Personal weight loss story - what worked for me

polrbehr

Joey_V wrote: »

maximillian wrote: »

Did you use a coach or can you fly solo?

You need a coach

But after a few weeks I went solo

They are more useful than necessary in my opinion; I found that as you progressed, you would sort of "move away" from leaning on your coach, though that is also part of the Plan - the idea is to learn and adapt what you do as you move forward. But I also think Optavia is a borderline pyramid operation... my wife and I were both encouraged to become coaches after awhile, and as coaches, we in turn would help
others and encourage them to become coaches. AFAIK, coaches get a % from every box of food that their clients buy (my coach built a gorgeous pool this year and it wasn't because of a winning lottery ticket LOL).
Even with all that, if you follow along and learn what to do, you can have success with this plan. And we also discovered there are many viable alternatives to Optavia fuels, just as effective and pretty much half the cost. They do come in handy even after you achieve your target weight, I find myself taking them to work since they are convenient.

SIHAB

So, how do you feel now @Joey_V ?

Joey_V

SIHAB wrote: »

So, how do you feel now @Joey_V ?

A lot lighter and quicker
Also much more endurance
I don’t get winded
I still snore according to the wife so that didn’t get fixed haha

Part of the reason I did the weight loss was because I didn’t want to burn though my joints

I do taekwondo so I need to preserve my hips and knees as best as I can

Joey_V

polrbehr wrote: »

Joey_V wrote: »

maximillian wrote: »

Did you use a coach or can you fly solo?

You need a coach

But after a few weeks I went solo

They are more useful than necessary in my opinion; I found that as you progressed, you would sort of "move away" from leaning on your coach, though that is also part of the Plan - the idea is to learn and adapt what you do as you move forward. But I also think Optavia is a borderline pyramid operation... my wife and I were both encouraged to become coaches after awhile, and as coaches, we in turn would help
others and encourage them to become coaches. AFAIK, coaches get a % from every box of food that their clients buy (my coach built a gorgeous pool this year and it wasn't because of a winning lottery ticket LOL).
Even with all that, if you follow along and learn what to do, you can have success with this plan. And we also discovered there are many viable alternatives to Optavia fuels, just as effective and pretty much half the cost. They do come in handy even after you achieve your target weight, I find myself taking them to work since they are convenient.

I believe 15% of sales yes.

Upstatemax

Awesome thread, Joey!


I haven’t been on here in a LONG time, but glad I checked in.

I’m starting my own weight loss journey now.

In my ideal shape, I’m going to hit the scale between 180-185lbs. That was always an easy target for me to hit as I’m typically very active and do a lot of cycling.

But the last few years have been pretty crazy and I’ve been off the bike a lot and overall, far less active.

I know I’ve been creeping up the weight this past year in particular. But when I looked down a few weeks ago and saw 217lbs it upset me, a lot.

I’m a few months away from my 40th birthday and this year in general has been a difficult one in terms of overall health and how my body feels.

I decided it was enough and I need things to focus on and keep me on track. My long time riding buddy (who happens to be in basically the same boat as me) have planned a bike touring trip for the coming spring. It will be about 350-400 miles and will require about 90 mile days to get it done.

The last few weeks I’ve been trying to ramp up my activities, get on the bike more consistently and manage food and drink a lot better.

I’m down 10lbs so far.

I have a lot of training ahead of me and I really look forward to feeling better on the bike.

gmcman

Congrats @Joey_V

What worked for me was going pretty much the Keto route.

I cut the carbs, intermittent fasting, and I lost 30lbs in about 3 1/2 months, I aimed for less than 50g carbs daily during my diet.

Sugar is the devil, you don't need it. When your body runs more on ketones than carbs everything seems to just work the way it should.

Blood pressure down
Inflammation down, amazing how many areas of my body hurt that doesn't anymore.

You need to reverse any insulin resistance you have created.


When you see even how much sugar (40g) is in one soda, that should wake anyone up.

Here's a pic I showed my buddy who enjoys sodas....this is an eye opener.


This is one 20oz Mtn. Dew, 77g.




Three 1 liter bottles of soda, 360g, in relation to a 12oz can.

verb

This is a really inspiring thread - thanks for sharing @Joey_V !

Yeah me too, I put on a lot of poundage during the past few years, I blame myself working from home and sitting on my arse all day. At least on campus you could walk around from place to place.

Working from home I never put time aside to just walk. Yeah, dumb.

But, I got hit with the same epiphany as many of you - overall health, low stamina, high BP, cholesterol, other elevated levels of blood enzymes. What the heck is the matter with me? Nearing retirement, and on the road to poor health? Slap in the face needed!

So, I jumped on the low carb thing in September. Absolutely zero sugar, super low carbs, most of the carbs coming from vegetables. The Mrs is an awesome cook so it made things a bit easier.

I'm down 35 lbs, and still on the journey.

