Everyday Systems

magicman

Morning weigh in: 335.6 (42.3% BF)

magicman

Wow, I just read your thread (trying to read them all, I love seeing all the imspirational stories). You have done great. It might be hard for you to see as it is slow on a day by day basis but when reading and seeing the outstanding results, all I can say is Way to go! Thanks. I have plenty to go,...

magicman

The funny thing about intuitive eating is that as long as I cut out carbs, I pretty much can eat anything I want, as much as I want. Like last night I made a low carb pizza from scratch. Ate 3/4 of it, and I was full. Put the last piece in the fridge. Carby pizzas I would finish and still be hungry ...

magicman

connorcream wrote:
I stand by my statement.

I wasn't disagreeing with you.

magicman

Smokers in mass did not give up cigarettes just because they might get lung cancer 25 years later. Same for alcoholics. Many negative consequences had to be felt before society changed its mind. However, I as an individual, do not need to wait. I actually quit smoking a bit over two years ago. I've...

magicman

Gary Taubes just may have saved my life. Before I give my testimonial, I want to point out that for people who aren't really into reading books or even the thick posts in this thread that there are some very good videos to watch. Here is a talk by Taubes entitled Why We Get Fat which is very good, a...

magicman

Kevin wrote:BrightAngel's book review in "Why We Get Fat" would be of interest to you.

Oh, yes, I love Gary Taubes.

Also, a couple days ago I officially hit 100 pounds down!

magicman

I've figured a lot of things out. Mainly that I'm highly insulin resistant. No sweets isn't enough for me, I really need to pretty much go low carb. I finally understand why I was always hungry, and it's because of insulin. I've really been aided by learning to cook Sous Vide. I'm not really very go...

magicman

Long time since I checked in here. I've had some ups and downs, but I'm currently down to 362. I've had my ups and downs but on average over time I'm still losing weight. I'm confident that over time, eventually I will get down to my target weight.

magicman

I'm wondering whether is may have something to do with sodium levels and water retention. I always weigh in just after waking up and relieving myself of liquid waste to try to minimize fluctuations based on water retention, but maybe a good bit hasn't made it too my bladder yet because of sodium int...

magicman

I've been pushing at the low 390s now for a week. One week ago, 390.4. Today, 391.6. With three of the days inbetween at exactly 390.4. And while my weight has been rock solid, my bf% has fluctuated wildly. I know I'm eating a caloric deficit, so my body has no choice but to lose weight... I guess I...

magicman

Well, I'm solidly under 400 lbs now. And I'm almost through the 390's. 390.4 lbs this morning and 44.9% bf I've been tracking everything I eat on TheDailyPlate, which has helped me stay rigorous on calorie budgeting. I'm thinking with a little bit of luck, I just may be able to hit 100lbs lost by Ja...

magicman

As anyone who has read my thread knows, I'm no poster boy for vanilla no-S.... But you could also notice that I made it 21 days on vanilla before I started changing things around. Whatever decision you make for your next real Day 1, be resolved to stick to it for 21 days before you change it. Three ...

magicman

Yes, pretty much the idea is the fat isn't gone. 50 pounds overweight while gaining from a "normal" weight will wear differently than 50 pounds overweight while cutting from hundreds of pounds overweight. What looks like loose skin is actually 99% fat, 1% skin. Get rid of the fat and it's like sucki...

magicman

hilly6000, When I'm counting calories I don't keep any rules on how many meals I eat. It could be six. It could be one. When I'm not counting calories I tend to stick to two or three. I'm currently counting calories, and I actually just bought my first food scale. As tedious as it is, I find I do my...

magicman

Well, I'm not really sure what happened. My friend I was lifting weights with went back to college, and in the absence of a training partner, I started going to the gym less and less. As I started going to the gym less and less, my keeping track of metrics happened less and less. As my keeping track...

magicman

Figured I should check in. Um, not much to report. Still losing weight, still lifting weights. Weight on the body is going down, weight on the bar is going up. Both have slowed down a bit, but still going. Looking forward to getting below 400. It's coming. My work out partner went back to college. S...

