Amazing Weight Loss/Lifestyle Transformation

[braumeister]

I once went extreme and followed three different diets at once.

None of them had enough food for me on their own.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't lose negative pounds. Will power is the key.

 

[audreyh1]

As Michaelb asked above, do you have experience with this program? The video lnks are an hour and forty-five minutes long total--not watching that much youtube here.

Same here. What would entice me to watch all those with no explanation? I've got meals to cook, Dutch to learn, exercise to do, errands to run....

 

[razztazz]

Most of this diet uber alles thinking, especially, as I interpret it, among the low fat crowd, is a manifestation of obsessive/compulsive disorder. Crazy-azz doctors with psycho problems telling us that what we eat, to the exclusion of all else, is solely responsible for our health. Until, of course, "latest studies show....."

 

[msieweke]

I'm a firm believer in the HFLC way of eating. I eat >60% fat, <20% carbs, and <20% protein. Nearly all the fat comes from animal sources - including about a stick of butter per day. If I go off diet around the holidays and put on a few pounds, it comes right off when I bring carbs below 100g/day. In 2008 I lost 18 lbs in 8 weeks this way, and I've kept it off since then.

There are other important factors - good sleep, no snacking, intermittent fasting, NO seed oils (canola, soybean, corn, safflower, etc.), regular exercise - but I'm generally healthier than I was in my 20s. Better than when I was vegetarian and eating very low fat.

At 54 I have normal blood pressure (~110/70), normal cholesterol (~200), high HDL (>80), low LDL (<100), and low TG (~60). BMI is 21.

 

[Fedup]

I'm wondering what's wrong with nuts now after watching this video.

 

[googily]

I'm a firm believer in the HFLC way of eating. I eat >60% fat, <20% carbs, and <20% protein.
{snip}
There are other important factors - good sleep, no snacking, intermittent fasting, NO seed oils (canola, soybean, corn, safflower, etc.), regular exercise

Yes, I felt great on intermittent fasting, too, as well as only eating when truly hungry. I find that if I stop believing that I'll die without breakfast, and I eat HFLC, I only eat two meals a day, around noon and 7 pm.

 

[Montecfo]

I am intrigued that this thread contains so many conflicting diet approaches.

 

[W2R]

Most of this diet uber alles thinking, especially, as I interpret it, among the low fat crowd, is a manifestation of obsessive/compulsive disorder. Crazy-azz doctors with psycho problems telling us that what we eat, to the exclusion of all else, is solely responsible for our health. Until, of course, "latest studies show....."

+1
When it comes to health, people want to believe in anything that gives them the illusion of responsibility/control; but sometimes I have my doubts.

 

[Nemo2]

+1
When it comes to health, people want to believe in anything that gives them the illusion of responsibility/control

And is easy......without relinquishing their current calorie intake, that is.

 

[Music Lover]

Other than 10-15 extra pounds on occasion that I didn't want, I've never had a weight problem and never been on a "diet". I've always found it puzzling that a huge transformation losing a ton of weight is viewed as a major accomplishment, but not gaining it the first place is rarely recognized as accomplishment at all.

Healthy eating with proper portion control combined with exercise and an active lifestyle is all that I've ever had to do to maintain a healthy weight. Perhaps I'm just genetically lucky, or perhaps my definition of healthy eating and exercise goes well beyond the minimum or average.

 

[braumeister]

Elbata, do you have experience with any of these programs?

OP here. I'm glad to see my post was a big hit.

But I haven't seen a response to the question yet.

 

[W2R]

+1
When it comes to health, people want to believe in anything that gives them the illusion of responsibility/control; but sometimes I have my doubts.

And is easy......without relinquishing their current calorie intake, that is.

Oh of course. Life is a level playing field, and all those other people are sinful and greedy whereas I am pure as the driven snow and an example for all to emulate.

 

[Amethyst]

I think that must be why weight gain and loss are such touchy subjects. So many people still think in terms of "gluttony" and "sloth," making excess weight into a moral failing instead of a merely practical nuisance; thus inciting overweight people to get so defensive that even doctors dread bringing up the subject of weight with their patients.

Oh of course. Life is a level playing field, and all those other people are sinful and greedy whereas I am pure as the driven snow and an example for all to emulate.

 

[Scuba]

Other than 10-15 extra pounds on occasion that I didn't want, I've never had a weight problem and never been on a "diet". I've always found it puzzling that a huge transformation losing a ton of weight is viewed as a major accomplishment, but not gaining it the first place is rarely recognized as accomplishment at all.



