Diets that work

Not to mention humanity for hundreds of thousands of years lived just fine on low-carb diets. High carb diets are unnatural and the reason why everyone is sick and fat. Lots of "science" (read: studies rife with selective bias) promote high carb diets. But that's mostly because the organizations heading up the studies include the FDA, which have a stake in commodities that are predominately starchy vegetables (which are high in carbs). Any salesman will tell you that you "need" their product.

The FDA has a stake in the starchy vegetable commodities? Look, I think the government is a mess where food is concerned, too many conflicts of interest for them to be of any use to nutrition discussions, but the "starchy vegetable lobby" is NOT at the root of the problem.

Big potato is at it again....

LOL! Big Potato! That made me laugh out loud.

I get what people are saying and you should eventually read that guys really long post on really important stuff. It's worth reading and taking seriously.

However, I read your post as looking for a meal plan that works for you, that can get you started without feeling totally overwhelmed.

Try this: http://www.freedieting.com/1200_calorie_diet.htm (I found it from an old post)

The note next to it is that this is not a long term solution, more of a get started fast (I agree with that). Once you get more familiar with logging (and don't lie) you will soon learn what foods are worth it and those that should never be consumed by humans
How to incorporate the foods you need with the foods you love. It's all a balancing act that can work. It is a lifestyle change that for some it's easy and for others it is a constant struggle on a daily basis.

Speaking from personal experience and seeing what others have done for quick results do yourself a favor and GET MOVING. Oprah's trainer Bob told her if you want to maintain, you need to move 3 days a week, if you want to lose...5-6 days a week.

:grumble: :indifferent: :sick: :flowerforyou: :yawn: :blushing: :happy: :explode: :ohwell: :smooched: :sick: :drinker: :brokenheart: :brokenheart: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :explode: :grumble: :noway: :ohwell: :flowerforyou: :indifferent: :embarassed: :glasses: :frown: :smokin: :laugh: :happy:

Also to be honest the way low carb shoppers go on about it like it's "diet Jesus" I am half tempted to believe the brain needs carbs theory.

My biggest thing about something as strict as Paleo or Keto is that for most people it's not maintainable long-term. For individual's that are overweight, part of the challenge is getting into health habits that are maintainable for life and not just the short-term. Generally speaking, most people are not going to maintain a low-carb diet for life; some people obviously can but those are not the norm. Finding balance that works for you is key.

I totally agree with the above. I tried low carb and after 2 weeks was the grouchiest ***** this side of the moon! Like the old saying goes...everything in moderation. Also, try to eat as cleanly as you can. :flowerforyou: Good luck!

For all of those that took my comment on carbs as something from the government I stated it was from the institute of medicine. They are not part of the government but do provide the results of their research to government agencies such as the FDA. So if you want to dismiss facts because it is from " the government" at least look up the institute to understand what they do. Also you may want to reread my post in reponse to the Inuit argument that they eat low carb, turns out they don't. Carbs can even come from meat under the right conditions, but if some of you want to blindly believe Atkins then go for it.

Adopt a healthy lifestyle which includes consuming an appropriate amount of healthy foods, less processed foods and incorporates physical activity. Healthy foods include fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, poultry in appropriate portions. (Portion control is important). You will commonly hear that weight loss is 80% consumption and 20% perspiration.

MyFitnessPal is a wonderful way of identifying what is going into your mouth and keeping track of it. It will also tell you how many calories you will want to consume such that you can maintain a healthy weight loss. It helps you to avoid weight loss at an unhealthy rate.

I lost over 100 pounds by adopting a few key principals.

