I lost 80 lbs. a few years ago, so maybe I should weigh in on this subject.

My biggest advice is to lose the sugars. Just do away with sweets altogether, aside from the occasional serving or two of natural fruit. Fruit juice blends are fine, but make sure they're completely 100% natural - no added sugars of any kind. Even then, make sure your daily nutrition is based on a good carb-per-calorie balance. If carbs are accounting a vast majority of the calories in your diet, then it's probably bad for you. Fats are easily metabolized as energy, whereas carbs are more likely to be stored as body fat. You want to try and focus your metabolism on deriving energy mostly from fats. (poly- and monounsaturated, as they benefit cholesterol levels) Avoid saturated and trans fats as much as possible. Both are detrimental to cholesterol.

I would suggest a Mediterranean diet. A typical meal would be something like mixed veggies fried in olive oil. In fact, most everything you make is going to be drenched in olive oil. It's a good carb / fat balance, and the fats are all healthy.

I'm not quite sure what I weigh now, but last time I checked (last October), I was at about 303 lbs, down from my height of 360.

Now, for me, I found that I couldn't make myself give up on sweets. I love ice cream. I love cake. I love cookies. And I hate breaking up my diet by carb/protein/etc. I've been following a simple calorie counting diet, wherein I eat anything I want, so long as I stay within the confines of the daily limit.

Of course, it's extremely hard to fit in those things I love when they're choc-full of calories, but I somehow manage to rearrange my daily allotment to fit some of it in when I get the urge.

The problem with just counting calories is that you're not accounting for nutritional balance. Different sources of carbs have different effects on the body. If you're consuming refined sugars, you're stressing your liver and causing your insulin to ramp all over the place. This puts you at a very real risk for developing diabetes; not to mention, refined sugars don't provide long-lasting energy in the first place. It's a quick rush of energy, then a sudden onset of fatigue. You want carbs that are digested more slowly, and provide stable energy. Whole grains are a good example. If you consume 100% whole grain bread or pasta, you shouldn't feel as sluggish as if you were consuming white bread, or pasta with refined / modified grains.

The difference is simple versus complex carbs. It's important to memorize this detail, if nothing else. All carbs are broken down and provide essential energy. Simple carbs are broken down more easily, and as a result provide energy very quickly. Complex carbs are broken down more slowly, and provide a more gradual intake of energy. Due to being broken down quickly, simple carbs cause blood sugar to rise too quickly, and can put you at risk for developing diabetes. Simple carbs would be things like sugar and refined / modified grains. (e.g. white bread, flour and white rice) You want to avoid these like the plague. Examples of complex carbs would be anything that's 100% whole grain, brown rice, dairy products (not sweetened) and vegetables.

For weight-loss, your total carbohydrate intake should be around the 60-100 g range. (maybe not quite as high as 100, but you can get away with that if you're active) Carb sources should be from vegetables, ideally. A bit of fruit here and there won't hurt, but in order to lose weight, you want to limit sugars overall - even natural ones. The rest of your calories should come from fats and proteins. A 2000 calorie diet is probably suitable for weight-loss, but you have to observe a strict carb-to-fat balance. You can't load your body down with carbs and expect to lose weight just because you're within a 2000-calorie range. Your body is only going to metabolize so many of those carbs as energy, then it's going to store the rest as body fat. Unfortunately, not all calories are treated equally by the body.

I know it can seem like a lot of hassle to take these details into consideration while buying groceries, but I can give you some specific food options to consider:

- Look for 100% whole-grain pastas. They're not usually more expensive than non-whole grain pastas - especially if you buy generic. Wal-Mart, for instance, has its own generic label of whole-grain pasta. Just glance over the ingredients to make sure it's 100% whole grain, and they're not slipping refined grains in there. Some products will do this to fool the consumer. There's no point in eating something that contains both whole and refined grains, because the refined grains are going to ramp your insulin regardless.

- Fresh, assorted vegetables, or frozen vegetables medleys. If you buy frozen, look over the ingredients to be sure it's an organic mix. It shouldn't read anything other than something like, "Potatoes, carrots and red peppers." If you see a long list of ingredients that you can't even pronounce, don't bother with it.

- Extra virgin olive oil. Use it to fry vegetables. It's not particularly expensive. There are bound to be generics to choose from, too.

