Community Are you on a diet, MetaCouncil?

[NarohDethan]

I've reflecting on my terrible eating habits. I drink a shit ton of soda, eat lots of fried stuff, you name it. I'm not that fat but I'm definitely overweight, and I truly want to change that, I dont wanna die from a heart attack at 35.

So, do you have any eating regime? It would be nice if you could share your insight with us!

 

[NarohDethan]

I’ve lost almost 60 pounds in the past 200 days on a diet.

Diets aren’t “easy” but they’re certainly more doable than people sometimes act (barring an actual genetic condition, addiction or whatever).

You have to pick a path and stick with it. Sounds simple and cliche but it’s true.

Wow! Congratulations! 60 pounds are my objective too. I was on a good path some years ago but I moved from my parent's house, so I had to cut my gym suscription and everything went downhill

 

[Guilty of Being]

I've gained a lot of weight these past 13 years. I REALLY need to do something.

Age: 35 / Height: 5'8" / Weight: 246 lbs.

BMI: MORBIDLY OBESE!

 

[NarohDethan]

Thanks!

Everyone is different and everyone needs a different regimen. The main thing I’ve told people when they ask how I did my diet is to pace yourself.

You have a new week beginning, so as an example, pick one or two things to start doing. My first week I just stopped drinking soda and eating candy. Then after a few weeks, I eased off all sweet drinks (e.g. juices) and started counting calories. Then after a few more weeks, probably closer to a month or more, I started counting macronutrients (carbs particularly). Then a while later I started trying different “health” foods. Etc, etc.

I’ll add this: I lost 60 pounds basically without doing any exercise at all. My only “exercise” is hitting around 10,000 steps in a day.

I believe a lot of people fail their diets because they try to go cold turkey, 0 to 100 in a matter of days. They do stuff like stop eating junk food, start trying to exercise, and trying to make healthy home-cooked meals in the span of like 72 hours. And I’ve tried that too, and it never worked. The only time it’s stuck (this time) was by pacing myself.

Yeah, that's what gets me. I can quit soda quite comfortably but everything else is quite difficult.

And also I'm a picky eater so :S

 

[Stevey]

I'm 36, 6'3" and weigh about 224 pounds.

I have joined the gym, but I tend to do more weightlifting than cardio

 

[Hektor]

I've completely stopped eating sweets (except an occasional pudding or yoghurt) and limit my soda and juice consumption to no more than 3 litre a week.

It's honestly legit unbeliavle that juices have the same amount of sugar as coke does. If you cut that out and replace it with water you're saving an easy 600+ calories a day. Feeling better because of it too.

What's even crazier tho is, how i've noticed just HOW ADDICTIVE all this garbage is.
When i first went full cold-turky on most sugary stuff i noticed a ridiculous a craving for it.
Regularely catching myself almost day-dreaming about my favorite cookies. https://e3.365dm.com/17/09/768x432/f0f96b396062cd61232e1b3c470649118c07020eeafa5023c051e0b75fbaab2f_4111201.jpg?20170926133950

But now almost a year later? I couldn't care less and can easily pass up on them.

 

[teezzy]

The trick is to realize that you don't just "go on a diet", you need to change your lifestyle.

I've given up refined sugar and carbs again and am back on my keto bullshit. I'm hoping to maintain this.

Lots of green veggies, eggs, cheese, and meat. It's not all that bad.

Finding it difficult to get back on the lower side of the 160's. I need to start swinging my kettlebell more, running at night, etc.

Last thing I need is my body shutting down on me now that I work in an office.

 

[Guilty of Being]

I’ve done Keto a few times... but carbs!

 

[teezzy]

I’ve done Keto a few times... but carbs!

I went from 190 to 145 within about 5 months on keto. I was becoming a nut, and honestly tryna get the eye of this girl I was super into.

Ended up dating "option B" girl instead lol, and got a little too comfy. Let myself indulge in Red Vines, Del Taco, and ice cream again, etc. Shot up to 175 - ish.

