Lost 45lbs in 4 1/2 months Here's how

[JG55]

I did the same thing as below all Atkins all the time, Weight came off without exercise, the new evidence suggests that Atkins had it right and that Protein diets were being used in France and England centuries ago to lose weight.

Below is not me. Just another success story...

How I Lost 50 Pounds in 6 Months Without Exercising

And 10 Inches off my waist.

by

Duane Lester

Bio

July 6, 2012 - 7:00 am

Here I am around 295 pounds.

299

I looked at the number again.

I was one pound away from 300.

Something had to change.

I had tried to use the gym at work, but with a 12 hour day and a 4 am alarm, rising an hour early to workout wasn’t happening. Warm beds are difficult to leave at three in the morning.

So I brought workout clothes with me in order to hit the gym after work. Instead, I convinced myself my time was better used behind the keyboard at home than in the gym. At the end of the day, I just went home without a second thought.

But when I looked at the scale, standing on the edge of 300 pounds, I knew I was in real danger. Heart attacks were common in my family history. So was Diabetes.

It wasn’t long after that I heard this episode of EconTalk. Russ Roberts was talking with Gary Taubes, author of Good Calories, Bad Calories.

Taubes is also the author of Why We Get Fat, a book Glenn Reynolds promotes on Instapundit. I expected a good interview, but this was an eye-opener.

It would change my life.

For decades, the accepted science claimed diets lower in fat and higher in carbohydrates were healthier. When Robert Atkins published his Diet Revolution in 1972, he received condemnation. The American Medical Association even called it a “bizarre regimen.†Because of that, any research into Atkins’ claims was considered in “the realm of unscientific fantasy.â€

What blew my mind was when Taubes stated little scientific evidence existed that diets high in fat contributed to heart disease, obesity or Type 2 diabetes. The push for a diet low in fat for origins more in politics than science.

Gary Taubes

In his 2002 article in the New York Times, “What If It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie,†Taubes wrote,

It was Ancel Keys, paradoxically, who introduced the low-fat-is-good-health dogma in the 50′s with his theory that dietary fat raises cholesterol levels and gives you heart disease. Over the next two decades, however, the scientific evidence supporting this theory remained stubbornly ambiguous. The case was eventually settled not by new science but by politics. It began in January 1977, when a Senate committee led by George McGovern published its â€Dietary Goals for the United States,†advising that Americans significantly curb their fat intake to abate an epidemic of â€killer diseases†supposedly sweeping the country. It peaked in late 1984, when the National Institutes of Health officially recommended that all Americans over the age of 2 eat less fat. By that time, fat had become â€this greasy killer†in the memorable words of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the model American breakfast of eggs and bacon was well on its way to becoming a bowl of Special K with low-fat milk, a glass of orange juice and toast, hold the butter — a dubious feast of refined carbohydrates.

In the intervening years, the N.I.H. spent several hundred million dollars trying to demonstrate a connection between eating fat and getting heart disease and, despite what we might think, it failed. Five major studies revealed no such link. A sixth, however, costing well over $100 million alone, concluded that reducing cholesterol by drug therapy could prevent heart disease. The N.I.H. administrators then made a leap of faith. Basil Rifkind, who oversaw the relevant trials for the N.I.H., described their logic this way: they had failed to demonstrate at great expense that eating less fat had any health benefits. But if a cholesterol-lowering drug could prevent heart attacks, then a low-fat, cholesterol-lowering diet should do the same. â€It’s an imperfect world,†Rifkind told me. â€The data that would be definitive is ungettable, so you do your best with what is available.â€

Some of the best scientists disagreed with this low-fat logic, suggesting that good science was incompatible with such leaps of faith, but they were effectively ignored.

Taubes noted a paradigm shift in nutrition science. Today more scientific evidence showed diets with enriched carbohydrates and refined sugars caused heart disease, obseity and Type 2 diabetes.

