The all new "It's time to get out and get fit" thread

good for you man. once you start losing you will get addicted to it and want to do more. wait till you are more active because of the weight loss. you will be amazed at how you feel..

early last year (at 44 years old) i finally got disgusted. i'm 5'11" tall and was up to 210 pounds. worse then that was just taking the dogs out to their pen made me out of breath. it sucked. plus i have a 4 year old lil girl that i want to be around for to see grow up. the dr. wanted to put me on cholesterol medicine. no way was i putting that poison in my body..

started working out (boot class type of class). got me into shape cardio wise but i was still eating like ****. lost 15 pounds then gained 10 pounds back.. the thing i learned is that you CAN NOT out work a poor diet. it really is that simple...

so what i did was go see a nutritionist. best move i ever made. i was lucky and my insurance covers my visits 100% as long as its written up as preventive. she put me on a calorie count.

here what i learned...

balance is the key. do not cut out food groups (unless ofcourse there is a medical reason to do so)

keep a food journal. this is very important. keep track of calories you take in. i use www.myfitnesspal.com it synce with my home computer,smart phone and tablet. you can also access it from any computer. real easy to use..

portion control is the secret. i lost 40 pounds eating the same garbage i had been eating to get fat. just cut the portions basically in half. since then my nutritionist has slowly changed my diet to healthier foods.

do not skip meals. infact you actually eat more often. you'll want to eat almost every 3 hours.. breakfast then a little snack, then lunch then a little snack, dinner then maybe a little snack before bed some time.. never eat till you are stuffed feeling. you will eat and feel satisfied not stuffed.

another thing i have learned is to find lower calorie replacements for foods i like.. this way i can eat more and intake the same calorie count. for example. i love peanut butter. well 2 tbsp of peanut butter is 200 calories. there is this powdered peanut butter called PB2. taste just like normal peanut butter. you mix it with water to a consistently that you like. its only 45 calories for the same 2 tbsp. thats a savings of 155 calories and i ate just as much. that 155 calories can now be used elsewhere. i also went from regular milk to an almond milk. 8oz of lowfat 1% milk is 100 calories. the unsweetened almond milk is only 30 calories for that same 8oz. there are tons of ways to eat and save calories. just takes some work to figure out what works for you..

so i went from 210 down to 175 pounds and have held that weight for a year now. i'm in a 31" waist jeans now. hell i wore a 32 in high school..lol.. cholesterol went from 270ish down to 200 and triglycerides went from 158 down to 85ish. the dr was even impressed and asked for my nutritionists number so she could recommend her to some patients.. i feel like a kid again. out on my bicycle again, we did a bunch of hiking while on vacation last week. i can run around with the dogs and daughter now. it feels great. you will not regret it man...

if you can swing it go see a nutritionist. a good one will make it easy for you..