Now I'm back on my way down, just under 170, and single again lol.

Sucks but that's life. Doing it for me now, I miss how good I felt. Would love to be just under 160. That's the sweet spot. 10 lbs ain't shit but I can't seem to knock off this weight. I think I underestimated just how much walking I was doing at my old job.

Would love more upper body strength also.

 

[Dennis8K]

A diet of red wine and dark chocolate, yes.

 

[teezzy]

A diet of red wine and dark chocolate, yes.

 

[Dennis8K]

Sure do!

 

[NarohDethan]

Is eating two cans of tuna with a small can of corn with a little light mayo good or am I playing myself.

 

[Milena]

As an italian, it would be sinful to eliminate carbs from my diet. I do try to buy quality ingredients and make everything from scratch, so I spend more but eat less overall.
My big passion these past few months has been making pizza at home for example. And I'll have to try bread as well someday...

Oh, and I limit meat/fish/eggs to 3-4 times a week total, but that's for environmental reasons.

 

[Le Pertti]

I've lost something like 30-40kgs last few years, well before I moved to Paris. Did it by going to the gym and intermittent fasting. It's really great! I do intermittent fasting now only just to maintain my weight, if I don't do it I start to gain weight directly. I eat alot of carbs now since I don't really control what I can eat. But my diet has always been alot of carbs, since being a vegetarian.

 

[Guilty of Being]

Is eating two cans of tuna with a small can of corn with a little light mayo good or am I playing myself.

I don’t think so.

 

[PossiblyPudding]

I was overweight and then obese from age 8-26. I got back to simply being overweight during the time I played football (handegg) in high school. Won't get into my injuries in this thread since it doesn't really fit here but after high school I quickly gained all the weight back and by the time I was in my 20's I was pushing 300lbs. 286 was my heaviest.

My biggest problem was portion sizes and eating or drinking way too much sugar. I mentioned in another thread that I'm honestly surprised I never developed diabetes especially since it's pretty common on both sides of my family. So I basically slashed my caloric intake by half and cut out almost all sugar. I knew if I tried to eliminate it completely I'd fail.

That was also the same thought process I had for everything. I never stopped myself from enjoying the foods I love. I either ate less at one time or created healthier alternatives myself that still captured most of the flavor I was looking for. It also helped that I created a text file that I use to keep track of my calories for the day. I know there's apps that do that stuff but I like doing the math and I've found that sometimes the app doesn't have the correct nutritional info for certain things.

I had also started jogging around 26 which was great. I eventually added more exercises and jogged for longer periods of time over the years. I now exercise six times a week, Saturdays are my only day off. Jog all six days, push-ups/weight training twice a week and crunches twice a week.

Most of the weight came off in the first two years and now I weigh 146 and have kept my weight between 145-150 for the past four years. And before anyone worries that I overdid it.. I'm only 5'9" so it's all good!

 

[NarohDethan]

I was overweight and then obese from age 8-26. I got back to simply being overweight during the time I played football (handegg) in high school. Won't get into my injuries in this thread since it doesn't really fit here but after high school I quickly gained all the weight back and by the time I was in my 20's I was pushing 300lbs. 286 was my heaviest.

My biggest problem was portion sizes and eating or drinking way too much sugar. I mentioned in another thread that I'm honestly surprised I never developed diabetes especially since it's pretty common on both sides of my family. So I basically slashed my caloric intake by half and cut out almost all sugar. I knew if I tried to eliminate it completely I'd fail.

That was also the same thought process I had for everything. I never stopped myself from enjoying the foods I love. I either ate less at one time or created healthier alternatives myself that still captured most of the flavor I was looking for. It also helped that I created a text file that I use to keep track of my calories for the day. I know there's apps that do that stuff but I like doing the math and I've found that sometimes the app doesn't have the correct nutritional info for certain things.

I had also started jogging around 26 which was great. I eventually added more exercises and jogged for longer periods of time over the years. I now exercise six times a week, Saturdays are my only day off. Jog all six days, push-ups/weight training twice a week and crunches twice a week.

