DescentBB

Wedding day is less than 6 months away and I've decided to initiate Part Two of my \"I'm a bride-to-be\" diet: Eliminate junks. Part one in the past few months was to not suff myself at meals.
Just bought a whole bunch of good sized fruits and vegetables as part of my breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Usually on my break between classes I eat a candyish granola bar, bag of chips, crackers and cheese, and soda; at work it's sandwich and chips, candy, soda, and some other sort. The healthier food will replace everything but the sandwiches. My breakfast would be a bit healthier too, with some Total or Cheerioes cereal with yogurt or a banana. Dinner will be whatever's available, heh. I'm also cutting down my intake of Starbuck's lattes and frappacuinos as well as coffee and sodas and changing how I get my sleep the night before classes.

I'm huge against fasting and taking diet pills to lose the unwanted fats/weights. I beleive that a healthy eating diet and exercise in the longterm is the better result.

Is anyone else here on a diet? What's your diet plan and how is that working out for ya?

Hm, I've never actually been on a diet, ever... but that's probably because what I habitually eat pretty much qualifies as one for most...

It's fairly similar to some of the stuff you list actually... mostly cereal-based at breakfast (odd occasion when it's colder I have porridge instead... yes really), sandwiches and fruit at lunch, and at dinner, well, anything goes, but within reason - usually about one third vegetables, one third carbohydrate-based food of the day (potatoes, rice, pasta, something like that) and one third some kind of meat... seems to work for me. I just need to watch fibre levels.

I went from 198 to 150 a few years ago. My main diet plan was eat less, exercise more. But it took me quite a while. And, unfortunately, during a stressful period at work, I worked my way back up to 170. I'm finding getting those new 20 pounds to go away quite difficult! I hit 160, wandered back up to 165, and I'm working my way back down towards 160 again.

One thing that has helped is that I gave up all drinks with calories. I could go through a bottle of juice in a day, easy. Or a 2 liter of soda. That's a LOT of calories. And being a vegetarian helped. I had to back off on the pasta and pizza, and eat more vegetables, salads and soups. You can eat a LOT of green beans or asparagus without getting hardly any calories. Luckily I really LIKE vegetables, salads, and soups.

Probably my weakest point is late night snacks. If I'm working late at night, the temptation to snack is... very strong! Gotta beat that one again if I'm ever going to get back down to 150.

Kiran wrote:Wedding day is less than 6 months away ... my "I'm a bride-to-be" diet: Eliminate junks.

I think that's a good part of your plan.

I'm huge against fasting ...

I think this is excellent. Fasting will just screw up your metabolism,, which is what you don't want to do. Eat your three squares, but scale back on the calories and use more fresh fruits and vegetables for choices. Exercise. Burn more calories that you consume in a day. There you go.


Man, I hope I never have to give up chocolate.

Heh, I transferred to a bigger college this year. When the semester started, I found out just how tough it would be to be walking over steep hills with a heavy backpack. It's insane. However, I noticed that my weight was dropping little by little in ounces. Of course, when I took up more intake of Starbucks and soda to stay awake in class, that's not helping at all.
So My 15 minutes of walking over steep hills and stairs 5 times a day three times a week will probably make a good difference. I've been slacking off on DDR but I'll be resuming that in the mornings now that DK is working dayshift again .

Only thing that's gonna be tough in this part of the diet plan is that there is plenty of temptation in the house. DK buys chips and dips, candies, sweet snacks such as nutty bars, honey buns, comets, sodas, etc. It's gonna be hard . I love food!

My mom (who's a dietitian) used the approach of eat less and exercise more when she wanted to lose some weight, and I'd say that that's is the best method considering her job field.

I need the opposite. I weigh 103 and want to know how I can ADD weight. No matter how much I eat, I weigh the same.

Bee

How tall are you? 103 doesn't sound that bad if you're in the vicinity of 5' to 5'2\" or so.

Sirius wrote:How tall are you? 103 doesn't sound that bad if you're in the vicinity of 5' to 5'2" or so.

I'm 5'3. I envy tall people.

