Phil for what it's worth I think you should reward yourself.

Everytime that I have gone on a health kick and started exercising/eating right I have always gone extreme or nothing.

....and I've always fallen off the train or gotten burned out. It's no way to live. You have to indulge yourself occasionally.

I think there is a middle ground somewhere. I just haven't found it yet.

yeah i didn't forget it, it's just that that is far less interesting than that he was in journey.

Brian Wilson and I say differently

The problem here is that cutting back on carbs really does nothing, its cutting them out that puts you in ketosis, that makes you body burn its fat to get energy. I always laugh at people who "cut back" on carbs, cos yr. really wasting your time. Stopping drinking soda and beer, sure, donuts, candy, yeah, but that SUGAR..which contains carbs, but w/o pasta and bread, this wop would keel over.

I dropped a good 10 just by stopping drinking beers every night and lowering my 6pack a day Dr. Pepper habit (the two were, surprisingly, codependent)

But everyone in here who basically said that exercise is the key is dead on. That's why I wil never be skinny, cos WE LAZY!!

(GOOD LUCK, PHIL. I will think of you as I eat an entire green bean casserole, a whole pumpkin pie (with whipped cream) and the skin of entire turkey, and gulping down Guinnesses by the barrel)

i could probably drop this gut if i quit drinking beer every night and started riding a bike, but the pursuit of not doing either is why i got married in the first place.

Instead of bread, try meatloaf!

Mmmm. Leftover turkey sandwiched between two slabs of meatloaf.

the saddest thanksgiving ever was when i didn't go home from college and instead worked in a record store on thanksgiving day (i watched Men In Black), went home to a 12 pack of pbr, a frozen pizza, and the Washington Redskins on Super Tecmo Bowl. we had no furniture so i sat on the floor in front of the tv like a hooker's son.

i mean, this was at least as sad as the one with all the small pox blankets that's the reason that there are no casino indians anymore.

This is true. I knocked my serious boozing to the weekend and any consumption of potatoes and pasta. The weekend is my reward for my dry week of salad and chicken.

I hate what I've become but my formerly lethal blood pressure is now normal.

I'm not really concerned with my weight, but when I started doing the same thing, I lost about 5 lbs. It wasn't even really a conscious decision, I just didn't want to drink as much during the week.

Yeah, I stayed in Athens one year because my parents had gone to FLA and my tele-garbage job offered 2 1/2 times for working on Thanksgiving.

Not worth it. Athens was literally a ghost town and I couldnt find anywhere to eat after my shift so I started drinking beer and drove home just to see some actual human beings.

This is signature worthy BTW. Nice work, pal.

I almost made it mine, but The Grapist is just too funny.


Mine would be when I tried to drive to VA to have Thanksgiving with my mom and her side of the family, got arrested on the way for driving without a license went back to Bloors (when he lived with AAAAAAAH) went out and got wasted, fucked some married chick in a bar bathroom, and then had to drive her back to her car after another round at AAAAH's house...But I bet hers was worse.

I think laying on that small couch, watching Katdaddy play GTA Vice City and trying to come to grips with what a worthless scumbag I am was the lowest I ever got.

Hey, at least I made those huge fucking Pork Loins stuffed with peaches, herbs and butter and then wrapped in bacon for my first annual "Exiles and HoBo's Thanksgiving"

That was was also the most hungover I've ever been on Thanksgiving. We drank like 14 Rusty Nails each.

this will also be the first thanksgiving spent with the wife's family. should i bring straight razors or just a leather belt and Hutchence my way to a doorknob?

Yeah, the Loin was fantastic, as was the hospitality. I still appreciate it, or I woulda been holed up in the Days Inn smoking crack (sounds like a plan for this year)

Crack -- The future ex-mrs. gar's parents are coming out here, then we all get to trek to Dr./Col/Hired CIA Killer/Papa LooGar's massive compound.

That's a sticky way to go.

I'm also looking down the barrel of Thanksgiving with the gf's family. Fucking frightening because her grandparents are pretty old school: "So Chreeus, how long do you intend to live in sin with our granddaughter?"

I dunno, Crack. But I am open to suggestions.

