Losing weight

[Masbee]

Skinny-fat is the worst thing to be. You have skinny arms, skinny legs, small shoulders and then a poochy pot-belly. It means you've gotten skinny by eating nothing but vegetables, not working out, and haven't built any muscle mass.

I am sorry you are so misinformed.

You absolutely cannot get a poochy pot-belly from eating "nothing but vegetables". It is not physically possible. You would have to spend too many hours per day eating.

Large pot bellies come from eating food that is more concentrated in calories than produce. The more concentrated the easier it is to get fat. If the concentrated calories are fat itself, all the better, as fat is often stored in the body without being broken down. Fat cells stored in the body often can be identified as identical to a cell from a piece of bacon for example.

The majority of folks that call themselves vegetarians or vegans do it for religious or political reasons and not for health reasons. Thus, they avoid meat and/or animal products, but still can eat many junky foods.

Like french fries and doughnuts. Look at me, I am a vegan, and I eat doughnuts for breakfast and fries for lunch. Yummmm. Hey, why do I have a pot belly?

As well, didn't I mention activity in my original post? Could have sworn I did.

 

[blazerboy30]

I am sorry you are so misinformed.

You absolutely cannot get a poochy pot-belly from eating "nothing but vegetables". It is not physically possible. You would have to spend too many hours per day eating.

Large pot bellies come from eating food that is more concentrated in calories than produce. The more concentrated the easier it is to get fat. If the concentrated calories are fat itself, all the better, as fat is often stored in the body without being broken down. Fat cells stored in the body often can be identified as identical to a cell from a piece of bacon for example.

The majority of folks that call themselves vegetarians or vegans do it for religious or political reasons and not for health reasons. Thus, they avoid meat and/or animal products, but still can eat many junky foods.

Like french fries and doughnuts. Look at me, I am a vegan, and I eat doughnuts for breakfast and fries for lunch. Yummmm. Hey, why do I have a pot belly?

As well, didn't I mention activity in my original post? Could have sworn I did.

Idle down there, hall monitor.

Take a look at the picture above that Rodolfo posted. That is skinny fat. I've seen soooooo many vegans and vegetarians that fit that mold.

Vegans and vegetarians get much of their protein from soy. Some studies have suggested that soy protein can increase estrogen levels in men. Guess what that helps with? Poochy bellies, skinny arms, skinny legs, and girly shoulders.

 

[Wheels]

Idle down there, hall monitor.

sorry I found this comment hilarious.

 

[santeesioux]

I'm pushing 230, guess it's time to join a gym.

 

[Wheels]

I'm pushing 230, guess it's time to join a gym.

video games and corn dogs will do that to you. I think I maxed out at 220 after the being laid out. You just hit a point where you dont feel good.

 

[santeesioux]

video games and corn dogs will do that to you. I think I maxed out at 220 after the being laid out. You just hit a point where you dont feel good.

Plus the only exercise i've ever liked doing is lifting, so that doesn't help tremendously. I don't feel bad yet but i don't want it to get to that point either.

Dammit schools, this is why you shouldn't cut PE, i ate like absolute shit the whole time and never got over 205 in high school. We would literally drive to a fast food place like 4 out of the 5 school days for lunch even.

 

[MickZagger]

I'm 5'9" 165lbs. Before I got really sick I was at about 175lbs. with very minimal body fat. Its always been a struggle for me to gain weight. Drinking massive amounts of protein and eating small meals every 2 hours finally did the trick in getting over that plateau to gain weight. Large breakfasts with hash browns and eggs helped as well.

 

[Masbee]

Vegans and vegetarians get much of their protein from soy. Some studies have suggested that soy protein can increase estrogen levels in men. Guess what that helps with? Poochy bellies, skinny arms, skinny legs, and girly shoulders.

Did you read what I posted? Did you click on the link and read that?

Vegetarian does not equal healthy eating. Period. Did the example of doughnuts and french fries not help you understand that people can eat a junk food diet and be "vegan". Well, that includes soy hot dogs and vegan "meat" and "cheese" lasagne. That stuff is not healthy eating.

So, whoever you have known who eats tons of processed soy junk has NOTHING to do with the diet information I provided to Mook.

NOTHING.

I eat soy, mostly as tofu, but not very much. There is plenty of protein in a combo of greens and brown rice. No need to add tofu. And all legumes are full of protein. No reason to be stuck with processed soy junk.

