Help! I want to lose weight

[freeme]

I am 54 and I weigh 205 pounds. Not totally obese but considering I was 98 lbs. in high school, very over weight. If reading diet books caused weight loss I would be thin by now. I am also very confused. Vegan is healthy, protein is healthy, fat causes weight loss, no fat causes weight loss. Give me a break! Please don’t say eat fewer calories, I know that is temporary and not the long term answer. I need a something simple, not too disciplined, with reasonably quick results and healthy. Does it exist????

[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by freeme

I am 54 and I weigh 205 pounds. Not totally obese but considering I was 98 lbs. in high school, very over weight. If reading diet books caused weight loss I would be thin by now. I am also very confused. Vegan is healthy, protein is healthy, fat causes weight loss, no fat causes weight loss. Give me a break! Please don’t say eat fewer calories, I know that is temporary and not the long term answer. I need a something simple, not too disciplined, with reasonably quick results and healthy. Does it exist????

Hey freeme,

Something like this might be one possible alternative for you.

For me, i would generally eat only fruit (or live juice) before noon,

then 3 simple and properly combined meals of protein (fish or beef or chicken or eggs with a disproportionate amount of whites) with raw vegetables...

or starch (sweet potato or oatmeal, amaranth, millet, brown rice, beans) with nuts or cheese and raw vegetables.

Often i would precede these meals with live juice, carrot, beet, celery, lettuce, parsley with a dash of cayanne pepper is a favorite. I would let this pass through the stomach before eating.

2 or all 3 of these meals would contain a good portion of leafy lettuce or raw spinach... (i was later able to stomach some raw kale smoothie as well as other raw healthy juices or smoothies from asparagas, broccoli, or other foods). I picked up a vitamix by the way which only makes it nicer. Other raw vegetable favorites are red/yellow/orange bell peppers, tomatos and onions.

After 8pm, i would only have light foods again: fruit or live juice or fresh vegetable broth (usually from any combination of the following: kale, collard greens, swiss chard, bok choy and other leafy green veg.. also broccoli, garlic, onions). Pretty much as much of these light foods as i wanted.

Key supplements i take: Fish oil when not eating salmon, green tea capsules, co-q10, liquid vitamin/minerals, acai/goji juice.

Sounds like a lot of food perhaps, and it is generally 5-7 small meals per day, but i did lose 20 pounds over 80 days eating this way, while actually building a little muscle at the same time (perhaps burned 24 pounds of fat and gained 4 pounds of muscle)... and never felt hungry. In fact, i began to intentionally slow the weight loss in the last several weeks to focus more on the muscle support... originally i was doing about 2200 calories in this plan and worked my way up (only by choice) to about 3000 in the end anticipating a fast (which i am doing now: Beautiful Fast) to be able to focus on fat loss again. Eating a ton of raw vegetables makes it a bit challenging to consume 3000 calories.

What would make it even more challenging would be to add cooked vegetables to the mix, something i had to take out to reach my 3000 goal or i would be too stuffed. Basically if you could get a healthy diet that centered around a lot of vegetables...fruits too, but especially vegetables because they are both filling and exceedingly low in calories... and turn it into a lifestyle that you enjoy, it becomes difficult to overeat.

Another key to the 24 pounds of fat burning was engaging in short duration high intensity cardio.

[freeme]

Truly I thank you, sounds like a modified fit for life diet. I might be able to do the fruit till noon, but like so many others I’m really looking for something simpler. In all honesty, I dont think I could eat that healthy, if I could I wouldn’t be over weight.

[rhonda524]

I am in the same boat. I am eating 50% raw and it seems to be working. I fix a huge fruit smoothie in the morning and then for lunch I have a large salad with mixed greens with tomatoe and maybe a little avacodo. I drink only water and coffee or tea. At dinner I eat another salad and a little of whatever I fix my husband. I have only done this for a week and I have lost 3 pounds. The bigest benefit is I am losing my craving for unhealthy food. I took a drink of soda and it was sickenly sweet. I ate a potato chip and it was so salty that it was disguisting.

