallen off the wagon.  However, you are only one meal away from being back on track at any time.

Today starts day 5 for me.  I am not doing well with the removal of sodas.  Oh, I've only drank Sprite Zero, but I am drinking 2 a day.  Of course, that is a vast improvement from the 4-5 I was drinking a day.  Still, I would like to do away with them altogether and just use them as a treat.

I have been away on "business" so to speak at work and have been exposed to all kinds of terrible food over the last week. Have not been able to hit the fitness center either. I am hoping today is the start of a new week with food and exercise. When on business with several people it is easy to give in to Mexican, steak or whatever everyone wants for the day.

If you stay away from the chips and wraps, you can do alright at a Mexican joint.  I will order choripollo (grilled chicken breast with cheese and chori sausage on top) with refried beans.  Or, order the fajitas but leave the wraps alone.

If anyone is looking for something to help them keep track of what they are eating, I highly recommend the My Fitness Pal app. It is free (with a premium option that gives a few extra features) and has a huge database of foods including store brands and restaurants. It also has a weight tracker, activity tracker, and  a place for writing down notes about the day. It has a number of different ways of looking at your numbers. If you are a Fitbit user, you can also have it sync your steps. Like I said, you can pay for more features, but the free stuff is perfectly fine for me.

Thanks for suggesting that!  I may check it out.  I have tried the Atkins app, but it only allows you to put in what you've eaten.  It is supposed to make restaurant suggestions and all but just didn't work.

How are the rest of you doing?  Be honest.  This isn't going to work if you cannot express your failures and successes.

i gave in and had a piece of chocolate candy last night.  It was not allowed on the challenge.  However, it was one and it was the Atkins low carb stuff.  As of today, I am almost done with day 6 of the challenge.  It isn't getting harder as I thought it would. 

I've already noticed a difference in my weight and in the way my clothing is fitting after only 6 days.

We've just got to keep reminding ourselves of Paul's writings to the Corinthian church:

2 Cor. 4:16-18 HCSB

Quote :

¹⁶ Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. ¹⁸ So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 

Jesus is what is unseen, and bringing our bodies into submission is temporary.  The afflictions we suffer to get our lives back in order when it comes to the slavery to food we have is only temporary.  We must look forward Him who is unseen and eternal as our help because He alone is renewing us day by day.  So, don't give up!  Spit in Satan's face by continuing, brothers.  We are already more than conquerors through Christ Jesus.  It means that the battle is over in Christ's eyes.  We just have to follow Him in walking in freedom day by day.  We don't have to get caught up in the 21 actual days.  Just focus on Him TODAY--not our afflictions.

I am doing better on my portion control, but having a total bear of a time keeping away from carbs (in the form of bread).  I've stayed away from the sugar (for the most part...as I still have one 12oz soda once a week).  I just need to work on saying no to the bread (I really love bread).

I'm starting my 21 Day Challenge tomorrow. I knew if I started last week I was setting myself up for struggles because of the timing. I'm modifying it a bit because several of those things aren't issues for me. I'm definitely cutting back on pop though. Thursday I sat down at my desk around 9:30 to do some work. When Icame back from fixing lunch (I work from home) around noon I counted 5 Coke Zero cans on my desk not including the one I was carrying. I also need to turn some of the things to avoid into things to add. I hate to eat fruits and veggies, but I gotta do it. I've also got to move myself. 

Tomorrow is weigh-in day, so here's hoping.

I've tried calorie diets. I've tried low carb diets. The only thing that worked for me 3 years ago was the "I quit eating so freaking much diet". Meaning that I only eat 2 cheeseburgers instead of 6. I only eat one bowl of cereal and not the entire box. And so forth.

I'm going to give it another shot and pray for the strength to resist the desire to eat in excess, which is exacerbated by working in a retail store that sells food.

The point of this is not only to talk about our weaknesses, but also to pray for ourselves and one another.  I will be praying specifically for each of you today and not myself.  I want to see us all succeed.

I don't so much miss bread.  I did when I went low carb and was losing weight before.  What gets me are the tortilla wraps and chips at a Mexican restaurant.  We go every Sunday night after church with Holly's mom.  I wanted those chips so bad last night, but I did not give in!  I ordered pollo grande which is a grilled chicken breast covered with sauteed mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and chorizo topped with cheese.  I had the beans but no rice.  Both dried beans and rice are higher carb foods, but eliminating one is better than having both.

Weekends are a bit rough as I am home or on the go and just make poorer choices.  At work, things are easier as I pack my food and limit what I can have.