 

[Masbee]

I'm 5'9" 165lbs. Before I got really sick I was at about 175lbs. with very minimal body fat. Its always been a struggle for me to gain weight. Drinking massive amounts of protein and eating small meals every 2 hours finally did the trick in getting over that plateau to gain weight. Large breakfasts with hash browns and eggs helped as well.

The next frontier of nutrition research.

Just because the best overall diet for large populations is known, doesn't mean that works best for every individual. Genetics and nutrition is the new thing. Some people likely won't thrive unless they have more animal protein in their diet. Some people don't do well with grains, and others thrive if it is a major calorie source.

 

[Denny Crane]

Exercise. Burn more calories than I consume.

That's really all there is to losing weight. The law of thermodynamics.

 

[44Thrilla]

I don't know how people who have sedentary jobs do it. If I had one, I'd be at least 50 lbs heavier.

 

[Denny Crane]

I lost 30lbs in 3 months and cut my cholesterol from over 350 down to 170. As mook wrote in the first post, the trick (for me) was keeping a journal of literally every bit of food or drink I put in my mouth. I started by going online and finding out what the ideal body weight for my height was. Then I looked at the RDA for calories for my height and age. Then I targeted no more than 80% of that figure in calories, daily.

For heart-healthy eating, no more than 25% of my calories came from fat, and no more than 6% from saturated fat. I also counted fiber, and tried to get 20-25g per day.

The low % of fat calories is what lowered my cholesterol. Losing the weight certainly helped as well.

Atkins is a freaking scary diet, not particularly balanced or even nutritional. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Didn't Dr. Atkins die of heart disease, after all?

Anyhow, I didn't mess with carbs or anything. The idea is simply to burn more calories than you take in. It's important to eat 3 square meals a day, or your body thinks it is starving and will burn muscle instead of fat.

A typical breakfast:
1/2 cup egg beater (~2 egg) omelet (60 calories)
1/2 slice farmer john ham (75 calories)
3/4 cup frozen hash browns, fried with a bit of PAM (90 calories)
2 slices turkey bacon (60 calories)
Either: 1 small bagel (100 calories), 1 english muffin (100 calories), or 2 fat free eggo frozen waffle (120 calories)

A big plate of food for under 400 calories.

I have a lot more recipes, including a low calorie pizza, if anyone's interested.

 

[Wheels]

that breakfast sounds great!

 

[Denny Crane]

that breakfast sounds great!

I'd slice a little bit of the ham to make little cubes that I put in the omelet with green pepper and onion, and a sprinkle of fat free cheese. It is a good breakfast, and it goes to show you can eat a decent amount of food and not a lot of calories.

400 for breakfast, 400 for lunch, and 800 for dinner is only 1600, quite a bit less than the RDA of 2000.

800 calories for dinner is a subway footlong (one of the 6g or less fat ones) with no cheese or mayo or oil (all the veggies tho) and a cup of frozen yogurt. Or it's 2 healthy choice frozen dinners.

A cup of rice is 242 calories. I'd have rice with most dinners. It's the nutrition of the majority of the world, if you think about it (asia, etc.)

 

[MickZagger]

Biscuits and gravy is my BOC (Breakfast of Choice), followed closely by Eggs Benedict. Nice starchy all-american meal. The type that'll make ya grow hair on yer chest.

 

[Denny Crane]

Biscuits and gravy is my BOC (Breakfast of Choice), followed closely by Eggs Benedict. Nice starchy all-american meal. The type that'll make ya grow hair on yer chest.

The diet I figured out should work for gaining weight, too. Just eat 2500 calories, or whatever, and you should gain over time.

 

[noknobs]

Eliminated most dairy products from regular diet. Whole milk products contain an insane amount of fat and are a deceptively dense source of hidden calories. Get milk, butter and cheese out of your house, and when eating out, say "no dairy". The calorie savings are enormous.

Eliminated regular consumption of processed grains: No "white" anything. Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes. Switch to whole grain only, and even then, watch the portions.

No dairy rule and no "white" rule, eliminates by default most of what we consider desert. So, deserts are a treat, not a daily diet item.

Made produce a "free" food. All you can eat!

Made animal products and processed oil a limited consumption item. Dole out in small bits only. For example: you can eat a bushel of lettuce if you want. You still only get 2 Tsp of dressing. And when we do eat meat, mostly it is salmon - not red meat.

The bolded paragraphs above: Are you recommending that more as a way to lose weight, or just in general for everyone for health reasons? I mean, you say to not eat Milk, Butter, Cheese, or white Bread, Pasta, Rice, and Potatoes, and animal products and red meat... I guess my question is, what does a typical week of eating consist of for you? Since in my world you just cut out basically everything except fruits and vegetables. And there's no way I'm only eating fruits and vegetables the rest of my life.

