Dids's WSOP '05 Get Less Fat Incentive Plan. [Archive]

regisd

07-12-2004, 12:55 PM

go you!

suggestions:
a whole lot of folks i know are doing the south beach diet -- it's carb-restricted, like atkins, but it doesn't have that "what, so you'll never eat a cookie again?" level of restriction. i don't know much more about it because i kind of tune people out when they start south-bitching (as we call it). another bunch of folks i know continues to swear by weight watchers (both at regular meetings and online), but really, it doesn't matter what the diet is as long as it's healthy and you can live with it and won't get all frustrated and go binging.

you might try reading the book "intuitive eating". (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312321236) it's more about dieting in general and the stuff that goes on in your head (and why people "screw up" diets) than just the "here's what to eat".

if you're looking at running, the marathoners i work with strongly suggest http://www.coolrunning.com/

i've been doing the "work out a few times a week and eat less crap" diet plan and it's been doing pretty well for me.

but it sounds like you've got an achievable goal and a good plan. good luck!

razor

07-12-2004, 12:57 PM

Exactly a year ago, I realized I was in horrendous shape (I knew it wasn't good but I didn't realize it was as bad as it was). I had been doing the treadmill thing - walking briskly (my knees don't take kindly to running) about 20 minutes a day, 4 days a week. But that wasn't doing my cardio any good and wasn't getting me any weight loss.

Once I realized how bad things were, I started doing a bit of research on the internet. I bought myself a cheapo polar heart rate monitor. I don't think they make the one I bought anymore, this Polar F1 (http://www.polarusa.com/Products/Consumer/F1.asp) is similar. Over the next couple weeks I increased the length and intensity of my workouts, until I was doing 45 minutes 4 days a week.

This site discusses fitness walking and this link in particular Target Heart Rates (http://www.thewalkingsite.com/thr.html) and how they are used for weight loss.

Once I increased the length and intensity of my workouts my weight started dropping and my heart got more efficient. I dropped about 27 pounds in the past year and got my bodyfat percentage to a more reasonable 17.5% (still could use more work there). Most of my weight loss was in the first 6 months. The last half year has been fairly stable, although I expect that diet improvements would yield further good results. Although I eat healthier than before that is one area that still need a lot of improvement for me. But I don't much like cooking or taking the time to prepare lunches, so I eat out far too much for lunch and don't eat as well as I should for dinner.

Site I found helpful:

The Walking Site (http://www.thewalkingsite.com/)

Rockport Walk Test (http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/Rockport.html)

ExRx.net (http://www.exrx.net/)

MyBodyComp.com (http://www.mybodycomp.com)

GOOD LUCK!!!

Gamblor

07-12-2004, 01:13 PM

Thoughts,

Don't be a fat ass man. There are enough people on this planet that may not judge you on your appearance alone, but certainly will get their first impression from your belly and multiple chins (more than the chinese phone book). I, for one, see a fat guy and think "doesn't he even care about his health?"

advice,

Don't worry about lifting weights and all that. You can't get rid of a belly with situps. Do stuff that's fun.

Play basketball for an hour every day until you're drenched in sweat. Then the next day organize a football game. Call up friends who you know are mildly athletic and suggest roller hockey. Working out is way more fun when you're trying to beat someone at it. When nobody is around, go for a 1K/2K/5K/10K run in the nearest park and try to beat your best time. But sports are the best way. sign up for a rec basketball league.

The key: if you're not sweating profusely, you didn't work out hard enough. Although something tells me you don't need to run to sweat.

Diets will only kill your motivation, and a good diet never ends. Believe it or not, you get used to salad and chicken and stuff like that - I used to hate that stuff, and over time it just becomes normal, as if there was nothing else to eat. You drive by McDicks and want to puke when you think about the [censored] in there.

Frankly, it's easy to love junk food - McDonald's, Oreos, etc. While I've never been anything close to overweight (actually a little too thin if you ask me), I finally over time got sick of junk food - probably a result of knowing what junk food really is; it's food made in test tubes, not real food that someone killed or harvested.

Next time you grab a piece of junk food, think about the scientist who sat there mixing chemicals into a test tube until he finally found the combination that would make it so chemically dangerous that bacteria died when they tried to eat it so it would stay preserved. Then, he poured in a little chocolate, and wrapped it in tin foil for $1.00.

Now, I can't even stand the sight of it.

abuse?

Fat ass. Get to work, you miserable piece of giant flab, then make me eat my words (are words junk food)?

turnipmonster

07-12-2004, 01:36 PM

they're right, coolrunning.com has a great free running log!

gamblor had some great advice re fast food and team sports. I hate team sports, always have, so running/swimming/biking is way more fun to me. you just have to figure out what type of person you are.

one more thought regarding your diet. going on a diet implies a temporary thing, something that you're going to go off of. what you want to do is change the way you eat in your regular life, from now on. not eating any fast food (and maybe learning to cook) are a great way to start.

eat stuff you like, but just eat less of it. if you snack, then snack on fruit.

--turnipmonster

Zetack

07-12-2004, 01:57 PM

Hey good luck.

I myself have decided to drop about 45 lbs. Which will put me in territory I haven't seen in about 12 years.

I've dumped about 10 lbs so far, though since I'm working out pretty hard, I've also gained some muscle, so maybe its a bit more than that in fat loss (I like to think so at any rate--but in the long run it doesn't matter as long as I keep working toward the goal--the exact numbers at any given time arent' that important).

Here's a thought about snacking. Don't buy snack food. Ever. If its not in the house you can't eat it. If snacking is a must, fruit is good--I think grapes are kinda like candy.

When I feel the urge to snack I make myself a healthy sandwhich, if the thought of the sandwich isn't very satisfying, I figure I'm not hungry enough to need anything. Maybe I'll just have a glass of water.

Oh, and I got a big boost by pretty much cutting soda out of my diet--and I was a huge soda fiend (I'll still have one if I go to a movie or something but there aren't any in my fridge). So if you have some regular but unecessary calories in your life that you can cut out like that, its a good jump start.

--Zetack

SomethingClever

07-12-2004, 01:59 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Posting this, if only because knowing that other people are aware of it will make it harder to mess up (http://www.bdids.com/getlessfat.htm)

I'm fat, I need to be less so. I have a plan to make that happen.

Thoughts, advice, abuse?

[/ QUOTE ]

My honest advice: Focus on the exercise more than the diet. You might lose some weight on a diet, but you have to stick to it basically forever. If you become more active, you'll lose weight and feel better all the time. And you don't have to worry as much about the foods you eat.

But here's the key: Pick an exercise that you actually ENJOY. If you hate running, don't try to be a runner. You'll just get frustrated and quit.

I happen to like basketball, so that's my exercise of choice. But almost anything will work, as long as you participate frequently and work up a good sweat.

Here are some ideas:

Basketball
Soccer
Tennis (maybe even Ping-Pong, if played vigorously enough?)
Volleyball
Cycling/Mountain Biking
Swimming
Tetherball
Ultimate Frisbee
Batting Cages/Softball
Weights
Breakdancing
Martial Arts
Hiking

I could go on and on. You could probably head to the local community center or Y and sign up for a league, or just play pickup games of your sport of choice. It might be intimidating at first, but there are often leagues based on beginner skill levels and/or non-competitive leagues.

The point is, if you enjoy your exercise, you'll do it all the time without complaint.

Exercise enough, and what you eat becomes less important. Although I'd refrain from putting bacon on your ice cream.

Hope this helps in some way. Good luck!

lowroller

07-12-2004, 02:28 PM

Dids,

We're Brothers, Man!! /images/graemlins/cool.gif As a matter of fact, today I started up my exercise program again (put off starting it last week /images/graemlins/shocked.gif) to lose about 10 lbs that I've put on in the last couple of months (since I started playing poker regularly).

One of the things I HATE about poker is that it is VERY easy to fall into an unhealthy lifestyle. Hours upon hours of sitting, sitting, sitting, eating unhealthy food (if at all), (sometimes) smoke-filled rooms, booze...

Prolonged exposure to this is not any good for you/me/anyone, and I've been having a real problem with it for the last couple of months. In alot of respects, I think it's been the toughest part of my game to handle. Part of me wants to play and put in the hours to learn/improve/win, but part of me hates myself for allowing myself to become so lazy and put my health in jeopardy.

Don't let it happen to you, either!!

Take control of your life and your health. It is, truly, the only thing you have in life.

The biggest thing I can say, has already been said: SWEAT

You MUST exercise vigorously in order to lose weight!! Don't just go through the motions (like so many do) and think you are getting it done...it won't happen. At first, I think you need to ease into it. But after the initial period of your body adjusting to the "shock" of exercise you need to keep pushing yourself. You will be so happy/proud of yourself!!

