eating healthy

[philly and the phanatics]

Hello FTR

i am 235 pounds and i am going to lose at least 45 of that by this time next year. I am basically a lazy bum that eats junk food and smokes pot, so i am trying to change my life around (running/working out/quitting smoking/ect) and see how that works for me.

Basically things i am cutting out of my diet-

Cow/pig/grease/most cheese/ deep fried foods/ candy/ice cream

doesnt sound like much but im sure that is like 60% of my diet at least right there.

Things i will be eating-

Turkey/Chicken (never deep fried)/Fish/Vegetables/Fruit/ Eggs (counts as chicken?)

basically i assume a lot of people on here have done similar things and i wanted to see what your diets were/were you successful/how it went/what you can or cant eat/ any suggestions for healthy meals to make or places to eat

any info would be great

[Renton]

I just think if you eliminate all of those foods you will quickly fail. Definitely cut dessert foods out. Definitely cut liquid calories out (no beer, no soda). Other than that I say eat what you like just in less quantity.

There's not that much wrong with red meat, its actually quite filling. Fatty foods are generally more filling than the alternative. Also, regarding cheese, I personally would have a hard time doing without it. Just don't eat entrees that are heavy on cheese (stay away from italian food). Putting cheese on a sandwich or burger seems fine to me.

Main things I'd try to 100% abstain from:

- desserts/candy etc
- soda, beer, liquor, sweetened tea, juice (you get the idea, no drinkable calories)
- extremely carbheavy cheese heavy foods like italian or casseroles
- carbs that accompany the main food (for example eat the burger but hold the fries)
- probably fruit, i know people say fruit is healthy, but to me its basically sugar that doesn't really fill you up
- if you eat salads, stay away from thick dressings like ranch or 1000 island, a balsamic viniagrette or similar requires that you use so much less for the same sized salad

[bigspenda73]

If you truly only eat what you say you're going to eat the pounds should fly off

but you won't, cuz fatty smokers can't help themselves

[kevster]

Hello FTR
I am basically a lazy bum

Take regular exercise and you can, within reason, eat what you like

[wufwugy]

Most people who don't "know anything" about losing weight actually know most of what they need to know. Their mistake is that they're not being honest with themselves about what they're really consuming and how much effort they're really putting into everything

time + hard work = results. If you're not getting the results it's because you're breaking the formula.

[jyms]

Put cow back in the diet if you like to eat it, just be selective. Lean Beef is good for weight loss. I also prefer to add certain cheeses to my diet and drop fruit, but that's me.

[PapalRage]

If at all possible, try to have like 6 smaller meals a day to help keep your metabolism going strong. Eating breakfast is also real key in getting your metabolism going.

Also, working out is waaay more important than diet if you want to lose significant weight.

[jyms]

The 6 small meals for metabolism is a fallacy, and eating is actually more important to losing weight than exercise. You can lose weight by diet alone, but eat whatever you want and you can't lose shit no matter how hard you work out.. These are all just myths that have been brought up to sell books.

[PapalRage]

The 6 small meals for metabolism is a fallacy, and eating is actually more important to losing weight than exercise. You can lose weight by diet alone, but eat whatever you want and you can't lose shit no matter how hard you work out.. These are all just myths that have been brought up to sell books.

hmm, i have always felt better/ more energetic eating the smaller meals. maybe its just a placebo effect thing.

[bigspenda73]

If at all possible, try to have like 6 smaller meals a day to help keep your metabolism going strong. Eating breakfast is also real key in getting your metabolism going.

Also, working out is waaay more important than diet if you want to lose significant weight.

I mean you could try to be more wrong, but I don't think you could accomplish it.

[kiwiMark]

Does that mean it's neutral or better to have just breakfast, lunch and dinner, or what's the deal?

[bigspenda73]

Does that mean it's neutral or better to have just breakfast, lunch and dinner, or what's the deal?

The names of the meals get in the way. There are arguments for both but in the long run you're not a special snowflake and eating 2, 3, or 10 meals a day will work if you handle the following:

Get in ample protein and fill in the rest with green veggies. If you become less than an lolfatty then we can begin discussing slightly more advanced dieting principles but the key for fatties is keeping your overall caloric intake lower than your expenditure, that's it. If you want the best possible results while doing so a high(er) protein diet has proven to be great for many factors including compliance.

