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Anyone have a good diet?

hlweyl

hlweyl

Experienced Member
Joined
19 February 2003
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Maryland
Just curious. I am trying to shed some pounds and start eating better. I have horrible eating habits and love the junk food. I'm 6' 215 lbs with a frigin 38 waist.

I've read alot of articles and talk about dieting with many physicians. It seems there is a common thread with most of the diets now- Carbohydrates are the enemy. Atkins, south beach, the zone, caveman diet(love that one) are all that way. Atkins being the strictest.

No bread, no rice, no pasta, no potatos. Its very hard to find stuff to eat, especially the rice... my wife is a filipina and we eat rice with almost every meal.

Any thoughts or opinions?
 
Simple diet

I've been on "my diet" for 13 years now, it's really very simple, you don't have to weigh your food, count calories, or any of that shit. My diet is because of past cardiac events and is as low fat as I can make it. I haven't had a piece of red meat in 13 years (I'd never survive on Atkins, but neither did he), very simply stated, if you like it and want it, you can't have it. The most important part of any diet is discipline, portion control, and balance. Any diet should be followed up with regular exercise, and before going on any strict diet you should consult with your physician. If you have problems with diets, consult with a registered nutrionist as well. Good luck, a consistent weight is very important, gaining and losing weight is dangerous to your health, sometimes more dangerous than being overweight.
 
Good advice. I read one of your posts earlier and that was quite a story. Glad everything went well for you considering...

I agree with the exercising portion, I do cardio 4-5 times per week but I have a really hard time being disciplined eating. I grew up on mcdonalds and burger king, but that's no excuse. As adults, we know right from wrong.

I'm not too thrilled with Atkins diet either, but the poor guy didn't die from the diet:D , he died from head trauma.
 
hlweyl said:
Good advice. I read one of your posts earlier and that was quite a story. Glad everything went well for you considering...

I agree with the exercising portion, I do cardio 4-5 times per week but I have a really hard time being disciplined eating. I grew up on mcdonalds and burger king, but that's no excuse. As adults, we know right from wrong.

I'm not too thrilled with Atkins diet either, but the poor guy didn't die from the diet:D , he died from head trauma.
Click to expand...

I am not over weight by anyone's standards (5'11" 160 lbs) and I eat junk all the time. Eating good takes a lot of time and effort. I have not consistently eaten fast food in about 4 years. I did eat lunches about 3-4 days a week at McDonalds for 7 years in a row.
On an average day I will eat a bag or two of salted sunflower seeds, a couple of bananas or oranges, almost always a sandwich for lunch and chips and a pickle. Dinner 60-75% of the time is red meat and salads. If not red meat than pasta. pork or poultry. Right before bed I will eat ice cream, Popsicles, watermelon or oranges. I Hardly ever eat fish. I used to get a lot of exercise working but now that I trade I get NONE. I started smoking again after being quit for 1 1/2 years, but I have not smoked in a couple of days. I hope to quit for a while again. I am 38 years old and when I read the post by RPM217 I did about an hour on the tread mill I bought and hardly ever use. I can not put my finger on the reason why but I have never been interested in keeping fit. I wish I knew a way to make myself interested in working out. Maybe I am just lazy?
 
FWIW, I think all the diets you mention will eventually lead you to failure. If you're concerned about your health then you need to change your lifestlye and not just your diet.

By that I mean this. Everything in moderation. God gave us the teeth and digestive tract we need to digest meat, vegetable and starch. So why exclude any one of them? Concentrate on eating reasonable portions and more frequently. And then, add daily exercise to the mix. While I think its a great idea to run or lift weights on a daily basis, you can gain a tremendous amount of benefit from taking a long walk at lunch if heading to the gym isn't feasible.

Its worked for me and I still enjoy the occassional pizza and beer and ice cream once a week. My weight is great, my cholesterol, etc. is awesome and I never feel envy that others can have a cheeseburger and I'm eating some tofu laden cube of crap.
 
Da Hapa said:

By that I mean this. Everything in moderation. God gave us the teeth and digestive tract we need to digest meat, vegetable and starch. So why exclude any one of them?
Click to expand...

It's hard to say what humans are supposed to eat. Starch is debatable as being one of the foods we should eat. Take Mr. Potato, high in carbs(causes blood sugar spike and big release of insulin), low in vitamins, and should not be eaten raw due to the levels of toxins in it. Basically, empty calories.

