Men Only

[TommyO 5]

Guys I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread that focuses on male issues and I don't mean issues related to sex. This is a great board, it allows people to share their experiences, ask and answer questions and to blow off steam.

Many of the participants on this board are female and their experiences are valuable but I thought it would be nice to have a thread that focuses on issues that men face that are unique.

An example is caloric intake, men are able to intake more calories than women on average and men tend be more phsycal so men tend to be less focused on calories and more focused on physical activities. (true or false)

Other questions I would like to have answers on are what sorts of things are you doing to lose weight, what have you done that is a total failure and what has caused the greatest successes

Thanks for your input in advance gentlemen

["Just" Paul 1]

I need to focus on both calories and exercise. Even at my heaviest, I was a pretty active guy.

Have you noticed other physical changes? I stopped snoring after the first 30lbs... I do not sweat as much, nor do I get as much body odor when I do perspire... I have some skin tags (like hanging moles) under each arm, they are shrinking.

One of the things I have to do is avoid Snacks. Even though I am satisfied with my meals, I eat dinner around 7PM, but am up for another 5-6 hours, and start to get hungry after about 3 hours. How do you avoid this? I cannot eat any later as we always eat together as a family, and later wouldn't work for my 4 year-old, besides, I eat lunch at noon, and am pretty hungry by dinner too. If I snack, my weight loss stalls completely.

What do you do for exercise? I have found my stationary bike to be great, treadmills still hurt my knees (bad knees from sports when I was much younger).

P

[dawg 0]

My main focus is on Protein to sustain muscle. I've found that if I hit the right Protein level I am at -around- the right number of calories to sustain my weight loss.

Skin changes for myself are definate sagging in the chest area and stomach. I've noticed that the inside of my legs which were sagging really bad have started drawing up some.

For exercise I am using the dreadmill. I've found that if I put it on a very slight incline its not as hard on my knees (no more than .5 or 1). I will be hitting the gym within the next week or so to try and lay down some lean muscle.

My son is a personal trainer and I might have him give me a program to work with. I'll post it if I get one.

[TommyO 5]

Paul, I wish I had an answer for the snack thing I tend to go with Low fat yogurt as a snack but I have a hard time not snacking. I play guitar and I try to play instead of eating but I would'nt say I have been overly successful.

I exercise daily, 45 minutes on the treadmill 5 days a week and 3 days I lift weights, upper body only. I am like you in that I have been involved in sports most of my life and I do suffer from aches and pains but I love the treadmill and I hope to be on the road as soon as the weather gets a little warmer. I tell people that pound for pound I am the fastes mile runner in Canada.

The three physical changes you mentioned are exactly the same for me and I am very happy about that. so is my wife with the snoring)

Cheers

[Mikey 0]

I'm still pretty new - my loverly band isn't even 2 weeks old yet, and I haven't had my 1st fill - so I don't have a lot to contribute at this point.

I am trying to excercise - but I don't really like it. There are some things I truly enjoy doing, and I will eventually get my world situated so that I can do those things, but for now I do what I can. I walk some, dance some with my wife, and have re-started my attempts to build some ab muscles via crunches and the like.

I am trying to contain my snacking - at the moment, I'm usually able to limit it to Protein drinks, yogurt/smoothies, and (when it's more 'munchy' than hunger) sugar free pudding. But again, I'm still on the post-surgery mushy phase of things... there's more than just my willpower keeping me in check.

[dawg 0]

Just on the Munchy snack thing. My wife suggested nibbling on half a cup of dry Fibre One. Its sort of sweet and crunchy and can give your hands something to do.

Being unbanded I've no idea how well that would work with the band.

I also keep a lot of instant oatmeal around because its quick, easy and pretty filling.

Dunno if that helps or not :couch2:

[newbander 0]

Just remember guys that even though we are losing weight our appetites can still be messed up due to insulin resistance so we will crave Snacks and sweets. Add some fats to your dinner, that should put the kibash on the late night hunger and will really rev up the liver metabolism overnight.

[RayLandry 18]

I could definitely do much better as far as calorie intake is concerned! I have good and bad days......much better than pre-banded days though!

As far as exercise, I am addicted! I run 3-4 days/week between 3-6 miles per run! I am lifiting weights and going on long bike rides(20-30 miles) when the weather permits.

Saturday I am running a 10k (6.2 miles) and am really looking forward to it! If I can do it under an hour, I will be very content! I have been running now for about 4 months and this is a big stepping stone for me! Next year, I have my eye on a half marathon (13 miles). Hopefully I will be about 50lbs lighter!

Exercise is my friend........snacking is my enemy!

[jqpublic 1]

Exercise is key to weight loss, I watch my calorie intake close! try to stay under 2200 then try and burn off 500 calories.even count calories burned.

Water, exercise ,proper Nutrition also Carideo and lite weights that way you can build as you go losing and toning same time burn more calories.

good luck!

[DOC 0]

OOOPs.... :couch2:

sorry, thought this was the ladies room!

[Bandster Brad 1]

:decision: The good and bad of it:

:high5: Here are the things I found that are helpful:

Exercise at least two days in a row, and don't go over the right level of calories, and the scale will almost always drop, so long as I didn't overdo the salt.

