Advice from The Biggest Loser trainer is bad?

spicegeek

"I'm not an expert, however, eating big leafy salads such as the Organic Spring Mix from your local grocer is phenomenal. All of your vitamins and nutrients are there. Eat it without dressing or squeeze a lemon or lime over it. Quick and simple. The citrus helps boost metabolism and aides in digestion...the salad will also help you feel full.

Drink lots of water. Before any meal, drink an entire glass of water.

Do not eat after 7 pm. Fill your plate half full of veggies (cooked at home either without butter or eat simply raw) and fist sized portion of fish or chicken.

Cut out dairy, white junk (white rice, white bread, pasta, sugary cereals, muffins, etc.), soda, alcohol, fast food and all sweets.

Do not eat at your desk!

I suppose if it works for you to works for you - but for me - If I didn`t eat at my desk or after 7pm I wouldn`t eat -I`d also be awake at 3am starving - I eat my last food at about 11pm - a protein shake
I need more than salad to be fueled to execute my work outs
I do not buy into this idea that drinking water before eating is any different to drink during or after - but I guess if you are working on your hunger stopping you eating rather that counting calories it has some merit
I like white rice and white pasta - I`m making a lifestyle change so no I`m not cutting out the whites - I ft them into my diet - same goes for the occasional treat - I`m not living off cookies and candy - but I have something everything day
I would be crippled if I tried to work standing at my deal but I do get up and pace when I am on calls - more because it stops me wanting to kill the person I`m talking to - I have seen studies that this makes a slight difference but nothing earth shattering

I would say unless you are prepared to do whatever it is you do to loose weight the rest of life - find another option - because you`ll just gain the weight back

JesterMFP

Thanks for clarification thus far.

Not eating after 7 is somehow controversial and I'm gathering that is simply due to the fact that it is not a realistic long term goal for sustainability.

Here is what Mr. Harper said regarding the thought process on that:

"Go to Bed Hungry
If you skip that midnight snack, your body will “burn fat like crazy,” Harper writes. After five hours without food, you’ll start burning your own fat and sugar."

I had just seen Dr. Oz's episode that mentioned the same scenario - eating small and frequent meals does not allow your body to turn to your fat stores for energy since you're replenishing fuel frequently with the meals or snacks.

Does anyone have thoughts on that as it seemed clear to me?

I don't see what's unsustainable abut eating after seven. I pretty much always eat the vast majority of my day's calories after 7pm - a large meal and snacks until I go to bed. It's not for everyone, but it just suits how I like to eat. I've done this since I started on MFP. So, that's coming up 2 and a half years, 18 months of which has been maintaining my weight loss. I also eat dairy and other white foods, and have done fine doing so. I'm not allergic or intolerant to these things, so why cut them out unnecessarily? Why do we have to start calling certain foods "junk" or "bad" or "dirty"? Eat foods that are nutritious. Eat foods you enjoy. Avoid foods that you are allergic to or intolerant to, or you don't enjoy, or you have a problem eating moderately.

If these guidelines help you maintain your calorie deficit or feel less hungry or whatever, then that's great, but they shouldn't be considered "rules" to live by. As for Dr Oz - well, I have zero respect for him based on the advice I've seen him give and the fad diets I've seen him promote. Just very glad that he's not too prominent (yet) in this country.

Aaron_K123

This is all great - I am realizing I have a lot of personal myth busting in my immediate future lol!

I have actually believed that I should never eat a large meal before bed since sleeping isn't burning calories that meal is turning into fat 'overnight'!

Aaron_K123 - "eating as fast as possible"! Effectively funny myth busting lol!

Think of it this way. When you sit on your butt all day long I'm guessing you probably burn 1600 calories in a day. When you do your exercise routinue, whatever it is...Zumba, going for a run, weight lifting w/e you probably burn like 250 calories. The vast majority of your calorie burn is just your body doing its thing. You definitely burn calories while you sleep, much more than you burn in any single workout session unless you are doing a long distance run.

Even if you somehow didn't burn any calories while sleeping but your calorie needs did not change (meaning you still needed 1600 calories or w/e to maintain) it still wouldn't be true that eating right before bed would make you gain fat. You would gain fat while you slept but then you would burn it off later as a previous poster stated. All that matters is your average caloric intake versus your average caloric burn.

CyberEd312

This is all great - I am realizing I have a lot of personal myth busting in my immediate future lol!