- 100% whole grain cereals. I don't know if your store would stock it, but I like "Uncle Sam." It's a blend of whole oats and flaxseed. You'll probably want to sweeten it with sucralose. (Splenda) Just bear in mind that artificial sweeteners can have the side-effect of causing you to crave real sugar. As long as you don't find yourself compulsively snacking, it shouldn't be an issue.

- Oatmeal. I just buy regular quick oats, but some of the pre-packaged stuff is okay. There are low-sugar / sugar-free packets that are already flavored.

- Dairy of your preference. You can sometimes find low-calorie milk. "Hood" brand comes to mind. They have regular and chocolate milk, both sweetened with sucralose. You want to avoid typical brands of chocolate milk, because they're most certainly loaded down with sugar. If you like cottage cheese, that's great for dieting.

- Peanut butter. You can find low-sugar / sugar-free brands. Peanut butter doesn't typically have more than 3 g sugars per serving, so it's not too much of a guilty indulgence. Likewise, nuts and legumes in general are good for snacking.

I hear what you're saying, but wouldn't you say that if someone really tried to follow all of that advice, that it might discourage them from attempting to change their diet for fear of too much work?

I, on the other hand, do just count calories, but I never just get my calories from sweets. I'll usually have my meats and grains and veggies/fruits each day, but I always make room for something I love.

While what you're saying can be good advice, all I know is that what I've been doing has been working. I'm at the lowest pant size of my entire adult life. If only there was a smoking-gun, "this-is-the-way-everyone-will-lose-weight" formula out there. Unfortunately, everyone has to figure out what works for themselves.

Nope, because weight-loss is a lifetime commitment that takes strict self-discipline. I won't play it down. It took months of blood, sweat and tears to shed 80 lbs., but it was worth the hassle. I was just fed-up with it, and I wasn't about to let it control my life. Since I took the time to educate myself about nutrition, I now know how not to repeat the poor dietary choices that got me in that boat in the first place.

It's important to understand that physical weight-loss is only a half-measure against a much more serious battle that exists in the psyche. The human brain is habitual, learning through various schema defined by pleasure and aversion. When a habit is learned, it's difficult to un-learn. You need to equip yourself with both a stronger sense of willpower and a fair knowledge of how your metabolism works. Without this, you might fall back on bad habits and find yourself gaining every pound back.

Cognitive-behavioral techniques (typically used in exposure therapy) can help you develop your willpower. You can find resources all over the Internet. Bad habits die hard, but once you force yourself to practice new habits enough times, pathways in your brain will physically rewire themselves to accompany your lifestyle changes. I really don't crave bad foods as much as I did in the past. Of course, it was hard to say "no" at first, but it started to become such a routine thing that my brain eventually realized what a waste of energy it was to continue pushing cravings and impulses that I would only ignore.

Wow, Mr. Scientist and Captain Knowledge. I can't believe there is a wrong diet! You have just opened my eye to a world of possibilities.

Now that I'm done with my sarcasm, honestly dude, stop preaching everything you say as right and any other suggestion is wrong. There are a lot of different diets out there, and plenty of them work. Yours is not the only way, and your spiel about carbs isn't even completely correct. Carbs can be good for you, as long as you're eating the right ones. Sorry to break it to you, but cutting carbs out of your bod his a BAD thing. There is this thing called moderation that I'm pretty sure you aren't very aware of. But wait, you lost 80 pounds, more than anyone else who has posted in here so far. Obviously you just know so much more than the rest of us. Please tell us how the world rotates around the sun and why the sun doesn't rotate around us. Or why I should lick your asshole instead of staying away from such a nasty orifice. But really, man. Ix's way of doing things has worked for him, so shut the f*ck up about him being wrong.

I'm not about to search walls of text for whoever said that carbs were bad for you, but...



See how the largest food group includes bread and such stuff? That's where carbs are located. Why do people keep avoiding carbs when they're in the most important food group? I think it's stupid, and I'll never understand people's reasoning for it.
(Hint: that means don't bother trying to explain it to me.)