Healthy eating with proper portion control combined with exercise and an active lifestyle is all that I've ever had to do to maintain a healthy weight. Perhaps I'm just genetically lucky, or perhaps my definition of healthy eating and exercise goes well beyond the minimum or average.

Sounds like you have good discipline. I struggle with maintaining a healthy weight because I love food, and I like cocktails and wine. Even though I'm an active person, it's hard to keep weight down when eating out a lot and having a couple of cocktails or glasses of wine. Not stuffing my face with fast food, just eating well but too much! If I quit drinking alcohol and ate small portions of lean protein and lots of green veggies with limited carbs and fats, I'm sure it would be no problem. However I have a hard time sticking to that lifestyle.

 

[Ready]

I did my own version of Jenny Craig once, I was wildly successful. I pre planned 3 meals a day with foods that I knew what their calories were. After trail and error. We found 7 dinners & lunches that we liked. Breakfast was boring, oatmeal or a yogurt and fruit.But I knew pretty much how many calories everything had. After a few days I got used to Im only eating what I had. We did clean out the cupboards, and I walked around with Ice water whenever I could. I walked on treadmill/ran every day for 1 hour. I lost 53 pounds in 4.5 months. I was back to my "fighting" weight. My goal was not to go over 1600 calories. We had a few weddings during that time that we attended. I didnt stick to the diet during those events. I did limit my booze to 2 drinks per wedding.

So...then what happened?

 

[RetiredGypsy]

I love plant-based diets, but something in me breaks if I try to go without protein-rich meat for long enough.

I'll make burritos with rice and lentils and avocado and other beans, dense and volumetric, but after a couple weeks if I don't have something meaty I start eating two at a time because my stomach is growling the whole time.

I love them, and other meals without meat, so is the body capable of craving a nutrient it feels it is not getting enough of, or is the mind pulling tricks with false hunger signals because I really miss hamburgers?

I love how cheap whole food plant-based diets are compared to processed foods and lots of meat and dairy. Especially since it's so easy to grow a lot yourself for exponentially cheaper than buying it all.

 

[CDRE]

or ebym (eat below your means).

"i could eat that. I'd like to eat that. everybody else is eating that. But it will keep me from achieving my goals, so i'll pass."

^^ this ^^

 

[Ready]

It's one of those cruelties of life that no matter how much money you have saved it doesn't allow you to increase your calorie consumption.

 

[Live And Learn]

I've lost 30 lbs since retiring (went from 144 to 114 - 20% of my body weight). The goal of a "diet" should be to change your eating habits, which is why fad diets fail.

It's basically calories in vs calories out. Simple ! To keep my calories low, yet healthy, I eat a hard boiled egg for breakfast and another hard boiled egg for lunch. An egg has everything needed to sustain life. All the vitamins and minerals you need (if you eat the shell). If I get hungry in between, or need to stress eat, I munch a celery stick, zucchini slices, or cucumber slices dipped in balsamic vinegar.

On weekends I "spluge" on calories. I count calories during my spluge. I either "bank" calories in advance or "save" calories afterward to make up for any excess. I also find myself using frugal financial terms. Yesterday a few friends went to lunch and I said I couldn't "afford" to do that ... one of them offered to pay for me .... I said "I meant I can't afford the CALORIES, not the cost". I also think of high calorie foods as "expensive" (in calories). A "cheap meal" is a salad .... cheap as in low calorie. LBYM dies hard !

 

[braumeister]

An egg has everything needed to sustain life. All the vitamins and minerals you need (if you eat the shell).

Got any good eggshell recipes?

 

[Amethyst]

Hard-boiled eggs can be hard for some folks to digest. If I ate 14 a week, I would need to live alone and not be around people with noses, but...YMMV.

I' To keep my calories low, yet healthy, I eat a hard boiled egg for breakfast and another hard boiled egg for lunch.

 

[Music Lover]

Sounds like you have good discipline. I struggle with maintaining a healthy weight because I love food, and I like cocktails and wine. Even though I'm an active person, it's hard to keep weight down when eating out a lot and having a couple of cocktails or glasses of wine. Not stuffing my face with fast food, just eating well but too much! If I quit drinking alcohol and ate small portions of lean protein and lots of green veggies with limited carbs and fats, I'm sure it would be no problem. However I have a hard time sticking to that lifestyle.

My discipline isn't that great...I like beer and potato chips and won't turn down a double cheeseburger with bacon But, over the long run 80% of my diet is fairly healthy and the 20% that is less healthy isn't enough to cause weight gain.

 

[braumeister]

over the long run 80% of my diet is fairly healthy and the 20% that is less healthy isn't enough to cause weight gain.

