Dieting again.

[schild]

This diet only works because it's easily achievable by the lazy.

In fact, it's less effort than eating fast food. on that same note - the self-control necessary to do this diet is just astounding.

[KallDrexx]

It's just the snacks and stuff like that at work

Bring nuts and such to work with you and have that for a snack.  Snacks aren't inheriently bad for you if you eat the right things, and a lot of diets focus on you eating all day to keep your metabolism going.

[Nebu]

Maintaining a healthy diet is hard.  Period.  We're constantly bombarded by food images and advertising, by social situations, and time constraints.  You really have to want to eat well in order to pull it off.  Short term diets will never work for this reason.  You really need to be committed to a change in lifestyle in order to stay healthy.

You've done an outstanding job making it this far Schild and it's a strong statement of your willpower.  

[Ookii]

The diet Schild is on will replace waterboarding by 2010.  It's that bad, but the weight does come off quick.

That said I'm on the same diet and had half a Tamale today. 

And soup for lunch 

And a muffin 

[schild]

That's not the diet. That's the sound of total failure.

[stray]

Kudos and all, but I think a diet that drives you a little nuts is generally not a good idea.   You don't have to starve yourself to lose weight, and the whole process shouldn't be so much of an aggravation. Especially the whole depriving one's self of carbs thing.. I mean, yeah, we do digest a ton of them and need to cut that out, but generally speaking, carbs are good -- you need that energy -- and if you use that boost in energy from them, it'll only help you burn calories. The carbs aren't bad -- it's the fact that we don't use them that's bad.

Basically, the real activity when it comes to losing weight should be moving our fat asses more, not starving ourselves. Diet-wise, the only thing you should really worry about is not GORGING on complete shit. And.. Drinking more water.

[schild]

Trust me when I say I am not under the illusion that this is healthy. Its about rapid weight loss. When you come up with a better minimum input/maximum output plan Ill consider your advice useful. Until then, goodbye fat stomach. Hello, ribs.

[Jimbo]

Rock on Schild!

My weight loss regiment, since I have gotten out of the service, is to do a less than 1000 cal a day diet of 6 meals.  The diet is low fat and low cal, but high fiber, lots of raw fruit and vegies.  Add that to a regiment of 2 to 3 cardio sessions and 1 weight training and 1 flexability training and it rocks.

Now if I could get my damn employers to think that we need to actually have a lunch break and let us eat, instead of standing up and slamming food in 5 mins so we can get back out and cover the area (it is like still being in the field) and working 12 hour shifts (which turn into 13+ hours), so it screws with your plans.

[Signe]

My nephew had terrible migraines.  He cut out all nitrates and they went away almost immediately.  Organic everything and fresh killed meat, when he could get it.  No chocolate, either... or... BACON!!!  NO BACON EVER!!!!

[Engels]

GF went on a diet and exercise plan that lost her a lot of weight, but then she plateaued out just around 10 lbs above where she wanted to be. Every single day she runs 3 miles, lifts weights, does tai chi twice a week and keeps a strict vegetarian diet with low sugar, no milk products and the last 10 lbs just won't come off. She has to keep doing what she's doing to keep the weight off, and thankfully, she doesn't mind the exercise that much, but at the end of the day, I think she's accepted that not everyone is meant to look like a model, and some folks are just built a particular way and that's that.

Me, I'm pear shaped. Exercise loses me 7 lbs and then I get bored :P

[Nebu]

GF went on a diet and exercise plan that lost her a lot of weight, but then she plateaued out just around 10 lbs above where she wanted to be. Every single day she runs 3 miles, lifts weights, does tai chi twice a week and keeps a strict vegetarian diet with low sugar, no milk products and the last 10 lbs just won't come off. She has to keep doing what she's doing to keep the weight off, and thankfully, she doesn't mind the exercise that much, but at the end of the day, I think she's accepted that not everyone is meant to look like a model, and some folks are just built a particular way and that's that.

She needs to change her workout routine and increase the intensity and the last 10 lbs will come off in about 3-4 weeks.  She may also need to reduce her caloric intake enough to alter her current metabolic pattern.  This will work if she's really interested in losing those last 10 pounds.  Plateaus are very common during weight loss... they are a sign that your body has adjusted to the current plan and needs some new shaking up.

I so should have been a personal trainer instead of a research scientist! 

