Great job - 5 to 6 small meals (250-500 cal) is the way to go. For your height/build, you don't want to go below 1200-1500 Calories/Day. If you do, your body will enter "starvation mode" and hold onto every calorie it can... If you can, try to move dinner back a hour or so.. This will give your body time to process dinner before you go to bed. I don't eat after 7:00 pm if I can help it, sometimes this is undoable tho.
What to eat
Lunch Meat - Better than fast food, but be careful, the cheapo, pressed Ball-O-Turkey is full of fillers, (bad)fats, and who knows what else. With your family being the grocery business, as your Mom or Dad knows who makes the best deli meats. The good stuff has a higher per lb price, but still ceaper than fast food. I like Boars Head..
If you like to cook / grill - Costco has family-size bags of boneless, skinless chicken breast on the cheap. I usually grill up 6-8 at a time, with just some salt & pepper for seasoning. Then I can use them as I like. One day I may chop one or two up in a salad, another day I add a tablespoon or two of BBQ sauce or Italian Dressing to a tupperware container with the chicken in it. This works great if you prepare it the night before for lunch - The chicken really has time to absorb the flavors. Grill some chicken, let it cool, chop/shred it up, add some light mayo, touch of garlic (minced- in jar), some salt & pepper (or red pepper flake- if you like heat), and some chopped celery for an extra crunch, for a great sandwhich filling, or a big scoop on a salad!
Fish is really good for you, tuna, salmon, etc.. you can't go wrong.. If you make tuna salad use light/fat free mayo..
Eggs - Grab an 18 pack of eggs and boil the whole thing, very handy snack! Just eat one yoke for every 2-3 eggs you have. This will help reduce your fat and cholesterol intake. I make egg salad with 4 egg whites, and 1 yoke for flavor, little onion(dried flakes) little spicy brown mustard, light mayo, dash of salt and a healthy amount of pepper works for me..
Do what you can to add flavor - I'm a spice hound, this help to remove the "boringness"/sameness/blandness of eating healthy. Don't be afraid to experiment!!
I'll post more later when I can.. lunch break is over..
Keep at it Sledge, I thought I could never gain any weight, but I adjusted my diet completely and have stuck with it for over a month and I'm up around 13lbs. I wish you the best of luck man, it is so awesome knowing you are doing something positive to better yourself. I use a site www.thedailyplate.com to log everything I eat, every day. It gives me a better idea of how many calories I take in and how much I can take in.
13 lbs!! Hope this is typo! Or we need to get Clutch into the Guiness book!:bigggrin:
I had the same lunch and snacks today... was just to easy to make tomorrow I will mix it up and have different fruit and make it a roast beef sandwich
dinner tonight.. unknown...
Rada
I eat that Costco chicken all the time. I usually bake it frozen for 25 minutes and than throw it on the grill for 10 minutes. It is so juicy that way... I use garlic for seasoning
Never thought of eggs as a snack... how many can i eat at one time? 2 or 3? Eggs are easy to cook and shell and are probably healthier than some of the snacks I am looking at.
Would crab or shrimp be good if I cooked them in Garlic? is garlic bad? Or is it a good thing? Being Italian it’s hard to not crave it
you see, the reason you ain't losing any weight is because all you're concerned about is food(which is really a minimal part of losing weight), so i suggest you get your ass up and start swimming, jump roping or do some form of exercise
by the way, sitting down in front of the computer posting in icrontic isn't gonna help one bit
hold up... you weigh as much as that skinny nba baller yao ming, so you don't have much to worry about
Never thought of eggs as a snack... how many can i eat at one time? 2 or 3? Eggs are easy to cook and shell and are probably healthier than some of the snacks I am looking at.
Would crab or shrimp be good if I cooked them in Garlic? is garlic bad? Or is it a good thing? Being Italian it’s hard to not crave it
1st off, Garlic is incredibly good for you. Use it as you wish!!! (RADA = I-Talian too! fugedaboutit!!!
As for eggs - don't see any real reason to limit yourself other than if you used all the yokes..