That makes sense to me.
When I started living with a LCHF diet it was difficult and I used to worry about the temptations of certain foods. I talked with a wise individual who had been on that diet for many years and he gave me a great piece of advice: every 7-10 days, allow yourself a "day off" where you can eat whatever you like.

I've followed that advice for years and it works. Sometimes I'll go a month or more without needing one of those days off, but generally I take them. It removes all the anguish and worry and really doesn't have much if any effect.

 

[Music Lover]

That makes sense to me.
When I started living with a LCHF diet it was difficult and I used to worry about the temptations of certain foods. I talked with a wise individual who had been on that diet for many years and he gave me a great piece of advice: every 7-10 days, allow yourself a "day off" where you can eat whatever you like.

I've followed that advice for years and it works. Sometimes I'll go a month or more without needing one of those days off, but generally I take them. It removes all the anguish and worry and really doesn't have much if any effect.

One of my friends takes his lifting and diet seriously and eats super clean, but every Sunday is "cheat day" and he eats whatever he wants...everything from large pizzas to chicken wings to bacon double cheeseburgers. I copied that and rather than have 1 cheat day a week, I try to average the 80% good eating over the long haul.

 

[Chuckanut]

It's basically calories in vs calories out. Simple ! !

It really isn't basic or simple for many people. But, we are all different and if it works for somebody, I certainly won't argue with their personal decisions. Nothing succeeds like success. We are all different in some way, and people should experiment to find what works for them.

Our bodies are not steam engines. They are highly sophisticated chemical processing machines. Most importantly we do not eat just calories, we eat food that contains calories. And that food often controls what happens to the calories it contains.

Eat the wrong foods and the body starts storing calories quickly instead of making them available for the energy we need. Thus, the person needs to eat even more food to get the calories they need to burn.

Alas, modern dietary advice over the last 30 years has often focused on eating the wrong foods - sugar bomb cereals rather than two eggs cooked in butter, sugary processed low-fat diary products instead of whole milk dairy, trans-fat laden margarine instead of real butter, low-fat baked goods loaded with sugar and highly processed grains, fake factory made meat instead of real meat, etc., etc. etc.

My favorite example of screwy 'official' dietary advice: Until 2010 a certain chocolaty sugar bomb cereal actually carried a label on it telling the buyer is was healthy for the heart. You can't make this stuff up!

Then there are people whose body does not work properly for whatever reason. The signals that tell the brain "Hey! I have enough energy. Stop eating!" get short circuited. PCOS does a great job of messing up the hormonal signals in women, for example.

Check out the videos where Dr. Lustig or Dr. Ludwig explaining the mechanism of how the body burns and store calories, and how hormones in our digestive system tells the brain when we have eaten enough. No steam engine was ever that complicated. The videos are sometimes long and medically geeky. But, they are also eye opening.

https://medium.com/@davidludwigmd/ludwig-responds-to-whole-health-source-article-93d8e1667477

The Calories In, Calories Out model states that weight control is simply a matter of eating a bit less, and moving a bit more. Although our modern food environment may offer many temptations, it’s ultimately a question of will power. However, this way of thinking disregards a century of research showing that body weight is controlled more by biology than will power over the long term. Indeed, the obesity epidemic has progressed despite an incessant focus on calorie balance by the government, professional nutrition establishment, and, recently, the food industry (witness the 100 Calorie Pack). To add insult to injury, the conventional model blames people with obesity for failure to control their calorie balance. But if conscious control of calorie balance were so crucial, how did people manage to avoid massive swings in weight before the notion of the calorie was invented a century ago?

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutrit...avid-ludwig-clears-up-carbohydrate-confusion/

The optimal macronutrient ratio – that is, the relative proportions of protein, carbohydrate and fat – has been the subject of intense debate for decades. Despite hundreds of studies on the topic, we still don’t know whether one special combination is best for everyone, or which ratios are best for specific medical conditions. In the absence of definitive data, much can be learned by taking the truly long-term perspective – that humans across the globe have done well on diets with widely ranging macronutrients. The Inuits in the far North traditionally ate mostly fat and protein; whereas some native populations in the tropics consumed mostly carbohydrate.
Ultimately, the choice of how to balance macronutrients is individual, influenced by culture, food availability, and personal preference. So long as adequate attention is directly to food quality, the relative ratios are probably of secondary importance in most situations (again, excepting individuals with metabolic problems like insulin resistance). That said, it becomes increasing difficult to avoid excessive intake of processed carbohydrates as total carbohydrate rises. For that reason, many people will benefit by increasing intake of foods high in fat and protein (including plant-based sources).