Bee

Kiran,

my wife and I have used Weight Watchers with great success. Some people don't like the whole \"counting calories\" thing, but I find it helps create the right habits for long-term healthy living. Once I got to the point where I had a good feel for what I should eat each day, I stopped needing to count calories at all. Now I just eat the stuff I trained myself to eat, and I stay a pretty consistent weight.

Sounds like the Weight Watchers plan worked for you and Drak. I'm not really interested in those sort of things at this time... I already know which stuff I need to eat and which stuff I don't need to even bother eating.

Bettina, When I was in high school, I suffered an episode of anemia and my doctor decided that 105lbs at 5'1 is too light. At that time, she put me on a weight-gain diet that also includes plenty of nutritions needed to fix the anemia problem long-term. This wasn't a hard diet to stick with, since I loved broccoli, spinach, and all that good stuff as well as a good sized meat such as grilled steaks and chicken. Plus my family is the kind of family that would have steak a few times a week, so it wasn't much of a change in diet (this also was when I was working 6 days a weeka nd was going to school. Because of this small illness, my work hours were greatly reduced and I was able to have more time to eat the good stuff).
It took me nearly a year, but I gained 20 pounds (to 125) and I was as healthy as I could be.

Then I lost 15 pounds by the time I graduated high school

right now I am 121 pounds at 5'2. The lowest I will allow myself to get to (if it does get to that point) is 110 lbs. I would much rather eat meat loaf (yuck!) then to endure another lecture from my doctor about weight. =|

Kilarin wrote:One thing that has helped is that I gave up all drinks with calories... You can eat a LOT of green beans or asparagus without getting hardly any calories. Luckily I really LIKE vegetables, salads, and soups.

Lost 10 pounds in about 3 months by scarfing down broccoli. A whole pot of broccoli is like 25-50 calories, so this definatley works. Other veggies fit the bill too, but basically scarf down as much veggies as possible in replacement for anything.

At least you aren't the kind that I see on TV: "I want to eat 20 pieces of cake a day, do nothing, and lose 30 pounds in a week!"

[img]http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110060/reports/bee.gif[/img] wrote:I need the opposite. I weigh 103 and want to know how I can ADD weight. No matter how much I eat, I weigh the same.

Well , scarf down some McDonalds, 600 calories in a small patty is near impossible, how do they do it is beyond me!

Of course there is the whole fact that McDonalds food sucks so bad you would most likely throw it up and lose weight.


And yes, I LOVE to say "Scarfing" in replace of eating. It is one of my many favorite phrases/words, almost next to bleepin'.

And thats a bleepin' fact!

Bet51987 wrote:I need the opposite. I weigh 103 and want to know how I can ADD weight. No matter how much I eat, I weigh the same.

Bee

You're only 19 Bett. I've seen your picture, you don't need to change a thing. When I was 19 I could eat 3rds at dinner and never gain a lb. I'm 6', and I weighed 150 lbs.

When I hit 25-26 yrs old that all changed. Now I work to stay even, and work HARD to lose. Managed to drop 30 lbs over the past year, but it involved 15 miles a week on the treadmill at the Y, and a few hrs on the weights, and no treats to speak of.

grizz wrote:I've seen your picture

not fair!

I usually avoid cereal or other foods marketed as breakfast, a lot of it has way too much sugar, and more subtle ingredients that're negative to your health. A plate of eggs and the occasional omelet is fine for me

My dietary advice, with a focus on carbs: eat only whole-grain breads and pastas, and cut out high-fructose corn syrup. Drink 100% juice instead of anything sweetened with HFCS or other processed sugars. You'll keep your insulin levels lower and feel less hungry.

I'd consider regular exercise vital to any weight maintenance plan. It seems you're noticing the benefits of the college load. In college I'd walk an average of 50 blocks a day, hauling a well-stuffed bag on campus and between there and my job. I'd eat two bagels for breakfast and full cans of pasta and vegetables for dinner (I later went to half bags of frozen veggies after noticing the sodium content of the canned stuff). Or, on some nights, I'd have a foot's worth of Cousin's subs. My weight stayed constant until I got my first job and car after graduation. I went from that fairly healthy situation to driving 50 miles a day for the first 5 months. Factor in two biz trips to CA totaling 5 weeks and including lots of eating out, and once I was cooking Encores for dinner in my new apt, I went from 180 to 224 pounds (I'm 6'1\"). Whipping out the NordicTrack, cutting back to one bagel a day and preparing less packaged meals, I finally stablized my weight. But it wasn't until I got a Bowflex that I was able to lose a good 35 pounds in 7 months.

