So today i'm starting my diet...

[Gaiseric]

I would recommend not going on a diet and instead slowly change what/how much you eat so that when you reach your goal and stop you don't gain it back. That's what I've been doing in addition to working out.

I lost a bunch of weight mostly by increasing the amount I exercised, by slowly cutting back on the portion sizes, and limiting the amount of sugar/junk. Though honestly, I'm thinking of trying the diet thing myself if only because I've been stuck at my current weight for awhile. Also like some others have said, motivation is extremely important(having a workout buddy helps a crap load).

Good luck buddy!

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

Only eat when you're hungry.

Heh.
That's ALL the time.
And besides, i have a strict snack regime, one after each meal.

 

[mysecondlife]

WHile I wish you success on the dieting, that in itself won't have that much effect alone. You've also got to exercise. I'd think that 2-3 hours of cardio every week will get you and then keep you in shape.

That's what i'm doing.
Walking to the gym, spending about 45 minutes there then walking back.
Do this about 2-3 times a week, sometimes more.

cardios are almost useless. sure, its better than nothing, but lifting weights are better to burn fat.

 

[Nathan Atkinson]

The misconception about diets is that they're something that you go on to supplement weight loss, which is not the case. People will lose weight, then go right back to their eating habits, and then they'll end up gaining their weight again. That said, if you plan on going on a diet, you have to be committed to the diet for life, which is why you look for a diet that's not going to kill you like one of those diets that makes you eat miniscule amounts of food.

As other people have said on here, dieting is not enough though, exercise is a must as well. But pure cardio is not enough for actual weight loss, as you'll only be burning the fat during the cardio workout. You have to work out your muscles with weight lifting, because you'll still burn fat after the workout, and you'll burn much more. But since weight lifting will make you gain muscle mass, you will actually gain or maintain weight, depending on how much fat your losing, which is why you should tak measurements of your waistline if you want to actually keep track of your progress. But cardio is STILL good to do as it will improve your heart, but people are confused about how well it will help you lose weight.

Now I'm merely speaking from personal experience, and everyone is different, tons of factors come into play, such as family health history, age, etc. I used to weigh 195 Lb, then I went on a low carbohydrate diet, because it worked for my mother, also since my family has a history of type 2 diabetes, it seemed like the right choice (my mother reversed the effects of her diabetes too.) I went on the diet about 4 months ago, and I was adamant that it would be a life style change. At first it was hard, since this diet in particular inducts you in, which means i could only eat a low amount of carbohydrates. This was the major hurdle for me, but about a week afterwards, the whole thing sort of clicked for me, and I suddenly felt more energetic and alert, ALL the time. Now bear in mind before this I was physically lethargic all the time lol. Now the diet feels completely natural to me, I don't have to count carbs, I just eat the foods that I know are healthy and I eat it in controlled portions (another important thing to do!) Now I've only recently (about 1 month) started working out at the gym, but I've already noticed a HUGE improvement.

Currently I weigh 155Lbs, that's 40Lbs less than before! Of course, I don't let this stop me, I've taken to heart that I have to do this for the rest of my life, but that doesn't mean I can't eat decadent things! Once a week I let myself eat whatever, and I have gone absolutely nuts some times lol. But this helps me stay on track, because now, carb heavy foods makes me go through something akin to a really bad hangover! I get sleepy, and sometimes a really bad headache. Which before I forget, remember that with a diet, you're not supposed to starve yourself, that will actually make it harder/impossible to lose weight. In fact, eat smaller meals, but eat more often, that will make your metabolism a lot stronger.

As for the weight loss supplement, don't bother, they're crap.

 

[Queen Michael]

Here's the only help I can give you, which is my maxim #4:
If it's chocolate covered, it's not good for you.
Me, I'm trying to gain weight, since no matter how many Pop-Tarts or Peanut Buttercups I eat I won't gain any weight. There's a black hole in my stomach. Kind of like a superpower.

 

[zauxz]

I was on a diet that included some type of pill.

Dropped 14 kilograms.

Oh yes, that wonderful pill. Using it, you can drop tens of kilos a month. Trully a wonderful thing.

