Internet diet? How about food diet?

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by srick

Had to follow my own advice last night.

It had been a busy, stressful day at work with little time for lunch. When I got home, I launched into stress eating mode, scarfing down hummus and crackers, then a lean dinner. But I wasn’t done... so after dinner, had a banana, then About a half hour after that, grabbed the trail mix (which is full of M and M’s) - bad move.

I broke the fugue by going upstairs for a shower and then thoroughly flossing and brushing my teeth. It worked, and stopped me from nibbling all night. Try it, it works.

I forced some exercise after a tough day. It was moderate compared to the day before but broke that sitting, being tired, and could have eaten more.

My own opinions on the topic are many fool themselves on the importance of activity, and not having a well balanced diet makes the activity harder.

At one point last year I realized it was reasonable to do a year of "close the rings" with Apple Watch. Some friendly competition made it fun too. As time went on I realized a no cheats close the rings was not just possible but an automatic machine to not gain winter weight. The nudge to do it as a day ended would get me moving.

If I do what the Apple Watch considers 35 - 65 minutes of exercise every day it's just automatically easy to be in trim pants, feel better and enjoy food.

With activity just part of life - most of 2007 to now - fad diets became even more goofy. With working at agility and some pain and injury issues I had to eat everything. I'm a total believer in stop the fads, enjoy food, but move your self and do it all with good sense.

Now I hope others can get some motion and feel better. It is total quality of life insurance that's fun to do.

[DenverSteve]

Actually eat salad regularly and stay away from caloric drinks and call it a lifestyle not a diet.

[Pura Vida]

Lots of good advice here, and the timing is perfect, as I'm about to kickstart some healthy changes in my diet and exercise. I've struggled with my weight, and two years ago, I was diagnosed with Diabetes, high cholesterol, and high BP.... it's like the dam broke all at once with my middle age. I was really good for the first six months, but my work is the killer (it's a 24x7 job), so I began to slip into my old, poor habits over the last 12-18 months. Hoping to change that this summer and carry the momentum into the fall and winter months, where getting out can be more difficult.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by DenverSteve

Actually eat salad regularly and stay away from caloric drinks and call it a lifestyle not a diet.

I actually did that for years. Salad's always been a staple and water (or unflavored seltzer) my drink of choice. The problem was the "occasional" sandwich and slice of pizza and desert. Which became less and less occasional. I didn't need to eat more salad or drink less caloric drinks - I was already pretty close to the limit on both. It's the getting stuff OUT of my diet that needed to happen. So I'm trying KETO, I'm not afraid to call it a diet, and we'll see. I don't know how long I can keep it up, but I don't think it's strongest proponents recommend doing it indefinitely.

Several months to get fully acclimated to it and to burn off a lot of excess fat, and THEN I think they recommend introducing one or two "carb days" per week just to keep your glycogen stores up (which was a big deal when I was doing 5-6 hour bike rides). But that's the part that scares me. If it's working and I'm still not having cravings and I feel satisfied pretty much all the time (until the next meal time and often still then), then the idea of introducing carbs back in seems like it's as likely to jump start the cravings as anything else. But I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, IF I get to it. Getting there is the current focus.

-Ray

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Pura Vida

Lots of good advice here, and the timing is perfect, as I'm about to kickstart some healthy changes in my diet and exercise. I've struggled with my weight, and two years ago, I was diagnosed with Diabetes, high cholesterol, and high BP.... it's like the dam broke all at once with my middle age. I was really good for the first six months, but my work is the killer (it's a 24x7 job), so I began to slip into my old, poor habits over the last 12-18 months. Hoping to change that this summer and carry the momentum into the fall and winter months, where getting out can be more difficult.

You've got my best wishes. I'm happy to let you know what's helped here. I share the never ending job, and this past year I kept my weight steady all winter.

Start with something fun. Go for a swim, ride a bike, hike in a place of beauty. Keep in mind how much exercise you can do while or close to working. Walk a bit more etc....

I'm not going to say don't try the low carb diet. Maybe it will help start things. For me and most my doctor cares for it has to be balanced. You need energy and pleasure too! Just staying away from restaurants and too much prepared food product solve a lot for me.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Cypress Knee

The trick is to keep it off once you finish the program. I don't think a keto diet is sustainable over a long period of time (unless there is a medical necessity.) And I think that marketers are taking advantage of the fad to sell keto cookies and keto pizza and so on. But if you do it right, and do it with discipline, it will work.