As I listened to this, I thought about that scale.

I thought about my mother and father, both of whom have heart disease.

I thought about my father and my brother, both of whom have Type 2 Diabetes.

I pulled out my ear buds and turned to my wife:

“I’m going back on the protein diet.â€

This was not my first rodeo with a low-carb, high protein diet, so I understood my wife’s skepticism. More than once I had started a “diet†only to grab a Mountain Dew and a couple honeybuns at a gas station on the way to work.

However, this time I told her this wasn’t a diet. It was a change in my eating habits.

I think my mindset made all the difference.

To most, a diet is something temporary, a way of doing things until a goal is met. I explained I wasn’t changing the way I ate because of a desire to lose weight. I was changing because I didn’t want to die clutching my chest. I didn’t want to flick a syringe every day because I needed to take insulin.

I was making the change because I wanted to live a longer and healthier life. To me this wasn’t temporary. It was how I needed to eat to survive.

She got it.

That was mid December. I haven’t had refined sugars or enriched carbohydrates since.

Instead, every meal consists of a minimum of 40 grams of proteins and a maximum of 10 grams of carbohydrates. This is based on a formula from the book Protein Power.

I had implemented the 40-10 rule before and had some success, but since my mindset was that it was a temporary way of eating, I gained the weight back and then some.

This time, I didn’t see it that way. And believe it or not, it isn’t that hard to stay on the plan.

To give you an idea of what a meal is like under these guidelines, the normal breakfast for me is six eggs, either scrambled or fried. Each egg has six proteins and one carb. That’s close enough to forty to me. Also, sometimes I’d get some sausage or bacon with the eggs, so I know I was reaching my protein level goal while limiting my carb intake.

For lunch, I might have two quarter pound hamburger patties, each with a slice of cheese, some pickles and mustard. Ketchup was fine too, if you minimize the amount.

In our freezer, three deer waited for me from the previous hunting season. Those, along with a steady stream of chicken and pork, kept me in a fairly constant state of ketosis, which is the goal.

Ketosis:

merely means that our bodies are using fat for energy. Ketones (also called ketone bodies) are molecules generated during fat metabolism, whether from the fat in the guacamole you just ate or fat you were carrying around your middle. When our bodies are breaking down fat for energy, most of the it gets converted more or less directly to ATP.

When people eat less carbohydrate, their bodies turn to fat for energy, so it makes sense that more ketones are generated.

A couple weeks later, my younger brother was home for Christmas. When I refused to eat something high in carbs, he looked at me and said, “r keto?â€

“Yeah,†I replied. I recognized the term “keto,†but the “r†part confused me.

“Wait, what,†I said.

“r/keto. On Reddit.â€

The website Reddit offers content threads based on specific topics. These are called “sub-Reddits.†My brother said one of the sub-Reddits is called r/keto and he used it to change his eating habits.

In the sidebar are must-read links for beginners. While I had read Protein Power years earlier, they offered information on r/keto I had either forgotten or never learned.

For example, you are encouraged to use heavy cream in your coffee because of its high fat content:

I just discovered heavy whipping cream. It goes perfect in coffee, it has less then 1g carbs per oz, and you won’t need more then an ounce for a cup of coffee. It’s also good if you want something milky, you can do a 50/50 whipping cream and water mix, and it tastes really good.

I learned you want more fat because it makes the digestive process slower, which results in a decreased desire to snack between meals.

r/Keto users post all kind of tips, recipes and their NSVs (non-scale victories) motivated me to look for successes outside of my routine visits to the scale.

I remember one morning I walked into work and one of my peers said, “Have you lost weight?â€

“Yeah,†I answered. “About 30 pounds. Thanks for noticing.†It was my first NSV and it felt pretty good.

But that felt nowhere near as good as the day I pulled a pair of size 36 khakis out of my closet. I hadn’t worn them in years. When I first started, I wore size 44 pants.