Threads like this, testimonials, being vulnerable, is so inspiring! Thank you all for sharing!

muncybob

I'm fortunate in that I never have had a weight problem, but I do read a lot and I think I have a decent understanding of proper diet/exercise. My wife has put on a considerable amount of weight to the point that her BP is tough to control, bad back and general over all not feeling well. Her PA recently told her a thing or 2 that I've been preaching for years, but my ideas fall on deaf ears.

I have finally convinced her to see a dietician next week. I bet she will be told many of the things I've been preaching but I hope since it will be coming from a medical person that she will finally listen to it and make some changes.

Change is not always easy, but change is needed if what you've been doing ain't working. I'll support her in every way I can to the point of waiting for her to go to bed before I pull out my night time munchies

Joey_V

The main thing I noticed is it’s easier to lose weight when it’s early rather than late. The longer you put it off or the bigger or older you are, it’s not easy and the effects have already set in for permanence.

muncybob

Joey, I hope not! Wife is actually looking forward to speaking with a nutritionist tomorrow. and we are both over the hill. Hoping to get back to youthful shape is a pipe dream, if she can lose enough to feel better about herself will be a victory.

gmcman

@muncybob I drifted over my ideal weight by almost 30 lbs, never really thought of it until I stepped on the scale.

Body fat goes a LONG way in terms of energy. Once your body has started using it's stored fat for fuel you may find the energy level stays the same and you crave food less often.

Cutting carbs to start to maybe 50g max daily, no sodas, chips, cookies, pastries, bread, rice and look into good fats like grass fed cheese, grass fed beef etc.

The first few days, even up to a week suck, but after that....your body will run on ketones instead of all carbs..it's an awesome feeling.

Up the potassium, you need about 4500mg daily. Not the best tasting smoothie but a cup of Arugula, cup of kale, 1 avocado, blueberries, maybe a few pieces of mango, have a ton of potassium.

The Keto diet worked almost magically for me...cutting carbs, mainly sugar, fructose is a necessity.

Granted that worked for me, look into any diet changes yourself,.do the research before you start.

Upstatemax

muncybob wrote: »

Joey, I hope not! Wife is actually looking forward to speaking with a nutritionist tomorrow. and we are both over the hill. Hoping to get back to youthful shape is a pipe dream, if she can lose enough to feel better about herself will be a victory.

I think a big key is not to over do it all at once.

Some people go way overboard; drastic diet changes, drastic lifestyle changes, and tons of exercise out of the gate.

It’s miserable and a lot of people quit.

Start with simple things in the diet. Find the worst items in the house, toss them. Soda, chips, and candy is a great place to start. Replace with healthier options.

Don’t go off the deep end with exercise, her body will not be ready for it. Start with simple walks, even just a 1/2 hour walk after dinner is a start.

Gradually ramp up diet changes and exercise, it quickly becomes a habit and you naturally want to go further. The feeling of actually feeling good again becomes addictive.

Some people strive under different circumstances, help each other figure it out and encourage each other along the way.

Keep it positive, keep it fun.

muncybob

She won;t do nuts with exercise. she hates it and her back won't tolerate much physical stuff right now. Went to a neurosurgeon yesterday and came away with some hope for relief w/o surgery. I hope she comes away from today's visit to the dietician the same way. Sometimes I think I'm more excited about this than she is, I just hope she gives this lifestyle change a good chance to work.

Joey_V

You don’t need exercise to lose weight

tonyb

Joey_V wrote: »

You don’t need exercise to lose weight

No, but you need exercise to stay healthy. By exercise, I don't mean hitting the gym every day, just walking can do wonders. You can take a boat load of drugs and supplements to lose weight, but it won't matter if your the skinniest corpse or not. Have to move, keep the blood circulating, the oxygen and nutrients flowing to all the organs. Everyone is a little different but whatever you do, move. Rolling stone grows no moss, right. lol

That's the hard part, staying healthy while losing weight. Lifestyle changes are going to be part of that and you have to commit to some to make lasting progress. Yeah, gets harder as you get older mainly because we get so entrenched in our bad habits they become a huge comfort zone. Baby steps....losing weight is huge for your overall health. Whatever path you go down to drop the weight, do so in a way that doesn't put your health at risk. Kudos to all walking that walk, keep sharing how you do it, motivate others.

muncybob

100% agree w/Tony. Sure I want her to lose weight, but I want her to do it in a healthy way. It's been proven that exercise helps the body in many ways. Walking is cheap, why not do it?

Joey_V

Exactly as I wrote

You don’t need exercise to lose weight.

You need it as part of a regimen to stay healthy.

Start with the weight loss, it’ll motivate for other steps.

Emlyn

Everything in moderation. Including moderation.

verb

Joey_V wrote: »

The main thing I noticed is it’s easier to lose weight when it’s early rather than late. The longer you put it off or the bigger or older you are, it’s not easy and the effects have already set in for permanence.

For sure! Done the low carb thing before, when younger, and the weight loss was much more rapid then now. Fortunately, with age, come patience!