I have actually believed that I should never eat a large meal before bed since sleeping isn't burning calories that meal is turning into fat 'overnight'!

Aaron_K123 - "eating as fast as possible"! Effectively funny myth busting lol!

I have lost a few hundred pounds taking a 500-600 calorie to bed with me (literally) every night and it never stalled my weight loss.... SO to me yeah that whole eating after 7 thing is kind of a myth to me anyway..... :drinker:

George_Baileys_Ghost

"Bad" is subjective. It won't kill you, and it may or may not help you along. Most of it is largely unsubstantiated by science, and is unnecessarily restrictive.

StaciMarie1974

In my opinion following these things can be helpful to losing weight - but for me (and many real people) permanently banning certain foods could be setting up for failure. Following that list is not the only way to lose weight. Bottom line, eat less and move more will do it. (Though moving more is for general overall health, and can help lose weight - but moving more is not THE key to losing weight. For that, its to eat at a deficit. Out > In.)

whitebalance

The idea behind eating "clean" is just that if you eat nutrition rich foods you need to eat less calorically to get your nutrition which makes a certain amount of sense for being on a diet. In comparison some of the foods listed (like simple carbs) are generally higher calorie and lower nutrition. That does NOT however mean that you need to avoid them. If you ate perfectly "clean" most likely you would find that you would not be getting enough calories. Seriously try eating nothing but broccoli and chicken breast and see if you can stomach eating enough to hit your goals.

Your calorie goal should be a goal, not something to constantly undershoot, and at somepoint you will need to eat more calorie dense foods to hit it. Why not have that be dairy or bread?

Because chocolate and nut butters?

SapiensPisces

To clarify, the advice I listed is not verbatim and some of it was gathered from other areas - a full glass before meals as well as not eating after 7 was, however.

Not eating "white junk" including diary are things I've read and heard from many when it comes to clean eating for optimum and organic health.

Instead of following advice from a bunch of different sources and people trying to sell you their books/products, try following this one piece of advice.

1. Log your food.

If you do that you'll know how many calories you're eating and how much protein/fats/carbs you're getting. It's really all you need to do.

The rest, the eating at certain times, don't eat at your desk, avoid foods with this color... that's hokum. The only thing you need to do to be successful is to watch what you eat. Make sure you're getting the right number of calories and hitting your macros.

Throw in some exercise, water, and sleep and you can't lose.

^ This.

Don't overcomplicate things. Keep it simple, and stop listening to TV personalities for diet/fitness advice.

Good luck!

AlexInFlorida

Do not eat after 7 pm. Fill your plate half full of veggies (cooked at home either without butter or eat simply raw) and fist sized portion of fish or chicken.

Do not eat at your desk!

These are both related to the same thing. When we create a good meal (have vegetables, small amounts of protein), we eat consciously and intelligently. Whether you eat dinner at 6 PM, 7 PM, or 8 PM really depends on your schedule.

HOWEVER, most "late night eating" is dumb eating in front of the TV, or carb-heavy snacking to keep yourself going. There is nothing wrong with smaller meals throughout the day, but if you are going to eat after dinner, it needs to be a healthy small meal, NOT "snacking."

A pint of ice cream @ 10 PM, awful. A bowl of berries with a dollop of yogurt on top (my late night snack of choice), okay.

If you prefer to eat dinner later, that's okay, but if you eat ice cream, chips, or other "in front of TV" snacks, you'll be in trouble.

joycelyn35

I burn 1600 calories sitting on my butt?! I can do that all day! JK!

SapiensPisces

Do not eat after 7 pm. Fill your plate half full of veggies (cooked at home either without butter or eat simply raw) and fist sized portion of fish or chicken.

Do not eat at your desk!

These are both related to the same thing. When we create a good meal (have vegetables, small amounts of protein), we eat consciously and intelligently. Whether you eat dinner at 6 PM, 7 PM, or 8 PM really depends on your schedule.

HOWEVER, most "late night eating" is dumb eating in front of the TV, or carb-heavy snacking to keep yourself going. There is nothing wrong with smaller meals throughout the day, but if you are going to eat after dinner, it needs to be a healthy small meal, NOT "snacking."

A pint of ice cream @ 10 PM, awful. A bowl of berries with a dollop of yogurt on top (my late night snack of choice), okay.

If you prefer to eat dinner later, that's okay, but if you eat ice cream, chips, or other "in front of TV" snacks, you'll be in trouble.

Nope.