The white of a large egg, or about 1-1/4 ounces, has 16 calories, 3 g of protein, 2 mg of calcium, 4 mg of phosphorus, 55 mg of sodium, 45 mg of potassium, the weensiest little bit of riboflavin, and no fat, cholesterol, or carbohydrates. At 16 calories each, you can demolish a lot for a snack, and they are filling....
13 lbs!! Hope this is typo! Or we need to get Clutch into the Guiness book!:bigggrin:
No typo my friend. I started on August 1st at 119lbs, I just got off the scales at 134 about 15 minutes ago, which is 15lbs but I would say maybe 2lbs water weight. I got my progress pictures in my thread in the Fitness forums. I eat like it is a full time job for me now, lol.
Never thought of eggs as a snack... how many can i eat at one time? 2 or 3? Eggs are easy to cook and shell and are probably healthier than some of the snacks I am looking at.
You could boil some eggs and just eat the whites, or even buy egg whites now from the store. I don't waste anything on my eggs and scramble them up. I love me some eggs, there isn't a day that goes by I don't gobble down some.
it talks about health issues amigo, one thing we haven't talked about
0
LeonardoWake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, AlaskaIcrontian
edited September 2007
I am doing one thing at a time though, after cutting soda I cut all the unnecessary saturated fats from my system...
Smart, too many people try to be Mr. He-Man and do all at once. Their life is turned upside down and they don't know which way is up. Nothing wrong with one step at a time. That's a sure, steady way to get to the destination.
Sledge, you noted that there was not one unhealthy thing in the shopping cart. Take it easy, man. Make sure that you reward yourself now and then. Make it to hardcore, and you'll give up.
One thing I am finding is dieting is not something you can just pick up. It's an education. Until about I think 8 months ago I was an on and off dieter. I'd go a couple months of eating super healthy then stop. One time I ate nothing but fruits(fruitarian diet), one time I was vegan, etc... usually what stopped me was that I needed to keep my budget in check all of a sudden and all I could afford was ramen noodles for the next couple months.
8 months ago or so, or about a month before that 30lbs challenge we had, I decided I needed to eat healthier. My 2 main goals at the time were 1)heart/digestive health(I have stomach issues and my whole family have heart issues) and 2)weight loss. I was on a path that was likely to have a heart attack by 35 if I had to guess or some kind of cancer along my digestive tract.
It wasn't looking good, and with one grandma dieing of a heart attack in front of me(was brought back thank God), and my other that died because of just utter health degeneration, and other things that went down I decided that was it.
OK I've trailed off, my main point is it's a knowledge... I'm still learning and I learn from trial and error. But every day I do some research into healthy topics, learn something new every time and just continue on. Like yesterday I did some looking into Vitamin A which I felt my current diet had too much of which had me worried that might actually be more harmful than good. But most of my Vitamin A came from Beta Carotene which is water soluble unlike retinol so the body can handle a lot more because it will take what it needs and the rest just flows out. At least from what I've gathered so far.
I do this for each vitamin and mineral I am keeping track of, today I am gonna research into how I can get more magnesium in my diet while not over doing it in some other way. Tweaking the diet here, tweaking some more there... etc.
The main thing I really need to do though is work out more... I just don't feel like I always have the time though because most of my free time is at night and my neighborhood gym is not a place I wanna be at night, even at my build. And I simply cannot afford a membership.
Sledge, you noted that there was not one unhealthy thing in the shopping cart. Take it easy, man. Make sure that you reward yourself now and then. Make it to hardcore, and you'll give up.
That's the point.. the house was only full of junk.. so their is still plenty of ice cream, candy etc... but even than I am trying to limit myself to one bad thing a day.
Soda isn't even a thought in my mind anymore, I haven't had a craving for the sugar or caffeine I am willing to be my supplement of more fruits has been the reason for that
Dinner last night was a 1/2 rack of pork ribs with light BBQ sauce. I baked it in the oven and man was it good. I added some fresh potatoes and some green beans and had a semi good dinner. (I hate Greens).
Today I followed the same sort of lunch with yogurt and a banana. I have a glass of water and Apple juice with me for 2:00 break along with some applesauce
I would like to think I am doing better, my body seems to be dumping tons of stuff out, at least more than I eat from the looks of it... and I feel much better health wise, more awake and more energy
I was 297lbs when I started this and I told myself I would weigh in once a week instead of daily... I have been pretty good about my 3 mile walks daily which seem to go by faster already.
