Diets Suck...Inspired By TripleDigitRide

[Guest SUNTZU]

After hearing about TDR's exercise and dieting, as well as the craving for pizza, I was reminded of John Pinette's comedy routine. My great grandfather came over from Milan on Dad's side, and my mom has a catering business. Needless to say, I have the body of a god...Buddha.

Just watch the video.

YouTube - John Pinette "France & Italy"

[Motasyco]

I'm in great shape too. Round is a shape...right?

[Motasyco]

By the way SUNTZU, you must have that embedding videos thing worked out.

[Guest SUNTZU]

It works with youtube when you copy and paste the address bar...sometimes. It tends to do what it wants as I found out in the What Music Are You Listening To thread. I was watching John Pinette's Chinese Buffet sketch. Hilarious! "You been heeya fo owah...YOU GO NOW!"

[TripleDigitRide]

Oh My! He is one of the funniest guys, ever. Maybe it's because I can relate.

I've been doing pretty good. With the exception of the crappy (in every sense of the word) pizza we tried yesterday, I've been eating pretty good. Much better than I had been anyway.

I've tried every "diet" known to man, but I'm trying to think more long-term. You can't simply give up everything you like, because that will make the whole process miserable. Plus, it's too much of a shock to your system, and makes it much easier to fall back into your old ways. Well, at least that's the way I see it.

I've been eating Subway on a regular basis. I stay away from the footlong's, cheese and too much mayo. I'll still stop at fast food joints, but stay away from red meat, fries and cokes. Just a grilled chicken or fish sandwich. No, it's not the healthiest of choices in the world, but it's good, and it's a huge cutback for me. Many restaurants have pretty big fish and/or chicken sandwiches. Eat one of those and chug a glass/bottle of water, and you'd be surprised how filling it can be.

I've also forced myself not to allow myself to reach the point where I feel like I'm starving. Being a truck driver where I find myself in some out-of-the-way areas for quite a long time, I often stuffed myself when I was finally able to find a place to eat. That was one of my biggest problems. Of course, packing a lunch would easily solve that problem. Just haven't gotten to that point yet.

Walking on a daily basis has probably been the biggest help and motivator so far. First of all, walking at least 1 mile per day gets my fat a$$ some much needed exercise. On top of that, when I feel like eating unhealthy foods, I just remember all the walking I've done.

Do I really wanna throw all that walking down the drain for a quick "fix"? Heck no. Even though the walking is getting a little easier as time goes on, dragging around 480ish pounds for 1+ miles is no easy task. That's especially true when it's 80+ degrees outside.

Now, to the pizza I just couldn't resist. I think you have to indulge in some of your favorite unhealthy foods once in a while. Just know that eating an entire medium/large pizza in one sitting is probably on the extreme side. Yes, I could easily eat an entire medium pizza, and on a good day, I could choke down a large. Yesterday, I was happy with 3 1/2 pieces. Even though it was nasty, I was feeling pretty full.

Anyway, I am far from an expert on the matter, but I'm trying to find something that's much better than what I was doing and something I can live with in the long term. I'm sure I'll find ways to tweak things as I go along, but I'm happy with my progress so far.

[Guest SUNTZU]

I support you every step of the way! Well, not literally, but I'll give you a Hell yeah!

I have cut out cokes and been eating rabbit food for lunch. I'm doing the portion control as best I can. Once we move, I'll be exercising regularly. I don't walk in my neighborhood because I don't want to lead the hoodlums into tempation. One of the biggest things is making myself drink water. I take a Nalgene bottle and make myself drink eight of those a day. I can only tell that my belt is a little looser.

I posted the video because I figured we both could relate. I'm not as big as Pinette, but close. That has got to change!

[TripleDigitRide]

I support you every step of the way! Well, not literally, but I'll give you a Hell yeah!

