Learn me - Weight loss

So I'm overweight. I've always been a big guy, Bbut I'm 6 ft and last weigh in was 280 pounds which is a number I never thought I would see. I did a 6 week challenge at crossfit 9 months ago and felt great at the end but old habits came back hard and I'm heavier than when I started. I'm 29 and having a son next month so it's time for a change, I know the normal diet and exercise routine.But my biggest problem is eating..I love food and hate all things green, I've already told myself man up and eat healthy, but what does the hive say about weight loss?

Yours in luck your pretty strong already.

1) Lift weights (Increases your base calorie rate)
2) Eat slightly less. (Don't get your calories from liquids)
3) Some cardio but not a ton.

Also go to the doc and get your hormone levels checked along with our glandular levels.

I too have been trying to do the same thing. I suck with diet, but have been doing crossfit for 6 months or so. I enjoy that, I am not self motivated enough to just do a gym. I have definitely gotten stronger, but I am not losing any weight, I like food and beer too much I guess.

(Wife is a Dietitian)

Its pretty simple. To lose weight, eat less than you burn. Get a fitbit or similar and start tracking how much you burn.

Find the fruits and vegetables you do like. Eat those. You need them.

Eat your protein first. It takes longer to digest, so you feel full faster with it. Before you have seconds, wait ten minutes and drink a big glass of water. If there is any alcohol in the diet, cut it out, or at least most of it. Got 30 minutes a day to exercise? Do it. Even if it is only a walk, do it. Weight training is phenomenal for fat loss but not weight loss, but you should be concentrated on fat loss--it is a double edged sword: First, you're moving, so you're burning calories. Second, you're building muscle, which burns more calories than fat just sitting there.

There is a book out there called "eat this, not that" and it has alternatives for recipes. It's pretty good. I recommend it. Try to expand that beyond what it has--for instance, I love Chorizo. I've started making my chorizo with half the chorizo and throwing in the same amount of chicken. Still get the taste, less calories though.

Get a goal that isn't so nebulous. It doesn't have to be a weight loss goal, it can be something more fun like running an obstacle course race or taking part in a triathalon. That'll give you a solid reason to work out and obstacle courses are a lot of fun :)

You can still eat. Just don't eat as much. Psychologically, you'll want to clean your plate every time and you'll fill it when you're serving yourself. So use smaller plates at home, and put the food away when you've served yourself. Keep healthy snacks like nuts or popcorn at home instead of chips and cookies. If they're in the house, you'll need self-control all the time to stay out of them. If you don't buy them, you only need self control while you're at the store!

Calories in < calories out. It's a bit of an oversimplification, but not that much. You need to burn more calories than you eat. That's the easy part, the hard part is actually doing it.

I have a similar build to you, and have tried just about every diet there is in my 46 years on this planet. In February, I was 287, my highest ever. Right now I'm about 265 and dropping slowly. I'm using the MyFitnessPal app on my phone to track every single thing I eat. Don't lie, don't cheat, don't fudge it, put everything in there. It will help you realize how many calories you actually eat in a day, which for most folks is way more than they think. FWIW, I'm still eating unhealthy crap, just not as much of it.

I'm not really doing any formal "exercise" right now, though I tend to be pretty busy outside in the summer months. But one thing I've found over the years is that eating less is a much more effective weight loss strategy than trying to exercise away the excess calories. Most people simply don't have the time. It takes a long time to burn off a 500 calorie milkshake, for instance.

I've done really well lately eating these instead of the usual stuff (I'll add some tasty BBQ sauce for some extra flavor, though they are really not bad to start with, not at all bland):

Birdseye Steamfresh Protein blends

the veggie ones are good too

my hunger-related eating seems to stem from a few areas. certain things in my diet make me extra hungry, which leads to binging. for example, this is particular to me, but drinking plain water on an empty stomach upsets something down there (maybe the acid balance... who knows), but for whatever reason, it makes me extra hungry. I like to sip something during the day, so instead I sip coffee with some cream and sugar (keeps it from being too acidy...leading to more ravenous binging), and that works for me.
probably everyone has their own little triggers, but that's my personal story. I'm down almost 30lbs in past few months and roughly lost 5% body fat.

before that I was hitting the gym every day, hour of cardio, and then lifting some weights, and I was stronger, but it was screwing with my appetite and that's how I put on that 30lbs that I wasn't happy about.
different things work for different people, but i can only ever trim down when i get the appetite under control, even if it means less aggressive working-out, or cutting back on the intensity.