RWB makes some good points. Going from 0 to 120mph will burn you out quickly. This has to become a change in lifestyle, not a diet..
Educating yourself about what to eat helps.. I will still be hard, no matter what you do. If I actually did everythng I know about getting in shape I wouldn't need to worry about getting in shape! Argh!
Adding a good quality multi-vitamin to your daly routine will help too.
0
LeonardoWake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, AlaskaIcrontian
edited September 2007
This has to become a change in lifestyle, not a diet..
Exactly. That's why diets, on their own, never, never work unless the person stays on them for life. They are gimmicks. ANY diet works for a while, because it forces the person to focus on what they are doing - discipline. Boom - off the diet - boom, back comes weight. Lifestyle is permanent.
But of course, healthy, less-rich foods will make up part of that lifestyle.
Well with the little things I have done I have dropped down 5lbs already! Woot. I still haven't touched a soda and have been eating smaller portions of food along with eating slower. I have nixed out a ton of sugar sweets from my diet, and to be honest I am glad I did.
Well with the little things I have done I have dropped down 5lbs already! Woot. I still haven't touched a soda and have been eating smaller portions of food along with eating slower. I have nixed out a ton of sugar sweets from my diet, and to be honest I am glad I did.
60 more pounds to go
Great Job!! (BTW: these are mugs of apple juice - not beer!) LOL!
Actually cutting Soda out of your diet is probably a bad idea. What you need to do is cut out high sugar soda from your diet (which are between say 40-80 calories per 100ml). You can still drink diet or other certain sodas such as Pepsi Max which is 0.4 Calories per 100ml, that translates to a whole 2 litre bottle only being 8 calories. Caffeine is useful as it speeds up your metabolism which in turn means you burn calories faster and it gives you a burst of energy if you need it for exorcising or staying alert (although not that useful if you need to be accurate). The downside of caffeine is that it can make you crave carbohydrates, but you may not even notice that.
Avoid red meats, they are high in fat, white meats on the other hand are very, very low which means you can eat more of them and still be considerably better off fat wise.
There's two initial boosts from starting to diet though. First is that it will seem like you have lost some weight quickly at the start, which really you haven't you simply have less food in your body (it does actually weigh quite a bit) so don't let that discourage you when your weight loss slows a little. Second thing, tied to the first is that you'll feel lighter and generally better due to the smaller amount of food still in your body, which is a nice benefit you get almost immediately.
My last bit of advice was going to be be to slide into the diet, don't suddenly drop everything and try and go fully into it off the bat (as with a gradual change you don't feel like you're forcing yourself to do it) but it seems you're doing fine anyway, so that's moot.
I did hardcore dieting for half a year or so so I've gained my experience from that, but I've put quite a bit back on eating rubbish while I was off work for 3 months and occasionally in hospital (chain illnesses) but I'm back on my diet too now.
The only thing I dropped was soda for the most part... which all I drank as high sugar. 2nd off I would never touch diet anything or even a Pepsi product.
As for my diet, I am eating better which doesn't mean I am eating totally different. As of now the Doc has said I have lost 3lbs of pure body fat along with dropping 3 pant sizes already (making all my clothes baggy on me) I have dropped a total of 16lbs which hasn't been all food waste.
Red meat is something I will always eat... I love it and I can't change that, white meat is good and I have supplemented it for some red meats, but I am going to draw the line somewhere.
I am still soda free and am happy to not drink it. Along with not craving sugars or getting that end of day headache for the last 2 weeks I have been sleeping better and feel much more refreshed drinking natural liquids, such as water, apple juice, grape juice, cranberry juice etc… these items are a bit more expensive for the 100% natural stuff but it has been worth it. I have turned away from drinking glasses of milk before bed which I think has also helped.