If you can just discipline yourself on a day to day basis the desire for what used to be your normal diet will go away. My diet is very simple, no complicated recipes. Just natural unadulterated wholesome food and mostly raw if possible. In the first few days if I got really hungry I would eat some almonds. But after a week i haved noticed that my appetite is decreasing.

There is nothing that doesn't require some initial sacrifice. If there was, everybody would be thin.

I just turned 50 and weigh 225 and felt it was time to get serious about this. Maybe we can be a support to each other.

Good luck!

[Indy107]

If you've never heard of Michael Pollan - google him. He the author of "The Omnivore's Dilemna" and "In Defense of Food". He has a quote in his new book that goes like this...

Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants.

I think that about says it all. Food does not come in a bag, box, can, or sack. It's what our grandparents ate. Start with that.

Not too long ago I was 225lbs. Now I am 187lbs (and 46yrs old). If you drink soda - stop. Completely. Then cut all fast food. Work towards eliminating the processed foods. I personally also cut meat and dairy. My meals now are very simple. You wanted simple. Fruit and Vegetables are simple. Especially salads.

You said "I dont think I could eat that healthy, if I could I wouldn’t be over weight." I'm sorry, but I just don't see how you will lose any weight until you do start eating healthy. You can't lose weight eating junk food and empty calories.

Lastly - get a pedometer and wear it. Count your steps. Then try to add more and more every day. Because we all know we also have to exercise. You simply have to move. If you already move - move more. Start walking to the store, work, 7-11, whatever.

Remember to forget the word - diet - . Diets never work. Lifestyle changes do. Good luck.

Another good, (and quite funny I might add), book to read is (pardon the title - I didn't make it up) "Skinny ♥♥♥♥♥" by Rory Freedman. Give it a try.

[James81]

Honestly, the only true answer to this question is to increase your physcial activity.

Dieting will only get you so far, and, to be honest, diet is more for overall general health than it is for weight loss.

So yeah, get yourself on an exercise regiman. Start slowly and work your way up. Recognize that eating healthy and exercise are a way of life and not just a way to lost weight.

It really is that simple (easier said than done, I know).

[spacedout]

Losing weight, gaining weight, or staying the same has to do with one thing and one thing only - calories in and calories out. I know you don't want to hear it, but it is a true, hard fact. Here are some more facts: diets don't work. you can eat anything you want as long as it's in moderation. it is impossible not to eat and gain weight. if you expend more calories than you consume you will lose weight, if you take in more calories than you expend you will gain weight, and if you take in the same number of calories that you expend you will stay the same. And that's the truth.

[Dreamline]

With due respect, freeme, if you want to change something as difficult to change as your weight, back to what is basically half the person you now are, but you want to do it without changing your eating habits to healthy, do you really think you will be successful?

Losing weight is just losing weight. Being healthy is really the goal.

Jennifer

[spongesuesquareskirt]

Don't give up. Anyone can do it. You just need to find what works for YOU. There are so many diets out there because there are lots of different people, and for each person there was something that worked for them and others, so they wrote a book about it. It just shows that different approaches work for different people.

For example, I know that raw, vegan, or vegetarian diets work for many people. I tried these diets for years, but got sicker and sicker. I finally got desperate and started a low carb diet where I eat a lot of meat and saturated fat. I actually lost bodyfat, gained muscle, my energy skyrocketed, and I have been eating this way for a couple years. Everytime I try a different diet, my chronic fatigue and other symptoms come back. Basically, I have found what works for me.

But I know other people who are just the opposite. They gain weight and feel awful on a high protein diet. They feel great on a raw or even fruitarian diet! Their skin glows and their energy is great on a low fat diet.

Sorry if this is longwinded, but you have to experiment with different diets to find the right fuel for you own body. Everyone will have an opinion, and you will meet with both criticism and encouragement no matter what diet you choose. What matters is that you feel healthy and feel good about the foods.

