New Year, new diet!

[LFF]

Well, went to see a doctor today and guess what?!

I'm fucking unhealthy. A dog is healthier than me! Big surprise. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, 15lbs overweight, and the list goes on. Anyway, doctor recommended I completely de-tox my body and eat nothing but fruits and veggies for the next 2 - 3 weeks.

The good - I can get better. The bad - I can't eat nor drink anything I like.

I am so fucking pissed that I now have my family saying "TOLD YOU SO! etc etc".

Anyway, any of you guys starting out a diet this new year? I hope to keep to it.

Wish me luck!

[Blackmore]

Dont feel like you are fucked up, bad attitude, imo. If you had nothing than a good feel before, well, look at this like a new step in your life. I am not a doctor, but if I were you I wouldnt start like this, eating nothing but fruit and vegetables, just dont eat shitty food, natural and fresh cooked only, daily if need it, mean it. You can always eat chees, meat and especially seefood, cos of protein your body still need. Fat, thats your enemy, not food in general, imo. And if you combine this with fresh salads and natural baked bread, not one from the factory, but from real handmade or what ever you can call it, you know...Just starting to eat in smaller portions than before, but do not stop eat directly, but stop eat fatty shit and within a month you see the result.

Last but not least, get your ass to a gym and start moving a bit...

Good luck

ps And you are not alone, cos all that applies to my ass to...

[LFF]

LOL!

Yeah - I'm trying to stay positive. However, I can't eat cheese nor yogurt even. Just fruits and veggies for 2 weeks!!!!

Oh well, at least I'll get my fat ass down a few pounds in the coming months.

[Blackmore]

Thats good...

[aardvark baguette]

The easiest solution is to avoid doctors

[LFF]

The easiest solution is to avoid doctors

Yeah. Good point. However, I don't want to kick the bucket with someones music in my possession.

[Salt Peanuts]

During the last 1/3 of 2008 (before the Holidays) I was eating much better (bit healthier and more sane portions) and managed to lose ~25 pounds. Of course, I gained about 5 pounds during the Holidays so I intend on losing the gain and get back on track with better diet this year.

[ojnihs]

The easiest solution is to avoid doctors

well then i guess deepak and I should stay away from this place!

[Old Pa]

Three years ago from similar circumstances I lost 40# and have kept it off. My doctor told me my gut was a new gland of mine whose secretions had me aimed at heart disease and diabetes. Then he waved a bunch of lab reports at me which supported his argument. I really did not enjoy being lectured to in that way.

So I put together a system that worked for me. Now when I see my doc, he just grins at me. I kind of fell off the wagon and stopped losing weight, but I should lose another 20#, so I'm intensifying the program with the New Year. At least I did not put any weight on over the holidays.

It's all about intakes and outputs. All, I should add, while regularly consuming four beers a day. Intakes are anything with calories you consume. Outputs are physical activities that burn calories and/or build muscle.

My diet worked because 1) there was always something I could eat and 2) I found things I could eat regularly that I really liked. Eating at home works the best for me. The basic plan is to start with five or six "mini meals" (150 to 300 calories each) spaced evenly throughout your waking day. Feeling deprived is a recipe for failure. Always have some raw fruit or vegetables you can snack on. Prepared frozen low fat/calorie foods (Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice) have come a long way. I like the Lean Cuisine pizza and flatbread sandwiches and the Healthy Choice pizza breads. Healthy Choice and Progresso both make some good low fat/calorie canned soup, just the thing in winter. Orville's smart pop microwave popcorn is a good indulgence. Just read the labels. Tabasco Chipotle sauce, fresh cracked black pepper, and garlic powder add flavor without calories. A little crumbled cooked bacon (a teaspoon full) adds great flavor without many calories.

Restaurant and fast food are usually calorie bombs. You have just got to say no to sneaking that shit. Salads with meat are how I eat out. All the fast food places have them now. Any salad dressing you can see through is okay. I park out as far as I can in every parking lot and use the stairs instead of elevators for three up and five down. Painlessly adds physical activity while removing stress. It's also prevented a lot of "parking lot rash" to my car and served up some real entertainment watching blimps fight over close parking spaces.

Yoga has turned out to be a Godsend. To think that I used to make fun of it. Sara Ivanhoe's "Yoga for Dummies" DVDs were available from my local library. Sara gives you a good start on the fundimentals and basics and is not too hard on the eyes either. The yoga also de-stressed me, which seems to have helped with my blood chemistry and vitals.

Getting more healthy and fit is just about the best thing you can do for yourself. Good Luck!

[strid3r]

^^^

All good advice. I would add that be careful of some prepared/canned foods, as they can be fairly high in sodium. Generally, I try to stay away from anything that has been processed and stick with food that is as "natural" as possible. If you have not already, I would try and incorporate some sort of exercise into your overall diet plan.

[postjack]

carbs and sugar carbs and sugar carbs and sugar.

cut 'em and lose weight. we're flavor addicts in the western world, and we love in-your-face plates of flavor injected flavor. I'm a firm believer in making non-processed foods as large a part of ones diet as possible, even if said food has more fat in it then its processed brethren. The problem with de-fatted foods is they are pumped up with bullshit to take the fats place, bullshit that is always loaded with empty carbs which make us gain weight anyway.

Even sugar substitutes should be only an occasional treat. Splenda in unsweet tea is my personal favorite.

I lost 35 pounds this past year cutting carbs and sugar, zero exercise. I was pretty overweight though at 235, 5'11". Now I hover around 205, and while I occasionally enjoy an ice cream or white flour biscuit, for the most part my meals consist of lean meats and leafy green vegetables. It really took a mindset and lifestyle change for me.