I'd kill for an order of fries right now:D :D
 
Zone Diet

I agree with the above in that if you think of your eating habits as a 'diet' and not as a way of life, you will eventually fail. Because most people associate diet with a temporary change in eating habits, they don't remain on it.

Personally, I have been on the Zone diet (non-strictly) for the past 8 months. I liked it because it is IMO the most balanced.

A very high level concept of the zone is that there are certain portions of protiens, carbs and fat that your body digests at certain rates. If you eat the proper portions, your body will finish digesting protiens, carbs and fat all at the exact same time. This leaves no extra carbs, fat or protein to store.

In following the zone I found that I had not been eating enough protein and too many carbs in my normal diet. This made me change my eating proportions, but not my eating portions.

If you follow this diet more strictly it will limit the types of carbs that you should eat, going towards vegetables and fruits and less pasta, breads and rice. This WILL make you hungry as veggies don't seem to fill you until you eat huge amounts of them.

The one good thing about following a diet plan (any diet plan) is that you begin to watch what you eat and realize any bad eating patterns that you'd have.
 
Speaking of the Zone Diet. They make a great nutrition bar called ZonePerfect bar. It was top rated by consumer reports and I was looking for a more healthy breakfast rather than toast, bagels, or cereal (all of which are full of carbs)

The peanut butter are good, but the chocolate caramel crunch are GREAT. I eat 1 for breakfast everyday, they tide me over fine until lunch whereas if I eat cereal, i'm starving by 10 am.
 
Zone bars

Yes the zone bars actually taste pretty good. The Chocolate Fudge is great. It tastes like a rice krispie treat covered in chocolate and contains around 16g protien, 20g carbs and 7g of fat (with some Omega3 fat). They are pretty expensive individually though ($1.85) so if you're going to stock up go to Walmart or Target and get them by the box for $6. I eat a Zone bar before my workouts and it seems to give me just enough energy to get through it.
 
I've been on the heavy side for a long while and wanted to shed pounds but don't want to use any kind of diet plans or diet products. I just picked up biking going on a 17 mile loop that includes lots of moderate hills. Takes me a little over an hour to complete. I get a great workout and work up a sweat. Do it three to four times a week. In addition, I cut out my favorite foods that are high in calories (literally stopped eating them - just once in a while), sometimes skip breakfast, have smaller lunch portions and eat a very light dinner. This may be very hard to do for some but I was determined. With this diet plan, I was losing about two to three pounds a week. So far, I lost over 30 pounds and want to lose another 15 to get to the weight where I should be (~185 - I'm 5"11).

I hate using diet products and don't want to mess with diet plans that cost money. If you want to lose weight, you must exercise. No diet pill is going to shed calories for you. Cut the calories, watch what you eat and exercise on a frequent basis. I just got used to eating smaller portions, exercise more frequently and am very conscious about calories. The weight is coming off. I never thought I'd lose so much weight and so quickly. It works for me and I'm sticking with it.
 
I have a simple doctrine for staying lean and or lossing wght as needed.You simply need to eat a well ballanced diet that does not exceed your calories expended that day.Without getting into a long diatribe most folks need a regimen or rules to eat properly,thats why diets are so popular.If you are a healthy overwght person(no underlying chronic conditions or syndromes assoc with obesity,on steroids or other drugs that promote fat deposition or water retention)then you simply need to burn more calories than you take in.Fit people who say they can eat anything, unconciously regulate thier eating/exercise,to promote wght stasis or loss.There are methods to calculate your own calorie expenditure each day.Start with average bmr(basal metabolic rate) calories you use just being alive ie lying asleep.Which for a healthy male might be 800-1500 depending on size and muscle mass.Then you need the amount used in variuos excersice say ~300 cal for jogging 2 miles on a treadmill.Then you need a book that provides calorie totals for the foods we eat,and then you should ballance those over 4-5 meals each day ,adjust to lose or maintaine.If it sounds too simple its not,it works.The hard part is realizing how much we overeat and how little we excersice.Just walking stairs at work or at lunch helps.Most folks have little willpower with hunger pains.Also some people are more easilly satiated than others so for some people it also helps to drink alot of water or low cal juices that keep your stomach full.Eating smaller more frequent meals also smooths out your insulin/glucagon secretions thus preventing wide hunger swings or real sugar problems.I hope this helps,but please take this info as a generic discussion not meant for anyone in particular.And if you do have specific health problems or conditions please consult with your physician before altering your routine.Also I don't want to turn this into a "ask the doctor" segment-that might end up rivaling the longest thread on prime.Good luck to all the dieters!
 
