Starting a diet. Foods to avoid?

Re food, cut back on (total elimination is usually not realistic)

French fries
Greasy burgers
Sandwiches with ***** meats or a lot of cheese
Pizza with a lot of cheese
Popcorn that isn't airpopped
Salad dressings and sauces
Cookies
High calorie fruit juices
Bread, esp. white bread
(Have I missed anything major on the college campus dining scene?)

Increase

Lean protein--protein is very satisfying
Veggies--eat big salads, steamed or roasted veggies with minimal oil.
Fresh fruit
Whole grains
Beans
Low-fat dairy

Remember that you do need some fat in your diet. Eating an extra 1000 cal of low fat something or other instead eating a normal amount of fat and not feeling hungry all the time is important.

Last but least, up your physical activity.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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The trick is not to eat for the sake of eating, but to eat because you are hungry.

Jon.

True, and I agree, but I see things just a tad differently largely due to nomenclature. I don't eat because I'm hungry, I eat because I need fuel for the next workout. Or I need fuel to recover from the previous workout. When I started thinking about fueling my workouts, I started making better choices - not necessarily optimum choices, but better ones each time I ate, and it's that consistency which is key.

Strangely enough (and you won't care for this part), at longer distances or training intervals, runners become appallingly indiscriminate about their choice of fuel (myself included). Oh, sure, Powerbars and Met-Rx are still in the diet, but you also see Fritos, Reese's cups, as well as chicken fried steak, red wine and beer. But that tends to be during heavy training among non-elite long distance runners. You have to keep your calories up to support heavier training loads or you'll overtrain, which means a week or so of not training.

And, just to set the right perceptions here, in middle school I was 5'0", 180#, completely lard. Once I lost the gut, I swore - never again.

Originally Posted by Thomas

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True, and I agree, but I see things just a tad differently largely due to nomenclature. I don't eat because I'm hungry, I eat because I need fuel for the next workout. Or I need fuel to recover from the previous workout. When I started thinking about fueling my workouts, I started making better choices - not necessarily optimum choices, but better ones each time I ate, and it's that consistency which is key.

Strangely enough (and you won't care for this part), at longer distances or training intervals, runners become appallingly indiscriminate about their choice of fuel (myself included). Oh, sure, Powerbars and Met-Rx are still in the diet, but you also see Fritos, Reese's cups, as well as chicken fried steak, red wine and beer. But that tends to be during heavy training among non-elite long distance runners. You have to keep your calories up to support heavier training loads or you'll overtrain, which means a week or so of not training.

And, just to set the right perceptions here, in middle school I was 5'0", 180#, completely lard. Once I lost the gut, I swore - never again.

Well I bike, but I don't gain weight (my BMI is normal as well, but at the low end), and I tend to wait about 30-40 minutes after eating before I bike and regardless of what I eat, that formula seems to work for me.

If you can't see your balls when standing straight up and looking down with your neck, its time to hit the gym more.

Jon.

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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If you can't see your balls when standing straight up and looking down with your neck, its time to hit the gym more.

Jon.

Geez, that's terrible news for the married ones among us.

As of yesterday, I've fallen in love with McCann's steel cut Irish oats. A bowl of this with some honey and brown sugar is so filling. I'm having it for a snack right now and had it for breakfast yesterday.

Originally Posted by Connemara

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As of yesterday, I've fallen in love with McCann's steel cut Irish oats. A bowl of this with some honey and brown sugar is so filling. I'm having it for a snack right now and had it for breakfast yesterday.

Good for you Conne. For the next step, substitute honey/brown sugar with Sweet'N Low/Splenda. And try dropping egg whites in while the oats are cooking.

My problem is 180 degree opposite. I need to figure out how to NOT undo the past year bulking during this 4-week stay at home.

Originally Posted by ken

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You should never eat less if you are exercising more. You should eat more. You should also eat better. And, you should also exercise better. You should also get some more better.

Wait! What?!

I think I've been doing well over the past week. Today, I woke up (at 11:30 ) and had a bowl of McCann's oatmeal. For lunch, a couple slices of turkey and a thin piece of cheese on a wheat hardroll. A banana in between lunch and dinner, as well as a handful of peanut M&M's at grandma's. Dinner, a pan-seared halibut fillet with sage, thyme, parsley and pepper; a few bites of a T-bone steak; and two tiny baked potatoes with some pepper and a pinch of salt. I'm baking some brownies right now but I don't think I'll have more than one. Sort of for the family.

Originally Posted by Connemara

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I'm baking some brownies right now but I don't think I'll have more than one. Sort of for the family.

Originally Posted by Connemara

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I just removed a pan of Ghirardelli double chocolate brownies from the oven. My heart is racing!

Put down the brownie and walk away...

Originally Posted by Connemara

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I think I've been doing well over the past week. Today, I woke up (at 11:30

) and had a bowl of McCann's oatmeal. For lunch, a couple slices of turkey and a thin piece of cheese on a wheat hardroll. A banana in between lunch and dinner, as well as a handful of peanut M&M's at grandma's. Dinner, a pan-seared halibut fillet with sage, thyme, parsley and pepper; a few bites of a T-bone steak; and two tiny baked potatoes with some pepper and a pinch of salt.

Vegetables need love, too, man.

no high fructose corn syrup of hydrogenated oil

Sugar -- including liquid sugar like beer, soda, fruit juice, etc.

Originally Posted by whacked

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For the next step, substitute honey/brown sugar with Sweet'N Low/Splenda.

Don't do that, just be reasonable with your sugar intake. Fake sugar still causes insulin to be released, which does weirdness with the human body. Also avoid empty sugars like soda, commercial fruit juice, and lots of candy.

Fake sugar does not cause insulin to be realeased- we used to think that but recent studies concluded that it does not.

Originally Posted by Eason

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Fake sugar does not cause insulin to be realeased- we used to think that but recent studies concluded that it does not.

Got a link to the study? It'd be weird if things like Splenda caused no insulin release, since its just "sweeter" sugar so you can use far less. Seems to defy logic, but then again so do lots of things.

However, I stand by my statement. Moderation is better than replacement with chemicals, so that health can be maintained long term. I know plenty of people who dropped weight and did the artificial sweetener thing, but now they're back where they were and then some.

Sugar isn't evil, excessive sugar is evil. Same with alcohol, refined carbs, fats, and other things people love.