I held those khakis in front of me. I figured if I was going to get them on, I’d have to lay down on the bed to fasten them, but even that would be a huge NSV. I put one leg in. Then the other. Pulled them up.

They fastened.

“Sara! Come here!â€

I had to share this with somebody.

I made the change a little over six months ago and I recently dropped below 240 pounds for the first time in a decade. Wii Fit Plus said I’m no longer “obese,†just “overweight.†My size 36 jeans are already loose and friends I saw recently didn’t recognize me at first because they only knew the 291 pound me.

I didn’t make exercise a part of my life. I did visit the gym twice, both times for 30 minutes and I spent more time focused on getting out of there than I did on getting a good workout. I didn’t lose the weight because of exercise.

I lost it because I kept myself in a constant state of ketosis.

In the past six months, there have been times where I wanted to have something sweet. One time in particular was in an airport. I wanted a coffee and the closest place was Cinnabon. As I stood in line, I started at these:

That was the closest I ever came to cheating.

My “diet†consists of eggs, bacon, cheeseburgers and steaks. Every now and then, I’ll throw some greens in the mix, as you should. Believe it or not, when bacon is considered a food group, that’s an enjoyable diet!

Plus, the impact it had on my life motivated me to keep doing it.

When my parents saw the change my way of eating had they asked for explanations. I revealed the change and printed out everything on the r/Keto sidebar for them.

Since they made the change my Dad hasn’t had to take any insulin. He has more energy. He and my mom have both lost weight.

My brother has had similar success.

I have yet to reach my target weight, but in the past six months, I have lost 50 pounds and dropped 10 inches off my waist, without becoming a gym rat.

If a guy who lived on Mountain Dew and honey buns can make this change, why can’t you?

Edited July 10, 2012 by JG55

[Clod Stomper]

Huge congratulations to you!

You have it right. I used to buy all the "eat whole grains" BS. But how is a partial grain unhealthy, but leaving it intact makes it suddenly healthy? Nope. Stay away from grains, legumes, etc. For others who may be interested in this approach and don't know where to start, do some research on "paleo diet". If you have chronic inflammation or autoimmune disorders, look into "anti-inflammatory" and "autoimmune protocol".

While you are correct that 90+ percent of weight loss must be dietary, I would like to suggest that one include fitness training to their health regimen. It will make the heart even healthier. Not to mention the increased strength, stamina and better looks. One doesn't need to join a gym or buy expensive equipment. Just find something fun that includes physical exertion and do it regularly. The more you do, the more you'll want to do.

Thanks for posting this excellent information.

Will

P.S.: I am not a nutritionist and I don't pretend to be. My diet leaves much to be desired. I am, however, a certified personal trainer and I can't stress enough the importance of movement for MOST people. It just feels good (afterward anyway ).

[gnmwilliams]

Huge congratulations to you!

You have it right. I used to buy all the "eat whole grains" BS. But how is a partial grain unhealthy, but leaving it intact makes it suddenly healthy? Nope. Stay away from grains, legumes, etc. For others who may be interested in this approach and don't know where to start, do some research on "paleo diet". If you have chronic inflammation or autoimmune disorders, look into "anti-inflammatory" and "autoimmune protocol".

While you are correct that 90+ percent of weight loss must be dietary, I would like to suggest that one include fitness training to their health regimen. It will make the heart even healthier. Not to mention the increased strength, stamina and better looks. One doesn't need to join a gym or buy expensive equipment. Just find something fun that includes physical exertion and do it regularly. The more you do, the more you'll want to do.

Thanks for posting this excellent information.

Will

P.S.: I am not a nutritionist and I don't pretend to be. My diet leaves much to be desired. I am, however, a certified personal trainer and I can't stress enough the importance of movement for MOST people. It just feels good (afterward anyway ).

The most movement I get each day is from my colon so I probably need to follow this advice! Congrats to the OP though on the results!

