My diet: time to trigger DEFCON 1

[watchstudent]

I’m not going vegan I like meat too much but I am cutting down and I think moving to a more plant based diet is a good thing .

also if a vegan diet isn’t healthy how do you explain athletes like Djokovic or serena Williams or messi ?

Again I’m no expert but if meat is the only way for us to get our protein but animals get it from grass how does that work ?

I agree going mostly plant based is 100% a good thing, for you and the environment. Just I do not think being vegan completely, is healthy. You will notice all kinds of crap processed food labelled as vegan. Cutting out processed food and refined sugar is probably the best thing we can all do, not that I manage it all the time!

Pretty sure Djokovic is not vegan, he is gluten and dairy free, I think he describes his diet as largely plant based but not vegan? No idea about the other two. But you can be sure that such athletes will have chefs and nutritionists calculating exactly what they need in terms of proteins and full amino acid profile from their diets. So you can get all the protein you need from plants but you have to eat loads (which equals insulin spikes and weight gain (but not if you are a performance athlete clearly!), or be a bit deficient).

Herbivores evolved to only eat plants, and you will notice they eat all day!!

[ryanb741]

Unfortunately simply eating less calories than you burn doesn't necessarily lead to weight loss. You see the body is a clever bugger and if it triggers starvation mode it will lower the Basal Metabolic Rate so if you used to burn 1700 calories a day by existing that may go down to say 1500. So you stop being in calorie deficit and in fact when you go back to eating normally the BMR won't go back up. A huge reason why most people on radical weight loss schemes due to strict calorie control pit it all back on.

This is where the body has been using primarily carbs converted into Glycogen for energy.

The reason low carb diets such as Keto work is they train the body to become fat adapted and use fat for energy. So with the same calorie deficit the body that has been conditioned to use fat as an energy source simply continues to do so by using stored body fat. This keeps BMR up and the weight comes off. Very important to eat enough protein though as one of the reasons BMR goes down on low calorie carb based diets is because the body will break down muscle for energy. Keep muscle mass up by eating enough protein and make the body use body fat as an energy source and you are laughing.

I noticed also on keto my mid distance running performance was vastly improved - I literally had tonnes of energy and at 42 years old and down to around 98 kilos (181 cm height) but 8 months previously at 135 kilos I was doing a 10k run in 48 mins no problem whatsoever and not even slightly tired. The flip side is weight training on keto is a barsteward - performance is way down on a carb diet due to lack of glycogen to power the muscles.

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[cyrusir]

I agree going mostly plant based is 100% a good thing, for you and the environment. Just I do not think being vegan completely, is healthy. You will notice all kinds of crap processed food labelled as vegan. Cutting out processed food and refined sugar is probably the best thing we can all do, not that I manage it all the time!

Pretty sure Djokovic is not vegan, he is gluten and dairy free, I think he describes his diet as largely plant based but not vegan? No idea about the other two. But you can be sure that such athletes will have chefs and nutritionists calculating exactly what they need in terms of proteins and full amino acid profile from their diets. So you can get all the protein you need from plants but you have to eat loads (which equals insulin spikes and weight gain (but not if you are a performance athlete clearly!), or be a bit deficient).

Herbivores evolved to only eat plants, and you will notice they eat all day!!

I am probably using the term vegan too loosely, you are correct re djokovic

I don’t think full vegan makes sense for most but I think we shouldn’t probably be closer to it than most of us are.

[watchstudent]

I am probably using the term vegan too loosely, you are correct re djokovic

I don’t think full vegan makes sense for most but I think we shouldn’t probably be closer to it than most of us are.

Absolutely.


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[robt]

also if a vegan diet isn’t healthy how do you explain athletes like Djokovic or serena Williams or messi ?

