Unutterably Silly Who is on a diet. Come on I know you all are!

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by Iridal

I have never quit smoking, but I sure have gained weight

Just cut down on the calories: lots of vegetables, no unhealthy snacks, 5 light meals a day instead of 3 heavy meals. Exercising is always a good choice, whether you want to lose some pounds or not. But it'll certainly help you with the diet.

I'll give you the advice I give to everyone who wants to lose weight. Go see a professional. Let him of her 'make' a diet that suits you. I've tried dieting on my own and dieting with a dietitian. The only time I've been succesful losing weight and then maintaining the weight loss is with a dietitian. Just to give you an idea: I did gain some weight recently (lack of exercise and too much chocolate) and went to see the dietitian. I've been following my new diet for about a week and have dropped a little over 0.5 kg.

But I'm sure not everyone here shares my point of view

Whatever you decide to do: good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions, I would go see a dietitian but the only ones here that I can find are, well, suspect. I talked to a doctor and his suggestion was to eat less! Man that 4 years of medical school really paid off

I have never eaten 3 meals, generally I will eat 2, and more and more lately only one. I'm seriously thought about doing, what is very popular here, a cleanse, but I am not very good with not eating when I'm hungry

Thanks again.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Mortis

I talked to a doctor and his suggestion was to eat less! Man that 4 years of medical school really paid off

Sounds like a sensible doctor to me!

Originally Posted by Mortis

I have never eaten 3 meals, generally I will eat 2, and more and more lately only one. I'm seriously thought about doing, what is very popular here, a cleanse, but I am not very good with not eating when I'm hungry

One meal a day is a bad idea. I'm told that it gives your body the impression that food is scarce, and so it will attempt to conserve energy and gain weight.

Being in a hot climate makes it harder to lose weight — you're not using as much energy as usual keeping your body warm.

I've been managing my diet by eating less and not snacking. I still have three meals, but not much, if anything, between times. I'm aiming at a fairly slow loss of weight. not more than half a kilo per week, and perhaps more like half a kilo per fortnight (which is equivalent to eating about 15% less food than usual per day)

I find the main problem is not eating when you're not hungry, not so much not eating when you are hungry.

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Sounds like a sensible doctor to me!

I know he was right, but I think even someone as slow as I am could have figured that bit out, I was hoping for more suggestions, like the ones you offered, seems you're a better doctor. He did offer me diet pills, he called them appetite suppressants, I don't do pills so I declined.

Yeah, I didn't start gaining weight until I quit smoking this time, the last time I quit (15 years ago) I never gained an ounce, but I was living in Canada and I quit in January. I really think my main issue is that I'm a lot less active here than I was in Canada.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Mortis

I really think my main issue is that I'm a lot less active here than I was in Canada.

That will do it too.

You may say it's obvious that to lose weight you need to eat less, but it's surprising how many people seem not to want to accept that.

IMO, it's all down to energy in vs energy out, and that to lose weight you need to be expending more energy than you're eating.

Of course, some people choose to manage this by increasing their energy expenditure by doing more exercise. I prefer eating less.

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

That will do it too.

You may say it's obvious that to lose weight you need to eat less, but it's surprising how many people seem not to want to accept that.

IMO, it's all down to energy in vs energy out, and that to lose weight you need to be expending more energy than you're eating.

Of course, some people choose to manage this by increasing their energy expenditure by doing more exercise. I prefer eating less.

My biggest issue with eating less is that it would mean eating more regularly and I have never been able to manage that.

I do exercise as much as possible, it's just not so much fun, with the heat, or as it is right now, Monsoon rains

[wyndslash]

hm...i've definitely shifted my diet to have more veggies, but i also plan to do some exercising, for health reasons as well. my family has a history of high cholesterol and high uric acid, and exercise seems to be the only way to control that. and diet too, of course, but i love to eat and i don't want to sacrifice that. plus, i've been sitting too much on my ass lately and i feel sluggish.

[Iridal]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

One meal a day is a bad idea. I'm told that it gives your body the impression that food is scarce, and so it will attempt to conserve energy and gain weight.

I've heard that too. Which is why both my dietitians have advised 5 light meals instead of 3 heavy meals. This also means I'm not hungry in between meals, and so I'm less likely to start snacking.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've been managing my diet by eating less and not snacking. I still have three meals, but not much, if anything, between times. I'm aiming at a fairly slow loss of weight. not more than half a kilo per week, and perhaps more like half a kilo per fortnight (which is equivalent to eating about 15% less food than usual per day)

What's the rationale behind this (half a kilo per fortnight I mean) ? Is it because that way you're sure you're losing fat instead of fluid ? My aim is half a kilo a week. I need to see progress so I don't get discouraged

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Of course, some people choose to manage this by increasing their energy expenditure by doing more exercise. I prefer eating less.

