Butterthebean

Just to point out, this could be addiction but also there is a very real biological response that also causes this. I mentioned it in an earlier post on this thread but the insulin and blood sugar response comes into play every time we eat carbs, especiallys starches. The insulin response not only causes us to store more fat, but leaves us hungry because the fuel we ate didn't get burned for fuel (but rather stored as fat). It's kinda like pouring gasoline into a fuel tank, only the tank has a giant hole in the bottom.

I think there is a good amount of denial with some folks, coupled with some very poor behavioral habits. A learned behavior is not an addiction (I don't think anyway). But anyone can learn to eat for comfort, out of fear, or boredom. Many people have learned to eat when they are tired or fatigued....that's a learned behavior that has very real biological enforcers. When we eat certain foods, when tired, we wake up. Therefore we subconsciously crave those foods when tired. Not an addiction, but a very poor eating behavior that will definitely lead to obesity in people who are chronically fatigued or never get enough sleep...and I imagine this is very common amongst folks here (including me). My point is that yes, food addictions are very real. But very poor eating habits are just as dangerous and very rampant. Come to think of it, that was kinda my point in the post about the lean cuisines. Perhaps I didn't make it very clear then. But I can't imagine ending up here without one....or all.... of those 3 things (addiction, poor eating habits, thyroid disorder). I've heard many people in the past mention their "slow metabolism." But unless they've had a Resting Metabolic Rate test by breathing into a tube hooked up to a computer, they really don't know.

Definitely a food addict here....and still am. I feel the urge to pull into any convenience store I pass and buy a candy bar or 2 every other day. Leave me alone in a room with a box of donuts? Some of those donuts are going to end up missing. I hate it....but there it is. But it's not just addiction for me and many others. I've seen it over and over again. So many people really have no idea HOW to eat healthy. We see naturally skinny people eating burgers and fries and we feel like we ought to be able to eat that way. Well, for some reason, my body takes every french fry I eat and packs it away somewhere. It's not about metabolism or my thyroid. It's about blood sugar and insulin response. I suspect way more people here are insulin resistant than are aware of it. Being insulin resistant makes you way more likely to store carbs as fat rather than burn them. And if you eat a high carb diet guess what? Just look at the nutritional information on a Lean Cuisine sometime. It's advertised as healthy food, but it's really a big box of microwaveable starch that promotes fat storage and literally blocks our ability to burn fat for fuel....ESPECIALLY in insulin resistant people. But I'm getting off subject here. The point is, we have no idea how to eat properly, but we think we do. We eat stuff that we think is diet food (like lean cuisines, life Cereal and wheat bread) and we wonder why we can't lose any weight. Metabolically we're broken and nutritionally we're ignorant (and by we I certainly include my former self).

I've got 2 dogs who love leftovers. In my old life, they never got any. Now there's plenty.

I'm not being negative....can't anyone disagree with you? Sheesh you're so friggin sensitive. So here's some information in case you want it. Adding those healthy fats to your diet flushes out your kidneys. Not a good or bad thing, it just is....that will lead to immediate Water loss which MIGHT explain your 4 pound loss. People who go on high fat diets typically have to up their sodium intake to prevent massive water loss. That's why people on Adkins can lose so much weight so quickly...and even the new Adkins books recommend adding quite a high amount of sodium to the diet to prevent the water loss. So my point is if you have upped your dietary fat intake monitor your sodium levels. It needs to go up as well.

You're not alone. I'm 11 months out and have been bitten hard lately by my sweet tooth. I've lost all discipline whenever I'm around anything sweet. I just can't make myself say no. So far I've managed to prevent any regain but I'm not losing anything either. I'm telling myself the same things I told myself way back when....that this will be the last donut I ever have...this will be the last chocolate easter egg....the last Kit Kat. Then a week later there's another one. It's hard. I'm trying to get a handle on it before I regain any weight. Best of luck to you. Keep holding yourself accountable. It makes all the difference.

You're my hero Kathy. You look great.

So are you suggesting that going low Protein and high carb is working for you? But yet you say you are a slow loser? Perhaps it's not working for you as well as you think. Perhaps so many people have been successful on low carb high protein because that actually works.

PB2 is great for sprucing up Protein powders. And I'd throw the ritz crackers away. They are only preventing you from losing weight. They have no nutritional value whatsoever. You don't need them, you have very limited room in your sleeve and you should fill every bit of that room with Water and protein. Until you can meet your requirements on those 2 things, don't waste precious sleeve space. Edit....but yes, it gets easier each week. And soon those sweat pants will be too big and you'll have to buy smaller sweat pants.

Badboy, I just came back from a week of camping out. I cooked over a small portable gas stove everyday. You can get one at any sporting good store. With that you could scramble eggs...which was my favorite soft food. So was egg salad. Of course those things would require you keep a cooler. Baby bel cheeses are great and portable. If you use protein powder, I'd definitely plan to have my shaker bottle and mix up shakes regularly. It may not be your current plan but it's easy, high protein and these are unusual circumstance. Plus it's only a few day. Other than that, canned tuna is easy to get down, so is crab meat. I'm talking about real crab meat that comes in a can. Don't buy that prepackaged imitation crap you see in the seafood department.

