What diet for weight loss

[hellsbuddha]

Hi - having read several thread and hitting my mid 40s I need to do something about my weight.

I intend to start cycling again, but my main concern is my poor diet.

I have made small steps - only have butter on weekends, porridge very morning (although its laced with honey) and limit my intake of wheat. I hardly drink and do not smoke.

I still struggle with sugar though, and need a choc fix after lunch. Part of the food fix is emotional (stress at work and home) and part is because its tasty.

So, how would I determine what a good diet would be.

I like eating tuna, chicken etc (but am limited at home as the OH is a vege)

cheers for any advice

[RemainAllHoof]

If you want to lose weight, eat smaller portions. If you want to improve your health, then eat smaller portions of healthy food. Eating healthily does not equate to losing weight. If you eat two helpings of brown pasta salad every sitting, you will be healthy and fat. If you eat half a doner kebab every sitting, you will be unhealthy and skinny. I know of many people who only eat organic food and very healthily and are fat.

Edited by RemainAllHoof on Sunday 31st July 10:23

[BenM77]

I agree ^^

Calorie counting and eat healthy = more sustainable than cutting out food groups etc.

Are you going to do anything other than cycling for exercise?

[davepoth]

Have an apple instead of chocolate. Probably no less calories, but that's not a problem. Simple steps really. Get the OH to cook the same thing for you in the evenings, but grill a bit of chicken on a George Foreman thing to stick on the top maybe?

After you've cut out the really naughty stuff from your diet all you need to do is get your calorie usage above your calorie intake. This can be really easy to do; standing up uses more calories than sitting down so I dumped my chair and now play Xbox standing up.

I also make a point of going out for a walk at lunchtimes - again it's not much but it does really make a difference. I reckon I've lost something like a stone over the last few months, and that's without any difference to my diet at all.

[Simon Brooks]

eat less, move more, simples

[Ordinary_Chap]

hellsbuddha said:

Hi - having read several thread and hitting my mid 40s I need to do something about my weight.

I intend to start cycling again, but my main concern is my poor diet.

I have made small steps - only have butter on weekends, porridge very morning (although its laced with honey) and limit my intake of wheat. I hardly drink and do not smoke.

I still struggle with sugar though, and need a choc fix after lunch. Part of the food fix is emotional (stress at work and home) and part is because its tasty.

So, how would I determine what a good diet would be.

I like eating tuna, chicken etc (but am limited at home as the OH is a vege)

cheers for any advice

My personal preference for training is low carb/no sugar/med fats/high protein.

As for sugar that is really going to destroy your progress and I'd actually recommend removing it altogether. Over a period of one/two weeks you'll stop craving it but if you keep it in your diet you'll always need more especially after training. When your body sugars get low you crave it and then when you eat it you'll get a high followed by a another low when you need sugars. This is a great way for the body to store a lot of fat!

To add some context to this, your diet is your quickest way to fat loss or alternatively the thing that will stop fat loss.

If you want to learn more about weight loss than you've ever probably known its worth reading ultimate fat loss 2.0 it's a truly superb book explaining how your body works and once you understand this you have the ability to control your weight loss in all sorts of interesting ways to suit your lifestyle.

If you google 'ultimate fat loss 2.0 pdf' you'll find some download links but I'd recommend you buy a copy if you enjoy it as a nod to the author.

[Magic919]

If you get back to cycling you may find you don't use the food to combat stress quite as much.

[hellsbuddha]

Cheers for all the responses.

Cycling is the only activity I enjoy so for now yes.

I will get hold of that book.

I must admit my portions are large, and I am not clear how I am going to feel by reducing them.

[Magic919]

Thinner.

[RemainAllHoof]

Magic919 said:

Thinner.

Reduce them by 10% and you won't notice so much. Eat more slowly, savour each mouthful. Also, drink water before eating.

[King Herald]

davepoth said:

Have an apple instead of chocolate. Probably no less calories, but that's not a problem....

An apple is about 100 calories, with vitamins and roughage, and a chocolate bar about 500 calories, with, er, not a lot other than sugar.

And you see no problem?

[RemainAllHoof]

Nowt wrong with a choccie bar - nice and compact store of energy!

[otolith]

You need to eat less food than your body requires to maintain itself. It is not going to like that. It will think you are killing it. It has evolved to hoard fat for the inevitable famine which in modern times never comes. It will make doing so uncomfortable, because deliberately starving yourself is almost as unnatural as having essentially unlimited availability of calories in return for a sedentary job.

What I'm saying is that if losing weight were pleasant and easy, half the Western population wouldn't be fat. You have to choose to put up with the process.

[King Herald]

otolith said:

....It will make doing so uncomfortable, because deliberately starving yourself is almost as unnatural as having essentially unlimited availability of calories in return for a sedentary job....

You don't 'starve' yourself. You cut down the amount of food you eat from 'vastly ample' to 'just enough'. Westerners traditionally eat about three times more calories than they need.

And you don't go on a diet, you change your diet, forever. You can never go back to what you were eating, or you will go back to what you were weighing.

Moderation is the key: eat less, eat more healthily, exercise more, keep on doing it forever.


And self control is king.

[otolith]

No, if you cut back to exactly what you need, you will remain exactly the same weight. This is not rocket science.

Edit - and while a long term change of lifestyle and diet is key to not putting the weight back on, the practice of severely restricting calorific intake to less than is required to maintain constant weight is temporary.

Edited by otolith on Sunday 31st July 22:16

[0a]

I found that the following helped me almost straight away:

- remove processed carbs. Sandwiches, especially white bread. Pasta unless on a run just mean bloatedness.
- eat "real" meat. Burgers bad, steak and chicken good
- "utter rubbish" - ie crisps and chips are banned.
- buy lots of tuna, chicken, ham, turkey and beef for salads. Make dressing at home. Spend on balsamic and olive oil.
- don't eat out. This was the worst for me, and still is. Portions are massive, and fat/carb content high.

[King Herald]

otolith said:

.....the practice of severely restricting calorific intake to less than is required to maintain constant weight is temporary.

The practise of severely restricting intake is what sends your body into 'famine' mode, so it starts saving fat and consuming muscle.

You don't need to starve to lose weight. When I lost 12 kg last year I was on a 2000 calorie a day diet program, and I never went hungry at all.

Reduce your intake to acceptable levels, enough to maintain your health, and you will lose weight.

[otolith]

To lose a pound, you need to eat about 3500 calories less than you use. That's the bottom line.

[sparks_E39]

Eat 1500 calories a day, 45 minutes cardio 3 times a week. Works for me.1500 calories is a safe amount to eat.

[young_bairn]

If you have an I Phone/ I Pod Touch or a PC download the calorie counter app. You will soon see where you need to cut back.