[Mdunntn]

Congrats

Sent from my SCH-R930 using Tapatalk 2

[bigwakes]

Congrats. I lost 30 pounds on Atkins a long time ago. I would just caution you that it will come back very fast if you ever decide to eat a normal diet again.

[daddyo]

In the short time that I was on the Atkins Diet I lost 10 lbs, so I know it works. Everything else I have tried has failed, so I've been considering going back to Atkins. The only undesirable effect it had for me was an increase in cholesterol.

[peejman]

Congrats to you! I lost about 20 lbs with Atkins several years ago, but gained it all back. I just couldn't stick to the diet, I like bread too much. I've since lost about 15 lbs by simply eating less. I basically eat what I want, I just try not to eat a lot of it. Portion control is my key.

[mikegideon]

Adkins definately works, but it isn't quite what they say. I was an early adopter. Once the early rapid weight loss tapers off, it winds up turning into a calorie resstricted diet for most. You can only eat so much grease without any fries or bread to wash it down. I have a friend or two that have been on it for years, and have been real successful. Like any other diet, if you can live with it, it will work. I can't handle it, and I'm a true lover of grease.

http://atkinsexposed.org/

[JG55]

Couple of notes that I have learned this time around. Like any diet it has to become a life style change. Once the goal is reached you can adjust your intake of carbs to maintain the results which means you may be able to add some carbs in reasonable proportions back but still maintain weight. Also I have found plenty of low carb recipes on the internet that help with variety of food tastes. Read Gary Taubes book "On why we get fat" the cholesterol question may not be as cut and dry as presented by the medical community. Exercise is not required for weight loss but is required for overall good health.

I am committed to the lifestyle change and have found the i don't miss the bread, pasta and other food as much as I thought. I am a chocolate and Ice cream lover, I have found low carb recipes that give me the taste without the carbs so I am happy.

Edited July 10, 2012 by JG55

[mikegideon]

Couple of notes that I have learned this time around. Like any diet it has to become a life style change. Once the goal is reached you can adjust your intake of carbs to maintain the results which means you may be able to add some carbs in reasonable proportions back but still maintain weight. Also I have found plenty of low carb recipes on the internet that help with variety of food tastes. Read Gary Taubes book "On why we get fat" the cholesterol question may not be as cut and dry as presented by the medical community. Exercise is not required for weight loss but is required for overall good health.

I am committed to the lifestyle change and have found the i don't miss the bread, pasta and other food as much as I thought. I am a chocolate and Ice cream lover, I have found low carb recipes that give me the taste without the carbs so I am happy.

That's what the long term folks say. The biggest problem is falling off the wagon. If you hit on something you can live with, you have the worst part whipped. If I stayed on it for a month, you would find me face down in a potato patch

[JG55]

That's what the long term folks say. The biggest problem is falling off the wagon. If you hit on something you can live with, you have the worst part whipped. If I stayed on it for a month, you would find me face down in a potato patch

LMAOFF I might be willing to pay to see that !!

[mikegideon]

LMAOFF I might be willing to pay to see that !!

You missed it. Happened years ago

[BigK]

I assume you have to take vitamin/mineral supplements and drink fiber drinks to stay on this kind of diet long. Any ill effects from this that you've noticed?

Also, I've heard that during the first couple of months the ketones cause body odor that no amount of Speedstick will tame. Any truth to that?

[Oh Shoot]

I assume you have to take vitamin/mineral supplements and drink fiber drinks to stay on this kind of diet long. ...

Folks have stayed on carb restricted diets indefinitely with zero ill effects and without supplement. Carbs themselves provide no necessary nutriments, the human body can do just fine with zero carbs forever, though you really can't avoid getting some carbs even if you went strictly Cro-Magnon . With combo of meats, low carb dairy, and low carb veggies, you can get everything the body needs, including enough fiber. Of course, a good daily dose of psyllium seed (Metamucil and the like) ain't a bad supplement idea for anyone, and a damn good idea for anyone with diverticulosis, which is maybe half of us past 50 in the US.

