I'm on a diet!!!

[wa-loaf]

Is it weird that I want to loose some weight before ski season and couldn't care less about the summer?

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

You've got the right idea here. Try expirimenting with different food like brown rice, quinoa, sweet potato, barley ect.... eat everything whole grain and you'll soon get used to it. Buy your food as close to nature as you can get it (and afford).

I was pretty heavy a little over a year ago and have slowly dropped 45 pounds

Wow 45 pounds..My Mom told me that I'll eventually become a health nut..

 

[severine]

Smarter choices do go a long way. Granted, I'm not always good about it (and lately my eating habits have slid a bit again ) but since 2003, I'm down 52 lbs. And that's with gaining weight in the interim while growing 2 babies that needed to be lost again (so overall pounds lost is a lot higher when you factor that in, over less time because of the pregnancies). Brian lost a lot, too. Slow and steady...

ETA: mind you, I posted this while simultaneously browsing recipes for homemade ice cream.

 

[Trekchick]

You're probably going to hate me but...........
I usually gain about 10 lbs in the summer, which I have.
I usually drop at least 10 lbs in the winter.
Completely backwards of what people normally do.
In the summer, I have an inclination to icecream and hot fudge. In the winter, I like to be outside in the snow all the time, and tend to live on soups.

 

[drjeff]

My general rule of thumb if I'm cooking is to have atleast 3 different colored foods on the plate. I find that if I do this, and do it without the use of processed foods, that I'll be eating a healthy, generally speaking lower cal/lower fat/lower carb meal that tends to be quite tasty.

Myself personally from having a slighter "rounder" physique from time to time , and having on multiple occassions dropped 20+ lbs, that they key for me to loosing wieght isn't so much increasing my excercise(I'm pretty darn faithfull year round of doing a solid 60 minutes of cardio 5+ days a week), but really watching my carb intake. For my metabolism, it's very easy, I go on a carb bender and the scale goes up, and ofetn quickly. If I restrict the carbs (especially from processed foods), the weight tends to fall off me quickly too, to the point where under many circumstances, I can literally drop a quick 8 to 12 lbs in 1 week very easily if I go low carb, high protein (ala Atkins style) for a week

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

The book I got yesterday is called..Eat This Not That..it's by one of the editors of Mens Health..apparently spinach and blueberries are two foods I should eat regularly..

I just turned 29 yesterday and my goal is to be in much better shape when I am 30..plus I get a little self conscience taking my shirt off..whether to swim or with a girl...I freaking hate being a 38 inch waist..I feel like wider people look shorter..my brother in law is my same height but real skinny and he looks taller from a distance..I guess all the belly fat causes me to slouch..

 

[drjeff]

A simple way to cut your caloric intake its to pay attention to how many liquid calories you consume, and I'm not just talking beer. Take the Gatorade G2 that keeps popping up in your lunch every so often, have water or a diet soda instead and you've saved yourself over around a hundred calories. Doesn't sound like alot but over time them add up.

I see it all the time in my patients (I see frequent consumption of calorie containing beverages almost daily as a cause of tooth decay). So many beverages out there that folks will often just chug quickly without really thinking of their nutrional consequences will give them a quick 1 to 200+ calories, and then many folks will have multiple doses of those beverages all day long. In all seriousness if you have a cup or 2 of coffee light and sweet with sugar in the AM and a couple bottles of juice/sweetened iced tea/soda/sports drinks the rest of the day, you've consumed close to, if not over 1000 "liquid" calories that day.

 

[snoseek]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Steeze this is also good advice. Keep the beer in moderation and ditch any drinks that are high in sugar. I would also stay away from drinking a lot of diet soda as that is high in sodium and other crap you don't need, maybe one a day or something.

I'll go ahead and say I'm now a personal chef for clients just like you who want to get away from processed food and become healthy for the long run. It would benefit you to ditch the diet mentality and slowly start changing things for good. It would take a while getting used to eating so much whole grain, veg, lean meat, nuts, seeds ect... but eventually this is the food you'll want to eat. I warn all of my clients about this and try to ease them into it-works pretty good so far I think.

Oh and you have lot's of time to cook, it takes some planning. You have 6000 post. If you have the money hire a chef like myself to roll into your home once per week and make all your dinners ahead of time-one that specializes in healthy eating. With the time spent cooking you could run,bike,swim, whatever..