magicman

Don't be too hard on yourself. Remember the old 80/20 rule, if you're doing thing right 80% of the time, the other 20% doesn't matter so much. I imagine you are now realizing that the small slip ups aren't what matter at all, but using those slip ups as an excuse to binge can be. Basically, just bec...

magicman

So... I've had a couple of nightmares... about loose skin. One of them I feel like I'm trapped in a collapsed tent. Another I barely remembered, but remembered a mental picture of myself with lots of loose skin. I need to get it off my chest, so I'm doing so here. Okay, first off, the good news. Des...

magicman

Hunger has actually been less of an issue as time has went on. Part of it has been body adjusting to new routines, but I've also started drinking more water, and the food I do eat is much more filling per calorie. Ultimately I think a big reason I got fat was that I could eat 5000 calories of the fo...

magicman

It's not just another way of saying I'm fat, I do in fact have a wide frame. I'm also strong as an ox for an untrained guy. I jumped into the gym doing the same weight as my friend who has been bodybuilding for two years. I've often thought that if people who looked fit would add the 300 pounds they...

magicman

A new month, a new modification. First, today is the first day the scale has read under 420 pounds. 418.4 according to the scale today. This morning the body fat % monitor said 46.1% . This is also day two of my newest modification. After dutifully recording my calorie intake for a month, I decided ...

magicman

Always glad to be of service! Do you think the numbers you are getting for Body Fat % is accurate? I'm thinking that mine is lowballing, but then I'm getting a consistent downward trend line. I mean if it's correct, my current stats are: 46.7% Body Fat (Trend) 228.7 Pounds Lean 200.3 Pounds Fat If t...

magicman

I noticed you have Body Fat % on your PhysicsDiet page now. What are you using to measure it? Thoughts on adding that metric?

magicman

This is Day 21 of Hacker's + No S, and at 9:30 PM I'm only at 1300 calories on the day. I don't know why it's 21 days, but there really is some sort of finality about the feeling I get on the 21st day... That feeling that this must be how I've always done things, it's so natural. The weight is reall...

magicman

Still on track. Best purchase I've made in such a long time: water bottle. I hate going out to eat with my office mates because they don't have anything I want to drink. They only have diet coke or tap water most places, and I can't stand either. But in our office we have English Mountain Spring Wat...

magicman

You're doing great! Keep it up!

magicman

Everything is going really well.428.6 pounds, 46.3% body fat, as of this morning's measurements. If you'd like to see trend lines, hit the link in my signature.

magicman

Hacker's Diet: Day 2: Success Day 3: Success Day 4: Success Day 5: Success I went over 1500 calories a few days, but I didn't break 2000, so I'm calling this week a success. Weight is going down. Body fat % is really uneven, and I think my body fat % is too high for this device to really work proper...

magicman

I signed up on Hacker's Diet Online, and I guess I'll keep it up, but I like Physics Diet better in all respects. Especially to track fat % and calories eaten. Neither one can track protein eaten, though.

To each his own, I suppose.

magicman

Do you have a public profile on Hacker's Diet online?

magicman

I'm using the Omron HBF-306C. I can't vouch for it, but I'm going to use it daily and see. Can always ditch the stats if I decide they are bad data.

magicman

Hacker's Diet Day 1: SUCCESS And we're off! Welcome to June! Official starting stats: 443.8 Pounds 47.2% Body Fat I actually think that percentage is probably low, but the device I'm using to measure it seems to be consistent, so at any rate, I should be able to observe changes over time. So far tod...

magicman

Scale came. 442 pounds . Hacker's Diet begins Monday. Starting out I'm going to allow myself 1500 calories on N-days, 2000 calories on S-days. Body fat percentage monitor will be here tomorrow. My friend who is teaching me weightlifting tells me I should be eating 150 grams of protein a day, which s...

magicman

LA_Loser, those comments were directed to one person only. I'm grateful that her posts were the exceptions and not the rule. Another reason of course that I've not been posting was I had nothing really to report until now. No S became so natural that I felt like I wasn't on a diet. But it's time to ...

magicman

Congratulations for getting back on track!

magicman

Kathleen, I find your posts to be aggressive and non supportive. I'm acutely aware that text only mediums lack a lot of the nuance that face to face communication has, so it's certainly possible that is not your intent, but I would ask you to not post in my thread if you are going to try to tear me ...