Daily multi-vitamin also ain't a terrible idea no matter how you eat. May be totally unnecessary, depending, but almost universally agreed that it can't hurt.

Also, I've heard that during the first couple of months the ketones cause body odor that no amount of Speedstick will tame. Any truth to that?

Not really. Ketosis can make breath and urine smell oddly, most report either more of a sweetish or metallic taste (though some feel it's really gross); and it seems to be much more noticeable by the individual himself than by others -- I think the sweat smell thing in particular has become more of internet urban legend from the original anti-Atkins crowd, along with all the others, like "too much protein causes kidney failure" and the like.

When I first strictly low carbed, ie under 15/day in "induction mode" and even kept up with ketone cycle with piss strips, I'd get the metallic taste in mouth and different pee smell once in a while (which btw was never nearly as strong as say, pee smell after eating asparagus), but not all the time. Anyway, I never noticed it except during the most severely limited carb periods, which are pretty difficult to maintain for more than a few months, just takes too much research and planning, and not necessary to keep losing weight anyway. Somewhere around 30-40 carbs per day or so, the taste/smell thing seems to go away, even though the body is still in ketosis mode much of the time, and of course even 100 grams of carbs per day is still relatively "low carb" compared to fact that the gummit "recommended am" is 300 grams, and many Americans eat twice or more than THAT.

It's tough to do initially, but simply eliminating bread, pasta, and potatoes from one's diet will drop a bunch of pounds off anyone, even if exact same caloric intake is maintained. Drop candy/ice cream/other sweets and it'll be even more drastic, even if same calorie intake is maintained via meat/veggies/dairy/etc. It really is true that not all calories are equal.

- OS

edit: all of this is to say I need to get back on my lower carb WOA (Way Of Eating); I've done pretty well over the last decade with it, but have fallen off the wagon in last 6 months and gained some weight back. Ironically, as I started exercising more and getting stronger, I let the extra effort trick me into thinking I could hit the carbs heavier. Combo of beans, fruit, rice, bread, spuds, combined with hurting my foot so little exercise for a couple weeks, and suddenly I've much overridden the exercise itself to put on 10 extra non-muscle pounds. So perhaps a blessing to see this thread, get me back on things.

Edited July 10, 2012 by OhShoot

[Guest Lester Weevils]

If a fella works physical labor then the risk of obesity isn't so bad and in that case lots of fat and carbs are useful to avoid wasting away to nothing. A modern non-strenuous lifestyle messes with metabolism fine-tuned by thousands of years evolution.

I was fat in HS in spite of sports. Got in college and two circumstances-- 1. Very little money 2. The mandatory PE quarter which consisted of track. I could slow-jog indefinitely but was always incredibly slow. Can't pick em up and put em down very fast. I was gonna flunk that mandatory PE from being slow as bejeesus, but they were offering 1 extra point for every pound lost. Since there was no way I could run fast enough even to get a D, just about quit eating for 3 months and added about 30 points to the grade.

So got in the habit of tang for breakfast, a piece of bread and peanut butter for lunch, and a can of beans or whatever for supper. Which kept me skinny til got married. Being married is the biggest factor that will make you fat. So the old country doctor gave me a xerox sheet of a diet about 1972, titled high protein diet. Dunno if Atkins was doing his thing at that time but it was the same basic concept except not nearly as sophisticated. There may have been lots of other things on that piece of paper can't recall, but mostly ate tuna packed in water with a pickle cut up in it, and boiled eggs. Occasionally a real meal. That would maintain somewhere near normal weight. Every time the waistline would get tight, go back to the tuna and boiled eggs. That was both a low carb and also low fat diet.

