What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

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Gilberto de Piento
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

I've seen friends have success with paleo/low carb, though they were fairly healthy already.

vexed87
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by vexed87 »

I lost a couple of stone (roughly) with strict regime of low carb/paleo diet and lots of resistance exercise, didn't keep it off though. Switching to plant based helped again, but slipped back into old habits again... I think I need to lose a stone again... really I just need to cut out the processed sugar snacks then I'll be ok(*). I think one of the reasons my loss never stuck was because I wasn't really unhealthy overweight, I was losing it mostly for vanity reasons, I just wanted a six pack. After realising I couldn't be bothered being that extreme I settled for my current weight, though I could be a just a little leaner I guess, paunch is not so attractive and I think I'm starting to feel it cycling uphill, or maybe my age is catching up with me :lol: . DW says she still loves me though :D

Personally I don't think it matters which diet you choose if weight loss is the only goal, both have been effective for me, the more you have to lose, the easier it is. Plant based is healthier if properly planned based on my own research. I'm not strict vegan though I do try to avoid meat at all costs unless social circumstances makes it impossible.

I find not having the foods you want to avoid in the house really helps, also have the healthy stuff in sight, and make it simple to snack on so you're not tempted to eat junk over say, fruit that's in a prominent place on the kitchen counter. Also starting an exercise regime and other healthful activities helps to encourage you to stick to the plan, or else all other effort is wasted. It's a good way to guilt yourself into saying no. Long term, its easier to make a habit of being repulsed by the foods you used to eat. I was recently eating steak with DW and all I could think of was the poor cow that had died and how 10 calories in every 1 consumed had been wasted by feeding the cattle. My co-worker stuffs his face with corn crisps (chips in US) all day long, and I find myself cringing! I can still be tempted by chocolate, but if I'm going to the shops, I'll have the chocolate soy milk, not great for weight loss mind you, but better than what I was eating before!

*I blame DW for bringing that crap home! I can't help myself which is why I never choose to buy it and bring it in the house, I just wish she would hide it! :D :D :lol:

steveo73
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by steveo73 »

Vexed - I feel the same way as you do. I'm also a healthy weight but sometimes I'd like to lose some more to get a 6 pack.

When it comes to losing weight I think a lot of diets can help because the most important point is restricting calories. When it comes to long term health though a healthy mostly vegan diet wins. I'd add that it will also do a great job in losing weight.

FrugalFred
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by FrugalFred »

I try to get in a decent amount of protein (60-100 grams a day) for body composition and feeling full. Stay away from liquid calories. Intermittent fasting. Weigh myself everyday.

I don't think about it too much though as maintaining a low weight has always come easy to me. Going to work each day takes far more hustle and discipline imo.

slowtraveler
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by slowtraveler »

Thank you for all the replies. It's approaching finals and projects time so I've been preoccupied with finishing the quarter.

"Eat real food, mostly plants and not too much"

I can honestly say I'm following the first 2 points quite well. The majority of my conscious meals are real food based. I don't drink much (alcohol or beverages) outside of water. I'm almost certain I'm eating too much volume of food and snacking too much as I live with family and they always have tasty treats scattered about the house. Hopefully I can convince them to stop buying sweets and bread so much, there's almost always some type of sugar and bread in the house.

"Form new habits"-This is, I believe, my primary focus here. The challenge is I believe we can only take on 1 new habit at a time to make it truly last. I've been building habits over the last year and as I quit other vices, I let myself lean on food more. I'll put full focus into eating healthier once school's out and periodically update here.

First update:

I've been having my green juice and vegetable soup almost every day but the weight keeps slowly increasing (211 lbs now after the holidays). I think adding in intermittent fasting, stopping snacking (except on vegetables), eating mindfully and stopping when I'm satisfied not stuffed, cutting out bread/processed carbs of any kind will do the trick.

I notice I eat late at night and I feel I'm unaware of just how much I eat at these times.

So my focus now will be to convince the family to cut out bread and sugar from the shopping lists to make eating less refined carbs more natural and start eating more mindfully-don't feast mindlessly or when I'm satisfied. Get comfortable with the light feeling again. I wish I had an easier time fasting as I know how effective it is.

"Find a hobby full of people that look like you want. Embrace it. The change will happen."

Interesting choice I hadn't considered- adventure meet-ups or health classes is where I'm thinking. Good idea I'm interested in applying more.