[stray]

Trust me when I say I am not under the illusion that this is healthy. Its about rapid weight loss. When you come up with a better minimum input/maximum output plan Ill consider your advice useful. Until then, goodbye fat stomach. Hello, ribs.

I admit, I couldn't give a better plan for rapid weight loss -- But I'd rather ask why you need a rapid plan in the first place? You're better off with a habit changing plan, one which could still produce great results in 3 months time, one which keeps the weight off so you don't have to worry about this again.

Also, your goal should be being healthy -- That's the ironic thing here! Weight loss is a result of that. Simply not wanting a better appearance is not a good enough goal.

[MrHat]

Still time Nebu! We could start an Ask Nebu column!  or blog.

[schild]

Simply not wanting a better appearance is not a good enough goal.

Obviously, Doctor, you're wrong.

[Margalis]

The hard part of dieting is changing shopping habits. I tend to order out a lot which makes it very hard. When I don't order out I eat very healthy.

[Engels]

She needs to change her workout routine and increase the intensity and the last 10 lbs will come off in about 3-4 weeks.  She may also need to reduce her caloric intake enough to alter her current metabolic pattern.  This will work if she's really interested in losing those last 10 pounds.  Plateaus are very common during weight loss... they are a sign that your body has adjusted to the current plan and needs some new shaking up.

To be honest, short of military boot camp, I'm not sure how much more intense the girl can get. The point is, for a healthy person, she's exercising well above the mean already, and eats like a rabbit. If losing the additional 10 lbs requires more than an hour and a half of exercise a day and an even more restrictive diet, to me its obvious that her body simply wasn't designed to be minus those 10 lbs. Just because society dictates that you should look a certain way, doesn't mean that nature actually wants you to. She recently had a full physical check up from her doc; she has well below average blood pressure and colesterol (in good ways) and aside from vexing alergies, she's fit as a horse. Maybe we shold simply be a little less superficial about appearances and accept dthat nature's design might not fit into Vogue magazine this century.

[stray]

Simply not wanting a better appearance is not a good enough goal.

Obviously, Doctor, you're wrong.

Well, I'm no Doctor, but Doctor Nebu agrees with me, I'm sure. ;)

Anyways, even if improving your appearance is a big factor, having "health" as your primary focus is better for that too. It's an all encompassing thing. While concentrating on looks just encourages a quick fix -- something that your body is going to get tired of being put through again and again.

Besides that, it doesn't teach the kind of diet it takes to keep in good shape -- and without that discipline, you will relapse into obesity. That puts another nail in your goal of keeping up appearances.

Or lets say that you don't exactly relapse -- this kind of diet makes you weaker and less energetic anyways. It's going to be even harder to adopt a good workout routine after all is said and done. Which means that you'll stay skinny -- but you'll still be soft. Which isn't good for appearances either.

If you do relapse, you're even more fucked. You'll be getting heavy again, but too lethargic and undisciplined to kick your ass out of it... And you're back at square one. Possibly even worse... Because that'll be a pretty fucking depressing scenario, I must say.

Basically, even if you want a better appearance, it ultimately takes a healthy outlook. It takes work. And it isn't even that bad! No one has to get all crazy and shit -- just grab a friend and walk a few miles every day for starters. The way you guys like to bullshit with people, you'll be done before you know it. Just move, stretch, and get your joints working again. Later on, do some weight training on your shoulders and back before anything else. After that, the sky's the fucking limit.

[Signe]

Ice Cream Diet!

[Selby]

I'd be interested in hearing what kinds of exercise people are doing while losing weight.

No sodas or overloading on Mexican food got me from 295 to 245 in a year.  No exercise, etc.  I decided to lose more and went from 245 to 205 just by doing cardio on a bike.  60 minutes, bike riding to nowhere while catassing in front of the console.  Amounts to around 16 miles and 750-800 calories (according to the little meter, for what that is worth).  I don't like weights so I haven't used them (and I'm cheap).  I try and do 5-6 days a week, but with a 5 month old I'm lucky if I can get 3-4 days.  I want to get to 175, but that's just a little crazy for my height (77") and I really don't want to stop eating most foods.  Maybe once I get to 195 I will be satisfied.

[stray]

Yikes! Yeah, 175 would be puny. Good luck on 195 though. I'm 76" at 200 (personally, I'd rather have an extra 20-25 lbs of muscle weight). This is normal for our height apparently. 175 isn't. Hope you get there.