I have cut out cokes and been eating rabbit food for lunch. I'm doing the portion control as best I can. Once we move, I'll be exercising regularly. I don't walk in my neighborhood because I don't want to lead the hoodlums into tempation. One of the biggest things is making myself drink water. I take a Nalgene bottle and make myself drink eight of those a day. I can only tell that my belt is a little looser.

I posted the video because I figured we both could relate. I'm not as big as Pinette, but close. That has got to change!

I tried the rabbit food route a couple times, but that will only work for so long. I do enjoy a good salad, but you have to mix things up a bit. Been there, and you can get burnt out very quickly if you attempt to eat the same things all the time.

Luckily, water has never been an issue with me, and dining out is about the only time I would drink cola products. Milk was a major downfall for me. I could easily drink a gallon every two days. I cut way back on that. Now it's 1 glass per day, and maybe a bowl of cereal.

Remember, it's got to be long term, and you'll likely trip along the way. Just can't let that discourage you from reaching your goal. Eating bad one or two days per week may not be the best, but it's far better than eating bad every day of the week. That is something I have to keep telling myself.

Messing up from time to time is something you have to live with. It's going to happen. In the past, I would have a day or two where I really fell off the wagon, but instead of say to hell with it, jump back on right where you left off.

You can do it, man. Getting motivated to get the ball rolling is the roughest part. Find something that works for YOU. There are several different routes you can take, but not all of them will work for YOU. Take advice from anyone who's willing to give it, and make a plan that works well for you.

[Rightwinger]

I'll throw a little of the blame on TDR as well. I joined church league softball again, been eating better things in smaller quantities and drinking water like, well, water!

Other than sore thighs from playing catcher, it feels good to get moving again. I don't really care what the numbers say so I don't have a start number and no number to work towards. I'll know what feels better.

I will be backsliding though as Bronker has promised me charred meat in the future so that day there is no diet, only the cry and hue of PETA !

[Guest Bluemax]

Guys, I'm feeling your pain and salute you on your efforts. I'm packing way to many pounds myself and as I get older the struggle only gets harder. I have told myself countless times that I was going to get back into the gym and lead a healthier life but it's tough. Coming from someone who used to compete in bodybuilding and powerlifting; it's a major egobuster when you run into an old friend and after giving you the look ( when they start at your eyes and scroll down to you feet and back up ) ask " what happened to you". Us widebodies need to start a thread with a pool in it to make it interesting and see who can drop the most weight in a certain length of time. Who knowes..maybe the spirit of competition is the spark that some of us need ??

[TripleDigitRide]

I know this walk is going to be a warm one. I'm trying to hold off until 6:00. Maybe the temp will drop 30 degrees by then.

[Guest Bronker]

Yes, diets suck. I've tried them all, and I've tried the medication route. Sure, I'd lose weight, but I continued feeling lousy.

First thing I did was cut out colas, even diet. Of course, on July 14th, in celebration of "bar carry" I'm going to fall off the wagon and have a Coke Zero. Otherwise, I've not had a carbonated beverage since Dec 31, 2008. Its been all water, juice, milk, coffee. I also started walking in late April, and joined the gym two weeks ago. Every night I do 30 min on the incline treadmill, and 30 min on the stationary bike. Since late April, and having weighed yesterday, I have lost 23 lbs.

And I feel great! Keep up the hard work, boys! My wife is doing it too. She set a goal of which she is only 26 lbs away. The day she reaches that target weight, I've agreed to buy her her 'dream toy.' Looks like a Volvo XC90. At the 50 lb weight-loss mark (27 from now) I'm gonna buy myself a 'high-end' 1911.

Might as well dream big! At 100 lbs weight loss, with my luck I'll probably get hit by a dump truck in front of the gym!! But at least I'll be easier to carry by pall bearers, rather than a roll-back! And yes, Rightwinger, you can have my 1911! I probably won't even be cold yet before you're putting lead down range. You bassturd.

[Rightwinger]

Witnessed and verified!!!

Now shut up, we both will be shooting .22s as our high powered guns when we are in our 80s and swearing we hit the 10 x 10 target more times than the other.