Except that, you know, it works, because it has a ringworm egg in it. Taking it gives you worms. Having worms makes you loose weight. Fast. I know that you will deny it, saying that it was something else. Trust me, it wasn't, even if you were told otherwise. If it was just one pill that magically made you thin, it was this.

Have fun knowing that, if you didn't.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

Id advise you to consult a dietician or your GP before going into a diet. It would stop you hurting yourself and they maybe be able to construct a diet to suit your needs (the dietician should at least).

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

Id advise you to consult a dietician or your GP before going into a diet. It would stop you hurting yourself and they maybe be able to construct a diet to suit your needs (the dietician should at least).

*sigh* It's my mum who is making me do this, since she works in a pharmacy.
But i know i'm not hurting myself, or at least, any more than i was, because i was on the way to becoming a REALLY fat person, i couldn't stop eating and i avoided the gym like the plague.

Just try to live every minute healthier than the last, buddy. Don't rely on stupid products; it's the motivation and determination that matters.

I'm not relying on them, i'm just giving myself a bit of a boost with them. Besides, i'm only going to use them for about 2 weeks, and since i can't eat any carbs, i'm having to be really choosy and creative about my meals.
I'm not one of these people who beleives that i can just go on them for a bit then return to my old ways, i know i need to do this myself.

 

[Vrach]

I've recently dropped from 90/86kgs (depending on how far you look back) down to 76kg. I'd say fuck slimming products myself, I don't trust them, so here's what I did:

- Stopped eating outside. Fast food, bakeries etc. Saves ya money too, keep that in mind as a motivator ^^

- Stopped the sweets and juices entirely. It's easier than it sounds, just never buy any and don't keep them around the house, you won't be tempted much.

Can break the above two occasionally if you're going out with friends, depending on how often you go out, but don't pork out, keep the amounts reasonable and try to pick something healthier/less fatty. Plan it around your meals too, if you're going out for pizza or sth, you can count it as a meal.

- 3 scheduled meals a day. Keeping the same times helps a LOT, your metabolism will be grateful for it and will help any diet so much more. Keep the dinner a few hours away from sleep, but don't keep it too far away imo - it's better to eat 3 hours before sleep (as opposed to the officially suggested 6) than to be hungry just before you go to bed and not be able to sleep or eat something right before sleeping. For me, times were 10 am breakfast, 3 pm lunch, 10 pm dinner (I get to bed past 1 am), but you'll obviously need to schedule them around work/school and such.

Most diets will suggest a rather heavy supper. It's because they assume you have the most time to eat then and can't have more than a sandwich for lunch. Problem is, that's quite stupid. Eating heavily just before sleeping is about the worst idea you can get. It should be breakfast>lunch>dinner. Find the time to balance them right, trust me, it'll help.

- Most important thing. Keep in mind what you're taking in ie. the calorie count. It's much easier to go "oh, I'll just have another..." if you're not aware of how much your intake is. I've pretty much looked into everything and just did some off the top of my head math to keep my daily intake right. I strived for a 1200 kcal diet while allowing myself up to 1600 kcal a day. You can find all the info online with a quick search.

Important note. If you break the diet and IT WILL HAPPEN, don't despair and don't quit. Just say to yourself "ok, that was stupid and unnecessary, let's not do it again" and resume the diet. You can push yourself into an exercise as well to "make up" for it, always a good idea, but don't consider that a solution - eating loads and exercising won't lose you weight, trust me, I've tried before several times before realising food intake is the key, exercise is a big bonus.

- Organize your meals, know what you're going to eat before you eat it, buy enough food you need. Don't get yourself in a situation where you're hungry and all that's in the house is "crappy" food, sweets and such.

- Fruit is your friend. I can't stress this enough. Fruit it absolutely fantastic for in between meals to keep you from being hungry. Don't starve yourself, it's not the way to go, you'll merely quit because of it. As I said above, my meals were 10am, 3pm, 10pm - what helped was putting a scheduled fruit "meal" (1-2 fruits, depending on how hungry I was and what fruit I ate) at around 7/8pm. If I was real hungry, a banana did the trick, otherwise an apple, pear or something.