I "dieted" once long ago. I wouldn't really call it dieting though. I was put on anti-depressants in my late teens, and soon after, I became a lard ass at 250. I just vegged out and ate whatever was easy to get. I then decided to quit the meds, and dropped 50. Somehow, that shocked me back into having a life again. Eating habits changed, and I started moving more.

[edit] I should add that you should really do some moderate weight training at least. Getting to 175 would be a good thing -- if you packed on 20-25 lbs of muscle on top of that. Your body fat should be as if you were 175.. Know what I'm saying? But being 195-205 without the muscle isn't exactly ideal.

[Jimbo]

Well for cheap weight training you can do push ups and sit ups, those work great.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who catasses on a stationary bike while playing, heck I even have the computer set up on a stationary bike now, so when I play MMOG's I don't feel bad now.

[Llava]

No chocolate, either... or... BACON!!!  NO BACON EVER!!!!

I don't know what I'd do without bacon.

I had some fantastic bacon this weekend with Easter brunch.  It was over at my best friend's parents' place, they made some great bacon.  Just traditional style, but the kind that's so well-executed that it reminds you why it's a classic part of breakfast.

Indeed, bacon is a great thing.

Bacon bacon bacon.

[lamaros]

So once you lose all this weight are you going to start eating healthy and exercising? Or how do you plan to stay your preferred weight?

Seems a weird way of going about such things, but whatever makes you happy I guess.

[DraconianOne]

To be honest, short of military boot camp, I'm not sure how much more intense the girl can get. The point is, for a healthy person, she's exercising well above the mean already, and eats like a rabbit. If losing the additional 10 lbs requires more than an hour and a half of exercise a day and an even more restrictive diet, to me its obvious that her body simply wasn't designed to be minus those 10 lbs. Just because society dictates that you should look a certain way, doesn't mean that nature actually wants you to. She recently had a full physical check up from her doc; she has well below average blood pressure and colesterol (in good ways) and aside from vexing alergies, she's fit as a horse. Maybe we shold simply be a little less superficial about appearances and accept dthat nature's design might not fit into Vogue magazine this century.

Has she had her body fat measured?  That will tell her whether or not there's any more weight to come off.  If her body fat is above say ~20% then she can afford to lose a little more weight.  If it's about 15%, not so much - unless she's thinking of becoming an athlete.  It's all very well aiming for a target weight but she needs to be sure that her body can realistically get to that weight.  

I'm back dieting after a poor winter where I've put on too much weight again.  I'm currently 210lbs and am looking to drop to about 190 (74" height).  Mostly this is going to be through dropping about 750Kcal from my daily requirement (currently ~2500) and getting back to exercising again for about an hour a day (or about 500Kcal worth).  I'm looking to lose about 2lbs a week but mostly concentrating on lowering body fat while building lean body mass.  Vanity plays a part but mostly because my hobbies that aren't playing games/watching films are a little, shall we say, less sedentary.  

I so should have been a personal trainer instead of a research scientist! 

I'm sidelining into this (personal training - not being a research scientist) next year after a couple of years of helping people with their exercise and nutrition plans.

[Raging Turtle]

The first post of this thread has some very specific and accurate information on everything everything diet to gaining weight to basic exercises.  The rest of the thread has a good variety of Q/A.

Yeah, it's the PA forums, but the information is well researched.  There's a huge amount of bad information on the web about diet and exercise, much of which is endlessly repeated.  Spot reduction, 'toning' muscles with crazy high rep amounts, vastly overworking muscle groups in a weekly routine, etc. 

/has been back at the gym for about 2 months now after six months of nothing and it feels fantastic. 

[DraconianOne]

I concur.  It's a pretty good article apart from the list of "bad" foods.  Potatoes?  Is he kidding?  Potatoes are a great food as long as you prepare them right.  A baked potato is a very good source of vitamin C, fibre, potassium and anti-oxidants.  Best of all, they contain absolutely no fat.  Unless you fry them or add a 2 kilos of cream or butter to it.

Also, while most people tend to avoid the candy, that's because they're mostly made up of sugars which is a pure form of carbohydrate and adds more calories per gram than more complex carbs and they have little to know nutritional value.  But they're not bad in themselves unless  you stuff your face full of them all day every day.  Moderation is the key.  Personally I always have a bag of jelly babies to hand for a small (25g, ~100Kcal) carb hit after a long run. 

