2012 RJ Annual Weight-loss challenge Feb 27

[Judge Jude]

Yeah, I don't eat ANYTHING after 8 pm.
There must be exceptions, but I think if you haven't starved yourself, late-night snacks are just habits more than hunger.
Once you've got a sense of your daily calories, too, that late snack feels like a rally-killer to an entire good day - and that itself is unappetizing.

Appetizers and desserts tend to be rally-killers as well. Appetizers are easier to skip, I think. Desserts? Once or twice a month, on a good calorie day and maybe some exercise, no problem. It's enjoyed more if it's a true treat and not just routine, anyway.

I've also learned that the worst couple of 5-minute eating binges in a 7-day span can undo every good effort of an entire week.

[johnnya24]

Yeah, I don't eat ANYTHING after 8 pm.
There must be exceptions, but I think if you haven't starved yourself, late-night snacks are just habits more than hunger.

If I'm not really hungry, but peckish for something later in the evening, I just drink cold water ... it seems to work for me. The thought of it does absolutely nothing ... but it kills my urge to eat. Even if you don't have a weight problem, late night eating is a slippery slope once you get past 30 ... unless you lead an active life or take care of your fitness.

[Judge Jude]

Good segueway for me to reiterate that drinking 5-6 bottles/glasses of water a day is a BIG key to weight loss.
As johnnyA24 notes, it makes you less hungry at all hours.

A well-watered system and slow eating combines to make you feel filled up rather quickly.

I bought 5 fresh roast chicken pieces at the supermarket tonight; they looked and smelled great.
I ate one breast and a tiny leg and small thigh - then stopped for a half-hour.

After that, the other two pieces went in the fridge. Lunch tomorrow.

Last year, I'd have inhaled it all quickly - and gotten little out of the last two pieces, except fatter.

[johnnya24]

You probably need to watch this ... some fascinating conclusions about how exercise affects different peoples bodies:

The first link may be blocked outside the UK:

BBC iPlayer - Horizon - The Truth About Exercise

This link it to the torrent file (you'll need a torrent program like uTorrent to download it):

Torrent - Horizon - The Truth About Exercise

Without doing any DNA test, I already know I will be a non-responder to lengthy aerobic exercise. I've always had endurance issues, even when I was super fit, and didn't see any real benefits from doing more and more of it. But I've known that high impact sprints and bursts have always helped my overall fitness. This research suggests that a couple of minutes of high impact exercise per week, can have similar health benefits as spending hours at the gym.

[Teenwolf]

One bad habit that I'm trying to break is having a very focused MON-THU with lots of exercise, notice that I'm down 2-3 pounds and indulge throughout the weekend as a reward to myself. This week is the same, down 2-3 lbs, but we'll see if I can maintain through the weekend. I'd be thrilled with a 2 lb week considering I'm within a few pounds of my initial opening day goal (175 lb).

Anybody else see this pattern happening, good 4-5 days, then indulge for the weekend?

[In the Corn]

One bad habit that I'm trying to break is having a very focused MON-THU with lots of exercise, notice that I'm down 2-3 pounds and indulge throughout the weekend as a reward to myself. This week is the same, down 2-3 lbs, but we'll see if I can maintain through the weekend. I'd be thrilled with a 2 lb week considering I'm within a few pounds of my initial opening day goal (175 lb).

Anybody else see this pattern happening, good 4-5 days, then indulge for the weekend?

Weekends are the toughest because we don't have the set schedule of the week. I try to make the weekend as structured as possible. Friday night is my indulge night, which is funny because Saturday morning is my weigh-in day. For the rest of the weekend, I make sure to have a structured lunch of a sandwich and veggies leaving myself plenty of calories for dinner. Sunday is strange as I'm at church most of the day and have a hard time fitting in a regular lunch before a dinner I usually don't prepare.

Control what you can during the day on the weekend and all question if you need that extra at dinner.

[revo]

just came back from lunch at the Palm Steakhouse.......oy. They list calories on the menus in NYC, so cripes, burgers were 1,500-2,000 calories, as were the steaks.

Had a small caesar salad, salmon, one roll, and half a piece of chocolate cake. I had lost a couple of lbs. this week before today, hopefully this didn't kill it....