Lastly, you may want to check out www.mattfurey.com (http://www.mattfurey.com). He advocates using body-weight exercises (rather than free-weights) that you can do at home that are VERY effective at building strength as well as endurance (cardio conditioning).

I ran onto his site a couple of years ago when I was looking for a fighting/conditioning program and although I am not fighting anymore, I still use it to this day. If you have any questions PM me.

If you want something more tradional (free-weight oriented), I recommend The TRUTH, by Frank Sepe (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1401901689/qid=1089656477/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-3626134-7388025). This is a great book that promotes a graduated weight training and cardio program along with solid diet advice (carbs are OK, you just have to watch them).

Best of luck to you, Dids! I am rooting for you, and will be checking your blog to keep up with your progress.

SomethingClever

07-12-2004, 02:41 PM

As an addendum to my post, try to think of your activity of choice in the same terms as Poker.

That is, make it a challenge. If you pick, say, basketball, you'll probably get your ass handed to you for the first couple weeks. But try to work on your game, and make it a point of pride to improve. Just like poker.

If you become competitive in a healthy, excercise-like activity, the weight-loss will come naturally.

Also, take lowroller's advice: Start slowly, but once you're comfortable, always push yourself.

nolanfan34

07-12-2004, 02:58 PM

First of all, I congratulate you for having the guts to post this here. You're pretty much asking for people to respond with smart-aleck cracks, posting something like this. I'm glad people have been civil so far.

Those who have responded have provided some excellent advice and links.

Throwing in my two cents, there is no fast or easy way to do this. Diet and exercise are the key. Period. Any by diet, I'm talking more of what types of food you eat, compared to just limiting the amounts, or not eating carbs.

I have never been in a situation where I tried to lose as much weight as your stated goal, but I can say that there's an easy way to start losing weight. Stop eating out. When I first left college, I was working a job where I would eat out for lunch pretty much every day. Ate out a lot at night too. This was before I got married, and it was a lot easier to just eat out instead of cook for one person.

Once I moved in with my wife-to-be, I started to cook a lot more dinners. Also started to pack my lunch a lot more as well, which not only was healthier, but also saved money. Try to do the same, and you can also tie in the money savings to your WSOP goal.

Go to the grocery store, and price out how much an average meal costs to put together. I know when I did that, I was surprised how inexpensive it really was to make meals at home. Yeah, McD's is only $5 a pop, but you can cook meals at home for less than that.

Cutting out pop was also a big key for me. Same with beer, although I haven't kicked the one-beer-a-night habit yet. Those calories add up.

When it comes to working out, I would suggest finding a gym partner with similar goals, that you could work out with. Going to the gym by yourself consistently is very difficult I think. If you can find someone also looking to lose some weight, it's easier to rely on each other for motivation on those days that you just would rather stay at home.

Keep us updated on your progress, your goal is very possible, but very difficult. To truly achieve it, it requires not just a short-term fix, but really a lifestyle change in regards to eating IMO.

Alobar

07-12-2004, 03:23 PM

Anyone who is on the atkins diet is an idiot. I would almost go so far as to say that anyone who buys a diet book and reads it is an idiot. If you are going to buy a book buy a basic nutrition book.

I think the intelligence of america hit an all time low when Dr.Phil weight loss book became a bestseller. who buys a book on how to lose weight when the author and guy on the cover IS A FAT MAN??!?!?!?

I'll break it down for you plain and simple, as a poker player it should be easy to lose weight cuz its all a numbers game. Calories in vs. Calories out. When the out number is higher than the in, you lose weight.

There is 3500 calories in a pound of fat, so if you eat 250 clories less a day and burn 250 more clories a day then usual, you will lose 1 pound of fat a week. Anything higher than a 1,000 clorie a day defecit and your body starts doing funky things like not burning fat, but muscle instead, thats why if you see any diet that advertises weight lose of more then 2lbs a week ITS NOT ALL FAT!!!!!!

Its simple, eat healthy and exersise. You follow that one simple sentance and you will lose weight and save hunders of dollars not having to buy stupid deit books or gimmicky exersise equipment.

B Dids

07-12-2004, 03:26 PM

Atkins works. I don't think it's stupid at all. The problem is that it doesn't leave you much of a place to go on you lose weight. I think for the right person, it's very viable diet, espeically if you just want to drop a small amount of weight. For somebody in my spot it fails because I don't require a diet, I require a change in the way I live my life.

Gamblor

07-12-2004, 03:48 PM

Atkins is for fat chicks who want to squeeze into a prom dress. It's temporary, it gets your weight down after 2 weeks.

It is possibly the most unhealthy diet in the world to sustain.

B Dids

07-12-2004, 03:50 PM

That's actually kinda what I was trying to say- you just put it better.

IF done right- it can be healthy- it's just that doing it right is hard, and when you fall off of it- or don't stick to it hard, it can hurt you.

daryn

07-12-2004, 04:05 PM

eat less food and exercise.

daryn

07-12-2004, 04:06 PM

by the way ... "greg raymer fat"

that's just funny.

Alobar

07-12-2004, 04:13 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Atkins works. I don't think it's stupid at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

Carbohydrates cause you to retain water, when you adopt a high protien/low carb diet, the weight you are losing at the start is simply water weight. This is why before a competition body builders eat diets incredibly high in protien and almost 0 carbs, because they "shed" all their water and get that ripped look. Thats why when you see them in the gym they don't look anywhere NEAR as ripped (or "gross" as most people would say) as they do on stage.

There is a difference between weight loss and fat reduction. The latter is good, the former can be acheived many ways, lots of which are very unhealthy.

Gewurtztraminer

07-12-2004, 05:43 PM

How much weight are we talking about here?

On 6/30/2003, after mowing my tiny yard, and it taking over 3 hours for me to cool down, I came to realize that my life expectancy could probably be counted with the fingers on both hands.

Not sure how much I weighed, scales only went to 330 (I am guessing 360-365).

I guess the diet I chose was more south beach than atkins, though I believe the most important thing was spending an hour a day walking. A 365 pound guy can burn a TON of calories just by walking. By the time daylight savings time came toward the end of October, I was walking 90 minutes a day, averaging around 4.5 mph. If you do this, I highly advise purchasing a good mp3 player, music makes it tolerable, and you can spend a lot of time thinking about poker as you walk.

A year later, I am at 190, having lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 165 pounds.

I cant begin to describe how much my life has been positively changed by this.

The only downside, I probably lost it too fast, I have some extra skin that may require surgery to correct, or it may eventually vanish.

I have some before/during and after pictures, if anyone is interested.

Gewürtztraminer

Redmen62

07-12-2004, 06:10 PM

For anyone who wants to avoid fast food permanently, read Fast Food Nation.

lowroller

07-12-2004, 06:42 PM

Fast food is probably my biggest weakness, but that book (I only skimmed through it for about 10 minutes) got me off fast food, almost completely, for about 6 months.

That is HUGE, for me, by the way. /images/graemlins/shocked.gif

I really wanted to see that documentary, "Super Size Me", but it never came out around here I guess. That is supposed to be another eye-opener.

Monty Cantsin

07-12-2004, 07:11 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I would almost go so far as to say that anyone who buys a diet book and reads it is an idiot.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would almost go so far as to say that anyone who lives in Arizona is a fag. But I won't, because I wouldn't want to accidentally insult somebody.

/mc

BassMasterK

07-12-2004, 07:15 PM

As a musician, I usually kept myself in pretty good shape, but two years ago I came out of a period where I was doing more recording and teaching private lessons, than gigging. Well I was about 4 months out from hitting the road and after looking at myself in the mirror with disgust I decided I needed to make a change. Not just go on some diet, but actually lose weight and be healthy and get back to looking good. Before I tell you what I did let me repeat a couple of things said here that I think are most important for you to remember:

The first one you said yourself : I don't need a diet, I need to change my lifestyle.

The second one was said by Alobar, who has given you nothing but good nutricional advice here: Calories in vs. Calories out. It's so simple yet people want to ignore it for more faddish advice like "No Carbs! Where else can you eat a pound of bacon and lose weight?" & "Don't eat at night, you gain more weight" & "Eat 6 small meals" & "Skip Dinner and only eat twice a day" and the list goes on and on. The simple fact is if you burn more calories than you take in, you lose weight. Simple. Period. My wife who was in nursing school at the time gave me this grand piece of wisdom and I took it to heart and the truth is it works. 1000 calories at midnight will add no more weight than 1000 calories at noon. It is all numbers. So here is how I went about it (and I found the changes were not really all that drastic to my lifestyle).