I also noticed that (previously I had been trying the 'load up on protein' method to keep me full, or whatever) it seems there was a correlation between, the more protein I ate (lean-ish chicken mostly, grilled, not breaded) the more I craved the donuts and other sweet things. Lately, I'm not trying to squeeze so much protein into my diet, and it seems to have helped calm my appetite down too. I must be getting enough overall to keep things in balance.

I'm really overweight as well, and want to do something about it, but don't know what to do. Now that I'm going to be the head coach of my sons hockey team I've been thinking about losing weight even more so I don't look so bad to all the kids, and parents. I really don't know how to eat though. I do play hockey a couple of times a week outside of the summer months and once a week usually during the summer, and also play volleyball in the winter as well. I'm mostly active, but eat way too much, and all the wrong things. I'm a picky eater, and eat when I'm bored. I need help, but don't know where to turn. I've never been able to diet, and don't really like gyms, but would join one if I knew I could stick with a plan to lose the weight. I guess I need a coach. Probably a life coach.

Thanks for all of the great suggestions, I do use my fitness pal boy was that an eye opener. The biggest thing for me is just cutting food down, I'm terrible about eating because it's in front of me or in the kitchen at work. It's also about swapping one food for another, example I eat a ham and cheese sandwich everyday with baked chips, I figure if I swap that for an actual protein or veg at least twice a week it will help massively. My plan for exercise is starting slowly, 30 minutes a day at minimum a walk/bike ride around the neighborhood. I do have a gym membership but need to get my flabby ass in there. I appreciate all of the suggestions so far!

Well having dropped 70lbs, then regained 60, my advice should be taken with a grain of salt I guess. But cut out soda. Entirely. Mountain Dew has been my biggest enemy keeping the weight off.

If you have a Trader Joes nearby, the premade salads they have there are surprisingly delicious, low priced, and filling. Even "fancy" ones with chicken and BBQ sauce.

Another thing that helped me was literally spending all my money on maintenance items and not having any left for food, but that's not very healthy in the long run.

Now that the baby has started walking, chasing after her will hopefully help me lose some weight again too. It might not be a bad idea to make a thread like the hotlink thread or something here to post updates in, those of us that need to might be able to use it as motivation to keep going.

The "diet" I was on in California worked well, but there was more than a little physical activity involved as well. It wasn't an actual diet, not something out of a book or anything. Natural juices, not artificially enhanced stuff, lots of meat, and at the very least a salad with every meal. Grilling vegetables, or wrapping them in bacon, does make them much easier to eat. Switching over to baked or air-popped chips as a small snack was a big help as well, and those have the benefit of tasting better as well as staying crunchy longer.

Cutting back on breads and pasta was a big help, although terribly difficult being Italian where spaghetti is treated as an appetizer.

Probably my biggest help was switching from pop to water. But READ THE LABEL on the water, you'd be amazed how many "pure" or "natural" bottled waters are full of salts that actually make you thirstier and stick around in the body.

Fast food at most once a week, more like twice a month or not at all would be best.

Maybe it was a coincidence with the physical activity, but shopping exclusively at Trader Joes, where the prices really aren't that bad and often cheaper than the regular grocery store, on top of actually being organic and not processed to death seemed to help. It sucks where I live now with the closest one an hour away.

I'm back down to 290, for reference. When I moved to CA I was 320, at my lowest before I moved back to PA, I was floating at 245, a weight I hadn't seen since highschool. I'm yoyo-ing from 285 to 300 for the past few months, and really pushing to get back down in the 250 range again. I'd like to see 200 again eventually, but it's not easy.

It will really help if you have people that can work with you or motivate you to go along. I'm terrible at keeping up on things alone, but with a roommate, wife, girlfriend, forum member, whatever going through it with you does make it seem a lot easier, and seems to keep the cheating down.

