Preety Cool Weight Loss Software!!

[JohnBrowning]

I just purchased some software from a company called CalorieKing. I purchased their Palm software wich is no where near as good as their PC version. I am totaly impressed with it. I was able to start useingit as soon as I registered it. I had no problem figureing outhow to use it. It has a 45,000 food database and contains something like 200 or 400 national chain resturants menus. It makes it insanely easy to keep track of what you are eating. If you find it hard to keep track of what you are eating this is a must have especialy if you have a PC,Laptop or Palm PDA!!!It will also track your exercise but I have not tried out that function. It has a bunch of health and fitness calculators and it will automaticaly set your diet rquirments for you if you wish basedon your hiegth and weight and will recalculate them as youlose weight.

Most of the other products only have a 5,000-10,000 food database.If you have both the PC software and the Palm software I think it also supports hotsynching of data.

I have struggled since about my second or third year of college to controll my weight. So I figured I would pass this info along. Normaly loging and weighing food is not practical unless youa re home bound. Like wise doing Weight Watcher points is also only practical if you stick to limited food list and have time to play the game. With such a large database and ease of entry it is too easy to log. Compliance is easy since a PDA will fit in your shirt pocket,panths pocket or even your tube sock.

 

[moribundman]

What do you eat?

 

[sprintman]

What Mori said

 

[JohnBrowning]

To be honest I eat a rather typical western diet. I tend to eat less on average then most of my skinny friends. Sometimes I over do it but not regulary. So instead of counting on my memory I am now counting on my electronic diary to keep track for me. WHen it says I am done I am done no matter if I am still hungry or not! I seldom feel satified when I am done eating I usualy cut myself off long before I feel satisifed.I also find that I get hungry much sooner then I should be after eating.

Like for breakfast I had 5 slices of deli honey ham,1 slice of colby jack cheese and two slices of Sara Lee 100% Whole Wheat bread. That came to 397 Calories. I had a large cup of black tea with it. For Lunch I had a 1/4 of a Safe Way Classic Italiano Sandwich wich equaled something like 357 calories, 1 banaha(Kcal? can not rember) and some more black tea. For dinner I have a graduation party to attend so it will probably be a mix of some type of pasta salad, vegtable tray and some type of burger or braut wurst. I never had more then one plate full at an event like this and I do not stack the plate a mile high either.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I will say this though since I just started useing it last night I realised that I had forgoten to put the three cookies Ihad down. I did not download the software until right before bed so I was filling it in from memory. It makes me wounder how often I forget that I had some cookies or something like that. Easy to do if you do not log it!

One of my main problems I think is that when I was younger I ran 2-10 miles a day and lifted weights 5-6 times a week. I was usualy playing a sport or working outside for pocket money when I was not lifting. So I when I had to stop playing college sports I just quite doing things like that. I did lose 140lbs once but it was while I was laid off. I basicly exercised from sun up to sun down and did not change my diet at all. Then when I went back to a desk job I gained it all back.

At any rate I hope to discover why I have had so many issue with my weight by keeping the diary and lose the weight along the way!

 

[moribundman]

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So instead of counting on my memory I am now counting on my electronic diary to keep track for me. WHen it says I am done I am done no matter if I am still hungry or not! I seldom feel satified when I am done eating I usualy cut myself off long before I feel satisifed.I also find that I get hungry much sooner then I should be after eating.

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Well, if you do that you are dieting, which may lead to weight loss as long as you can keep up. Feeling hungry and miserable isn't exactly an incentive. Losing weight (as in losing excess body fat) is very difficult on a low calorie diet, because the body, now being starved, wants to hold on to the fat, which is energy reserve. You will however lose muscle mass much faster than body fat. Dieting going by calories alone is a bad idea.

I say a lifestyle change will be more effective and less frustrating, and it would constitute a longterm improvement. Looking at the foods you eat, I doubt that calorie counting will get you anywhere, because you don't eat much for a big fellow. It's the type foods you eat that is not helping your efforts.

A few suggestions:

Drink a lot of water before every meal and eat SLOWLY. Give your body time to tell your brain that you are full. Then you won't get up hungry. Consider eating something between meals that will hold you over to the next scheduled meal. Have an apple or a banana before you get so hungry that you have to spend all your energy and willpower on not eating.

Don't necessarily count calories (If you enjoy that sort of thing, sure, do it -- everybody needs a hobby), but rather eat foods in a sensible combination. Calorie counting does not work well because the body doesn't utilize calories from fat, protein and carbohydrates the same way. Also keep in mind your body requires energy to burn body fat. Body fat is so hard to get rid of, because it's the body's energy reserve.

Make sure to get an adequate amount of protein in your diet, because you do not want to lose muscle mass when cutting down on calories. Also, protein consumption increases the metabolism, thus increasing your energy consumption, which in turn facilitates tapping into the stored body fat.

Make sure you get the good kind of fat in your diet, and don't even think of cutting all fat out of your diet. People on very low fat diets tend to go hungry. Fat "fills you up" by signaling the brain "I've had enough." Protein also signals the brain "I'm full." Carbohydrates do this much less, which is why people tend to overeat when they eat the typical carbohydrate-rich meal (Google "insulin resistance" and "hypoglycemia"). Watch your carb intake and eat complex carbs (brown rice, potatoes, full grain etc) while skipping or at least restricting processed starchy foods (white flour, polished rice).

You'd be best advised to find a good dietician or to do some research on your own.

Besides changes in diet, some physical exercise goes a long way and I know I don't have to tell you that. So it's really a lifestyle issue.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Ok I just got back from the Open House. I had 1 chicken breast, about 5 small swedish meatballs, some taco sald and some type of patato and chese dish. The plates were divided into four serveing sections and I basicly had one spoon full of everyting. I did have to have a Coke since they had no diet drinks and it iwas that or beer. I normaly do not drink Soda/Pop/Seltzer Water etc.... I normaly coffee,tea or water.I have not had to restrict myself or anything like that yet. So far I have just been loging and have been comeingin right at what the computer is recomending. If my memory is right for one to two pounds of fat loss a week I should be eating 3051 calories a day.

 

[moribundman]

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If my memory is right for one to two pounds of fat loss a week I should be eating 3051 calories a day.

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Mr Bunyan, losing 1 pound body fat (3500 kcal) per weeks requires (in theory) a 500 kcal (3500:7=500) deficit per day.