1) No fast food. You can eat so much more food for less calories and more nutrition if you can just avoid the fast food. Somehow the fast food industry finds ways to pack more calories into smaller amounts of food. When I found myself in a situation where I was with a group and we were eating fast food, I went with a grilled chicken sandwich no mayo, and skip the french fries. After I lost my weight I would occationally hit fast food. The first time I thought I was going to puke, my stomache was so used to good stuff.

2) If you drink regular pop, switch to diet. If you have to have a drink, get off beer and get into vodka and/or red wine.

3) Chips, cookies and french fries....depending on how fast and how bad you want to lose weight these are no no's. That being said, I am a jalepeno popper lover. I lost my first 10 pounds, I was rewarding myself with poppers. This leads me to the food secret to losing weight:

If you change your complete diet, it is almost impossible to stick to it because what we eat is actually a big part of ourselves. That's why people don't stick to diets that are totally different than what they are used to eating. Find things you like that are healthy for you. I love chicken terriyaki so for a few months I ate a lot of rice with veggies and chicken breast. Rice with fish and veggies. I fixed more veggies than usual and what I discovered is veggies that have come into contact with terriyaki sauce or BBQ sauce, rock the house. I started paying attention to how many calories I really put in my mouth.

Also, I let my stomache get back to a regular size. I was used to stuffing it to the point where I didn't feel full unless I was overfull and it became a habit. For maybe a week I ate about half to 2/3'rds the amount that I normally would. If I went back for seconds it was a few spoonfulls rather than a whole plate more. After a week I found I was full after the first plate and didn't need seconds. This was also a big part of losing weight.

Then the other part, exercise:

Muscle burns calories. After exercising with weights your metabolism stays higher for longer than after running. More muscle = more calories burned even while at rest. You don't have to try to get ripped but I know that lifting weights really made a big impact on my weight loss. Every other day I would lift, nothing too heavy, as a matter of fact it was almost cardio weight lifting. In between each set I would do 15 sit-ups, leg-lifts, or crunches. This gave my muscles a few seconds to recover before the next set but kept my heart rate up while I lifted. By the time I was done lifting I had done around 300-350 ab exercises, but in such small doses it didn't kill me. I discovered I actually did have abs.

The off days I would get some form of cardio be it basketball, running, bike riding. No matter how far overweight you are there is some form of cardio you can do and it is really important for healthy weight loss.

To tell the truth the hardest part was making the time to do the lifting/cardio. I had to force myself to make a 45 -60 minute break in the day every day. That was really hard but I told myself I had to do it for me. Even when I didn't feel like working out, I would force myself and once I started seeing the result (about 4 weeks) it was no longer a hassle. I WANTED to get in that 45-60 minutes because I knew it was making a difference. 3 months later I was looking pretty dang good at 40 pounds less.

I wish you luck. Starting is the hardest part, as well as keeping a positive attitude. If you do a plan like mine, don't look at the scale for the first month because you will gain weight as fat is turning into muscle, even if you can't see it. Once you get going you will find it easier and easier because it becomes a familiar pattern, and then a way of life.

nolanfan34

07-12-2004, 07:44 PM

Awesome post, that is great advice, top to bottom.

I also agree that once you stop eating fast food all the time, it can taste pretty horrible once you get off it. I still like McD's once in a while, but I always feel like crap after eating it.

TazQ

07-12-2004, 07:45 PM

Buy some free weights and do some research online. Thats all you really need and you'll see amazing results in 1-3 months.

gonores

07-12-2004, 08:34 PM

I just skimmed the replies, so I don't know if this was covered, but one thing that will make life seriously easier on you is getting professional help, i.e. dietitians, personal trainers (assuming it is within your budget...don't skimp if possible). Knowing what exercises are best for me and what unhealthy food on which I can and cannot indulge to avoid a weight exposion makes my gym trips more efficient and my meals far from miserable. For instance, I'm not supposed to eat tropical fruits, but good-sized helpings of ice cream are just fine for me. It'll truly be eye-opening just how unique your body is.

Duke

07-12-2004, 09:38 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I would almost go so far as to say that anyone who lives in Arizona is a fag. But I won't, because I wouldn't want to accidentally insult somebody.

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought they were retarded fags, but I guess I'm out of touch with the world these days.

Yeah, we all understand that you were offended, and we all understand that you think that of course he's offended now and that you showed him. The problem is that some people just don't get offended by anything. Not that that's a problem - I think that people who take offense to anything are morons.

~D

BassMasterK

07-12-2004, 11:56 PM

I had two wierd things happen when I lost enough weight and was keeping active enough I felt like I could have fast food again. The first time I got a quarter pounder from McD's, man it tasted good but my stomach didn't want any part of it. It gurgled, it hurt, and in general I felt like crap. The next thing I tried was KFC a few weeks later. This didn't hurt the stomach at all, however within about five minutes of eating a fried chicken breast, I could feel this surge of heat in my body that made me feel flushed, almost high. It was really wierd. It's amazing how our bodies will adjust to crappy food when you eat it all the time, but when you go off of it and then try it again....your body tells you what it really thinks of it!

Whistler

07-13-2004, 12:12 AM

First thing, get educated, a lot of the posts are a little off track for ya. Check out t-mag.com, its a bodybuilding site. Its a little hardcore, and a lot of stuff that they deal with is "advertisementish", but it has TONS of great info, trust me. Its a lot like this site, wade through the BS to find some good info. Also search t-mag for the T-dawg diet, or just talk to me on irc, I gots all kinds of good info for ya. lates

morgant

07-13-2004, 01:36 AM

RoidBoi has got the skinny(pun intended)

Nemesis

07-13-2004, 01:57 AM

Damn you may have just inspired me to lose weight. I went on the southbeach diet for about a month, i lost about 15 pounds, but Finals came arround and i stopped. I think now might be a good time to start trying to exercise again. I like dids plan, and while i need to lose in the neighborhood of only 30 pounds. If he can drop 80 i can drop 30. Anyway... good luck.

sonataarctica

07-13-2004, 05:22 AM

First Lets start off with the diet. NO DIET! i mean no diet with a proper noun such as ATKINS or SOUTH BEACH. the reason why is going on a diet assumes getting off. you want a life changing "diet" if you will. some easy and quick fixes are no soda and all water(gatorade and such for workouts is absolutely ok). you alone will drop tons from laying off the carbonation and consuming the water. water is very underrated. As for eating just stay away from the junk foods and fast foods. most posters have hit the head of the nail with this one so no need to go into great detail.

as for the workout running, biking, swimming are excellent cardio but you need to do them for extended periods of time. the poster that said you need to be drenched in sweat is right on. since your looking to lose weight and dont seem to interested in lifting weights(i may be wrong) dont worry to much about it at first. cardio cardio CARDIO! sit ups and crunches, though are a good idea as they help your posture and strengthen your back. so ab workouts are a good idea plus when you burn off that fat it would be nice to look down at a 6 pack ya? im rooting for you and best of luck to ya i hope we all have helped you /images/graemlins/grin.gif

Phat Mack

07-13-2004, 05:37 AM

The simple fact is if you burn more calories than you take in, you lose weight. Simple. Period.

How do you calculate how many calories you burn?

daveymck

07-13-2004, 10:30 AM

http://www.menshealth.co.uk/fitness/beginners/

This is a magazine in the UK that as it says deals with mens health, there are some good articles and examples of basic moves etc if you are wanting to avaoid the gym.

RiverMel

07-13-2004, 10:48 AM

Ironically, after watching that movie "Supersize Me," I have been eating McDonald's more frequently than before. Something about seeing all those McDonald's logos got their image into my head. Yummm, salt.

daveymck

07-13-2004, 11:00 AM

Dont know if its happening in the states but in the UK Macdonalds is trying to rebrand as healthy eating, lots of salads and chicken dishes added to the menu.

They have also reduced the salt in Chicken Nuggets and running reassuring adverts for us worried parents about how happy we can be when our kids have them in happy meals. Unfortunatly that s all my daughter will eat when we go there.

B Dids

07-13-2004, 11:13 AM

I just wanted to thank everybody for their responses. Kinda touching.

A lot of this fitness/diet (and yeah, what I'm doing is NOT going on a diet, but changing the way I eat) stuff I know, but some of the advice here has been fantastic. Of course, the harder part is applying it, and that's where The Plan comes in. I'm a creature of habit, and right now my habits involve too much ice cream and sitting on my ass. Hopefully what I'll be able to do is use this schedule to change to habits to involve more time at the gym and less McDonalds.

Monty Cantsin

07-13-2004, 12:38 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I think that people who take offense to anything are morons.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think all Cretans are big, fat liars.