One book that helped me and was recommended to me by a friend is "The Metabolic Typing Diet". I don't agree with everything in the book, but I did find a lot of the information very helpful.

Hope this encourages you to keep going on your own health journey!

[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by freeme

Please don’t say eat fewer calories, I know that is temporary and not the long term answer. I need a something simple, not too disciplined, with reasonably quick results and healthy.

Originally Posted by freeme

Truly I thank you, sounds like a modified fit for life diet. I might be able to do the fruit till noon, but like so many others I’m really looking for something simpler. In all honesty, I dont think I could eat that healthy, if I could I wouldn’t be over weight.

I just want to get this strait so i understand. You want to lose a lot of weight but it can't be with healthy food, it has to be simple, it can't be low calorie, can't require much discipline and has to have reasonably quick results? I suppose exercise is out of the question too? It's good to see that you're so easy to please .

[freeme]

Most of us gain too much weight as we grow older. I believe there is a solution and that solution will be neither difficult (doable at any rate) nor complicated. If you have discovered a solution for weight gain please share it. Thank you for your ideas!

Still much confusion about vegetarian, what type of vegetarian or high protein? Your thoughts?

[aelle]

Originally Posted by freeme

Most of us gain too much weight as we grow older. I believe there is a solution and that solution will be neither difficult (doable at any rate) nor complicated. If you have discovered a solution for weight gain please share it. Thank you for your ideas!

Still much confusion about vegetarian, what type of vegetarian or high protein? Your thoughts?

Those of us who gain wieght along the years do so because we have bad habits - more calories in than calories out. Maintaining a healthy weight or slimming down to this healthy weight is not difficult - less calories in, more calories out - but it does require to change your bad habits.

I'm speaking from experience - I used to be obese, and lost enough to go back to a BMI of 24 (healthy range) in the span of a year. I haven't put a single kilo back on, and it's been over a year now. It didn't feel hard, but it came through radical changes of lifestyle (going vegan, eating smaller portions, mostly homemade food, not using a car, exercising regularly). The thing is, these were all changes I wanted to make, the weight loss was just an incidental result. I wanted all these new lifestyle elements and would have stuck with them even if I hadn't lost weight, this is why it was easy and simple. If changing your life seems undoable or undesirable, that's the first thing you need to address.

If you don't want to change your life, if you know that every single one of your habits is the best fit for you, if you don't regret a single one of your choices, so be it, embrace it - but accept that your weight won't change either. It's an acceptable choice. It's up to you do decide.

[Dreamline]

Originally Posted by freeme

Most of us gain too much weight as we grow older. I believe there is a solution and that solution will be neither difficult (doable at any rate) nor complicated. If you have discovered a solution for weight gain please share it. Thank you for your ideas!

Still much confusion about vegetarian, what type of vegetarian or high protein? Your thoughts?

My thoughts are that you are looking for a 'silver bullet' solution.

I have many thoughts on proper diet and exercise but I know there are no silver bullet diet solutions that are healthy or safe.

I agree with SSSS that your best chance for success is with a diet geared toward your personal metabolism. I recommend Eat Right 4 Your Type, by Peter D'Adamo. It's based on blood type. You can basically eat anything he calls a "beneficial" or "neutral" for your blood type. From that you are welcome to create any kind of diet you want, though there are diets that are best for each blood type. For example, if you are O, then a protein diet with lower carbs is ideal, along with vigorous daily exercise. If you are A, you'd be a fool to do any diet that is not mostly vegetarian or vegan as A types are prone to a host of cancers and degenerative diseases. As an A, your exercise profile would be more like yoga/tai chi/martial arts.

It's a great book. But no matter what you choose, you will have to make an effort. Losing weight and gaining health are fairly focus-intensive, and some people say difficult. I would say discipline rather than difficult.

Jennifer

[spacedout]

Bottom line - Eat less, lose more! It's that simple.

[Kasha]

Hi there! I'm sure there's lots of great advice above but as a personal trainer I recommend small changes that lead to one big change, and a fabulous new you!