Say NO! to -




Say YES! to -

don't cross the streams.

Diets have been shown, time and time again, to NOT WORK. What definitely does work is eating sensibly. A diet is not "eating sensibly" - it's eating an unrealistic type and amount of food that starves your body, and when you're done your body will hold onto calories like you really were starving, which is why most people tend to gain all the weight back PLUS 10% more. Here's what you do: sign up with http://www.calorieking.com and they will tell you about how many calories you need to eat per day (for men, probably around 1800, women 1500.) This is a HEALTHY amount of calories that will allow you to lose weight, provided you also exercise most days of the week - a half hour or so will do if it's decent exercise (biking, jogging, or with a little more time, just walking.) The biggest problem most of us have is portion control, and just cutting back will make a huge difference. It's a lifestyle change - not a diet.

I know half of you will laugh, but Dr. Phil's weight-loss plan is excellent, if you need a book to guide you. There's usually more behind being overweight than just being hungry - I know I definitely eat due to emotions and so do most people. Finding out what drives you to eat so much really helps. Whether that's through Dr. Phil's book or just by being introspective and really honest with yourself, do whatever works. Whatever you do, don't get stuck on the diet yo-yo - it will not work for most people, and don't kid yourself: you, just like me, are "most people." How do I know? Because I did all this a couple years ago! I lost 50 pounds by doing exactly what I mention above (except Dr. Phil's book - it wasn't out at the time, but I've looked at it and it's good.) I'm still far from where I want to be, and I've slipped due to stress and laziness, but I'm getting right back on. Believe me when I tell you that depriving yourself of something is exactly what will make you fail. Reward yourself with those things you love - Thanksgiving is NOT the time to be militaristic with a diet. It's one day, it will not hurt your progress.

Do we need to start an Obner weight-loss support group?

Agree with everything you said, and well yeah maybe we should start one.

I hit a serious plateau last couple months. First it was quitting smoking and then it was turning 35 and in the past year my metabolism has slowed down horribly. And I go through periods of HATING exercise.

Being a busy mom with work, cleaning, school meetings, dr appts, phone calls to return and make, two cats, a husband, grocery shopping, cooking etc etc I literally can have a week or two where as soon as I have some down time(usually around 830 at night) ALL I want to do is sit with a book til I fall asleep or watch tv for a bit. Fuck the exercise. But unfortunately that attitude has resulted in a ten lb gain in the last three 1/2 months.

I try to be good with what I eat but I have a husband and kid who never want to eat what I eat and these last two weeks I swear I put on five of it just from Halloween candy and cupcakes alone. Ugh.

I'm going back on a sugar hiatus and see what happens. That and I'm going back to my frozen salmon filets each night with veggies.

But at the same time I'm sort of embracing myself a bit more and not worrying about being really skinny again, I'll settle for about 15 lbs to go away.

I think the ABS DIET is the way to go if you want to lose weight and keep it off. It's written by the editor of Men's Health. It' s not really a diet, but teaches you the right way to eat and exercise.

1. Lotsa water, small portions, and regular exercize. Your stomach will shrink eventually, and you won't feel as hungry.
2. Bass players are supposed to be non-white and fat. It's a fact. I don't make the rules. Everyone in LA knows the rules, too.
3. If you must slim down, for cripes sake still eat good food on thanksgiving.

1800 calories is entirely too low, especially if you are exercising.

Also Phil, consider this. In order to gain one pound, you're gonna have to consume 3500 calories than you burn. Most of the weight you would get back from a Thanksgiving gorge is going to be water weight, which you can even out by the next week.

that's the rub... when you exercise, you can consume more. It's when you stop exercising, you can't keep eating the same amount. You have to cut down accordingly. That's always a tough one for me, ha ha.

If yours works the way most in-law families do, you get a by this year, because you just got married. You're golden. It's like when you're in college... every family gathering, you get one token question about classes and then that's it, you're a good kid - as opposed to afterwards, when you and your degree work at a hardware store, and you get awkwardly unanswerable questions.

Next year, beware. Assuming they know little about the Real you, they'll begin pestering you about grandchildren. It builds every year until you finally cave.