Occasional small amounts of choclate can also be good for you because of the anti-oxidant properties.  The key words there are OCCASIONAL and SMALL. 

[Raging Turtle]

Potatoes aren't a 'bad' food, they're just something you should stay away from when you're trying to lose weight.  There's far better ways to get the good stuff in potatoes without actually, you know, eating potatoes.

Candy after a run?  Weird.     I usually have a protein powder shake or a banana (but half the time I do cardio I lift beforehand)

[K9]

Moderation is the key.

This more than any other piece of advice in my view.

[Nebu]

Also, your goal should be being healthy -- That's the ironic thing here! Weight loss is a result of that. Simply not wanting a better appearance is not a good enough goal.

Looking better can be enough of a goal to get people started in the right direction.  Schild is right to a point, in an "end justifies the means" sort of way.  Stray is also correct and I've seen entire psych wings filled with people suffering from eating disroders as my evidence. 

Sadly, taking the weight off is the easy part.  Keeping fit for life; that's the challenge. 

[OcellotJenkins]

The first post of this thread has some very specific and accurate information on everything everything diet to gaining weight to basic exercises.  The rest of the thread has a good variety of Q/A.

Thanks for sharing that.

[DraconianOne]

Potatoes aren't a 'bad' food, they're just something you should stay away from when you're trying to lose weight. 

Please back this up with sound, nutritional reasoning because frankly, from where I'm standing, it's a load of crap. 

The thing with the candy after running (and I'm thinking specifically of things like Jelly Babies - easy to chew and swallow) is no different to eating a banana or having an isotonic drink (except that Jelly Babies/Bananas not so good on the fluid replacement front).  After a long run (~90-120 minutes) the glycogen reserves in your muscles have usually been depleted and need replacing to help recovery.  Glucose/sucrose is a highly efficient way of doing this.  If you're only running for 30-60 minutes then it's not so necessary.  If you're carrying excess fat (like I currently am), this is also less likely to be a problem as IIRC that will get consumed before the muscle protein starts to get broken down.

[Nebu]

Potatoes aren't a 'bad' food, they're just something you should stay away from when you're trying to lose weight. 

Please back this up with sound, nutritional reasoning because frankly, from where I'm standing, it's a load of crap. 

Potatos are a high starch, low nutrient food.  They're not bad, there just exist better forms of starch that are both higher in nutrients as well as being higher in fiber. 

As for candy after running: also not a great idea making jelly beans a poorer source than a banana or apple.  Glucose/Dextrose are fine for replenishing stores.  Fructose, not so much.  Most sweets contain fructose as the energy source.  Less processing = better.  A piece of fruit is a better choice after a run. 

[Dash]

Trust me when I say I am not under the illusion that this is healthy. Its about rapid weight loss. When you come up with a better minimum input/maximum output plan Ill consider your advice useful. Until then, goodbye fat stomach. Hello, ribs.

Ok cool.  I didnt want to come off as a dick for saying it's probably not healthy heh.   I dont know exactly what your diet is but I've seen some crazy all liquid diets that are pretty radical.  Still 80 pounds in 3 months is a lot if you're only 300ish. 

Also consider, if the goal is physical appearance, just losing fat and muscle is not as good as getting lean.

I'd be interested in hearing what kinds of exercise people are doing while losing weight.  I've been watching calories, cut back on beer, and have tried to walk or jog with the dog a few times during the week.

It's mostly what you eat that will determine fat loss.  That said...

Free weight routine for the win.  Personally, I've been using this book.  Or if you're the type who really cant stand that sort of thing, HIIT for the win..  Ideally, both.

But, anything is better than nothing.  Find something you like to do, if you're into walking and jogging go for it if that's what you'll stick with. 

[schild]

All the people who are naysaying the diet don't seem to understand that all of their alternatives take effort. I'd rather lose the fat (and some muscle at the same time) and then work to bulk back up. It's a fuckload easier than seeing tiny incremental changes from working out 5 days a week and slightly altering the quality of your diet.

The alternatives were boring and more effort than they were worth. All I'm doing is min/maxing. What people are recommending is the opposite of that. Sure, they may be safer, but then, a lot of things are safer than min/maxing. Particularly when it's not in an MMORPG.

[Dash]

Yah but it's Min Maxing in Everquest.  You're zooming to level 50, you get there with crappy gear then you're dying repeatedly and losing your levels.