1. Log everything.... if it goes in your mouth. Log it!
2. Increase your intake of fruits, vegetables and exercise. My mantra was 5:30 - 5 servings of fruits and veggies and 30 minutes of exercise a day. Most of us don't get sufficient doses of either (exercise/fruits/veggies)
3. Read the Label - Avoid eating foods with ingredients that you can't pronounce. If you can't pronounce an ingredient... don't eat it. This includes most processed foods.
4. If you think you are hungry... drink a glass of water and go for a 10 minute walk. If you are still hungry when you come back... you probably were hungry. There is a close relationship in our brains between hunger and thirst, such that sometimes we aren't sure which. At the very least, you stay hydrated and get 10 minutes of exercise.
5. Try to exercise such that you burn off your smallest meal of the day... if breakfast is 300 calories... exercise it off.
6. Schedule your exercise. Its amazing how much a calendar reminder on your computer can help motivate you. And really... this is time for you. If you don't look after yourself, who will?
7. Don't skip meals... skipping meals leads to binge eating later.
8. Put your fork down between bites. It takes 20 minutes for the brain to figure out the stomach is full... By slowing down your eating you will consume less. Further - Like Momma always said, chew your food 30 times before swallowing - same effect
9. Watch for hidden calories and find substitutes - I used to love creamy salad dressings... until I realized that I added 100 calories to my salad... I now eat Salsa with my salad. 2 tbs Salad dressing vs 1/4 cup of Salsa... which do you suppose is more filling? (I opt for low salt varieties as well).

Anyways... I've avoided work for too long typing this. Hope some of this makes sense. Feel free to add me if you have any questions or need a little support here and there.

Cheers,

Not to mention humanity for hundreds of thousands of years lived just fine on low-carb diets. High carb diets are unnatural and the reason why everyone is sick and fat. Lots of "science" (read: studies rife with selective bias) promote high carb diets. But that's mostly because the organizations heading up the studies include the FDA, which have a stake in commodities that are predominately starchy vegetables (which are high in carbs). Any salesman will tell you that you "need" their product.

No sorry but that just isn't the case. A lot of healthy people eat quite a bit of carbs. It doesn't magically make them sick and fat. It's true that a low carb diet can aid wight loss. But there is literally zero reason for a fit and healthy person to avoid carbs. You need to wake up and realize that people are sick and fat because our lives have become sedentary and we have become dependent on pre prepared food which tends to be extremely unhealthy.

Geez I mean the things people will believe to skirt around the idea that sitting around on our *kitten* all day and eating pizza and ice cream isn't doing us any good. By all means tout the benifits of low carb. As honestly there are some to be had for those wanting to lose weight. But it isn't the solution to everyone's problems. And frankly for a healthy human being it is an unhealthy diet. Especially if they intend to have any athletic performance at all.

Also to be honest the way low carb shoppers go on about it like it's "diet Jesus" I am half tempted to believe the brain needs carbs theory.

Yes, they don't want to see science because if it goes against their views then it is a conspiracy.
Here is a meta-analysis that is really rustling jimmies across the Low carb zealots.

That's a lot of it right there, people don't want to hear anything against what they like or believe to be real by <insert magazine name>, "Doctor" Oz, etc., etc. I've been in my MS program for 9-months now and have read numerous studies and there really is good information available if one is willing to read it and be open to it going against main-stream trends. "Muscle Confusion" anybody??? Basura! Science is not always perfect but when several studies point in the same direction there might just be something there...

My Best Friend was did that.. Lost weight like crazy!! The only problem is sticking to it and being determined. Would you mind adding me as a friend to show me the way and help out?

Short answer: I move more and eat less.

Longer answer: I admitted that I'm lazy by nature, but no longer give in to it. Kind of like the first step to recovery is admitting I had a problem. So instead of sitting around watching tv, reading, etc. I make sure to be active each day. I do watch tv, read - but whenever possible I combine that with being active. (And sometimes I forego the TV altogether!) And I choose not to be lazy about food either. I plan out what I'm having, weigh my portions and know what I need to have each day to be successful. For almost 7 months, that was eating (most days, there were exceptions occasionally) 1400-1600 calories per day. Have lost almost 40 pounds so far - but now I'm aiming for a smaller deficit as I get closer to my end goal.

