Figured I'd share a diet that has been working well for me...

[escheriff]

It's pretty much just common sense, but I figured I'd share my diet with y'all. It's worked well so far for me and I don't seem to have lost much, if any, muscle. I'm 6'2" and weighed 230 before I started this diet 4 weeks ago. Pretty athletic guy, broad build/ shoulders, but since Thanksgiving I had gained 25 lbs. drinking beer and eating whatever I wanted.



After 4 weeks on this diet along with very moderate cardio, I am now at 213. I sized down from 46L to 44L. This has saved me an enormous amount of money, as I was on my way to needing some of my favorite jackets re-fitted. Hardest part has been avoiding beer and bread.

Aside from the 50 morning/50 evening pushups I always do, the cardio has been very minimal, 20 minutes at 5.5mph on the treadmill 2-3x per week and lots of walking between classes. I'm too busy these days to get a lot of gym time in, unfortunately.
Diet:


2 or 3 meals a day. ABSOLUTELY NO BEER (which really sucks). Only booze I've had is vodka/soda or red wine. Drink lots of water.

Breakfast: I try to eat breakfast but sometimes don't have time. When I do have breakfast, it's been 1 or 2 hard boiled eggs with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. No bread, no starches, no butter.

Lunch: Usually re-heated leftovers from dinner (see below) in smaller portions. NO BREAD, so no sandwiches. If I go out to lunch with friends/work, I stick with fresh blackened dolphin with steamed veg. (easy to find in South Florida), but basically just a grilled fish or chicken with a steamed vegetable will work, and you won't look like much of a ***** (you wont be the guy who orders salad).

Dinner: Typically dinner is a protein cooked healthy--baked or grilled--served with a green vegetable steamed with salt and pepper, and a salad with homemade balsamic. No butter, no olive oil, except for a very trivial amount with the balsamic and mixed greens. NO BREAD.

Here are some of the dinners I've had this week:

Chicken breast baked with red wine, sage, and mushrooms; sliced cucumber and yellow squash, steamed with salt and pepper.

HALF of an 8 oz NY strip (yes, I realize this isn't ideal for dieting, but I refuse to give up everything I like for the sake of a diet, and 4 ox is a small serving) or a smaller top sirlion (much less ***** than a NY strip) grilled with salt and pepper and a side of steamed asparagus and a mixed green salad with balsamic to start.

Grilled shrimp with lemon, salt, pepper, green onion, and cayenne pepper hot sauce, served with steamed broccoli and a mixed green salad with balsamic.

Diced eggplant baked until browning with low fat mozzarella from a local Italian deli, basil, homemade tomato sauce, and a dash of rosemary. Incredible dish. Ate with salad with balsamic and a small cube of leftover chicken.

 

[mm84321]

Congratulations on your success, but your diet isn't anything extraordinarily unique: essentially low carbohydrate, from what you have described.

I like that you mentioned you didn't do a great deal of cardio; helps to dismiss the myth that exercise is absolutely necessary for weight loss.

How do you plan to maintain your loss? Are you going to follow a low carb diet indefinitely?

P.S. There's nothing wrong with an 8 oz. NY strip for dieting.

 

[escheriff]

Originally Posted by mm84321

Congratulations on your success, but your diet isn't anything extraordinarily unique: essentially low carbohydrate, from what you have described.

I like that you mentioned you didn't do a great deal of cardio; helps to dismiss the myth that exercise is absolutely necessary for weight loss.

How do you plan to maintain your loss? Are you going to follow a low carb diet indefinitely?

P.S. There's nothing wrong with an 8 oz. NY strip for dieting.

Thanks. You're right--it's more-or-less an Atkins type diet.

As far as maintenance goes, I plan to indefinitely reduce carb intake and maintain or increase exercise levels. At some point this year, probably during the sumer, I will bump up the quantities of what I'm eating, as I plan to start lifting again. But yeah, I do intend to definitely cut down on carbs forever, although not as strictly as I am right now. Bread, pasta or beer a few times a week max, instead of beer every night, pasta several nights a week, chicken parm, etc. as I'd been doing from around November to mid Jan. My ideal weight is usually 190, and that's with pretty low body fat, but I tend to find I am very sensitive to carbs--high blood sugar runs in my family when men hit 50, so my guess is I might be somewhat insulin resistant, which would explain the carb sensitivity.

 

[mm84321]

Sounds like a good plan. Have you considered going "primal"? It's more of a lifestyle than a diet, and is a great way to continue losing weight and to maintain your losses. Check out http://www.marksdailyapple.com

 

[Saltricks]

I did atkins before i went to college and found great success, I think I may be pretty sensitive to carbohydrates as well because whenever I go off them I lose weight extremely fast.

Do you wonder if eating such a low amount of carbohydrates is sustainable for life? The reason I got off it was one, it didn't seem very healthy just eating meat, and two, no matter what I tried, I had to have rice. I'd choose to be larger than cut off rice completely from my diet. Did you have any similar experiences with something like that?

I'm still trying to find something sustainable I can do that lets me cut weight without giving up things that I love. Right now all I got is eating less, which is only marginally effective. It's really tempting just to give up carbs for awhile then slowly balloon up then repeat...but I imagine that wouldn't be very good for me.

 

[mm84321]

Originally Posted by Saltricks

I did atkins before i went to college and found great success, I think I may be pretty sensitive to carbohydrates as well because whenever I go off them I lose weight extremely fast.
You have identified the kind of diet works best for you--that is usually the first step, so you are one leg up. If you know that you have a sensitivity to carbohydrates, and tend to gain rapidly when consuming them, and lose rapidly when not, it makes a great deal of sense to inherit a lifestyle that will limit carbohydrate consumption.

