Do I even need a weight loss plan?

[HipHipHooray]

I am only about 20-30lbs overweight. I don't have lots of money to get health food, but I'm thinking if I do these things that I can lose weight just fine:

Exercise 5 days a week.
Eat smaller meals, spaced out 5 times a day.
No soda... just water and green tea.
No very unhealthy foods (ice cream, etc)
One apple a day...

Small things like that. Has anyone ever tried a similar approach? How did it work? I thought about finding out what my caloric requirements are, etc... but that approach seems like too much work, considering I have a limited amount of food to choose from.

Hopefully I will have money to get good food about the time i get to a decent weight... so I can keep it off!

[NotesMaeve]

Okay. Take it from a skinny person (5' 8", 105 lbs., represent!): That probably won't work.

You really need to know how many calories are in the "small" meals you're consuming and how many calories you need. A single bagel has about 400 calories on average, and top that with peanut butter and jelly and that bad boy is packing 600 easy, and you're NOT FULL. You don't need tons of money to eat healthily, and frankly, you need room for a little fun in your diet.

What sort of foods do you have access to?

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by NotesMaeve

Okay. Take it from a skinny person

You are not skinny... you are thin you twit...
.

[NotesMaeve]

Originally Posted by Shamou

You are not skinny... you are thin you twit...
.

Twit? Pfft. Takes one to know one!

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by NotesMaeve

Twit? Pfft. Takes one to know one!

Good repartee... good night beautiful...

.

[Addict]

Do I even need a weight loss plan?

I am only about 20-30lbs overweight. I don't have lots of money to get health food, but I'm thinking if I do these things that I can lose weight just fine:

Exercise 5 days a week.
Eat smaller meals, spaced out 5 times a day.
No soda... just water and green tea.
No very unhealthy foods (ice cream, etc)
One apple a day...

Seems like you already have a plan.

[bluskygirl]

I think your plan sounds ok, as long as the calories you save by working out, avoiding ice cream and soda are actually saved. It will do you no good if you unconsciously add back all those calories with other things that are more healthy. It's still way better for you if it's healthier food, but a calorie is a calorie, so I would keep track of things for a little while if I were you to make sure you're on track. Try Calorieking.com... it's a great and free resource for checking calorie content on just about any food you can think of eating.

Good luck!

[jippykid]

Addict is right. It sounds like you already have a plan.

Everybody has a diet. It's simply defined as "what you eat". The rest is a matter of whether or not you're eating things that your body needs -rich, nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables, lean animal protein(or whichever source of protein you prefer), complex carbohydrates for energy, and good fats, or whether you're consuming what you body doesn't need -empty calories, refined carbohydrates, processed, preserved food that sits on the shelf far too long.

The final peice is that anything, even good foods, when eaten in a large enough quantity will make your body say "I don't need that". Processed foods may lack good nutrition and as a result you may feel tired and unhealthy. Good foods though, the kind that you're talking about eating, will do the same if you don't eat in moderation. Only the body's response here is to gain weight.

I once weighed 275 lbs, and have now been at my target weight (~180 lbs) for about a year and a half. My most monumental changes came when I changed my eating habits in a similar manner to that which you're planning to do. My best advice is to give yourself time. Listen to your body, and consciously think about what your eating, and what it does for your body. Ask yourself "Do I need this?", and if you can't come up with a compelling answer, put down the fork.

[Dan.Linehan]

@Hiphop - your plan sounds great. Let us know how it goes.

PS - Avoid dairy.

[Addict]

Everybody has a diet. It's simply defined as "what you eat".

Yes! I love this idea. It was the foundation of the first post on my blog, that everybody is already on a diet, so you might as well consciously create your own diet.

[Matthew Shea]

Exercise by itself, with no permanent change in diet will help you lose weight. I've done it before (lost 40 lbs) and it certainly works. It will take a month or two before you start seeing results since you initially start gaining muscle before the fat comes off, but it will work.

Now the bad news is that 1) if you slack off on the exercise, and 2) unless your diet changes are something you're willing to live with permanently, you'll start gaining back. I sure did, and then some. What you've laid out sounds like exercise (good) plus a diet (bad). In my case, stopping regular exercise + ending the diet I imposed on myself is exactly why I gained 60 lbs back after losing the first 40.

I've actually taken a similar approach this time around with regard to adding exercise back, but with regard to what I eat, I've slowly been weeding out the unhealthy stuff and replacing it with better choices that I can live with permanently. Eliminating fast food and candy have, in fact, been paramount in my success so far. However I firmly believe now that diet changes aren't something to be done all at once, at least not for most people. Undertaking changes slowly, one at a time, and giving yourself time to get used to them will be much more successful in the long run. If and when you start running into cravings, stop and figure out how to address them before going further (hint: refried beans are wonderful for satiating afternoon sugar cravings (thanks Maeve)). It'll take you longer to lose the weight with this approach, but you'll be better off not starving yourself. At this point, I'm back down approx. 33 lbs from my peak and intend to use the same approach to take off the remaining 30.