BRUTE
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by BRUTE »

Felipe wrote:"Eat real food, mostly plants and not too much"
that Pollan quote is cute, but useless for humans who aren't already on the margin regarding fat loss. it is not specifically aimed at fat loss and therefore not optimal.

if Felipe wants to lose fat, and maintain muscle mass reasonably, brute has a very simple strategy:

water fasting for one week at a time. yes, it's doable. no, Felipe isn't going to die. is it a crash diet? yes, but it works. the problems with crash diets only appear if Felipe goes back to eating high-carb junk after.

it is completely safe to not eat for days or weeks at a time if a given human has body fat >10lbs. at 211lbs, Felipe can likely fast for 2-3 months before running into trouble, but that's not necessary.

fasting will put Felipe into ketosis very quickly and very deeply, making him access body fat for energy. it will also result in a huge energy deficit of approximately 100%.

Felipe will lose approximately 1-1.5lbs per day, some of which will be water/digestive weight. but much of it will be fat.

now the important part is not to eat high-carb after ending the fast, or everything will come back. there is such a thing as "set points" in body fat, and fasting is the fastest (<-- haha) way to break through them. in brute's experience, there's a set point approximately every 20-30lbs. meaning it's almost impossible to diet down with a smaller deficit, because the body will retain fat and rebound to that point quickly. but once these points are broken through, the body is happy at this new fat level and doesn't necessarily gain all that fat back.

brute still recommends keto in addition to fasting, both before and after. makes transition easier and prevents regain of fat by controlling insulin.

slowtraveler
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by slowtraveler »

I agree with Brute that fasting is the fastest way possible to lose fat and that it is not dangerous in my situation.

I used to do 24 hour intermittent fasts once or twice a week and have even done a 3 day fast (though I was shooting for a 5 day fast.)

My question to Brute is how does Brute maintain the self control to do week fasts. I assume Brute lives alone, does Brute simply keep an empty pantry and fridge until he elects to eat? Is Brute secretly a monk who has transcended temptation?

How would I stop eating in a home where there is such surplus of temptation?

BRUTE
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by BRUTE »

brute maintains a mostly empty fridge and pantry during fasts, yes. simply storing all non-perishable food items away in another room or closet should be fine.

during the week it's not too bad, as brute is distracted by work and such. weekends it can be a bit tough. distractions are the way to go.

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Ego
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by Ego »

A short video of a wide variety of actual real live experts talking about it.... as opposed to a bunch of writers with degrees in journalism and few chemists or nutritionists who saddle up to the the Atkins/Dairy / Cattleman's trough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8sGE5n-i1Q

daylen
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by daylen »

BRUTE wrote:Felipe can likely fast for 2-3 months before running into trouble, but that's not necessary.


A quick search said death usually occurs in 1.5-2 months.....so it is probably best to avoid any more than a month of fasting. :P

Kriegsspiel
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by Kriegsspiel »

Yea you really have to bulk up first, before fasting. For safety.

BRUTE
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by BRUTE »

daylen wrote:A quick search said death usually occurs in 1.5-2 months.....so it is probably best to avoid any more than a month of fasting. :P
completely depends on body mass and body fat. certainly it's advisable to stop slightly before POW look is achieved. there are recorded cases (with medical supervision) of over 1 years of fasting straight. this gentleman started out around 400-500lbs and only took a vitamin each day.

brute hasn't fasted long enough to get close to POW mode, but has been told that the body makes it VERY clear when to stop. if in doubt, 10% body fat for men and 20% for women is very safe, so stopping there should be fine for most.

vexed87
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by vexed87 »

I hope you are not considering fasting if you are still struggling to halt the gain of weight as it is? You'll more than likely go back to your previous lifestyle choices, and be in the same scenario a number of months down the line, unhappily gaining the weight all over again. Going through cycles of feast to famine can't be good for you long term, consecutive periods of nutrient deficiency will leave you vulnerable to many diseases in the long run and isn't sustainable. Most people who restrict calories will inevitably be hit by the double whammy of a body in starvation mode (which will extract every damn calories it can), plus the overwhelming urge to break fast by binging on the calories dense foods. It will take extreme discipline not to fail in a world of abundance.

What you need is a change of lifestyle, not a diet/starvation!

If you are prepared to take the drastic step of not eating for up to a month, at least consider the Fat Sick and Nearly Dead regime, but bare in mind lots of people fail to keep the weight off long term, because eventually their old lifestyles return.

If your ultimate goal is to lose weight to be healthy, you need to take stock of why you are still gaining weight, be brutally honest with yourself, what are you eating that you shouldn't be if weight loss is your goal, just eliminate THAT!

