Losing Weight....Got Tips

• sleeper

  

  bases_loaded;1190482 wrote:Is dried fruit and nuts a good between meal snack?
  
  And sparkling water? Is that bad or good?

  Sparkling water is fine. Nuts are good, dried fruit is iffy depending on how much sugar is added.
• OneBuckeye

  

  bases_loaded;1190482 wrote:Is dried fruit and nuts a good between meal snack?
  
  And sparkling water? Is that bad or good?

  Why do you need the sparkle? It probably has Artifical Sweetner in it...
  
  Dried fruit: not good if you are trying to lose weight
  Nuts: Not good if you are trying to lose weight. Although on small handfull of Almonds would be ok.
  
  Also note: Cashews and Peanuts are not Nuts. They are leguemes (beans). Stick to Almonds and Macademia nuts.
• BR1986FB

  OneBuckeye;1190503 wrote:Why do you need the sparkle? It probably has Artifical Sweetner in it...
  
  Dried fruit: not good if you are trying to lose weight
  Nuts: Not good if you are trying to lose weight. Although on small handfull of Almonds would be ok.
  
  Also note: Cashews and Peanuts are not Nuts. They are leguemes (beans). Stick to Almonds and Macademia nuts.

  Truth. Nuts can get you into trouble real quick (calorie dense) as can dried fruit (sugar dense).
• bases_loaded

  

  OneBuckeye;1190503 wrote:Why do you need the sparkle? It probably has Artifical Sweetner in it...
  .

  
  I've always liked sparkling water, perrier just seems more refreshing sometimes...I didn't know if there was something in the carbonation that makes it unhealthy i wasn't aware of
• Automatik

  

  I don't know about sparking water, but my dentist told me to even cut back on diet soda due to the acidity potentially eating away your enamel.
• sleeper

  

  bases_loaded;1190545 wrote:I've always liked sparkling water, perrier just seems more refreshing sometimes...I didn't know if there was something in the carbonation that makes it unhealthy i wasn't aware of

  It's just CO2. No harm here. It's not the carbonation in pop that's bad for you, it's the sugar.
• BR1986FB

  I may be off base but I don't think a water like Perrier has sugar/sweetener in it.
• Ironman92

  

  Guessing I was around 3500 calories a day for a very long time.....I've always been very active but my diet is/was the worst. I love the meats and the sugars. I probably consumed a 1,000 unhealthy (but tasty) calories every night AFTER eating way too much for dinner. I went the month of February without any pop so I can knock that without the caffeine headaches in a few days.
  
  Day 1 1750 calories
  Day 2 2000
  
  Day 3....feel pretty good
  
  This is gonna work. Thanks for all the advice/info/opinions.
• OSH

  

  Honestly, there is probably not one set "diet" or health regimen that will work for everyone. There are probably some that are close, but with the crap that we've put in our bodies for X-amount of years, it's hard to tell what we've done to screw things up thus far. It's probably a safe bet to get some checkups to see how your health is throughout your "lifestyle change."
  
  Depends on who you read, breakfast is an important meal...but it's just as important as any food throughout the day.
  
  As mentioned previously, stay away from "white" things -- pastas, breads, pastes, etc. Try to stay away from unnecessary calories like drinks.
  
  You can eat tremendously healthy with eggs, meats, and vegetables. Throw in some almonds and few peanuts or peanut butter too, that's not bad eating.
  
  As for the "weigh-ins," it's really up to you. I have weighed-in almost every day for the last 130ish days. My travel limits me, especially when I forget my scale. Get on a good routine that helps with the change, and it can help stick. Unfortunately, my summer is pretty crap right now with as much travel as I'm about to do. That just means, come August, I really have to get back on a good eating habit.
• Azubuike24

  

  Dried fruit might as well be a Snickers.
• Ironman92

  

  Azubuike24;1190808 wrote:Dried fruit might as well be a Snickers.

  
  Well two things IMO
  
  240 calories of dried fruit is a lot of dry fruit.....and it wouldn't even fell like it's sunk in. I just had a mix of Planter's Antioxidant stuff that was about 150 calories. It was a decent little snack that I felt I needed and it had some dried fruits in it.....I wouldn't want 240 calories of the dried fruit.
  
  As for the Snicker's.....they are flippin satisfying and 240 calories....sounds like a "reward for staying strong and doing well" every now and then.
• thavoice

  OSH chimed in on the weigh ins. I had lost 75 lbs over a time and before that I had tried so many things. All came down to eating less, eating better and a ton of cardio for me. I still ate bad stuff, just not as often, or as much of it.
  
  Weighing in every day early on can be a discouragement because your body fluctuates so much. You literally could be down, but the scale shows up because you of water retenton or whatnot and it can get ya frustrated. When I was faithfully sticking to what I had to do I weighed in every 21 days. What that allowed me was if I was holding in some water or whatnot it didnt seem quite as demoralizing. Instaed of losing 10-12 on the scale maybe it read 9-10. No big deal. BUt if ya do it every day it can get very discouraging as you can have a great day of PT, eat well in the proportions you want and ya weigh in and not see it and get flustered and that can derail ya.
  
