Male 48: Finally after a decade have perfected my weight loss

gregc50

When you get older it gets harder and harder to lose weight but now I have finally done it the healthy way.

Age 48 From 228lbs to 200lbs and still going strong after 3 months, here is what worked for ME.
Working from home, only exercise is walking the dog for 40 mins and some upper body exercise (little).

Step 1) First I eradicate all the heavy carbs, potatoes, rice, etc. This is the hardest part and you need a long weekend to do it because you CRASH hard when you do it.

Step 2) Medication. If you need it. I used Zyban, not for quitting smoking which I did a while ago, but just to prevent anxious eating. My doc was fine with using it for this purpose.

Step 3) What to drink. Ideally water with lemon/lime but I just can't do that full time, so I cheat with Coke ZERO and while not "good for me" it is what I needed to be "happy".

Step 4) No alcohol. I already gave up drinking before the diet so I was fine there, but it is key to not drink at all.

Step 5) The healthy diet gets the food down to the basics. Here is for me Male 48 over 200lbs 6' tall, broad frame, adjust for your own gender, height, weight, frame size.

8am:
1 coffee, cream and sugar. Walk the dog

12pm lunch and 2pm finish it off (two sittings):
1 full iceberg lettuce.
2 hand full of tomatoes.
1 hand full of carrots.
1 english cucumber
1 avocado.
lots of mayonaisse (low fat)
1 protein 500g chicken or 400g salmon or 350g steak or 450g pork etc. I usually share some with my wife and dog.
I just salt and pepper it, pan fry, add minced garlic to one side, flip and cook medium rare, slice and add to the salad.
3pm to 8pm:
Fresh fruit or canned fruit in water or Natures Valley granola bars (sweet and salty) as needed when I get hungry.

---

Basically one main salad based meal for day + healthy snacks the rest. That salad is BIG, its a huge baking bowl in size (like a small bucket) but since it is salad and vegetables + some meat its not huge on calories, but it fills your stomach. Obviously you need to adjust the ingredient amount to your size.

What is great is that pretty much EVERY day I lose weight, usually 0.1kg and 2lbs per week for over 3 months. There was definitely a plateau time as my body adjusted getting energy from carbs to getting energy from the protein.

Effectively it is intermittent fasting since you don't eat again for 16 hours. If you had a cheat day and ate too much, just delay your huge lunch the next day as long as you can to make up for it. The later your lunch is, the less snacks you need to finish the day.
I know if I go to bed with just a tiny bit hungry then I have had a perfect day.

Occasionally you have a night where you are super hungry and maybe eat a block of cheese or something. I've had that but usually means that you were deficient by too many calories and its fine, I actually don't gain weight because of it.

Over the 3 months I've had maybe 2 "fasting days". This really kick starts the body and I just suffer being hungry and don't eat all day.

In general its not really even a diet, its just burning more calories than you spend BUT those calories you consume are *kitten* healthy ones. Not all calories are the same...

Thats it, if it helps just one other person then it was worth posting.

Diatonic12

I gave you a hug. I have the right to remain silent but I do not have the ability.

What you're describing here is the kind of food protocol that's not manageable over the long haul. A block of cheese reminds me of Uncle Buck, he said he was part mouse.

Fasting days for really kickstarting the ol' body are mostly imaginary thinking. They don't kickstart or reset anything. So you've eradicated all of your trigger foods and refined carbs and carbs of every kind. You've got a long lengthy list of things you no longer eat and maybe it will grow longer as more weight loss success takes place.
That happens. It's all part of the Honeymoon Phase of weight loss.

The Honeymoon Phase is followed by you've really boxed yourself into a corner phase. That one is followed up with here I am again. I'm starting over. I ate it all back. That would be the Life Happens Phase.

Then comes the Big Unhappy Phase. How do you pick yourself up off the ground when rebound weight gain with friends phase shows up on your doorstep. Don't start none won't be none.

At some particular point in time, you're going to have to go back to the well. Many have described their overrestriction plans and outexercising everything protocols but it doesn't stick and if it doesn't improve a poor relationship with food, what good is it.

You said the keywords. I perfected it. Perfectionism is the root cause of All or Nothing Thinking with food.


Life is too short. I'm not going out this way.

gregc50

Sure, I've done lots of restrictive diets and they make me unhappy. But I like the food I eat now, I don't find it particularly restrictive and this time around I feel *kitten* healthy.

I actually like my salad + large meat + veggies and what I have from 3pm to 8pm doesn't matter too much as long as I don't overeat.

I've done it for over 3 months, I don't see any issue making eating healthy a life choice. I couldn't do this age 30-45 since life was too busy but I'm at that age and stage where I can do whatever I want :-)

Diatonic12

Yes, you can and I'm not trying to rain on your parade. Really. You said the keywords. You've perfected it.
You've been at it for 3 months. Come back 5 years from now and give us a full report.

nexangelus

So MFP is about calorie and macro logging/tracking...how many cals are you eating per day @gregcault ?

gregc50

Its changed as I lost weight but I burn naturally around 2200, the lunch is 800 for fried protein, around 300 for the rest of the salad. Then I'll have 200 in fruit, 450 with 3 granola bars so 1750 but I don't weigh it any more so it could be 1750 or it could be 1950, some evenings I'll binge 600 calories if my body says I'm hungry. But that never made a difference.

gregc50

Diatonic12 wrote: »

Yes, you can and I'm not trying to rain on your parade. Really. You said the keywords. You've perfected it.
You've been at it for 3 months. Come back 5 years from now and give us a full report.

