Dieting Suck!

Stepped on the scales a few weeks back and noticed a number I wasn't familar with, so it is diet time. I am going the low fat route as historically it works best for me that and I can have the occassional beer. Well occassional went over board and had 7 last night and feel like a bloated cow. Any suggestions to speed things up?

 

after you eat..stick your finger down your throat.

 

EX-LAX IS THE WAY TO GO.

 

I'm on the same page with you. And old pal told me i had put on some weight. Totally aghast the he would say something like that since we cross paths like once every two weeks. But i stepped on the scales last night and didn't like what i saw...and i've been told to always add 5lbs to whatever the scale says in order to get an accurate read (is this a myth?).

So, i've started my diet today. Munch on only fruit. Absolutely no chips, dip, fried foods, meat (chicken is my exception). Drink a lot of water, milk, and juice. Most importantly: Eat only when you are extremely hungry and before 7pm. After 7, just stick to liquids and fruit. Sometimes one thinks they are hungry when they are really only bored.

Must stay active, too. Go on walks, runs, or join a gym and hop on the treadmill (if you like to exercise in AC).

 

Re: Re: Dieting Suck!

Treadmill and I are getting reaquianted, it is a little easier to diet in summer with the fresh fruits and veggies all over the place. I like water alright but I am going with very lightly sugerred tea. (Is sugerred a word? ) I am eating what I want in moderation one time a day usually lunch and then virtually no fat afterwords. Pears, apples etc. Also those rice cake things with carmel flavoring are good

 

fruits have alot of carbs which you will burn before fat.

 

Damned if you do, damned if you don't

 

yep

 

I've preached this before but will do so again.

Cut your carbs way down, maybe 30-40 at the most per day. The first 4 days are the hardest, after that you'll shed the weight real fast and you won't be hungry. Eat all of the eggs, meats, and cheeses you want. You are counting carbs not calories. See, once your body is burning fat for energy, it won's store fat, so the fat in the meat and cheese is harmless. You may say your cholesterol will go sky high but the opposite will happen, it will actually drop. Dropping your protein during dieting is a mistake because only protein maintains muscle mass...if you lose muscle mass and then stop dieting, you will gain back all of the lost muscle weight in fat. It is not nearly as hard as it seems....do a search on Atkins and Low Carb and you'll find tons of message boards and recipes. And yes, you can still have your beer....just as long as you count the carbs in your daily total. For example, you could have two Ribeyes for dinner with 7 Miller Lites and still be way under the limit. Another advantage is you lose weight fast so it inspires you to keep with it.

Cardio will help, but the long term answer is weight training to put on muscle. Each pound of muscle takes 50 calories per day just to maintain normal body temp. So if you gain 10 pounds of muscle, that is 500 calories per day or 3500 calories per week...a pound of fat is 3500 calories. See what I mean? You don't have to go the gym evey day and do something boring to burn 500 calories, you can burn the extra 500 without doing anything.

I was up to about 215 with a tight 36 inch waist about 3 years ago. Then someone took a picture of me and I said "I am a fat ass." So I started the low carb thing. I've been going to the gym religously for years but I had gotten to the state where I was "sleepwalking" through the cardio and lifting. Now, I have a loose 34 waiste. I got down to 175 pounds (about 3% body fat) and have put on about 30 pounds of muscle to bring me to 210 (8% body fat).

To maintain, I keep up with the lifting and do something called "carb cycling" where M-Thursday I have about 50-60 grams of carbs and then the rest of the week it is anything goes...including beer, ice cream etc. My body can now metabolise the extra calories so I don't gain any fat.