I also have been eating on a more regulated time frame. Getting a healthy breakfast along with filling in small snacks during breaks and of course having a full lunch and dinner I think have also helped. I have cheated with junk food more than I want to admit but I have been doing better and the vending machines at work are not getting my change
Actually cutting Soda out of your diet is probably a bad idea. What you need to do is cut out high sugar soda from your diet (which are between say 40-80 calories per 100ml). You can still drink diet or other certain sodas such as Pepsi Max which is 0.4 Calories per 100ml, that translates to a whole 2 litre bottle only being 8 calories. Caffeine is useful as it speeds up your metabolism which in turn means you burn calories faster and it gives you a burst of energy if you need it for exorcising or staying alert (although not that useful if you need to be accurate). The downside of caffeine is that it can make you crave carbohydrates, but you may not even notice that.
Avoid red meats, they are high in fat, white meats on the other hand are very, very low which means you can eat more of them and still be considerably better off fat wise.
There's two initial boosts from starting to diet though. First is that it will seem like you have lost some weight quickly at the start, which really you haven't you simply have less food in your body (it does actually weigh quite a bit) so don't let that discourage you when your weight loss slows a little. Second thing, tied to the first is that you'll feel lighter and generally better due to the smaller amount of food still in your body, which is a nice benefit you get almost immediately.
My last bit of advice was going to be be to slide into the diet, don't suddenly drop everything and try and go fully into it off the bat (as with a gradual change you don't feel like you're forcing yourself to do it) but it seems you're doing fine anyway, so that's moot.
I did hardcore dieting for half a year or so so I've gained my experience from that, but I've put quite a bit back on eating rubbish while I was off work for 3 months and occasionally in hospital (chain illnesses) but I'm back on my diet too now.
I would say if you're looking to benefit from caffeine that you do it through other sources than soda, such as black coffee or green tea, things that have there positive effects to them.
The whole 'don't eat red meat, it's high in fat' is a lot of rubbish. Excess in calories cause weight gain, not fat. A good example of this is a very successful fat lowering diet called 'keto' in which basically only protein and fats are ingested. Sticking to leaner cuts is a better idea because it drops the amount of calories you're getting.
I would say if you're looking to benefit from caffeine that you do it through other sources than soda, such as black coffee or green tea, things that have there positive effects to them.
The whole 'don't eat red meat, it's high in fat' is a lot of rubbish. Excess in calories cause weight gain, not fat. A good example of this is a very successful fat lowering diet called 'keto' in which basically only protein and fats are ingested. Sticking to leaner cuts is a better idea because it drops the amount of calories you're getting.
Coffee and Tea didn't occur to me as I don't like either of them. Calories are the main issue but lowering fat intake considerably also helps.
Your "Keto" diet you mentioned sounds the same as Atkins where you basically cut out carbohydrates (but can eat as much fat and protein as you like). That works simply because your body thinks it isn't getting anything to turn into energy so it starts burning what's already in your body. It's a very dangerous diet though and isn't recommended by anyone (can cause blackouts and other serious side-effects).
I'm thinking I probably just shouldn't have said anything at all though.
Have you tried the diet lipton mixed berry green tea? I didn't like tea either but that stuff is tasty as hell dude. As for lowering bodyfat, carbohydrate cycling is awesome. Only side effects I ever experienced were occasional headaches from low body sugar. Thats what tylenol is for.
Coffee and Tea didn't occur to me as I don't like either of them. Calories are the main issue but lowering fat intake considerably also helps.
Your "Keto" diet you mentioned sounds the same as Atkins where you basically cut out carbohydrates (but can eat as much fat and protein as you like). That works simply because your body thinks it isn't getting anything to turn into energy so it starts burning what's already in your body. It's a very dangerous diet though and isn't recommended by anyone (can cause blackouts and other serious side-effects).
I'm thinking I probably just shouldn't have said anything at all though.
No, it's fine. Health is really ambiguous and what works for some may not for others. In regards to the "Keto" diet, it's pretty different from Atkins actually. Atkins tries to offer itself as a long-term carbohydrate deprived diet, whereas the ketogenic diet is intended to be an 8-12 week diet at most.
While Atkins completely removes carbohydrates, ketogenic diets often will include a 'carb up' day, in which the dieter will consume carbohydrates again for one day before excluding them during the week in order to prevent stalling. Atkins is actually restrictive about what fat you should ingest (like trans-fats) where in ketogenic diets you'll see people eating sausage and entire pepperoni sticks.