magicman

I actually had a chat with a friend of mine and I'm not as certain I'm going to go low carb. I had mentioned to him that No-S wasn't really working for me for weight loss, though it had worked to get my eating habits more under control. And he asked me questions like what my body fat % is, what my c...

magicman

I've still been No-Sing, but I haven't weighed since the last time I mentioned. I don't think I've lost any weight at all, judging from clothing, though I've stuck with it. Last Wednesday (a 20th) I started weightlifting with a friend of mine who is out of college for the summer. Next 20th... I'm go...

magicman

Monthly Resolution Shovelglove: FAIL

Giving up Shovelglove. Will reschedule it for a try, try again some other month. Next two months are already penciled in. Maybe June 20.

I weighed Saturday. 455 WTF?

magicman

Tuesday: FAIL

Almost took a sick day, but then found out I couldn't really. Ended up putting in a very long day.

Home at about 10PM and picking up a sledgehammer just wasn't going to happen.

magicman

VintageGeek,

I'm still doing fine with No-S. I'm now working on Shovelglove.

Apparently I've discovered how to get myself to stop doing things (smoking, snacking, etc) but getting myself to do something, well, still need to work out that part of the puzzle.

magicman

Monday: FAIL

*sigh*

magicman

Friday: FAIL

No good excuse, but I didn't pick up my sledge. I haven't fit it into the time before leaving in the morning, and I get home and don't feel like doing anything.

magicman

Day 4: SUCCESS

7 minutes. Two minutes better than yesterday. I really dread picking up the sledge. Maybe I should have gotten the 8#.

magicman

Day 3: SUCCESS ? I only made it five minutes today. Maybe I should have got an 8# sledge. And I'm not having fun. It's hard, and I find it boring and repetitive. I guess I call it a success though, because I did actually pick up my sledge. Five minutes is a much longer time than I imagined. I turned...

magicman

Day 2: S-Day

Yesterday was a crazy day. I had to be out the door four hours earlier than usual and I didn't get home until midnight. I had no control over my schedule or where I was going, what I was doing. I literally did not have 14 minutes to spare to Shovelglove, so it's an exempt day.

magicman

guadopt1997, we get to determine our own S-days. Those days are special to me.

magicman

Day 32: SUCCESS Day 1: SUCCESS Okay, then. It's Day 1 of Shovelglove, since the last three days were S-Days. I had a great Equinox celebration, which helped me decide that I'm going to put off Daily Ritual to next month. And Bed@12 also is going to be a guideline and not a rule for now. Also, from h...

magicman

Just weighed in. 446.5 Well, I've done three weigh-ins, and on three different scales. This is the scale that I'm going to be using from here on in. I don't think I've gained weight. I guess both the other scales just weren't accurate, even though they claimed to be accurate up to 500 pounds. This s...

magicman

Day 26: SUCCESS
Day 27: SUCCESS
Day 28: SUCCESS
Day 29: S-Day
Day 30: S-Day
Day 31: S-Day

Not much to say.

magicman

That's a great string of SUCCESS! You're doing great!

magicman

NO S: Day 25: SUCCESS I couldn't finish my supper! My breakfast is a very reasonable bowl of cereal, and my lunch is usually a chicken biscuit. Suppertime is when I really fill up a plate to get me through to the next morning's bowl of cereal. And I couldn't finish my plate! Does the stomach's capac...

magicman

Welcome, Red Mage. WARRIORS! Revive the power of the ORBS!

magicman

Day 22: S-DAY Day 23: S-DAY Day 24: S-DAY Day 22 is a S-Day for Friday the 13th. Day 23 was Pi Day, but also Saturday. This coming week, Friday will also be an S-Day for the Vernal Equinox. If I had decided to count Friday as an N-Day, it would be green, but I think Friday the 13th is a S-Day for me...

magicman

donnao wrote:i am very mcuh struggling with the idea of giveing up sugar, diet soda and white flour permantly

Man, I would be too. So I bet you're happy to have found a diet that doesn't make you give up any of them, right?

magicman

Bottom line - I am trying but this is a very stressful time of the year for me, if one thing in my personal life gets stressful then it gets really bad. When I was quitting smoking, one of the myths I had to debunk for myself was that smoking relieves stress. I realized that the only stress that it...

magicman

Just finished 21 days on No S, which means starting shugging is rapidly coming on. That means I need a sledgehammer! I went to Lowes, and I'm torn between the 8# and 10#. I really kinda feel like 9#s would be perfect, but I really don't feel like getting an 8# and adding weights. I like the idea of ...

magicman

As of an hour ago, I've made it 21 days, no failures.