South Beach Diet

I tried the South Beach diet when my doctor made me start eating better to lower my cholesterol. I suck at diets, but this one was fairly easy to stick to. The first two weeks are somewhat hard, but after that you can see a difference in the stuff you crave. I was always craving fried foods. Anything greasy sounded great to me (Hence the high cholesterol :D ) but after those first two weeks, that disappeared. Then you start adding in carbs slowly to your diet. A great thing about this diet is in the first two weeks, you lose all of you weight around your mid section and notice quickly that you pants are looser. Anyways, I just thought I would add my opinion. This particular diet has worked for me, but it may be different for others. So far I have lost 15 pounds which is my 1/2 way mark. I have been on the diet for about a month and a half (Minus Thanksgiving)

BTW, I also exercised during this time.

Good Luck in your search for a diet. :)
 
Diet

I am 5' 10" and got up to 213lbs. I went on the Atkins Diet for 90 days and lost 23lbs.(March thru May) I munched on things like cheese, turkey slices, tuna and drank lots of water. No beer,pizza ,potatoes bread,pasta ,fruit ,milk, etc. I exercised regulary (swimming) 40 to 60 min. 4 or 5 times a week. Tried to go for a walk after dinner weather permitting. What really helped me was picking a time frame to do it in and not an amount of weight to lose. My cholestrol also dropped. My reward and end of diet was having beer at the Indy 500. I find it more difficult to keep the weight off but so far I have been succesful. I float between 190 and 194. Good Luck. What ever way you decided. Stick to it and you will lose weight.
 
Re: Zone bars

Ag NSX said:
Yes the zone bars actually taste pretty good. The Chocolate Fudge is great. It tastes like a rice krispie treat covered in chocolate and contains around 16g protien, 20g carbs and 7g of fat (with some Omega3 fat). They are pretty expensive individually though ($1.85) so if you're going to stock up go to Walmart or Target and get them by the box for $6. I eat a Zone bar before my workouts and it seems to give me just enough energy to get through it.
Click to expand...

Hey Ag, I buy them directly from the manufacturer and pay $1.05 per bar. I'm not sure of a minimum purchase, I buy about $500 at a time. http://www.zoneperfect.com/Site/Content/index.asp

docjohn- alot of good advice although calculating how many calories we burn and how many we put in seems a bit labor intensive. I don't think many people will put up with this for long.

Eating right takes alot of discipline. The figures show that 60% of the US population is severely overweight or obese. There is no easy way or magic pill!!!

rogerm- you may want to consider adding some vitamin and nutrients to your diet. bok bok:D
 
Diet and exercise. It seems like such a simple plan, but there is so much crap out there, you spend more time researching what to do than actually doing it. Atkins, the zone, plus the numerous other Hollywood fads can not only be expensive, but so tedious that they sometimes require a personal chef. Our society is so caught up in gimmicks, that we overlook what it really takes, hard work and discipline. You can try the Trim Spa's all you want, but even if it helps you lose weight, all you will be is a skinnier unhealthy person. Not to mention that as soon as you get off of it, you will start gaining weight again. You know the saying, "Give a person a fish, you feed them for a day. Teach a person to fish, you feed them for life." There is no easy road to success.

To lose weight is simple. You have to burn more calories than you take in and that requires discipline. (more so depending on your love of food) You either have to eat less calories or burn off more calories, both is obviously the best. It doesn't have to taste bad to be good for you. There are many foods out there that look like they would be good for you but are not. You need to limit and reduce your portions and eat more frequently. (5 times a day) The body can't process a great deal of food at once and tends to store the excess calories as fat, when you eat a big meal. Also, your body needs fat in moderation, but certain kinds of fat. Basically, any fat that solidifies at room temperature is probably bad. I have been told that alcohol and cigarettes will help slow your metabolism further as well, so you will have to limit that too.

An EXCELLENT book that has worked for thousands is Body For Life. www.bodyforlife.com I think their marketing firm takes the pictures a little far and they tend to look doctored, but the philosophy is very sound. You have to completely change your way of life and thinking. Your body will fight desperately to stay where it is used to being. That is why you see people go on these strict diets and quit two weeks later because they have lost no weight. You have to train your mind and your body which will take some time, but you will find out that once your body has adjusted, it will fight equally as hard to stay at that level as well. What you get out of something is only attributed to how much you are willing to do and how long you are willing to do it. Good luck.
 
