Working on a new Rocky

[RockyBalboa]

I don't know about the rest of you but I've started and stopped,,,,tried and tried 135820398205 times to quit drinking soda pop and caffeine.....it lasts a few days, maybe sometimes even a few weeks, only to gradually and slowly not only jump back on the wagon,,,but to have it be even worse than before.

To give you an idea....I was drinking somewhere between 2 to 3 44 Ounce Super Big Gulps a day. That's just well......wrong.

While taking some pictures for my new blog,,,,,,I didn't like AT ALL how fat my face looked. Mind you I've weighed over 200 pounds only once in my entire life, but I have a thin frame and so extra weight on me makes me look a lot fatter than I really am. I took my finger and covered up my body in the pics and if you just looked at my face you'd think I was just really fat.

So........I decided dammit that that was it. Enough was enough. I didn't like what I was looking at and decided to start working on a new Rocky.

I weighed myself and was standing at 197. My face looked really fat and my belly looked like I was in my third trimester.

So my first step is to cut out all Soda pop and Caffeine. Period. Going Cold Turkey. Well as of this writing I've gone almost 12 days without a drop of either.

Here's where I get stuck though....I'm not good at knowing what to eat, what not to eat...what's gonna stick and what isn't. I don't want to become a FoodNazi either though...and that's where I'm stuck.

I want to get down to between 170-175 and I know that includes an exercise regimen.

So I'm here and open for ideas while beginning to work on the new Rocky and getting down to a weight where I can take a picture and not be embarrassed by what I see.

As of now...in 12 days of shutting out Soda Pop and Caffeine I've gone from 196 to 189 alone without changing a smidgeon of the rest of my diet,,,but I know that needs to change if I'm to reach my ultimate goal.

Any suggestions and tips are very welcome. Thanks.

[RobinFinderson]

Interesting Rock. You and I are in a similar boat (except I don't have a soda problem). I'm 6', about 195. I'd say I'm packing about fifteen extra pounds, and heavier than I have ever been in my life. My pants are tight. I don't want to see that needle pop over the 200lb line just to get the inspiration I need to get fit again, so it looks like I better go rejoin the YMCA.

[LA Ute]

Psychologically you need to give yourself some kind of reward. Otherwise you're just going to feel deprived because of the non-soda regimen. I do that by drinking Diet A&W Root Beer (the nectar of the gods). I also like the caffeine-free Diet Pepsi. (I like the caffeinated ones too but they derail my sleep patterns even when I drink them during the day.) If you don't like the diet drinks, than you are a better man than I am and I don't have any answers for you!

Congrats on your exercise regimen. As you age (experience speaking here) that is the only thing that will keep you from steadily gaining weight. Just cutting back on calories alone won't do it, and neither will exercise alone. (When I was in my 20 and 30s exercise alone was enough. I'd be a blimp if I didn't exercise daily.

[All-American]

Psychologically you need to give yourself some kind of reward. Otherwise you're just going to feel deprived because of the non-soda regimen. I do that by drinking Diet A&W Root Beer (the nectar of the gods). I also like the caffeine-free Diet Pepsi. (I like the caffeinated ones too but they derail my sleep patterns even when I drink them during the day.) If you don't like the diet drinks, than you are a better man than I am and I don't have any answers for you!

Congrats on your exercise regimen. As you age (experience speaking here) that is the only thing that will keep you from steadily gaining weight. Just cutting back on calories alone won't do it, and neither will exercise alone. (When I was in my 20 and 30s exercise alone was enough. I'd be a blimp if I didn't exercise daily.

Funny. I read rocky's post, got a hankering for diet a&w, and went a bought a twelve pack just now. Great minds.