I don't think anyone said vegan is inherently unhealthy, although it is definitely not easy to maintain a healthy vegan diet. Probably harder than a healthy ketogenic diet, which is notoriously tricky and generally requires at least some vitamin supplements. FWIW you can buy vegan protein supplements. I think the previous comment was talking about a whole-foods vegan diet, where to get enough protein for something like bodybuilding, would require eating virtually nothing but soya, which would lead to some very bad micronutrient deficiencies!

The macro ratios (protein:fat:carb) for different activities are quite different. Something like tennis or running requires a lot of energy (mainly from carbs or fat), but doesn't require huge amounts of protein to build or maintain huge muscles. Weightlifting doesn't require as much energy, but requires a lot of protein.

Again I’m no expert but if meat is the only way for us to get our protein but animals get it from grass how does that work ?

Evolution. Herbivores eat plants and convert it to protein in the form of meat. This process isn't very time-efficient, so they need to graze more or less constantly. Carnivores and omnivores then eat other animals and digest the proteins, saving time. Carnivores such as cats cannot survive on a vegan diet, because their bodies cannot synthesise all the proteins and amino acids that they would normally get from meat. Omnivores like humans and dogs can, although it may not be their optimal diet.

I don’t think full vegan makes sense for most but I think we shouldn’t probably be closer to it than most of us are.

This is probably true, although "eat more vegetables" is a long way from "we should all be vegan". If you want to be healthy, a sensible amount of meat with plenty of vegetables is the best way forward for most people. If you want to save the planet, strictly speaking a mixture of algae and insects is the way to go :)

[woodacre1983]

Shakes might be worth giving a go will take a look thanks ...

For me I use shakes as a great nutrition boost. I use the same one daily
Handful of spinach (I hate greens!)
Handful of strawberries
Banana
1 scoop of whey protein
Ice and water.
I blitz in blender. Perfect for getting the greens in me. As the banana masks the taste 100%!



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[pacifichrono]

For me I use shakes as a great nutrition boost. I use the same one daily
Handful of spinach (I hate greens!)
Handful of strawberries
Banana
1 scoop of whey protein
Ice and water.
I blitz in blender. Perfect for getting the greens in me. As the banana masks the taste 100%!

Sounds like a great habit to duplicate!

[Chinnock]

IMO the answer is we need to stop cutting down rainforests to rear meat and do it like traditional British farmers do, on open pasture that would be grass anyway. We should eat less meat but pay more for it.

Rainforests are being destroyed for palm oil, soyabeans and avocado production.
.

[pacifichrono]

Three days:

-10 pounds

[Passenger]

For me I use shakes as a great nutrition boost. I use the same one daily
Handful of spinach (I hate greens!)
Handful of strawberries
Banana
1 scoop of whey protein
Ice and water.
I blitz in blender. Perfect for getting the greens in me. As the banana masks the taste 100%!



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yup a home made shakes convert here also, it was a top tip from the 'Abs diet' book, I also like some yoghurt in mine thickens up thus more 'filling'.

good effort PC.

[pacifichrono]

One week update:

Friday, November 8...........202 pounds

Friday, November 15.........190 pounds

After three days of only SlimFast shakes, I was feeling a slight bit 'wobbly,' so I've been substituting a couple shakes with a few hundred calories of low-cal/hi-nutrition food. I'm guessing that will take me to about 187 next Friday. We'll see...

[TKH]

One week update:

Friday, November 8...........202 pounds

Friday, November 15.........190 pounds

After three days of only SlimFast shakes, I was feeling a slight bit 'wobbly,' so I've been substituting a couple shakes with a few hundred calories of low-cal/hi-nutrition food. I'm guessing that will take me to about 187 next Friday. We'll see...

Great results sir keep it up lets try to motivate each other

I started Monday the 4th So 11 days in managed

203 > 193

Need to get to 13 stone target weight which is 182 then see where i go from there.

200 - 200 - 400 (Breakfast- Lunch - Dinner)......not hungry energy levels ok

The My Fitness Pal app has been a huge help

Biggest difference is from not drinking feel so much better, BP dropped, sleeping better, wake up fresh and apparently I am less obnoxious......