[Guest Bronker]

Witnessed and verified!!!

Now shut up, we both will be shooting .22s as our high powered guns when we are in our 80s and swearing we hit the 10 x 10 target more times than the other.

I'll be satisfied if I can hit the ground with my hat at age 80! Lady Luck is on my side...my grandfather is 88 and takes NO meds of any kind. Still does tax preparation. And he had an aunt who lived to be 117!!

I just hope that when I'm old and wacky, I have a cute little nurse to 'feel up' and chase around the retirement home in my birthday suit! Yessir, there aint enough Haldol on the planet to slow me down!!!

[Guest SUNTZU]

If I'm old, I'm sure I'll hit the ground...once.

[Oh Shoot]

...

I've tried every "diet" known to man, but I'm trying to think more long-term. ...

Well....obviously if you consider it a "diet", it won't work. It can't. It has to become a Way Of Eating.

I won't get on the soapbox regarding low carb, nor am I willing to take on the many urban myths people "hear" about it and repeat. You say you've tried them all, but I have no idea for how long or how seriously, or even with whose advice and guidelines.

And I'm not a Carb Nazi - matter of fact I need to take my own advice and get a little more strict again, as I'm put back on about 15 (right around the middle of coure) of the 55 lbs I dropped back in '03. It came off about as fast as it went on after I quit smoking

But if you'll just give up the following, for just SIX WEEKS, unless you are among the 5% or so who have some highly resistant "other" factors, I think you'll be amazed:

all potatoes of any kind and all "dark" beans (pintos, navy, black, etc)

all pasta

all bread (includes pizza crust and fried batter and cereals)

all sweets (including fruit and of course sugared drinks)

Oh yeah, best to not drink anything alcoholic, but if you drink beer just substitute equal amount of alcohol in liquor).

Eat all the veggies (green and white like cauliflour), eggs, meat, cheese, nuts, you want. You can have pure whipped cream, flavored with Splenda if you have sweet cravings. Don't eat those **** Atkins or any other "non sugar" candy with sugar alcohols in them, they'll just make you crave real sugar and probably give you the runs, too, if you eat enough of it to be "happy".

Eat until you are full, not until you absolutely can't hold any more. But don't worry about calories. Really.

Drink lots of water. Really, more than you likely are now, more than the "8 glasses per day.

If you drink diet colas, try like heck to avoid aspertame. While it may or may not be actually harmful, it generally triggers sugar cravings, and indeed, in many people, triggers insulin rush just as much as real sugar.

(and of course, the real threat of obesity from a high empty carb diet is Type II diabetes; matter of fact, it's more than a "threat", it's damn near a certainty.)

Continue what you're doing with the walking. More excercise is better, any is good, but you should lose weight regardless.

This is not a low CALORIE diet.

I lost weight eating well over 3000 calories per day. Calories may be created equally, but they are not consumed equally.

It is not low FAT.

Fat can be 40% of daily intake. My cholesterol and triglycerides levels came back into normal AFTER increasing fats, decreasing carbs. My reflux problem disappeared in a week of induction (very strict) level low carbing. My violent ragweed allergy went to almost zip (many people report allergies much improved with low carbing - there's a reason but won't go into it here).

You should see a pretty dramatic difference, especially since you have so far to go. If you like what happens and how you feel, you can look further into doing it correctly for long term. And you don't have to give up your lovely carbs forever, either. Once you hit ideal weight, you add them back and find how many per day you can handle without gaining weight.

If you want to get more serious from the gitgo, or during this, or just want to check the science, get a copy of Atkin's New Diet Revolution at used book store for .50. If nothing else, it's full of nifty meals and snack ideas.

It's only for six weeks.

Just my advice since you said you were open to some.

best o' luck,

- OS

[TripleDigitRide]

Very good advice. And you are right, "diets" do not work. Not for the long-term anyway. That's why I'm trying to design a plan that I can stick with. More of a lifestyle change.

