Quote Originally Posted by Shelby07
Hey Newfie, sounds like you got yourself into a pretty effective regiment. How did you do it and are you still on it?
Thanks Shelby.

The Plant Medical Department launched a 12 week weight loss challenge through the Wellness Program and they brought in a Weight Watchers Leader to run the program. Our initial weigh-in was April 05th, and as you've seen, the final weigh-in was Wednesday past.

I swore off alcohol of any type for the whole program and really watched what I was eating, and didn't eat so much of it as I used to. I had almost no pasta (which I love), almost no potatoes (mmmmmmm, double-baked potatoes), no curry or Mexican food and treated myself to a dessert once or twice a week. I drank so much water that some days I thought I was going to swim upstream and spawn.

One of the reasons I got so big was eating for the enjoyment and the flavours, not because I was hungry. Especially with spicy food. It was nothing for me to have 3-4 helpings of Lamb Vindaloo with about 2 or 3 cups of rice. I would go to a local roadhouse on the way home from work (2 fer 1 wings Mondays and Wednesdays). I could eat Fettucine Alfredo until it was coming out of my ears. We'd go to a great all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet once every couple of weeks and really pig out. At least twice a month we'd go for a brunch at a local pub and would typically have 4 Eggs Benidict, maybe 6 0r 8 sausage links, maybe 1/2 lb of bacon, scrambled eggs, several slices of toast with either jam or peanut butter on 'em, etc. I would come home from work some days and have a bottle of wine gone while cooking supper (or half a fifth of Scotch) by the time the wife got home from work. I could sit in the back yard on a Friday or Saturday night and inhale a dozen beer for fun. I was drinking minimum 12-16 cups of coffee a day. Many days I had a pot gone before anyone else even got to work.

Everything above was just piggery and can't be described as anything else but gross excess.

Now, a typical day of eating for me goes as follows:

Breakfast:
  • A cup of raisin bran with 1/4 cup of bran and 1/2 cup of 1% milk
  • or 1 egg and 1 egg white fried in Pam sprinkled lightly with bacon bits, with a slice of low fat cheese on 2 slices of toasted bread light in fat & calories.


Morning snack:
  • An apple, an orange and a low fat yoghurt


Lunch:
  • A can of sardines in tomato sauce or spring water and 8 pieces of melba toast.
  • Or a 6" veggie sub from Subway with no cheese or mayo.
  • Or a big salad I brought from home and an apple or an orange or something


Afternoon snack:
  • An apple& an orange, or maybe a bananna once in a while


Supper:
  • A 4-5 oz chicken breast, broiled or BBQed with salad and some steamed vegetables
  • A 4-6 oz piece of lean pork. broiled or BBQed with a salad and fresh green beans with pasta sauce on 'em.
  • A lean piece of steak (eye of round, tenderloin, etc) with salad and some vegetables


As you can see, my diet has changed significantly over the past 12 weeks. It has been hard at times, yes, but not as hard as I thought it would be and not even remotely close to giving up smoking cigarettes ( I've done that too, years ago.)

I am going to continue with the weight loss. People ask me what my goal is and right now, I don't know. I'm going for a Body Mass Index test sometime in the next week or so and he'll help me set a realistic goal. Right now I'm thinking 220 lbs, but I don't know.

One other thing, it's expensive to eat healthy. Another expense is clothing. When we came back from Cuba in march, I was in a 44 waist jeans and XXL shirts. Now I'm in 38 jeans and L shirts. I'm spending a small fortune in clothes.

OK, I kind of got carried away. If there's anything else you need, just let me know