Loosing Weight

[goodwood]

We have all wanted to drop a few pounds and wondered the best way to go about it. Endless new diets abound. So we try them. We are bombarded by ads from weight loss companies like Jennie Craig, Weight Watchers, etc...
We hear about the 'Miami Beach Diet' or the 'Atkins Diet'.
I have even heard about Vegans that gained weight b/c they ate too much pasta. What to do?
Today while listening to National Public Radio they reported the results of a study that said the secret to weight loss is not a diet, but simply consuming less calories than one expends. Isn't that an amazing concept? Eat less, wiegh more?
Apparently however people altered their food intake as long as the calories were less taken in than expended weight loss was documented.
I have got to do that. I have to monitor my caloric intake.

 

[B_jasmin]

less carbohydrates is the secret / success

and dont go under 1500 cal. / day

eat more fish / chicken

 

[goodwood]

Eat less, weigh more?

my bad. i meant eat less - weigh less.
i found it interesting that this idea made
news on NPR. it makes sense to me.

 

[SpeedoMike]

I'm a diabetic and pay attention to carbohydrates. Medications can affect weight; I've taken antidepressants which caused me to gain 25 pounds which I lost when the med was discontinued.

at any rate, will power to follow whatever plan you choose is necessary.

 

[Phil Ayesho]

I get so sick and tired of all the theorizing and fantasizing about diets.


Look... its as simple as can be.

If you want to weigh less. Eat less.

That is all it takes, all it ever has taken and the only thing that ever works.


All diets are nothing but complicated methods to trick you into eating less.. that is all they ever have been.

And exercise? It has NOTHING to do with losing weight.
The reason?
because NO exercise regime is CONSTANT. One injury and you're off your routine but still eating like a guy exercising, and ta da, you gain weight.


Exercise for fitness. Exercise to feel better about your self, to look better, to live longer and stay healthier...
Exercise is great.

But do not rely on it to maintain your weight.


As long as you have actual fat on you, and are without serious health issues such as diabetes, you can absolutely eat far fewer than 1500 calories per day. ( Not if you are one of those freaks for zero body fat )

Keep in mind your body stores fat as extra food. When you don't eat, if you have body fat, your body will burn calories of pure fat to keep you going,.

That is precisely equivalent to eating calories of fat.


Keep it simple.

Eat less, weigh less.

And keep in mind, as you age, your body requires fewer calories because your body's cells are functioning on a lower level.

Commit yourself as you age to a yearly and persistent reduction in calorie intake to maintain the same weight.

 

[NIMBUS]

Loosing???

Since when was weight tied up? :wink:

 

[Industrialsize]

Eat less, move more........Calories in less than calories out

 

[sdbg]

Eat less, move more........Calories in less than calories out

It's a simple equation, but difficult to manifest for some of us. Everything that I cook is healthy gourmet vegetarian with no refined carbs. Still, if we eat too much, we're going to wear it. I've adopted the philosophy "Eat less; exercise more". It involves pushing myself away from the table while I still feel hungry, yet when I do it, the hunger goes away 1/2 hour after the meal. Don't go back for a second portion. Sip water after meals instead to make you feel full.

 

[jeff black]

I'm gonna add my two cents here as well.

It really boils down to drinking water. The more you drink, the more it flushes out your system, getting rid of excess fat and such.

Do that, eat fruit and veg, and stay away from fast food on a daily basis and you will be fine.

 

[CowboyJosh]

I agree with drinking lots of water, but working out is a must. In High School when I played football I was 245 lbs, after my senior year season I decided to loose the weight, I am now 170lbs. I lost most of it on the StairMaster. These days I workout as often as I can, some days 3 hours, others like yesterday because I have a cold and don't feel well, I didn't workout. Park as far out from the mall, grocery store, take the stairs, all the little things add up. As far as my food choices, lots of fruits and vegetables and salads w/o dressing. I also find writing down everything you eat is an honest way to see what you’re in taking.

That said fad diets are a waste of time and money and so are most of the LA Weight Loss, Slim for Life, etc. Write down what you eat, workout as often as possible, drink lots of water, and have strong self discipline against eating junk and fast food.

 

[schlozski]

I've been on a diet since the beginning of the year. I was overweight but probably teetering on the obese side. I was 6'6" and 320 lbs. I started eating 6 times a day and eating around 300 calories a meal. That equals +/- 1/2 lb. a day without exercising. Over the last 8 weeks I have lost 35 lbs. and that is just by dieting. In a few days I'm starting an exercise program.

Personally, I don't think I could have started the diet AND exercising at once. When I started the diet program at once. The first week of the diet was difficult in the outside effects that your body has adjusting to a new diet. I had a massive headache for a week. So, imagining myself in a exercise program would and dieting at the same time I would have got discouraged and quit. Now that I have seen the results of just dieting I feel I'm ready to move on to the next level.