 

[blazerboy30]

It really depends on what the goal is...

If you are trying to lose weight because you think losing weight is healthier, that is pretty easy. Just cut back on calories, especially calorie-dense foods.

If you are trying to lose weight for looks and / or athletic purposes, that is more difficult. You have to find the right nutrition and workout combination for your goals. Do NOT go the vegan or vegetarian route. You can't train hard or perform well on those diets.

 

[44Thrilla]

I got a little hefty myself. I haven't changed my diet much, but I've been going nutty at the gym. So far so good.

 

[MickZagger]

I got a little hefty myself. I haven't changed my diet much, but I've been going nutty at the gym. So far so good.

That does the trick the best. I have been scratching to be able to get back in the gym.

 

[noknobs]

It really depends on what the goal is...

If you are trying to lose weight because you think losing weight is healthier, that is pretty easy. Just cut back on calories, especially calorie-dense foods.

If you are trying to lose weight for looks and / or athletic purposes, that is more difficult. You have to find the right nutrition and workout combination for your goals. Do NOT go the vegan or vegetarian route. You can't train hard or perform well on those diets.

Not sure if you were responding to my post? For me, I'm not trying to lose weight at all, but I'd like to eat healthier. My diet has never been that great but I've always been mildly to very active, although I have a sedentary job. 6'2'' and somewhere between 175-180, no matter what I eat or how much I work out. I'm pushing 30 though and I think I should start eating better consistently so I'm on the lookout for tips.

 

[blazerboy30]

Not sure if you were responding to my post? For me, I'm not trying to lose weight at all, but I'd like to eat healthier. My diet has never been that great but I've always been mildly to very active, although I have a sedentary job. 6'2'' and somewhere between 175-180, no matter what I eat or how much I work out. I'm pushing 30 though and I think I should start eating better consistently so I'm on the lookout for tips.

Nope, I wasn't specifically responding to your post. Just posting my general opinion.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Shake weights?

Those things are a joke.

Finding the right excersize is tough for me because they all hurt

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Finding the right excersize is tough for me because they all hurt

Even swimming?

 

[Mediocre Man]

Even swimming?

It's the best one, but it too kills my shoulders unless I do the breast stroke the entire time. We have a pool at our home, and I try and swim daily between April and November. It's not heated, so it gets too cold in the other months

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

We have a pool at our home

Kiddie pools don't count.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Kiddie pools don't count.

I live in a suburb of Houston. If you don't have a pool, you are insane. Ours is a 24,000 gallon salt pool. Just enough to fit my fat ass in

 

[Masbee]

Atkins is a freaking scary diet, not particularly balanced or even nutritional. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Didn't Dr. Atkins die of heart disease, after all?

Dr. Atkins slip and fell on ice, hit his head and died from those injuries. During his autopsy they discovered he had plaque buildup in his arteries.

What makes Atikins scary is that the popular perception of what the diet consisted of was off base.

Atkins was never supposed to be bacon and eggs for breakfast, bunless hamburger for lunch, steak and side salad drenched in blue cheese dressing for dinner.

Interestingly Atkins has been recently updated, and the key change is they are using the new glycemic indexes to help dieters choose between the "good" veggies and less good veggies, and are emphasizing that Atikns is a high vegetable consumption diet.

In the original book, these didn’t have a name, and people thought it was a diet without vegetables. The foundation vegetables are any of the nonstarchy vegetables, which could be asparagus, broccoli, string beans, okra, tomatoes, onions, peppers, for example. Corn and potatoes are the things people miss. You can have five measuring cups of leafy greens. I have men who come in and say, “It’s more vegetables than I’ve eaten in my life.”

So, there you have it. Even the Atkins folks are saying, wake up America, eat more vegetables. Way more. Like more than most of you have ever eaten in your life. There are no other ways, no shortcuts, no pills, no potions - nothing.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/an-updated-guide-for-low-carb-dieters/

 

[MickZagger]

This clear liquid diet is fucking driving me nuts. I'm craving a juicy omelette with ham, bacon, mushroom topped with hollandaise sauce. I have to settle for Black Cherry jell-o, chicken broth and popsicles.

 

[blazerboy30]

This clear liquid diet is fucking driving me nuts. I'm craving a juicy omelette with ham, bacon, mushroom topped with hollandaise sauce. I have to settle for Black Cherry jell-o, chicken broth and popsicles.

What is the theory with this?