A lot of the blackout stories arise from A) Myth and B) People who are hypoglycemic and attempt a carb free diet, causing them to crash very hard.
No, it's fine. Health is really ambiguous and what works for some may not for others. In regards to the "Keto" diet, it's pretty different from Atkins actually. Atkins tries to offer itself as a long-term carbohydrate deprived diet, whereas the ketogenic diet is intended to be an 8-12 week diet at most.
While Atkins completely removes carbohydrates, ketogenic diets often will include a 'carb up' day, in which the dieter will consume carbohydrates again for one day before excluding them during the week in order to prevent stalling. Atkins is actually restrictive about what fat you should ingest (like trans-fats) where in ketogenic diets you'll see people eating sausage and entire pepperoni sticks.
A lot of the blackout stories arise from A) Myth and B) People who are hypoglycemic and attempt a carb free diet, causing them to crash very hard.
Fair enough, but the blackouts aren't a myth. It happened to me twice over the time I was on the diet and I'm not hypoglycemic...
Comments
Eating times -
Great job - 5 to 6 small meals (250-500 cal) is the way to go. For your height/build, you don't want to go below 1200-1500 Calories/Day. If you do, your body will enter "starvation mode" and hold onto every calorie it can... If you can, try to move dinner back a hour or so.. This will give your body time to process dinner before you go to bed. I don't eat after 7:00 pm if I can help it, sometimes this is undoable tho.
What to eat
Lunch Meat - Better than fast food, but be careful, the cheapo, pressed Ball-O-Turkey is full of fillers, (bad)fats, and who knows what else. With your family being the grocery business, as your Mom or Dad knows who makes the best deli meats. The good stuff has a higher per lb price, but still ceaper than fast food. I like Boars Head..
If you like to cook / grill - Costco has family-size bags of boneless, skinless chicken breast on the cheap. I usually grill up 6-8 at a time, with just some salt & pepper for seasoning. Then I can use them as I like. One day I may chop one or two up in a salad, another day I add a tablespoon or two of BBQ sauce or Italian Dressing to a tupperware container with the chicken in it. This works great if you prepare it the night before for lunch - The chicken really has time to absorb the flavors. Grill some chicken, let it cool, chop/shred it up, add some light mayo, touch of garlic (minced- in jar), some salt & pepper (or red pepper flake- if you like heat), and some chopped celery for an extra crunch, for a great sandwhich filling, or a big scoop on a salad!
Fish is really good for you, tuna, salmon, etc.. you can't go wrong.. If you make tuna salad use light/fat free mayo..
Eggs - Grab an 18 pack of eggs and boil the whole thing, very handy snack! Just eat one yoke for every 2-3 eggs you have. This will help reduce your fat and cholesterol intake. I make egg salad with 4 egg whites, and 1 yoke for flavor, little onion(dried flakes) little spicy brown mustard, light mayo, dash of salt and a healthy amount of pepper works for me..
Do what you can to add flavor - I'm a spice hound, this help to remove the "boringness"/sameness/blandness of eating healthy. Don't be afraid to experiment!!
I'll post more later when I can.. lunch break is over..
13 lbs!! Hope this is typo! Or we need to get Clutch into the Guiness book!:bigggrin:
dinner tonight.. unknown...
Rada
I eat that Costco chicken all the time. I usually bake it frozen for 25 minutes and than throw it on the grill for 10 minutes. It is so juicy that way... I use garlic for seasoning
Never thought of eggs as a snack... how many can i eat at one time? 2 or 3? Eggs are easy to cook and shell and are probably healthier than some of the snacks I am looking at.
Would crab or shrimp be good if I cooked them in Garlic? is garlic bad? Or is it a good thing? Being Italian it’s hard to not crave it
by the way, sitting down in front of the computer posting in icrontic isn't gonna help one bit
hold up... you weigh as much as that skinny nba baller yao ming, so you don't have much to worry about
You may have another problem.
I think in a couple of more weeks, Al Davis may come across these stats ....
1st off, Garlic is incredibly good for you. Use it as you wish!!! (RADA = I-Talian too! fugedaboutit!!!