[SteelBlue]

Rocky I always had the same problem. I was a terrible judge of what I should be eating. A great book with tons of good food ideas is "Eating for Life" by Bill Phillips. He's the guy who started EAS and the Body for Life program that works so well. I've done his Body for Life program a couple of times (I even have nikuman style pics to prove it). It's very regimented and difficult to maintain but you get excellent results. It's great for getting to the size you want to be. His eating for life program is much different. It's about healthy meals with the right amounts of protein and carbs that taste good. It gives you good ideas for maintaining a healthy diet all the time. We continue to use many of the recipes in that book or variations thereof.

[Sea Chicken]

This may surprise you, but I still drink caffeine.

[RockyBalboa]

This may surprise you, but I still drink caffeine.

Yeah, but I've met you and you're a small guy (No offense). You can drink it and get away with it. lol.

Course you could run circles around me or anyone on this board so I'll just shut up already.

[LA Ute]

This may surprise you, but I still drink caffeine.

Doesn't surprise me a bit. I love caffeinated sodas. I just love sleeping at night more! Old age is a bear . . . .

[Jeff Lebowski]

Rocky, you should definitely start an exercise habit. Not only will you lose weight, but you will feel much better and have far more energy than you do now. Getting into the habit requires some discipline, but you need to hang in there. You owe it to yourself.

Best of luck.

[happyone]

I second the exersize. I walk every day between 6-7 miles some day I will jog part of it, but mostly it is walking.

I also write down everything I eat in my dayplanner. That is a tool that helps me realize what I am eating. When I stopped writing down my food intake I put on 25 lbs and am now back to it.

I also track the carb servings I eat, but that is because I'm diabetic.

Good luck

[Pheidippides]

I second (third? fourth?) the exercise thing. I started out slow with things I liked (like basketball once a week) and then added some running in and now I have to work out once a day or I feel like I am lazy.

I also agree with the Diet A&W thing. Yum! Best diet soda out there.

[beefytee]

I would just try not to each out much. Drink plenty of water and make sure you have fruits and vegetables at every meal.

I wouldn't worry about eliminating to much (except maybe processed foods).

If you add enough fruits and vegetables, you will replace the bad stuff naturally.

Its a simple change that I think is easy to stick with because you aren't eliminating anything.

[LA Ute]

I second (third? fourth?) the exercise thing. I started out slow with things I liked (like basketball once a week) and then added some running in and now I have to work out once a day or I feel like I am lazy.

I also agree with the Diet A&W thing. Yum! Best diet soda out there.

Starting slow with exercise is a good idea. Lots of people start off with something very rigorous and can't sustain it (or injure themselves - that gets easier to do the older you are!). Also, pick something you like to do. I was an avid runner for years and loved that, which made it easy. Then I developed early degenerative arthritis in both hips and had to switch to a low-impact exercise. I picked aerobic walking, which was as close as I could get to running. Been doing it for 21 years and have learned to love it -- I hate to go a day without it. So does my dog!

[happyone]

Starting slow with exercise is a good idea. Lots of people start off with something very rigorous and can't sustain it (or injure themselves - that gets easier to do the older you are!). Also, pick something you like to do. I was an avid runner for years and loved that, which made it easy. Then I developed early degenerative arthritis in both hips and had to switch to a low-impact exercise. I picked aerobic walking, which was as close as I could get to running. Been doing it for 21 years and have learned to love it -- I hate to go a day without it. So does my dog!

I agree with this. Definately pick something you enjoy. For example, I enjoy getting outside and walking, but I can't stand treadmills or tracks. So I walk even in the winter. I've tried golf but really don't enjoy it.

If you can get a partner (Human or pet it really doesn't matter). It gives you a reason to go and the knowledge that someone/something is depending on you. Our dog is a good reason for me not to skip a day. He greets me at the door when I get home with the look of "Okay you're home now get changed and lets go."

[Commando]

I stopped into the local KFC/A&W for lunch and, after discovering that the draft rootbeer on tap was out, I subbed with some diet A &W... it was all I could do to keep it down. I don't know how it gets any accolades at all on here.