And before you think about it, no, I wasn't crazy about fruit before I started my diet either. I didn't hate it, but rarely ate any, I have it all the time now and really enjoy it, just start with some fruits you like.

Berries are fantastic - just put a bowl somewhere outside your room (kitchen/fridge/we.) and if you feel a little hungry, just go and grab a few. Strawberries are your best choice if you can get them, they're really good for ya, they're not heavy in calories and they really keep you from being hungry. Try to avoid grapes, think of them as sweets really, can have a few and they help, but keep in mind they're pretty much your worst choice.

- Salads are obviously a big plus, especially at lunch, they'll help balance your diet and keep your calories down.

- Exercise is great, but takes time, I'm not sure how much of it you have. Personally, I had loads of free time and needed ways to fill it (nothing is worse for your diet than sitting on your ass with nothing to do, your mind will go to food quickly, always keep yourself busy with something, yes, gaming included ).

I went for 2 forms of exercise, one being push ups, sit ups and pull ups, the other biking. The former was more to fill time and get myself into a bit of shape, biking is better for burning calories. If you're doing the former, start out with less than what you can do. Personally, I started with 5 series of 10 for push ups/sit ups and moved it up each week or so (first to 10x10, then to 10x15, then to 10x20), with pull ups before and after.

As for biking, it really depends on how much time you have, I went for 2 hours of biking, about 40km. You can substitute it for swimming (really good for you, can be fun), running (personally I hate running, but it's really pretty much the best form of exercise) or even a simple walk. Whatever you do, just keep in mind it's supposed to be exercise, so keep the speed up as much as you can (don't push yourself till you flop, just don't trod along either)

I know it seems a bit daunting on the whole, but obviously you don't have to do every single thing to the letter, just keep it all in mind and adjust it to your own circumstances (free time, school/job, what you enjoy doing as exercise etc.). Hope some of it helps and remember, if you go for it, go for it and stick with it, don't quit. Keep an eye on the scale and look yourself in the mirror now and again - when you start noticing the difference, it'll help, trust me and it's one of the best motivators you can get to keep going. Just don't expect quick results, it's the reason most people quit, you won't see ANYTHING for the first few weeks, but that doesn't mean you're not getting results, just stick with it.

 

[Nathan Atkinson]

I'm not relying on them, i'm just giving myself a bit of a boost with them. Besides, i'm only going to use them for about 2 weeks, and since i can't eat any carbs, i'm having to be really choosy and creative about my meals.
I'm not one of these people who beleives that i can just go on them for a bit then return to my old ways, i know i need to do this myself.

WHOA! You can't eat absolutely no carbs, that's unhealthy, because your body is adjusted to using carbs as energy, you can't just cut yourself off of them. Limit yourself to 20 carbs a day for 2 weeks, then you can go up to 40 carbs. But if your excercising regularly, like every day, you can add 20 to those last two numbers.

Also some good tips for doing a low carb diet, learn to love eggs, seriously, they're 0 carbs, high in protein, and cheap as hell. Also, as I'm sure you're aware, almost any kind of unglazed meat is practically no carbs too lunch meat and canned tuna are godsends, though the latter will make you stinky. Raw almonds are a great low carb snack, as well as pork rinds. Also, for later in your diet, there's low carb bread/wraps (I'm gonna refrain from saying what brand they are though, not sure if that would be considered advertising...) if you like to drink things like coffee or tea (i suggest tea, it helps curb hunger) get splenda w/ fiber to substitute sugar, and use heavy cream instead of milk.

That's all the advice I can think of at the moment.

 

[amucha98]

.

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

I weighed 58 kg at one point and I looked so fucking fat even thinking about it makes me cringe. Anyway, I used a product called Nupo for two weeks and I lost like 3 kg or something and am now at a slightly more tolerable 55 kg... my goal is still way down, so it's not impossible that I'll go back on Nupo for a week again or something. You have to mainly drink this shake that tastes like wet cardboard and it's horrible (although some of the soups and bars are ok...). I'd recommend it though. Works. Haven't gained back the weight.