When I went to the Chi-running clinic, the main instructor was wearing Skechers Gobionics. They are a new Skechers running shoe. He passed them around the class to look at, they truly are a different sort of shoe. No arch support, no heel lift, but they do have some cushioning. The sole is partioned like a waffle, so it is extremely flexible and all parts of the foot can move independently of each other....unlike a shoe with stiffer, 1 piece soles. I bought a pair to see if I'd like them for really long runs. So far the jury is still out on them for me, but they do what they claim to do, which is feel like minimalist shoes but with some cushioning. You might like them.

I don't like wasting money...but the fear of wasting food helped me become obese in the first place. Many is the time I ate something just because I couldn't tolerate letting it go to waste. I had to let go of that mindset. My point is, if you do happen to make more than you need, and you just can't save it for later...don't feel bad about tossing it. That's better than packing it onto your body fat stores like I did all those years before getting sleeved.

My first half marathon is next Saturday. Looking very much forward to the day when I can schedule several events in a row. I'd like to do a triathlon, but not sure how I'd handle going without a shirt during the swim portion. No one I know has committed a crime vial enough to deserve to see my deflated belly. I either need a TT or therapy....or both.

Great post Fiddleman. The only things I'll add (and Fiddleman you know what's coming) is take it outside if at all possible, and read up on minimalist shoe/barefoot running. Most of us don't need motion control stability shoes or orthotics. Orthotics are one of the most overly prescribed contraptions in medicine. Yes there are a small percentage of people who truly need them, but my feeling is those people are not even considering taking up running. Orthotics are prescribed for every ailment from headaches to IBS, but they only mask the symptoms. That's your clue right there. Orthotics (and motion control, heavily padded, arch supported shoes) don't cure anything. If they did you wouldn't need to wear them permanently. They are like wearing a cast on your foot. They immobilize the feet, one of nature's most amazing pieces of bio-engineering. They cause the muscles and tendons in the feet and lower legs to atrophy to the point of uselessness. Removing those shoes will free your feet and allow you to develop the strength and flexibility to propel yourself without the assistance of a crutch, which is what those things are. Our bodies are amazingly evolved, highly developed organisms. Podiatrists would have you believe that somehow our feet are the exception....that they were born broken and we all must wear these devices to function. Yet to date no shoe company has done any research to prove that their shoe's stability features prevent injuries in any way. In fact, all independent studies show the opposite, that they are either damaging or have no effect. Modern shoes with lifts in the heels and narrow toe boxes and hard inflexible soles are causing countless pains and injuries. And the answer is not to wear devices that further inhibit your bodies ability of forward propulsion. Free your feet and watch the strength and flexibility return and see your knee and back pains diminish. If you must wear shoes, and we all must from time to time, wear shoes with zero drop, NO arch support, wide toe boxes and thin flexible soles...not cushioned. It will change the way you walk and run for the better. If I sound like a crazy zealot, I am. But I ran 10 miles 2 days ago in vibrams with no pain whatsoever and I'm walking around with 1 torn ACL and 2 torn meniscus. My knees are as bad as anyone's, but running does not hurt them because my form is good and my lower legs and feet are doing their job. ....end of crazy rant.

I can no longer shop at my beloved Casual Male. I've shopped there for so many years, I don't know where to go now. The choices are overwhelming. I looked around a few big name department stores, but those clothes seemed like they were mostly for teenagers. Where does a skinny 40 something go?

This weekend I attended a running workshop called Chi-running. It's not as crazy as it sounds. The instructor is just a guy who is an ultra marathon runner who also happens to be into tai chi. He applied the form and physics of tai chi to running to develop a technique that allows you to run very efficiently and reduces injuries by reducing wear and tear on the body. It was a great workshop. We spent a good deal of time learning proper posture. Learning how to use gravity to help propel us forward. And how to run without the high impact which causes so many injuries. There were all manner of runners there from accomplished marathoners to total beginners who couldn't run 1 lap around the track. It didn't matter, the class helped everyone equally. If any of you ever get the opportunity and you're interested in running marathons into your 60s and beyond (like this guy), I highly recommend it. He's also got some DVDs and a couple of books if the workshop is not practical for you. My wife and I went for a run this morning and I was putting what I learned into practice. Several times she yelled at me to slow down. I didn't even realize I was running faster. I felt like I was just tooling along but it was nice and comfortable. www.chirunning.com

Running seems so daunting to someone who has never done it AND been overweight. I always wanted to run but never thought I could. I still doubted myself until about my 5th or 6th run. Around then it occurred to me that I was getting better...and that fueled my fire in a big way. C25K gives you steady progress and keeps you from doing too much too soon...and them quitting, which is what I always did before. Good luck. I hope you fall in love with it like I have.