A hard thing to learn is to stop eating before you feel full. The full feeling can take 15 minutes to register. Finding portion sizes can help and when you're done with the meal go do something else. A half hour later and you will realize that you're not hungry anymore.

I lost almost 20 lbs once my son started being more mobile and demanding, since I have less of a chance to eat a second helping. I've also tried to cut out as much sugar out of my diet as possible. Of course a doughnut or cookie still finds it's way into my belly from time to time, but I don't eat those things every day. And if you need to know about sugar, look up the American Heart Association's Sugar 101 article. If you drink one can of Mt Dew or Coke, you've already surpassed your recommended sugar for the day. Anything that's labeled Low Fat will be high in sugar. That's how they make it passable as food, because fat tastes so good you need to replace it with something just as tasty.

100% juice sounds good until you realize it's just sugar water and none of the fiber benefits that you'd get if you've eaten the actual fruit.

Basically processed foods have way too much sugar. Home cooked meals are the best for you, and next would be actual restaurants. Fast food? Not so much. That aisle with all the packaged cookies at the supermarket, skip it. Rediscover fresh fruit and veggies. I forgot how good a grape in-season can be or what an actually summer time tomato taste like. Let me give you a hint, it doesn't taste like the reddish cube on top of a Taco Bell taco supreme.

Last year I made a new years resolution to never eat "thirds" i.e. never should I ever need to fill my plate up a third time during one meal.

I went from 230-240 to 210-220 over the last 18 months. So that is something.

Still need to figure out how to get down to 180-190 (and stay there).

RossD wrote: I forgot how good a grape in-season can be or what an actually summer time tomato taste like. Let me give you a hint, it doesn't taste like the reddish cube on top of a Taco Bell taco supreme.

Oh man, the cherry tomatoes in my in-laws' garden are in season. They're like eating candy. Unbelievably good.

Exercise is great for feeling and becoming healthy, but losing weight is about what/how/when you eat.

The deck is stacked against us because there's added sugar in practically everything these days and because prepared foods are engineered to taste good, not to be good for you.

RossD wrote: you need to replace it with something just as tasty

Ross is spot on -- you know what bad food choices are your weaknesses, so do what you can to replace them with something you find tasty but is not filled with empty calories.

I've lost over 30 pounds due to a lifestyle change, weight loss was a side effect but not the original intention. Doc diagnosed me as pre-diabetic and told me if I wanted to stay away from diabetic medicine then diet change was in order. I followed the directions of eating healthier and portion control along with becoming more active and regular exercise. My diet besides being healthier cuts down on sugar and carbs. Condition is under control and I lost over 30 pounds of weight. Don't get me wrong, you can splurge and eat what you want on occasion in reasonable quantity. Admittedly, the first few months I was always hungry getting used to the portion control. Now I'm used to it and can't eat quantities over my regular amount. Used to eat 2 kinda large meals a day, now 3 small meals a day. Never been one to snack but don't snack at all between meals now. Got on the scale last night, first time checking my weight in a couple months and found I lost a bit more and now right at the weight I was in my 20's in the military, I'm 57 now. Granted, it's distributed a bit differently than when I was in my 20's. Went from 210 down to 170-ish now (5'11"). Downside(?) is I had to buy new clothes as I went down a size. Went from 36 waist to 34 waist and 34's are a little loose.

Portion control does a lot along with eating healthier. Add in some green stuff (healthy stuff) into the smaller portion control and the pounds will melt away. Just be aware that you will feel hungry all the time for the first few months till your body gets used to the portions. And no snacking between meals.

Start eating with chopsticks. You hardly ever see fat Asians.

My personal approach is stress and beer. As long as you leave out the food bit, it seems to work.

I had really good luck with Weight Watchers. I went from 397 to 308 in about two years. My problem is sticking to it if I don't go there and get weighed regularly. It doesn't really make sense but I stopping going about a year ago when my wife got hurt and I started gaining it back again.

Another great motivator I just remembered from a college biology class. For every 35lbs you lose, your hootus will appear about an inch longer. I haven't done a full on case study, but I think it's pretty accurate from dropping and regaining 70 pounds.