I'm sure I'll tweak things along the way, but I'm feeling much better so far. I have a LONG way to go, and it's not going to be easy. But I'm really trying my damndest to stick with this.

[Mike.357]

I did the Atkins diet for about 6 months. This was about 9 or 10 years ago. I lost about 50 lbs, 30 of which I have kept off.

What OS described is right. I basically did not eat anything white. Eat all the meat, cheese, eggs, and brocoli you can hold. Lots of water is a big help. I am a diet soda addict but drinking that stuff did not slow me down much on weight loss back then. Kind of weird but after a while the kotosis ( what your body does when you are burning fat, not daily carbs) would level off. I found that a night of binge drinking (rum and diet coke was my poison of choice) would kind of kick start it again. I do not think that is normal for everyone, but for me it worked.

Atkins is not hard to do, you just have to get it in you head to only eat meat, cheese, eggs and brocoli. There are other green veggies that are okay, but brocoli worked for me.

A treat for me was once a week I would get a pizza, order it with very light sauce.

I would eat it with a fork not eating any crust, just meat and cheese. Was kind of a reward.

Pork rinds and hot sauce are great too, eat em up. Once you get into it you find all kinds of foods that taste great and are very low in carbs.

I would advise to pick up the book. It explains in detail what kicking carbs does for your body.

[Guest SUNTZU]

Pork rinds and hot sauce are great too, eat em up.

Roll the window down, dammit!

[Oh Shoot]

... only eat meat, cheese, eggs and brocoli.

I like broccoli, but not THAT much .

Unless you're doing the really strict phase, green beans, all kinds of greens, brussels sprout, etc. And of course, about any of the normal salad stuff. I love artichokes, too, they're fine.

Corn and taters bad.

Pork rinds and hot sauce are great too, eat em up.

Yeah, pork rinds become your crackers, put all kinds of things on them.

My fav on them is cream cheese and anchovies!

Really, the two hardest things doing low carb for me are mostly matters of inconvenience:

- eating out, unless you do food bars, it's hard to get a low carb meal, athough any burger joint just get your normal burger and toss the bun, eat with fork. Triple mentioned no mayo...dunno what he's doing, mayo is a Good Thing on low carb.

- making sandwiches. You really can't. So making something to go you must be more creative. Those years of doing FedEx, I'd just mayo ham or turkey slices and wrap em around cheese and onion, whatever. Deviled eggs, stuff I could eat while driving between stops!

Speaking of Shoney's this Sat, actually breakfast is a good low carb meal, just no biscuits, grits, pancakes, taters. But all the good ole greasy bacon and sausage and ham and eggs you want.

I need to take my own advice and get these damn 15-20 lbs back off and quit just talking about it.

- OS

[lowbud]

I'm in great shape too. Round is a shape...right?

yeah it's great. accept when having sex and the only way to reach is to prop her legs on your shoulder. Damn this disibility!

[lowbud]

I did the Atkins diet for about 6 months. This was about 9 or 10 years ago. I lost about 50 lbs, 30 of which I have kept off.

What OS described is right. I basically did not eat anything white. Eat all the meat, cheese, eggs, and brocoli you can hold. Lots of water is a big help. I am a diet soda addict but drinking that stuff did not slow me down much on weight loss back then. Kind of weird but after a while the kotosis ( what your body does when you are burning fat, not daily carbs) would level off. I found that a night of binge drinking (rum and diet coke was my poison of choice) would kind of kick start it again. I do not think that is normal for everyone, but for me it worked.

Atkins is not hard to do, you just have to get it in you head to only eat meat, cheese, eggs and brocoli. There are other green veggies that are okay, but brocoli worked for me.

A treat for me was once a week I would get a pizza, order it with very light sauce.

I would eat it with a fork not eating any crust, just meat and cheese. Was kind of a reward.

Pork rinds and hot sauce are great too, eat em up. Once you get into it you find all kinds of foods that taste great and are very low in carbs.