/mc

daryn

07-13-2004, 12:47 PM

pop.. hahaha /images/graemlins/grin.gif

DcifrThs

07-13-2004, 01:42 PM

[ QUOTE ]
seems like a worthy goal! another thing that might work well is, if you like to run, sign up for some local road races where you live. sign up for a 10k race in a couple of months, and it will give you a goal to train for. you would be amazed at what you can accomplish with a good, reasonable training program. I never thought I could run a marathon, but I got in to the nyc one a couple years back and now I've run two! hal higdon has a bunch of good, free training programs on his website, www.halhigdon.com (http://www.halhigdon.com)

--turnipmonster

[/ QUOTE ]

this is excellent advice.

i run 4-5 miles per day and am now 100% addicted to it. i used to weigh about 200-210 lbs (i'm 5-7.5 or 5-8 so that is a good amount on my frame). i now weigh 150odd pounds (although i had a bad swing the other way and was at 130odd for a little while)...

running and eating right was the absolute no question key to the loss of weight and my lifestyle is now such that its almost impossible for me to gain more than 5-10 lbs by eating wrong. i also have to eat right to maintain my weight so if i stop eating again i lose the weight too quick since i run so much.

your goals are definately doable and i would suggest a few things:

1) walk 1.5 miles BEFORE you eat dinner every day (it takes so little time and is quite enjoyable says those who i've talked to who do it)

WHY? there were studies done that showed that a person excersizing vigrorously burned LESS FAT than somebody walking at a slow/medium pace. fat doesn't get burned as efficiently at a high rate of anerobic respiration (aparantly) and therefore a slow walk before dinner EVERY DAY (in addition to your "workouts") will really show a significant difference.

2) eat things you love. i happen to love corn and lima beans together for lunch. tastes good and is really good for you. i also do something very bad, which is i skip breakfast b/c i like sleep above eating (but just barely) so i don't eat till about 1/2 every day. this is bad b/c i eat more later in the day and thats worse than eating earlier in the day. so find foods you love and eat breakfast and lunch and dinner around healthy foods.

3) DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES eat extra trans fats. no candy, no partially hydrogenated oils (chips etc.) and NONE OF THAT CRAP: eat bananas! they are delicious and healthy. apples, peaches pears etc. are also good. if you have a sweet tooth buy strawberries and blackberries (oh, god blackberries are awesome)

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!

-Barron

tiltboy

07-13-2004, 01:47 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Posting this, if only because knowing that other people are aware of it will make it harder to mess up (http://www.bdids.com/getlessfat.htm)

I'm fat, I need to be less so. I have a plan to make that happen.

Thoughts, advice, abuse?

[/ QUOTE ]
You might be interested in trying a cyclical ketogenic diet (see www.c-k-d.com (http://www.c-k-d.com) especially the forums for more information on the diet). A CKD is a modified low-carb diet where you periodically do a carb-load, sometimes referred to as a refeed, in order to refill your muscles with glycogen and avoid the muscle wasting that typically occurs on a strict low-carb diet. This was designed for use by bodybuilders and works great, with the added benefit of allowing you once a week to indulge in the carbs you've been denying yourself all week. I've been on it for almost 6 months now and have gone from 188 to 174 lbs, dropped from a 34+" to a 32" waist, and from 23%bodyfat to just under 16%. Love handles? Gone. It is not for everyone, but then again no diet is. Once you drop the weight and bodyfat some of the non-hardcore bodybuilders I know on the diet use their refeed day as a "free" day and eat whatever they like. Some add another refeed day during the week or do two days on, five days off. Just something to consider.
</$.02>

tiltboy

07-13-2004, 01:57 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Don't worry about lifting weights and all that. You can't get rid of a belly with situps. Do stuff that's fun.

[/ QUOTE ]
I liked most of your advice but I have to take exception to this. First of all, some of us actually like to go to the gym and lift. I've been a regular (3x per week) lifter for more than a decade and I treasure my time in the free weight room. I also play league tennis and run and walk and swim and lots of other active sports so you can do both and being strong can help you do the other activities.

Another factor is the weight lifting is GREAT for losing fat. The more muscle mass you put on the higher your metabolism so you'll burn more calories even when you aren't in the weight room. Um, and equating situps to weight lifting is a little disingenuous. It is true that you can't spot weight loss, but you can build stronger core muscles that will help you burn more overall calories.

tiltboy

07-13-2004, 02:05 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Anyone who is on the atkins diet is an idiot. I would almost go so far as to say that anyone who buys a diet book and reads it is an idiot.

[/ QUOTE ]
You know I generally like your advice but this is by far the stupidest thing I've ever seen you post and one of the stupider things I've seen at 2+2 and that is saying something.

Have you not seen the results of the latest research studies showing the advantages of a low-carb diet? You should check them out before spouting off on an area where it doesn't appear you are an expert.

Secondly, there are diet books and there are diet books. I think you are referring to the 'fad' diet books that have little basis in science, however, there is a whole 'nother world of diet books out there that you've apparently not been exposed to which outline sensible, scientifically-supported approaches to dieting.

sublime

07-13-2004, 02:15 PM

I'm fat, I need to be less so. I have a plan to make that happen.

Lift weights, its vital. Which reminds me, I am getting very soft /images/graemlins/blush.gif

One book I would recommend is "Hardgainer" by Stuart McRobert.

tiltboy

07-13-2004, 03:17 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I'm fat, I need to be less so. I have a plan to make that happen.

Lift weights, its vital. Which reminds me, I am getting very soft /images/graemlins/blush.gif

One book I would recommend is "Hardgainer" by Stuart McRobert.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto, anything by McRobert is good. For a beginner, I might also recommend Power to the People by Pavel Tsatouline. It is a little overpriced IMO so check out some of the used book places like half.com but it is a sensible program that doesn't require a lot of equipment or time.

Alobar

07-13-2004, 06:29 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Don't worry about lifting weights and all that. You can't get rid of a belly with situps. Do stuff that's fun.

[/ QUOTE ]
I liked most of your advice but I have to take exception to this. First of all, some of us actually like to go to the gym and lift. I've been a regular (3x per week) lifter for more than a decade and I treasure my time in the free weight room. I also play league tennis and run and walk and swim and lots of other active sports so you can do both and being strong can help you do the other activities.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think he was saying that if you only have an hour to spend you are better off doing cardio to lose weight than you are weight lifting. Which is true. I'm not going to knock weight lifting, I used to compete as a power lift way back in the day (that expression sounds funny coming from a 26 year old). But if you only have an hour a day to exercise and your goal is wright lose you are much better off riding a bicycle or playing basketball than lifting.

A pound of muscle only burns about 20 calories a day on its own, which isn't going to drastically help weight loss. A 20 year old male who first starts a body building program can only expect to add 20 pounds of muscle in his first year of weight lifting. This doesn't add up to that great a caloric defeciet per day for the aveage person.

So while the "more muscle burns more fat" statement is true, its more a sales pitch by gym managers to get overweight people in the gym than it is an actual answer to weight loss. Like I said, I'm not knocking weight training, I would atually recommend incorporating maybe 1 or 2 days a week into your "activity schedule" for someone trying to lose weight, because it has so many other benefiets. But I have to say, weight loss really isnt one of them.

Alobar

07-13-2004, 06:42 PM

[ QUOTE ]
walk 1.5 miles BEFORE you eat dinner every day (it takes so little time and is quite enjoyable says those who i've talked to who do it)

WHY? there were studies done that showed that a person excersizing vigrorously burned LESS FAT than somebody walking at a slow/medium pace. fat doesn't get burned as efficiently at a high rate of anerobic respiration (aparantly) and therefore a slow walk before dinner EVERY DAY (in addition to your "workouts") will really show a significant difference.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a little misleading. When exercising between about 50-65% of your maximum heart rate your body uses oxygen and stored fat most efficiently for fuel. When you exersice at a higher rate you start to get your fuel more from sources otehr than fat. Exercising above this zone won't cause you to not lose fat, or to lose less fat (the more calories burned in this higher zone will excelerate weight loss), its just you arn't burning the fat as fast while you exersise (hopefully that made sense).

Most people arnt exercising above this zone really anyway, so it doesnt matter much. Also regular walking wont get you into 50-65% of your max heart rate anyway, it needs to be a vigorious walking. Which I would actually say is better than running for someone first getting into exersise, or someone very over weight. But in the end tho, its calories in vs calories out, and running burns more calories than walking, so once you are at a level of fitness where running is an option it is the much better choice for weight loss.

Alobar

07-13-2004, 07:02 PM

[ QUOTE ]
You know I generally like your advice but this is by far the stupidest thing I've ever seen you post and one of the stupider things I've seen at 2+2 and that is saying something.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well I've got to disagree with vehemently. This is hardly the stupidest thing I've ever posted /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I have VERY strong feelings about the atkins diet and the people who are on it. Which is why I used the word "idiot", what I should have said was "misinformed and ignorant".