Best of luck to you. You certainly don't need a formal plan, but you DEFINITELY need to be able to live with whatever changes you make permanently. Also, like Maeve said, make sure you have some wiggle room. Another thing that helps me is checking my weight every day. The scale will alert you quickly if you're getting back into a bad trend.

[Rossoneri]

You should also have a goal and visualize to keep you motivated when you get bored with it. Trust me starting going to the gym 5 times a week from zero before is tough.Also you should buy a caliper to be sure the weight you lose is fat and not muscle mass.

[C33]

Congratulations on taking the first step towards your weightloss goals!

I have lost 22 pounds this year, and I did it through drastic diet change. I had a goal in mind, so it was easier to work towards a specific goal, I had to attend a special event and wanted to have lost weight by that time, which I did.

I got tremenduous support from people on this website. One of them suggested to enter my calorie intake on the dailyplate.com, it really helped.I realized that I underestimated the calorie content of some food ( bagel is a good example) and overestimated the calorie content of other foods ( usually veggies). It helps to have a tool where you can see it all in writing.

Some days I ate very little, some others too much. It was an eye opener to see how many calories my drinking on the week end costed me!

The quality of the food you eat is paramount, however, a lot of healthy food will result in too many calories and weight gain in the long run.

Taking Omega 3 and Chromium for sugar craving can help.

Best of luck!

[Matthew Shea]

C33, that's a very cool site. I just entered all my stuff. It's a bit time consuming, but except for dinner, most of my food intake is the same day-to-day. I've still got 2,158 calories left to eat today. Yay!

[escapee]

Adjust your starchy carb intake. If a 70 (starch based carbs) :20 (protein) :10 (Fats) meal ratio causes you to gain weight, replace the carbs with protein and (sat/unsat) fats from heathly source ( nuts, seeds, non deep fried organic based animal food and etc) . Make it 50 : 30 : 20 or 40 : 30 :30. Energy expenditure through physical activities and calorie retriction can definitely contribute to weight loss more efficiently when you have "high quality fuel" as your meal.

If you insist that high carb ( whole food , whole grain & sweet fruit ) diet is a better choice for weight loss, i would refer you to Okinawan lifestyle, these traditional folks maintain high level of physical activities on the field ( VITAMIN D ) throughout the day , this is why a relatively higher ratio of carbs works for them but it may not work for office warriors in developed nations. At the end of the day, it all comes down to energy balance .

Okinawa Diet Food Pyramid

The Okinawa Centenarian Study : Evidence based gerontology

The Okinawans have traditionally kept eating a low-calorie, low glycemic load diet, practicing calorie control in a cultural habit known as hara hachi bu (only eating until they are 80% full)

Okinawans preserve their bone density at healthy levels for longer periods of time than other Japanese (Suzuki M, et al. Japanese J Bone Res 1995;63:166-72 [in Japanese]). Protective factors that may play a role here include high calcium intake by Okinawans in both food and their natural drinking water, high vitamin D levels from exposure to sunlight, increased physical activity, especially at older ages,

Proof that your body cannot burn fat efficiently when carb loading is too high ( High Insulin response)

JAMA -- Abstract: Effects of a Low-Glycemic Load vs Low-Fat Diet in Obese Young Adults: A Randomized Trial, May 16, 2007, Ebbeling et al. 297 (19): 2092

Conclusions Variability in dietary weight loss trials may be partially attributable to differences in hormonal response. Reducing glycemic load may be especially important to achieve weight loss among individuals with high insulin secretion

JAMA -- Abstract: Effects of Protein, Monounsaturated Fat, and Carbohydrate Intake on Blood Pressure and Serum Lipids: Results of the OmniHeart Randomized Trial, November 16, 2005, Appel et al. 294 (19): 2455


JAMA -- Abstract: Comparison of the Atkins, Zone, Ornish, and LEARN Diets for Change in Weight and Related Risk Factors Among Overweight Premenopausal Women: The A TO Z Weight Loss Study: A Randomized Trial, March 7, 2007, Gardner et al. 297 (9): 969


The low fat paradox--do dietary carbohydrates increase circulating saturated fatty acids? -- Phinney 84 (2): 461 -- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Given the intensified discussion of the health effects of a low-fat diet because of the recent publication of the Women's Health Initiative results (7), it would be of considerable interest to see data from the current study for the serum total triacylglycerol and its saturated fatty acid composition with the transition to the 17%-fat diet in King et al's study. This apparent paradox of markedly increased 14:0 and 16:0 contents in the triacylglycerol fraction despite the dramatic reduction in dietary fat might help explain the lack of health benefits observed in the Women's Health Initiative diet study, despite the increase in dietary fruit and vegetables during the low-fat arm.