Hi All,

This is my first time on a forum and really looking to shed 25 lbs and trying to see if anyone has any tips on how I can lose weight healthy. Also, it would be great to know some exercises that would help to flatten tummy and tighten legs.

Thank you.


Ana

Also to be honest the way low carb shoppers go on about it like it's "diet Jesus" I am half tempted to believe the brain needs carbs theory.

My biggest thing about something as strict as Paleo or Keto is that for most people it's not maintainable long-term. For individual's that are overweight, part of the challenge is getting into health habits that are maintainable for life and not just the short-term. Generally speaking, most people are not going to maintain a low-carb diet for life; some people obviously can but those are not the norm. Finding balance that works for you is key.

Every lifestyle change is maintainable if you have any willpower. The clincher is willpower, not the diet you choose. I know many people who have eaten paleo/keto for many years. What is different between them and someone who isn't able to maintain those diets? Willpower.

How did humanity follow a paleo/keto diet for hundreds of thousands of years? We ate that way thousands of times longer than we have high-carb. High carb has made us all fat. I'm thinking *that* is the diet that isn't sustainable.

... He isn't listening is he.

You know what guys I suspect that in about a decade we are going to hear from all these people who went low carb and still did little/no exercise to lose weight going WTF why do I still have "Insert Medical Condition Here".

This is exactly why I hate low carb. It gives people an excuse to keep sitting on their bums thinking they are being healthy just because they lose weight. I know being overweight or obese is unhealthy. But even now people are already beginning to suspect that being sedentary is even more so.

Also to be honest the way low carb shoppers go on about it like it's "diet Jesus" I am half tempted to believe the brain needs carbs theory.

My biggest thing about something as strict as Paleo or Keto is that for most people it's not maintainable long-term. For individual's that are overweight, part of the challenge is getting into health habits that are maintainable for life and not just the short-term. Generally speaking, most people are not going to maintain a low-carb diet for life; some people obviously can but those are not the norm. Finding balance that works for you is key.

Every lifestyle change is maintainable if you have any willpower. The clincher is willpower, not the diet you choose. I know many people who have eaten paleo/keto for many years. What is different between them and someone who isn't able to maintain those diets? Willpower.

How did humanity follow a paleo/keto diet for hundreds of thousands of years? We ate that way thousands of times longer than we have high-carb. High carb has made us all fat. I'm thinking *that* is the diet that isn't sustainable.

Paleo man ate fruit, honey, vegetables, grains and tubers they also got about 35% of their energy intake from carbs.
http://www.gregdavis.ca/share/paleo-articles/academic/The Ancestral Human Diet by S. Boyd Eaton.pdf

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/paleo-diet
FTA:
"Proponents of the Paleo diet argue that our ancestors’ diets could not have included a lot of grains, legumes, or dairy foods. And they contend that the past 10,000 years of agriculture isn’t enough time to adapt to these “new” foods.

This argument is compelling but doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

To begin with, recent studies in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, using more advanced analytical methods, have discovered that ancient humans may have begun eating grasses and cereals before the Paleolithic era even began — up to three or even four million years ago!

Further research has revealed granules of grains and cereal grasses on stone stools starting at least 105,000 years ago.

Meanwhile, grain granules on grinding tools from all over the world suggest that Paleolithic humans made a widespread practice of turning grains into flour as long as 30,000 years ago.

In other words, the idea that Paleolithic humans never ate grains and cereals appears to be a bit of an exaggeration."

