Alright people, I've been doing a lot of research lately on diets, and I want us to talk about it. I want help!

I haven't been watching what I eat for years. I usually eat out at restaurants 4 times a week, so there isn't much to do except order what you like. I've drastically reduced what I eat (since about 2 weeks ago), and I'm already losing weight (7 pounds so far).

Slim-Fast for breakfast (usually don't eat) - turkey, mustard, lettuce, and tomato in a pita pocket for lunch, and usually chicken or pork chops for dinner, with a veggie or two on the side (green beans, corn, or some rice). I've pretty much cut my calories down to roughly 1,200-1,500. Sometimes I don't have time to eat lunch, so I grab a handful of almonds (very good for you, high MUFA) and a South Beach Diet chocolate bar (not outrageous on fat/calories, has good protein and fiber).

Here are a couple websites I've found recently that I thought were extremely interesting:


Top 20 worst foods in America: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21838237/?pg...DY_20WorstFoods (I'm guilty of #4, #7, and #20).
The Worst Food in America is Outback Steahouse's Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing with 2,900 calories, 182g fat, 240g carbs! Granted, most people won't eat the entire thing by themself, but I could easily eat half, and that's still unbelievable!

Eat This, Not That http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/burgerking.html
This comparison shows what to get, and what not to get at places like Burger King, Wendy's, McD's, Olive Garden, Panera, Sonic, Domino's, etc.
Did you know a burger from Sonic is better than the Chicken Club Toaster?

The Ten Best Foods you Aren't Eating - http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?s...'t%20Eating
Cabbage, Guava, Swiss chard, Cinnamon, Purslane, Pomegrenate Juice, etc.... (click the next links, hard to find at first)


Eat Fat to Lose Fat (MonoUnsaturated Fatty Acids - MUFAs) http://health.msn.com/weight-loss/articlep...7&gt1=10816
"Researchers have discovered that eating fat—a very specific kind—is actually one of the best ways to fight both subcutaneous and visceral belly fat.

A new, cutting-edge study published in Diabetes Care in July 2007 and conducted by scientists at Reina SofĂ*a University Hospital in CĂłrdoba, Spain, placed a group of overweight people on 4-week diets containing the same number of calories but with different ratios of carbohydrate and fat. The plan rich in monounsaturated fats prevented the accumulation of both types of belly fat—without additional exercise."

(eat Almonds, Peanuts, Olive Oil, etc.)

Top 5 Flat Belly Foods - http://www.prevention.com/cda/article/meet...diet.food/0/0/2

Restaurant Nutritional Info - http://www.dwlz.com/restaurants.html - Alright, this is a Weight Watcher's website, but it has information about TONS of restaurants. Check it out before going, and see what the fat/calories are in certain meals. I can't believe how many times "healthy" looking Chicken entrees are worse than the fatty burgers! I've been surprised many times.

 

I do the modified atkins diet when I want to loose weight. I'm doing it right now. It works well for me. Here's how it goes:

Monday-friday <20 net carbs and lots of water
saturday-sunday eat mcdonalds or pizza or what ever I was craving all week once a day and drink lots of water

I call it modified atkins because on the true atkins you do not eat carbs on the weekends. You stick with the diet and every 2 weeks or so you increase your carbohydrate intake until you stop loosing weight. I could not stick with the Atkins diet. The modified version allows more freedom, less frustration, and a reward to work for at the end of the week.

Water is the key to loosing weight regardless of what diet you are on. It flushes out your system and allows it to work more efficiently. Kinda like trying to wash clothes without enough water. You're trying to get the fat out and without a way to go, it will stick around. You pee fat out, that's the way it exits your body.

The idea behind the atkins diet is to lower your blood sugar so that your body has to burn fat in order to make the energy it needs. but you MUST drink water because of the ammount of other substances in meat, it can cause kidney stones if you become dehydrated.

For those who don't know, atkins diet works on net carbs, not total carbs. You can have as much fiber and sugar alcohol (not that kind) as you want. You have to stay away from Sugar and Glycerine. Fiber and Sugar Alcohol have no impact on blood sugar. It is a very effective diet and works well.

I average 10lbs loss per week, and for some reason 2 gained back on the weekends, so overall a total of 8lbs per week.

 

Personally....

I'm having a hard time losing weight. I'm working out while trying to lose weight, and it's a catch-22. There's a saying, "You can gain weight, or you can lose weight, you can't do both" ... I'm doing pullups, push ups, and messing with dumb bells. Not doing much cardio... but everything I do is working my abs. I've decided to get skinny rather than beef up, so I just do the exercises when I get bored so I don't snack. I'm not a fan of cardio, but i'm going to have to suck it up eventually.

I'm taking a Slim-Fast every morning on the way to work, sometimes coupled with a bagel and cheese.

For lunch, I take two Hydroxycut an hour before eating, Mozzarella String Cheese, usually a South Beach candy bar of some sorts, a handful or two of almonds, and a turkey sandwich (mustard, turkey, lettuce, and tomato - either in a wheat pita pocket or on wheat bread).