This is probably the best advice, do what you can. There is a story (I think it was on Dateline or 20/20) about an obese man who had an exercise bike and started riding it 2 minutes each day for a week. The following week 4 min., then 8 min....etc until he was riding this exercise bike an hour each day. Over time this man developed the skills to ride for an hour straight. So, while he probably didn't lose any weight for riding for 2 min. he was developing the skills and habits to continue to exercise everyday.

 

[D_Leg McMuffin]

The average male consumes about 2800 calories a daythere are 3500 calories in a pound. consume 500 lesss calories l a day or burn 500 calories a day for a week and you will lose a pound a week. burn 500 calories and consume 500 calories and it will be 2 lbs a week. incorporate a cheat meal once a week (eat anything and everything you desire) to keep your metabloism functioning at a higher level

 

[Randyvoorburg]

I have reached a plateau it seems. I have 10 pounds of fat to lose but I've reached the least amount of food i can eat, switched to whole wheat bread, brown rice, fish and chicken, lots of salad. Exercise at least 3 times a week, usually 5, alternating between strength and cardio. I've made progress on the strength, but find 30 mins of cardio excruciatingly boring, but i endure it nonetheless. If I eat less, i'll starve, if i exercise more i can't work, or i'll overtrain and get sick. Body fat sucks. Plateau-ing sucks. I'll get over this someday, just mustering more motivation to eat less. But what a struggle!

 

[Phil Ayesho]

More mythology.

you have not reached the least amount of food you can eat.

The least amount of food you can eat is zero. And if you are fat enough, you can live just fine on zero calories of food for weeks.
You will feel weak... because your body can only process fat at a specific rate- no sudden boosts of glucose...
But keep in mind that doctors feed patients glucose directly thru a vein if they have had bowel or intestinal surgery and they have to keep their digestive tract quiescent for healing.

You can live on pure glucose directly in a vein.


So you have "plateaued"...

Analyze your activity level, and your intake.

Whatever amount of food you are eating, right now, is the amount of food that it takes to maintian that body weight at that level of activity.

Period.

Your metabolism will lower, but only if you are sedentary.

If you want to weigh less, you will have to reduce intake further, or increase activity level further.
I am really not shitting you.... as you age, the amount of calories you need to keep going at a given weight drops RADICALLY. By 50, most men can live just fine on a single moderate meal per day.
By 80, slender people are eating a bowl of thin soup per day.



Here's a cute trick- the human body burns more calories per minute SITTING in an unheated pool, than running in a marathon. This is because water conducts heat away from the body 9 times faster than air.... so 70% of your caloric burn is simply to maintain body temperature.

Try swimming laps in an unheated pool. the Water, plus the exercise will burn a lot of calories, fast. And water resistance offers the lowest impact exercise there is.


But again... do not focus on exercise. Try to achieve a higher NORMAL activity level.
Walk places you used to drive. Get a standing desk.
The most effective application of exercise is not extreme exercise that will inevitably cause injuries... its simply a more active lifestyle that does not pass into the extreme.


Focus rather on all the little cheats you don't really count as eating- like that daily latte...
Which can have the same number of calories as a milkshake.
Or that little snack you tuck in just before bed...

Truth- there is no metabolic plateau. Just a caloric plateau.


If you are sedentary, and won't increase activity level... the the only choice you have is less food.
600 calories per day is doable, for weeks at a time.


I find the most important trick is to get to the point where you don't WANT to eat.
Give yourself a chance to Empty Out- and you can get to love the feeling of being hollow. Being able to bend in the middle...

No cookie or burger is so good that I am willing to have to hold my breath just to tie my shoes.

 

[D_Aston Asstonne]

Eat less, move more........Calories in less than calories out

Agreed!thats a winning combination.

 

[Phil Ayesho]

PS-
Fine tuning intake.

Let's say you are eating precisely the number of calories that you burn daily...

You know those little pats of butter you see at restaurants? the ones with the wax paper tops or wrapped in foil?

If you were to ADD eating just ONE of those, per day, More than you burn, per day... over 1 year you will gain 10 pounds.

That's how easy it is to pack it on...

But the converse is also true- Eat one of those LESS per day... and you will lose 10 pounds over the course of a year.

 

[Phil Ayesho]

More on the myth of plateau...

Fat actually ADDS to your metabolic demand. Part of the 3500 calories you may be eating per day is to support the metabolic demands of all those plump fat cells and the blood vessels feeding them.

As you lose weight, the number of calories you need per day will drop...

So 1500 calories for a 300 lb guy is actually a far more effective drop in intake than
a 1500 calories is for a 200 lb guy.
Its less of a difference between daily need and actual intake.

This is part of why dieting seems to slow down. You are eating at a lower level... but as your weight comes closer to being the weight that many calories will support... the rate of loss slows.

So when you get there... its time to look at what you eat and cut out one more thing...

 

[crv]

Exercise, if you do a fair amount of it, can make a big difference. If you add 2000 calories/week of exercise and keep your calorie intake the same, over the course of a year, it will make quite a difference in your weight.