Who is dieting? not me!

Josedavid

I just want to share with you some thoughts that come to my head from time to time...

I love reading people sharing experiences and tips in the different forums and I see the newbies coming to MFP looking for a "salvation" place where a "secret" will be revealed so to eat and lose weight.

I will only say one thing: "I started losing weight the day I stopped dieting" (Take it or leave it)

We know a lot about our computer, our mobile phone, gadgets, videogames, etc, etc, etc... but we dont know that much about ourselves.

How do your body react when you eat this or that? What is the body behavior when it metabolizes the fat? How come that the higher I eat... the more weight I lose?

All these questions come up because we don't know how our body works. We are not doctors and we are not nutritionists by default.

I will just share some of my "discoveries" that I learnt in this past months:

- Do not starve. We all want to be strong and resist the temptations but one thing is to be strong against a chocolate pie mid morning and a very different approach is to be starving from 7am to 3.30pm
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner... right? No, not that right! What about the midmorning and the midevening? Say bye-bye to your three main meals schedule and go for a five meal pattern. You will avoid the starvation feeling
- If you are thinking about avoid any food group like carbs... you are, simply, wrong. We are designed to eat everything so, do not avoid carbs, do not avoid proteins, do not flash-diet!
- Portion is key. When you do 5 meals a day you dont need to eat that much in every meal, do not force yourself to make the portions smaller and smaller but remember that your eyes do not eat for you, is your brain and stomach who do that
- Do not crave! If you are craving chocolate... go for it! if you crave potato... go for it! Craving is one of the worst feelings ever and it makes you feel bad. Is not stronger who craves the most, is stronger who is committed to balance the eating with the sports after a craving
- There is always a right time for everything. I learnt that you can eat everything but you should know when to do it. I never said bye-bye to my cheese croissant in the morning (but is because I have a full day ahead to burn it). Carbs doesnt work fine with me in the evenings so I eat carbs in training days in the lunch time, never at dinner time (dont be extremist! i mean try to avoid carbs there because your body is not going to use them and it will be stored as fat but if you find some potato or bread or whatever carb in your dinner, do not call the police!)
- The less refined the food is, the better for your body. Complex carbs in organic pasta or rice are better than normal pasta and rice. Vegetables, fruits, grilled meat/fish is better than very complex stews, recipes, etc.
- Overdosing yourself with vitamins are better than you thought! Go for fruits!
- Balance. This is it! Eating well (not dieting) and doing moderate sports will make you always lose the extra kg you want to get rid of... if it doesnt happen that way... go to the doctor! maybe you are suffering any kind of disorder
- Enjoy what you do! Enjoy the new way of cooking you are having by inviting friends to have dinner with you in a healthier way. I must admit that my ostrich meat and veggies barbeques are becoming popular!
- Share your knowledge with the community and your friends! Your treasure is not having benefit from your strategy, your treasure is to be able to share it with others and then, all together, enjoy a healthier life!
- Find your pace... not all the bodies adapt in the same manner to the food plan and to the sports. Do not compare yourself with anybody else, this is YOUR STORY, your plan, your body, not anybody else!
- Visit Team966 in Facebook! It doesn´t make you lose weight but it makes me feel great! haha!

yarwell

Complex carbs in organic pasta or rice are better than normal pasta and rice.

I can see they have less risk of pesticides etc, but what else is different ?

Josedavid

Complex carbs in organic pasta or rice are better than normal pasta and rice.

I can see they have less risk of pesticides etc, but what else is different ?

The body need to "workout" to breakdown them so the body is spending calories to breakdown the nutrients they contain. And the energy release is slower so you have energy a little more time

bcmallwalker

Your philosophy is very similar to mine. You've shared some very good advice. Best wishes.

Flab2fitfi

very sensible advice - I'm not on a diet I'm just eating healthier and more aware what i put into my mouth. I have more energy, can make informed choices about my food and never starving. The bonus is that I have lost 12lb in 3 weeks. Because I'm not depriving myself I don't binge out and if I fancy something I will have it just a smaller portion. I don't have cheat days or meals but some days my calories are a little higher but it all evens itself out.

skinnylion

- Breakfast, lunch and dinner... right? No, not that right! What about the midmorning and the midevening? Say bye-bye to your three main meals schedule and go for a five meal pattern. You will avoid the starvation feeling
- Portion is key. When you do 5 meals a day you dont need to eat that much in every meal, do not force yourself to make the portions smaller and smaller but remember that your eyes do not eat for you, is your brain and stomach who do that

I agree with this post except for those two points. I switched from all-day snacking to eating roughly 3 meals and for me it feels a lot better. I think you should change this to "eat however often you want because science doesn't have proof for anything being definitively best"... because it makes me happy to eat 3 meals, so I do, and my life has all-around improved!

neanderthin

Semantics. I do what makes sense to me, and it's only 1 way of many.

yarwell

The body need to "workout" to breakdown them so the body is spending calories to breakdown the nutrients they contain. And the energy release is slower so you have energy a little more time

I can see that's the case for wholefoods versus processed & refined starches say, but specifically organic ??

slimpickings36

I started that aproach this week I am not dieting anymore just healthy eating doing exercise I enjoy this is a change for life not a quick fix (been there and done that and the weight just creeps on again) if I want that peice of cake or glass od wine then I have it. I worked out the more I deprived myself the more likely I am to binge eat.

wish you all the luck for the furture
(I must admit I feel better this week for just taking the diet word away)

stevenleagle

Good all round advice. I would also add:
1. Keep drinking plenty of water (which I know you do). I aim for 8 glasses a day including herbal tea
2. Keep an eye on protein and fibre which both make you feel full

Josedavid

The body need to "workout" to breakdown them so the body is spending calories to breakdown the nutrients they contain. And the energy release is slower so you have energy a little more time

I can see that's the case for wholefoods versus processed & refined starches say, but specifically organic ??

Well, organics are more natural, just that... if its wholefood and its organic... win-win!

Josedavid

Good all round advice. I would also add:
1. Keep drinking plenty of water (which I know you do). I aim for 8 glasses a day including herbal tea
2. Keep an eye on protein and fibre which both make you feel full

You are a wise man... !!