Most of the weight came off in the first two years and now I weigh 146 and have kept my weight between 145-150 for the past four years. And before anyone worries that I overdid it.. I'm only 5'9" so it's all good!

Whoa, congrats!

 

[NarohDethan]

Nope. Tuna is a great source of protein, and I've eaten disturbing amounts of canned tuna, chicken and ham while dieting.

Actually I'm eating tuna more because I get a little tired of eating chicken almost every day.

 

[Xiaomi]

Kind of. I have gained a bit of extra weight since hurting my knee a few years ago, meaning I don't enjoy walking as much. I used to hover between 160-180 pounds depending on time of year but I've gained 20 on that, so I'm trying to eat less because I'm less active and older. I try to eat a medium-sized meal just once a day, or two small meals. Gotta start avoiding the pork and beef and cutting out milk/sugar in my coffee so I can switch to something healthier for my heart.

 

[NarohDethan]

Maybe one day we will have a 'show your gains' thread

The least I can do now is to stop ordering pizza if I'm going to eat it all by myself. I always feel terrible for doing so.

 

[NarohDethan]

What are good things to have for dinner?

 

[PossiblyPudding]

What are good things to have for dinner?

My favorite is homemade stir fry. I eventually bought a rice cooker so I could prepare larger batches of rice ahead of time that way I would have some ready whenever.

It allows for a lot of variety with different vegetables, meats and sauces. Which I found perfect for anyone looking for something they won't quickly get tired of.

Though be careful with most store bought sauces since they're either loaded with sodium and/or sugar. Of course if you do go the store bought route (I sill do fairly often myself) as long as you don't use too much at one time it's not going to ruin your diet.

Edit: I should clarify that I use little to no oil when making my stir fry as well.. so I suppose it's more rice with meat and vegetables rather than a traditional stir fry.

 

[Milena]

The least I can do now is to stop ordering pizza if I'm going to eat it all by myself. I always feel terrible for doing so.

I've seen this sentiment online before and I always wonder: how big are the pizzas over there?
Here you eat one pizza by yourself, unless you're buying take-away and choose either giant round pizzas for families or pizza "by the meter".

The pizzas I make have 200g of dough, which is more than enough for me, but not for most people I know. In a pizzeria they're usually bigger, even as big as 350g of dough.

What are good things to have for dinner?

If you have access to mozzarella, a good dish this time of year is Caprese: you slice some tomatoes and mozzarella, add some basil, salt and pepper and voilà! Done.

Alternatively another fresh dish is bruschetta, and you can use any ingedient you like, but good bread is important. The most basic bruschetta is just bread, garlic and oil, but you usually add tomatoes to it at least. You can go as fancy as you like.

Or even make cold pasta/rice with what you want. My favourite is with tomatoes, mozzarella, olives and tuna, but you can use pretty much anything you want.

 

[PossiblyPudding]

I've seen this sentiment online before and I always wonder: how big are the pizzas over there?
Here you eat one pizza by yourself, unless you're buying take-away and choose either giant round pizzas for families or pizza "by the meter".

The pizzas I make have 200g of dough, which is more than enough for me, but not for most people I know. In a pizzeria they're usually bigger, even as big as 350g of dough.

Depends on the size. I found an old article that mentions how much dough goes into making pizzas in the States.. weirdly enough I discovered the site was originally ran and operated by someone in the state I live in. Small world I guess.

2011 July: Dough Doctor | Pizza Today
"In summary, the following dough weights will be needed to make our 12-, 14-, and 16-inch pizza crusts: 12-inch (11-ounces); 14-inch (15-ounces): and 16-inch (19.5-ounces)."

So almost 312g for a small, 425 for a medium and almost 553 for a large. Some places will also offer an extra large that I couldn't find any calculations for.. but I'm willing to bet it's a lot.

Edit: Quick update for those curious since I was kind of interested myself but it seems those numbers aren't exactly set in stone in the States either. Papa John's (screw them by the way, the pizza is whatever but I mostly mean their ex-CEO and still current shareholder) for example use roughly 575g in their 14 inch pizza and roughly 770 in their 16 inch.