[jyms]

Smaller meals are best if you are having issues with digestion or are never hungry. Some people when upping the protein to adequate levels are unable to actually eat all the food they need. Protein has a higher satiety than carbs, and if you start eating more fiber and protein it gets hard to have 3 big meals to get calories in.

Basically, take your pounds in body weight, and try to get that many protein cals in a day. If your 200 lbs, eat 200 gms of protein, split it up any way that is comfortable. Eat at least 30 gms of fiber a day, try to work up to about 60 and mostly from vegetable choices, and that is it for what you eat. for calories, the less you eat, the faster you lose, but your not allowed to ever go below about 1 gm or protein per lb of body weight. Again, if the 200 lb person eats 200gms of protein and gets 30-60 gms of fiber through veggies, that's about 1100 cals a day, and will work out to about a 1800 calorie deficit in their BMR or about 2-3 lbs a week. Try to do that on a treadmill

[wufwugy]

hmm, i have always felt better/ more energetic eating the smaller meals. maybe its just a placebo effect thing.

The myth has to do with the weight loss stuff. Small/frequent feeding does have some measure of different physiological effects than large/infrequent feeding, but nothing directly regarding weight loss. Most results are inadvertent due to other factors having been changed, but "how you feel" can sometimes be attributed solely to quantity/frequency proportions

[philly and the phanatics]

thanks to everyone who has posted

i have heard eating before sleep or eating past midnight is really bad for you, any truth to this?

[wufwugy]

No

[jyms]

Time is not an issue, midnight is a state of mind for some people. Eating before bed on the other hand depends on a lot of things. When trying to lose weight, you may not have much control over the partitioning of those calories, but nothing is out rite proven. I haven't read a ton about it, but I do know it's better to eat something before bed if you have just worked out, because the muscle repair will not start without it, but if you've been inactive, the muscle glycogen is full and when your inactive for approx. 8 hours of sleep, there is nowhere for those calories to go. Also digestion can either interrupt sleep, or sleep may interrupt digestion. My guess would be depending on which your body needs more is what it will focus on.

If your eating a deficit of calories in a day, you may be hard pressed to get to bedtime without having eaten enough. I can say for certain, those who spend the most time on planning and preparation of meals over the course of losing weight or gaining muscle have the most success, and that success is not linear, they are 3-8 times more successful in a 3 month period. So if you need to eat, but have no food, or can't get food until the last possible minute, this will become a chore you can't finish.

[tyrn]

Just cut out the last 2 and you should be fine. Obviously you know greasy and deep fried foods aren't great so don't pig out on them, but they won't kill you.

Also consider some sort of strength training. More muscle mass will require more energy to maintain and help you achieve a calorie deficit without starving yourself, and you wont be a twig after losing the fat. "Starting strength" is a good program recommended to people starting out.

How many total calories and the proportion of carbs/protein/fat you eat in a day will have a much larger effect on your progress than what time you eat them. Fact is, food takes time to digest, so even hours after a meal, you're still absorbing nutrients. This site has some good articles on nutrition that should debunk lots of myths: Articles - AlanAragon.com - Fitness Based on Science & Experience

[!Luck]

I lost close to 12 pounds this year, while gaining strength (167-->155) The main thing I did was reduce my portions. I still drink, beer (but less), I still drink starbucks (large specialty dirnk has like 400 calories it is crazy fatting, especially when you poor extra milk into, plus all that confine messes up your sleep cycle). Just eat less. I know that sounds overly simplistic but it works.

Some ways I accomplish by eating less, is when i go to restaurants I ask for a doggy bag at the begging of the meal and before I take a SINGLE bite, i put half or quarter of it to the box, that way im not tempted to eat it all. When I do order sugary drinks I go for the smallest size, EVEN if it is uneconomical.

I stopped buying Pepsi, I still have it when I am out, but it is no longer in my house, I learned to love water. I try to never feel full. Avoid ever using food a reward for doing thing.

Cardio helps, if you can't run, start some walking 25 minutes. build up from there. Then start jogging.

Lastly, I try to eat a fairly large breakfast, a medium size lunch and a small dinner. Keep bananas in the house to snack. Since chips are calorie dense and are salty which makes you want to drink something sugary.

If you try to just cutting everything out your odds of succeeding for the long term are nearly zero.