[thieuster]

One week update:

Friday, November 8...........202 pounds

Friday, November 15.........190 pounds

After three days of only SlimFast shakes, I was feeling a slight bit 'wobbly,' so I've been substituting a couple shakes with a few hundred calories of low-cal/hi-nutrition food. I'm guessing that will take me to about 187 next Friday. We'll see...

I guy I know lost 60 kilos / 132 lbs using Slimfat 10 yrs ago. Sadly, he has regained 40 kg / 88 lbs again. So yes, you can certainly shed weight with Slimfat (after that, you have to keep it like it was, the hardest part).

[Passenger]

You have to change the way you eat/train in a sustainable way for the longterm, sorry for stating the bleedin' obvious but that's where a lot of the 'diets' let down, especially the rapid ones.

[MST]

I started my "diet" (I actually hate the term) on 15/08/19 and as of my last weigh in on Wednesday just gone I'm 3/4 pound off losing 3 stone, needless to say I'm very pleased.

Mrs. MST is following Slimming World and whilst I don't go to the weekly meetings I do adhere to the plan. That's not to say I haven't been able to enjoy myself, I've just been making healthier choices. I will still go to the kebab shop occasionally and have a chicken/lamb shish kebab with salad and no pitta as opposed to mixed kebab with salad, 2 x pitta and a large chips. I still go out for a few drinks, in fact since starting a new role at the beginning of October I've actually been going out socially a lot more, both for business and pleasure. The most important thing for me has been drawing a line under occasions where I've been a little bit naughty instead of just giving up and giving in.

[TaketheCannoli]

I’m stumped.

For ten days I’ve halved my coffee and sugar intake. For the last four days I’ve replaced breakfast and lunch with Slim Fast shakes, had a normal evening meal and not picked in between.

My face feels thinner and my trousers are more comfortable.

However I’ve lost a total of one pound :(

Thoughts?

[Omegamanic]

Thoughts? Calculate the actual calories you’re consuming, compared to your TDEE.

Despite some of the responses above, you can’t cheat the laws of thermodynamics.

If you are eating more carbs, you may have more water in the muscle cells, if you eat less carbs you will have less water in the muscle cell - that may give you weight gain or weight loss, but water manipulation is not fat loss.

[sjedwardz]

Also how many weeks,months,years did it take for you to put on the weight?

It will take a time to get rid of. As already stated most initial weight loss is due to reduction in water retention.


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[TKH]

I started my "diet" (I actually hate the term) on 15/08/19 and as of my last weigh in on Wednesday just gone I'm 3/4 pound off losing 3 stone, needless to say I'm very pleased.

Mrs. MST is following Slimming World and whilst I don't go to the weekly meetings I do adhere to the plan. That's not to say I haven't been able to enjoy myself, I've just been making healthier choices. I will still go to the kebab shop occasionally and have a chicken/lamb shish kebab with salad and no pitta as opposed to mixed kebab with salad, 2 x pitta and a large chips. I still go out for a few drinks, in fact since starting a new role at the beginning of October I've actually been going out socially a lot more, both for business and pleasure. The most important thing for me has been drawing a line under occasions where I've been a little bit naughty instead of just giving up and giving in.

Tremendous result congratulations sir....19 kgs ! Try picking that up to visualise it....keep it up

I am now 17 days in no booze and 800-900 healthy calories a day feel fab and lost 11 lbs but progress slowing as expected...but another 3 lbs is a stone or 7% of total weight...

Hows Pacific doing ?

[TaketheCannoli]

Thanks for the input. Below is my current status. I'm going to go down the tried and tested route of using My Fitness Pal instead of Slim Fast. I've also registered for Parkrun and will be doing my first one on Saturday.