Obviously you are knowledgable in the atkins diet (or at least I'll take your word for it, seeing as how you've actually read a study on it), so I could debate you about why it is a bad diet plan, but prolly not change your mind, in the same way you prolly couldn't change mine. Whats wrong with the atkins diet and the people on it tho is that it has become nothing more than a marketing ploy. I would say 95% of people know absolutely NOTHING about the atkins diet other than "carbs=bad", which is complete and utter nonsense. And with the marketing blitz by every food marketer and restraunt in the nation jumping on the "low carb" bandwagon, your average person now just thinks "welp, I want to lose weight, its time to quit eating carbs!", and they will lose some weight initially because when you cut carbs you cut lots of water weight, so when they go by the number on the scale on day 3 of their diet they think they are acheiving the desired results. wrong!

Carbs are a very important part of a well balanced nutritional health plan, cutting them out is a bad thing. Especially if you don't even know WHY you are cutting them out. It's like if you look at a box of red vines, on the front it says "ZERO FAT!!!". Like I can eat a box of licorice and I'm eating healthy and losing weight because there is no fat in it (hopefully its obvious this is completely false). In the same way that the fat you eat doesn't suddenly just become fat in your body, carbs you eat don't suddenly turn into fat in your body. Yet this is precisely what people are being led to believe.

I also shouldn't have said "any diet book" as this isn't true, you are right. It's any "fad diet book", but in my opinion its the same thing.
When you say "which outline sensible, scientifically-supported approaches to dieting" I generally consider this as a nutrition book, and would recomend anyone who wants to go on a "diet" read, as it will prove infinitaly more valuable than any crap "diet book".

BassMasterK

07-13-2004, 10:28 PM

[ QUOTE ]
The simple fact is if you burn more calories than you take in, you lose weight. Simple. Period.

How do you calculate how many calories you burn?

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a very good question and I'm no expert, but I learned this much. First off, we burn calories all day long, even without doing anything special and each person has their own "internal furnace" that burns at slightly different rates although we are all generally within a few hundred calories of each other. When I would jog in the gym, there was a readout on the the treadmill for calories that was a generalization based on your weight and how fast you were running. I knew it wasn't super accurate, but would put me in the ballpark of how many calories I burned. This was a big eye opener. When I saw how long I had to run to burn off one beer....it made beer look much less desirable. I have no idea how much I burned during the weightlifting I did, but I knew that the more I converted fat into muscle, the more calories I burned even at rest.

So basically I figured more from the calorie intake end. I knew whatever working out I did was going to burn more calories than I normally did because I was only playing hoops once in a while and would probably be in the 350 - 650 calorie range depending on how hard I went at it. So by lowering the calorie intake, and knowing I had raised the calorie output from doing nothing to working out every day, the pounds started to melt off. It took a bit to really start because muscle weighs more than fat so at first it seemed like I was just stagnant, or even gaining a bit, but once the weight started coming off it just kept going and that was motivation enough to keep at it.

It's hard to describe how much better I felt, even within a month. My workouts got easier and easier to physically do just from not having the extra weight to move around. When I hit my goal I felt like I was back to being 21.

sublime

07-13-2004, 11:49 PM

I have VERY strong feelings about the atkins diet and the people who are on it. Which is why I used the word "idiot", what I should have said was "misinformed and ignorant".

I agree 100%

The Atkins diet is a "fad" and dangerous. Its also an excuse for unhealthy people to keep an unhealthyn lifestyle and lose "weight"

Eat lots of veggies, fruits, nuts, lean protein sources, whole grains and lift weights.

Shoot, I should probably follow my own advice. I have put on some chub /images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Brian

07-13-2004, 11:56 PM

I'm a fast food junkie. Generally eat it 4-5 times a week. I've read Fast Food Nation and seen Super Size Me, and it still hasn't deterred me. /images/graemlins/frown.gif I am helpless. I wish my girlfriend were a vegan chef like Spurlock's, then maybe I'd stop eating it. She can barely cook mac'n'cheese though.

-Brian

eastbay

07-14-2004, 12:17 AM

tiltboy

07-14-2004, 12:27 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You know I generally like your advice but this is by far the stupidest thing I've ever seen you post and one of the stupider things I've seen at 2+2 and that is saying something.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well I've got to disagree with vehemently. This is hardly the stupidest thing I've ever posted /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I have VERY strong feelings about the atkins diet and the people who are on it. Which is why I used the word "idiot", what I should have said was "misinformed and ignorant".

Obviously you are knowledgable in the atkins diet (or at least I'll take your word for it, seeing as how you've actually read a study on it), so I could debate you about why it is a bad diet plan, but prolly not change your mind, in the same way you prolly couldn't change mine. Whats wrong with the atkins diet and the people on it tho is that it has become nothing more than a marketing ploy. I would say 95% of people know absolutely NOTHING about the atkins diet other than "carbs=bad", which is complete and utter nonsense. And with the marketing blitz by every food marketer and restraunt in the nation jumping on the "low carb" bandwagon, your average person now just thinks "welp, I want to lose weight, its time to quit eating carbs!", and they will lose some weight initially because when you cut carbs you cut lots of water weight, so when they go by the number on the scale on day 3 of their diet they think they are acheiving the desired results. wrong!

Carbs are a very important part of a well balanced nutritional health plan, cutting them out is a bad thing. Especially if you don't even know WHY you are cutting them out. It's like if you look at a box of red vines, on the front it says "ZERO FAT!!!". Like I can eat a box of licorice and I'm eating healthy and losing weight because there is no fat in it (hopefully its obvious this is completely false). In the same way that the fat you eat doesn't suddenly just become fat in your body, carbs you eat don't suddenly turn into fat in your body. Yet this is precisely what people are being led to believe.

I also shouldn't have said "any diet book" as this isn't true, you are right. It's any "fad diet book", but in my opinion its the same thing.
When you say "which outline sensible, scientifically-supported approaches to dieting" I generally consider this as a nutrition book, and would recomend anyone who wants to go on a "diet" read, as it will prove infinitaly more valuable than any crap "diet book".

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I thought we agreed on several points, but the way you phrased your statements forced my hand into making a response. /images/graemlins/cool.gif I agree carbs are not implicitly bad but probably disagree about whether they are vital for good health or not. As I said in an earlier post on this thread I do a cyclical ketogenic diet which is low-carb most of the time but also includes a once-a-week hi-carb period. The carbups are nice but you still can't just pig out on anything during them--you have to keep fat and protein relatively low too. I've studied the research on this and related low-carb diets pretty closely over the last year and found many benefits. The fact is, I do know why I am cutting carbs out of my diet periodically. Many nutritionists and physicians are now changing their opinions on this type diet based on some of the recently released positive longitudinal studies on their effects. You are right, people should study and know why they are following a certain diet but I'm not sure I agree with you that the average Atkins follower is more ignorant about nutrition that the average man on the street (at least I think that's what you are arguing). There are many active Adkins and low-carb bulletin boards and not all the information on them is stupid or ignorant. At least these people are taking an interest in what they eat and why they are eating it, unlike most of the rest of America.

P.S. You've said this a couple of times so I have to respond. Yes, you do lose some water weight during a ketogenic diet IF YOU DON'T DRINK A LOT OF WATER. If you read any rational description of a CKD for example you'll see large amounts of water intake are vital. I personally drink about a gallon a day. Bathroom break anyone? You also seem to be implying that because there is some water weight loss IF YOU DON'T REHYDRATE there is not fat loss, but this is in my opinion, as well as my personal experience, dead wrong. These diets work. Sticking with them is no picnic, but then again almost anything worth achieving in this life is no picnic either.

Alobar

07-14-2004, 01:14 AM

Well like I said, I'm sure I won't be able to change your mind, and I know you cant change mine /images/graemlins/smile.gif A couple things I do want to mention tho...I wasnt saying that the average atkins dieter knows less than the average person walking the street, im saying the average person walking the street is the average atkins dieter, and the average person walking the street is usually spoon fed by the media and knows absolutely nothing about facts.

I am on a very high carb diet, which is also a big reason why I hate all this "low carb" fad crap. I'm tired of listening to some retarded waiter try to tell me that I'm eating unhealthy because I'm hitting the all you can eat pasta bar or gnawing on my 50th breadstick order. I am also anything but fat (8% body fat), I know you arn't saying that carbs will make you fat, but thats what its getting to for the general public, and its just plain wrong.

Also the average person doesn't drink NEAR enough water as it is (I know people who practically never drink water), so their inability to rehydrate properly only adds to the dangers of a very low carb diet. Then again I'm from the "if you don't wake up in the middle of the night to pee, then you arnt drinking enough water" school /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Nemesis

07-14-2004, 02:33 AM

If you understand the Krebb's Cycle and the Biosynthesis of fat, as well as gluconeogenesis then you get why the low carb diets work. It's really quite brilliant.

sublime

07-14-2004, 08:51 AM

One book I would recommend is "Hardgainer" by Stuart McRobert.

