Looking for a healthy diet

[StardogChampion]

Can someone write out a healthy 5-meals-a-day diet that they use, with the literal names of each thing they eat (including brand name and store they buy it from)? Like this:

Day 1: Cereal, (2 hours later) Something else, (3 hours later) Lunch - 2 apples, yadda, yadda.
Day 2: ...

 

[Raziaar]

I don't have a defined meal plan for myself. I just have a list of things that are healthy that I like to make food from all the time.

Some of my staples are oatmeal, lentils(green and red), brown rice, frozen fish, frozen vegetables.

Made an awesome soup last night with just some chicken bouillon cubes, a sweet potato, some carrots and an onion all chopped up and simmered for like 30 minutes.

I mainly eat foods like that which require very little preparation and maintenance during the cooking process.

I still struggle with reaching for foods that require absolutely NO preparation and very little cooking process though.

 

[No Limit]

Don't have a set meal plan, in fact since I've been lazy lately all I do is eat out. But my idea of healthy is staying under 1,800 calories a day which is exactly what I try to do.

 

[jimbo118]

This, in general, is my diet:

Brekkie:
Weetabix(2 stix) + low fat milk
or
Porridge
with crushed seed mix(pumpkin, flax etc)
Cup o' tea

Lunch/brunch/snack:

A selection of fruit - banana, apple, orange, pear.
Too much fruit at once just makes me too gassy tbh plus it doesn't really fill me.
Low fat pro-biotic yoghurt (Danone etc less sweet which I prefer)
Or
Brown wholemeal bread fortified with seeds(DEM SEEDS!)

Dinner:
Lean Chicken, Fish(cod, monkfish, bass, swordfish) or Turkey (or meat, small fillet steak)
2 potatoes medium size
mixed vegetables(a cup full of you want to start measuring for dieting etc)
O.J, milk, or water.

I take a Benecol plant sterol drink after my main meal as it helps lower the bad (LDL) cholesterol 'apparently'

Snacks in between:
a piece of fruit
an egg
slice of brown bread
innocent kids smoothie
yoghurt...something like that

My breakfast and lunch are nearly always the same. I never really change it. Maybe have soup f.e.

 

[Raziaar]

Hey KiplingsCat. Do you work with fresh ginger? I can't exactly say my experiences with it were pleasant.

 

[StarBob]

I probably don't have the best diet... because I love delicious things... but I know a lot about healthy eating from all the attempts I've had at trying to keep delicious and healthy in the same room with one another. The best thing you can do is try to stick with whole foods - meaning things that are in their entirety an unprocessed product or are comprised of unprocessed products. Knowing exactly what goes in to your body is the absolute best place to start when considering healthy eating. Often times it involves cooking your own food or eating simple (fruits, vegetables, sandwiches, etc), but you avoid things like unnecessary amounts of saturated fat, sodium, and sugar. Honestly, if you can do that with a decent amount of discipline I'm pretty sure you can eliminate pretty much any health problem related to diet. I just wish I didn't suck at it. I blame my girlfriend for being a picky eater... and myself for giving in by getting fast food.

 

[Raziaar]

Fresh ginger is actually one of my all time favourite ingredients. If I'm ever having noodles, it's the first thing that goes on them, and sometimes when I have sushi I grate a little over the soy sauce that I use to dip (I like Asian food and try determinedly to cook it despite the fact that I have no experience with real Asian food at all).

Another favourite of mine is ginger tea, which I drink whenever I am coming down with a cold...I cut a few fresh slices and stick them in a tea strainer and make tea with them; it's both refreshing and comforting at the same time, and does a pretty good job at putting off the cold for a while.

How do you store the ginger? Whether I wrapped it in a paper towel in the refridgerator or kept a whole unused one on the shelf it spoiled quickly.

 

[StarBob]

How do you store the ginger? Whether I wrapped it in a paper towel in the refridgerator or kept a whole unused one on the shelf it spoiled quickly.

I'm not familiar with using whole ginger but... I'd assume putting it in a plastic bag like all other plant matter would keep it frsher than just letting it sit in open air.

 

[Raziaar]

I'm not familiar with using whole ginger but... I'd assume putting it in a plastic bag like all other plant matter would keep it frsher than just letting it sit in open air.

Well with the cut one wrapped in paper towels in the fridge, I did put it in a plastic bag. The unused one I just left uncovered like they have in the grocery store.

 

[L3N!N]

Breakfast:
-Weekdays: Cheerios or 2 Steam Rolls (Okami Brand from Costco)
-Weekend: 3-4 fried eggs with chopped up Sourdough mixed into the eggs beforehand. That's each Saturday and Sunday.