A very generic prescription from a Personal Trainer of 24 years:

Eat 3 Square meals centered around proteins, fats, and vegetables with a splash of starch at each (no more than the size of an ice cream scoop). Finish your meal just barely satisfied (never stuffed). You can eat between meals but only fruit (1 whole fresh fruit). If you crave something sweet find something that is prepackaged and roughly 100 calories and have it for an evening snack towards bedtime.

Do a basic strength training routine at least twice a week (preferably 3-4 times). Be active the rest of the time. Take walks, take the steps, pick up and active hobby, etc.

It is possible to drink and lose weight but it is very difficult. The calories are garbage and very few people have enough willpower to resist food binges while drinking.

I've lost 55LB over the last 4 years. I put a about 15 of that back but it's been mostly in the form of muscle and not fat. I'm back to the same size jeans as I wore in HS.

The biggest thing I did was take out a lot of the sugar from my diet. I no longer drink soda or any sugary drinks. I also have more salads than before.

I also make at least 30 minutes a day to do something calorie burning. I personally do 2 days of on road running, 2 days of on road biking, 1 day of trail running, 1 day of mountain biking, and one day of yoga for recovery and stretching.

The most important thing is to think sustainability. A lot of people go to extremes and can not maintain the changes. Another thing to remember is why you are doing it. For me, it was easy. My family has a history of heart disease and bad health. i didn't wasn't to follow down that same road. I don't want to be on a pacemaker and not able to enjoy retirement in 30 years.

Robbie wrote: Last year I made a new years resolution to never eat "thirds" i.e. never should I ever need to fill my plate up a third time during one meal.

Yeah, same here. It goes back to the "wait until you're full" thing.

Another thing, my typical lunch used to be two sandwiches and take the bag of chips with me and eat as many as I want with the sandwiches. Now it's one sandwich and a handful of chips on the plate with it, and that's it. And, miracle of miracles, I still feel full after that.

Another thing I've found that helps to motivate me is to embrace the hunger. I don't mean starve yourself, but after a moderate lunch, I start to feel some hunger pangs around 3-4pm. I welcome them. If I'm hungry, I'm burning my fat reserves, is the way I see it. And you should be hungry before every meal. Don't just eat because it's time to eat.

Tom_Spangler wrote:

Robbie wrote: Last year I made a new years resolution to never eat "thirds" i.e. never should I ever need to fill my plate up a third time during one meal.

Yeah, same here. It goes back to the "wait until you're full" thing. Another thing, my typical lunch used to be two sandwiches and take the bag of chips with me and eat as many as I want with the sandwiches. Now it's one sandwich and a handful of chips on the plate with it, and that's it. And, miracle of miracles, I still feel full after that. Another thing I've found that helps to motivate me is to embrace the hunger. I don't mean starve yourself, but after a moderate lunch, I start to feel some hunger pangs around 3-4pm. I welcome them. If I'm hungry, I'm burning my fat reserves, is the way I see it. And you should be hungry before every meal. Don't just eat because it's time to eat.

Drink a big glass of water when the hunger pangs hit.

Wall-e wrote: I had really good luck with Weight Watchers. I went from 397 to 308 in about two years. My problem is sticking to it if I don't go there and get weighed regularly. It doesn't really make sense but I stopping going about a year ago when my wife got hurt and I started gaining it back again.

My wife has been very successful with Weight Watchers. As you said, you have to keep going. She has been doing WW for maybe 40 years off and on and the weigh has been up and down. WW is nothing more than sensible eating.

I went to the doc yesterday and he said I have a fatty liver. Need to lose weight (no surprise) and cut out the fried foods, butter and dairy. I don't think cereal with water isn't going to be too good.

I've been lucky to be able to keep my weight relatively low, and am about 15 pounds down from my peak weight with about 11 pounds to go. Outside of exercise(mostly cardio for me), the two biggest effects have been reducing or eliminating soda(having problems with that right now), and cutting down on eating out. When I eat at a restaurant, the portions are so big and I feel like I need to finish them. When I fix myself something at home, I can control the portions.

Try to get an idea of when you eat too much, too. Maybe try to avoid situations where you know you might overeat. Unfortunately, I can't completely avoid mine, as they are work-related.

Calories consumed < calories burned = weight loss