It's not that you should avoid carbs, but avoid anything with a particularly high glycemic index. Different carbs are metabolized differently. To simplify, Wiki has a nice little table for reference. The low to mid GI index foods are ideal for dieting. You'll generally want to get your carbs from those with a low index, with the occasional serving of foods from the mid index. (sparingly) Low and mid GI foods basically provide the most stable energy, and aren't as likely to end up as body fat. Just counting calories isn't the best way to go. You can lose weight while still consuming high GI foods, but you're still putting yourself at risk for diabetes, (insulin ramps from starchy foods and modified grains) and you'll probably gain any lost weight back when you stop restricting calories. Your (family) doctor will tell you the same thing about the GI and dieting. You shouldn't just take my word for it, of course. Start with the Wikipedia article on GI, and research from there; or feel free to speak with your family doctor. They can give you the best advice about starting a sensible diet.

Now, now. There's no need for this to get heated up. Everyone has their own opinions about how to lose the pounds. Even in that link about the glycemic index that you linked to, it notes that some of the foods I love, such as chocolate cake and ice cream, have low glycemic indices.

If we go strictly by your method of losing weight, then I concede that I have lost 60+ pounds the wrong way. But it seems like the fact of actually having shed the pounds is the most important thing, not the method. The ends justify the means, it would seem to be.

You tried to explain it to me, didn't you?

I think you're both right. Complex carbs are always better than simple IMO, but I totally get that it can be hard to make the switch. I was raised on wheat bread, so I came to prefer that over white naturally. White rice... that was a kind of battle for me to give up, but I did as of last month. Now I can't go back, haha. Brown rice is the awesome, especially brown basmati or jasmine. I personally try to just not eat processed foods when I have the choice, and so I have some sometimes- they're nearly impossible to escape with how the country is here. There might be more options in bigger cities, etc... especially Whole Foods. I LOVE that place so so so much. But anyways, the aim for being healthy is not the American idea of a "diet". It's changing something you can LIVE WITH. And I think Ixz has that down from what he's mentioned he's been cooking to me.

Best rule? Everything in moderation. Treat yourself, don't go on a crash all-vegetable and NO sweets diet because it will encourage you to think of it as a temporary thing instead of lifestyle change. Still eat ice cream, whatever you like- just don't go super super overboard in my opinion. At least, that is how I gained a ton of weight back- I crash dieted pretty hard, could've hurt myself in the process, and it's just no way to be- I felt even more pressured since I'm a woman, and we usually get the brunt of fat shaming, etc(even though hey, I love the chicas, and for who they are), whenever you go out, which can be absolutely miserable. It makes you miserable AND your body miserable over time, mainly from lacking proper calories to function and nutrition from ALL the food groups. Losing weight is not the same as being healthy. I cannot stress that enough. Sure, it will happen naturally, but building muscle and lowering body fat PERCENTAGE is what counts to me. I knew women literally terrified to do weights with me at college because they thought they'd get "man arms" which simply is not possible without some serious steroidage. I want to be able to pull a car, haha. Also, BMI is bullshiz, but I think most people know that. It's way too one-size-fits-all for numerous densities in body frames, which cannot be lost as they are well... BONES!

And BTW, the food pyramid is kinda... misleading. But that's why it got replaced, with servings I believe or something. Some required health class in college that taught me how to work out and stuff during gym(I guess that's what they do in adult gym, no fun jazzercise, kickball, and stuff like in high school haha).

They updated it again. http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/well ... d-poll.php

This new one actually makes a whole lot of sense, but yeah. Servings of meat, size of the inside palm of your hand, etc. But as you can see, vegetables still are taking tops, and grains are still up there. Although, fat shaming of any kind is also bad by default, but I think that's pretty well known. That government site is something else with that. Great job government!

Anyways, my plan right now is just to get settled into regular stuff. Some of my current rotation includes curry(tofu, zuccini, green bell pepper, carrot, green onion or sometimes other combos) with brown jasmine rice, mattar tofu or paneer, with brown rice, and various dishes featuring usually 2-3 vegetables and a complex carb with some olive oil. That is mainly because we're vegetarians, though. We do use tempeh and tofu for protein, etc. Tonight is awesome curry night though. Curry for Korra.

As for the gym, I honestly and truthfully need to go more. That's the other component, but not overdoing it. Going regularly is much much much better. Which, I wanna get back on. It can be quite packed at ours- it's the only one for like 3 towns I think.