Lunch:
-Weekdays: PB&J, consisting of Shepherd's Bread, Trader Joe's Creamy Organic peanut butter, and low-sugar streawberry jam.
-Occasionally I'll spend some money on Sodexo chicken tenders and fries served in the cafeteria.
-Maybe some Sour Patch kids.

Mid-Afternoon Snack:
-Toast w/ Balade butter or
-Pop Chips (barbecue) or
-Pretzels & Green Olives

Dinner:
-main course n/a
-green beans (canned Costco in-house brand)
-an orange or grapefruit
-a mother****ing fistful of fresh raspberries

Dessert:
-Cheerios
-Popcorn

All while maintaining a lean ~130 pounds (always been deathly skinny, however).

 

[Raziaar]

Yeah, it gets mouldy after a while, but you can just cut off the mouldy bits and then it's as good as new! I just keep it with the other vegetables on my vegetable shelf. I've been using the same root for the last few weeks and it's still OK on the inside.

The challenger's ugly food has shown us that even hideous things can be sweet on the inside.

 

[NeptuneUK]

You don't need to be too strict, just avoid lots of awful sugary fatty shit.

My effective yet lax routine:
Breakfast - Multivits + codliver oil after Porridge + yoghurt + cup of tea (after morning exercise then shower)
Lunch - relatively healthy sandwich
Dinner - anything I want
Any snacks after dinner - could include : sausage roll, pastie, pie, small pasta pots/ noodles.

All you need to do is make sure you get all the nutrients you require and don't consume far more calories than you burn. It's really not rocket science. Any fad diets that cut anything out or overcompensate on one particular nutrient are bullshit. You simply need to include a relatively balanced amount of carbs, salt, fat, fibre, nutrients etc.

 

[JUL3]

Don't have a set meal plan, in fact since I've been lazy lately all I do is eat out.

:naughty:

Recently I've been doing the whole 'I'm too fat, time to stop eating' ritual (I know, I know; SUCH A GOOD EMO BUDDHIST LOLOLOL).
But when I do eat it's pretty much what my mother puts in front of me, which is almost always guaranteed to be healthy. & at other times when I'm with my peers I eat shitty foods, McDonalds, Dirty Bird (aka KFC), etc.
I currently tip the scales at 72kgs, I'm 6"1.

 

[repiV]

In terms of a meal plan...how long is a piece of string, depends what you spend your days doing and what you're trying to achieve.

In broad terms, anything high on the glycemic index is bad. Fresh meat/fish/vegetables are good. Eating regularly is good, as opposed to having a couple of huge meals.

So if you make sure you have a proper breakfast, cut out or right down on pasta, bread, anything sugary or otherwise processed, and eat mainly one ingredient foods, you can't really go too far wrong. It's not just the calorific content but the value of those calories and also the effect on your metabolism...you may have noticed if you eat a 1200 calorie pizza from the shop that not only is that very excessive, but you'll be hungry again in two hours since the energy in it is released quickly.

On the other hand, it would be a hell of a challenge to even eat 1200 calories worth of steak. And a fraction of that will keep you full for hours. The more you base your diet around slow-release foods (protein, non-processed carbs), the more sustainable it will be as you won't get hungry and then go and eat a load of shite. And you'll feel much more energetic and healthy as well.

 

[thefiznut]

repiV hits the mark..

carbohydrates are of huge concern to people trying to lose weight, improve insulin sensitivity, control blood sugar, and those with cardiovascular disease.

i suggest you look into what is often referred to as "paleo diet", which i assure you is not a fad diet in any way shape or form,
rather a way of eating based on current anthropological, biological, medical, and evolutionary sciences.
the idea is that a diet closest resembling the ancestral history of our species is ideal for avoiding degenerative disease and biological malfunction
because the evolution of our species has occured over a timeline that goes back more than a couple million years.
"eating paleolithically" is really just a way to easily remember ideal dietary choices.

humans have for a very, very long time been omnivores with a faunivore leaning and our ancestors have also been foraging for plant food for just about as long.
our gut morphology closest resembles that of a carnivore, while our teeth, forward eyes, enlarged brains, etc are suggestive that meat was a critical component of our species' development.
don't let a vegetarian fool you into avoiding meat, as meat containing saturated fat and protein is both the most satiating food hormonally (leptin/ghrelin relationship) and has the highest energy density of any food type.
contrary to popular belief, saturated fat and dietary cholesterol do not cause heart disease. they are contributing factors among many when combined with post-agricultural refined carbohydrate diets.
on the other hand, vegetables and plant foods are also excellent sources of macronutrients which our body uses in a myriad of ways, suggesting that our ancestors have been consuming them for a tremendously long time.
they are also typically low-carb options full of fiber, phytonutrients, anti-oxidant compounds, and other biologically smart dietary choices. you can't go wrong consuming vegetables and fruit, just watch it on the fruit as fructose can play games with blood sugar and insulin, and this is not ideal if you're trying to lose weight rather than maintain weight.