So the weight kept drifting up over the years in spite of starving. Started walking 5 or 10 miles a day and following the Atkins diet about 10 years ago for a few years and got back in the ballpark of normal weight. Adkins had advice on veggies that won't pack on the pounds. I've been sworn off bread and pasta for decades because its so fattening. Occasional only. Rice a little more often. I'd eat a Wendy's salad with low carb dressing, and some meat and nuts, green veggies, avacado, squash, etc. But the knees and ankles started bothering me. Doctor said the uric acid was too high and I needed to cut back on protein or maybe get gout. So cutting back on the protein brought the uric acid back down and the joints quit giving trouble.

Mainly just try to stay below 1200 calories a day. Eat 2 or 3 "about 300-400 calorie" TV dinners a day and generally stay in that calorie ballpark. Get a little bit of a veggie in em. It is hard to cook much and stay below 1000 calories, for me anyway. Haven't gained any weight for several years but am stuck with about 40 extra pounds. I don't think even the old can of tuna a day diet could return to normal weight anymore. I think your body has its own idea how fat it wants to be, and you can fool it for awhile but eventually it will figure out how to defeat your efforts. Wife is a carboholic, eats lots of bread pasta rice baked potatoes and she's thin as a rail. She hardly eats meat, doesn't like it much. If I ate her diet I'd be too grossly obese to fit thru the front door.

[JG55]

I assume you have to take vitamin/mineral supplements and drink fiber drinks to stay on this kind of diet long. Any ill effects from this that you've noticed?

Also, I've heard that during the first couple of months the ketones cause body odor that no amount of Speedstick will tame. Any truth to that?

If you get a chance read the book by Gary Taubes "Why We Get Fat " it's a eye opener and easy to read. Amazon has them used for about $2.

No weird smell problems here.

Atkins type diets have been proscribed for centuries...

Edited July 10, 2012 by JG55

[Oh Shoot]

......

Atkins type diets have been proscribed for centuries...

Certainly, the US government has basically proscribed them, what with their upside down food pyramid nonsense.

- OS

Edited July 11, 2012 by OhShoot

[Timestepper]

Congrats! Back in 2002, I lost 180 pounds in less than six months... (all it took was a divorce!)

[RED333]

I guess I am one of the lucky ones.

When I got out of the Navy 30 yrs ago I weighed 225 lbs.

Have been 225 + or _ 10 lbs ever sense.

I dont eat a lot at one time, but eat a lot all day long.

Makes my body think there is food always around, no need to build up fat for lean times.

As we get older we slow down, start to eat 3 squares a day, the body gets to thinking

it need to store fat, so eat all day long.

My day, 6am egg, sauge bisket and 3 cups of coffee.

bout 9 or 10 pack or 2 of peanut butter crackers and green tie form kroger(I drink a lot of this).

12 to 1 light lunch, BK chicken sandwich or some kinda chicken. I dont eat a lot of red meat.

3 to 4, snack like in the morning.

Supper what ever the OL fixes, did I tell ya I eat a lot of chicken.

At night I snack as well.

Been doing this for years and I still weight 215 to 225 lbs, 6'3", 50 plus years old.

No I dont work as hard as I used to, but my work keeps me moving, climbing ladders, up and down off the floor.

A LOT of walking, No I dont take the stairs unless there is no other way.

Congrats to all yall that have lost weight, It aint what you eat, It is how much you and how often.

[DRM]

I have come to realize there are plenty of ways to get there...

in 2008 at my heaviest I hit 236lbs (Just under 6'2" tall, age 32 at the time).

I started hitting the gym and running a lot, and got it down to 212 or so...

I was able to keep it around 215 without too much trouble all the way through November of 2011, where I hit 220 and knew I didn't want to keep climbing.

The weekend after Thanksgiving 2012 my wife and I did the Advocare 24 Day Challenge (Search for "challenge" here: http://www.advocare.com/120625782 ). Even though it was about the worst time to "diet", and we both were total slackers on the exercise portion - we managed to each lose 8-9 lbs over that period. I have friends who have lost 30+ lbs using this system, so I know it can get better results than we got.