As for eggs - don't see any real reason to limit yourself other than if you used all the yokes..
The white of a large egg, or about 1-1/4 ounces, has 16 calories, 3 g of protein, 2 mg of calcium, 4 mg of phosphorus, 55 mg of sodium, 45 mg of potassium, the weensiest little bit of riboflavin, and no fat, cholesterol, or carbohydrates. At 16 calories each, you can demolish a lot for a snack, and they are filling....
*RADA goes Forest Gump.... got scrambled egg whites, poached, hard boiled, egg salad....... lol
Sledge, garlic is awesome for you. Fresh garlic, as much as possible. I roast whole cloves and spread them on bread. oh joy.
No typo my friend. I started on August 1st at 119lbs, I just got off the scales at 134 about 15 minutes ago, which is 15lbs but I would say maybe 2lbs water weight. I got my progress pictures in my thread in the Fitness forums. I eat like it is a full time job for me now, lol.
You could boil some eggs and just eat the whites, or even buy egg whites now from the store. I don't waste anything on my eggs and scramble them up. I love me some eggs, there isn't a day that goes by I don't gobble down some.
thank you
but keebler ignores me for some reason
sledgehammer.. i got a great link for you: http://arthritis.about.com/od/preventionandriskfactors/ht/bodymassindex.htm
it talks about health issues amigo, one thing we haven't talked about
Sledge, you noted that there was not one unhealthy thing in the shopping cart. Take it easy, man. Make sure that you reward yourself now and then. Make it to hardcore, and you'll give up.
8 months ago or so, or about a month before that 30lbs challenge we had, I decided I needed to eat healthier. My 2 main goals at the time were 1)heart/digestive health(I have stomach issues and my whole family have heart issues) and 2)weight loss. I was on a path that was likely to have a heart attack by 35 if I had to guess or some kind of cancer along my digestive tract.
It wasn't looking good, and with one grandma dieing of a heart attack in front of me(was brought back thank God), and my other that died because of just utter health degeneration, and other things that went down I decided that was it.
OK I've trailed off, my main point is it's a knowledge... I'm still learning and I learn from trial and error. But every day I do some research into healthy topics, learn something new every time and just continue on. Like yesterday I did some looking into Vitamin A which I felt my current diet had too much of which had me worried that might actually be more harmful than good. But most of my Vitamin A came from Beta Carotene which is water soluble unlike retinol so the body can handle a lot more because it will take what it needs and the rest just flows out. At least from what I've gathered so far.
I do this for each vitamin and mineral I am keeping track of, today I am gonna research into how I can get more magnesium in my diet while not over doing it in some other way. Tweaking the diet here, tweaking some more there... etc.
The main thing I really need to do though is work out more... I just don't feel like I always have the time though because most of my free time is at night and my neighborhood gym is not a place I wanna be at night, even at my build. And I simply cannot afford a membership.
That's the point.. the house was only full of junk.. so their is still plenty of ice cream, candy etc... but even than I am trying to limit myself to one bad thing a day.
Soda isn't even a thought in my mind anymore, I haven't had a craving for the sugar or caffeine
Dinner last night was a 1/2 rack of pork ribs with light BBQ sauce. I baked it in the oven and man was it good. I added some fresh potatoes and some green beans and had a semi good dinner. (I hate Greens).
Today I followed the same sort of lunch with yogurt and a banana. I have a glass of water and Apple juice with me for 2:00 break along with some applesauce
I would like to think I am doing better, my body seems to be dumping tons of stuff out, at least more than I eat from the looks of it... and I feel much better health wise, more awake and more energy
I was 297lbs when I started this and I told myself I would weigh in once a week instead of daily... I have been pretty good about my 3 mile walks daily which seem to go by faster already.
Educating yourself about what to eat helps.. I will still be hard, no matter what you do. If I actually did everythng I know about getting in shape I wouldn't need to worry about getting in shape! Argh!
Adding a good quality multi-vitamin to your daly routine will help too.
But of course, healthy, less-rich foods will make up part of that lifestyle.
60 more pounds to go
Great Job!!
I second that. Keep at it Sledge.