I can sympithise with you.
Because guess what i had for breakfast!
CARDBOARD SHAKE!
and then as a snack half a meal bar, which to be fair, wasn't that bad.

WHOA! You can't eat absolutely no carbs, that's unhealthy, because your body is adjusted to using carbs as energy, you can't just cut yourself off of them. Limit yourself to 20 carbs a day for 2 weeks, then you can go up to 40 carbs. But if your excercising regularly, like every day, you can add 20 to those last two numbers.

You have no idea about my previous carb intake.
This is what i had yesterday. (before my diet)
2 bowls of cereal, 4 slices of toast, one sandwich (ham and cheese), about 10 crackers, Half a large pizza and then a bowl of popcorn.
Carb-a-riffic!

 

[MarcusD357]

I went on a diet of sorts about a year ago. It wasn't a diet to loose weight but instead I needed to gain weight for when I played rugby. I was 6ft 4 and only 12.5 stone so I had the size, just not the bulk for the sport. I switched to a high protein diet and drank protein shakes as well as doing lots of exercise and I managed to gain a stone in about 2 weeks. It wasn't just fatty weight either, the majority of it was muscle due to the protein shakes helping me along

 

[Cowabungaa]

Well, let me give one advice:
[HEADING=2]Don't diet![/HEADING]

Diets, in the long run, are completely counter-productive. Loosing weight is dead-simply; burn more calories than you take in. Keeping that weight off is just as simple but still the part where many people go wrong. What you need to do to keep yourself on a healthy weight is change your entire lifestyle. And while they're simple, neither are easy, that's an important distinction.

What it all boils down to is to not do anything you won't be doing for, basically, the rest of your life. No über-intens exercise plans you'll basically only do for a few months. No retarded eating habits you'll break when you're on your target weight. Don't expect it to go quickly either.

Here are some basic things:
- Eat healthy, varied and regularly. Three square meals a day made from healthy ingredients with reasonable portions. If you're having trouble deciding what kind of portions are right, you can use a calorie counter for a while. Just don't get obsessed with it.

- Have an exercise plan that's fun, and don't over-do yourself. 2 Evenings in the gym combined with an hour and a half walk? Sounds good. Keeping a rhythm in it helps as well.

- Don't scrap treats entirely. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a nice Snickers bar, some crisps or something like that every now and then. It's important to reward yourself, just don't over-do it, remember that moderation is key. It'd also help to eat more sweet fruits as treats. Strawberries, grapes, apples, bananas...omnomnom.

- Fuck diet products and fuck crap like that "no carbs" bullshit. Would you do that your entire life? Chances are; no, so ignore them.

Really, there's not much to it, but remember that while it's simple, it ain't easy. If you're used to a non-caring, slouchy and unhealthy lifestyle, changing that to a healthy and balanced one is going to take a lot of willpower and frustration as it won't go quickly. Remember what you're doing it for and you'll be alright.

 

[Nathan Atkinson]

That was my previous diet on a good day lol, add a whole pizza, and a carton of ice cream, I'm not even kidding. Regardless, it's never good to crash diet like that, It will make your metabolism slow to a crawl.

 

[MarcusD357]

I weighed 58 kg at one point and I looked so [*rude word*} fat even thinking about it makes me cringe.

Hoping that quote worked :L
But 58kg is nothing, theres no need to feel ashamed of that.. I'm about 80kg at the moment and I don't think that's particulary fat - at least not on me

 

[Bloodstain]

You want to live healthy and lose weight? Do the following:

Eat whenever you're hungry, and eat so much that you're not hungry anymore. Not more, not less. Also, eat a wide variety of things, not just vegetables, or just meat, or just sweets. A bit of everything.
Also, do sports. Go running once in a while, or whatever suits you.
You'll get the weight that's ideal for you and live healthier than most people.

Damn those people thinking "thinner = healthier".

EDIT:

snip

I love you. Forever.

 

[thom_cat_]

I've never had a problem with my weight... just do some exercise when you see a bit of flab. Hooray for good metabolism!