Sorry, that should read "Beyond Brawn" by Stuart.

Hargainer is his website

Rifter

07-14-2004, 08:56 AM

Hey thanks so much for linking to that marathon training guide. I've become interested in running the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans next year and have been looking around for a good training guide. Thanks for informing me about this one!

citanul

07-14-2004, 06:33 PM

I personally believe the best way to lose weight without doing anything remarkably fad-like is to eat sensibly and get good cardio exercize.

Now, I don't thinkt that there has been any proof out there that the Atkins diet actually is bad for you, infact, I think that the AMA had to apologize to the late Dr Atkins pothumously because their one actual piece of research they did on the subject turned out to say that the diet wasn't bad for you.

If I were to look for a fad diet that doesn't sound like it should kill you though, I'd go with this ice water diet I've been hearing about. Basically, you drink a gallon (or as much as you can handle) of ice water every day. It must be VERY COLD, normal water will not work.

The point is that among other things your body uses caloric intake to make you warm. So, long story short, you'll have to pee, and not be incredibly comfortable, but you'll burn more calories than you usually do, by a lot.

good luck,

citanul

MrDannimal

07-14-2004, 10:40 PM

Most of this is good, sound advice. That said, there are a couple of things I wanted to address:

[ QUOTE ]

The second one was said by Alobar, who has given you nothing but good nutricional advice here: Calories in vs. Calories out. It's so simple yet people want to ignore it for more faddish advice like "No Carbs! Where else can you eat a pound of bacon and lose weight?" & "Don't eat at night, you gain more weight" & "Eat 6 small meals" & "Skip Dinner and only eat twice a day" and the list goes on and on. The simple fact is if you burn more calories than you take in, you lose weight. Simple. Period. My wife who was in nursing school at the time gave me this grand piece of wisdom and I took it to heart and the truth is it works. 1000 calories at midnight will add no more weight than 1000 calories at noon. It is all numbers. So here is how I went about it (and I found the changes were not really all that drastic to my lifestyle).

[/ QUOTE ]

- "grazing", or eating 6 meals of about half the size of the 3 meals you'd normally eat isn't faddish advice. By getting food into the body more regularly, the body is less likely to store food as fat.

- When you eat does matter. 1000 calories at 9am is "less bad" than 1000 calories at 11pm jus tbefore you get into bed. This should be self-evident. If you eat 1000 calories and then proceed to have an active day (say, hiking, for example), you burn a lot of the food you ate for energy. If you eat 1000 calories and then lie down for 8 hours, the body burns substantially less for energy (duh), and what it doesn't burn it stores as fat for later.

Other then that, you've got some good stuff there.

MrDannimal

07-14-2004, 11:12 PM

A lot of this has been said, but repeating it can't hurt.

- "Diet" is a bad word. You want a lifestyle change. Dieting fails because your body recognizes when you don't give it "enough" food, and even over several months it will push you to give it more, and it will be more likely to store what you do give it as fat in case it does actually face a starvation situation. If you significantly reduce food intake, your metabolism will actually slow down (absent other factors).

- DRINK WATER! At least 64 oz. a day, but the more you drink, the less your body needs to store (because it knows more is coming). So you actually lose some "water weight" just by drinking MORE water. If you can, drink it ice cold. In fact, if you drank 8-8 oz. glasses of ice water every day, and did NOTHING else, you would lose ~10 pounds in a year just from the energy needed to heat that water to body temp.

Also, drinking all that water helps fight the hunger pangs because the stomach is "full".

- Swap out the crap. People have said to dump the junk food, and to swap out soda for diet soda (I'd say even to skip that and go right to water. The artifical sweeteners in most diet sodas can actually hinder weight loss). Go from whole milk to skim, pick up low fat versions of stuff (dairy stuffs made with skim, like sour cream, cream cheese...).

- At the same time, don't exclude junk food entirely. Doing so just means you're more likely to "cheat". Allow yourself one day a week where you don't worry about the food intake so much (obviously, don't go crazy, but don't worry about some fries or an ice cream cone).

- Whole grains are your friend. Complex carbs don't screw with your blood sugar level as much as simple carbs, so you have more sustained energy. You also feel fuller, longer. Brown rice, whole grain bread, wheat bagels, you name it. Look for bread that has 3g of dietary fiber and 1g of sugar per slice (or more).

- I try to eat 6 small meals a day instead of 3. I'm not eating any more or less, I just eat more often. I'm almost never hungry, so I don't overeat.

- Exercise! I suggest, if you can, to find a partner or group. Knowing that other people are expecting you helps a great deal on the days you don't have the motivation to exercise. Invest in a heart rate monitor, if you can. You want to be able to keep your heart rate around the 70% of "max" to get the most fat burning benefits. Ideally, for 45 minutes or longer at a time (but at least 25 minutes to get into fat burning mode).

You can do weight lifting to build muscle, if you want. Adding muscle will help keep the metabolism high, because muscles burn energy and having more of them will burn more energy. However, I've found that it's often harder to get up the motivation to just go do weight work. If you find some exercise activity you enjoy, and will do regularly, even if it adds less muscle then weight work, you'll get more benefit from it just because you're going to stick with it.

Your plan sounds realistic (2 pounds a week). I'd suggest re-thinking the days you plan to exercise, though. I don't know if you want to have 3 consecutive days like that (Sat-Mon). If you're going to do weight work, you DEFINITELY don't want 3 straight days. You need recovry time. I'd suggest a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then one weekend day as a schedule if you can. You can do consecutive days if you make sure to either do totally seperate muscle groups (upper body one day, lower body the next), but you want to be very sure you've selected exercise that doesn't cross groups to help avoid injury.

Just to add to the pile of "It can be done!" stories:

I started training for a martahon (to be run on 10/24/04) at the start of May. I weighed about 200 pounds (at just over 5' 9"). I usually eat something like half a bagle with lite cream cheese at 7:30am, then a handful of pretzels and a cup of applesauce at 10:00am, then half of a normal lunch at 12:30, and the other half at 3:00. I eat half my normal serving of dinner at dinner time, and then a snack later (some days I just eat normal dinner and no snack). I drink at least 64 oz. of water a day, and often closer to a gallon.

I run 3 times a week. At the start, it was for 30 minutes at a time (one longer run on Saturday). 10 weeks in, I'm running 5 miles on Tuesday and Thursday, and 10 on Saturday. I don't run fast (13:30 miles, on average, which is a light jog), and I walk for 1 minute every 6 minutes or so.

So far, I've lost about 20 pounds (right on your 2 lbs. week). My original goal was to lose 25 lbs. by the marathon (1 lb. per week), so it's going well.

One last thing: If you can afford it (you have insurance, or just cash on hand), get a physical. Get a cholesterol check, and have a Dr. tell you that you're safe to go. Better safe then sorry.

Good luck!

Glenn

07-14-2004, 11:52 PM

"- When you eat does matter. 1000 calories at 9am is "less bad" than 1000 calories at 11pm jus tbefore you get into bed. This should be self-evident. If you eat 1000 calories and then proceed to have an active day (say, hiking, for example), you burn a lot of the food you ate for energy. If you eat 1000 calories and then lie down for 8 hours, the body burns substantially less for energy (duh), and what it doesn't burn it stores as fat "

This is only relevant for people who trying to cut the last few pounds for a perfect physique. It is basically irrelevant for someone trying to lose 80 lbs. If you eat 1000 calories before bed, then sleep, yes, it will be stored as fat. However, when you excercise the next day, the fat will be converted to energy, so you are not storing very much fat at any given time.

Eating more meals follows the same logic, but is important for different reasons. 2000 calories is 2000 calories. If you eat 2000 calories/day and burn 2000 calories a day, you are not going to gain weight whether you eat 10 meals or 1. Eating more meals is effective because it helps you burn MORE CALORIES. Your body can only absorb 30-50g of protein at a time. If you are excercising and trying to gain muscle, this is vital. Even if you are not trying to bulk up, this is still important because excercise breaks down muscle and you need protein to rebuild it. Muscle, even at rest, burns calories. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn. Eating more meals also allows your body to assimilate more of the nutrients in the food you are eating. Your insuln levels will be more constant. You will feel more energetic throughout the day because of the constant stream of energy you are providing your body. While your body can use stored fat as fuel, it WANTS to use newly digested carbs as fuel. The more energetic you feel, the more active you will be, and the more calories you will burn.

Moyer

07-15-2004, 03:23 AM

I've been researching nutrition and exercise for a year or so now. This is my simplified outline to losing weight.