I would advise to pick up the book. It explains in detail what kicking carbs does for your body.

This diet sucks if you can't stand no sugar. I mean ok.. meat.. heck yeah I can handle that. No caffene.. sure.. but only WATER? That's where I break down. I can't stand not having juice, sweetened beverages, etc.. I also can't deal with crappy sweeteners they call "like sugar". it all tasts like crap. every single one of them!

Diets are all crap. The only true way to keep in half way decent shape is excersize and eat healthy. Portion control.. That's really the only way.

All the fad diets and pills are garbage. American's including me are lazy and want the easy way to everytning.

So yeah.. I have resided myself to being a fat ass. Maybe one day I'll quit smoking and actually start doing something about it. Maybe Not.. I want to.. but... well something always seems to get in the way...

<rant done>

[Oh Shoot]

... No caffene.. sure.. but only WATER?

Most low carbers continue caffeine, I did. Atkins recommended against it, many doctors recommend against it for diabetics and/or border line diabetics, unless you test to see if it causes insulin spikes. Same reason Atkins recommended against aspartame.

Not "only" water. If tolerated, coffee and tea, diet drinks (preferably without aspartame), club soda, sugar free Kool-Aid...)

I also can't deal with crappy sweeteners they call "like sugar". it all tasts like crap. every single one of them!

Well, we're conditioned to what we "like". I remember growing up, 2% milk tasted like water to me, now it tastes like milk, and whole milk tastes like cream. Although milk is a high carb no no - cream is okay. Weird, huh?

All the fad diets and pills are garbage.

Certainly agree about pills, unless you want to be a speed freak as you can certainly lose a lot of weight with meth and other amphetamines!, but low carbing goes back a LONG way. Indeed, even our grandparents and certainly great grandparents and further back were much closer to low carbing than in the last 75 years of so of American consumption of empty carbs. Hell, half our kids may be diabetic before they're thirty. White bread and Twinkies may well kill more of us than cancer. Of course, low carbing actually hearkens all the way back to hunter/gathering times, before agriculture (of especially tubers and corn).

So yeah.. I have resided myself to being a fat ass. Maybe one day I'll quit smoking and actually start doing something about it. Maybe Not..

I hope you do. Don't know how overweight your are, but Type II diabetes will require a very restrictive low carb regimen, oral insulin or injections, and constant blood sugar monitoring, or Truly Bad Things happen.

I'm still at elevated risk myself, and I'm "only" maybe 25 lbs over optimum. I think I've now talked myself into getting back into what I'm preaching!

- OS

Edited June 11, 2009 by OhShoot

[Mike.357]

No caffene.. sure.. but only WATER?

Not sure where you got that from, but when I did Atkins I drank diet coke or diet pepsi like there was no tomorrow. For me I do not think anything made me crave suger. never been a sugar addict anyway.

There also was a store down the street from us. It specialized in low carb and no carb foods. They had anything and everything. Even some low carb frozen yogurt stuff. ooof that was good. My favorite though was baked cheese. It was crunchy and made a great snack, all kind of flavors too. I have not seen a store like that in Knoxville.

I also attest to low/no carb diet keeping a person out of diabetes. Actually I never felt healthier than when I did Atkins. I wish I had the strength to skip white food forever. Processed sugar and processed wheat are terrible for a person and is the biggest reason we are a country of fat asses.

[Guest Bronker]

Most low carbers continue caffeine, I did. Atkins recommended against it, many doctors recommend against it for diabetics and/or border line diabetics, unless you test to see if it causes insulin spikes. Same reason Atkins recommended against aspartame.

Not "only" water. If tolerated, coffee and tea, diet drinks (preferably without aspartame), club soda, sugar free Kool-Aid...)

Well, we're conditioned to what we "like". I remember growing up, 2% milk tasted like water to me, now it tastes like milk, and whole milk tastes like cream. Although milk is a high carb no no - cream is okay. Weird, huh?