another thing to consider is that grains and legumes have only been consumed post agricultural revolution, approximately 10,000 years worth of time.
as a consequence, we are not fully equipped to digest them.
first, grain foods pale in comparison to meat and vegetables as a source of both energy dense food and macronutrient profile. they're really not worth the time eating them.
second, grains and legumes are significant source of what are known as dietary lectins, such as WGA (wheat germ agglutinan) and other sugar binding proteins.
lectins are stirring up controversy in scientific circles because they are suspected to be mechanisms of defense against predation in plants that contain them, likely a consequence of insects rather than omnivores but no one is sure yet.
what they are sure of is that lectins act as metabolic signals in the gut and modulate hormone and immune system functions for seemingly no beneficial reason, and are currently under heavy investigation as a potential factor in the formation in a full spectrum of degenerative diseases. they also signal changes in bacterial flora structure and impair digestive facilities. do some reading and you may just want to avoid them altogether.
grains also contain phytic acid, protease inhibitors, gluten, alkylresorcinols, and alpha-amylase inhibitors which are suggestive of their biological novelty to our species.

so pretty much what i'm saying is stick to meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts and pay careful attention to fatty acid profile of your foods. supplement with a good, clean fish oil for omega 3 fatty acids (DHA/EPA) if you're eating supermarket meat (grass-fed is ideal), nuts, oils other than coconut. take vitamin D and get plenty of sunshine. eat salads for beta-carotene and meat for vitamin A as B-C conversion to A is slow (one again suggestive of our carnivorous evolutionary history). avoid grains, legumes, refined carbohydrates like the plague, and optionally reduce dairy consumption as it is also biologically novel and contains cattle hormones and proteins like casein which are also bad news bears for some people.
like repiV, i'm going to caution you about glycemic index and glycemic load of foods. eat carbohydrates following fat and protein eaten in tandem to negate glycemic load and ensure you are both satiated and to control insulin and blood glucose.

there are differing opinions on what is an ideal fat/protein/carbohydrate ratio among people eating according to paleolithic principles. but when it comes down to it, simulating as close as possible a hunter-gatherer diet will go a long way toward improving your health.

if weight is your issue, look into ketosis and ketogenesis. A high fat, moderate protein, low or very low carbohydrate diet plan will go a long way towards dropping your excess body weight and chew through your gylogen reserves. but at the same time a high carbohydrate, moderate protein, low fat combination combined with sufficient cardio can accomplish the same result if done right.

in my opinion saturated fat is king.
seed oils, full of lineolic acid, will not help your cause.

 

[Stylo]

I eat whatever the people on the other side of the bars throw at me.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

I like the contrast between your post and the one above yours.

 

[Stylo]

[STRIKE]Dyin'[/STRIKE] Dietin' is for fools!

 

[morgs]

I manage to fit in fast food at least three times a week, I just can't help myself.

Luckily I haven't gained weight since...I can remember.

 

[sixteenth]

Hmm, I've got a usual weekly diet based on how my workout routine goes.. It's full of really basic meals.

Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Sunday
Breakfast: 1 piece of fruit (orange or apple usually) or cup of Orange Juice. Whole wheat toast with margarine. Cup of Earl Grey black tea and much more to bring with me throughout the day.
Lunch: (Late due to school/work) After running about 4-5 miles, core exercises, and some leg work, I like to immediately eat something with high complex carbohydrates. So I'll usually have something with pasta, rice, grains, or vegetables. This is definitely my biggest meal of the day. It should be since it's directly after my work out.
Dinner: Usually a big salad. Though, lately, I've really acquired a taste for tuna. I try not to eat too much of it due to the recent mercury level scares. I'll make a tuna salad or melt if I haven't had much lately. I've been trying out some potato recipes too.

Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday
Breakfast: Kashi GO Lean cereal with skim milk (loads of fiber, protein, and soy in a box. I love it), 1 piece of fruit (orange or apple) or glass of orange juice. 1 egg, scrambled. Cup of Earl Grey and more for throughout the day.
Lunch: Once again, I have a late lunch on these days. But, I usually have something like a sandwich on whole wheat bread with no cheese.
Dinner: After about an hour and a half of weight work and abdominal exercises in the gym, I try to eat something high in protein, complex carbs, and calories (well, relative to what I eat during the rest of the week). This will top out around 450-500 calories. Some of my favorites: Lemon zested Cod or crunchy breaded Tilapia over steamed, white premium rice. Also, I'm a sucker for stir-fry. Get some cheap chopped steak, rice, vegetables of any kind, a little oil, and some sauce of your choosing and toss it all together in a frying pan. During the workout, and following it, I'll have a protein shake as well.

Can't say I really snack all that much.

Even though I only started working out about six months ago, I'd have to attribute most of my wait loss to the changes in eating habits I've made. Lost about 40 pounds (193>151) between August and January, actually (*Edit: I should mention that this was a healthy amount to lose based on my height and age, eating habits, and workout routines). I've just recently started my protein and fiber regiment because I increased the weight work and it seriously has been making a difference. I'm definitely the healthiest I've ever been in my life. I feel that I am lacking in some essential nutrient areas. I do take a Vitamin B6, B12, and C dietary supplement to try and make up for that. Gotta eat more fruit!

 

[Dynasty]

Diet this, diet that. We fall for such crap just because some celeb says it worked for them.

*sigh*

Weight loss is ridiculously simple, we just cant be arsed to do it or dont have the time, which is a very poor excuse. Calories; in one day, if you burn more than you consume, you lose weight. If you consume more than you burn, you gain weight.

Its not what you eat, believe me. Its what you do when you're not eating.

In my 3rd year at Uni, I further spread my variety of friends and started hanging with more sporty-types. I have never seen such childish meals being consumed by people in their 20s. Every time I saw them, they were eating Pizzas, KFCs, McDonalds, burgers, chips, wedges, onion rings, breaded-chicken, tomato sauce, mayo, etc etc etc. The kind of stuff that makes these so-called nutritionists (which anyone can call themselves by the way) turn in their graves.

But if you saw them walking down the street, you'd think they had the best diets in the world. Slightly muscular, 6-pack abs, the kind of look women cant help but lust after.

They ate food so bad for them, but all of them played Lacrose, football, rugby and golf EVERY DAY. They didnt go to the gym. They just stayed active every damn day.

So its not actually what you eat. Its what you do afterward.

Yeah, sure, a diet will help you lose a few pounds, but only REALLY works best when you're down on weight anyway and cant shift that last bit of fat on your hips/legs/stomach/face.

 

[repiV]

Diet this, diet that. We fall for such crap just because some celeb says it worked for them.

*sigh*

Weight loss is ridiculously simple, we just cant be arsed to do it or dont have the time, which is a very poor excuse. Calories; in one day, if you burn more than you consume, you lose weight. If you consume more than you burn, you gain weight.

It's not even remotely that simple. Different types of calories are used by the body in different ways, and when, what, how much, and how often you eat, all have a vast effect on the metabolism - and therefore how many of those calories are burned off and how many are stored as fat. Not to mention that it's possible to consume too many calories, but still be malnourished because there is no nutritional value in the calories that are being consumed.

You could eat 2000 calories a day, in one massive meal, and become massively fat. You're more likely to eat 3000 calories a day of good, healthy food, split over several meals, and lose weight because it keeps your body in a fat burning mode.

You can't sustainably lose weight by eating very little because your body adapts and stores everything you eat as fat. Indeed, that's almost certain to lead to weight gain in the long run. And even then, we have to differentiate "losing weight" because you're likely to be losing as much muscle as fat if you aren't doing the right things.

Its not what you eat, believe me. Its what you do when you're not eating.

Cardiovascular exercise is the least important component of all in terms of fat loss. In the scheme of things, you hardly actually burn any calories at all, even by doing fairly intense exercise. A game of squash won't even come close to compensating for eating a KFC. Getting the diet in order is far more important, as is building muscle mass which makes your body far more efficient at making use of the food you eat. Of course, all three are important ultimately.

In my 3rd year at Uni, I further spread my variety of friends and started hanging with more sporty-types. I have never seen such childish meals being consumed by people in their 20s. Every time I saw them, they were eating Pizzas, KFCs, McDonalds, burgers, chips, wedges, onion rings, breaded-chicken, tomato sauce, mayo, etc etc etc. The kind of stuff that makes these so-called nutritionists (which anyone can call themselves by the way) turn in their graves.

But if you saw them walking down the street, you'd think they had the best diets in the world. Slightly muscular, 6-pack abs, the kind of look women cant help but lust after.

They ate food so bad for them, but all of them played Lacrose, football, rugby and golf EVERY DAY. They didnt go to the gym. They just stayed active every damn day.

