Well...it finally happened!

[tropicalbob]

What works like magic for me is no sugary drinks, don't eat too much, and, above all, no snacks. Once in a while some cherry tomatoes or Saltines (0 cals.). For a number of my overweight friends food is an addiction ("If I don't eat something I feel faint"). Once you break a habit for awhile, you wonder how you could ever have done that. Believe me, I know.

 

[navetsea]

Man , i cant cut down sugar, i put 2teaspoon sugar in my coffee, i know for sure i cant cut down coffee. I dont drink beer, soda, ice cream, candy, chocolate, cake, cookies, etc.
But drink 5 to 7 cups coffee daily.

 

[Old Mariner]

I am 40 and have a "gut" but not from beer or anything like that. I suddenly started to put on weight when I turned 33/34 and am a waist size 36. I am 5'5" and approximately 150 lbs. Now while my gut may not be flattering, when I had my major surgery in February of last year, I was at the right BMI for it, and after a 9 day hospital stay, I lost 9 lbs. I put that back on eventually, and because I have 1 last surgery, I really don't want to lose the weight because it's my "spare tank" of weight to get me through this next surgery. I realized that I was not crazy about wearing a t shirt in the summer due to how much it shows my gut, so I opted to get large linen shirts to wear untucked (these have a straight bottom). Yet, I am not sure if that's better or worse. I do have some button short sleeve shirts I can tuck in that are a smaller size, but when it's 200% humidity and nearly 100 degrees, I prefer something loose. Anyone else in this situation? What shirt style do you wear if you have a bit of a belly?

 

[Worf]

Hell I've actually LOST weight during the pandemic, even though my local "Y" is closed. I eat less and walk about 5.6 miles or 10,000 steps a day. I've lost some muscle mass doing only push-ups, but I can't complain too much.

Worf

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

Most my life I was 175-180. Woke up one day at 210 and was like whoa. Enough. Lots of people have said it, but it's simple science/math. If you don't burn the calories you eat, you gain. If you burn more than you eat, you lose. So you either have to increase activity or decrease food, ideally both.

One extra thing I've done and there's some metabolic science to it, but I think generally it's more about cutting out additional eating time and therefore extra calories, is I try to do all my eating in about a 10 hour window. Breakfast 8. Lunch 12. Dinner 6. You basically go to bed a little hungry. It's hard at first, but you get used to it. But I eat ice cream and cookies and bread and all the stuff that's supposed to be bad for you. But I also stay active. So many different factors obviously, but I'm holding 183 to 187 range almost a year now and TBH, I don't feel like I'm on a diet. I still splurge here and there, still eat what I want, but a little portion control and like I said, that smaller eating window.

Other thing to give you a sense of what that extra weight you want to lose is like. Whatever weight you want to lose, go and buy a dumbbell at same weight. Carry it around for 10 minutes, 1 hour if you can. It's crazy how fast you realize how that extra weight on your body "feels" like. It was good motivation for me.

 

[MrProper]

Man , i cant cut down sugar, i put 2teaspoon sugar in my coffee,

Try it. It's pretty easy.
I used to drink my sugar with a little coffee (3-4 teaspoons of sugar), but stopped about three years ago. From one day to another. Since then i have been drinking my 3-4 large cups black.
The other day i accidentally sipped coffee with sugar and it wasn't good at all. Didn't taste good anymore. Even though I eat mountains of sweets every day.
But I don't have any body problems either, as I only eat twice a day, only drink water and coffee and sometimes beer. And I actually always do sports. I cant complain about my 55 year old body

 

[Dr H]

Good luck with the weight loss. I’ve lost around 6 kg (about a stone) since March, which was much needed. Lockdown allowed me to get my diet back in kilter (commuting/missing lunch due to meetings plays havoc with my system). I’ve been building a log cabin/summer house since August (slower progress now following 2 weeks annual leave and the start of the first teaching semester). The longer dog walks, physical labour (the larger wooden components are heavy!), and reduced fat/sugar intake have been working well.
Ideally, I’ll aim to shed another stone to sit in the ideal weight range, but not more.
Clothes are already feeling much more comfortable, particularly the trimmer designs (really regret selling that Menlo Cossack now!).

 

[navetsea]

I am 40 and have a "gut" but not from beer or anything like that. I suddenly started to put on weight when I turned 33/34 and am a waist size 36. I am 5'5" and approximately 150 lbs. Now while my gut may not be flattering, when I had my major surgery in February of last year, I was at the right BMI for it, and after a 9 day hospital stay, I lost 9 lbs. I put that back on eventually, and because I have 1 last surgery, I really don't want to lose the weight because it's my "spare tank" of weight to get me through this next surgery. I realized that I was not crazy about wearing a t shirt in the summer due to how much it shows my gut, so I opted to get large linen shirts to wear untucked (these have a straight bottom). Yet, I am not sure if that's better or worse. I do have some button short sleeve shirts I can tuck in that are a smaller size, but when it's 200% humidity and nearly 100 degrees, I prefer something loose. Anyone else in this situation? What shirt style do you wear if you have a bit of a belly?