Of course if you followed the Paleo diet you would learn that all grains should be cut out, along with beans and especially dairy. Most diary products have a very high acidic load and cause you to lose calcium and other minerals as the body works to balance the Ph level of your body. And this is the diet we have been eating for millions of years and our bodies haven't changed much in terms of digestive system since then : ). Really the only thing you shouldn't have moderation on are lean meats, vegetables and fruits (it's very hard to overeat on these 3 groups, try it sometime). Grains are very nutrient poor food and really only provide calories and nothing else, and also give a net acidic load on the body (though not as bad as cheeses and dairy).

If you're looking to just lose weight, limiting calories is pretty much the way to go. If you're looking to lose weight and maintain health that's when it's time to take a much closer look at your diet. There is a reason most grains are fortified with minerals and vitamins (hint: it's because they don't really have any). Also have you ever considered the fact we are the only animal on the planet who consumes milk after childhood, and of another species at that.

So yeah, there are bunch of diets out there, I think I'm going to stick with the one of our ancestors, which is now also backed up by a ton of scientific studies. But yes getting rid of anything refined and going with fresh food, and cutting out added salt and sugar are the way to go.

Also the American food pyramid is a bunch of crap, and recently has been proven as such. So yeah, grains should be the smallest food group, lean meat should be about 65% of your diet, with vegetables and fruits making up the rest.

Also Glycemic Index can be misleading as it is based on 50 grams of carbohydrates in food, now how much of the food it takes to get to 50g of carbs. Glycemic Load is what you should be looking at since that takes into account the serving size it takes to get to that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_load

Well, there's been a lot of studies that animal products in general lead to worsening health... but honestly, with shiz like high fructose corn syrup in everything and all the sugar and chemicals in food, that's the least of anyone's concerns. Also, grains are NOT bad for you. You need them especially in order for colon health, and general digestive health. Complex ones are good. Obviously, this does not mean go super overboard. People have been eating that for years too, especially in the Asian countries. Japan has kind of a funny story about that in history- the nobles laughed and enjoyed "superior" white rice. Turns out, the samurai were the ones who truly benefited, eating the non-processed brown rice. It made them stronger, and more healthy than the lords.

"I think I'm going to stick with the one of our ancestors, which is now also backed up by a ton of scientific studies. But yes getting rid of anything refined and going with fresh food, and cutting out added salt and sugar are the way to go."

I agree with that though. But, as a vegetarian, I don't eat meat. It's not a loss to me though, since prior I only ate chicken. I researched the meat industry and just wasn't cool with what's been going on with it. I think our regulations are a bit too loose for my liking, and then there's the hormones, additives, etc. And if I can't kill a chicken in my own backyard, I ain't going to eat one. If I couldn't stand to do that, then why eat the hormone-addled grocery meat? So I just stopped.

So beans, etc, are really, REALLY good for you(and a good option for me personally, but obviously if you are eating meat and stuff you wouldn't need as much). They're protein without more risk of hormonal stuff and other additives, best cooked up from dry form. Barring that, ALWAYS look for organic canned goods. Beans, veggies, etc, when possible. If getting tomato sauce, there is most always a non-added sodium version. Just some basic stuff. And there's nothing wrong with meat, but do be careful of what kind you buy. You can find some grass-fed stuff, and honest meat. It's also good to scrutinize your egg source. Most times they are from chickens in extremely unhealthy conditions, so look for cage free or even better, free range.

It's all pretty common sense stuff, but we do live in a country that is obsessed with losing weight, not getting healthy. So there's a lot of misinformation going around really. Hence why I am pretty much a mountain hermit, haha.

Man. I'm all for the whole "ancient diet" I'd love to die at the ripe old age of 30.

Man, I'm all for just exercising because I like eating too much. Fries and pitas are killing me right now.

But yeah, trying to walk a lot every day (I have an hour of lunch, so I try to walk around the city then), and trying to wake up for morning running but that hasn't been working so far. Walked like 4.5 miles today and that was really nice, so I might start always walking back from the train station - it's a nice little walk.

