Hi everybody. I'm Ron and I'm new here....

[Guest guest]

Happy New Year to all from greater Boston, Mass.. I have been reading

posts since joining a couple of weeks ago and wanted to introduce

myself. I am a 55 yo man, 5'11'' and on Nov.1 I weighed 268 lbs. I had

a MD appt. where they did a repeat blood test and found my blood sugar

was not as high as an earlier test indicated but merely " elevated but

controlled " . But with my weight rising with every 3 month visit and a

strong history of diabetes in the family it was time to lose weight.

Also, (of course), I'm on BP pills and cholesterol med: there is much

to gain by losing.

Since then I have lost 29 lbs, through dropping some obviously bad

habits, (ben and jerry's ice cream), and adopting a strict low fat and

low carbohydrate diet. I also began walking 3-4 miles 4-5 times a week.

I quit smoking last July and that seemed to spur a jump in weight, (30

lbs). Also I quit alcohol 4 years ago and gained 20 permanent lbs then

too. I'm at 239 this morning. I Don't mind the diet I'm on, and could

do this indefinitely without problem.

I weighed @ 215-220 since college days and felt and looked pretty good

at that weight. ( I'm muscular build). My goal, long term is to get to

195-200, and weigh what I did in HS. It is nice to read everyone's

stories and know that we are pretty much alike.

I have a few questions for everyone... 1) How does water consumption

affect into weight loss? Is caffeine free diet cola OK? 2) How do you

break through plateaus, (just had a week long plateau). 3) What about

fruit and diabetes? Is natural sugar OK? How much can I eat?

Thanks for reading me....

[Guest guest]

Hi Ron, nice to hear from you.

About water - it's so important because it flushes away impurities in your body and keeps all the parts working better. I think that when your body is losing weight, you have more " stuff " to wash out. But I think people get crazy about the amount of water to drink. I've heard that everyone should drink eight glasses of water a day. I agree with that as long as you're not forcing it down as though you're trying to drown yourself. Also, one should drink the water throughout the day. I had a coworker who would measure out her daily water, then drink it as fast as she could, to get it " over and done with " . But once her body used what it needed at the moment, it just flushed out the rest and later in the day when her body needed more water, it didn't get it. Better to keep water nearby and sip it throughout the day.

About plateaus, I think your body needs them. It gives your body a chance to readjust. I've found that when the scale stops moving temporarily, I've lost inches. So if I need a little motivation, I try on smaller clothes and that shows the difference.

Take care, Ron.

Elaine

Happy New Year to all from greater Boston, Mass.. I have been reading posts since joining a couple of weeks ago and wanted to introduce myself. I am a 55 yo man, 5'11'' and on Nov.1 I weighed 268 lbs. I had a MD appt. where they did a repeat blood test and found my blood sugar was not as high as an earlier test indicated but merely " elevated but controlled " . But with my weight rising with every 3 month visit and a strong history of diabetes in the family it was time to lose weight. Also, (of course), I'm on BP pills and cholesterol med: there is much to gain by losing.Since then I have lost 29 lbs, through dropping some obviously bad habits, (ben and jerry's ice cream), and adopting a strict low fat and low carbohydrate diet. I also began walking 3-4 miles 4-5 times a week. I quit smoking last July and that seemed to spur a jump in weight, (30 lbs). Also I quit alcohol 4 years ago and gained 20 permanent lbs then too. I'm at 239 this morning. I Don't mind the diet I'm on, and could do this indefinitely without problem.I weighed @ 215-220 since college days and felt and looked pretty good at that weight. ( I'm muscular build). My goal, long term is to get to 195-200, and weigh what I did in HS. It is nice to read everyone's stories and know that we are pretty much alike. I have a few questions for everyone... 1) How does water consumption affect into weight loss? Is caffeine free diet cola OK? 2) How do you break through plateaus, (just had a week long plateau). 3) What about fruit and diabetes? Is natural sugar OK? How much can I eat?Thanks for reading me....