I have an article about 10 small changes you can make right now that are easy and add up to lots of lost pounds:

10 Changes You Can Make Now to Lose Weight Without Going on a Diet | Ask Kasha

Next up is an article on understand the 'acid/alkaline' balance of foods.

Balancing Acid/Alkaline foods for Optimum Health and Weight Loss | Ask Kasha

I've seen all this advice work on my clients. Drastic diets only bring back the pounds...what we want is a permanent change forever!

And of course you can always email me and 'ask' more questions :-)

[freeme]

Kasha, that's what I'm talking about. Ten resonably simple rules, I can do that!

[ginkgo]

Rule number 10 is not a simple rule. It is like saying that you should completely change your diet. If people ate unprocessed foods then they would not be fat. I say that it is a good idea but it is as simple as losing all your excess weight.

Unprocessed food does not contain salt so it is as simple as saying do not eat any food with added salt. If you do that, you will lose 10 pounds in a week. But that means a super healthy diet. That is not a simple change. That means giving up all the food that you love to eat.

Rule number 9 totally wrong. Drinking a lot of water will give you a craving for soda and other unhealthy beverages. Instead of drinking water, drink tea with over 4,000 chemical compounds in it to improve your health and make you thin. Philadelphia has a lot of Chinese people here. It is rare to see one that is overweight. Just drink green or white tea all day. The EGCG in it is just one thing that will boost your metabolism and help you lose weight.

You could say that being sick or fat is caused by lack of intelligence. Use your intelligence now to make yourself fat and sick by following the wrong advice or make yourself fit and healthy by following the right advice. It is up to you. Go to this site on Losing Weight and learn the right or effective way to lose weight. It has lots of info from reliable sources backing it up. It has more than 10 easy tips that you can do to lose weight like drinking tea instead of water. Water has nothing in it to help you lose weight but green tea does.

The Chinese are smart. People who cannot get into the colleges in China go to the Ivy League colleges in the U.S. They never drink water. It would be just plain stupid when you can drink tea. You can sweeten it with stevia, honey, maple syrup or agave. The Chinese just drink tea. You get it for free in a Chinese restaurant. To give you water instead of tea would be an insult to you. 5,000 years ago the Chinese learned that tea was one of the most powerful elixirs of life. Just do a search and read all the new research on it.

Yerba mate tea is also very good to drink. I drink them both and have never been overweight. Also they now know that it is not the number of calories but how fast they enter your blood. This is explained in above website.

[songwriter]

Above anything else....

Don't get into a diet!

That's not a natural way of losing weight. It will do harm to your body and to your soul.
You must plan long term, not losing 20 lbs every month or so. The only way of losing so much so fast would be with a lot of exercise but not by changing the food.

Well, you already know it, the more you burn the more weight you lose. Is better to do something that you like as exercise, if not it will be boring for you and you'll quit or won't be very happy...
Anyway exercise is not itself for weight losing but for health. After exercising your body will need to eat more, so exercising only is not a good way for weight losing...

No miracle diets. I would only say 2 advices about food.

1 Quality. You are what you eat, so if you eat food of low quality, like almost all of the fried things on bars and restaurants. That only will make you fat, and have stomach aches and problems.
The worst example would be eating in McDonalds. You don't have to give meat at all, cause there are meat with less fat than the ordinary one.
There are hot dogs and burgers made of chicken or other animals, and they are much more healthy than the others.
The biggest trouble is when eating out of your home, cause you can't control the quality, you don't know what you're eating really.

2 Quantity. I think quality is more important than quantity. Eating a lot of healthy food makes you less fat than eating a little of bad food.
But even forgetting quality if you decide to eat from today on simply 90% of what you use to eat, you will lose a lot of weight in the long run. And that's not hard, it's only leaving that 10% in the dish.

There's the trouble of eating emotionally. Well, everyone loves eating, it's a pleasure of life. But reducing the quantity in 10% and changing some food for some quality ones is not gonna change your pleasure much... Just a little but that won't matter to you when you lose weight.