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Grocery shopping

Just one quick thing that I picked up from the Zone diet book about the types of foods we eat. It basically said that if you can go to the grocery store and mostly buy from the stuff on the inner edges and not the inner aisles you'll be better off. This is based on the fact that the grocery stores usually place fruits, vegetables, fresh meat, fresh bread and dairy in these areas. The inner aisles usually contain the processed, boxed or packaged foods like cookies, frozen dinners, pizzas, etc... And if you do this you'll find you grocery bill to be alot cheaper! ;)
 
*LONG POST ALERT* :D

Some of the information in this thread has been good, and some not so good (IMHO). I am not a nutritionist or a doctor, but I am 6'0", and was able to go from 300lbs to 180lbs and keep it off for 11 years now (I'm 30). I was fat all my life and just got tired of it. On my my 19th birthday, naked in front of a mirror with a 54" waist I decided to change my life. Here's how I did it:

You must be willing to make permanent "lifestyle" changes for the weight loss to be permanent. Forget the idea of going on a 'diet', we are all on diets, they just suck!! My way of eating takes into account that there will be days that you eat everything you "shouldn't" be eating, but we gotta be real! Holiday parties, events, etc will always be a constant threat to any sound eating plan. The trick is to enjoy those "days off", and then get right back on track. One or two days a month of all-out eating will have little to no effect on your weight-loss goals.

Basic principles: These are not open to discussion or alteration. (In no particular order)

You will read the label of everthing you eat from now on. Check the calorie count on a Little Debbie or Hostess honey bun and you'll see why.

Any liquid you drink should be very low calorie or calorie free, period. Diet soda, water, crystal light, flavored waters, SKIM milk, diet snapple etc. A can of soda has @200 calories, about 10% of your days calories!!

You will no longer eat regular mayonnaise or salad dressing or butter under any circumstances, period. Lite or fat-free ONLY (preferably FF) PARKAY and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter brands make calorie butter free sprays that taste excellent!

You will never eat a hot-dog again, period. Fat-free dogs only.

You will use olive oil only. It has the "good fat" we all need.

You will no longer eat added table sugar in anything you eat, period. You will use Splenda brand sugar substitute. It's calorie free and tastes nearly like sugar. You will substitute Splenda for sugar in coffee, tea, cereal, baking cookies, cakes etc.

Eat EGGBEATERS instead of regular eggs. They have 1/2 the calories, zero fat and zero cholesterol.

Take Centrum Silver or another good multi-vitamin everyday.

You will limit the amount of packaged food you eat. If it comes in a box and can be heated and eaten in 10 minutes, it proabaly ain't so good for you.

Exercise MUST become part of your regular schedule. Aim for 2-3 days a week of 30-60 minutes of cardio. Do the elliptical for 20min, the bike for 20 min, and the treadmill for 20min. Whatever you choose, keep it varied and keep your heart up so you sweat! Basketball, jogging, exercise classes, it really makes no difference what you do as long as you are consistent. Pick up a copy of Men's Health for plenty of workout routines.

Some would say that 4-5 days a week of exercise would better, and they are absolutely correct. The problem is that it is hard to maintain that kind of regimen. I attempt to ask for a realistic amount of exercise that no one can say they do not have time to complete. Consistency is the key here!


Foods I eat in EXTREMELY limited quantity(1X a week or less)
Anything with lots of added sugar
Bread
Pasta
Rice
Potatoes
Any food high in saturated fat
Full-fat cheese


Foods I eat regularly
Oatmeal
Cold cereal with no added sugar
Chicken
Salmon
Turkey
Lean Ham
Beef or Turkey Jerky
Nutrition Bars
Reduced Fat Peanut Butter
Salad
Vegetables
Fruits
Almonds and Cashews
Skim milk
Tea/Coffee/Flavored water
Low fat cheese/salad dressing
Foods low in saturated fat

I do not count calories, I just eat normal sized servings of food and have huge salads almost everyday. I think that the best way to characterize my diet would be to call it a "low glycemic index" way of eating.

Go here for more info
http://www.glycemicindex.com/

If you read the South Beach Diet, you will find it very similar to mine. Too bad I didn't write the book! If you need a regimen to follow, this book is pretty well balanced and the diet is easy to follow. Forget Atkins, it is just too restrictive and besides, it makes you constipated! :(

Of all diets to follow, I think Weight Watches is the most logical because you can eat anything you want, just not a plate-full of it!

