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I have been reading about it and have decided to try it...I plan to have a protein shake or few eggs during the day and then a nice meal of my choosing at night...
Reasons I think it may fit me ..
I don't mind being on the hungry side during the day but dislike that at night..
I love variety and diets that eliminate favorite foods usually fail for me
I tend to eat healthy foods but want to be able to eat what I am craving.
I like to try new recipes and not count calories
I like to travel and experience the food where I am visiting.
I like socializing over a nice meal at home or eating out..
I am dating and this plan would fit that perfectly..
I can easily not eat all day (except maybe 200 calories) if I know I can enjoy a full meal later
I don't often eat sweets so that helps with calories at my one meal.
I limit my gluten, so that makes my one meal healthier also..
I have tried calorie counting, low carb, south beach & other diets that all make eating out hard..
I would love to hear from anyone that has tried this...
I am pretty sure I can stick to this plan but not sure I will lose weight on it...
ps. I need to lose about 20 lbs
The thing you need to ask yourself before beginning any sort of weight-loss diet is, "Is this a realistic and sustainable diet?"
That is, the very word diet sends up a red flag to me. It implies a temporary and almost-always non-longterm adjustment to your eating patterns. Most of them don't work, or keep the weight off for more than a brief period of time. The proof of this--their high rate of failure--can be seen be just a quick browse of all the different diets that are out there! LOL. If there really WAS one sure-fire way to lose weight it would be the most popular, hands-down and everybody would do it.
But as you know this is not the case. There's dozens of diet fads out there.
But the good news is there IS one sure-fire way to take of your 20 lbs and keep them off. But I hesitate to call it a diet. I prefer, lifestyle and dietary adjustment. Someting you can do for the rest of your life.
And the more good news is that it is simple. Clean up your diet and engage in some exercise. I take it you ARE able to engage in even a moderate-to-light exercise regimen? Like walking for 45-60 mins a day, 3-4 days a week? Just one hour every other day! ONE out of 48 hours! No problem, riight?
OK. Good.
Now then. Your diet listed in your OP sounds way to harsh and unsusatainable. You're gonna be miserable, trust me. So let's ditch it, OK?
Besides, it has other problems. Real, and physiological ones that probably will prevent you from losing oyur desired wieght even if you did engage in it.
One of them is that the calorie intake is simply too low. A 140-lb. adult woman burns about 1200 calories a day (actually, kilo-calories, but let's forget that) by just being alive! LOL. Breathing and sleeping and sitting around watching TV.
So your diet is not adequate. It's going to put your body into a 'calorie deficit." A sort of low-level 'starvation mode." This is why fasting rarely works.
What happens is, when you go to long between meals, or don't get enough calories to sustain your bodies metabolic and physiological processes, it "thinks" (this of course is a figure of speech for your body, at a cellular level, screaming for fuel) this is going to continue. So as a survival mechanism, it will latch onto and store away every single fat gram it can when it finally gets fed. As it "doesn't know" when it will get re-fueled again.
So by storing fats you can see how this would be a bit counter-productive.
So do this: just clean up your diet like you said: sweets only as a treat twice a week. Cut back on fats and sugar and simple carbos. Eat 4-5 small meals a day--this gets your metabolism and digestive system very very efficient at breaking down and eliminating food. Drink lots of water. Green tea is good too. Aim to intake about 2000-2300 cals a day.
Do NOT skip breakfast!
Do your walking, or whatever type of exercise you can do and enjoy for an hour a day every other day. (five days a week would be excellent at first, for the first month--then taper to four days a week if ya want). This exercise should get your heart-rate up to about 150 BPM for an hour a day.
Do all this and you can expect to drop 3-4 lbs a week. So we can call it close to 17-20 in 30 days.
And it IS sustainable. With the exercise you'll feel a LOT better than you would if you just did your protein shake & eggs thing and remained sedentary.
The thing you need to ask yourself before beginning any sort of weight-loss diet is, "Is this a realistic and sustainable diet?"
That is, the very word diet sends up a red flag to me. It implies a temporary and almost-always non-longterm adjustment to your eating patterns. Most of them don't work, or keep the weight off for more than a brief period of time. The proof of this--their high rate of failure--can be seen be just a quick browse of all the different diets that are out there! LOL. If there really WAS one sure-fire way to lose weight it would be the most popular, hands-down and everybody would do it.
But as you know this is not the case. There's dozens of diet fads out there.
But the good news is there IS one sure-fire way to take of your 20 lbs and keep them off. But I hesitate to call it a diet. I prefer, lifestyle and dietary adjustment. Someting you can do for the rest of your life.