Not satisfied with that, I made a decision I was going to change some things.

I normally got up for work @ 5:30am... so I started going to the gym from 4:30-5:30 every morning... 6 days a week. I knew from the past that if I didn't set a schedule and stick to it EVERY DAY, I would fail. And with a wife and kids and a LIFE at home - coming home from work then going back to the gym just would never work. N0 - getting up that early wasn't the easiest thing to adjust to, but it was a schedule, and didn't affect my family time. At this point - I actually enjoy rising that early.

The biggest things the Advocare program taught me was that I didn't *have* to eat every meal - since part of that program had me drinking 200 cal. shakes as a mel replacement. I started having a couple of oranges for breakfast, a handfull of almonds for mid-morning snack, and a shake for lunch.

Amazingly enough - I didn't die like I thought I would, lol.

As of this morning, I weighed 199lbs. I currently have a goal of reaching 190.

Ignoring weight as a number - when I measured my body in November of 2011 - compared to now I have gained an inch or more on every measurement - arm, chest, shoulders, thigh, calf - and lost THREE inches off of my waist. My previous size 36 pants and shorts literally fall off of me, and I can fit into some 32 waist clothing articles.

Point is - I haven't just lost weight, I have added considerable muscle mass.

Over the last 6 months or so, I've shifted things around a bit. I am still working out 6-7 days a week. A month or so ago I started implementing an IF - Intermittent Fasting - program (some info here: www.leangains.com ) The IF program was a good fit for me, since I never really felt the need for breakfast. The IF program has also really let me start to dial in the last bit of fat in the love handles and spare tire area. I am starting to see muscle definition I haven't seen literally since high school.

I am quote literally in better shape than I have been since I graduated HS almost 20 years ago.

Anyway... it's been a progression, and I am still learning and tweaking to get the results I want. But I'm getting there, and will gladly share and encourage anyone who wants to look at making some changes in their own life. Like I said - there are several ways to get there, you just have to commit.

Edited July 17, 2012 by DRM

[DRM]

Congrats to all yall that have lost weight, It aint what you eat, It is how much you and how often.

I actually disagree - it is what you eat, and how much - how often really means less, IMHO.

I know busting my butt in the gym 6 days a week for 6 months I was still not seeing the results I wanted until I started really paying attention to *what* I was eating, and also paying more attention to when I was eating (the "when" is not conventional though - more scientific to time my food intake to when my body was needing the protein/carbs post-workout).

A good suggestion a friend made was "if it's not a meat, fruit, vegetable, or nut - I don't eat it". Trying to avoid things that come in a box or a package is a good starting point for eating cleaner.

Probably one of the best things with eating cleaner is the healthier the food, the more of it you get to eat. 3 juicy grilled chicken breast is healthier and lower calories than one fast food hamburger - and you'll feel more full in the process (feeling satiated is a mental thing most of us crave, and is why we tend to fail at "diets").

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I actually disagree - it is what you eat, and how much - how often really means less, IMHO.

I know busting my butt in the gym 6 days a week for 6 months I was still not seeing the results I wanted until I started really paying attention to *what* I was eating, and also paying more attention to when I was eating (the "when" is not conventional though - more scientific to time my food intake to when my body was needing the protein/carbs post-workout).

A good suggestion a friend made was "if it's not a meat, fruit, vegetable, or nut - I don't eat it". Trying to avoid things that come in a box or a package is a good starting point for eating cleaner.

Probably one of the best things with eating cleaner is the healthier the food, the more of it you get to eat. 3 juicy grilled chicken breast is healthier and lower calories than one fast food hamburger - and you'll feel more full in the process (feeling satiated is a mental thing most of us crave, and is why we tend to fail at "diets").