Avoid red meats, they are high in fat, white meats on the other hand are very, very low which means you can eat more of them and still be considerably better off fat wise.
There's two initial boosts from starting to diet though. First is that it will seem like you have lost some weight quickly at the start, which really you haven't you simply have less food in your body (it does actually weigh quite a bit) so don't let that discourage you when your weight loss slows a little. Second thing, tied to the first is that you'll feel lighter and generally better due to the smaller amount of food still in your body, which is a nice benefit you get almost immediately.
My last bit of advice was going to be be to slide into the diet, don't suddenly drop everything and try and go fully into it off the bat (as with a gradual change you don't feel like you're forcing yourself to do it) but it seems you're doing fine anyway, so that's moot.
I did hardcore dieting for half a year or so so I've gained my experience from that, but I've put quite a bit back on eating rubbish while I was off work for 3 months and occasionally in hospital (chain illnesses) but I'm back on my diet too now.
As for my diet, I am eating better which doesn't mean I am eating totally different. As of now the Doc has said I have lost 3lbs of pure body fat along with dropping 3 pant sizes already (making all my clothes baggy on me) I have dropped a total of 16lbs which hasn't been all food waste.
Red meat is something I will always eat... I love it and I can't change that, white meat is good and I have supplemented it for some red meats, but I am going to draw the line somewhere.
I am still soda free and am happy to not drink it. Along with not craving sugars or getting that end of day headache for the last 2 weeks I have been sleeping better and feel much more refreshed drinking natural liquids, such as water, apple juice, grape juice, cranberry juice etc… these items are a bit more expensive for the 100% natural stuff but it has been worth it. I have turned away from drinking glasses of milk before bed which I think has also helped.
I also have been eating on a more regulated time frame. Getting a healthy breakfast along with filling in small snacks during breaks and of course having a full lunch and dinner I think have also helped. I have cheated with junk food more than I want to admit but I have been doing better and the vending machines at work are not getting my change
Like we've said before, those who do a 180 in their eating habits have the greatest risk of slipping back into unhealthy eating.
Keep going man, and GREAT JOB!
I would say if you're looking to benefit from caffeine that you do it through other sources than soda, such as black coffee or green tea, things that have there positive effects to them.
The whole 'don't eat red meat, it's high in fat' is a lot of rubbish. Excess in calories cause weight gain, not fat. A good example of this is a very successful fat lowering diet called 'keto' in which basically only protein and fats are ingested. Sticking to leaner cuts is a better idea because it drops the amount of calories you're getting.
Coffee and Tea didn't occur to me as I don't like either of them. Calories are the main issue but lowering fat intake considerably also helps.
Your "Keto" diet you mentioned sounds the same as Atkins where you basically cut out carbohydrates (but can eat as much fat and protein as you like). That works simply because your body thinks it isn't getting anything to turn into energy so it starts burning what's already in your body. It's a very dangerous diet though and isn't recommended by anyone (can cause blackouts and other serious side-effects).
I'm thinking I probably just shouldn't have said anything at all though.
No, it's fine. Health is really ambiguous and what works for some may not for others. In regards to the "Keto" diet, it's pretty different from Atkins actually. Atkins tries to offer itself as a long-term carbohydrate deprived diet, whereas the ketogenic diet is intended to be an 8-12 week diet at most.
While Atkins completely removes carbohydrates, ketogenic diets often will include a 'carb up' day, in which the dieter will consume carbohydrates again for one day before excluding them during the week in order to prevent stalling. Atkins is actually restrictive about what fat you should ingest (like trans-fats) where in ketogenic diets you'll see people eating sausage and entire pepperoni sticks.
A lot of the blackout stories arise from A) Myth and B) People who are hypoglycemic and attempt a carb free diet, causing them to crash very hard.
Fair enough, but the blackouts aren't a myth. It happened to me twice over the time I was on the diet and I'm not hypoglycemic...
Might be some other factor causing the blackouts.
I've been as low as 15-20 grams of carbs in an entire day (back in my Air Force cop-superfit days), and never blacked out.
I was tired as a one-legged man in butt kicking contest at the end of the day, but never blacked out...
Atkins for the first few weeks (which is what I was on) was a strict ZERO carb diet.