Certainly agree about pills, unless you want to be a speed freak as you can certainly lose a lot of weight with meth and other amphetamines!, but low carbing goes back a LONG way. Indeed, even our grandparents and certainly great grandparents and further back were much closer to low carbing than in the last 75 years of so of American consumption of empty carbs. Hell, half our kids may be diabetic before they're thirty. White bread and Twinkies may well kill more of us than cancer. Of course, low carbing actually hearkens all the way back to hunter/gathering times, before agriculture (of especially tubers and corn).

I hope you do. Don't know how overweight your are, but Type II diabetes will require a very restrictive low carb regimen, oral insulin or injections, and constant blood sugar monitoring, or Truly Bad Things happen.

I'm still at elevated risk myself, and I'm "only" maybe 25 lbs over optimum. I think I've now talked myself into getting back into what I'm preaching!

- OS

That is all quite insightful, and mostly correct from a pathophysiological standpoint there, Chief. You've done your research well, friend. The only thing I caution my patients about is that, in the 'ketone cleansing' state of diets such as Adkins, etc., people with hypertension and any other potential for renal (kidney) insufficiency have got to be very careful about the dangers of large amounts of protein in their blood (hyperproteinemia). It's a recipe for trouble, if you are not careful. But...so is hanging on to the added 50+ pounds of excess weight and a lazy lifestyle!!!

Regardless, if you have any other chronic diseases like non-insulin dependent (Type II) diabetes and/or hypertension already, go get some renal function testing before you dive in to one of these type programs. The test is simple and cheap. Tell your doc you need a "BMP". That's a basic metabolic profile.

Carry on!

[DRM]

Interesting stuff...

All I can say is - I've lose approx 15lbs in the last 6 weeks or so.

First I started off hitting the gym... HARD. Mainly just lots of time on the elliptical (burn calories - cardio strengthening). I was doing that 30min. a day minimum, at least 5 days a week. ZERO modifications to my eating habits, other than just watching how much I eat, along with making sure I eat at least something for breakfast.

My thinking was to get my body ready to WORK.

The last week or so though - I'm really trying to cut out carbs I just don't *have* to have. Am I being militant about it? No. Yesterday I had two JackInTheBox chicken pita's and an egg roll for lunch - lol. But I'm just not eating all that extra bread if there are other options.

I've lost almost 7lbs since Sunday... not too shabby, IMHO.

Then again - on Sunday I did a 1.5 hour workout in the morning, then paddled a couple of mikes down the Duck in my kayak that afternoon

I started (at my heaviest) at 236, am down to 221.5 this morning, and would love to get down to around 205 (Screw those charts that say I'm supposed to weigh 185 - they are idiots).

Biggest thing I have found is you have to change the way you eat AND get some real exercise in there (especially for us desk jockeys). IMHO - "walking around the block" is a pretty crappy long term exercise plan. It's a good start, but as you lose weight you need to be ramping up what you do, as your body becomes able to DO MORE.

My goal - I'd like to run a race. I have a friend that asked me to run a 1/2 marathon in December, and depending on how thiings do I just might try it.

Oh, a few more things:

- EAT BREAKFAST!

- morning workouts are great because you start the day with a calorie deficit

- a big lunch is WAY better than a big evening meal

- find any way you can to exercise - calf raises when you are standing there, TAKE THE STAIRS, pull some weeds, park a little further across the parking lot, etc. You'd be amazed at these little steps that add up over an entire day.

- MAKE TIME in your day to work out. I used to say I didn't have time, BS. I didn't MAKE time. I have a job from 7-4, 3 acres of property to upkeep, 2 kids, and a pregnant wife. I now work out after 8pm, since everyone is heading to bed anyway and I would otherwise just be wasting time watching TV or on the internet.

- Eat things you LIKE. Allow yourself to indulge a little, just keep it in control. I still eat pizza, and ice cream, and pretty much anything I want - I just recognize that when I "take" those foods, I need to do some "give" (activities) to compensate.

Anyway - good luck to everyone else... we all need it