And I'd be in bed if this basketball game wasn't going into it's 6th overtime.

magicman

Day 20: SUCCESS
Day 21: SUCCESS

It's getting easier all the time.

magicman

Day 19: SUCCESS

I'll reconsider more regular weigh-ins, then. Maybe every two weeks or so.

But at the moment I feel better focusing on perfect compliance. I like looking at losing weight as a side effect, not a result. And I honestly don't have a goal in terms of weight and time.

magicman

RedChina wrote:I'm pretty sure nobody reads mine.

Just because no one is posting in your thread doesn't mean no one is reading it.

I like your charts.

magicman

Day 18: SUCCESS Weekend was light. Was on the same pattern of eating as N-days, but indulged in some very good ice cream. Monday and Friday are the easy days for me, Monday because I got to eat whatever I want and Friday because I'm about to be able to eat whatever I want. So it was an easy day. Had...

magicman

I'm a huge fan of the original comic book, so I expected to hate it. The comic is amazing, and important in the history of graphic novels. It is fundamentally a deconstruction of the superhero comic, and for that to work, it must be in the comic book medium. So the movie loses points immediately. To...

magicman

Day 15: SUCCESS Day 16: S-DAY Day 17: S-DAY Friday was much easier because I knew I just had to get to midnight, instead of Saturday morning. Today I went an saw The Watchmen at IMAX, and they had a scale outside the bathroom... Now I didn't expect to be checking a scale this soon, but... 414 pounds...

magicman

Day 14: SUCCESS

Woke up late and didn't have time for breakfast. Had my morning bowl of cereal at 9PM instead. I know changing meal times like that probably isn't ideal, but I'm calling it a success. And a much easier day for me.

magicman

Day 13: SUCCESS Thanks for your thoughts. I'm not going to consider adding any kind of mod until I pass the 21 day mark. I feel that I'm already eating enough and as late in the day as I'm willing for dinner. It's been a rough few days. But I know I can do anything for a month. I don't feel I'm in a...

magicman

Day 12: SUCCESS I seem to be getting more hungry, not less hungry, as the diet progresses. At around 9PM-10PM I just get REALLY HUNGRY. Even though I try to eat more than seems prudent for dinner, really big plates, it doesn't seem to help. I'M SO HUNGRY. And I'm trying to explain to myself why I ca...

magicman

I believe I read in the No-S Diet book or somewhere on the website that when studied people allowed to have seconds have smaller initial plates, but end up eating more than people who aren't allowed to have seconds but are allowed to really fill up their plate. So don't worry about how much you are ...

magicman

Day 11: SUCCESS Got really hungry around 10PM. Didn't give in. So far it seems like Mondays are the hard days to get back on track from the weekend. The weekend I went overboard, really, and actually in a way looked forward to the sanity of N-days. I'm not sure how to build a good S-day habit when t...

magicman

Day 7: SUCCESS
Day 8: SUCCESS
Day 9: S-DAY
Day 10: S-DAY

Made it through my first five-day stretch. Enjoying the weekend.

magicman

Day 6: SUCCESS

I felt like I didn't enjoy dinner because I was eating more than I really wanted so as to tide my hunger until breakfast. Oh, well, it I suppose that will calibrate itself over time.

magicman

I like Tropicana and Minute Maid Lite Lemonade. And both Coke and Pepsi's Splenda versions taste fine to me. But these aren't the diet drinks you find on tap. I tried putting sugar in non-sweetened iced tea when I was visiting California, and it really doesn't work with a cold drink like it does wit...

magicman

gratefuldeb67 wrote: Do you play?