Note : The women involved in the study might have extremely poor level of physical activities that the sugar did not get expended and turned into blood fats (triacylglycerol)

[eblight]

Eating smaller meals more frequently is a good idea part of the concept of grazing that keeps your blood sugar levels up. Also a tip is to sip hot water throughout the day. I've read that helps in weight loss but it is also very good way of keeping hydrated.
Health foods aren't necessarily weight loss foods. Often they are filled with loads of sugar. Eat as simply as you can with lots of good quality protein and fresh fruits and veges. Stay off refined foods like white flour, white sugar. Cut back on saturated fats especially transfats and hydrogenated oils. Refined foods high in carbs and loaded with fats seem to be the leading cause in obesity.
Exercise is vital. Do what you love but do it consistently. Five days a weeks as you say sounds very good. Vary what exercise you do so you don't get bored.
Go well.

[escapee]

Cut back on saturated fats especially transfats and hydrogenated oils.

Saturated fats is stable form of natural fats ( No double bond ) found in animal food and vegetarian coconut oil. It's not equivalent to the arteries clogging Trans fat, oxidized fats and hydrogenated fat found in deep fried food, fast food and etc . Oxidized fats do not come from Saturated fats, there come from the highly heat, air and light sensitive unsaturated fats ( poly and mono ) found in supermarket vegetable based oil used by million of restaurants to fry the food. The point i want to make is YOU CANNOT DEEP FRY a poly/mono unsaturated based oil, doing so will turn the oil oxidized (LIPID HYDROPEROXIDES ) which poses the same damage as hydrogenated fats found in cookies . ( Note : even without frying, the commercial vegetable oil are mostly adulterated and may contain undisclosed amount of LP due to processing)

Heart of darkness - Lipid hydroperoxides - the fats that kill

Suddenly we are surrounded by a group of food prep workers. We expect them to take us to the grill where they cook the hamburgers. Instead, they grab us and carry us to the Deep Fryer. It looks like hell in there. It's the end of the river all right, but the source of lipid hydroperoxides isn't the grilled hamburgers, it's the French fries cooked in reused vegetable oil.

In a flash, this reporter realizes that, whether country cut or curly, the fast food French fry is mankind's mortal enemy--one that will only become more insidious as its relative the trans fat is banned. In one super-sized serving there is enough lipid hydroperoxide to bring a grown man to his knees, lips moving in soundless desperation.

BTW

Carbohydrate restriction improves metabolism. More evidence that Carbs are inferior to healthy natural fats when it comes to metabolism .
Nutrition & Metabolism | Full text | Carbohydrate restriction improves the features of Metabolic Syndrome. Metabolic Syndrome may be defined by the response to carbohydrate restriction

Five symptoms common to most definitions of MetS (Metabolic Syndrome ) are those that are reliably improved by CHO restriction. Carbohydrate restriction is one strategy for weight loss but, in addition, improves glycemic control, insulin levels, TAG and HDL levels even in the absence of weight loss. We suggest that response to CHO restriction may, in fact, be an operational definition of MetS. Its underlying basis would rest on the idea that the features of MetS are associated with a disruption in insulin metabolism which is strongly influenced by dietary CHO. The extent to which this definition is useful may depend on its application by individual practitioners. Experimental studies that follow its lead or conversely disprove its fundamental premise should advance our understanding of obesity, diabetes and CVD. Dismissing CHO restriction without evidence, or expressing "concerns" rather than offering data will probably be less productive.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by C33

I got tremenduous support from people on this website. One of them suggested to enter my calorie intake on the dailyplate.com, it really helped.

I like the site. I will recommend it to friends. Thanks!

[Ree]

My one piece of advice would be to avoid empty calories. You need to eat vegetables, fruit, fiber, grain, dairy (for the calcium) every day. It's easy to waste your daily allotment of calories on food that doesn't provide what you need.

Water is important as well. Good luck!!

[NotesMaeve]

Yep, Ree. And it's so easy to "sneak in" healthy stuff. You get used to making healthier choices.

Today I was thinking how starved I was at work. I usually get a small sub. A lot of people would say, "I'm going to switch gears and get chips/a burger/whatever." When you get used to saying, "I'll get a bigger sandwich (for me, an 8" on wheat with tomato, lettuce, vinaigrette, and pesto rather than a 5"), and a side salad without cheese with a vinaigrette instead of a cream-based dressing, rather than going to McDonald's because you were starved from depriving yourself, a lower weight becomes maintainable.

You will have days where you are inexplicably more hungry. Denying yourself leads to bingeing. I came home and ate a little of the noodle salad my land lady made. And I don't have to freak out that, OMG, it had fried noodles and carbs and OMG, etc. Then I went running. Came home. Ate dinner. It's easier than it sounds. I promise.

Sure, some days I go nuts and eat loads of stuff. Sunday I had pizza, ice cream, and some other crap. But when you routinely eat well, you can really enjoy things.

[Ree]

Notesmaeve is sooo right on. One trick I've learned is to NOT have food in my house that is not in my eating plan. I make huge pots of soup that is so low in calories I can eat as much as I want when I'm hungry and I keep it in my fridge all the time. Just add a couple of multigrain crackers and you're satisfied! When I make soup, I throw in some stuff like shredded carrots and chopped swiss chard. It's very healthy, and you don't even notice it's in there. That's what I snack on when I get a bout of the super-hungries!