 

[Milena]

Depends on the size. I found an old article that mentions how much dough goes into a making pizzas in the States.. weirdly enough I discovered the site was originally ran and operated by someone in the state I live in. Small world I guess.

2011 July: Dough Doctor | Pizza Today
"In summary, the following dough weights will be needed to make our 12-, 14-, and 16-inch pizza crusts: 12-inch (11-ounces); 14-inch (15-ounces): and 16-inch (19.5-ounces)."

So almost 312g for a small, 425 for a medium and almost 553 for a large. Some places will also offer an extra large that I couldn't find any calculations for.. but I'm willing to bet it's a lot.

Uh. That's an interesting approach at deciding the amount of dough for a pizza.
But yeah, that's a lot for a medium or large pizza, but I think a small would be fine for one person to eat alone

 

[Xiaomi]

I eventually bought a rice cooker so I could prepare larger batches of rice ahead of time that way I would have some ready whenever.

This helps so much. I don't buy bread or pasta very often because I will just demolish them until I am the size of Connecticut. But rice? It takes 20-30 minutes to cook so you can just cook a little bit (a cup for myself, half for now and half for tomorrow) and then it will be too much of a hassle to cook more so you limit your calorie intake quite naturally via laziness.

 

[PossiblyPudding]

Uh. That's an interesting approach at deciding the amount of dough for a pizza.
But yeah, that's a lot for a medium or large pizza, but I think a small would be fine for one person to eat alone

Ha! Yeah, when I was reading that page I quickly thought, "Wow, this is really involved and.. unnecessary."

And agreed, a small is about the right size. There are places that offer a personal sized pizza, Pizza Hut is a national chain that comes to mind. Those are even better though Pizza Hut sometimes has another issue, that being that their pizzas are far too greasy or salty.

What I'll sometimes do when I need a quick pizza fix without the work of making an entire pizza or if I'm wanting to have slightly less carbs is to take a bagel, pita or about 10 Triscuit crackers and put toppings on those. For the Triscuits I'll set aside a small bowl of sauce to dip into.

 

[NarohDethan]

I've seen this sentiment online before and I always wonder: how big are the pizzas over there?
Here you eat one pizza by yourself, unless you're buying take-away and choose either giant round pizzas for families or pizza "by the meter".

Sorry for the late reply! The thing is that I usually buy the largest pizza available in order to have leftovers to take it to work, so one large 14" pizza lasts me 2-3 days.

My favorite is homemade stir fry. I eventually bought a rice cooker so I could prepare larger batches of rice ahead of time that way I would have some ready whenever.

It allows for a lot of variety with different vegetables, meats and sauces. Which I found perfect for anyone looking for something they won't quickly get tired of.

Though be careful with most store bought sauces since they're either loaded with sodium and/or sugar. Of course if you do go the store bought route (I sill do fairly often myself) as long as you don't use too much at one time it's not going to ruin your diet.

Edit: I should clarify that I use little to no oil when making my stir fry as well.. so I suppose it's more rice with meat and vegetables rather than a traditional stir fry.

I will try that although rice for dinner would be something new for me haha

Thank you for your advice!

 

[PossiblyPudding]

I will try that although rice for dinner would be something new for me haha

Thank you for your advice!

You're welcome! I've developed quite a few alternatives over the past few years that I'm always happy to share for anyone interested.

You could always pair it with a smoothie too if you want something a little more filling without adding a ton of calories or other junk. I blend a cup of almond milk, 1/2C of 0% or 2% Greek yogurt and around a cup of whatever fruit you want. Then of course some ice to help cool and thicken it a little more. I usually go with a mango smoothie for my stir fry/rice meals. Obviously if you want a vegetable smoothie that's not going to work too well though.

And real quick I want to make sure that everyone knows I wasn't throwing shade at anyone for their love of pizza with my previous couple posts. It's my favorite food and I'm certainly guilty of getting carried away when eating one occasionally. It's partly why I had to come up with other ideas.