Hi DRM

I don't disagree with any of the above, but if a person can do it, a low calorie diet-- And also low carb if a person's metabolism malfunctions on carbs-- Some folks metabolim works fabulous on a high carb diet--

There have been numerous rat and human studies that if you divide that X number of calories into 6 or 8 tiny meals per day, then a metabolism generally runs smoother, the bloodwork looks better, the body mass ratio is better, yadda yadda. Folks with chronic hypoglycemia have to eat thataway, or else.

Some folks can eat thataway. I've tried and so far didn't have much success. It is probably a fabulous idea but difficult to do. Maybe if a kid was raised thataway and he was never allowed to visit one of his school chums and eat a normal dinner? So that the kid is well-nourished but never experiences the sensation of satiation. Perhaps after 20 years growing up thataway the sensation of satiation might even be perceived as unpleasant?

Some folks who thrive on carbs, they go vegetarian for months or years, not necessarily out of disgust or moral reasons. But after awhile they can't hardly eat meat because it tastes bad and upsets their stomach. Wife is like that. She isn't vegetarian because of religion and doesn't do it to save bambi. She will eat meat occasionally but most of the time it doesn't taste good. I've had acquaintances in the past, would suddenly decide they are a buddhist or a hindu or whatever and eat mostly brown rice for a few months. After getting accustomed to the diet they were hardly able to choke down a piece of meat. When they would eventually realize that being a buddhist is kinda boring, they had to work at becoming re-accustomed to a normal usa diet.

Apologies for drifting, was only wondering if a kid had always eaten numerous tiny meals then maybe by adulthood it would make him sick to eat any other way, and therefore the lifestyle would be self-perpetuating?

The problem I have with it-- Combined with calorie restriction its ridiculous. Get up and eat 7 cashews. Two hours later eat four spoonfuls of spinach. Then two hours later eat 5 black olives. Then two hours later eat half a can of tuna, sardines or oysters.Two hours later eat half of a small apple. Rinse and repeat until bed time. Add it all up and it met the target calories for the day. That was very difficult to do when Ive tried.

A fella could eat a big mac per day and probably do fine. Eat one bite of the big mac and half a fry every couple of hours. You would definitely lose weight and be healthier compared to eating the same big mac per day in one meal. If you could stand to live thataway.

[DRM]

I would actually suggest you look a little further into the "smaller meals per day" concept... I have heard that for years, however I haven't found any current scientific studies that support it as actually boosting your metabolism.

Some reading you might be interested in: http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

Like I said, I think there is quite a bit to the concept that different things work better/worse for different people - so I won't begrudge anyone who is seeking answers and applying them to improve their lives... keep up the good work :-)

[tercel89]

I have lost 40 lbs from last november till now . That is about 7 months . I changed my portion size , I quit sweets and lowered my beer intake and quit cokes and soda's PERIOD!!! For a drink I drink milk , water , juice and un-sweet tea. I also lowered my potatoe intake and when I wanted to eat some sweets I chose some local honey and spread it on a piece of wheat bread with some natural peanut butter ( has no sugar) .

I had bad allergies so at the same time I did all this I went to using a local bee keeper's honey : I took a teaspoon a day and to this day 7 months later I have had no sinus infections ! I usually have 4 per year!

So I pretty much got healthy all around . Man the honey things is working wonders for my allergies and by using it as a "sweet fix" , it works as my sweet craving thing.

Durring all this I did not excercise at all , I just changed my eating habits . I am now excercising (swimming at the YMCA). It is really comming off fast !

Edited July 17, 2012 by tercel89

[DRM]

Good for you! I tell you what, I've found encouragement from other people really does help you stay focused and stick to your lifestyle change. Hopefully each of you is encouraging other people to live healthier.

I know when my mom got sick and died from cancer in 2010, it rocked my world. I looked at my own 3 kids and could not believe how STUPID it was for me to have so many genetic things stacked against me, and all the while I was running a very high risk of killing myself with poor eating and living habits and flat out being overweight.

That was one of the main reasons I sad "no more".