--Nutrition--

Nutrition is a much more important part to losing weight than exercise is. It's a lot easier to just not eat 300 calories than it is to actually burn 300 extra calories.

Stay away from pretty much all beverages that contain calories. This includes soda, beer, koolaid, gatorade, fruit juice, etc. You're much better off drinking plain water. If you go long enough w/out soda, and then you have one, it will taste like thick syrup. You will get used to not having so much sugar. Also, drinking at least 8 glassed of water a day(or hopefully more) will help you feel full throughout the day. If you need an alternative to water, try green tea, vegetable juice, Diet V8 Splash, Propel brand fitness water, or possibly even diet soda.

Try to stay away from anything with hydrogenated oil in the ingredients list. This is trans fat, the worst kind of fat you can eat. Terrible for you heart.

Large amounts of sugar or white bread will spike your insulin levels and actually give you serious food cravings. They are also not very filling and are easily converted to fat.

This means no margarine, cookies, chips, crackers, pretzels, waffles, bagels, candy, white bread, deep fried food, ice cream, or pizza.

A good substitute for sugar is Splenda. A good substitute for white bread is wheat bread. A good substitute for margarine is olive oil. A good substitute for sweets is fresh fruit. A good substitute for fried foods is grilled foods. The spice rack is your friend.

Think natural foods, not processed.

Oatmeal, cottage cheese, any and all vegetables, brown rice, lean red meat, fish, chicken & turkey, eggs, peanut butter, nuts, and fruit should make up most of your diet. They are all very healthy and will keep you feeling full much longer than other foods.

Try to have a good amount of protein with every meal.

6 small meals a day is a great thing for a number of reasons.

Also, if you're finding it really hard to stick with a healthy diet, you could add one cheat meal a week. Make one of your favorite foods. Just don't go to an all you can eat buffet.

Lastly, don't suddenly start your diet and drop 1000 calories a day. It is much better for you, in a number of ways, if you gradually lower your daily calories.

--Exercise--

I suggest you weight train 1 day a week. If you enjoy weight lifting, you could do it as often as 4 days a week. You'll look a lot better after losing 80lbs if you've been lifting. Also, if you're losing more than a pound a week, a good portion of it will be muscle, not just fat. This contributes to the whole loose skin thing that happens after a lot of weight loss. If you want your weight training to help in fat loss, all you have to do is take about thirty seconds between sets instead of a couple minutes. You should definately buy the Stuart McRobert book already mentioned in this thread. It's titled "Brawn" there are also sequals "Beyond Brawn" and "Further Brawn". It's a great weight training book for someone without Arnold's genetics. Keep all weight training workouts under one hour each. Anything more is a waste of time.

As far as cardio goes, you either need high intensity for a short time or low intensity for long periods of time. A brisk walk for 10 minutes is good for your overall cardiovascular health, but it's not gonna burn much fat. Either take an hour brisk walk, or run your ass off for twenty minutes. It's your choice. If you don't like running, swimming is one of the best cardio activities out there. Could also try a treadmill or stationary bike. If you find these boring, buy a heavy bag (like the ones boxers use). Just beat the [censored] out of it for about half an hour. You'll be panting like a dog and sweating like a pig.

That's all I can think of right now.

I wish you the best. I know healthy food might take a while to get used to, but you'll be glad you made the switch. You may also be surprised how much healthy food you can actually eat without taking in too many calories.

If you find yourself struggling with your diet, just make another post. I'm sure you'll find support.

TomCollins

07-15-2004, 11:52 AM

Why get less fat for the WSOP? You have to be at least big boned to win the big one. I'm trying to fill out for 2005 just so I can win!

RollaJ

07-15-2004, 12:27 PM

Good Luck, you'll need it. Some people are made to be fat, some are made to be too skinny, some are made average. Your body overtime will tell you time and again which it is supposed to be. Ive lost over 100 pounds 2 times in my life, and I always gravitate (lol) back to the same weight, and stay there. It is a proven fact that being overweight is genetic. If you choose to fight it you can, but it will never be something natural for you, as it is for most people to be an average weight. I am not saying I have given up for good, but Im just letting you know how it is in the real world.
Many thin people will say its not healthy, and its not, but they will often also blame you, and that is not usually the case either. Is it fair to blame someone for being born black, or gay, or for being born blind? "Hey your looking a little black today, why dont you try to work on that?"
Sure there are many people who reject the fact that it is genetic, but those are usually the people who have not done research on the matter. They will say things like "I, for one, see a fat guy and think "doesn't he even care about his health?"
That all being said, good luck. Maybe you can just work it off for your TV appearence at the final table /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Fat boy on a diet don’t try it
I’ll check your ass like a looter in a riot

Flame away

ScottTheFish

07-15-2004, 12:46 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Basically, you drink a gallon (or as much as you can handle) of ice water every day. It must be VERY COLD, normal water will not work.

The point is that among other things your body uses caloric intake to make you warm. So, long story short, you'll have to pee, and not be incredibly comfortable, but you'll burn more calories than you usually do, by a lot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, that's just silly. Think about it. I don't care how much ice-water you drink, it's only gonna make the inside of your stomach cool for a few minutes. It will have no effect on your core body temperature or the amount of calories you burn.

Plus you burn calories for everything your body does, not just keeping warm. I could go on, but trust me, the ice-water diet is ridiculous.

ScottTheFish

07-15-2004, 12:56 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Sure there are many people who reject the fact that it is genetic, but those are usually the people who have not done research on the matter.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure, genetics obviously play a role. Some people are more pre-disposed to be fat than others. But it's certainly not pre-ordained at birth what your weight will be like your race is, cmon.

Otherwise how do you explain the fact that 50 years ago there were far, far fewer overweight people than there are now?

Is it more likely that the genetic makeup of Homo Sapiens has changed drastically in the last 50 years, or that our lifestyle and habits and diet have changed drastically? Seems obvious to me.

RollaJ

07-15-2004, 01:14 PM

[ QUOTE ]
But it's certainly not pre-ordained at birth what your weight will be like your race is, cmon.

[/ QUOTE ]

I dunno I was born at 11 lbs., sounds like for some of us it was

ScottTheFish

07-15-2004, 01:22 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I dunno I was born at 11 lbs., sounds like for some of us it was

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you trying to be funny, or do you really think your above-average birth weight proves that you were genetically doomed to be fat or something?

Either way, I stand by my assertion that looking at obesity rates from 50 years ago pretty much rules out your genetics theory.

I ask again, have our genetics changed, or our lifestyle and diet?

RollaJ

07-15-2004, 01:34 PM

[ QUOTE ]
have our genetics changed, or our lifestyle and diet?

[/ QUOTE ]
I would guess both

ScottTheFish

07-15-2004, 01:44 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
have our genetics changed, or our lifestyle and diet?

[/ QUOTE ]
I would guess both

[/ QUOTE ]

Genetics don't work like that, and I'm not guessing. But believe what you will.

B Dids

07-15-2004, 01:44 PM

The thing is- my weight gain didn't come from genetics. It came from horrible, horrible eating habits and being totally lazy. It isn't like I was living a normal lifestyle and just got big.

ScottTheFish

07-15-2004, 01:48 PM

[ QUOTE ]
The thing is- my weight gain didn't come from genetics. It came from horrible, horrible eating habits and being totally lazy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mine too. I'm on the "Get off your ass and exercise and quit eating so much crappy food" plan. Going well so far. Good luck to you.

drewjustdrew

07-15-2004, 01:48 PM

I like your idea and have thought about doing something similar. I have three suggestions:

1. Do not make your workout schedule so rigid. You are setting yourself up for failure. Every day, you should try to do something active. Any activity will do: walking, running, weights, sports, golf, mowing lawn. Even if it is only 15-30 minutes. If you do something most days, there will be a cumulative effect.

2. Try to focus on eating healthy food as opposed to avoiding junk food. If you search out healthy food, you will crave junk food less. If you have to have an unhealthy snack, try to cut yourself off after a small amount, but don't totally deny yourself.

3. If you must eat out, try to order less food. Even if you feel you will not be full, just tell yourself you can have something else in a couple hours. Also tell yourself that you will not be starving for a while.

MrDannimal

07-15-2004, 08:24 PM

You are 100% wrong here.

It has nothing to do with "making your stomach cool" or "core body temperature" in the sense you mean it.