If you want to crash your weight for vanity, and health is no consideration, starvation is undoubtedly the fastest option, but not the most pleasant, nor sustainable. Weight loss doesn't have to be rapid, and for it to be sustainable, it's probably best that it isn't. Learning a new lifestyle takes time, stick at it, and you will get your reward, the building blocks to sustainable nutrition and good health.

cmonkey
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by cmonkey »

vexed87 wrote:What you need is a change of lifestyle, not a diet/starvation!

+1

The faster you lose weight, the faster you will gain the weight back. The reason for this is entirely due to lifestyle. I'm not sure on how long it takes for activities to become habits and habits to become lifestyle but you are ultimately bound to this timeline. That's why it's best to lose weight at a slow and steady pace by creating a new lifestyle for yourself.

Simply getting up and moving around helps tremendously. I have maintained a constant weight for years because I walk several miles each day at work (around the parking lot) and now that I have started walking to the bus and back I've actually lost about 5 pounds the last couple years. DW and I now go on 5+ walks weekly when I get home from the office as well. We have been doing this for about 2-3 weeks now so we are probably a month or two from it becoming 'habit'. Perhaps a year away from it becoming 'lifestyle' or simply put, as routine as sleeping/eating/breathing.

vexed87
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by vexed87 »

Further expanding, the means is often the diet, and the end is often weight-loss, but imo losing weight should be the means, and the end should the healthy lifestyle, if you don't get this right, it won't stay off.

I recall reading here in a thread that a habit is usually cemented in 14 repeat recurrences without failure, i.e. you stop having to think about it, willpower no long plays a role, it just happens. The lifestyle, I would say, starts when your habits begin to take an active role in shaping the way you behave in a holistic sense, or accumulated good habits, i.e. willingly start saying no to things that used to tempt you, like chocolates and white breads, and opt for the carrot sticks and hummus, and biking instead of driving, etc etc.

When too many habits tip the scale to unhealthy, your doomed to fail. Make new positive habits your focus. Simply asking, what do you eat for weight loss, is part of the solution, but, if your lifestyle is lacking, it's a pointless exercise.

sky
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by sky »

Ego wrote:A short video of a wide variety of actual real live experts talking about it.... as opposed to a bunch of writers with degrees in journalism and few chemists or nutritionists who saddle up to the the Atkins/Dairy / Cattleman's trough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8sGE5n-i1Q
I will certainly be moving toward a more plant based diet after watching that.

The concern about a vegan diet is that it does not appear to be a long term healthy diet without supplements, such as B12. If a diet requires synthetic supplements, it may well be a healthy diet and may provide reduced incidences of disease, but it is not a diet that could have been followed prior to modern chemistry. Without supplements, a vegan diet causes other types of disease, which may be far less dangerous than diseases caused by a standard american diet, but are diseases nonetheless.

I suspect that the ideal natural diet includes mostly plant foods with occasional additions of meat and perhaps dairy in small portions.

vexed87
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by vexed87 »

sky wrote:but it is not a diet that could have been followed prior to modern chemistry. Without supplements, a vegan diet causes other types of disease, which may be far less dangerous than diseases caused by a standard american diet, but are diseases nonetheless.
This isn't true, strictly speaking it's the relatively modern practice of thorough cleaning produce due to germphobia, by scrubbing, peeling etc physically removes the majority of bacteria and b12 in the organic earth matter. The advantage of cleaning produce means we eat less food contaminated by pathogens and parasites and therefore save lives, however with the negative side effect of eliminating our most natural source of b12.

Solution? Simply take supplements, or grow your own and scrub less. The poorest, both in the developing world, and more generally historically would rarely/never eat meat, because it's resource intensive, yet they rarely suffer b12 deficiency, plant based foods can provide sufficient b12 in the right conditions. The wealthy, who could consume meat as often as desired, as we do in the typical western diet, develop the same lifestyle diseases.

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Ego
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by Ego »

vexed87 wrote: This isn't true, strictly speaking it's the relatively modern practice of thorough cleaning produce due to germphobia, by scrubbing, peeling etc physically removes the majority of bacteria and b12 in the organic earth matter. The advantage of cleaning produce means we eat less food contaminated by pathogens and parasites and therefore save lives, however with the negative side effect of eliminating our most natural source of b12.
I started composing my response in my head but then realized that vexed said it better than I would have.

No need to supplement. Sprinkle some yeast flakes on your salad every so often and you are more than covered.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutritional_yeast

vexed87
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by vexed87 »

Ego wrote:I started composing my response in my head but then realized that vexed said it better than I would have.
If you ignore my broken English! :lol:

BRUTE
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Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?

Post by BRUTE »

vexed87 wrote:Going through cycles of feast to famine can't be good for you long term.
disagreed.

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