 

[teezzy]

As an italian, it would be sinful to eliminate carbs from my diet.

Consider me a heathen... a heretic eeeven.

Ha! Yeah, when I was reading that page I quickly thought, "Wow, this is really involved and.. unnecessary."

And agreed, a small is about the right size. There are places that offer a personal sized pizza, Pizza Hut is a national chain that comes to mind. Those are even better though Pizza Hut sometimes has another issue, that being that their pizzas are far too greasy or salty.

What I'll sometimes do when I need a quick pizza fix without the work of making an entire pizza or if I'm wanting to have slightly less carbs is to take a bagel, pita or about 10 Triscuit crackers and put toppings on those. For the Triscuits I'll set aside a small bowl of sauce to dip into.

Cut the rice and replace it with cauliflower rice. You can buy big ass super cheap bags at Aldi or Costco, etc and steam 'em up quick in the microwave.

I'm a weirdo who buys $14 jars of raw Almond butter, and eats 100% cacao baker's chocolate though. Don't mind me.

 

[Guilty of Being]

I drink too much beer, enjoy shitty food, and am too lazy.

This is where I am.

 

[PossiblyPudding]

Cut the rice and replace it with cauliflower rice. You can buy big ass super cheap bags at Aldi or Costco, etc and steam 'em up quick in the microwave.

I'm a weirdo who buys $14 jars of raw Almond butter, and eats 100% cacao baker's chocolate though. Don't mind me.

Yep, this is a good solution too! Cauliflower is perfect to use in quite a few recipes if you want to cut out all/most carbs.

And hey, I'm a weirdo too if that's all you need to be a member!

I use Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder (which is surprisingly decent nutrition and ingredient wise for a Hershey product) in a lot of things. Had unsalted, no sugar peanut butter, banana and a tbsp of that cocoa powder in some oatmeal for breakfast today. I let the banana do all of the sweetening.

Also another one for folks with a sweet tooth, homemade black bean brownies are amazing too! Just be careful when making them because you can overdo it and end up making them just as bad or worse sugar wise than a normal brownie.

 

[NarohDethan]

Yep, this is a good solution too! Cauliflower is perfect to use in quite a few recipes if you want to cut out all/most carbs.

And hey, I'm a weirdo too if that's all you need to be a member!

I use Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder (which is surprisingly decent nutrition and ingredient wise for a Hershey product) in a lot of things. Had unsalted, no sugar peanut butter, banana and a tbsp of that cocoa powder in some oatmeal for breakfast today. I let the banana do all of the sweetening.

Also another one for folks with a sweet tooth, homemade black bean brownies are amazing too! Just be careful when making them because you can overdo it and end up making them just as bad or worse sugar wise than a normal brownie.

Is peanut butter supposed to be extremely liquid?

 

[Guilty of Being]

...because I'm not on a diet and drinking:

Unreal Estate

You need to react to this post in order to see this content.

 

[PossiblyPudding]

Is peanut butter supposed to be extremely liquid?

A natural peanut butter usually is, yeah. The oil rises to the top and you have to stir it in before eating it. Or if you meant was my oatmeal extremely thick as a result of what I added, nah. I do add milk too.

 

[Guilty of Being]

Is peanut butter supposed to be extremely liquid?

My wife buys this PB2; it's power peanut butter. ABSOLUTE SHIT!

 

[MonthOLDpickle]

I just need set meals instead of this eat barely anything until dinner. Tips for easy to make, maybe meal plans for a week lol.

 

[PossiblyPudding]

I just need set meals instead of this eat barely anything until dinner. Tips for easy to make, maybe meal plans for a week lol.

Anything with rice like I mentioned earlier will keep pretty well and is easy to warm up in a microwave if you need something quick. Milena's suggestions are also great for that exact thing too and those can be eaten cool or room temperature without heating them up if you don't even want to deal with a microwave or stove.