And the more good news is that it is simple. Clean up your diet and engage in some exercise. I take it you ARE able to engage in even a moderate-to-light exercise regimen? Like walking for 45-60 mins a day, 3-4 days a week? Just one hour every other day! ONE out of 48 hours! No problem, riight?
OK. Good.
Now then. Your diet listed in your OP sounds way to harsh and unsusatainable. You're gonna be miserable, trust me. So let's ditch it, OK?
Besides, it has other problems. Real, and physiological ones that probably will prevent you from losing oyur desired wieght even if you did engage in it.
One of them is that the calorie intake is simply too low. A 140-lb. adult woman burns about 1200 calories a day (actually, kilo-calories, but let's forget that) by just being alive! LOL. Breathing and sleeping and sitting around watching TV.
So your diet is not adequate. It's going to put your body into a 'calorie deficit." A sort of low-level 'starvation mode." This is why fasting rarely works.
What happens is, when you go to long between meals, or don't get enough calories to sustain your bodies metabolic and physiological processes, it "thinks" (this of course is a figure of speech for your body, at a cellular level, screaming for fuel) this is going to continue. So as a survival mechanism, it will latch onto and store away every single fat gram it can when it finally gets fed. As it "doesn't know" when it will get re-fueled again.
So by storing fats you can see how this would be a bit counter-productive.
So do this: just clean up your diet like you said: sweets only as a treat twice a week. Cut back on fats and sugar and simple carbos. Eat 4-5 small meals a day--this gets your metabolism and digestive system very very efficient at breaking down and eliminating food. Drink lots of water. Green tea is good too. Aim to intake about 2000-2300 cals a day.
Do NOT skip breakfast!
Do your walking, or whatever type of exercise you can do and enjoy for an hour a day every other day. (five days a week would be excellent at first, for the first month--then taper to four days a week if ya want). This exercise should get your heart-rate up to about 150 BPM for an hour a day.
Do all this and you can expect to drop 3-4 lbs a week. So we can call it close to 17-20 in 30 days.
And it IS sustainable. With the exercise you'll feel a LOT better than you would if you just did your protein shake & eggs thing and remained sedentary.
Good luck!!
Thanks...But I don't lose on 2000 calories a day..
I would imagine that the crucial thing is what "of my choosing" means.
That is an important part isn't it...
Usually I like to eat healthy and the calories would be around 600-800 ..
But if I am craving something like southern cooking , a hamburger or pizza I allow myself to have it..
I would still not go over board with calories...
Gluten & Sweets are very limited for me ...
After 4 years getting nowhere with Weight Watchers trying to slowly, agonizingly, inch my way down with "lifestyle changes", I no longer believe that a person must use the same method to lose weight as they do to maintain it. In fact, there is some budding research that shows people are more successful on rapid weight loss diets because they stay more motivated to keep it up when they get results. I also know, personally, too many people who used unconventional methods to lose weight, and have kept the weight off for years and years.
I've come to believe it doesn't really matter what you do to lose the weight. What DOES matter is the permanent lifestyle changes you make to avoid gaining the weight back once you've lost it. That plan and diligence is way, way more critical than how you get there. And it's the one common denominator of the people I know who have maintained weight loss long term.
Old school weight loss adivce is you must follow the same diet to lose weight that you do to maintain the loss. I simply don't buy that anymore.
Old school weight loss adivce is you must follow the same diet to lose weight that you do to maintain the loss. I simply don't buy that anymore.
Well, when you hit bottom.. That is true. Meaning that when you've lost so much weight that your new 'diet' supplies the calories your body needs for the day.. You have to keep eating the diet to keep the weight loss off.
I agree with what you said about the 'instant gratification' of seeing the pounds really drop. I've lost almost 12 pounds in about 2 weeks.. The important thing here is that I have realistic expectations, knowing that that type of loss isn't going to continue. I hope to hold steady at the 2 to 2.5/week range. The goal is to get to 200, and then see where I go from there.
The one meal a day thing works for me. It doesn't work for many, many people. First off, my body is trained for one meal a day.. I've been doing that forever. The problem was.. It'd be a calorie bomb at that one meal. Just to give a typical meal.. If I picked up something, fast food.. Let's say McDonalds.. It'd generally be a Big Mac combo, large, 20 piece nuggets (ok, so 5 to 8 of them would go to the dog) and 2 McChickens.
That's,.. 540 calories plus 510 for the fries.. Add in the large coke at 280 calories.. 940 for the nuggets (well, a little less, but).. Hot mustard, probably 80 calories times 3, so another 240.. 370 times 2 for the mcchicken.. so.. About 3250 calories per day.. Amazing that I was only at 250lbs.