[Saint-Just]

The key is in ‘gradually’. You have very little to loose, so just increase your activity a bit, without increasing your intake, and you’ll be fine. Going all ‘My fitness Pal’ for a couple of kgs is excessive. It can help you in making more healthy food choices but you do not need it beyond that.

[TaketheCannoli]

Thank you for the sensible advice. I'd like to lose at least nine pounds, ideally around twelve, so I find the app helps me.

The key is in ‘gradually’. You have very little to loose, so just increase your activity a bit, without increasing your intake, and you’ll be fine. Going all ‘My fitness Pal’ for a couple of kgs is excessive. It can help you in making more healthy food choices but you do not need it beyond that.

[MST]

Tremendous result congratulations sir....19 kgs ! Try picking that up to visualise it....keep it up

I am now 17 days in no booze and 800-900 healthy calories a day feel fab and lost 11 lbs but progress slowing as expected...but another 3 lbs is a stone or 7% of total weight...

Thank you for the kind words, I weigh-in Thursday morning when I get up for work and am very pleased to report that I've lost another 3lb this last week which I'm very pleased with as you can imagine.

Congratulations on staying off the booze, I wouldn't say I'm much of drinker but I know how difficult it can be, especially as we hurtle towards the festive season!

Hows Pacific doing ?

You've lost me there though, sorry.

[Saint-Just]

Thank you for the kind words, I weigh-in Thursday morning when I get up for work and am very pleased to report that I've lost another 3lb this last week which I'm very pleased with as you can imagine.

Congratulations on staying off the booze, I wouldn't say I'm much of drinker but I know how difficult it can be, especially as we hurtle towards the festive season!



You've lost me there though, sorry.

Our thread starter, Tom.

[pacifichrono]

Since you asked...I was able to use Slimfast to jumpstart my weight loss from 202 pounds to 190 one week later (six days ago). This second week I have used SlimFast more as a supplement to eating very low-cal meals and vegetable smoothies. Yesterday I weighed 189.

[TaketheCannoli]

A few people in this thread have said “it didn’t take a week to put on so don’t expect it to come off in a week” and I’ve never thought about it like that before. I’d say three years ago I was 15 lbs lighter so it’s taken ages to put on.

[Passenger]

Also remember muscle weighs more than fat but the good news is even gaining a pound or two of additional muscle burns more calories even when you´re resting.

[Omegamanic]

A few people in this thread have said “it didn’t take a week to put on so don’t expect it to come off in a week” and I’ve never thought about it like that before. I’d say three years ago I was 15 lbs lighter so it’s taken ages to put on.

Absolutely, but you don't have to take three years to lose what you've gained. A pound per week Max, would although your skin to adjust quite easily for example, so just 4-8 months of sensible reduction would reach your goal, without too much risk.

Also remember muscle weighs more than fat but the good news is even gaining a pound or two of additional muscle burns more calories even when you´re resting.

Yes, but muscle is also only around 700-800 cals per pound compared to pure fat which is 4077 cals (but that's not an exact equivalent to fat cells which aren't just 100% pure fat, so we use approx. 3500 for ease of calcs). So it is relatively easy to burn off a pound of muscle in certain circumstances, such as eating too little protein, compared to burning off the unwanted fat.

"On average, the density of fat is 0.9 g/mL and the density of muscle is 1.1 g/mL. One liter of fat weighs about 1.98 pounds, andone liter of muscle weighs about 2.3 pounds."


Keep protein high to moderately high. Slim fast is imho crap (Make better sustainable food choices, and lifestyle changes). It may help some reduce weight, but just losing weight should never be the goal.

[MST]

Our thread starter, Tom.

Ahhh yes!

[Passenger]

[/FONT][/COLOR]Omegamanic
Keep protein high to moderately high. Slim fast is imho crap (Make better sustainable food choices, and lifestyle changes). It may help some reduce weight, but just losing weight should never be the goal.[/QUOTE]

Yup totally agree, I should've made it clearer in my post, although he'd struggle to gain any additional muscle without whacking up the lean protein intake in the first place.
As you say it's really this simple 'Make better sustainable food choices, and lifestyle changes' but that's contrary to the way a lot of diets/magic bullets are marketed and sold which is interesting I think and is what underpins the estimated 200 billion dollar a year diet foods industry.

