Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Hello everybody! I've been working on losing weight lately too. I hadn't weighed myself for years (I sort of have a phobia about it) and when I did this past fall I realized I've gained almost 50 pounds in the last 10 years or so! So I changed my eating and exercise habits a whole lot and I've now lost 30 pounds since the middle of November. I'd like to lose the remaining 20 and then some.

I weigh myself on our wii every Sunday, which really seems to help me. I like seeing my progress graphed and seeing how my clothes fit just doesn't work for me. By the time I notice they are getting tight, I've gained quite a bit of weight. I've been surprised at how easy this has been. Several things have helped a lot. 1. My partner is doing this with me. He's actually lost more than I have. We go on really long walks together and the time goes by so much faster. 2. I moved to LA and the weather is great, making it easy to exercise outside. 3. I really cut down my alcohol consumption. This has been a big one for me. The combination of alcohol's high calories, me wanting to eat more when I drink it, and it's demotivating effect on my exercise really don't help with weight loss. It hasn't been too bad and I feel healthier.

We've been having a lot of visitors lately, which has made it hard to keep up the exercise and eating routine, so I haven't lost as much weight lately, but it's going well and I feel good. Good work everybody!

Oh yeah, I totally second (or fifth?) the props to Appetite for Reduction. Not only are the recipes awesome, but the book has really helped me learn how to cook with less fat/calories.

So, I'm getting a worn out spot on one of 2 pairs of jeans that I own that fit right now - in the crotch, under the zipper - and I refuse to buy new jeans because I have 3 more pairs that will fit in about 10lbs. It's not even a matter of being cheap - I love buying things / spending money! - but I hope not having any pants to wear (the other jeans that do fit do not make my asparagus look as good as the ones getting the hole) will motivate me.

Or if you read a news story about indecent exposure in Ontario, well, you'll know who it is and why...

congrats to all the weight loss peeps! You're doing so awesome!

Ack, the clothes issue drives me nuts. It's lovely to be able to go out and buy a smaller size but, if you continue to lose weight, they're not going to do you long. I've had to re-stock my wardrobe twice in the past year, it gets expensive! I'm hoping to lose some more weight for my 40th in July and saw a beautiful dress last week but couldn't buy it because I just don't know what size I'll need by then. I've never really worn dresses so looking good in one for my 40th celebrations is my goal.

I've lost a lot of weight since moving to Denver. I hit a huge plateau, though, and just now started losing weight again. Since August I've gone down 35 lbs. I have not been losing in an unhealthy manner, though. But the switch from vegetarian to vegan has to be given credit!

I'm feeling you all on the clothes front. I currently have three pairs of jeans, two of which are so big on me it's like I'm wearing clown pants. My t-shirts still fit, though loosely. Had to buy new underwear, though, which was weird. Realizing my undies were too big for me was a shock! And when my Dad bought me a new hoodie for Christmas, I had to send it back for him to exchange, because now I need a 3x instead!

At my biggest, I was a size 34. Now I'm more like a 28. Yay!

congrats! The clothes thing is sooooo annoying!

Ha! I boil washed my knickers to try to get longer out of them when I was in between sizes. I also did it with a couple of tops and hot tumble dried them to shrink them down a bit.

I just broke down and bought some pants for work, and it brought up a lot of strange feelings. I feel like now the pressure is on, like I've committed to something. Like if I slip up it's going to be a big deal or something. Or that there IS slipping up.

I mean, commitment isn't bad. I am committed to being vegan and being active/healthy, but I don't know. Something just felt strange about buying smaller clothes. (I'd been able to wear random old clothes that I hadn't gotten rid of). I'm also feeling strange about getting rid of my old (larger) clothes. Anyone have similar emotional reactions?

I worry about getting rid of clothes that are too big because I've lost weight before and put it back on. I don't want that to happen again but if it does I can't afford to buy all new clothes again.

I'm getting rid of mine. I lost and regained, and still had my clothes, and no more. I can't afford to buy new ones but eating less is not as expensive. ;)

My favorite jeans are starting to look sloppy on me. I gain weight last around my abdomen and lose it first there, so my jeans sort of collapse around the zipper if they're not tight. So... losing weight good, looking sloppy not good. And they're not nearly loose enough in the butt and thighs yet to think I'm down a size. I need summer to get here so I can worry about new jeans come fall!