For your misunderstanding of nutrient oxidation and storage
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/how-we-get-fat.html
FTA:
1.Carbs are rarely converted to fat and stored as such
2. When you eat more carbs you burn more carbs and less fat; eat less carbs and you burn less carbs and more fat
3. Protein is basically never going to be converted to fat and stored as such
4. When you eat more protein, you burn more protein (and by extension, less carbs and less fat); eat less protein and you burn less protein (and by extension, more carbs and more fat)
5.Ingested dietary fat is primarily stored, eating more of it doesn’t impact on fat oxidation to a significant degree

Excess dietary fat is directly stored as fat
Excess dietary carbs increases carb oxidation, impairing fat oxidation; more of your daily fat intake is stored as fat
Excess dietary protein increases protein oxidation, impairing fat oxidation; more of your daily fat intake is stored as fat

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/nutrient-intake-nutrient-storage-and-nutrient-oxidation.html

He is the only other person in this thread that really knows what he's talking about. Our ancestors ate plenty of grains and "carb" sources.

One of the main issues is in refined sugars. The American diet consumes way too much crap and that's the real issue here. Cut the crap and find a balance that works for you. If Keto works for you and you can follow it 90% of the time, awesome, ****ing own it. If Paleo is your huckleberry, do it. Whatever it is, just make sure it's right for you and you do it because it works for you and not because of some friggin' random YouTube video or MFP poster.

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Also to be honest the way low carb shoppers go on about it like it's "diet Jesus" I am half tempted to believe the brain needs carbs theory.

My biggest thing about something as strict as Paleo or Keto is that for most people it's not maintainable long-term. For individual's that are overweight, part of the challenge is getting into health habits that are maintainable for life and not just the short-term. Generally speaking, most people are not going to maintain a low-carb diet for life; some people obviously can but those are not the norm. Finding balance that works for you is key.

Every lifestyle change is maintainable if you have any willpower. The clincher is willpower, not the diet you choose. I know many people who have eaten paleo/keto for many years. What is different between them and someone who isn't able to maintain those diets? Willpower.

How did humanity follow a paleo/keto diet for hundreds of thousands of years? We ate that way thousands of times longer than we have high-carb. High carb has made us all fat. I'm thinking *that* is the diet that isn't sustainable.

What makes people "fat" is over eating and being under active. Hey if you like to avoid carbs go for it, but one question do you limit your calories or eat all you want as long as it isn't carb? If you say your calories are reduced then you have no proof that lack of carbs is why you are losing weight. Why does a person need willpower to eat. That in itself is broken, if you have to use "willpower" to avoid foods you are doing it wrong. You should enjoy food not be in a mental battle about what you eat.

What makes people fat is partially overeating but also from having a massive amount of glucose and insulin in their blood, which limits fat from being burnt by their muscles and keeps them hungry even though they eat "enough" calories.

I track my calories through MFP but I don't pay attention to where they're at during the day. My high fat/high protein diet is more satiating than a high carb diet so I get full on fewer calories. I haven't had any trouble staying below my calorie limit.

I experience no mental battle from eating. I stick to keto-friendly foods and eat until I'm full. Keto is the opposite of a mental battle. It's eating how we're evolved to eat. Not battling a high sugar diet, wasting hours upon hours in the gym burning off the calories you overloaded on with your high carb diet. I walk and play ping pong and I'm losing weight like crazy. Why? Because your body automatically regulates your input and output when you're eating the right foods. Google the video "the calorie myth". It's on youtube. You've got a lot to learn.

Odd that you originally said it takes willpower and then you claim you don't have any mental battles. Do you even know what the word willpower means? Thank you for telling me I have a lot to learn, this coming from someone that cites you tube for their wealth of scientific evidence. I have lost 72 lbs eating food I enjoy and never feel hunger and I don't even go to the gym to burn off all those high carbs. Maybe my earlier comment about needing a certain level of carbs to maintain proper brain function is being proven by your lack of same with the way you respond. You are losing weight like crazy because you are in a huge calorie deficit. Maybe you have a lot to learn.

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BTW, as I am sure you are aware.. it's extremely well known that people lose large amounts of weight the first few weeks when going low carb (less carbs = less glycogen/water stored). So if you eliminate the first month, then you can actually look at how much below your TDEE you are consuming.