While I know folks who have successfully lost weight on a keto diet (as well as Atkins and Paleo), they've all put the weight back on within a few months.

I've always thought that establishing a healthy, balanced, low-fat diet is the far better solution than "crash" diets that make you abstain from entire food groups to achieve a quick result. Unfortunately, the results are slower to materialize, and the commitment is lifelong, and people are impatient and easily tempted.

Here's the Mayo Clinic's take on trend diets.

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by imwjl

You've got my best wishes. I'm happy to let you know what's helped here. I share the never ending job, and this past year I kept my weight steady all winter.

Start with something fun. Go for a swim, ride a bike, hike in a place of beauty. Keep in mind how much exercise you can do while or close to working. Walk a bit more etc....

I'm not going to say don't try the low carb diet. Maybe it will help start things. For me and most my doctor cares for it has to be balanced. You need energy and pleasure too! Just staying away from restaurants and too much prepared food product solve a lot for me.

Good luck!

Thanks! When life was a little simpler, and I was a little younger, I weighed about the same as I do today. I went heavily into a LC diet, which suited me well (meats, veggies, some cheese), and I lost 60lbs (and about 8-10" in the waist!). But my knees deteriorated from a previous car accident, and since my knee replacement surgery in 2011 (recovery didn't go as planned), I've put every ounce back on... plus the job, kids, age, and all the other excuses. But it's hit critical mass (literally!), and it's time to get disciplined on the food, exercise, sleep, etc.

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by Willie Voltaire

While I know folks who have successfully lost weight on a keto diet (as well as Atkins and Paleo), they've all put the weight back on within a few months.

I've always thought that establishing a healthy, balanced, low-fat diet is the far better solution than "crash" diets that make you abstain from entire food groups to achieve a quick result. Unfortunately, the results are slower to materialize, and the commitment is lifelong, and people are impatient and easily tempted.

Here's the Mayo Clinic's take on trend diets.

Speaking from personal experience, the problem with Atkins (or similar diets) isn't the diet... it's when people have success or hit their target, they abandon the disciplined decisions that helped them lose the weight in the first place. And with a high protein / high fat diet, if you introduce carbs back into the mix, the calories often come racing back, and the weight returns. Those who keep it off, do what's recommended, which is to slowly introduce some good carbs (beans, some fruits, etc.) and continue a sensible, maintenance form of the diet (or eating lifestyle, or whatever you want to call it).

[dkstott]

I eliminated lots of bread type carbs and replaced it with fruit and veggies. NO soda, and 3-4 beers maximum a week. I drink lots of water, probably 80-90 oz a day!!

2 years ago, I could barely walk a mile without getting winded. But I persevered and walked 1 miles 3 days a week. Gradually increased the distance & frequency over time.

Now, at age 64 - I'm jogging 4 miles, 7 days a week. BP is way down, total cholesterol level is 165, blood sugar is great and no longer verging on diabetes.

10,000 steps a day is completed before 10AM every day of the week

Somehow or another, my eyesight has also improved and I've recently gotten rid of the Trifocals and I'm wearing Bifocals.

As of my doctors appointment last week I've lost 75 lbs.

I can actually wear my US Navy uniform that I last wore in 1982.

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by dkstott

I eliminated lots of bread type carbs and replaced it with fruit and veggies. NO soda, and 3-4 beers maximum a week. I drink lots of water, probably 80-90 oz a day!!

2 years ago, I could barely walk a mile without getting winded. But I persevered and walked 1 miles 3 days a week. Gradually increased the distance & frequency over time.

Now, at age 64 - I'm jogging 4 miles, 7 days a week. BP is way down, total cholesterol level is 165, blood sugar is great and no longer verging on diabetes.

10,000 steps a day is completed before 10AM every day of the week

Somehow or another, my eyesight has also improved and I've recently gotten rid of the Trifocals and I'm wearing Bifocals.

As of my doctors appointment last week I've lost 75 lbs.

I can actually wear my US Navy uniform that I last wore in 1982.