I'm about your age (42), I now eat half or one third of a portion I ate when I was young with faster metabolism and have more fun activities, especially since I live sitting behind a desk throughout the day now, my bmi is around 19 (175-176cm weight 56.5-58kg). I used to be a lot easier to sweat when I was 10kg heavier and probably can't wear any jacket if I stay at that weight. I spent around 2 weeks in hospital not for myself but for my grandma's gallbladder problem and hip replacement few years ago and there I lost 10kgs due to only eat cream creackers and chinese mungbean filled steamed bread for 2 weeks, after that I stayed at that weight probably since early 2010.

 

[M Brown]

I can relate. In my case I can't do much at the gym anymore, even if the gym were open. In the past 10 years I've ruptured both left and right biceps tendons...left side was one of the proximal tendons and the right side was the distal tendon. So lifting weights has become a thing of the past for me. I can do aerobics to a degree but a bad right knee makes that a chore now. However, I can ride a stationary bike or walk on a treadmill...but again the gym is closed.
So I was considering getting a bike for the home. My wife doesn't want to put one in the house though. She said just last night that she'd be ok with getting a portable building and using it for a home gym but that sounds like a big undertaking to me.

 

[Old Mariner]

I'm about your age (42), I now eat half or one third of a portion I ate when I was young with faster metabolism and have more fun activities, especially since I live sitting behind a desk throughout the day now, my bmi is around 19 (175-176cm weight 56.5-58kg). I used to be a lot easier to sweat when I was 10kg heavier and probably can't wear any jacket if I stay at that weight. I spent around 2 weeks in hospital not for myself but for my grandma's gallbladder problem and hip replacement few years ago and there I lost 10kgs due to only eat cream creackers and chinese mungbean filled steamed bread for 2 weeks, after that I stayed at that weight probably since early 2010.

I have, to my surprise, been eating less since my surgery, and keep making adjustments with my diet to eat more healthy.

Before the pandemic mess, my appetite was fairly stable and so I ate more regularly (something that I am trying to get back to doing despite being stressed). I eat less when I am stressed.

I know I will be weighed again before this last surgery and that's why I don't want to lose too much. It's just a matter of dressing somewhat decently in the middle of summer. For now, I am just opting for a t shirt under a large, loose linen shirt so I look a bit more decent.

 

[jacketjunkie]

I'm about your age (42), I now eat half or one third of a portion I ate when I was young with faster metabolism and have more fun activities, especially since I live sitting behind a desk throughout the day now, my bmi is around 19 (175-176cm weight 56.5-58kg). I used to be a lot easier to sweat when I was 10kg heavier and probably can't wear any jacket if I stay at that weight. I spent around 2 weeks in hospital not for myself but for my grandma's gallbladder problem and hip replacement few years ago and there I lost 10kgs due to only eat cream creackers and chinese mungbean filled steamed bread for 2 weeks, after that I stayed at that weight probably since early 2010.

42? What the... I thought you were around 30. Up to which age did you have to show ID when buying alcohol?

 

[Edward]

Lost a bit of weight by eating less in pandemic. Unfortunately because we still have to shield to the extent we did as the wife is supposed to not go inside anywhere other than home, we're basically limited to walking distance from our own bathroom, which kills the limited social options we have, so there's a lot of watcing television going on here... Alas, getting a good walk in is going to have to wait for a bit.

 

[navetsea]

I have, to my surprise, been eating less since my surgery, and keep making adjustments with my diet to eat more healthy.

Before the pandemic mess, my appetite was fairly stable and so I ate more regularly (something that I am trying to get back to doing despite being stressed). I eat less when I am stressed.

I know I will be weighed again before this last surgery and that's why I don't want to lose too much. It's just a matter of dressing somewhat decently in the middle of summer. For now, I am just opting for a t shirt under a large, loose linen shirt so I look a bit more decent.

I think cotton pique is a nice material to allow air and also it tends to hide or flatten bumps, and make you look more athletic.

 

[navetsea]

42? What the... I thought you were around 30. Up to which age did you have to show ID when buying alcohol?

I never drink... but ugh long time ago I was asked for ID when renting some laser disc with a picture of some ladies not wearing enough clothes on the cover kind of movie in my 20's

 

[Old Mariner]

I think cotton pique is a nice material to allow air and also it tends to hide or flatten bumps, and make you look more athletic.

I have one of my chambray shirts on today which seems to work decently. I couldn't really get a decent side photo.

 

[navetsea]

I have never tried both flannel and chambray shirt yet, I like to try chambray since it looks wearable in my climate.

 

[Old Mariner]

I have never tried both flannel and chambray shirt yet, I like to try chambray since it looks wearable in my climate.

Chambray tends to be a favorite of mine. I don't plan on giving up my belly if only because of my health (oddly), but one thing I noticed right away was that, prior to having it, people in my area thought I was anorexic or something due to being thin. But the moment I got it and kept it, people reacted to me more positively. So, I don't know if it is a "regional" sign of good health or what, but it was just something that I took notice of.

 

[navetsea]

Chambray tends to be a favorite of mine. I don't plan on giving up my belly if only because of my health (oddly), but one thing I noticed right away was that, prior to having it, people in my area thought I was anorexic or something due to being thin. But the moment I got it and kept it, people reacted to me more positively. So, I don't know if it is a "regional" sign of good health or what, but it was just something that I took notice of.

oh yeah, my nextdoor old lady neighbor felt like she had to give me food every thursday or something, made me felt awkward after the 3rd time and I went out to give something back to her, and thus went back and forth for 3 months until I politely told her to please stop.