It's very simple. Cut-n-Pasted from science.HowStuffWorks.com: http://science.howstuffworks.com/question447.htm

[ QUOTE ]

For anyone trying to lose weight, this question is an exciting one! If you simply want to know if your body burns calories warming up the water, the answer is yes. But if you want to know if drinking a lot of ice water can help you lose weight, or keep weight off, this "yes" needs to be qualified with some calculations.
First of all, calories are case-sensitive. There are calories and then there are Calories. Calories with a big "c" are the ones used to describe the amount of energy contained in foods. A calorie with a little "c" is defined as the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius. What most people think of as a Calorie is actually a kilo-calorie: It takes one Calorie to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1 degree Celsius. So when you drink a 140-Calorie can of cola, you are ingesting 140,000 calories. There is no cause for alarm, because the conversion applies across the board. When you burn 100 Calories jogging a mile, you are burning 100,000 calories.

So, considering that the definition of a calorie is based on raising the temperature of water, it is safe to say that your body burns calories when it has to raise the temperature of ice water to your body temperature. And unless your urine is coming out ice cold, your body must be raising the temperature of the water. So calories are being burned.

Let's figure out exactly what you're burning when you drink a 16-ounce (0.5 liter) glass of ice water:

The temperature of ice water can be estimated at zero degrees Celsius.
Body temperature can be estimated at 37 degrees Celsius.
It takes 1 calorie to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius.
There are 473.18 grams in 16 fluid ounces of water.
So in the case of a 16-ounce glass of ice water, your body must raise the temperature of 473.18 grams of water from zero to 37 degrees C. In doing so, your body burns 17,508 calories. But that's calories with a little "c." Your body only burns 17.5 Calories, and in the grand scheme of a 2,000-Calorie diet, that 17.5 isn't very significant.
But let's say you adhere to the "eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day" nutritional recommendation. In 64 ounces of water, there are 1,892.72 grams. So to warm up all that water in the course of a day, your body burns 70,030 calories, or 70 Calories. And over time, that 70 Calories a day adds up. So, while you definitely shouldn't depend on ice water consumption to replace exercise or a healthy diet, drinking cold water instead of warm water does, in fact, burn some extra Calories!

[/ QUOTE ]

You need to burn approx. 3500 Calories to lose one pound of body weight.

At 70 Calories per day, it takes 50 days to burn 1 pound. 365 days per year, 365/50 is 7.3 pounds lost per year simply by drinking 8-8oz. glasses of ice water every day.

A side benefit (that may result in greater weight loss) is that drinking that water will shrink your stomach a little bit, as well as putting volume in your stomach. You should feel more full, and also be able to eat a little less and still feel full.

ScottTheFish

07-16-2004, 02:10 AM

About 80% of that thing is just explaing what a calorie is. Not exactly high level information you dug up. Anyway, yeah the math works out if you look at it like that. But human matabolism is a little more complicated than that.

Don't believe everything you read on the internet. Just have a look at any of the 7000 sites selling fat-burn this or that. They have all kinds of complicated sounding science "explaining" how their magic pill "melts off the pounds". /images/graemlins/laugh.gif I assure you the temperature of the water you drink won't affect weight loss/gain in any measurable way.

Cosimo

07-16-2004, 12:34 PM

First, a game with words to ensure that your goal is well-defined. Weight loss isn't a great goal. "Weight" includes fat, water, muscle, and brain tissue. Severing an arm is a great way to lose weight, but is that really your goal? Fat loss is probably your true intent. Other good health-related goals are to increase flexibility, cardiovascular fitness, and strength.

[ QUOTE ]
2000 calories is 2000 calories. If you eat 2000 calories/day and burn 2000 calories a day, you are not going to gain weight whether you eat 10 meals or 1.

[/ QUOTE ]

If all you are concerned about is your weight tomorrow vs today, then this is fine. However, if you want to lose fat weight instead of muscle weight, or if you want a long-term reduction, you can't look at just calories.

The most basic fact of fat loss is that you can only lose fat if you burn more calories in a day than you consume. However, this is complicated by biochemistry. Certain calories (carbs vs protein vs fat) and eating at certain times of the day might encourage or discourage fat burning.

If you eat 1000 calories right before bed, your body stores that as fat. Now you have even more fat to lose. When you get up the next day and work out, you body will burn through stored glycogen and then muscle mass before moving on to the fat. If you work out like this every day--running or walking in the mornings without having eaten anying--then it will be tougher and tougher to lose weight.

Many diets start with some trick for reducing stored water, which drops your weight very rapidly but not in any useful, long-term manner. Losing muscle mass will only make it harder to lose weight in the future. Starving your body just reduces your metabolism to the point that you have to starve even more to continue to lose weight. Generally, eating normally after such a diet just shoves that weight right back on.

The best answer for fat loss is to ensure that the food that you are eating does not harm your long-term goals. Eating protein encourages your body to burn fat for fuel. Eating carbs encourages your body to store excess calories as fat, and to consume muscles for energy. Dessert is especially bad because it's a signal to your body to store excess calories from the meal as body fat! Carbs are not always bad, though. The best time to consume candy and fruit is on an empty stomach, or before exercise. Multiple small meals makes it easier for your body to use protein, keeps your body from resorting to muscle-burning, and maintains glycogen stores so that you always have energy.

Putting on muscle mass increases the number of calories you burn throughout the day, which is why a number of diets (8 minutes a day, Body for Life, Burn the Fat) emphasize strength training. However, there are other methods (such as cardio) for burning more calories. Personally, I chose strength training because it takes less time out of my day. My regimen includes a moderate amount of carbs, strength training, multiple small meals with an emphasis on high-protein snacks, and one cheat day each week.

jasonHoldEm

07-16-2004, 01:26 PM

I'm a fatass myself...here's what I've learned so far.
<ul type="square">
Walking/running is good, weight lifting and HIIT (http://www.buildleanmuscle.com/interval-training.html) are better.

5 meals a day is superior to 3.

Pills don't work (but they will give you cool heart palpatations and random profuse sweating).

Go here for motivation Men's Health Belly Off Club (http://forums.menshealth.com/forum.jspa?forumID=5) (It's like a 2+2 for fatasses).

Go here to keep yourself honest Fitday (http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/Index.html)

[/list]

Good luck,
J

Alobar

07-16-2004, 02:54 PM

This is completely misleading. I Should go look up the scientific word but your body "sheds" calories everyday. This "shedding" is based on genetics, metabolism, and other factors. Basically your body tries to reach an equaliberium on calories in vs. calories out. If you did nothing different in your day besides drink cold water you would not lose 7 pounds in a a year simply because of this fact. If anything you would continue to gain 1lb a year (which the average adult does, because this "Shedding" isn't the most proficient thing your body does, and its off by something like 20 calories a day under normal daily conditions).

How many people drink 98.6 degree water anyway? can you say nasty. And I don't see your average person losing 7lbs a year, so obviously it doesnt quite work the way you believe it does.

lowroller

09-11-2004, 05:08 PM

So Dids....Haven't seen anything on your blog.

How's it going??

jasonHoldEm

09-11-2004, 05:35 PM

Whoa...

I was just re-reading this thread (I have it bookmarked) and was going to bump it as well.

Hope things are going well for you dids.

J

Dan Rutter

09-11-2004, 10:49 PM

Setting goals is a key area in improving most areas of ones life, especially in an area such as losing weight, and becoming more healthy. Your doing a great job at goal setting with what you have outlined in the message you posted on your website. If you are looking for a book for information on all aspect of improving to a healthier life style, I would recomend Bill Phillips, Body-for-Life. He has a few books related to this as well. It has an excellent, simple to follow dietary, and excercise program. Along with great information on how to set and achieve short-term and long term goals. It also contains some pretty inspirational stories from some of the people who have followed the program. I didn't read all the posts so I dont know if someone recomended this book yet, but I think it is great. Best wishes on you success.

B Dids

09-12-2004, 11:38 AM

Frankly, it's going less than fantastic. Still very inconsistant.

It's strange, the first time I lost weight I was just able to flip a switch and BOOM, I was on the diet, working out, and I stuck do it. This time I'm just not finding that switch. So I start up, I spend a few days being good, then I slack off again.

It's not just a lack of motivation with regards to working out and eating right. It's also just a general lack of motivation in my life that's affecting me at work and at home. Just feeling a massive lack of energy and a desire to do anything more than sit around and suck in cathod rays in one form or another. I'm problably going to go see some sort of counselor to talk about this stuff in the next few weeks.

Things aren't so bad that the plan is totally bust. (in part because they pushed back the WSOP a month /images/graemlins/smile.gif ) I just need to find a way to rededicate myself and at this point I'm not sure what it is. However, this being bumped is a good start. I've kinda been ducking people's inquries about how this is going, and that wasn't the point of making this be know. So if I just make myself be held accountable,like I intended, that should have some benefit.

I'm not really sure what my next step is. I'll keep trying to stay on target, but I'm not sure if just "trying" is enough. I do know that once I do find that switch, and really get myself into a pattern, I'll be good. I just need to find a way to get there.

Thanks for bumping this, it's helping to give me the kick in the ass I need.