Easiest and Effective Way to See Weight Loss is to Cut the Carbs

[Don M.]

Jesus Christ Don! I'm not that fat! I've just got some belly fat and some love handles. I'm going to try a more moderate low card approach. Try to average no more than 100 net carbs a day and see how that works.

Any good weight loss program consists of Diet AND Exercise...with an emphasis on Exercise. The amount of calories you consume is secondary in importance to what you do to burn off the calories that you do consume. If you consume 1500 calories a day, but burn off only 1200, you will probably never reach your weight goal. The first year I retired...with little exercise but mowing the lawn, I started to gain weight. I bought a bicycle, and started riding around the area, but after a few near misses with cars speeding through the neighborhood, I chickened out on that idea. I went from a size 36 pants to size 40....and I'm only 5'9". Then, we decided to move to the country, and I found myself constantly in scramble mode trying to make this place look good. Within a year or two, I dropped almost 50 lbs., and now size 34 pants are a bit loose. Any day the weather permits, I'm outdoors doing chores for at least 3 or 4 hours a day...yard work, gardening, chainsawing dead trees, etc.,etc. In the Winter, I have a BowFlex gym in the basement, and I put some quality time in with that thing.

Bottom line...a diet can only do so much...successful weight loss cannot be achieved if it isn't accompanied by the proper amount of exercise. At age 75, I feel as good as I did 20 years ago...with the exception of a minor bit of arthritis. I'm hoping to be about 95 years old, and chainsawing a dead tree in the forest, and the thing falls on me, and ends it quickly. The last thing I want is to be filling the calendar with doctor visits, and having to spend my days glued to the TV.

 

[Trade]

Any good weight loss program consists of Diet AND Exercise...with an emphasis on Exercise. The amount of calories you consume is secondary in importance to what you do to burn off the calories that you do consume. If you consume 1500 calories a day, but burn off only 1200, you will probably never reach your weight goal. The first year I retired...with little exercise but mowing the lawn, I started to gain weight. I bought a bicycle, and started riding around the area, but after a few near misses with cars speeding through the neighborhood, I chickened out on that idea. I went from a size 36 pants to size 40....and I'm only 5'9". Then, we decided to move to the country, and I found myself constantly in scramble mode trying to make this place look good. Within a year or two, I dropped almost 50 lbs., and now size 34 pants are a bit loose. Any day the weather permits, I'm outdoors doing chores for at least 3 or 4 hours a day...yard work, gardening, chainsawing dead trees, etc.,etc. In the Winter, I have a BowFlex gym in the basement, and I put some quality time in with that thing.

Bottom line...a diet can only do so much...successful weight loss cannot be achieved if it isn't accompanied by the proper amount of exercise. At age 75, I feel as good as I did 20 years ago...with the exception of a minor bit of arthritis. I'm hoping to be about 95 years old, and chainsawing a dead tree in the forest, and the thing falls on me, and ends it quickly. The last thing I want is to be filling the calendar with doctor visits, and having to spend my days glued to the TV.

I exercise Don. I walk everyday and I lift weights three times a week.

But what you are talking about is not exercise. What you are talking about is HARD WORK.

And I'm allergic to that.

 

[Don M.]

But what you are talking about is not exercise. What you are talking about is HARD WORK.

Yup, but I kind of thrive on hard work....I feel that I should be getting something positive for my efforts. This past week, I hand spaded up my 1000 sq. ft. garden...one shovel full at a time. It took me about 10 hours, over 3 or 4 days, but the last time I did that, I used the tractor and plow, and then spent the next Spring undoing the tractor damage to the lawn....so this time, I did it the hard way, but the body got a good workout. My next project, when the weather cools a bit, will be taking down and cutting up about 15 big dead trees for the Winter firewood. Over the Winter, that results in handling about 30,000 pounds of wood...multiple times,,,from the forest to the log splitter to the furnace. That saves me hundreds of dollars a year on the electric heating bill, and keeps this old body from getting soft during the Winter.

Irregardless...whatever weight loss program you try, it Must include a good amount of exercise if it is to be effective. Walking, weights, visits to the gym...whatever works. I get all the motivation I need by observing the other old folks every time I go to the casino, and watching them hobbling around...usually with a beer or "diet" coke in their hand.

 

[hearlady]

I know cutting carbs works but I also know that I won't do it long term so the weight will come back. Same reason I don't go "all in" on exercise programs. I need to do what I can stick to long term.
Now if someone has a lot of weight to lose then I can see where I'd want to cut carbs short term then ease into a healthy diet including good carbs.