 

[bvibert]

Oh and you have lot's of time to cook, it takes some planning. You have 6000 post. If you have the money hire a chef like myself to roll into your home once per week and make all your dinners ahead of time-one that specializes in healthy eating. With the time spent cooking you could run,bike,swim, whatever..

That's a nice idea, but I know that we can't even afford to be buying all the good, natural foods (we were for a while, but had to cut back), let alone hire someone to cook them for us. Not to mention that if we had the money to hire someone to come into our house once a week it would be to watch the kids for a few hours so we could get some alone time.. Preparing all your food takes a lot of time, time that a lot of people just don't have. I'd much rather eat pre-packaged food and be able to go out for a MTB ride then sit at home making food (no time to do both).

 

[bvibert]

I meant to mention that the one thing that's really helped me lose weight in the past is to track the food that I eat throughout the day. You'll be amazed how many calories you take in during an average day. It's kind of a PITA, especially at first. I've only managed to be diligent about it for a like a month or so at a clip, but it helps you be conscious about what you're shoving in your mouth, even when you're not tracking. I'm going to start tracking again today actually, to get myself back on track.

There's several websites out there that make the tracking easier...

 

[Trekchick]

Good point, about food tracking Brian.
Another think to watch is eating in the car.
If you cut out eating in the car, you'll eliminate a good portion of useless calories, and quite often, an lot of fat intake.

 

[bvibert]

Good point, about food tracking Brian.
Another think to watch is eating in the car.
If you cut out eating in the car, you'll eliminate a good portion of useless calories, and quite often, an lot of fat intake.

I don't eat much in the car (except on long trips ), but I can relate with mindless eating while doing other things, like web surfing and watching TV.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I don't eat much in the car (except on long trips ), but I can relate with mindless eating while doing other things, like web surfing and watching TV.

I read that you should not eat in front of the TV or internet..I would guess that most of my meals are in front of the TV or computer..l:-?

 

[severine]

Yup, mindless eating is a huge problem in overeating. You don't realize how much you're eating, and then it screws up the hunger signals so you still think you're hungry afterwards. I'll admit to eating in front of the computer during the day, and in the car with the kids... both are terrible habits.

 

[snoseek]

That's a nice idea, but I know that we can't even afford to be buying all the good, natural foods (we were for a while, but had to cut back), let alone hire someone to cook them for us. Not to mention that if we had the money to hire someone to come into our house once a week it would be to watch the kids for a few hours so we could get some alone time.. Preparing all your food takes a lot of time, time that a lot of people just don't have. I'd much rather eat pre-packaged food and be able to go out for a MTB ride then sit at home making food (no time to do both).

Not really saying you have to buy organic, free range chicken ect.... just only buying food that has redeeming qualities. In the end this is way cheaper than buying processed foods. Pound for pound a big ol bag of brown rice or barley is a whole lot cheaper than the alternatives. Chips, cookies, ice cream, and all that other stuff that takes up at least 50% of the shelves is a true waste of money. Buying veg that is on sale also helps and keeps things simple. Grocery stores seem to me to be set up so that the average home cook blows $$$$ on stuff (pre-stuffed chicken, pasta helpers, rice in a microwavable pouch) to imitate restaurant food. Eliminate all this from grocery shopping and I bet most peoples grocery bill drops quite a bit and they get healthier.

I personally think it's worth the half-hour +- each night to make a simple healthy meal

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I'm down two pounds in two days so far...I've been laying off the fried food. This weekend I plan on doing a 10+ mile hike..I need to stay active instead of sitting around eating and drinking..

 

[tjf67]

Here is a novel idea for all those people trying to drop a few pounds. Stop sticking shit in your mouth. Its that easy.

 

[bvibert]

Here is a novel idea for all those people trying to drop a few pounds. Stop sticking shit in your mouth. Its that easy.

That's very insightful, you are wise beyond your years, thanks for taking the time to enlighten us!

 

[tjf67]

That's very insightful, you are wise beyond your years, thanks for taking the time to enlighten us!

You jest but its that easy.

 

[severine]

You jest but its that easy.

It is but it isn't...

...you see, for many, there's psychological baggage attached to food and eating. Not "that easy."

That's like telling an alcoholic that it's easy to be sober...just stop drinking.