For dinner, I grille pork chops marinated in Low Sodium Dale's Sauce, Chicken marinated in Teriyaki, or Shake 'n Bake chicken. Sides usually include rice (Uncle Ben's 90 second rice pilaf), green beans, or whole kernel corn. Last night I had a grilled cheese and 3/4 can of Progresso Low Sodium Chicken Noodle Soup (I guess it was the 16oz. or 20oz. size).

I've lost about 7 pounds in these couple weeks, and it's noticeable around the belly area. I'm trying to cut out the beer and margaritas (Cuervo is my weakness!). I'm trying to cut out ALL potato and fried types of foods (no more french fries, buffalo wild wings, or chips). I've also cut out all sodas, and I drink about 80oz. of water daily.

What I'm doing isn't very healthy... I need to eat more substance. I need to eat more often. I need more calories, fat, and carbs. My problem is I expect immediate results, and I get bummed out if I don't see it, and I throw in the towel saying it's not worth it. Now that I'm seeing the quick results, I'm hoping to ease into a "normal" healthy routine of eating. I'll eat more at lunch, instead of skipping the meal... I'll just make sure it's healthy. I'm a boredom eater... I sit down to watch TV, and ADD hits me hard. I'm up and down out of the chair, going to the kitchen just to see what's in the fridge. Instead of grabbing a bag of chips, I now grab the almonds and chew on a few of those. High in MUFA, protein, and fiber... and supposed to keep your metabolism churning for up to 5 hours I read. It also helps me drink more water, but only have 3mg Sodium per serving (but 6g protein, 3g fiber, ~9g MUFA, 1g sugar, and 166 calories)

Anyone else got some personal stories or suggestions?

 

I tried weight watchers a long time ago, it was too much math for me. If you take an average plate of food and try to divide it into portions of fruits, vegetables, and the rest of the food pyramid, it just dosn't work. There's too many mystery meals made from processed everything these days.

 

Great links and info!

Hold on, you ate out 4 times a week? My god. Not only is that not healthy, but expensive too! I'll eat out maybe at most 4 times a month. And by eating out I mean subway or chinese food. I always bring my own lunch, and its usually an awesome sandwich which I make myself. I save money and eat right. I try to limit my daily intake to at most 1000 calories, but it's usually less than that. If a snack has more than 100 calories, I usually won't eat it. If an entree has more than 500 calories, I usually wont eat it. Its so easy to keep track, just read the labels!

I work next door to a Dunkin Donuts, and all day I watch people come out with so much stuff. I don't know, it just amazes me at how so many people have let themselves go. Then they complain about it, but don't make an effort to do anything about it. Losing weight and eating healthy isn't hard at all, but if you're sitting on your ass eating mcdonalds everyday, then of course you wont see any results. Weight doesn't lose itself!

Even small things like parking at the opposite end of the parking lot so you have a further distance to walk to get into the store add up. I do as much walking as possible. Its great for your health and also saves gas.

 

lol, funny thing this comes up at this time. i go on my diet/workout kicks and i'm on one of them now after killing a 12 pack of guinness extra stout(even though it has way less calories than it seems) and subsequently downing enough calories from wendy's to feed a small army.

needless to say, i felt like shit the next day and am making an effort to watch what i eat.

 

Yeah, no joke. My wife was injured recently and was restricted to our house for an entire month. During that time, our expenditures from eating out dropped to 25% of our usual "dining" amount. By "eating out" I meant restaurants, not McDonald's... but not that it's much different. Macaroni Grille is just as bad as McDonald's (2400 calories and 100g+ fat for Spaghetti and Meatballs!)

Guinness Extra Stout
Calories 176 (6-pack = 1056)
Carbohydrates 14 g (6-pack = 84)
Alcohol 6%

 

Yeah, so let's say every time you eat at a restaurant, you spend $30. 4 times a week, thats $120. So, each month you spend $480 on eating out! That's a lotta money! I'm pointing it out because I know there are people that eat out more than that, some even everyday!

Lucky for me I don't eat anything on that list. We don't have Macaroni Grille here, or, at least not that I know of. I'll go out of my way to avoid it now that I know how unhealthy it is, lol.

My biggest weakness is coke (the drink). I've cut back significantly and only drink it a few times a week. I used to drink it every day.

 

lol, this is funny. just saturday we had a bunch of people over and we somehow started looking at all those diet books and just how bad some things can be for you...

and it is guiness reg. stout that has as much calories as about a light beer. i've been making these little pita pizza things. i dont know how everything adds up exactly, but i know pitas are next to nothing, as with spaghetti sauce. its just the cheese that i gotta watch out for, but thats the only thing i've had all day besides a cup of coffee and a can of green beans with a ton of garlic dumped in.

garlic is awesome.

 

I drink a few diet cokes per day. 0 calories! They're better tasting then water and they give you vitamin Caffeine


WTF?!?!? You must be very very small. I try to limit my calories to 2,500-3000 per day, sometimes I go over though. I work out 3 times a week.