Before & After pics 80lb loss, + my diet plan

arussell53

In 2009 around June or so, I started a new "plan" to save money. We were spending way too much money eating out, so my wife and I agreed to only eat at home except 1 time a month we would have a special dinner out.

Well, it snowballed quickly and we both lost a significant amount of weight. Since we were eating at home anyway, we just started eating healthier and healthier. I have kept it off now since '09 and and am back again trying to lose another 20lbs or so.

Here are the stats"

Me Starting: 6'5" 320-330lbs
Me Ending : 6'5" 230's(lowest) and 240's (maintained for about 2 years now)

Today I am 6'5" 246lbs. I want to get down to about 220.


Here was our (very) basic diet plan:

The Rules.
1. No eating out. Ever. (EVER!!)
2. Drink nothing but water.
3. No sugar unless in fruit.
4. No prepared meals from the store.
5. No deep fried food.

If it’s not on this list, I can’t eat it:

Vegetables (any)
Fruit (any)b
Fish (any)
Chicken
Beans (any)
Millett
Soup (no cream soups)
Egg beaters
Rice (any non-pre-flavored)
Popcorn (microwave, within reason - air pop, anytime)
Couscous
Olive Oil

And that was it, more or less. The hardest part was not "cheating" because once we got the taste in our mouth for cookies, or fast food or whatever it was.... that would set us on a bender that could last days.

In fact, the reason I stopped eating like this was because I was house sitting for my mom and her house was FILLED with goodies... I just couldn't stop myself. After a week of eating all that ultra-rich food, I just couldn't go back. But now, we are starting again....

Wish us luck. =0P

snockers3112

Sounds like you are both doing really well, keep it up. Can't wait to see the pics

arussell53

Thanks! lol.. boy, uploading the pictures was challenging... lol

starryeyedsnoozer

Wow, what a transformation, you look like a completely different man! Well done!

jennsie

well done you. so much better! I think 90% of weight loss is about eating right.

arussell53

In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that 320-330lbs was VERY unusual for me.

I was 230 in high-school and 220 in the Army. At one point, for a few years I was around 200.

So 300+ was an EXTREMELY unnatural weight for me to be.

pina1958

Looking good x

millymoozie

you must feel fantastic ,you certainly look amazing ,,,, congratulations on reclaiming mind body & soul

raven1114

did you find it hard to vary the menu so as to not get 'bored' with it?

galaxysue

wow you look amazing, well done!!!

MimerT

Great job! That's awesome! What an inspiration!!!!

smilebhappy

wow....you look great!!!!

RobinS78

Awesome job! And that's great you two have each other for support!

arussell53

Raven:

Honestly, no.

Once you become re-sensitized to the salt fat and sugar, food starts to taste so much better.

We genuinely savored and enjoyed every evening meal. You can do so much with the few ingredients I listed, of course most of us have no idea how to cook. (we still don't)

There is a whole world of food out that we still have to explore and just within those few groups of food, there are things and combinations we have never tried. We still don't know how to use herbs and spices properly. (though we are getting better)

JohnnyNull

D00d, you're killin' it! Epic!

raven1114

Raven:

Honestly, no.

Once you become re-sensitized to the salt fat and sugar, food starts to taste so much better.

We genuinely savored and enjoyed every evening meal. You can do so much with the few ingredients I listed, of course most of us have no idea how to cook. (we still don't)

There is a whole world of food out that we still have to explore and just within those few groups of food, there are things and combinations we have never tried. We still don't know how to use herbs and spices properly. (though we are getting better)

cool, sounds like it's working really well for y'all. i love using herbs and spices in my cooking. salts not something i use often and when i do it's sea salt. what would you say was the hardest thing to give up food wise?

debbiequack

Looks great! Congrats to you both!

Debbie

arussell53

Fast food in general was the hardest thing to give up. When you eat like we ate, you have to prepare your own meals. No restaurant is going to give you half a broiled chicken-breast on a plate of millet with corn and black beans lol. For Crystal, I know she had a hard time with sweets, but the thing I craved the most and wanted the most was fast food.

Being people that are on the go, we really had to fight our cravings out on the road. Staying at home and eating at home is easy.. but a trip somewhere triggers all sorts of "eating emotions".

For example, years ago I smoked cigarettes. Whenever I would get into my car, the first thing I would do was light up. When I was quitting (3+years now non-smoker) One of the hardest things to overcome was that urge to light up when I got in the car.