So its not actually what you eat. Its what you do afterward.

People are all different. Some are naturally muscular, some naturally fat, and some naturally skinny as a rake. Therefore, some people can get away with a lot more bad habits than others can - especially if they've been physically active their whole lives, which goes a long way towards training the body. Equally, if they're already muscular, a lot of that junk food will be feeding their muscles and not their bellies.

I train hard six times a week (4x weights/circuit training, 2x martial arts), eat a relatively controlled diet, and don't drink alcohol between Sunday and Thursday. I've been building up to this level over a year and a bit, and still have a couple of stone to lose, and I soon notice a week or two of slipping into old habits in how I look and feel, and in my fitness (eg. Christmas).

Yeah, sure, a diet will help you lose a few pounds, but only REALLY works best when you're down on weight anyway and cant shift that last bit of fat on your hips/legs/stomach/face.

Depends what you mean by "a diet". Maintaining a healthy, balanced and nutritious diet should be a permanent way of life. "Dieting" in the sense of eating very little for a certain period of time, doesn't work, for reasons of muscle loss/effect on the metabolism (as well as the food cravings and such).

If you want to be healthy, you have to make it a permanent and ongoing pursuit - through diet AND exercise.

 

[Raziaar]

It's not even remotely that simple.

It is that simple though. Not all calories are going to keep you healthy, but weight loss in the end is a calorie deficit. You can still lose weight eating milkshakes and cheeseburgers, it's just going to be a hell of a lot harder to create a calorie deficit eating those foods.

Human bodies are different, and require different amounts of calories for daily function.

 

[repiV]

It is that simple though. Not all calories are going to keep you healthy, but weight loss in the end is a calorie deficit. You can still lose weight eating milkshakes and cheeseburgers, it's just going to be a hell of a lot harder to create a calorie deficit eating those foods.

If it were that simple, people who go on diets would actually lose weight.

As it is, the human body has this cunning way of adapting to the intake it is given, since having an abundance of food is a relatively new thing. If you decided to start eating only 1000 calories a day, you will lose weight for a short period of time, but in the process you will utterly destroy your metabolism and roughly half of the weight lost will be muscle. Then, you will hit a plateau and stop losing any more weight as the body has adapted to eating 1000 calories a day.

Then, the worst part is, you'll give up because it's not working anymore and being hungry all the time is impossible to live with on a long-term basis, go back to eating what you did before and pile on all the old fat PLUS more, as your metabolism is no longer able to cope with your previous diet and you will store MORE of it as fat.

Not to mention that 400 calories worth of protein will go largely towards maintaining your muscle mass, whereas 400 calories of beer will become fat and nothing else.

THAT is why it's not as simple as "calories in, calories out".

 

[Neutrino]

I think the single most effective thing you can do is don't buy processed foods. Just replace every processed food you would eat with a raw equivalent.

For example, instead of cereal eat granola or oatmeal.
This also means, don't buy anything in a can or a box. Instead of eating a can of chili, soak some beans and make your own. (or use a pressure cooker). Instead of eating box of macaroni, buy some whole wheat pasta, veggies, and cheese and make your own.

Eat lots of veggies and fruits and severely limit your meat intake. In fact there no reason to eat anything other than lean meats in my opinion. You can get nutrients from chicken and fish while avoiding all the fat and other bad stuff in red meat.

 

[CowPunk]

In my experience, the simplest way to lose weight was to start exercising and eating less sugar. I cut out soda completely, and almost all forms of processed sugar. Instead of getting candy bars or nasty deli food for break, I'd eat an apple and a yogurt. working out three - four days a week. Lots of cardio helped alot too.

 

[FrostedxB]

I personally am on (not strict) the paleolithic diet, which is actually a pretty good diet (you get to stuff your face at every meal).

Idk how to explain it so I'll just post some articles and stuff. -

http://www.earth360.com/diet_paleodiet_balzer.html

http://www.thepaleodiet.com/faqs/

Things about bread and why it's not a part of the paleo diet -

http://www.americanparkour.com/smf/index.php/topic,9301.0.html


I guess the best way I can describe it is -

Fresh fruits and veggies
Fresh/lean ground beef (90% or more)
Fresh chicken (not god damn chicken nuggets/tenders/patties/breaded shit)
Lots and lots of water
Fish


I also eat a lot off egg since they're a good source of protein (which you need quite a bit of after working out, it's key to building muscle) and drink at least 2 glasses of milk each day.

Of course without proper exercise any diet isn't going to do you much good. What are your specific goals? Are you trying to lose weight in general? Burn fat off a certain area of your body? build muscle?

