Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Lordinquisitor]

Hello good folks of bay12!

The following matter is busying me and i hope that you might help.

My girlfriend wants to go an diet- She thinks that she`s too fat. And while i don`t think so, it`s a huge problem for her, since she weights more than i do and feels uncomfortable. (My weight shouldn`t be a rule at all, though, since i clock in at 60 kilograms at 1,79 cm height.)

Now, while she isn`t fat, she is somewhat heavier than girls of her age and stature and thus there is room for her to lose weight, or else i wouldn`t even begin to support this endeavor. So i decided to gather some information about possible and working diets; I know that most of them are full of shit- And if she wants to do one, i want her to do one which works.

And thats my question- Has anybody here a suggestion for a solid, working, diet? Of course; That`s just one part, exercise is important too, and i`m also trying to convince her to pick up jogging or something. (Or rather, i don`t want to convince her to pick it up, i`m just making it clear to her, that exercise is one of the most important factors if you want to lose weight.)

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[Reverie]

As someone who finds herself in the reverse situation of being quite thin outside of my control and can't for the life of me gain weight (though I'd like to), I'd first consider that genetics play a huge factor in how people are built and from that baseline they may or may not deviate via diet and exercise. I'm no professional on the subject of weight loss...but beyond stating that it's perfectly normal to be slightly heavier than average, I'd suggest trying to adhere to a more balanced diet and exercising a bit (if she doesn't already).

Media standards are horrid, in any case--best wishes to her and her self-esteem.

[martinuzz]

Recent academical studies support that NOT going on a diet is the best diet there is.
Then again, if you combine macdonalds on weekdays with pizza on weekends, you might want to change your current diet.

Best thing to do to keep your body in shape, and lose some excess pounds, if you have those, is excercise.

Oh, and never, ever take television show actors or advertisement models as ideal. A lot of them are anorexic, and not healthy.
If anything, a slightly chubby woman is a sign of good health.

[uber pye]

my parents are on weight watcher (the online version, they don't have to go to meetings) and that worked out great for them.

[LordBucket]

Has anybody here a suggestion for a solid, working, diet?

Step 1: Pick up an active, aerobic hobby that you genuinely enjoy. Skiing, in-line skating, ice skating, jogging. Whatever it is, be sure that it is aerobic in the literal oxygen-burning sense. It must make you breath a lot. For example, weight lifting is a bad choice. Make sure it's something you enjoy enough that you would do it even if weight loss weren't you goal. It's easier to do something you want to do because you enjoy it than it is to do something you hate because you feel like you have to. I especially recommend in-line skating as it is both highly aerobic and much easier on your joints than jogging.

Step 2: Do it a lot. Ideally, incorporate it into your daily life. For example, it may be possible to skate to the grocery store, to the bank, etc. It's much easier to do things of this sort regularly than other choices that require you to "go somewhere" to do them. Why spend 15 minutes driving to the gym, 5 minutes changing, 30 minutes working out, 5 minutes changing back and 15 minutes driving back when you can simply put on your skates and go out the front door?

Step 3: Listen to your body and eat accordingly. Don't pay too much attention to calorie counting. If you're hungry, eat. Be sure to get enough protein. You may find that if you're regularly active you will eat less, simply because it's unpleasant and difficult to skate/jog/etc 2-3 miles on a full stomach. Don't starve yourself. Don't set arbitrary goals or quotas for eating habits. If you want a chocolate sundae, that's ok. Eat a chocolate sundae. Just be sure to give your body the things that it does need. Highly active people don't need to watch what they eat or avoid things they like. You and your girlfriend probably both know people who eat way more than you do but are thin. None of those people count calories or starve themselves. Adopt the life habits of thin and athletic people first, and let your eating follow. Don't try to change your eating habits first in hopes that the rest will follow. "Being on a diet" is a lifestyle habit for many chronically overweight people. Don't become one of them.

Step 4: Drink water. Give up sugary drinks like soda, snapple, etc. I recommend drinking bottled spring water, and not tap water or "tap water in a plastic bottle." It tastes better. That makes it easier to do.

Step 5: Make this a lifestyle. Don't expect to be able to do this for a couple months, lose some weight and then go back to your old habits. Many people who successfully lose weight immediately gain it back. Your current body is the result of your current habits over time. Change your habits and you will get different results.

[Vector]

1. Someone is going to be heavier than average.  That is how average happens.

2. Take long walks and hikes together.  I basically don't exercise and I eat whatever I want, but I also walk everywhere--usually an hour or two every day up and down hills, carrying my own groceries and books from the library home, etc.

