199.5 lbs, three times now.

[1293]

I found weight gain to be an unforeseen consequence of working from home for the last few years. I end up walking to the kitchen 5 or 6 times a day to snack, mostly out of boredom. But when I'm in the office, it's just a morning coffee, sensible lunch, and afternoon coffee.

It was the opposite for me. We were big on catered lunch meetings. The double door commercial fridges in the break rooms were always stuffed with leftovers - pizza, sub platters, sandwiches, wraps, wings, salads, burritos, chips and salsa, pasta dishes, soups, chili... It was endless.

 

[bsman]

A shoulder injury stopped me from reffing soccer (football) in March - in the meantime we moved 2K miles in May, which sure as heck didn't help (we had movers do the actual move but packed everything ourselves). I had surgery (6-9 mo recovery) in August. I've only gained five or ten pounds but that's net new fat/muscle lost. I just renewed my USSF license and expect to begin my 30th season in the spring.

 

[Wound_Up]

Yeah , if someone snacks all day, that goes out the window . Unless that snack is some carrots , or an apple , grapes etc

Not exactly. I can & do snack all day and drink 6+ sodas/day. At 41, I'm still the exact same size I was in high school with the exact same eating habits. Ive weighed 140 lbs all of my adult life. And it NEVER changes, no matter my eating habits or what I eat or drink.

Metabolism plays a bigger part than any of that. Thank God mine runs at 100-to-nothing and has my whole life.

 

[Sparky472]

i don't know how much validity the "finish your plate" argument has. my parents eat small portions and they're still fat because they snack all day. i would assume most people owe it to that instead of overeating a little at lunch/dinner.

I don’t disagree with you about snacking all day. But TD’s point about being told to finish your plate is, IMO, very valid. It’s not necessarily that we eat too much at every meal. It certainly teaches an unhealthy attitude about eating in general that we take with us beyond the dinner table. That’s only one part of it of course. We as a society eat very unhealthily. Over-processed foods, unhealthy fats, not enough fresh fruits/vegetables, etc. it’s not just about quantity, it’s about quality. And as you point out, how/when we eat throughout the day as well.

I’ve known this for a long time intellectually, but only in my early 50s have I really started changing how I eat (and adding daily exercise). Fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, smaller portions in general, waaaaay less red meat, red wine instead of beer, not much snacking to speak of. Aside from pretty quickly dropping 30 lbs, I feel better all around, physically and emotionally. I wish I had done all this earlier. I don’t feel like im depriving myself. I like what I eat. And if my family wants to go out for pizza, I have some pizza - no big deal. But I don’t eat the whole dang pie and the leftovers for breakfast and wash it down with milkshakes. Nor do I miss eating that way.

Everyone needs to find what works for them, of course. But it is hard when we are raised to eat unhealthy food and told we need to eat what we’re given and finish it all, even if you don’t like it, aren’t hungry, etc. Or to soothe our troubles with food. Or to put speed/cost/convenience over nutrition.

My wife has so much emotional distress when it comes to food because of all of these types of issues. Taught bad food habits and criticized by her parents at the same time for being overweight.

Anyway, I got a little caught up in my post so I’ll stop now.

@Toto'sDad - Good on you for making the changes that work for you. And I’m with you—it’s not about dieting. It’s about changing the way you approach food/eating.

Eating for health>dieting to lose weight.

Edit/add: forgot to mention the whole reason I did embark on this change to begin with was to lower my cholesterol and blood pressure. My cholesterol is in range for the first time in decades! The weight loss is icing on the cake. My blood pressure is better overall too. I don’t entertain any kind of eternal life fantasy, nor would I want to live forever… enough is enough at a certain point! I’m perfectly comfortable with dying - we’re all headed that direction. But I’d love to live long enough to see my kids become adults and maybe even see my grandkids, if they decide to go that route. And the less sick I can be along the way, the better.

 

[Toto'sDad]

I don’t disagree with you about snacking all day. But TD’s point about being told to finish your plate is, IMO, very valid. It’s not necessarily that we eat too much at every meal. It certainly teaches an unhealthy attitude about eating in general that we take with us beyond the dinner table. That’s only one part of it of course. We as a society eat very unhealthily. Over-processed foods, unhealthy fats, not enough fresh fruits/vegetables, etc. it’s not just about quantity, it’s about quality. And as you point out, how/when we eat throughout the day as well.

I’ve known this for a long time intellectually, but only in my early 50s have I really started changing how I eat (and adding daily exercise). Fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, smaller portions in general, waaaaay less red meat, red wine instead of beer, not much snacking to speak of. Aside from pretty quickly dropping 30 lbs, I feel better all around, physically and emotionally. I wish I had done all this earlier. I don’t feel like im depriving myself. I like what I eat. And if my family wants to go out for pizza, I have some pizza - no big deal. But I don’t eat the whole dang pie and the leftovers for breakfast and wash it down with milkshakes. Nor do I miss eating that way.

Everyone needs to find what works for them, of course. But it is hard when we are raised to eat unhealthy food and told we need to eat what we’re given and finish it all, even if you don’t like it, aren’t hungry, etc. Or to soothe our troubles with food. Or to put speed/cost/convenience over nutrition.

My wife has so much emotional distress when it comes to food because of all of these types of issues. Taught bad food habits and criticized by her parents at the same time for being overweight.

Anyway, I got a little caught up in my post so I’ll stop now.

@Toto'sDad - Good on you for making the changes that work for you. And I’m with you—it’s not about dieting. It’s about changing the way you approach food/eating.

Eating for health>dieting to lose weight.

Edit/add: forgot to mention the whole reason I did embark on this change to begin with was to lower my cholesterol and blood pressure. My cholesterol is in range for the first time in decades! The weight loss is icing on the cake. My blood pressure is better overall too. I don’t entertain any kind of eternal life fantasy, nor would I want to live forever… enough is enough at a certain point! I’m perfectly comfortable with dying - we’re all headed that direction. But I’d love to live long enough to see my kids become adults and maybe even see my grandkids, if they decide to go that route. And the less sick I can be along the way, the better.

A lot of living a long life has as much to do with luck as anything, though I think bad choices can certainly shorten one's life. Good on you for making the changes and improving your life.

Small things that have improved for me, are being able to get my socks on and off more easily. I have an artificial hip, lots of guys have to use a device to help them get their socks on and off. I'm lucky enough to be able to just put mine on the same as always, but much easier with about twenty pounds out of the way.

I also reduced my cholesterol to the lowest level in years. I have cut back on my BP medicine from 75 mg a day, to a 25 mg tab on one day, and half that every other day. BP is better than in a long time too.