I own a mandolin, but what I do to it can't be called playing with a straight face. Practicing on my mandolin may be a monthly resolution for another month down the line.

magicman

Hello, shuggers. I'm a current NoSer who is doing monthly resolutions and will begin shugging March 20. I quit smoking Jan 20, and start No S Feb 20. I was in a music shop Friday night, and I found a wonderful little device. It gives my hands something to do, a way to work out excess nervous energy,...

magicman

In my opinion, the only way you could be said to fail was that you didn't eat three meals. The maximum is also the minimum on this diet, because the most important thing starting off is building a habit. So try not to skip any more meals. Other than that, well done! I'm just starting out myself, and...

magicman

Day 5: Success An easier day. To many eyes, today's plates would look like excess. To mine, though... There is still pizza in the fridge from a large bought Monday. Only sore spot was going out to lunch with a workmate. I can't have my sweet tea! I live in the south, and sweet tea is God's own drink...

magicman

Hemp Plus (6 grams, ditto) http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-natures-path-hempplus-granola-i89502 Interesting to me is that that is 6 grams of sugar per 1/2 cup serving. So it would be 9 grams per 3/4 cup serving, which is the same as Honey Nut Cheerios. And I've noticed some cereals list a se...

magicman

Day 4: SUCCESS

Tough day. Ate dinner at 6, and couldn't help but think about how far away breakfast was. But I made it.

magicman

So, I read some disparaging remarks about Captain Crunch, and I'm wondering, can we have cereal? I looked at the cereal isle for a long time last night trying to find a cereal that wasn't either like eating hay or like eating chunks of sugar. I made up a rule that I ended up breaking: No cereal with...

magicman

Day 3: S-Day

Went a bit overboard today, but it was a double S day, as I also felt sick. Felt like the quitter's flu I was having a couple weeks ago. Feeling better now. Looking forward to starting the week strong.

magicman

I have a bar of Lindt 85% Extra Dark for tomorrow. And the White with Coconut from today was tremendous.

magicman

Day 2: S-Day

Treated myself to a very nice bar of white chocolate with coconut with a pomegranate/blueberry juice. Otherwise, ate more than I should on an N-day, but still pretty reasonable.

It was a long hard day again in non-dietary world. Tomorrow will be relaxing.

magicman

Day 1: Success

A hard day, but not for dietary reasons.

magicman

Thanks! I'm moving over to my daily check-in thread now. I feel I'm properly introduced.

magicman

Wow--what a direct and accurate analysis of what most of us are really experiencing. I'm glad to hear that. It can be hard to set proper expectations when setting out on any endeavor, and hearing from experienced hands that the way I'm looking at this is right on is encouraging. My copy of the No S...

magicman

On one level, this is a slow process, because moderate behavior is slow to yield results, because habits can only be built over time. But on another level it's instantaneous. You don't have to wait to hit some goal. In some immediate way, by simply deciding to change this pattern of behavior, by "c...

magicman

Day T minus 4 Did my official weigh in. 437 pounds This is the last time I'll likely be weighing myself until I reach some milestone. Ten months maybe? When you can lose an entire person and still be fat, the scale stops being meaningful. Meaningful will be not having difficulties wiping myself afte...

magicman

I don't like this competition. I think psychologically we trip ourselves when we value the goodness of a diet as which one can lose more weight in a certain amount of time. I know I can lose weight really fast (twice lost 75 pounds in 4 month periods) on Adkin's, but I know that it isn't a sustainab...

magicman

Thanks for making me feel welcome, everyone.

magicman

I do have two tours of duty on the Adkin's diet, myself, both times losing 75 pounds. To no effect of course when I went off the diet, as I went right back to the bad eating habits that I had never really changed, I had just dodged those habits. I realize that really I need to make sustainable chang...

magicman

Hello all. Short version: I'm going to begin being a NoSer this coming Friday, the 20th. Long version: I quit smoking January 20th, and can proudly say I haven't had a cigarette since the Bush administration! Quiting smoking was step one of Plan 2009 for me, and step two is changing my eating habits...

Everyday Systems

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Re: sugar, diet soda and white flour

What weight sledge?

Grip (Get A)

Sereal?

Re: What a great analysis!

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