Good diet or a scam ? (healthy, eating, simple, easy)

[NCN]

I have always heard that you should not go below 1200 calories a day to lose weight. I googled a 1200 calorie diabetic diet and came up with a formula for eating.

Breakfast--fruit, starch, milk.

Lunch--Meat, vegetable, starch, and water or soft diet drink.

Afternoon snack--fruit

Dinner--Meat, vegetable, starch, fruit, milk (skimmed)

Carrots or other vegetable before retiring.

The two cups of milk are used in my coffee. I use 2% milk and count the 2% as my fat allowance. Probably too much, but there are limits to what you can stand.

You can do your own google and there are other 1200 calorie diabetic, but this is the one I liked the best. Why a diabetic diet? It is balanced.

Another formula for the day based on several books I have read:
Meat--seven ounces very low fat--two 3.5 ounce servings
Starch--4 servings
Vegetables: 5 servings=1 cup cooked and 3 cups salad
Milk--two to three servings per day
Fruit--3 or 4 servings--a banana is really two servings, so I have a banana and two other fruits.
Fat--about 90 calories--for me 2% fat in 2 cups milk.

I don't always do this, but it is the formula that is right for me. You can make up your own formula. My husband and I do the Weight Watchers points and we have found that I lose more weight when I eat more vegetables and fruit and he loses more weight when he eats more meat. Everybody's body is different.

Good luck and happy lifestyle change. You will be healthier and happier. One of those milk servings can be a fudge bar. Give yourself a little fun food too. I am learning to eat yogurt and that is usually a snack at night instead of the vegetable the diabetic diet suggests. Vegetables right before bed just doesn't turn me on, or maybe I should say, shut me down. My stomach would be upset all night.

[Nashcash23]

Originally Posted by North Carolina Native

I have always heard that you should not go below 1200 calories a day to lose weight. I googled a 1200 calorie diabetic diet and came up with a formula for eating.

Breakfast--fruit, starch, milk.

Lunch--Meat, vegetable, starch, and water or soft diet drink.

Afternoon snack--fruit

Dinner--Meat, vegetable, starch, fruit, milk (skimmed)

Carrots or other vegetable before retiring.

The two cups of milk are used in my coffee. I use 2% milk and count the 2% as my fat allowance. Probably too much, but there are limits to what you can stand.

You can do your own google and there are other 1200 calorie diabetic, but this is the one I liked the best. Why a diabetic diet? It is balanced.

Another formula for the day based on several books I have read:
Meat--seven ounces very low fat--two 3.5 ounce servings
Starch--4 servings
Vegetables: 5 servings=1 cup cooked and 3 cups salad
Milk--two to three servings per day
Fruit--3 or 4 servings--a banana is really two servings, so I have a banana and two other fruits.
Fat--about 90 calories--for me 2% fat in 2 cups milk.

I don't always do this, but it is the formula that is right for me. You can make up your own formula. My husband and I do the Weight Watchers points and we have found that I lose more weight when I eat more vegetables and fruit and he loses more weight when he eats more meat. Everybody's body is different.

Good luck and happy lifestyle change. You will be healthier and happier. One of those milk servings can be a fudge bar. Give yourself a little fun food too. I am learning to eat yogurt and that is usually a snack at night instead of the vegetable the diabetic diet suggests. Vegetables right before bed just doesn't turn me on, or maybe I should say, shut me down. My stomach would be upset all night.

Thanks for that diet recommendation , it will really help .

[Elmonellie]

Originally Posted by Nashcash23

Even if you were picking on me , I still appreciate what you say . It is really helping . I really like the idea of not even calling it a diet . I am going to start eating healthy starting Monday . I will not eat any snack cakes , no candy , no junk food at all . I am going to increase my excercise habits and just eat healthy and stay eating healthy . Now , there is a chance that I might not be able to stick with this , but if I don't , I will just try again until I stick with it . I refuse to give up this time . I pray this works , I have already emptied my house free of any junk food . I am ready to stick with my new healthy lifestlye .