That's an extreme example.. Most days weren't like that, but I can guarantee that I hit 2000+ each meal.
Tonight.. I had a NY Strip.. Approximately 8oz, broiled.. 264 calories(wow, that's all?).. a side salad with Lite Honey Mustard Dressing.. About 100 calories. I also cooked an "Asian Vegetable Medley" steamables.. Didn't care for it.. Only ate a bite or two. I should also mention, my crutch that I can't give up.. I get.. About a 32 oz cup of sweet tea each day.. I normally don't finish it, but I keep it there at my desk and sip on it throughout the day.That.. Probably adds about 200 calories a day.. Any other time of the day, it's water.
I also ran on the treadmill today for a shorter time than normal.. Burned 200 calories doing that.. Then had to crawl under my house fixing a busted pipe that I didn't get cinched down yesterday.. So that burned up some more. the pipe was the reason I didn't run too much on the treadmill, my knees are torn up from crawling under the house.
I am.. Hungry right now, but not famished or anything. I will need something for lunch tomorrow, no question.. So, i'll take a 100 calorie packet of tuna and some whole wheat Ritz crackers in. I'll be asleep in an hour, so.. I won't be hungry while i'm asleep.
This is working for me. I think it would be very, very difficult for the average person who is used to eating three meals a day to do this. But that's the thing.. Find what works for you. Hell, you can eat out all the time, just watch what you get.. Wendy's.. Get the Grilled Chicken sandwich, which runs about 370 calories and has a great honey mustard with it and a plain baked potato, which will run about 250 calories.
I'll tell you something I found that I really like.. Sparkling ice water.. For those who can't give up the sodas.. These are good. Cherry Limeade - Sparkling ICE
Gives you the carbonation fix, but it's just flavored carbonated water. Keep some around for when the soda cravings kick in. 0 calories and 3% juice, so, at least there's something good in it.It also has green tea extract which is supposed to help with weight loss..
I have been taking a Green Coffee Extract supplement.. That's supposed to help with weight.. And I take a multi-vitamin daily.
IMO this is the only absolute truth when it comes to diet and weight loss, regardless of whether you need to lose weight or not.
No two people gained weight eating exactly the same way. So it makes no sense to push the notion that only one diet plan is going to be the cure-all for everyone. Successful are the people who keep trying, and ultimately stumble on something that works for them. It's the one thing good about this forum--people sharing what they've done. No matter how unconventional it may seem to someone else, you are at least giving a new idea to someone who might be failing trying the same old thing over and over.
People I know who successfully lose weight and keep it off are those who arrive at a method that they can happily sustain forever. For me, it is a low carb diet. For my daughter, it is calorie counting and 6 small meals a day.
Only you can decide what is best for you.
I have found a few truths, for me. Once you go without sugar for a few days you will not miss it, and also, normal eating, while leaving out flour and high carb foods, is very easy. If however, you are not a big meat eater, it would be harder to be successful on a low carb diet.
4 and a half weeks.. Hit 20 pounds off today. Started September 9th.
One meal a day.. I'm getting ready to cook now.. Tonight is 2 center cut pork chops (probably about 8oz total) marinated in a lemon herb marinade.. Baked. I'll have a bowl of salad (hearts of romaine) with lite honey mustard dressing... And.. I'll probably make a single-serve Velveeta mac and shells, the 2% milk variety.
After dinner.. Perhaps a cup of coffee, no sugar/cream, but I like the Green Mountain vanilla caramel flavored coffee. And, perhaps 2 rice cakes.
I've 'cheated' perhaps twice.. My sister's birthday, I took her out to Bonefish Grill and.. While the grilled tuna I had was very low in calories.. I did have 2 pineapple martinis.. And pineapple juice is not 'light'..
And, I had to fix a heat pump for my uncle and we went out to an all-you-can-eat pizza place for dinner.. The single slice of peanut butter dessert pizza didn't kill anything.. The ~8 slices of various pizzas and several chicken wings probably did more damage.
But.. 2 days in a month.. That's nothing, so long as it doesn't lead to 3, which leads to 4 and so on.
Go to the gym 6 days a week most weeks.. Treadmill for 45 minutes a day, using the "Hill" program at a fairly slow 3mph, but intensity level 14 (out of 20).. according to the treadmill, that burns off about 525 calories.
Body fat went from 35.2 @ 252lbs to 32.9 @ 232 lbs.. So, started at 88.7 lbs of fat, now at 76.3.. So.. 12-13 of the 20 pounds of weight loss was fat. It's really noticeable in my face.. Belly is still there, but the sides have sucked back in.
4 and a half weeks.. Hit 20 pounds off today. Started September 9th.
Excellent job, thanks for sharing
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