If you eat under what you burn, you lose weight, whether that's from ice cream at 11pm before bed or from apples at 3pm for a snack.

SideSteel

Do not eat after 7 pm. Fill your plate half full of veggies (cooked at home either without butter or eat simply raw) and fist sized portion of fish or chicken.

Do not eat at your desk!

These are both related to the same thing. When we create a good meal (have vegetables, small amounts of protein), we eat consciously and intelligently. Whether you eat dinner at 6 PM, 7 PM, or 8 PM really depends on your schedule.

HOWEVER, most "late night eating" is dumb eating in front of the TV, or carb-heavy snacking to keep yourself going. There is nothing wrong with smaller meals throughout the day, but if you are going to eat after dinner, it needs to be a healthy small meal, NOT "snacking."

A pint of ice cream @ 10 PM, awful. A bowl of berries with a dollop of yogurt on top (my late night snack of choice), okay.

If you prefer to eat dinner later, that's okay, but if you eat ice cream, chips, or other "in front of TV" snacks, you'll be in trouble.

Whether or not ice cream or chips gets you "in trouble" is still entirely dependent on the remainder of the diet. There are contexts in which ice cream in front of the TV is perfectly fine and there are also contexts in which it's not a good idea.

Aaron_K123

I don't think personal anecdote is necessarily conclusive evidence but just to share from my own experience I typically eat my dinner around 10pm at night, sometimes I snack on some almonds right before bed at like 12:30am. I've been losing about 1.2 pounds a week pretty steadily.

The trick is to find what works for you to hit your calorie goals. Perhaps you find that for yourself not eating late helps you do that in which case go for it. All these pieces of advice though are just based on what has worked for other people, do not confuse them with the CAUSE of success. The cause of success is simply calories burned > calories eaten.

Velum_cado

Instead of following advice from a bunch of different sources and people trying to sell you their books/products, try following this one piece of advice.

1. Log your food.

If you do that you'll know how many calories you're eating and how much protein/fats/carbs you're getting. It's really all you need to do.

+100. I had a cup of milk yesterday from a 2-shot Peet's latte, and I ate a big dinner around 10pm because I was so on-the-go yesterday, and my weight loss is totally on-track.

You don't even NEED to follow that advice. Logging what you eat doesn't make you lose weight. I don't log my calories and haven't had any problems.

The only advice you need to lose weight is make sure you're eating fewer calories than you're burning off.

Holly_Roman_Empire

"Bad" is subjective. It won't kill you, and it may or may not help you along. Most of it is largely unsubstantiated by science, and is unnecessarily restrictive.

Basically this. Bob Harper's list is mostly his suggestions or tips to help get you in a calorie deficit. If I had to follow those rules though, I'd never be successful.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Instead of following advice from a bunch of different sources and people trying to sell you their books/products, try following this one piece of advice.

1. Log your food.

If you do that you'll know how many calories you're eating and how much protein/fats/carbs you're getting. It's really all you need to do.

+100. I had a cup of milk yesterday from a 2-shot Peet's latte, and I ate a big dinner around 10pm because I was so on-the-go yesterday, and my weight loss is totally on-track.

You don't even NEED to follow that advice. Logging what you eat doesn't make you lose weight. I don't log my calories and haven't had any problems.

The only advice you need to lose weight is make sure you're eating fewer calories than you're burning off.

Right, except a lot of people have trouble "making sure" unless they're logging (accurately).

itodd4019

I think one thing that leads to these ideas becoming powerful is the human nature of making excuses.

My sweetheart doesn't get home until 7. We eat after that every day for years. I like to go to bed with a full stomach. Put me to bed hungry, and you will wake up with an A * * H O L E big time!!! LOL

So, I save my cals for the evening. I feel my hunger during the day when I can distract myself.

But- what I meant is this- it would be easy for me to say "I can't lose weight because it's bad to eat after 7, and my relationship makes me eat after 7, so I may as well just forget it"

So many people do that, me thinks

Then, these t.v. people know that- so they create an impossible situation and then provide you the "ONLY" solution- their pill or book or video or whatever.

if that makes sense.

joycelyn35

And now...IF you haven't guessed it yet, I really show you my newbie status by asking, "What are these macros and micros I should balance?"

I'm really 'getting it'. This is great help and I appreciate it.

Simple.

MityMax96

TBH with you....
That is advice on ways to limit calorie intake....

I say do IIFYM, and stop eating when you hit your daily goals.