Good luck on making your goals!

Sounds like a good plan Kiran, good luck! Any additional exercise will have exponential results. =)

I'm 28, 6'4\" and went from 290 to 200 in a year by 1) eating a cup of grapefruit in the morning, 2) eating a fistful of food for lunch, 3) eating a filling, but low-carb dinner. The first 10 months I ran between 15-20 miles a week, plus major HIIT once a week. I flatlined at 220 for a month, so I joined a gym and incorporated weight training. With the added muscle, I began eating more (mostly protein) to fuel the healing process. I'm slowly putting on more muscle and burning more fat and it is really showing!

I'm in the best shape of my life so far. Last month I made a personal best in running: 4 miles in 25:31 minutes. Not too shabby, I'd say, after only a year and a half of training; and I started as a 290 lb. couch potato! WHOOHOOOO! I want to get down to 185, though, and really work on my upper body stamina.

Wow, Verran, sounds like you're around my build. I'm 6'4" as well (30 years old), and around 250 at the moment. I started exercising regularly and watching what I ate a few months ago... lost about 15 pounds right away. I haven't kept it up, although I know it won't be that difficult if I ever get serious about it. I've considered Weight Watchers, as I think I could handle a simple "points" system that doesn't require much thought.

I'm also considering getting back into fencing, as I was in the best shape of my life (~195 lbs) when I was fencing regularly in college.

grizz wrote:

Bet51987 wrote:I need the opposite. I weigh 103 and want to know how I can ADD weight. No matter how much I eat, I weigh the same.

Bee

You're only 19 Bett. I've seen your picture, you don't need to change a thing. When I was 19 I could eat 3rds at dinner and never gain a lb. I'm 6', and I weighed 150 lbs.

Very true. In high school and early college, I was 6'4" and only 160-165 lbs. I ate more than anyone I knew, and couldn't gain a thing (I wanted to, I was a skinny geek ). It changed after college, though.

Don't worry about it too much.

I'm 179cm (between 5'10\" and 5'11\") and weigh about 68kgs (150 pounds)
My goal is to weigh more than 70kgs. I also eat more than anyone I know.
Weight training helped me to gain weight (I was at 62kgs 2.5 years ago) and I will pick that up again. I just didn't have the time in the last 5 months as I was working 90 hours a week Monday through Sunday (job + diploma thesis, it was horrible)
Now I have finished my diploma thesis and therefore University which means that I will have more time to pick up training again.
I am 24 btw.

Heheh I used to eat whatever I wanted too when I was in high school. But I've already seem to hit that time when what I eat DOES matter if I wanted to stay in good shape

I have used the South Beach diet with great success. It's nothing magical, just no processed or precooked foods. And you eliminate just about all carbs and sugars for the first two weeks. After that you can slowly start to reintroduce them into your diet. The hardest part of the South Beach diet is it is very time consuming to prepare all of the food yourself.

These days I stick to my thermodynamic diet. Cut the junk, and burn more energy than I consume. It is that simple. There is absolutely no substitute for eating healthy foods (we ALL know what they are) and getting regular exercise.

I'm 42 and for the first time in my life i've started to think about what i eat 'cause i'm starting to \"spread\" a bit....what a pain in the arse.

Thing is though that i eat very Mediterranean, that is, loads of fish, olive oil, good cheeses, salads and the occasional BBq. I hate fast food and soda drinks...how anyone can eat that crap is beyond me.

My problem is BEER...and i aint giving that up.

I'm just under 6'4\", and I weighed about 160 lbs or so, last time I checked. I've always been really skinny, but in recent months I've been working hard to develop good eating habits later in life so I can stay nice and thin.

Dieting is a helluva lot easier if you completely avoid milk fat, and anything that has milk in it.