Awesome DK, good for you!

Originally Posted by Pura Vida

Speaking from personal experience, the problem with Atkins (or similar diets) isn't the diet... it's when people have success or hit their target, they abandon the disciplined decisions that helped them lose the weight in the first place.

That's true of any diet.

Originally Posted by Pura Vida

And with a high protein / high fat diet, if you introduce carbs back into the mix, the calories often come racing back, and the weight returns. Those who keep it off, do what's recommended, which is to slowly introduce some good carbs (beans, some fruits, etc.) and continue a sensible, maintenance form of the diet (or eating lifestyle, or whatever you want to call it).

And this why it makes more sense to adopt a healthy, balanced diet, instead of one that eliminates entire food groups to accelerate the results. If those carbs are "good," they should never have been taken out in the first place.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Willie Voltaire

While I know folks who have successfully lost weight on a keto diet (as well as Atkins and Paleo), they've all put the weight back on within a few months.

I've always thought that establishing a healthy, balanced, low-fat diet is the far better solution than "crash" diets that make you abstain from entire food groups to achieve a quick result. Unfortunately, the results are slower to materialize, and the commitment is lifelong, and people are impatient and easily tempted.

Here's the Mayo Clinic's take on trend diets.

That Mayo article covers why I was given the well balanced diet when in specialty GI and endocrinologist care, and why the diet my general practitioner gave for age and exercise was pretty much the same. Many times sitting int he GI clinic waiting room I saw them give pretty much everyone the same diet handout.

Stage II of what my wife will call "don't be an idiot" was when she was dealing with cancer, a hospital mistake, and when we both reached new capabilities with our cycling. Nothing helped us perform better, get faster, and ride longer than good real food.

Real food with common sense plus what the Apple Watch is after with "close the rings" just works and it is sustainable.

One of my kids made really great cookies. We all had 1-2. Some pals have a trail ride planned in two hours. Yippie - cookies, a beer later on, and no weight gain.

None of all these stupid fads seem to have the core thing that took me from being a chubby kid or a brief period of unhealthy. Look in the mirror and don't kid yourself.

[raysachs]

I agree there's nothing like a balanced, sane diet and a lot of exercise. I had a friend who was a naturopathic doc when I was younger and I remember her saying, doing everything right is ideal, but I'd rather have a patient eat McDonalds and run five miles every day than eat a perfect diet and sit on their butt.

Up to about 6-7 years ago I was still getting a lot of exercise - I wasn't cycling as much as in my peak years but I was still doing 2-3000 miles per year and was really active aside from that too. But then the asthma that had been well managed for my whole adult life suddenly wasn't. And while it's ebbed and flowed in the years since, it hasn't been good, just different degrees of bad. I just can't work out hard without paying a really big and fairly immediate price. Believe me I'd love to be able to - it's not a lifestyle I'm unfamiliar with. But I really can't do much more than walk and do some really light lifting these days. I can ride my bike around town, but no more 50 mile hilly rides, or even 20 mile hilly rides. Basically, no more hilly rides, really nothing that puts me into oxygen debt. Which I used to thrive on.

So I'm never gonna burn the number of calories I used to, my metabolism is never gonna run anywhere near as hot as it used to. So my only real option is to find some way to limit the intake. When I'm eating carbs, I've never been very good at that, and carbs don't want you to be good at that - they're kind of programmed to make you want more. If Keto doesn't work, if I'm unable to stick with it over time, then I'll be back where I was, and I'll probably try something else.

It's ultimately about discipline and not taking in many calories when you've lost the ability to burn as many as you'd like to. It both makes intuitive sense to me and FEELS like that's easier to do when you're not taking in the sugars that make you crave more sugar. I still wake up hungry on Keto, but then when I eat, I'm not hungry again until at least lunchtime and usually a later lunch than I was used to. Same with dinner. Sometimes lunch slides to late afternoon and becomes dinner. I surely have doubts about my ability to maintain this long term. I'm only gonna find out by doing it though. Right now it feels like the easiest thing in the world. We'll see if it still does in six months. And particularly when and if I get far enough along with it that it's time to start reintroducing slightly less limited amounts of carbs. That's the part that actually feels the most uncertain...

-Ray