Sounds like for you nobodys experience is valid unless they died with that weight loss lol.

Diatonic12

No, that's not true. No one has all of the answers and that's why we have each other.
This is so touchy so I walk around on eggshells and waltz around the grizzly in the living room. It's serious business.

I enjoy flying by the seat of pants. It was always my favorite mode of transportation. Then I got too big for my britches. It's not bragging if it's true. I thought an elimination diet was the answer to all of prayers. It wasn't. It was just another bunch of happy horsesheet that turned into an absolute dead end road with food. It got me nowhere good. I eliminated all of my triggers and multiple food groups. I was dropping it like it was hot. I was following someone else's food rules and regulations that were cooked up out of their head. Mostly it was a justification for disordered eating. You have to look closely behind the curtain. All that glitters is not gold.
Eating one bowl of dog food each day is not lifestyle change or any of those others foofoo terms that mean exactly the same thing as dieting.

It wasn't even useful for the short term but was useless for the long term.

At the two year mark, do you know how many people are standing intact with their original weight loss. At the five year mark those numbers are an even smaller percentage. You can do your own research.

This template you're sharing is not the roadmap to a positive relationship with food. I know you're excited about it and we celebrate all of the successes. It's been three months. Can you do this 5 years from now. Many drop it like it's hot then fall right back into old eating patterns. You won't ever think it can happen to you until it does.
It caused from brutally strict eating protocols followed by more cycles of eating it all back then more overcompensation.

Don't diminish your success but reassess how you're going about it.

FutureFit2020

here is what worked for ME.

The Op isn't selling this diet and has quite explicitly said this works for him He eats meat, veg, fruit and grains and a normal amount of calories and has only dropped 28 pounds. Hardly a crash diet. What's the issue, why pick on it and be rude?

Your way of 'tap dancing around the egg shells and grizzly' seems closer to kicking the bear in the face and calling it fat.

Well done on your weight-loss OP and on finding something that works for you. I've recently rediscovered herbal teas if you're looking for flavour and to knock the Coke Zero habit on the head. I make a pitcher of tea and drink it luke warm through out the day

Chef_Barbell

It's good to find what works for you in the long term. Congrats OP

Diatonic12

Grizzlies aren't fat. They are stream-lined eating machines. Fierce and unstoppable. Didn't say a single word about weight.

NovusDies

I have perfected my weight loss after 3 months many times. Make that many many times.

It is when I realized I would never perfect it that I was able to get most of it off.

Every eating plan should be considered temporary. What works for right now is not guaranteed to work for another month without revision. There is no reason to marry a plan. Keep it loose and adaptable. It may even need to be disposable and a whole new plan put into action.

How we feed ourselves is overemphasized. It is important but changing mindset and habits is at the core of how weight loss becomes sustainable and hopefully permanent.

There is no super health status that can be obtained by only eating "healthy" food. More nutrients than you need are more nutrients in your pee. I have VASTLY improved my health while still enjoying treat food in moderation. Alcohol, fast food, potato chips, you name it have all been on my menu for the last 2.5 years and over 250 pounds lost.

violaesmith85

Diatonic12 wrote: »

At some particular point in time, you're going to have to go back to the well. Many have described their overrestriction plans and outexercising everything protocols but it doesn't stick and if it doesn't improve a poor relationship with food, what good is it.

You said the keywords. I perfected it. Perfectionism is the root cause of All or Nothing Thinking with food.

This is the best possible advice for EVERYONE. Those of us who are obese have a unhealthy relationship with food. Nothing will change permanently until we fix that. I have done fantastic for about 3-5 months at a time, but I ALWAYS go back to my old self because I have never addressed WHY I eat that way. Last year I went 6 months with no fast food AT ALL and a super restrictive diet. I thought I had it all figured out. But I didn't. I never do. We have to address the psychological need for eating the way we do.

disasterman

Nice work OP! I do think the key is to be open to continual adjustment in your nutrition plan. Thanks for sharing what works for you and maybe it will be useful to others.

Bluetail6

I am glad this is what is currently working for you. We each must forge our own path to weight loss. No judgement here. Thanks for sharing.

snowflake954

OP, hoping you can continue to lose and reach your goals. You have to understand, however, that those of us who have been around MFP a long time are cautious. We've seen many people that are finally losing weight and have enthusiasm (for good reason) and want to shout their method to the housetops. Most are not sustainable and the poster crashes. It's just important to understand why. I agree with NovusDies that you must be prepared to change things when the first wave no longer works. This is a long haul, and maintenance is the hardest part. Good luck.

charmmeth

I am really glad this is working for you, @gregcault, but it would not work for me. I like my wine and my carbs too much, but also a good variety in my diet. I'm also in northern (ish) Europe so salad does not sound very appealing at thi time of year! Good luck with your journey, but as others have already suggested, don't feel you have failed if you need at some stage to adjust to a bit more dietary variety.

BobPulaski

I can see how this would work in the beginning stages of weight loss when a person has more to lose. I have to echo what some others here have shared and agree that this might be challenging to maintain long term. BUT, maybe he won't have to eat this way long term since once he reaches his goal he can take more liberties with "cheat" food.