Do you want to diet with me?

Nah. Maintaining at 135.

Yoga and dancing and always doing something. I am naturally active and I don’t sit for very long with the exception of being online sometimes. I never have eaten very much at one time, more of a nibbler. I’m between 105 and 110 so I don’t think I’ll be much help.

After buying a watch as a gift to myself, I told a friend of mine that I would also start losing weight. That was 14 years ago. My friend had passed away and my watch needs to be refurbished. I’m still overweight.

Some nice development though. Beginning this last July I finally got down to business. Lost 12 pounds in about two months and so far I’m still able to keep this diminished weight of mine.

Now working on simply continuing, to chip away from my weight at a rate of one pound every two weeks and if I fail, then at the least to not gain back any of what I already lost.

It’s hard how I did it and I’m not sure if I can even recommend it since I don’t know if it’s safe. I combined intermittent-fasting and calorie counting.

I can’t strictly follow the do’s and don’t of these two dieting methods. I don’t have the discipline and the fortitude. And I am not exercising at all. But I plan to once I reach my goal.

What is working out quite well for me are these…

I fast 12 to 15 hours from whenever I had my last meal.

I drink only water or coffee.

I eat only vegetables, chicken and nuts.

Repeat daily as much as possible. And that’s it.

Btw, I also weigh myself every morning. Seeing the number go up and down serve as either inspiration or reminder to stay on the path.

In my case the weight scale really helps.

Oh, I also eat fish!

I also learned that in my case, what motivates me the most to keep at it and to not give up when things get hard…is this feeling…that since it took so much effort and it took what feels like a long time losing that single pound…that it is just stupid and terrible to waste all that effort. So no, keep going!

@RayaHope When I was a teenager and weight 125 at 5’6” my cholesterol was 270. So, for me it’s mostly about health. Even when I got my cholesterol down to 220 I still weighed around the same.

I weigh much more now, but my main goal is trying to not need major medical intervention or dying any time soon.

@mazingerz88 Intermittent fasting wouldn’t work for me, and that alone wouldn’t help my overall health concerns, but I know people who say that they maintain their weight fasting.

I have to go more or less vegan to really help my coronary arteries. Plenty of vegetables. Chicken slowly kills me (probably not so slow now) just as much as any other animal.

Hopefully, more veggies helps with any vitamin deficiencies I might have too. Not that I’m completely swearing off chicken and meat, but I’m going to try to go back only eating it once or twice a week. Also, no dairy, except some milk in cereal, but it’s only 2–3 times a week and skim.

I lost some weight when I had no interest in food for a few days with Covid. Now I am trying to lose some more. I don’t follow a strict diet when trying to lose, I feel too deprived if I don’t have some ice cream or sweets most days. But I keep my meals simple and mainly vegetarian with meat on occasion. I do eat cheese and yogurt. I find the biggest helps for me are having quite a small supper and not eating out much.

Oh – and I make it a practice to rarely drink any calories – water, seltzer or unsweetened tea mainly. If I’m socializing I might have a glass of wine about once a week.

Oh, hell no.

But I’ll cheer you on while scarfing my ice cream. :P

I’m in. I need to lose 30lb

@JLeslie I don’t think I ever had my cholesterol checked. If my doctor did check it they never told me about it. I don’t want you to die anytime soon either! I wish you good health and many long years ahead! :)

Careful going vegetarian, especially if you take statins. Low vitamin K can actually cause calcification.

@Blackwater_Park Vegan (at home) with the small exception of some skim milk and a cheat here and there.

You might mean B12. That’s what most people warn about on a vegetarian diet.

Regarding K, I think it’s K2 that is thought to be highly beneficial to get the calcium into the bone. K2 unfortunately in the American diet is found in egg yolks, which of course have a ton of cholesterol. It’s a nightmare. K and K2 also promotes clotting, another cardiac risk factor I have. My K absorption probably goes up when I’m eating “healthy” because I’m eating more veggies including leafy greens. I wish the medical doctors I go to knew more about K and K2. Cardiologists don’t seem to mention it at all or test for it, if that’s even possible.

@RayaHope If your parents don’t have high cholesterol you probably don’t. If they do, then you might want to get yours checked, or if your grandparents had heart attacks or needed cardiac surgery at a young age. Some people have no cholesterol problems and can eat anything and their numbers are great.

^^I think my great gramps had a heart problem but that was so long ago.

B12 people are aware of. K2 is the sleeper that is not on most people’s radar. Apparently statins negatively impact levels as do vegan diets. When I was vegan, twice for like a year at a time I struggled with depression. I won’t do it again. I’m concerned when people say they’re vegan. I don’t think it’s really healthy. I think it’s possible to do, just very hard to do it safely.

Anyway, I have to give up ice cream and get moving a little more. COVID has not been nice to my waistline

@Blackwater_Park I lost 7–8 pound when covid first hit. Not eating in restaurants was easily 5 of that weight, and then also trying to be a little healthier with a killer virus floating around.

My sister has been vegan for 30 years, and the research shows it can reverse heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. Cultures that are very close to vegan, very little meat, have very little heart disease.

Saying all of that, I’m not trying to convince you to be vegan, In fact, your comment about your mood is very interesting to me.

I agree about K2 not being on the radar, but I hadn’t heard about vegan diets affecting K2 levels. Since it’s mostly in egg yolks in our diet here, anyone watching egg intake wouldn’t be getting very much.

@JLeslie I looked up K2 and it is in mostly meat and dairy products. So a vegan diet may deprive you of K2.

Many vegans end up consuming more processed grains, sugar and vegetable oils. That’s not good. I think vegan diet can be ok if, and only if you cheat periodically. Like weekly. I know how I felt being vegan, I know my numbers actually got worse and I know how hard I tried to be healthy with it. It wrecked me. It may be possible for some to be ok eating that way but serious caution is in order IMO. It’s risky .

^^Which numbers were off for you?

When I go vegan (again with bits of cheating) my numbers are much better.

Although, I’ve never had a K2 level tested. I’d by curious if that test is available.

I usually eat a lot of chicken, I also eat cheese usually, and still I have calcium building in my right main artery.

Triglycerides and HDL/LDL ratio.

@Blackwater_Park They were too low? Or, you mean your triglycerides went up because you were eating more sugars/carbs? My triglycerides react to sugar intake too. Thank goodness I was made aware of that when I was a teenager.

I already know my numbers are better when I don’t eat animal products, or keep the consumption way down to a minimum.

HDL went down to nothing and triglycerides went up. I believe it’s because of increased carbohydrate intake even if it was “healthy” carbs. (Not bread and pasta) I added fish, eggs and small amounts of lean meat back and my HDL went back up and triglycerides went back normal. I also had more energy and felt much better both mentally and physically. It’s what works for you. Vegan diet messes me up.

^^Interesting. Thanks. I’ll definitely test a month or so in. You demonstrate what I always say, doctors should test earlier when people significantly change their diet. Some doctors weight 6 months, that’s crazy! It should be a month, and then again maybe at 3 months.

I have to be careful not to lose weight especially when on vacation. I’m 5’ 11” and weigh 145 (+/- 2 pounds). Been this way since high school.

I try to eat a balanced diet – protein, carbs, fruits/veg. Use portion control. My buddy wrote “Relax and Enjoy Your Food” which suggests the same thing, but has more details.