Helpful Hints:

As for weight loss, you must make a monthly chart of your weight and your weekly goals. Weigh the SAME DAY AND TIME every week and RECORD YOUR WEIGHT. This process will force you to think twice before you eat too much when you know your weigh-in is only two days away. Put the chart on your refrigerator or desk at work so you see it a lot.

Aim to lose about 10 pounds a month the first two months and then about 6-8 for all subsequent months. If you follow everything I did, especially the working out, you will easily lose the first 20 pounds in two months.

Tell everyone you know you are on a diet. You wil be surprised how supportive they will be.

Tell your spouse, buddies or siblings to join you in your new way of eating. Challenge each other to see who can get in the best shape first, and wager some cash on it!!

Take that pair of pants that no longer fit and put them front and center in your closet. Try them on every week to see how close you are getting to wearing them again. This a great motivator!

Schedule your exercise the same way you would any other important meeting. What is more inportant than your health anyway?

Don't think of this as a diet. Think of it as preparation for old age! Sounds silly right? Well believe me, there are people who are 60 years old at my gym who are in significantly better shape than than most teens because they eat right and exercise regularly. You cannot wait until you are old to get in shape, by then it is too late!

No matter how much you stray from your new way of eating, remember that you can always go back. One day, two days or two weeks of binging on sweets and fatty foods is just a blip in time if you can maintain good eating habits for most of the time.

Give yourself time to lose weight. You didn't gain it overnight, did ya?

Plan a vacation to a place you would normally take your shirt off. You want some motivation, you got it!

Vary your exercise routine so you do not get bored. If not, the couch and remote will look more and more appealing as time passes.

Realize that you can go to parties, fast food restaurants, and even Tavern on The Green and not eat like it is your last meal. Just because everyone is gorging themselves doesn't mean you have to.

Purge your kitchen of all the no-no foods on the list. If it isn't there you can't eat it.

Eat breakfast. I know we have all heard this a thousand times but it is true. If you eat breakfast you will eat less throughout the day, and are therefore less likely to binge later.

This is most of what I have done and it works. I had gained about 40 pounds in the last 1.5 years after my marriage as my wife insisted on making three course meals on a daily basis. That led to less working out and before I knew it, I was up to 220 again. I realized I was back to pasta and rice almost daily, as well as rich desserts all to frequently.

On September 1st 2003, I started back on my eating plan. I have lost 25 pounds so far, and will have lost the last 15 by the time my birthday comes on Feb 7th.

I had been thin for so long that I figured I could eat like I used to, but I was just fooling myself. My wife now cooks only the foods I can eat so there is no temptation to stray. I can't wait to gat back into my waist 34 Levis!! (they are at the front of my closet to remind me!)

Good luck to all in the battle of the bulge and I would be happy to provide more info on my eating plan if desired.
:D
 
:eek: :eek: :eek: That was a long post!!! Good information also! I did the samething after High School and went on a serious diet. I went from 225 lbs down to 160 lbs and was toned, but not "big" (muscular) enough. So I started working out to gain some meat and went up to 200 lbs having the same waist size as I did at 160. Then I stoped since I was very happy with the way I looked. Damn, have I slowly started putting the lbs back on!! Plan on getting back into it and sticking with it this time. Besides, it'll make my NSX go faster!!! :D:D
 
Great post Jay,may I drive home Jay's point of drinking non sugar beverages!!!Look at how much sugar and calories are in drinks.If soda is your primary beverage and you figure (whether you know it or not we drink about 2liters every day) then over 1000 cal are not from food!
 
docjohn said:
Great post Jay,may I drive home Jay's point of drinking non sugar beverages!!!
Click to expand...

Hey Doc, drive your own points home, mine can find their way home just fine!!
:D :D :D :D :D

But seriously folks, this is one of the best things you can do to start eating healthier. Let's all shave a few pounds and at the same time shave a few seconds off our lap times!!!
 
TucAZNSX

One thing that helps you allot is drink grapefruit juice every morning befor you eat anything and believe me you will see the difference fast and if you can drink a glass befor you go to bed... my mother did that for 2 mother because she use to work out but could not get rid of the belly fat and when she did that she had no fat that's when I did it to I am skinny but its helped me get a flatter stomach. It worked for us I don't see why not for you.. But make sure its fresh juice not that fake one they sell at the store.
 

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