When I get hungry and want a snack, something that will fill me up, stop (or slow down) the cravings, and doesn't do a lot of harm is a handful of organic mixed fruit/nuts/seeds. It seems to create a sensation of being chewy, sweet, and it has a little bit of fat. About 100 calories and I'm done. It can stop a binge (which these days is more like 250 calories) and let me focus on other things.

Strictly avoiding drinking liquids near meals is a dramatic help. If I really follow this rule, I am profoundly sated, and have almost no problems keeping the calories down. The only problem with this is that its hard to time your drinking of Water, in order to remain hydrated. It all just seems to come down to mindful eating.

:couch2: Here are the things that are harmful, and I am still looking for answers:

Go to or above my basal metabolic rate, (about 2200 Cals) regardless of amount of exercise, and I will absolutely plateau, or even gain weight.

If I go too long without eating, at first I feel like "wow, I am doing really good!"? and then, I get hunger that is really out of control, and wreck my diet for the whole day in one fell swoop. Best not to go too long between meals and get a lot of hunger.

cheese. If I start picking at cheese after having not eaten in a long time (as in above) it goes down sooooo easily, and since it is pure fat, and hence, hyper-caloric, I can wreck my diet in just several bites. Best left alone whenever possible.

Ice-cream. Its a devil. :violin: Its my baine. I've never tried heroin, but this must be pretty close. About my only way to minimize the damage is to eat one of those pre-measured Klondike ice cream bars, which has 250 calories, and I can say "I'm done." Any suggestions on cutting down or avoiding the ice cream monkey on one's back would sure be valuable.

liquid calories. Usually when I find that I am on a plateau, its because my total caloric intake is too high. Its usually because I am not allowing time in my life to open the fridge and prepare something healthy. Instead, I grab a "weight loss shake" of up to 300 calories, and drink it, then I throw one in my bag as I run out the door for later. The next drink gets consumed too soon, and when later actually comes, I am still hungry, and so I overdo it. I really need to think of these liquid calories in their correct light - consume only in times of extremely limited alternatives. Like, maybe take a couple with you while doing air travel. That way, if you get to a hote too late at night or get up too early to gain access to good nutrition, at least you can have a Protein drink and not wreck your diet.

OK, off the soap box for now. :deadhorse: Hope it was helpful. If you've got any ideas on the negatives above, I'd sure appreciate it!!

Good luck, dudes!

[TommyO 5]

Dawg, would love to here about any plan your son comes up with for you.

I also have an icecream thing, my problem is right now I think I may be a little overfull as I can't eat any solids so I have eaten som ice cream lately.

I am going to take some earlier advice and trya to move to the sugar free pudding made with skim milk. I also plan to put it in the freezer for a bit and see if it resembles ice cream.

I am also considerring purcahsing an ERG I don't know what ERG stands for but it is a high end rowing machine. Rowing is similar to swimming in that it works is cardio and also works the upper and lower body.

I will be off line for the next few days, an old budy of mine had a massive heart attack and died yesterday so I am going back to my hometown to attend his funeral. I am a little rattled, he was a couple years older than I and I am sure it will be a tough few days. Especially for his family.

Please keep the insights comming. I think we may be on to something here and this looks like a powerfull support group.

[Joe 14]

What is your daily menu look like?

Breakfast: Protein shake

Lunch: chicken wings- 1 servings ( about 7 wings)

Dinner: just depends

Snack: Just depends 2

Have gone off a bit, time to get back on the road

Joe

[Pianoman 0]

What a great thread!

I am on around 1,300 calories a day, as I've worked out. (these are Kcals, I'm not sure if they're the same as your yankee calories - apparently 1 Kcalorie is the energy required to heat a litre of Water by one degree).

A typical day...

Breakfast - Branflakes.

lunch - some crackers and humus, maybe small, grilled low-fat sausage too.

Mid-afternoon - A banana.

dinner - a meal of around 600 Kcals.

Evening snack - half a roll of fruit gums (a small, chewy candy)

Nutritionally, this works out at -

<TABLE style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=1><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=150 bgColor=#eaeff2></TD><TD vAlign=top width=190 bgColor=#eaeff2><TABLE cellSpacing=6 cellPadding=0 width=190 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=15 bgColor=#5796a6></TD><TD>Carbohydrate (51.7%)

</TD></TR><TR><TD width=15 bgColor=#d2981a></TD><TD>Protein (19.7%)

</TD></TR><TR><TD width=15 bgColor=#b22c20></TD><TD>Fat (28.6%)

</TD></TR><TR><TD width=15 bgColor=#dedede></TD><TD>Alcohol (0.0%)

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

According to www.weightlossresources.co.uk

This combined with 9,000 steps a day means I'm currently losing around 4-5 pounds a week.

[Bandster Brad 1]

I just wanted to echo Dawg's thoughts on this one item - About a month ago, I felt like I was just on the trailing edge of being filled correctly. However, being an American and all, where we tend to feel "if some is good, more is better," I went back to my fill doc and convinced her to give me another fill of .3 cc's. The result - I think I am overfilled, and as a result for the last 3 weeks my weight has gone from a consistent 2-3 pounds down per week, to up and down, and currently, I am + 1.5 pounds UP from my last pre-fill low.

Conclusion - its more about finding the "right" fill, rather than the "tight" fill. After almost a month of being too tight, I am now approaching, again, being almost right. Now the weight is starting to trend back down. Take a look at this table - it tells all.