I do both. The main advantage of exercising for me is that I build musle. So although it won't affect my weight much, I can see myself getting thinner

Originally Posted by wyndslash

hm...i've definitely shifted my diet to have more veggies, but i also plan to do some exercising, for health reasons as well. my family has a history of high cholesterol and high uric acid, and exercise seems to be the only way to control that. and diet too, of course, but i love to eat and i don't want to sacrifice that. plus, i've been sitting too much on my ass lately and i feel sluggish.

Well, you can't lose weight without making some sacrifices. You can still eat most of the things you like. Just in smaller quantities.

Originally Posted by Mortis

I do exercise as much as possible, it's just not so much fun, with the heat, or as it is right now, Monsoon rains

Yeah, I can definitely understand why you don't want to exercise in that kind of weather. We get this in summer too: warm and humid. In summer I work out either early in the morning or late at night, when the temperature has dropped a little. Or if that's not an option, go for a well airconditioned gym.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Iridal

What's the rationale behind this (half a kilo per fortnight I mean) ? Is it because that way you're sure you're losing fat instead of fluid ? My aim is half a kilo a week.

Well, while I'd be happy to do half a kilo per week (which is a sensible rate of weight loss), in practice I seem to only manage half a kilo per fortnight. So rather than trying to eat even less, or exercise more, I've accepted that that's the rate I can comfortably manage.

Originally Posted by Iridal

You can still eat most of the things you like. Just in smaller quantities.

Yes! This is exactly my approach.

Extreme fad diets seem really silly to me. Even if you stick to them and they do cause you to genuinely lose weight, what's going to happen when you stop the fad diet? You return to your old eating habits and you quickly put back on the weight you lost.

When I reach my target weight, I'll just carry on much as I am now, just eating a little bit more. But I think I'll still need to keep an eye on things.

After all, to put on 5kg over a year only requires eating 50 calories more than you expend per day...

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by Iridal

Well, you can't lose weight without making some sacrifices. You can still eat most of the things you like. Just in smaller quantities.

that's true. i don't like starving myself because it's really bad for the body. i just eat less sweets and avoid sugary drinks. and more importantly, eat less rice (even though it's so yummy )

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

and diet too, of course, but i love to eat and i don't want to sacrifice that.

you needn't say that again, my dear friend, your posts in another thread saved you that hard work.

[Iridal]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Extreme fad diets seem really silly to me. Even if you stick to them and they do cause you to genuinely lose weight, what's going to happen when you stop the fad diet? You return to your old eating habits and you quickly put back on the weight you lost.

When I reach my target weight, I'll just carry on much as I am now, just eating a little bit more. But I think I'll still need to keep an eye on things.

After all, to put on 5kg over a year only requires eating 50 calories more than you expend per day...

I couldn't agree more. It's all about changing your eating pattern. I've seen enough people lose a HUGE amount of weight in very little time simply by starving themseleves, and then all that weight came back with a vengance and brought some friends along too.

Only 50 calories a day huh ... That's like one cookie a day

Originally Posted by maianhvk

you needn't say that again, my dear friend, your posts in another thread saved you that hard work.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Iridal

Only 50 calories a day huh ... That's like one cookie a day

I think it goes to show how remarkably well our appetite regulation mechanisms usually work.

[TerryLBaker]

I refuse to diet, I know I'm a glutton - I just try to balance it out with exercise.

[SneakySnake]

@mortis Is that why I am fat now? I thought it was because I ate too much! And here I am in a shop full of cigarettes and the environment i used to be in when i smoked. Is the temptation too much? Lucky my head is spinning from having lotsa coffee this morning (about twice my entire daily limit)
*checks backpack for migraine medicine*

[beppe]

After the skiing holidays, I want to give it an other push to loose some residual thickness in the middle: Wife called me the boy from EPAnema, when I was strutting around in my cross country outfit. (epa is belly)

So it is going to be
breakfast half portion of water porridge + 1 banana
lunch: huge green salad without dressing with canned beans
dinner: steamed greens with canned tunafish
(nothing less, nothing more)

plus 4 times a week half an hour of swimming
plus 300 exercises that my friend Ken Benson the basket player showed me: you lift up one leg at the time in sequences of 50. I can do it in the office. 6 times a day.

And that's it. epanema... I'll show her.