Weight Loss Buddy

[RRK]

It's not about watching your calories, or your fat intake, it's about making the right eating choices in the first place.

I hear you guys but while using a calorie counter it tells you how much you will lose if you stick to the calorie amounts designated and it is almost exactly right. I don't really see how anything could be more correct then less input more output.

[adm]

Calories are bullshit. There are "good" calories and "bad" calories. The unit means nothing. It's the quality and content of what you put into your body that matters.

Calorie controlled diets are bullshit. All that happens is that if you feed your body less calories than it expects, it does it's best to lay down what you feed it as fat stores for the future as it thinks it's being starved. You just end up in a stupid cycle of fat storage and release and tend to go up in weight overall long term. That's why there are so many people on a constant diet cycle.

Plus - being hungry makes you miserable, which means these "diets" never last long. Forget about calories and concentrate on the glycaemic index of the food you eat. Low GI food takes more energy to be converted into stored fat in the first place.

[RRK]

Calories are bullshit. There are "good" calories and "bad" calories. The unit means nothing. It's the quality and content of what you put into your body that matters.

You seem pretty sure of yourself and I find it funny that you say this diet or that diet is a recipe for failure just after you describe a "fad" diet as if its the gospel.

Montignac's theory is disputed by nutrition experts, who claim that any calorie intake that exceeds the amount that the body needs will be converted into body fat. The scientific literature refutes the hypotheses of Montignac regarding the metabolic effects of carbohydrates and fatty acids.[1] Critics also point out that the Glycemic Index is not easy to use, as it depends on the exact variety of the food, how it was cooked, combinations with other foods in the same meal, and so on. Despite these scientific doubts, there are other serious scientific studies which endorse this method. Montignac sold 15 million books about his diet, and his method has been made famous by the celebrities who adopted it, including Gérard Depardieu, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and others.

If it worked for you great but I think whatever system gets you healthy and you can maintain is the right one. However statements like "calories are BS" and "eat as much as you want for the rest of your life and stay slim" sound like your trying to sell a book.

[jtwh20]

This whole dieting thing is bullshit IMHO.....

It's not about watching your calories, or your fat intake, it's about making the right eating choices in the first place. If you eat RIGHT, you can pretty much eat as much as you like for the rest of your life and stay slim.

No processed carbohydrates. At all. Ever. Stoneground wholewheat bread and pasta. No potatoes. No corn. Sadly, no beer if you're trying to lose weight.
No sugar - other than natural fruit sugars. But only in fruit.
Don't eat carbs with fats.

If you follow those rules you will shed the pounds easily. On the downside, it's pretty hard at first, but you'll soon get into the swing of it. On the positive side, you can eat things like steak and salad (no fries, no baked potato), cheese and (very dark) chocolate.

Google for "montignac"...seriously, getting thin while eating well is perfectly possible and even enjoyable with the right mindset.

Following "this diet" or "that diet" is a recipe for failure....

+1

processed foods are the biggest reason we are fat!!!

[adm]

Well...if I'd written a book, then I'd sure as hell be trying to sell it. Note I didn't say to buy anything - just to google for Montignac as it gets a lot of hits and gets you off on the right track.

"Critics say the GI is not easy to use". Boo Hoo. Life in general isn't easy either, but eating healthily is better for you than buying some Celeb's "diet bars" or subscribng to any "easy to use 7 day weight loss plan"......whatever....

All I can say is that understanding the GI and how your body processes food and stores it as fat is worthwhile, and will change your way of thinking about food, eating and weight maintenance for ever. Without having to buy anything. To the point that you no longer need to worry about rubbisn like calorie counts", "grams of fat" or other tomfoolery.

Montignac's books are very educational though - and what he preaches is all public domain common knowledge anyway so you don't need to buy anything. They aren't very friendly to the typical American eating standards or "diet" plans.....but he's French, so if you do read any of his books, be prepared to be insulted a bit.

But what the hell - go and continue to buy reduced calorie popcorn or reduced calorie chips and see hw you get on. It's a free world (in principal)

[sheilalynn]

I gained a little over the past couple of years(now wear a size 6 or 8 instead of a 5) and my "girls" grew a full size...the hubby says to not lose an ounce, so I guess I can't help with this one :P

[RobsanX]

I'm on a seefood diet. If I see food, I eat it...

[RRK]

But what the hell - go and continue to buy reduced calorie popcorn or reduced calorie chips and see hw you get on. It's a free world (in principal)

Calm down, I wasn't inferring that you are literally selling a book. I just think that what you are describing is also one of those diet plans that you were railing against.

What works for some will probably not work for everyone. What works for my wife is calorie counting.

We make probably 80% of what we eat from scratch. We only buy whole grain pastas and breads. We don't buy anything reduced fat or whatever kind of gimmick they are using to push their food and I don't think I have drank 20oz of diet pop in my life. We have eaten like this before, during and after weight gain. For my wife and I portion control and exercise seem to be at the center of our relative fitness.