Of course that was from what it took to get the food, not the food itself. Though a lot of us might live to the average age of 70 now, what is the average health of people over 30? 50? Essentially we've changed our method of dying from mauled by animal, fell off cliff, tried to milk a wild cow, etc to heart attack, cancer, diabetes, car accident, etc. Either way, as evidenced by modern tribal cultures, though they may have died young from accidents (which still happens, just at a lower overall rate) their overall health and fitness is similar to top athletes even in old age. The average American can barely run 3 miles without stopping. But who knows, maybe we found a wonder food in grains, starchy vegetables, and dairy, though the science would disagree. We probably wouldn't be able to support a population of 7+ billion without them, but not sure that high of a population is desirable. Animals in the zoo must be fed the diet of their original environment to thrive, which is studied intensely to replicate, why wouldn't we do the same for ourselves : ).



Untrue, vegetables and fruits contain more fiber per calorie (on average), and also contain many more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants than grains. Most vegetable have 2-4 times the fiber of a grain, with fruits being 1-2 times as much (per calorie, not per weight). That puts grains 3rd out of the 6 major food groups for fiber density (vegetables, grains, fruits, dairy, legumes, meats).

Actually, Chickens are one of the few animals it's illegal to feed hormones to (and has been for a while). Antibiotics are not though [there are regulations on how close to slaughter you can administer them though]. Most of the meat in your diet should be wild caught seafood (avoiding longer living fish if you are concerned about heavy metal buildup), or lean meats anyway (not the standard ground beef, bacon, and sausage). I can see the moral argument for not eating meat, as we've disconnected ourselves from the process involved so they are allowed to be mistreated. Meat has always been part of the human diet though.

Cutting calories is the name of the game in weight loss (or increasing the amount you lose through exercise), but it's also important to examine the quality of the food you eat. Common sense is typically a good guide, though don't always believe what one source tells you (especially the government or anyone who gains something financially from your decision, especially on a recurring basis), look at alternatives. If it ain't broke don't fix it, but also periodically check to make sure it isn't breaking : ). With any diet the most important point is to not look at it like a diet, look at it as the way you're going to eat the rest of your life.

I'm done with my rant : ), I would definitely recommend taking a look at The Paleo Diet (and the one 'For Athletes'), and Omnivore's Dilemma if you haven't read those. Both interesting looks at our modern diet, and what is involved in it.

I find that the best part of my diet is dinosaur bone.

LOL... you guys just stick to your crazy low carb diet that supplements the theory that you can eat as much bacon lard and crap as you want, but you CANNOT have beans and certain fruits and veggies and grains because AH MY GAH CARBSSBSBSB!!! Cause seriously, rice is delicious, and you need a bit of everything.

And the hormones thing is serious. And the conditions FOR chickens and their eggs are atrocious, and they are often fed other chickens and leftover organs in order to cut costs. I mean, if you believe in corporate America and their "standards"... God bless you. Because seriously, lol.

The paleo diet is bullcrap. It's meant for men who don't want actual strength, but to have as thin of skin and sustenance as possible to show off their purdy muscles in body-building competitions, which don't represent an actual fit, healthy, strong man. It isn't about being super cut, it's about being strong and healthy. Then there's the fact that you MIGHT turn into a credit card thief because of it buying protein shakes and all that shiz. Like Skeletor from our college gym. "GIVE ME A FULL PLATE OF JUST BROCCOLI AND EGGS I AM SO FIT". Loling forever. I'm leavin' the topic, but those disproving having a balanced diet- have fun with having the pretty, but nonfunctional muscles when it comes down to it. Remember to also dehydrate, so they're more pronounced of course!:)

It's too bad that keeping track of our progress has turned into "Who's Right About Dieting?" Granted a lot of us haven't exactly kept everyone posted, still, it wasn't intended to become some sh*t where we preach to others our diets... and act like they're right. Everyone has a way of eating and living, and if it's right for them, it's right for them. If you wanna caveman the hell out of your lifestyle, so be it. But don't tell another man that he's doing it all wrong and that he needs to cut something out. If he likes his diet, leave him to it. I recall, people can die of second hand smoke before the smoker does. So the principles can apply here as well.

I am currently 306 pounds, up from 305 in October. However, the pants that I am wearing now would not have fit me in October. Therefore, I have lost a good amount of fat and replaced it with muscle. On top of that, those pants I bought are gradually starting to feel looser. I figure by the end of June or maybe mid-July, I'll be buying pants that fit me. SMALLER pants that fit me. I have never in my life had to buy new pants twice in a year, let alone smaller pants.

I haven't changed my diet. Woot for ice cream and burgers (in moderation)!