I think your doctor's idea is a good one, but I would take out the fruit and go JUST veggies. Of course I'm just some guy on the internet though. Good luck!

[slwiser]

I started mine last Feb after quadruple-bypass surgery. Maybe your ahead of the game and don't realized it, at least I hope you are. Good luck. I have lost over 60 pounds since Feb 08 and need to loose an additional 20-30 lbs from where I am today.

[Grahame]

Dieting as an engineering problem

The engineer in you may like to consider The Hacker's Diet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hacker's Diet

[deepak]

Luis the fruit and veggie only diet your doctor suggested for two weeks sounds like a pretty non fun way to start on the fast track to healthy living

You're still in your twenties so you're not really in any grave danger of heart disease or neurovascular complications right now. My suggestion would be something more moderate to ease your way into a lifestyle modification. That way it's not such a startling change.

Some of the high BP, TG, LDL/VLDL, low HDL, etc can be familial but it can be modifiable as well.

I'm pretty busy working 70-80 hours a week and I manage to fit this into my schedule- initially when I wanted to drop weight I would power walk for about 45 minutes every morning for a few months. Diet modification was reducing carb intake, cutting out alcohol, increasing fiber/veg/fruit intake, and reducing meat portions. I've been at ~8 +/- oz of any type of meat a week, which usually works out to eating meat twice a week. After reaching my targeted weight I switched to run/jog/run in the mornings to just try and get my heart rate as low as possible. I also go to the gym three times a week in the evenings.

Good luck man! It's pretty cool that you're taking this seriously at a young age. My friends girlfriend's dad had a trip bypass in his low 50s and his only lifestyle change was switching to Bug Light from Budweiser...

Edited January 3, 2009 by deepak

[boomana]

Well, it turns out I'm the exact same weight as I was last year at this time. I got to working out, eating really well and lost about 10 lbs, and talked about losing 5-10 more. Now I have to start all over again

[postjack]

medical doctors don't use terms like "de-tox," because it's scientifically invalid, unless you have a high heavy metal intake, or something similar

i don't know whether to make a drug joke or a heavy metal joke.

this'll do:

[LFF]

Well - the day is almost over and I can successfully say that I have completed my first day on this fucking diet.

So far, I can say I feel no different except that my head hurts a bit and that I am hungry. My lovely wife has been a huge help today, both in being patient with my grumblings and by cooking me some healthy food. YUM!

At the moment, I am getting ready to go out with my wife and my dinner is half a melon. The thought of eating a juicy burger right now is killing me but I shall remain strong.

[Dusty Chalk]

Hey, good luck with that, I mean it sincerely. Not being overweight feels better than any food tastes. You'll get a spring to your step, have more energy, and will reduce the risk or slow down the onset of diabetes, arthritis, and many other weight-associated morbidities.

At least you get fruits and vegetables. I love fruits and vegetables. Several stores have a melon/cantelope/pineapple/strawberry/otherberry mix that I just love.

[grawk]

I think I mostly prefer eating good food and being a little overweight. I got back down to 170 a few years back, then went to new orleans and rediscovered how good food can be. Now I'm hovering around 200 and am reasonably happy. I spiked over that during the holidays, so I'm working on getting back down, but I definitely don't feel the need to get back to 170 again.

[Duggeh]

I had pizza for breakfast today, and for lunch, I'll have some more later for tea.

Also yesterday I had pizza.

I have a very balanced diet.

[aerius]

Pizza is a very balanced diet, it has components of all 4 food groups in one handy package. Just add alcohol and you're done!

[LFF]

Well - day 3 is almost over and I am happy to say that I no longer have cravings. Regardless, I HATE this fucking diet!

Had some corn today as well as some broccoli, potatoes and cucumber and that filled me up rather well. Good thing is that I feel like I have a bit more energy.

[JBLoudG20]

Well - day 3 is almost over and I am happy to say that I no longer have cravings. Regardless, I HATE this fucking diet!

Had some corn today as well as some broccoli, potatoes and cucumber and that filled me up rather well. Good thing is that I feel like I have a bit more energy.

Are you able to eat fish? Man I LOVE me some baked tuna with squash and green beans, bit of lemon juice. Still plenty healthy, and yummy to boot.

[Dreadhead]

I'm at 259 and my goal is back down to 200-210 (I'm 6'5", in July 03 I was 289 then by Jul 04 I was 210 and kept it for about 12 months but then I've crept back up).

I get the KGSS out of hock with my wife at 230 and hence I don't want Justin to finish too quickly and I have to let it sit in a box while I still have weight to lose. She says if I go back over 230 then she'll take it away. She's a lawyer she'll take my ass to court if I don't... Well at least it's good motivation.

I'm doing very low calories 3 days a week and "healthy" 4 days a week and I'm already down quite a bit. It works great. Today is a low calorie salads only day though which blows.

[humanflyz]

You don't really need to start off on a radically different diet (as in, completely and totally changing what you eat and how much you eat) if you want to lose weight. Of course, eating healthier definitely make it easier, but it's pretty fucking hard to jump off right into the deep end of dieting.

I went from 180 lb at Jan. of 08 to 145 lb now, and I lost that weight through a combo of going to the gym everyday and cutting back what I eat, but not dramatically so: I went from eating about 2000 calories a day to something like 1300 a day. Cutting back on alcohol consumption helped tremendously, but I would attribute the biggest role to just exercising.

At the beginning, it was hard as hell because I basically had to force myself to do it. But once you really get into exercising, it really does become part of your daily routine. I'd feel weird today if I don't go exercise, and it's a great stress reliever as well. I could probably use to lose another 5 pounds, since I'm not a big guy (5'7'' asian), but I've never felt better.