As far as sodas go, I am doing a lot better by being down to one or two a day.  I've been drinking 5-6 Sprite Zeros per day.  Diet sodas are lower in carbs, but the aspartame quantity is too much.  It can cause seizures, short & long term memory loss, etc.  However, many of the products you can put in water to make it taste better contain it, too.

Weigh in wasn't what I'd hoped for, but no biggie.  It's a marathon, not a sprint. 

Samson, I struggle with excessive eating too.  I've been known to order a large pizza and eat it all myself.  It is good to identify what your issues are, what your challenges are, AND what has worked for you before.  One problem I think a lot of people have when they start trying to lose weight is that we are kind of programmed by everything to start thinking in terms of "good food" and "bad food".  Food is food, it is morally neutral.  But when we start thinking in terms of good and bad, we all of the sudden really want the "bad" foods and start talking about "cheating" and stuff like that.  It's really not helpful to us.  Portion control is a HUGE deal, so if you do just concentrate on cutting back from 6 to 2 cheeseburgers or whatever, that will produce results.  Think about it.  I just did a quick scan through a listing of fast food cheeseburgers, and most are between 300 and 500 calories EACH.  (White Castle ones are 160, but who eats just one of those?)  So six of those would be between 1800 and 3000 calories a day, and that's not counting the other stuff you eat.  If you aren't training for a triathlon or something like that, those are just getting stored.  So cutting down to 2 would save you 1200-2000 calories a day.  Now conventional wisdom says that you can expect to lose a half-pound to a pound of weight for every 3500 calories you cut or burn, so if you cut 1200 calories a day out of your diet, over the course of the week that ends up being 8,400 calories over the course of the week, which could equate to around 2.4 pounds.  That doesn't even take into account all the health benefits from the lower intake of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium.  I know I'm being long winded, but my point is that ANY change toward healthier eating is a good thing.  So even if today it is 5 instead of 6 or a box of Cheerios instead of Fruit Loops or half a box of cereal instead of a whole, it is going to produce some positive results.  I'll be praying for you brother, don't give up hope.  You are worth the effort!

Hey alldat, way to go with the choices last night!  Another thing about all artificial sweeteners, whether aspartame, sucralose, or whatever, is that your body's enzymes still react to it like sugar, which means it causes your body to release leptin, the hormone that tells our brain we are full.  The problem is that leptin's signal is activated by the consumption of calories, and since artificial sweeteners are calorie-free, that signal never gets sent.  That's why those of us who use a diet drink to give us a sweet fix instead of a candy bar or whatever end up drinking a whole bunch.  Our craving is never satisfied.  Obviously it is better if we drink it with our food because the calories from the food activate the leptin.  I also learned that even though stevia is promoted as a "natural" zero-calorie sweetener, the kind we buy is an extract and lacks the raw material that differentiates it chemically from artificial sweeteners.

Let's have a great week guys!!  You know, I like that our group here is all guys.  I've always been in weight loss groups that were co-ed, and I always got sick of the women talking about how easy it was for men to lose weight.  Sure, we have more muscle mass which means we generally burn more calories, but we still have our issues we have to work through.

Let me drop this in here too and then I'm gone until this evening.

Phil 3:13-14 wrote:

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

This is one of my favorite verses for anything because it reminds me that I've got to keep my eyes on the prize and not look backwards.  We can't change all the times we've quit or failed or relapsed in the past.  All we can do is lock our eyes on our goal and keep on keeping on.  This is a physical, mental, and spiritual struggle for us.  So my prayer for each of you this week is that God will help you to forget about the past and keep your eyes on the goal that you have set for yourself.

I'm reading all posts of this thread so I can support you all in prayer.

Well it has been difficult to even get started. Work has kept me outta the gym. I have been working into the evening and just go home. But as a result of getting home late I have been skipping dinner some nights. Too tired to eat. But last night we had chicken chili. Had carrots on the side. Today for lunch I will have a turkey burger on a wheat bun (I grilled them Sunday). Had that for lunch yesterday and saved one for today. No sides. Just a turkey burger with tomatoes, lettuce and mustard. Coke Zero to drink, water the rest of the day. Would like to hit the fitness center today but it all depends on what time I get outta here. I bring work out clothes and shoes everyday so I am always prepared. Just gotta make it over this hump. Just had some trail mix with raisins & nuts. Not sure how good that is but it hit the spot.

I learned yesterday that I am not yet ready to hit the Mexican joints alone.  I had some chips and ordered fajitas.  I usually don't get those, but I ate the wraps, too.  Therefore, I consider day 8 a bust.  I will, however, restart right now. 

We have to remember that we are only ONE MEAL away from being back on track.