It's the kind of process where the first step is half the way.
Once you get used to quality food (without fat, no fried stuff out of your home..) you'll notice how bad "bad food" is if you eventually eat some.
And it will make you stay away from it even more. That's when you notice really how bad are some things we eat, only we don't notice cause we have done it for life.

We could call it "Conscious Eating" in this forum

For instance, Coca-Cola is horrible. I don't mean the calories (Coca Cola light is even worse), the quality. I didn't notice till now. Actually the "light" kind of products are mostly worse than the standards ones, even having less calories, cause they have worse quality.

It's about learning what food hurts you and the places where you should never eat. Not about diets.

PD Yes, I know, quality food is more expensive than the cheaper one. That's why in many bars, restaurants, burgers and such they use that...
If you can't afford it, then reduce quantity a little... like 10%, 5%, 15%, and you'll save some money too...

[songwriter]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

[SIZE="3"]Rule number 10 is not a simple rule. It is like saying that you should completely change your diet. If people ate unprocessed foods then they would not be fat. I say that it is a good idea but it is as simple as losing all your excess weight.

Unprocessed food does not contain salt so it is as simple as saying do not eat any food with added salt. If you do that, you will lose 10 pounds in a week. But that means a super healthy diet. That is not a simple change. That means giving up all the food that you love to eat.

That's kind of what I mean with quality food too. As the "stars" of processed food that are really bad, I would point to "american fast food". Sorry if that's offensive to Americans... but it really is.
One of the worst dinners you can eat is Coca Cola plus McBurguer.
Yes, very "american" or so, only because it has huge marketing behind. And it can even taste good but it's crap. The USA is the country with more fat men in the world per capita, and it's only because of that.
I think giving up suddenly your usual food is not easy (maybe is not even possible).

[sk8joyful]

Originally Posted by freeme

I am 54 and I weigh 205 pounds.
Not totally obese, but considering I was 98 lbs. in high school, very over weight.
Most of us gain too much weight as we grow older.

I need a simple solution, not too disciplined, with reasonably quick results and healthy.
If you have discovered a solution for weight gain please share it. Thank you for your ideas!

Did you say -
1. are you a woman, maybe in menopause?, or a man.
2. also, what is your Blood-type?: Blood Type Diet: Scientific Basis

3. from your 98-lbs, what passionate interests including physical activities... did you start decreasing, causing you to further age. - And how many of these are you continuing...

4. How many of these "100 most Anti-oxidant rich foods" do you daily enjoy benefitting from:
Top 100 Best Foods For Higher Productivity

5. Are each your Blood-values beyond normal, Optimal?

asking as you mentioned "weight" 5x, but as only a by-product of how else you are living, did you know? -
iow, a person could weigh 100 lbs, but diseased to death. Multiple dozen factors are more telling to "optimal"=health, most people want, at any age. - You too?
---
You have allowed 40 yrs.! to pass, since you said you were 98 lbs, were you optimally-healthy then?
yet you want "quick change", to Optimal? health now. This process is worth whatever it takes, right?

Will you be pleased - knowing increasingly more people are journeying this route, because optimal health is FUN

[newdad]

If you want an amazing change to your life look at the paleo diet or even better the primal blueprint. I started on the paleo and then found Mark Sisson's primal blueprint.

Eat what our ancestors ate for the first 2 million years of our evolution, before the advent of agriculture and the advent of processed foods. I started six weeks ago and have lost at least 25 pounds (I'm not weighing in for 30 days, so I'm not sure how much more). The concept is simple.

Avoid sugars, avoid grains, avoid starches, avoid processed foods (I.E. No pop, no corn, no soy, no bread, no potatoes, no hot pockets)

Eat, lots of veggies, lots of meat, lots of fruit. Think about what you would be able to eat if you were a primal person wondering in the wild.

There is a ton of science and documented studies out there on why this is good, and the conventional wisdom is flawed.

This really goes against what many people have grown up thinking, but I can tell you from first hand experience. I'm way better today than I was six months ago. And check out Mark, he's 55 years old and ripped.