Good luck with your new plan. I don't believe in "diets" either. I agree with the other posters. My one little piece of advice for you is to not try to go overboard on Monday. You didn't put the weight on in 3 months...it's not going to come off in 3 months no matter how "good" you are. My advice is to eat a small protein filled breakfast (like scrambled egg whites and whole wheat toast with just a touch of butter) plus an orange or oj. Then at 10:30 have a small apple. Eat a salad with a meager portion of dressing or a subway sandwich (low calorie menue) for lunch. Have an orange or small cup of low fat/sugar yogurt at 3:00. Have a small piece of fish or chicken and a lot of vegs with a teeny bit of butter to make it tasty. Give yourself a treat for desert...I like fruit popsicles or fudgecicles. Doesn't have to be the diet ones. Real ones have low calories and satisfy you.

Also get some of the 100 calorie pack cookies. If you need a fix these do the trick and you don't really regret it.

Then, try to get about 30 minutes of excercise a day. Walking fast is fine.

Do this for a couple of months and see if you don't actually like your new program instead of looking on it as a punishment.

Oh, and on Saturdays...go have a treat like a hamburger or pizza. It's not going to kill you. And if you are pretty good the rest of the week, I bet you loose a pound or two.

Good luck and don't expect to much too soon. Learn to enjoy the excercise, soon you will look forward to it as it relieves stress.

[yellowsnow]

I am a successful dieter. For anyone who is heavy, the diet lasts forever. As soon as you go off the diet, the pounds come right back and bring some of their friends. That's just the way it is. Here's a couple tips that work for me.

1) Drink a lot more water.
2) You can eat anything, you just have to pay the price BEFORE you eat it. Say you want a Snickers. Look up how many miles you have to walk or run for an equivalent expenditure of calories and add 25%. Then do your exercise and enjoy the candy bar. And BTW, this exercise is totally separate and in addition to what you already do daily.
3) Take time off. 1 weekend a month, I eat whatever I want and as much as I want. Take vacations off. I get to have 1 treat of my own choosing every weekend. This tends to make it seem less hopeless!
4) Take at least a multivitamin every day. People who are always trying to eat less are usually short on something!
5) Make the scale your friend. It's easier to nip a 2lb gain in the bud than step on the scale and find out you've gained 15. Weigh every day after you reach your goal.

[MainStreet]

A friend of mine follows several online diet boards. There was one online diet scam...a woman claiming to have lost a hundred pounds and was selling her secrets the same way the OP describes. We she wronged the wrong person and someone hired a private eye. The PI found the women and took photos...she was at least 300 lbs and didn't look anything like the "after" photos she was posting on her scam website. So I would definitely beware of anything involving purchasing diet tips online...people will do anything for money.

[cjw]

I read something the other day that brought weight loss into perspective for me. If you cut 500 calories a day you will lose one pound a week.

In ten weeks, that's ten pounds. That's a lot! (A lot compared to what what I was losing - none.)

Sounds pretty simple.

How to cut 500 calories a day?
Soda - I picked Dr Pepper as an example but I believe they are all similar
12 oz. can 150 calories
16 oz. bottle (two servings) 200 calories
20 oz. bottle (2.5 servings) 250 calories
If you are drinking 2 20 oz bottles a day, switch to diet. That alone will make one pound a week. Yeah, I know, they taste horrible. You will get used to the flavor and then wonder how you could stand the sweet stuff. I drank coke and when I tried diet, I changed flavors for awhile. I drank diet rootbeer to get used to the diet flavor and then switched to diet coke. Worked for me.

Meal deals - if you eat fast food, don't pick the meal deal. Pick the burger you want and order small fries. Getting McD small fries instead of large saves 320 calories.

Serving size - we are over served in restaurants and at home. Look at the food pyramid and see what a serving size is. You may be very surprised. I was.

Other 250 calories items - a piece of cake, 4 cookies, 25 potato chips (that's not very many, right?), one doughnut, a candy bar, an avocado, a cup of chocolate milk, half a cup of mac/cheese, 16 oz orange juice, 1 slice of cheese pizza, cup of ice cream.

If you're determined you can cut 500 calories a day fairly easily. I do have to go to the grocery store more often because I have started buying more fruit and it doesn't store nearly as well as Cheetos do! An extra trip to the grocery store is a small price to pay for a pound a week. Of course, if you combine this with excercise you can lose weight easier/faster. (I haven't gotten that far yet.) Also, drink 6-8 8oz glasses of water a day. That makes a big difference. If you find you can easily cut 500 calories, add another 250. In 10 weeks you'll have 15 pounds gone.

And, it doesn't really feel like a diet. You just are skipping the foods that you shouldn't have been eating anyway (or eating so much of).

