Posted on 07/18/2010 1:55:44 PM PDT by Feline_AIDS
I’m 51, 5’5”, 110 pounds. I eat whatever I want during the day (when I’m hungry) but not large meals, usually 7-8 snacks during the day. I was 125 pounds and lost 15 pounds by not eating after 7 in the evening several years ago. This does not mean that I believe calories in the evening are some how different it is just that not eating for a part of the day probably led to fewer calories overall. I move around constantly, even standing at the computer to work. I exercise 3-4 times each week.
Something I read in a health magazine a few weeks ago was very interesting, basically it said when we were all young and went on the starvation diets that let us lose all that weight really fast... well a lot of that loss was lean muscle mass and when we regained that weight the muscle we lost was replaced with fat and that is much more difficult to lose so the yo-yo dieting actually has contributed to many people being fat as they get older... the best weight loss is slow and steady and exercising so there isn’t a loss of lean muscle mass.. which actually helps us lose weight easier... one reason sometimes you exercise and gain weight but lose dress sizes, the muscle weighs more than fat....
I’m a male 58, 6’ 1” and weigh 188. I never eat anything heavy at night. Remember, you have to BURN more calories than you intake to loose weight. If you dump more water into a bucket than evaporates, eventually it will overflow.
My Mom who did not have a weight problem said “to eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.”
Worked for her.
I eat what is known as the “Hunter/Gatherer” diet. Eat what would normally be hunted or gathered such as meat and fish, fruits and veggies. Nuts and berries, also. Eat as naturally as possible. In other words: an apple is great, apple sauce not so great, apple pie is not good.
I was at 315 pounds, I am now at 245, and have to lose anothe 30 or so pounds. I am 56, heart rate of 65, cholesterol at 133, triglicerides at 125, BP at 130/82. I climb mountains and distance bike riding... and I feel GREAT!
I started the Flat Belly Diet about 6 weeks ago and feel AMAZING. You eat 4 times a day, every 4 hours. It cuts out extra sugar and salt and bulky foods that clog the digestive tract. The diet is heavy on MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids) - avocados, nuts, oils, dark chocolate), fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, and lean meats. You make a pitcher of Sassy Water every morning and drink with each meal, to keep hydrated and ease digestion. I really haven’t felt this great since I was 19 or 20. And I’ve been consistently losing weight (and keeping it off). I lost 8.5 lbs the first 4 days, due to the Jump Start.
My brother did the large breakfast, heavy on protein thing a few years ago, but after a while, he just had to go back to regular eating. He did lose a lot of weight, though (20+ lbs in about 2 months).
Ditto. Breakfast is half a banana and black coffee. Lunch IF I have it is a granola bar or piece of fruit. Supper is a normal meal but I’ve had to cut it in half. I try not to snack after supper. No sugary drinks. Mostly un-sweet tea or water, an occasional diet soda. 1 splurge item a week to feed the sugar habit. I’m 62 and have a few health issues that keep me from being to active.
They should change the food pyramid. Top Protien, fruit, veggies, dairy, then grains at the bottom.
If I ate 2000 calories a day I too would be a blimp. I maintain about a 140-145 weight level, I’m 5’1” medium frame.
Portion size is the key. A number of years ago, I was in Spain and saw very few fat people. I ate in a number of Spanish restaurants and the portion sizes of the typical meal you were served was probably half of what it is in the U.S.
The portion sizes of food served in a lot of U.S. restaurants are insane. I usually eat half of what I order and take the rest home.
If you want to loose weight, do push aways. Push yourself away from the table sooner and start shrinking your stomach. Eat more a lot more protein than carbohydrates. AND you must exercises. Don’t think of it as a “DEIT”. Think of it as getting back into shape. Do not weigh yourself, you will know if you are replacing fat with muscle. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat.
I weighed 145 Lb in high school and I still weigh 145 Lb now, 43 years later.
I’m certainly not an expert, but my weight has not wavered more than 10 lbs. in either direction for the past 40 years (since my late teen years) so my approach has worked for me.
Simple fact is that if you eat more calories than you burn off each day, you will gain weight. Duh.
Most adult women of average size need about 1600-1700 calories to maintain weight. Men need a few hundred more. Either burn off an equivalent of 300 more calories a day or take in 300 less calories a day for gradual weight loss (half a pound or so a week). Count calories but make sure your calories come from healthy sources like lean protein, fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Don’t waste your calories on food that has no nutritional value like chips or cookies, but do allow yourself an occasional treat like pizza or ice cream.
As a rule, people underestimate the amount of calories expended in exercising. Walking an hour a day at 3 MPH, e.g. only burns about 250 calories.
If you need outside discipline and respond to peer pressure, the Weight Watchers program is excellent and the people I know who have done that program have lost weight and kept the weight off as long as they didn’t go back to their old eating habits. The exercise standard for WW is 10,000 steps a day which is the equivalent of about 5 miles. That is about 90 minutes of walking at a moderate pace - having a dog to walk helps! A sedentary person only walks 1 to 3K steps a day.
It’s not easy and what works for one person may not work for another and you have to be committed to healthy eating as a life long endeavor, not just temporarily to lose weight. Good luck.
By the above, I didn't mean that exercising is not worth it. It most certainly is important for more health reasons than just keeping your weight down. But be careful not to overestimate the amount of calories you are burning off and then be tempted to reward yourself with a treat that contains more calories than what you expended.
Two words FRiend: Oat-meal.
If these people were eating a 'light evening snack', how did they have leftovers from the evening 'meal' to heat up in the morning? Obviously, I'm missing something here.
These people weren’t eating a light evening snack, just the one. Whatever the wife cooked for the evening meal was put up for breakfast be it steak, roast, fish, etc. veggies, salad or whatever else and he ate it in the morning..
For how long were you on Medifast?
bttt
bump for later read
LOL!
That’s a good bit of advice. If I may add a trick. Try to do most of your shopping around the perimeter of the grocery store and avoid the boxed food isles. Eat small frequent meals so the body doesn’t store fat in preparation for a fast.
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