3. Look up the Health at Every Size movement.  Seriously, none of this self-starvation or calorie-counting stuff.  Humans are not combustion engines.  Eat what your body needs and if you sometimes take a couple weeks eating mostly toast, chocolate, and pasta, like I just did, don't worry about it.  Focus on paying attention to how your body feels and you won't overeat.

[Bauglir]

I've actually found calorie-counting to be pretty helpful, but with a major caveat - do not have an arbitrary cutoff for the day, or let the current count stop you from eating. Instead, use it for informing your long-term decisions about what to have around the home to eat, and how you cook your meals, and for figuring out which option to take if you've got multiples available. Having an idea of how many calories are in the meal you cook can help you figure out how much to cook in the first place, for instance (it's easier to stop eating with an empty plate). Knowing you've already neared your target suggests you might want to include more vegetables in a snack, instead of fruit or meat. That sort of thing. Don't decide to be hungry because you've passed your target number.

In any case, you shouldn't force yourself to eat foods you dislike, and if you have a craving you might as well go for it. The willpower you use resisting temptation is going to stress you out (stress can be bad for weight loss), and drain your resources for keeping to other parts of the plan (such as exercise).

I use "you" a lot here, but more accurately in this case it refers to your girlfriend. It's that kind of general "you" that doesn't really refer to a specific person >_________>

Anyway, good advice already in-thread.

[Vector]

I've actually found calorie-counting to be pretty helpful, but with a major caveat - do not have an arbitrary cutoff for the day, or let the current count stop you from eating. Instead, use it for informing your long-term decisions about what to have around the home to eat, and how you cook your meals, and for figuring out which option to take if you've got multiples available. Having an idea of how many calories are in the meal you cook can help you figure out how much to cook in the first place, for instance (it's easier to stop eating with an empty plate). Knowing you've already neared your target suggests you might want to include more vegetables in a snack, instead of fruit or meat. That sort of thing. Don't decide to be hungry because you've passed your target number.

In any case, you shouldn't force yourself to eat foods you dislike, and if you have a craving you might as well go for it. The willpower you use resisting temptation is going to stress you out (stress can be bad for weight loss), and drain your resources for keeping to other parts of the plan (such as exercise).

I use "you" a lot here, but more accurately in this case it refers to your girlfriend. It's that kind of general "you" that doesn't really refer to a specific person >_________>

Anyway, good advice already in-thread.

Ooooh, that's a really good point at the beginning.

You can also serve meals in smaller dishes--don't go "and you can't have seconds!"  Just eat a smaller portion to start off with and use the time between portions to let your appetite settle.

[Funk]

Always eat before you go shoping that way you buy a more balanced suppy of food, not just food you whant to eat cou your hungry.

[Anvilfolk]

I read Good Calories, Bad Calories and came away with the belief that eating more fat and less sugar/carbohidrates (pasta, rice, potatoes, especially the white, more processed varieties) regulates your insulin so that you take on fat. Eating fat does not translate to getting body fat. Eating lots of carbs makes your insulin go up, which tells your body to store all the thing in fat because there's supposed to be too much blood sugar.

Anyway, it was a great read, but doesn't really suggest any actual diet.

I'll second the notion of finding some sport you really like Just try them out with an open mind - I found out recently that racquetball is hilariously fun, which I wouldn't have thought possible

[gimlet]

My tips would be:  don't go nuts starting crazy fad diets.    Improve step by step - be careful of going hardcore day 1 and then burning out, cheating, or getting "food fatigue" from  too-monotonous flavors and quitting.

Advice depends on how healthy current diet is.   Relatively painless 1st steps:

Cut out sodas and empty calories completely.  Fruit "flavored" drinks suck too - always look at the labels.  Even pure fruit juice isn't so great - a LITTLE isn't awful, but better to eat entire fruit so at least you get some fiber.  If you're having trouble weaning off sodas, try water with a little lemon,  or unsweetened tea.

Move from processed white flour products like white bread/white pasta to whole grain complex carbohydrate foods like brown rice, wheat berries, quinoa.  Mix in some lentils or beans for protein.
My go-to meal is lentils or black beans + brown rice/wheat berries/quinoa, cooked in chicken broth in steamer or slow cooker, mix in a cup of fresh or frozen mixed vegetables near the end so they stay crispy.  Flavor variations:  tomato&garlic for "spaghetti like", kalamata olives + capers + tomato and garlic for "puttanesca" (heh I like tomatos and garlic ),  boneless skinless chicken breast under the roiler, hot peppers, salmon under the broiler, tuna&horseradish, really just about anything you can do to rice/pasta/bread.  A LITTLE sausage or cheese once in there once in a while won't kill ya, don't chuck in a half pound just add little bits for flavoring - maybe an ounce or 2.   I like lentils 'cause they cook in the same time as the rice/wheat and I can dump it all in the cooker at once, with dry beans you have to remember to soak em in advance.   Canned beans aren't too awful once in a while, but watch out for the sodium if you're eating a lot of canned stuff.