You can check out marksdailyapple.com or paleodiet.com for lots and lots of resources.

I give Steve a lot of credit for personal development, but when it comes to my health, Mark Sisson has put in way more research on the subject and has a great background on nutrition to support his research.

The most important thing, is that you don't have to worry about counting calories, you will find yourself fuller, sooner, and you will lose weight.

[DummyChef]

I've tried so many ways, but the most efficient is to exercise. i know it sounds silly, but it really works. Good Luck!

[whiteriver16]

A lot of people believe that if you do crunches, you'll lose weight in your stomach, or if you do arm curls, you'll lose your flabby arms. My sister is a personal trainer at a gym, and she says that you can't lose weight in a concentrated area.

You have to do cardiovascular exercise, like running, swimming (which also gains muscle), or the elliptical machines at the gym. As long as you keep your heartrate up for a while, you should burn off calories.

If you do exercises in the weight room, don't be surprised if you might gain weight. Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you lose body fat and gain muscle, you could gain weight on the scale, but look and feel much better.

The best way to burn fat and keep it off is to eat healthy and do cardio at LEAST half an hour a day. I know it sounds like something a doctor would say, but there aren't any real quick fixes to lose weight. Those dexatrim and trimspa stuff doesn't work, it just makes you feel hyper and crappy, don't use them.

Good luck! You'll be burning fat in no tim

[Roxie]

hi there
Maybe you can halve everything you eat. If you regularly eat a full plate of pasta, why not halve it? and halve the soft drink, and everything else?

Drink lots of water though, don't halve that.

and then once you get used to eating less, start reducing those portions ... so for instance you eat one slice of bread in the morning with a little butter and a small fruit; at lunch for instance you eat a cup of pasta and a palm size of protein or a table spoon of tuna, and a little piece of fruit and a little (1/2 cup size) of a dessert.

But start with halving everything you eat now before doing the second part. Your system has to get used to eating less.

I don't think diets are any good - too extreme. But if you allow yourself moderation, everything in small amounts and don't eat until your over-full. Eat until you are 80% full.

xxx Roxie

[Roxie]

oh and the other thing... exercise ! I walk as much as I can. I sit in an office most of the day but I make every excuse to walk around it ... whether it's to the photocopier or to the accounts dept ... and I never do one round for say 3 tasks. I do 3 rounds for 3 tasks ... Walking is the best - just an increase of 20 mins a day makes a BIG difference.
so ... eat much smaller portions, move about alot more and drink lots of water. Then when you get used to eating small portions, change those to perhaps eating healthier[I] portions ... mostly vegetarian so your food moves faster through your digestive system. I eat alot of greens, pulses, salads, fruit, nuts and wholemeal bread (very little bread in comparison to alot of my friends who eat tonnes of rolls, pasta, rices) My average portion of rice for instance is 1/2 cup or 1 cup of pasta (cookedl) Also, the bread is about 3 inches in length and thin (think baguettes). If I eat any meat (probably about once per fortnight) it's palm size. and fruit I eat a small piece with every meal. Greens - about 1 cup and salad about 1/2 cup. I just don't over eat at all and I lose 500 gm per week.

Maybe that helps a bit more

xxx Roxie

[Nameless One]

Is it just me or am I seeing more of these one-shot wonders post some advice with a click-bank referral funnel at the bottom?

[Oleg]

Originally Posted by freeme

... I need a something simple, not too disciplined, with reasonably quick results and healthy. Does it exist????

I'd recomend you use this. I'm 45 and I weigh 167 pounds. I use products from this company and I really like it! If you have any questions send me a pm.

[Humancure]

Everything worthwhile is "difficult"...

You can't have yin without yang... you will only end in frustration..

How bad do you really want to lose weight to create that change?

Make a list of the reasons why you want to lose weight.. if you have enough reasons why, there is no WAY you will waste any time in losing weight..

Sure, eat as much as you want - but then walk and burn all that if you want to keep that same intake...

Besides, lower calories increases lifespan =)