Good luck!

[Nashcash23]

Originally Posted by cjw

I read something the other day that brought weight loss into perspective for me. If you cut 500 calories a day you will lose one pound a week.

In ten weeks, that's ten pounds. That's a lot! (A lot compared to what what I was losing - none.)

Sounds pretty simple.

How to cut 500 calories a day?
Soda - I picked Dr Pepper as an example but I believe they are all similar
12 oz. can 150 calories
16 oz. bottle (two servings) 200 calories
20 oz. bottle (2.5 servings) 250 calories
If you are drinking 2 20 oz bottles a day, switch to diet. That alone will make one pound a week. Yeah, I know, they taste horrible. You will get used to the flavor and then wonder how you could stand the sweet stuff. I drank coke and when I tried diet, I changed flavors for awhile. I drank diet rootbeer to get used to the diet flavor and then switched to diet coke. Worked for me.

Meal deals - if you eat fast food, don't pick the meal deal. Pick the burger you want and order small fries. Getting McD small fries instead of large saves 320 calories.

Serving size - we are over served in restaurants and at home. Look at the food pyramid and see what a serving size is. You may be very surprised. I was.

Other 250 calories items - a piece of cake, 4 cookies, 25 potato chips (that's not very many, right?), one doughnut, a candy bar, an avocado, a cup of chocolate milk, half a cup of mac/cheese, 16 oz orange juice, 1 slice of cheese pizza, cup of ice cream.

If you're determined you can cut 500 calories a day fairly easily. I do have to go to the grocery store more often because I have started buying more fruit and it doesn't store nearly as well as Cheetos do! An extra trip to the grocery store is a small price to pay for a pound a week. Of course, if you combine this with excercise you can lose weight easier/faster. (I haven't gotten that far yet.) Also, drink 6-8 8oz glasses of water a day. That makes a big difference. If you find you can easily cut 500 calories, add another 250. In 10 weeks you'll have 15 pounds gone.

And, it doesn't really feel like a diet. You just are skipping the foods that you shouldn't have been eating anyway (or eating so much of).

Good luck!

Thanks . This is very helpful .

[Nashcash23]

Originally Posted by MainStreet

A friend of mine follows several online diet boards. There was one online diet scam...a woman claiming to have lost a hundred pounds and was selling her secrets the same way the OP describes. We she wronged the wrong person and someone hired a private eye. The PI found the women and took photos...she was at least 300 lbs and didn't look anything like the "after" photos she was posting on her scam website. So I would definitely beware of anything involving purchasing diet tips online...people will do anything for money.

This makes me glad I did not purchase that diet after all.

[citybythebay]

Originally Posted by Nashcash23

Hi , I have been on many diets in the last few years and none of them have seemed to work . The weight loss was either to slow or the diet was too hard to follow . I came across a diet a few weeks ago on the internet that advertised that you would lose 18 pounds in 4 days by just beng on this diet . The only catch is that you must pay $37 to download the diet onto your computer . I have asked other people I know about their opinions about this diet and most people think it is a scam to get my money or to steal my credit card number and steal my idenity or something . But I keep wondering if it could actually work or if it is just a scam . If one of you would like to try it for yourself or give me your opinion about it , please do . I am very desperate to know if this diet will work or not . It sounds so good , but may turn out to be very bad . I would like you all to look at the website to see if it looks leginiment or looks like a scam in your opinion . The website is Lose 18Lbs in 4 Days! . Please give me your opinions or better yet , your results on this diet .

I would say don't waste your hard earned $$$ on this.^^^

Some of you are against doctors....so please don't read any further.


I highly recommend Dr.Mirkin's plan for healthy eating, as well if you would like to lose weight. His website is Dr. Gabe Mirkin on Heath, Fitness and Nutrition

And a book by him that I recommend is Amazon.com: The Healthy Heart Miracle: Your Roadmap to Lifelong Health: Books: Gabe Mirkin
He has a very simple program to follow.

Another I recommend is Dr.Oz...he has the book out Amazon.com: You: On A Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management: Books: Mehmet C. Oz,Michael F. Roizen.
Excellent, sensible, easy to understand information.

*The books can be found at your local library*

[STT Resident]

Make a list before you go food shopping, stick to it and DON'T go food shopping when you're hungry. And eat SLOWLY. Put a small portion in your mouth, set down your eating utensils and chew the food well before swallowing.