I am a huge proponent of moderation as a general rule for my entire life. I enjoy the variety of this world and for me the key to variety is moderation. For me veganism, raw diet, atkins... and I guess I would add Montignac are prisons that limit the pleasures this life affords us. I would much rather do a half an hour a day on my elliptical and only have one filet with my fish and chips then deny myself the abundance of experiences that make life worth living.

Sorry Christi for ranting a bit. Find a system that will work for you and stick with it. You can not fail if you make it a way of life. The best advice I can give is to forget about the term diet as something that has a beginning and end but rather think of it as what and how you eat. If your diet is good then it should continue to be good for your whole life. Oh and the body is made to be used more then our society demands of it.

[sgreger1]

Are we all just going to ignore the 800lb gorilla in the room here?

No one's going to mention smoking crack? All your favorite celebrities do it!

[tom502]

I remember when I was cutting out the carbs, my high blood pressure went to normal, and my body was morphing into Mariusz Pudzianowski.

[RobsanX]

Are we all just going to ignore the 800lb gorilla in the room here?

HEY! I'm not 800 lbs! yet...

[Owens187]

Calories are bullshit. There are "good" calories and "bad" calories. The unit means nothing. It's the quality and content of what you put into your body that matters.

Calorie controlled diets are bullshit. All that happens is that if you feed your body less calories than it expects, it does it's best to lay down what you feed it as fat stores for the future as it thinks it's being starved. You just end up in a stupid cycle of fat storage and release and tend to go up in weight overall long term. That's why there are so many people on a constant diet cycle.

Plus - being hungry makes you miserable, which means these "diets" never last long. Forget about calories and concentrate on the glycaemic index of the food you eat. Low GI food takes more energy to be converted into stored fat in the first place.

Nailed it! +1

[Ainkor]

I'm going to take this thread as a personal challenge.

After reading up on Montignac, I am curious to see how I will feel.

First up this morning, no rushing off to work and grabbing McDonalds on the way because I am always rushed.

I'll grab a quick bowl of oatmeal and see how that goes :P

[Christi]

Today is my first day that I am going to watch everything I put in my mouth. And I am sorry but counting calories works for me. If I eat/drink only 1100-1250 a day then I will lose a pound a day for a good long time. Once I hit a plateau I have to change my intake either up for a while then back down to get going again.

It has always worked. Then once I have a good idea about what my body can intake and still lose then I can stop the vicious counting cycle and just eat right.

Someone mentioned my comment regarding my husband, and yes that is how it is, maybe worse. He thinks that since he has quit smoking on his own then I should stop eating on my own, with no support. Just that simple to him.

He has no understanding that since I didn't smoke he didn't have to worry about me tempting him, but since he eats like a cow the he is tempting me with the processed crap he eats( that I find yummy, btw).

This is something I want and need to deal with. I am glad to see everyone pitching in ideas and debating about it. My advice is to do what works for you. I plan on doing my ZUMBA dvd today and watching what I eat. Smaller meals more frequently, and lots and lots of water.

Oh and sheilalynn, my girls are 'bigger' too and he loves that...guess he is in for a surprise when I start losing and they are the first to go!

[MojoQuestor]

Today is my first day that I am going to watch everything I put in my mouth. And I am sorry but counting calories works for me. If I eat/drink only 1100-1250 a day then I will lose a pound a day for a good long time. Once I hit a plateau I have to change my intake either up for a while then back down to get going again.

Best of luck, Christi! I have struggled with obesity all my life. The most I ever weighed, at the doctor's office, was 304 lb (I'm a guy about 5'6"). The last time I was there I weighed 208. So I'm zoning in on 100 lbs lost, but it's taken over 20 years. It hasn't exactly been steady, either.

What I've found, for me personally, is that it really has to be a lifestyle change for me. It's more about building new, better habits and then following and reinforcing them. It takes time, patience and persistance, but it seems to pay off much better than following a plan out of someone's book or off of a website.

However, I do try to read and listen to what I can, and consider it all and fold it into what I am doing. It hasn't been easy, but I rarely touch beer and liquor any more, and I watch my carbs and starches. Probably not quite as much as I should, yet, but it's still a process. I'm not into absolutism. I just can't tell myself "not one more French fry for the rest of your life". I have to say, "Mark, you know you can't eat French fries every day and also have what you want a lot more than, well, French fries every day."

Finally, for what it's worth, I've started telling people that for me, it's a three-legged stool: what I put in my body (what I eat, how much, and how often/regularly), what I put out (exercise, physical), and plenty of good, quality sleep. This has to do with the weight-loss hormones, leptin, and ghrelin, as much as anything:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Weight_Loss_...lin_and_Leptin
It's also been the hardest part for me. Mmm, maybe not the hardest. Eating was probably the hardest, but I've been working on that the longest. First I had to have the breakthrough that I could worry about eating all I wanted, but until I got off my can, things weren't going to get better. Once I started getting more active, then the sleep door opened.

The latest door to open was the revelation that my blood sugar is running high; which reminds me, it's now time to eat my steel-cut oatmeal and prunes and take my metformin

Anyway, you can surely do it. If I can do it, you can do it!