Feel free to pm me if you don't wish to make your personal goals public.

 

[Raziaar]

If it were that simple, people who go on diets would actually lose weight.

As it is, the human body has this cunning way of adapting to the intake it is given, since having an abundance of food is a relatively new thing. If you decided to start eating only 1000 calories a day, you will lose weight for a short period of time, but in the process you will utterly destroy your metabolism and roughly half of the weight lost will be muscle. Then, you will hit a plateau and stop losing any more weight as the body has adapted to eating 1000 calories a day.

Then, the worst part is, you'll give up because it's not working anymore and being hungry all the time is impossible to live with on a long-term basis, go back to eating what you did before and pile on all the old fat PLUS more, as your metabolism is no longer able to cope with your previous diet and you will store MORE of it as fat.

Not to mention that 400 calories worth of protein will go largely towards maintaining your muscle mass, whereas 400 calories of beer will become fat and nothing else.

THAT is why it's not as simple as "calories in, calories out".

Uhh... people who go on diets DO lose weight if they stick to it. They rebound though because they don't learn healthy eating habits and they go right back to eating how they were before they were on the diet... particularly because they pick one of the dumb diets that have you eating dumb things which is hard to continue for long. THAT my dear watson is why diets don't work.

Instead, eat what you want(ideally healthy food if you want), but simply eat less food. Smaller portions, fewer bites.

The reason eating too few calories like 1000 calories a day for some fat dude who is trying to lose weight, is that it takes calories to burn calories. Your body needs calories to function and operate throughout the day. If you have too few calories, the digestion and metabolism is hindered significantly. You're still going to be burning fat, but also sacrificing more muscle and other ways for your body to get the energy it needs to burn to operate efficiently.

If you have some big guy who is 400, 500 or 600 pounds restricting his diet to 2000-2500 calories, his body is *NOT* going to adjust to that amount of calories and stop burning weight. That's simply false. As long as his body is getting enough calories, which is generally over 1000 for a man, he's going to be shedding weight.

Also, protein doesn't maintain muscle mass or build muscle mass. Exercise, stress on the muscles builds and maintains muscle. The protein is the building blocks that helps facilitate that process.

I never said calorie A is equal to calorie B when it comes to effects on the body... suppressing hunger, keeping a strong immune system, being healthy... but when it comes to calories in, calories out... that is really what it all boils down to.

Sorry, but people like yourself who are of the school that "fat" is going to make you fat because it's different than protein are simply misinformed. I'm not saying you explicitly believe in that fat = fat myth, but it's roughly the same as what you're saying so I used it as an example. I can show you countless recent studies if you like demonstrating that all it boils down to is a calorie deficit.

Eating healthy it's way easier to maintain a calorie deficit than it is eating junk food and you'll be healthier doing it, and that's why it's ideal.

Instead of eating box of macaroni, buy some whole wheat pasta, veggies, and cheese and make your own.

The reason this is better is not because the calorie in vs calorie out mantra is wrong, but because the vegetables give you fiber which makes you feel fuller with fewer calories, and the whole wheat pasta is slow digesting and releases its fuel more slowly over time compared to the fast carbohydrate sugar rush that the simple pasta does. A person eating the quick and easy cheap pasta dish is going to feel hungrier a lot sooner than the person eating the whole wheat pasta, and is more liable to snack more and thus increase his consumption of calories.



http://tucsoncitizen.com/living-thin/2011/02/07/harvard-study-reveals-calories-in-calories-out/

A Harvard Study reveals “calorie intake alone determine how successful a diet will be.”

It’s not about any diet plan in particular. Whether it’s low-fat, low-carb, high-protein — or whatever, in the end, the only thing that makes a difference about losing weight is, yes, my friends, the calories you burn have to be more than you ingest.

 

[sixteenth]

Remember this guy? "Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds".

Still, can't be healthy at all.

 

[repiV]

Uhh... people who go on diets DO lose weight if they stick to it. They rebound though because they don't learn healthy eating habits and they go right back to eating how they were before they were on the diet... particularly because they pick one of the dumb diets that have you eating dumb things which is hard to continue for long. THAT my dear watson is why diets don't work.

Not quite. For starters, if you were overweight before but not gaining any MORE weight, why should going back to eating the same mean you pile all the weight straight back on (plus more)?

Because "dieting" in the traditional sense ie. cutting the amount of calorific intake drastically for a period of time destroys the metabolism. Therefore ruining the body's ability to cope with even a normal amount of food, and hence where yo-yo dieting comes from...

Instead, eat what you want(ideally healthy food if you want), but simply eat less food. Smaller portions, fewer bites.

