Living the good life AND being fit????

[JeffsWood]

I am lucky to live the "good life" great wine, great food, great restaurants, wonderful partys visiting great places etc. However you can tell just how much of the "good life" I am getting by my ever expanding waste line.

My lifestyle is such that temptation is presented to me multiple times per day, and it would not be unusual for my to dine a great restaurants 10 times per week. And to be honest I usually dine like it might be my last chance to have a great meal and great drink.

Any advice on how to deal with this? As I am getting in my late 40's and now 50 lbs more than I should weigh I have to change something.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

how to deal with this? As I am getting in my late 40's and now 50 lbs more than I should weigh I have to change something.

Two bits of advice from me:

1. One way is to just stop what you are doing and think of the fine dining etc. as a more occasional reward you get for achieving a series of health and fitness goals. Set those goals reasonably, but don't make them too easy. So, if you do some form of exercise every other day for a week, then you get to go out. And gradually up the amount and difficulty level to achieve your reward.

2. Alternatively, or as well, you should change what you eat both when you go out and at home. Cut the refined flours and sugars out in particular. So, stop eating white bread, white rice, potatoes and desserts, cut down both sodas and alcohol and cut out beer completely. Eat more salads, whole grains etc. You can still eat meat though and it's not about 'fat' as such although you might at least initially want to reduce your fat intake a little. But you will achieve more by cutting out the refined sugars and flours. You can still eat out with these rules, but just take more care - one of the guys who originally came up with this approach*, Michel Montignac, was actually a bit of a gourmet, and his first book was called Dine Out and Lose Weight (which BTW, might be the ideal book for you to buy if you buy any)...

*Now generally refered to under the umbrella of 'GI' (or Glycaemic Index) diets, because they concentrate on stabilizing blood sugar levels so that your body doesn't keep trying to lay down fat.

 

[JeffsWood]

Thanks for the tips.

#1 would not work, as my work requires me to be out dining daily. But I will give the book a read.

 

[helios199]

There's a super simple thing one can do that somehow never occurs to people. It is now becoming popular, "intermittent fasting" is the correct google term. People do it for lots of reasons, some of which are probably quackery. It does work though, and my "same as highschool" waistline is proof.

Basically don't eat for 16 hours of the day. For myself this means skipping breakfast and lunch and eating a large dinner or two. For others, they just skip breakfast and eat normally otherwise. It's hell for the first few days. After that, it's just a natural state of being. I've often felt ooky after a heavy breakfast or lunch. No longer; the whole day is lightning alertness. Then I eat at the end of the day. Yes, a mocha frappuccino counts as a heavy breakfast: no sugar or excess milk in your coffee (a little cream is fine, but black is better).

There's all kinds of science detail that people focus on; most of it is unimportant, unless you're hypoglycemic or diabetic or something. Unless you have a dinner diet made up of pizza and HFCS, simply by limiting the hours of the day you can eat, you're going to eat fewer calories.

 

[shorts17]

I came to the conclusion that is almost impossible! LOL
I workout 4-6 times a week...I am Italian....I love food and wines! LOL
But...I started doing intrmitted fasting where pretty much eating normal but fast for 14-16 hours. I just have dinner hopefully before 9pm and then have lunch the day after at 1pm.
I try not to drink unless weekend and cut as much sugar as possible...

 

[JLibourel]

Just train long and hard enough to burn all those calories you are ingesting!

 

[Manton]

Lift! And swim, which I used to do more, but I don't have any time any more. But lifting is essential.

 

[JLibourel]

Good to see you back on the forum, Manton! I used to do a lot of lifting, but these days I am more of a "swinger," not in the sense you might suspect of me, but of Indian clubs and kettlebells.

 

[Gus]

More and more trainers are saying, “exercise is a lousy way to loose weight”. Yes, exercise is important for good health, looking and feeling your best. But, dropping weight begins in the kitchen or when reading the menu.

I’ve had excellent results by cutting out sugars and grains. The best part is I get to eat steak, bacon, eggs, cheese, charcuterie plates, beef jerky, etc., as well as delicious fish (love smoked salmon and shrimp cocktails) and any veggies, of course. Skipping desserts and cutting out bread wasn't nearly as hard as I thought. Plus, it made me aware of how much bread and sugars I was ingesting daily. The most positive benefit aside from weight loss is that I feel full and satisfied all the time. No more cravings between meals. Its easy for me to go to a restaurant and find plenty of options to eat. Plus every restaurant will make you a jumbo burger with cheese without a bun or grilled salmon on grilled or steamed veggies.

Check out the Vinnie Tortorich website and his #nsng (no sugars no grains) diet. It is free and he has a podcast as well.

 

[piezoung48]

I'm Vietnamese so it's hard to cut rice from meal because I have meal with family and have no time to prepare my own one.
But what should I do to lose my bad fat? I'm going to running 10km per day, eat as least as carb. Does it take effect?

 

[Texasmade]

I'm Vietnamese so it's hard to cut rice from meal because I have meal with family and have no time to prepare my own one.
But what should I do to lose my bad fat? I'm going to running 10km per day, eat as least as carb. Does it take effect?

Lift weights also.

 

[Gus]

Rice and white potatoes are carb "bombs". Everyone eats way too large of servings and too frequently. Guaranteed to give you a belly.

 

[PelhamGrenville]

Alternatively you can see an expanding waistline as an incentive to keep updating your wardrobe; as a side effect, you will support an endangered species, the competent tailor who can make clothes that fit fat people.