[cheesycake7]

Apologies if I'm repeating things that are already mentioned, did not read the whole thread. But IMO (and having successfully lost fat (not just weight) a couple of times), the 2 most important things are:

1. You need a net calorie deficit. (Which will be largely down to what you consume instead of how much you exercise/work out.)
2. Best way to still feel full while achieving this calorie deficit is to prioritise lean proteins and have plenty of veggies.

There are way too many factors you can consider - e.g. Meal timings, macro composition, quality of proteins/carbs, types of workouts etc... but would just be information overload I think. As long as you stick to the above you'll do well.

[thieuster]

Simple rule: Keep away from food that has been in a factory before it's displayed in the supermarket you. Freshly backed bread from a bakery is also healthier than the soggy bread that's wrapped in plastic. The sogginess has to do with additional enhancers to keep it fresh. Most factory food has been enhanced, prepared, refreshed or ...

Check the labels for 'corn' or 'mais' `(especially in the US); it's used as a sweetener, adding sugars/'fast' carbohydrates.
Fruit: so-called 'red fruit' is better than other fruit samples. Grapes and bananas on the other end of the scale.
A friend with diabetes I has to stay clear from tangerines as well. Not more than one, pref in the morning so that he has the change to walk it off.
Suger-free drinks like Cola Light and Zero are also suspected: the sweet taste activates the start of Diabetes II (source: Weizmann Institure in Israel). Some other researches come up with a different result, though.

The intake of fat isn't that bad when you keep away from carbs. Eggs, homemade mayo, yoghurt as breakfast etc. Not too bad.

The American trend of 'Paleo cooking' is very interesting and is useable for anybody wanting to lead a healthy life. Nice and tasty recipes as well!

Finally, I remember watching this on the BBC(?) https://www.express.co.uk/life-style...-our-fad-diets
and when you need that final push to start loosing weight, watch Supersize Me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me

[Passenger]

Yup strip out processed and refined, also go for wholegrains, most of us don't get near enough fibre. Go nuts for nuts, they have protein, good fats and great for body and brain.

[TKH]

so thought i would update on progress started November 4th so 35 days in and pleased with results so far 14 st 6 > 13 st 4

no booze and 800- 900 calories a day and dog walking as usual ....feel fine zero cravings

the MyFitnessPal app is just brilliant to calorie count and monitor weight..

next milestone 13 st.....must resist Christmas stuff hahah.

hope your still at it Pacific ...... all the best T

[pacifichrono]

With our Thanksgiving holiday two weeks ago and Christmas just around the corner, I'm hovering around 190.

[thieuster]

My weight is more or less at the end of the 'healthy' part of the BMI scale: 25. Mostly between 22 and 24. Three weeks ago, my BMI was 25.1. inspired by this thread, I've started as well trying to loose weight. Three weeks in, 3 kilos/6.6 pounds gone.

I try to avoid carbohydrates as much as possible. Protein-rich meals and a little fat (Greek yoghurt) in the morning helped a lot. No sugars, no sweetened stuff. Nuts (not the sort that's been cooked in oil), for lunch chicken breast fillet, some humus and rocket salad. In the evening no potatoes, pasta, rice or similar. Only fresh vegs stirr-fried.

Meat wise... well, slowly but surely I'm turning vegetarian. Not only to save an animal's life, but also the fact that it costs an enormous amount of energy, land, plants and others stuff before it's on my plate. It's now often replaced for food with enough nutrition. At least 3x/week.

Menno

[#Craig]

I can highly recommend keto. Been on it 4 months and I feel a completely different person. Not just the weight loss. Watch some YouTube on it!