Right? I feel like I won't have as many issues in summer with dresses and things. I can wear dresses now of course, but ugh, tights. I'm like a child.

I do have to say, since I bought a couple of pairs of pants that fit, I feel a lot better about getting dressed. I've been trying to dress nicer/more professionally for work, and that's given me a little confidence.

I think I'm going to keep one or two pairs of my nice dress slacks in the larger size, but bury them deep in my closet (just from a financial standpoint it makes the most sense for me).

The thing that was bothering me I think was how I identify myself and how I see myself (metophorically and literally).

guys! i'm having one of those great days where you look in the mirror and think "wow! i look good!"

nice.

Yea, appifanie! That's awesome!!

Not a giant accomplishment, but today is day three of not totally overeating and I'm really proud. I had the realisation today that I didn't overeat yesterday or the day before, I'm fine. Why would I do it today?

(When I say overeat I really mean overeat, like. Get home, have dinner, then eat one to two more different meals basically)

Nice! Good job. :)

I'm working really hard on sticking with my daily eating plans, and yesterday I did! I'm so proud of myself! I usually go wayyyy off the rails, so yesterday is a big success! And I'm on track today, too.

One day at a time...

Hi! I've lost 110 lbs since 2007. At first, I wasn't healthy; bouts of depression anorexia followed by bouts of bulimia. Since the beginning of 2008, though, I've been exercising more and eating healthier (vegetarian for 8 years, vegan for 1, and yoga daily for the past 2 years). It's been a long battle but it hasn't been nearly as hard as most people think. I was lucky and was able to create the right mindset for my weight loss journey and I know not everyone is that lucky, and every day is still a struggle.
I'm happy to say that I'm where I want to be weight-wise and that I'm working daily to achieve other goals for myself.

Congratulations, LizTheWiz! What an amazing journey you've been on and for being able to maintain your loss thus far. It seems like everyone I talk to is good at losing it,but they can't maintain it because they fall back into their old habits.

I'm about halfway through my xgfx and low-sugar Lent and i've lost five pounds. I want it to warm up so I can go ride my bike and bump that number up!

Wow, LizTheWiz! That's awesome. I'm so glad you got to a place to be mindful and healthy and not disordered with your thinking.

gaia13: I'm really concerned about maintaining, too! I've found it difficult to look at some kind of delectable treat that I can eat, but I don't necessarily need, and pass them by. For example, there was a couple of weeks where I'd buy a Go Max Go bar every time I saw them just because it's a candy bar I can have!

How awesome for you!! Congratulations :)

Yeah, I fell into that trap big time when I first went vegan. Stuff that I wouldn't have eaten the non-vegan version of, I was buying just because it was vegan. I'm finally starting to be able to move away from that but with all the new vegan products coming out, I feel like I've got to try it.

I'm already down a pound for the week! Woohoo I'm almost in the 150's :)

That was a big stumbling block for me, too. Vegan marshmallows? I must buy and eat them. Vegan candy bars? Mine! Vegan processed 'cheese' crackers? Gimme! Vegan anything with tons of fat and sugar? Mine, mine, mine.

Now I'm using Larabars as a treat (the coconut cream pie version is to die for)... which seems to be working pretty well. So far.

I was fine when I lived in the middle of nowhere, but now that I live in the Bay Area and it seems like there are vegan treats EVERYWHERE! It's so hard not to try it all! In my old city, I would buy whatever I could find vegan since there wasn't much around and I wanted to show support for the products.

I guess it's easier for me to keep from eating 'treats' because I don't necessarily go to places where many vegan treats are sold. I don't shop at WF (too much of a hassle to get to on bus) and there isn't a Trader Joe's here. I don't really investigate the King Soopers four blocks away to see if there are a lot of vegan friendly sweet/fatty things.

If I get hungry for something sweet, I eat a peanut butter sandwich with agave mixed into the peanut butter. Or, my new favorite, almond butter and banana sandwiches. And I eat a LOT of fruit. Oh, and I've tried Larabars, but I don't like them.

Sometimes, though, I just want a forking pint of ice cream or a huge piece of cake. But I haven't looked for soy ice cream at Kings and the only vegan baked goods I know of are the ones I make myself, which I eat a tiny bit of and give the rest away.

Obviously deprivation isn't the best way to handle the treats issue but it's been working for me so far.