  
  I do think weighing in daily can be beneficial down the road when you are trying to maintain so you dont slowly creep back up
• Ironman92

  

  Ironman92;1190814 wrote:Well two things IMO
  
  240 calories of dried fruit is a lot of dry fruit.....and it wouldn't even fell like it's sunk in. I just had a mix of Planter's Antioxidant stuff that was about 150 calories. It was a decent little snack that I felt I needed and it had some dried fruits in it.....I wouldn't want 240 calories of the dried fruit.
  
  As for the Snicker's.....they are flippin satisfying and 240 calories....sounds like a "reward for staying strong and doing well" every now and then.

  
  *feel
• Ironman92

  

  Ironman92;1190816 wrote:*feel

  
  Please stay on topic
• Azubuike24

  

  Blood sugar regulation is the main focus, IMO. Snickers, dried fruit, oatmeal, doesn't matter.
• BR1986FB

  Azubuike24;1190823 wrote:Blood sugar regulation is the main focus, IMO. Snickers, dried fruit, oatmeal, doesn't matter.

  True story
• that_guy

  I'm in the same boat of needing to lose a lot of weight, a very stressful Jan-May caused a large weight gain (25-30 lbs), so the past couple weeks, I've been following a paleo diet- no gluten, no sugar, very limited dairy, while also tracking calories fairly closely (shooting for 1,700 a day). However, I do allow for one cheat meal a week, usually at a decent restaurant, but I've been making sure not to completely stuff myself at these. I've also eliminated alcohol, except for a drink or two at the cheat meal. My workouts have been a Crossfit class 4 mornings a week (which includes a lot of weight training) and sprints at a nearby track 3 times a week. I'm fairly certain this approach should help me drop weight, now it's just a matter of continuing to stick to it. After the first couple weeks I definitely feel better....
• BR1986FB

  that_guy;1190985 wrote:I'm in the same boat of needing to lose a lot of weight, a very stressful Jan-May caused a large weight gain (25-30 lbs), so the past couple weeks, I've been following a paleo diet- no gluten, no sugar, very limited dairy, while also tracking calories fairly closely (shooting for 1,700 a day). However, I do allow for one cheat meal a week, usually at a decent restaurant, but I've been making sure not to completely stuff myself at these. I've also eliminated alcohol, except for a drink or two at the cheat meal. My workouts have been a Crossfit class 4 mornings a week (which includes a lot of weight training) and sprints at a nearby track 3 times a week. I'm fairly certain this approach should help me drop weight, now it's just a matter of continuing to stick to it. After the first couple weeks I definitely feel better....

  Come on over to the Paleo thread...
• Sonofanump

  that_guy;1190985 wrote:However, I do allow for one cheat meal a week, usually at a decent restaurant, but I've been making sure not to completely stuff myself at these.

  According to Tony Horton 80/20 is good idea, one bad meal a week would be 95/5.
• DeadliestWarrior34

  

  If you want some helpful information, you can read the threads and stickies here. Or just browse the whole site for more info.
• hoops23

  

  BR1986FB;1190988 wrote:Come on over to the Paleo thread...

  I'll be checking it out myself.
• I Wear Pants

  http://www.basrutten.com/dvd/bas-rutten-mma-workout-cds-and-dvd.html#!prettyPhoto
  
  This is my go to workout for when I'm not hitting the gym, don't feel like running, or can't find someone to roll with. Nothing complex, not gimmicky, just works. There's a few different CDs but each one is Bas calling out combinations for you to do either on a heavy bag, with a partner holding pads, or shadowboxing alone. Trust me, even with the shadowboxing you'll be tired. The all around workout cd I like because it mixes in push-ups, jumping squats, ab work, biceps, and a few other things using the rounds of striking as a rest. Each disc has a two minute and three minute round track for when you get more advanced. They all take at most 30 minutes and you will be absolutely drenched in sweat.
  
  I didn't even copypasta that, I just like these discs a lot. You can find them on the usual internet places if you wanted to give them a spin before purchasing.
  
  That and just start eating better. I don't follow a specific diet right now but I try not to eat shitty food very often at all, works out pretty well.
• Ironman92

  

  Holy Shit Batman
  
  Weighed in Sunday Night at 217
  
  4 days of yardwork activity and way better habits eating and I'm down to 208.4
  
  Was hoping for 4.
  
  Thanks guys.....I know it's the initial quick weight and it gets harder....but I'm pretty happy.
• OneBuckeye

  

  Ironman92;1192811 wrote:Holy Shit Batman
  
  Weighed in Sunday Night at 217
  
  4 days of yardwork activity and way better habits eating and I'm down to 208.4
  
  Was hoping for 4.
  
  Thanks guys.....I know it's the initial quick weight and it gets harder....but I'm pretty happy.

  congrats. It ain't rocket science. It's just amazing all the BS you tend to eat and how little you move when you aren't paying atteniton.