Baked potato with salsa or herb seasoning once in a while isn't so bad, eat the skin.  I even have a little butter or cheese or olive oil, but I'd cut that way down if I was trying hard to lose weight.

Salads are always good, watch out for the dressing.  If you're moving from big macs then a LITTLE dressing is a step up.  But ideally just use pepper or herb seasoning and other vegetables like tomatoes/onions/garlic/radishes/peppers for flavor.  A little olive oil/vinegar isn't too awful either - you do want *some* fat/oil throughout the day but use your head about the quantities.

Breakfast - oatmeal maybe with a little honey and/or nuts or fruit.  Grapefruit is nice.  Eggs aren't too bad a couple times a week, obviously don't fry em - poach or scramble.  I usually scramble 'em in the microwave with some onions and maybe a little parmesan cheese, or green peppers, or salsa.  I like muesli once in a while, mixed with milk or yogurt.

I moved to "smaller meals more frequently" - the theory being that big meals stretch out the stomach more so that you get in the habit of NEEDING big meals to feel full.  Instead I snack on nuts&raisins, or greek yogurt+fruit, or celery or salads.   Brown rice cakes or (unbuttered)popcorn.   Special mention for blueberries, man I love blueberries.

Eat slow, chew a lot (I chew a LOT), drink lots of water.  Take a break after a plateful and see if you feel full - you'll get a feel for the right portion size.

Obviously figure out if you're allergic to wheat or dairy or something, if so DUH avoid it.

Stay completely away from the processed food aisles in the grocery stores, you should be buying only raw fruits and vegetables, bags of grains and beans, small quantities of raw meat & fish.  Don't even keep bad stuff in the house - if the only snack is celery you're likelier to eat it than when it's a choice between celery and ice cream...

To keep your energy steady, keep yourself topped up with the right mix of foods.  Fruit will give you a quick sugar boost, protein and complex carbohydrates will give you energy over a longer period, a LITTLE fat like from nuts, oily fish like salmon/tuna, small amount of olive oil on salads is vital, and helps you feel fuller longer.  Even a couple squares of dark chocolate isn't too horrible once in a while - obviously don't gobble down a half pound at a time.

My opinions, read up and test out what works for you.  Good luck.

[Beast Tamer]

1: Avoid sugary drinks, drink Tea or water instead.

2: Eat more vegetables, beans, and fruits than meat. If eating meat choose lean cuts. A slice of chicken about the size of a deck of cards usually contains as much protein as you'll need in a day.

3: Avoid foods that are empty carbs like potatoes. Also avoid most sauces and dips, Ketchup alone is filled with sugar.

4: Find a form of exercise that you enjoy. It can be something simple like walking or running (I chose Karate).

Also, I'd caution against going on diets just for the sake of loosing weight. Use the Body Mass Index scale to see what your BMI is. Remember that it doesn't account for weight from muscle, so it's possible to be considered obese despite being a wall of meat.

[Caz]

3. Look up the Health at Every Size movement.

Please be trolling. -_-

[Bauglir]

In general, I've found that what you eat isn't a big deal compared to how much. It's just, you want to think of "how much" in terms of calories instead of weight or volume (see previous post). But you can lose weight on a cheesy, meaty, starchy diet if you do it right. Vegetables, however, are extremely useful because they provide bulk with low calories, which helps with feeling satiated. Just make sure you don't get them mixed up with fruits masquerading as vegetables, such as tomatoes or peppers, which tend not to be the low-calorie bulk foods that I'm talking about here.

[Vector]

3. Look up the Health at Every Size movement.

Please be trolling. -_-

Nope.

You do know that what it's about is eating for health with a possible side effect of changing weight, as opposed to eating to lose weight with a possible side effect of changing health?  This was definitely a message I needed.  Oh, and if anyone's wondering, I've spent most of my life--including now--thin enough that I have a really hard time keeping warm.  In California

So yeah, if you want to diet to lose weight, I'm fucking fantastic at it.  However, this is a public service announcement that if you're sacrificing your health to do it, it's not worth it.