The reason eating too few calories like 1000 calories a day for some fat dude who is trying to lose weight, is that it takes calories to burn calories. Your body needs calories to function and operate throughout the day. If you have too few calories, the digestion and metabolism is hindered significantly. You're still going to be burning fat, but also sacrificing more muscle and other ways for your body to get the energy it needs to burn to operate efficiently.

Isn't that proof in itself that it's not as simple as "calories in = calories out"?

If you have some big guy who is 400, 500 or 600 pounds restricting his diet to 2000-2500 calories, his body is *NOT* going to adjust to that amount of calories and stop burning weight. That's simply false. As long as his body is getting enough calories, which is generally over 1000 for a man, he's going to be shedding weight.

Yes, and as you alluded to earlier, about half of that weight will be muscle. Therefore again slowing the metabolism down until we reach an equilibrium and the fat stops coming off - and then when the normal eating habits resume, hello all the weight plus more.

My weight hasn't changed that significantly in a few months, but I'm quite a different shape than I was, say, just before Christmas. More muscle, less fat.

Also, protein doesn't maintain muscle mass or build muscle mass. Exercise, stress on the muscles builds and maintains muscle. The protein is the building blocks that helps facilitate that process.

I never said calorie A is equal to calorie B when it comes to effects on the body... suppressing hunger, keeping a strong immune system, being healthy... but when it comes to calories in, calories out... that is really what it all boils down to.

Sorry, but people like yourself who are of the school that "fat" is going to make you fat because it's different than protein are simply misinformed. I'm not saying you explicitly believe in that fat = fat myth, but it's roughly the same as what you're saying so I used it as an example. I can show you countless recent studies if you like demonstrating that all it boils down to is a calorie deficit.

Eating healthy it's way easier to maintain a calorie deficit than it is eating junk food and you'll be healthier doing it, and that's why it's ideal.

Calorie deficit is fine, if all you want to do is lose weight and you don't care what type of weight you want to lose. But if you do that, you will in the process ruin your body's ability to lose the kind of weight that you're after in the first place (the fat).

The reason this is better is not because the calorie in vs calorie out mantra is wrong, but because the vegetables give you fiber which makes you feel fuller with fewer calories, and the whole wheat pasta is slow digesting and releases its fuel more slowly over time compared to the fast carbohydrate sugar rush that the simple pasta does. A person eating the quick and easy cheap pasta dish is going to feel hungrier a lot sooner than the person eating the whole wheat pasta, and is more liable to snack more and thus increase his consumption of calories.

http://tucsoncitizen.com/living-thin/2011/02/07/harvard-study-reveals-calories-in-calories-out/

Very true, however it doesn't change the fact that trying to shift fat by diet alone doesn't work because you also starve away the muscle. At the end of the day, if you want to be in proper shape, no matter how skinny you may be, you have to train your body regularly.

Most people can't be bothered to make that sacrifice...which is fine. But, best not to delude them into thinking they'll be healthy if only they eat small portions of salad and fish for every meal.

 

[Raziaar]

OH JESUS CHRIST. I was writing a long response and I hit something and it overwrote everything I was doing. ARGH. Let me try again.

Not quite. For starters, if you were overweight before but not gaining any MORE weight, why should going back to eating the same mean you pile all the weight straight back on (plus more)?

Because "dieting" in the traditional sense ie. cutting the amount of calorific intake drastically for a period of time destroys the metabolism. Therefore ruining the body's ability to cope with even a normal amount of food, and hence where yo-yo dieting comes from...

They're gaining all the weight back plus more, because they are returning back to levels of eating before plus eating more. The reason they are gaining more weight than they lost before is because they're actually consuming more calories than they were before. The only way to be able to determine that for sure would be to measure their caloric intake and they would see that it's the reason why. People who stop their diets and eat the way they did before should expect no less than to put back on all of their weight really fast, because all the body is able to do with all those excess calories is to store them as fat, and it's so much easier to have many thousands of calories over than it is to have as a deficit without starving yourself, which is why it's so much easier to gain the weight back than it is to lose it.

Isn't that proof in itself that it's not as simple as "calories in = calories out"?

Dude, it's not proof of shit. What makes you think that it is? A junk food calorie is the same as a healthy food calorie. The junk food calories are going to be acquired with far smaller quantities of food since they are completely calorie dense, and the healthy foods contain elements like fiber which are undigestable calories and overall you have to eat a far larger quantity of food to achieve the same number of calories. In addition to that, the junk food calories because of what they are composed of will leave you hungry again far faster than the healthy food calories. Satiety level and health isn't going to be the same between the two. In the end however, a calorie is a calorie, it's just a unit of energy that your body either burns or stores away for later.