For me, I have a yeast infection in my digestive system. That simply means that I lose weight faster than most people, especially when eating sugar.

Kiran, I've seen recent pictures of you and you are far from \"fat\". (and I'm not saying this just to be complimentary, I'm dead serious.) If anything 125 at your height is pretty healthy, although all that junk food isn't doing your cholesterol levels any favors. While changing your diet would do you a world of good, you really don't need to loose any pounds. You also don't have to cut the junk intake entirely, just learn to moderate it a bit. (Don't forget to give your body time to adjust to any dietary changes.)

MD-2389 wrote:Kiran, I've seen recent pictures of you and you are far from "fat".

Oh blah! I am not calling myself fat! You know me better than that! There are certain extra stuff that I'd like to get rid off, but other than that, I know I am not even close to being chubby. If you're referring to those times I randomly chimed in the d server and called myself fat, it's to stop all those ridiculous bickerings that were going on at the time (and it worked everytime because they stop what they're talking about and argue with me about me being fat ). I don't have the same twisted mind as an anorexic person has so don't worry about it when I talk about dieting. I guess I shoulda mentioned this in my first post: This is also partly for getting myself into good eating habits for my future babies. If I lose any weight, it would probably be down to 110-115 pounds because that's usually my weight when I am in that healthy eating/exercise stage.

Flabby Chick wrote:I'm 42 and for the first time in my life i've started to think about what i eat 'cause i'm starting to "spread" a bit....

LOL. I know exactly what you are talking about. Happened around that time for me too (I'm 51 now). Frequent exercise helped hold it in check for a while, then my work schedule changed, I slacked off on the workouts, and ............now I'm trying to claw my way back. Weighed 175-180 for years, then "spread" up to near 200. Lots easier when I was younger!

Bet51987 wrote:I need the opposite. I weigh 103 and want to know how I can ADD weight. No matter how much I eat, I weigh the same.

Get married.

Seriously. It works. You will go from, "I have thirds of ice cream all the time and am unhealthily skinny" to "I'm not sure I should eat two slices of pizza, I'll be sorry". Overnight.

Wait till you have kids Drak....the body rebels.

When I used to wrestle I had to drop massive ammounts of weight in a short time. Calorie count was at 3 or 4 hunred a day and I was doing serious work outs. I mean like at least an hour of running(5-6 minute miles) about 15 minutes of sprints, 45 minutes in a weight room with low weight high reps(3 sets of 15 reps per machine) then doing the actual drilling of moves and things of that nature for 2-3 hours... I went from about 160 lbs to 130 in a month... Givin... thats totally unheathly and I had 3% body fat... But if your trying to loose weight... eat a can of tuna... a small salad with vinegar, and maybe a piece of wheat bread a day and burn off at least 5k calories/day. The key is to make sure you are burning more calories than you are taking in with any diet to loose weight sucessfully. Good luck and congradulations!

Oh and as people have stated... Drink water. I drank nothing BUT water and hardly any of that. We used to have to take a piss test to check for color at every meet to make sure we weren't dehydrated. I was always that kid sucking on a boilon cube spitting in a bucket on the way to a meet to make weight!

Neumaennl wrote:I'm 179cm (between 5'10" and 5'11") and weigh about 68kgs (150 pounds)
My goal is to weigh more than 70kgs. I also eat more than anyone I know.
Weight training helped me to gain weight (I was at 62kgs 2.5 years ago) and I will pick that up again. I just didn't have the time in the last 5 months as I was working 90 hours a week Monday through Sunday (job + diploma thesis, it was horrible)
Now I have finished my diploma thesis and therefore University which means that I will have more time to pick up training again.
I am 24 btw.

I got you beat

I'm 1m90 and weigh 66kg. I'm not exactly trying to gain weight, but it wouldn't hurt. I eat normally, but I don't eat snacks between meals, nor do I drink sodas (mostly water, some milk, maybe orange juice). I used to weigh 70kg but dropped to 65kg for no reason a year ago ... I'm not exactly working out or doing sports either..

Oh well. I second the "burn more than you take in" statements. It's only logic, you can't put on what you didn't eat