Fast food is the same way. When we get in the car to go somewhere, that triggers that habit of wanting to get a "treat" though the drive through. You just have to plan ahead or have some "outs" - one of our "outs" was the Kroger salad bar. When we needed to eat out we would hit the salad bar. We knew the hours and location of all of them on our frequently traveled routes.

fitbot

this is really great!!!!
you look fantastic and it sounds like you did it the really healthy way!!!

fitbot

this is really great!!!!
you look fantastic and it sounds like you did it the really healthy way!!!

YeaILift

If it’s not on this list, I can’t eat it:

Vegetables (any)
Fruit (any)b
Fish (any)
Chicken
Beans (any)
Millett
Soup (no cream soups)
Egg beaters
Rice (any non-pre-flavored)
Popcorn (microwave, within reason - air pop, anytime)
Couscous
Olive Oil

Congrats on the weight loss.

However, I'm sympathetic for you because of your diet. There is no reason to limit certain foods as long as you meet your calories and macros for the day. Everything in moderation. By limiting yourself like that, when you are presented with a situation outside of your usually routine you are much more likely to binge because of the will power exerted for days, weeks or months prior to the incident. Everyone has a breaking point, especially when the opportunity presents itself. You are setting yourself up for failure once you move outside the realm of your normal day to day activities.

Eating out once and a while doesn't make people fat. It's a lack of portion control and proper nutrition for extended periods of time that causes it.

sexygenius

god i could never do that diet, but hey, im still fat lol

janesmith1

I think you look fantastic but I do want to say that though your list is good I would like to add that there are so many Low Fat Cooking books out there that you don't have to eat just "dull diet food"....Just off the top of my head, we're doing America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook:

http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Kitchen-Healthy-Family-Cookbook/dp/1933615567

I mean you can do dinners in there for about 350 cals or 400....and they're totally tasty, but there's so many others out there. An MFP friend is doing A Taste Of Home magazine and cookbook and then there's all the Cooking Light recipes. Taste need not be sacrificed for low cals anymore....

arussell53

I know that food looks very "blecky" to everyone, but honestly, once you re-train your body to eat like that, it is much easier. We are so used to super fat, ultra salty high sugar foods, that the idea of *not* eating those scares the crap out of us.

I think I should mention that it was never intended to be a diet plan - that is just the food we naturally gravitated to. I am just documenting what we ate. We never really made a list of foods we could or couldn't have.

We did "fail" usually once a week or so. But we always gravitated back to those foods.

This sort of "diet" I listed is completely unattainable if you try to jump into it. We GRADUALLY started eating like this. There is no person I know that could just start eating like this (myself included). It's something that yo have to ease into.

Yeallift is absolutely right. Don't limit yourself to those foods, you will cry into your pillow every night if you try to. I should have been more specific about *how* we did it.

For example, A basic meal for us might have been, half a chicken breast each (broiled) plain millet, black-beans and corn. We might have started of with one chicken breast each, some millet, black beans and corn and half of an Amy's Cheese enchilada each. Then after time stopped eating the enchilada.

We basically used a technique of "watering down" our foods with bland foods and then slowly cut out the "rich" foods.

And even doing that, ultimately, when faced with massive temptation, I went off the food and never went back - HOWEVER - we did learn a lot about our bodies, our calories, foods and changed our eating habits when we ate like that, and that knowledge has helped me keep off the weight for over 2 years now.

Good luck to you all!

arussell53

STEP 1:

Should be not eating out. Once you master that step, then you can move on. But not eating out should be your very first step.

BflSaberfan

congrats!! You look like a completely different man. Has your wife had the same success?

ceejay000

STEP 1:

Should be not eating out. Once you master that step, then you can move on. But not eating out should be your very first step.

I totally agree with this. It's so much easier to eat healthily when you prepare your own meals, and I know that I feel better when I eat at home, as well (not to mention the saved $$). I've also noticed that the weeks when I've gone overboard with eating out are the weeks that the scale has stalled.

astovey

You've done a great job. I kinda like the food you've listed, but not eating out isn't an option for me. I've given up fast food and drive thrus, but not my social life. If we go out I just research what to eat before we go.

yarnhoarder

Great job! you look fantastic

wjprice01

You have done a great job. Your pics are definitely worth bragging about you look like a whole new person. Excellent

Wileyjoe

Great Job! Congrats!

Eating out is okay -it is just difficult to find the healthier items on the menu. It is also difficult to have the dicipline to order the heathier items than giving in to your cravings of wanting the unhealthier items on the menu. :P