There are exceptions to this rule, as certain diseases will affect weight gain / weight loss. Things like smoking also effect weight gain. The intestines are inflamed and they do not absorb all the nutrients at 100% efficiency and thus it's possible to eat more calories without actually consuming all the calories from the food through the intestines.

Yes, and as you alluded to earlier, about half of that weight will be muscle. Therefore again slowing the metabolism down until we reach an equilibrium and the fat stops coming off - and then when the normal eating habits resume, hello all the weight plus more.

My weight hasn't changed that significantly in a few months, but I'm quite a different shape than I was, say, just before Christmas. More muscle, less fat.

Look. Fat people typically have more muscle mass than your average skinny person. Their bodies require the muscle mass to support their massive frames. If they're dropping down to an average weight level and they're not eating enough protein and not doing enough exercise to keep that muscle stressed and maintained, they're going to lose large amounts of it. There's no way you're going to be able to maintain all of your muscle mass as a large dude if you're not putting in the amount of exercise it would take to maintain that muscle mass if you were a skinny dude. Muscle adapts and if it's not being utilized and fed to maintain it, it will reduce in size. Muscle is only going to be maintained if you're constantly utilizing it and giving it the protein it needs to rebuild whenever it gets broken down, whether that's to maintain size or to increase size.

Calorie deficit is fine, if all you want to do is lose weight and you don't care what type of weight you want to lose. But if you do that, you will in the process ruin your body's ability to lose the kind of weight that you're after in the first place (the fat).

Put your money where your mouth is and burn fat on 500-1000 calories more than it'd take to maintain your current body weight(also factoring in the exercise you do during the day). You'll gain muscle, which is more dense than fat, but your body is going to have no other choice than to store those excess calories, and it cannot store them as muscle, it has to store them as fat. There's no other process for the body to store that excess energy.

Very true, however it doesn't change the fact that trying to shift fat by diet alone doesn't work because you also starve away the muscle. At the end of the day, if you want to be in proper shape, no matter how skinny you may be, you have to train your body regularly.

Most people can't be bothered to make that sacrifice...which is fine. But, best not to delude them into thinking they'll be healthy if only they eat small portions of salad and fish for every meal.

Nowhere did I say that muscle is not going to be detrimentally affected if you're not consuming enough protein in your daily allotment of calories, and if you're not working those muscles to maintain and build them so that the protein can actually be utilized instead of just excreted.

You seem to be ignoring all the areas where I mention that stress on the muscles, exercise of the muscles in addition to the protein building blocks is what it takes to maintain and build muscle. Nowhere am I advocating to simply eat less and lose weight, although that's all that is required. I'm exercising 6 days a week at the gym in addition to eating healthy now, and that's what is working best for me. That's a lifestyle I can stick to. I'm eating healthy and only so many calories which is keeping my mind and body alert and responsive instead of sluggish while facilitating weight loss, and I'm working out which is improving my heart and lungs as well as my muscles so that my body will passively burn more calories throughout the day simply to keep it running. That makes my daily calorie deficit even greater than what I'm simply not taking into my body.

 

[cleverendeavouR]

I think the main this is counting calories. I mean of course you want to avoid sugars and fats, etc etc. But there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

I've lost 15 pounds by limited my calories to 1,500 a day. You need to have a big breakfast and I think snacks throughout the day really help too because it keeps your metabolism going. I also completely cut out soda and coffee. I know there's been a lot of news lately about how coffee is good for you now but I always put tons of sugar and cream in mine. I've substituted it with green tea and one packet of splenda. Green tea really doesn't have any calories and it's also a fat burner.

 

[Gargantou]

I am awaiting getting a time with a very good dietist myself over here to see over my eating habits.

For me it's because I need to learn to eat so that I can gain weight, as well as simply eat healthier to improve my mental functioning and hopefully alleviate some of the symptoms of my ADHD.

 

[Raziaar]

I think the main this is counting calories. I mean of course you want to avoid sugars and fats, etc etc. But there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

I've lost 15 pounds by limited my calories to 1,500 a day. You need to have a big breakfast and I think snacks throughout the day really help too because it keeps your metabolism going. I also completely cut out soda and coffee. I know there's been a lot of news lately about how coffee is good for you now but I always put tons of sugar and cream in mine. I've substituted it with green tea and one packet of splenda. Green tea really doesn't have any calories and it's also a fat burner.

Splenda... god. why not just add dishwasher detergent to your tea?

I can't stand splenda anymore. Such a horrible taste and aftertaste. Just use the refined sugar.