There's plenty of meat or meatless sandwich/wrap ideas for something even quicker and can be made in fairly large batches.. well, quick in the sense that once it's made you're good to go for future meals at least. Some meats I would recommend a slow cooker for if you have one.

Bean salads are another that you can get a decent variety out of and will last for a while. They also pair pretty well with a garden wrap, which is basically fresh vegetables, some hummus and wrapped in a tortilla or in my case a whole wheat flatbread.

 

[NarohDethan]

My first objective is to reduce my insane sodium intake. I just had some noodles with vegetables but the sauce (teriyaki) was salty as fuck.

 

[NarohDethan]

Reducing your intake of sodium is great, but there have been some recent studies that I've read that seem to say sodium isn't necessarily the problem people once thought it was. There was a study in The Lancet last year that suggested that, along with some others you can find from 2018-2018-ish.

From what I've read, and I could be misunderstanding, one of the "problems" with elevated sodium levels really has to do with people not flushing it out of their system with fluids, because most people are chronically dehydrated. Cutting unnecessary sodium is good, but also consider just hydrating properly (64-ish ounces) to flush the unwanted minerals and garbage in your body out.

Ohh! Thats interesting. In my case, I drink a shit ton of water every day, especially on this months when it is hot as fuck.

 

[Teggy]

I don’t like to call it a diet, but yeah, I am eating reasonably again. Unfortunately I have had a habit of seesawing over the years, although never with very big extremes. There’s just a point at which I start to look pudgy and get upset about it. This January I hit 215 (I am just short of 5’11) which is by far the worst I’ve gotten. I even had to go on statins, although my high cholesterol is likely partly genetic.

Anyway, I’ve done the diet and exercise thing so many times that I know about how much food is 1800 calories a day, and can start losing weight without too much trouble. I go to the gym for strength training 3 times a week and walk my dogs daily. I should be cycling either on the trainer or outdoors but have not been doing it much this season.

I’m hoping I can stick with it much longer this go-round. I’m down to 200 and having some trouble pushing below, but my clothes are fitting better, so it might just be recomposition. If it lasts much longer I’ll start tracking calories for a little while. I’d like to get to 180 before deciding what to do next. But most importantly I don’t want to cycle back up yet again.

But I realllllly love food, so it makes it hard. I’ve gotten into black coffee and that’s helped a lot.

 

[teezzy]

If I dont eat at work and just drink coffee is that technically intermittent fasting since it's an 8 hr window?

 

[Teggy]

If I dont eat at work and just drink coffee is that technically intermittent fasting since it's an 8 hr window?

Well, effective intermittent fasting really starts at like 12 hours and 14-16 is recommended. If you really want to do it, easiest way is to not eat breakfast, since hours you are sleeping are included.

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

Yeah, I started my diet. I need to lose some weight.

 

[Guilty of Being]

I’ve started my diet today.

Beer will not be in this diet.

I WILL do this!

 

[lashman]

I’ve started my diet today.

Beer will not be in this diet.

I WILL do this!

good luck ... you can do it!

 

[Guilty of Being]

I know people have opinions, but the Keto diet really works if you stick to it.

 

[teezzy]

I know people have opinions, but the Keto diet really works if you stick to it.

it absolutely does bro.

here was my O.G. keto transformation

Spoiler

I've since gotten a new job and put half the weight back on, but im working on my shit again

Same diet, new me. Much more mentally together this time around

I never shouldve quit, but "a little here and there" soon became cookie dough ice cream quarts to the dome night after night and del taco runs w/ my ex

it was worth it, but now i gotta start over halfway through again, still weight less than that first id badge though

 

[PossiblyPudding]

Yeah, I started my diet. I need to lose some weight.

I’ve started my diet today.

Beer will not be in this diet.

I WILL do this!

Been a little while since I've checked out this thread and saw I missed these.

You two can do it! There's folks here with great advice should you ever need it.

I know people have opinions, but the Keto diet really works if you stick to it.

It's not for me but I have absolutely seen it work for others and will never knock anyone that goes that route. When you find something that works and it gets the results you want that's all that matters.