Do you wonder if eating such a low amount of carbohydrates is sustainable for life? The reason I got off it was one, it didn't seem very healthy just eating meat, and two, no matter what I tried, I had to have rice. I'd choose to be larger than cut off rice completely from my diet. Did you have any similar experiences with something like that?

Your tend to hear this argument quite a bit: that low carbohydrate isn't sustainable for life. Have you ever heard of the Inuit tribe? Studies of Inuit indians show that their diet consists almost entirely of animal meat and typically contains enormous amounts of fat. They eat virtually zero fruits and veggies, considering them "not fit for human consumption". Despite that, these tribes had virtually no obesity, heart disease, cancer, etc. Moreover, despite the lack of fruits and veggies that we consider "healthy", they did not have any of the vitamin deficiency diseases that we'd expect (such as scurvy). Personally, I eat "primally". So no bread, no rice, no pasta, etc. You'll find that after a good bit of time off of these foods you no longer crave them. Choosing to be larger, and therefore unhealthier, for the pleasure of rice is akin to a diabetic injecting insulin to eat danish pastry. You simply have to prioritize what matters more to you.

I'm still trying to find something sustainable I can do that lets me cut weight without giving up things that I love. Right now all I got is eating less, which is only marginally effective. It's really tempting just to give up carbs for awhile then slowly balloon up then repeat...but I imagine that wouldn't be very good for me.

Look through the link I supplied. It incorporates a very realistic lifestyle plan: You get to enjoy fats of all kinds, ad libitum; fish, steak, pork, fruit (minimal), nuts, all vegetables. It is important to be creative as well, so as not to be bored to death with the monotony of eating plain chicken breasts every night. There are great low carb and "primal" alternatives to common ingredients, such as coconut flour/oil, almond butter, dates/honey in place of refined sugar, etc. There are also some recipes on the site. It's all about finding what works for you, and maintaining it for the rest of your life. You'll be healthier, and more importantly, you'll be happier.

 

[escheriff]

Originally Posted by Saltricks

I did atkins before i went to college and found great success, I think I may be pretty sensitive to carbohydrates as well because whenever I go off them I lose weight extremely fast.

Do you wonder if eating such a low amount of carbohydrates is sustainable for life? The reason I got off it was one, it didn't seem very healthy just eating meat, and two, no matter what I tried, I had to have rice. I'd choose to be larger than cut off rice completely from my diet. Did you have any similar experiences with something like that?

I'm still trying to find something sustainable I can do that lets me cut weight without giving up things that I love. Right now all I got is eating less, which is only marginally effective. It's really tempting just to give up carbs for awhile then slowly balloon up then repeat...but I imagine that wouldn't be very good for me.

I have a feeling mm84321 would know a lot more about this than I would, but I don't think the carbs present in processed white bread or white rice are all that necessary--or good. The reason, and this is just my basic and limited understanding of the matter, is that our digestive systems break complex carbs like white bread and white rice into glucose/ sugar molecules.

BUT there are plenty of healthy sources of carbs, which, in moderation, are fine. Beans, nuts, fruits, and whole grains, for example.



For me, it helps to actually understand the science behind why refined/processed breads and fods are bad, rather than just accept it as dogma. The following is an excellent explanation on why processed/refined foods like white bread are bad for us. It's taken from a Harvard Medical School Public Health memo I found via google:
"One of the most important factors that determine a food's glycemic index is how much it has been processed. Milling and grinding removes the fiber-rich outer bran and the vitamin- and mineral-rich inner germ [of the grains or oats] leaving mostly the starchy endosperm. . "

 

[mkarim]

Originally Posted by mm84321

I like that you mentioned you didn't do a great deal of cardio; helps to dismiss the myth that exercise is absolutely necessary for weight loss.


This is true.

 

[mm84321]

Originally Posted by escheriff

For me, it helps to actually understand the science behind why refined/processed breads and fods are bad, rather than just accept it as dogma. The following is an excellent explanation on why processed/refined foods like white bread are bad for us. It's taken from a Harvard Medical School Public Health memo I found via google: "One of the most important factors that determine a food's glycemic index is how much it has been processed. Milling and grinding removes the fiber-rich outer bran and the vitamin- and mineral-rich inner germ [of the grains or oats] leaving mostly the starchy endosperm. . "
If you are interested in learning the (bad) science, behind obesity research for the past 40 years, I urge you to pick up Gary Taube's Good Calories, Bad Calories, or his newer more condensed version, Why We get Fat, And What To Do About It . I'd be glad to send you a copy.

 

[brokejew]

guarantee you will get better results if you eat breakfast everyday, a protein shake is ideal but ANYTHING is better than nothing.

 

[Kajak]

2 eggs = whole food protein.

 

[Lagrangian]

Originally Posted by brokejew

guarantee you will get better results if you eat breakfast everyday, a protein shake is ideal but ANYTHING is better than nothing.

No. Just no.

 

[crashoran]

Originally Posted by brokejew

guarantee you will get better results if you eat breakfast everyday, a protein shake is ideal but ANYTHING is better than nothing.

+1

 

[APK]

I haven't eaten breakfast since the summer and I've never looked better.

 

[lee_44106]

Blah blah blah blah

Like it's friggin rocket science

How about: Eat less and expend more energy?