SiGGy - Member

SiGGy

Joined August 2010

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104

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Weight History

Start Weight

189.0 lb

Lost so far: 16.6 lb

Current Weight

172.4 lb
Performance: losing 0.7 lb a week

Goal Weight

160.0 lb

Still to go: 12.4 lb

SiGGy's Weight History

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	last weighin: gaining 0.1 lb a week

SiGGy's Latest Posts

It's NOT a Diet
Yes, exactly. "DIET" just means what you eat; and nothing more. American culture has changed the definition of "diet" to mean something else. You could be on a "calorie restrictive diet" or like a bird on a "diet of sunflower seeds". EVERYONE is on a diet; the only way to not be on one is to not eat.

Some just choose diets of cheeseburgers, pizza and huge portion sizes. But that is a diet.

And you got it; losing weight and getting your body mass correct is all about life style changes... People who go on crazy restrictive diets that can't be maintained for life are not doing themselves any good. It's best to learn healthy eating practices and portion control than to simply limit yourself in small spurts which will make your weight yo-yo.

Another fact people aren't taught is once you add a fat cell on (i.e. gain fat) it's with you for life. Sure you can "burn fat" and *shrink* that cell but it will never go away. It's there waiting to store energy again. This is how people can go from being overweight to skinny then back to overweight again so quickly. (Oprah for example). It's best not to add this storage on! However if you have already added it and want to keep the storage empty it's going to be a lifelong battle. And it requires major lifestyle changes.

100% of weight loss comes from calories consumed and calories burned. IMO until you figure out your RDI and then do strict calorie counting for 1-2 years you'll be kinda lost. Once you've calorie counted for a year or two you'll know what portion sizes and calories you can eat of what foods to stick within your RDI. People will soon realize that two slices of some pizzas can occupy 40 to 60% of their daily RDI. Best off fill yourself with a healthier proteins to keep hunger at bay. Sadly they blame it on the "carbs" in the pizza when it's really just the total calories. Granted you should be eating pizza crust made from *WHOLE* grains; NOT bleached white flower. Learning the difference between healthy carbs (complex) and unhealthy (simple) is important for overall health (not weight loss in general).

There was a teacher who proved to his students he could lose weight eating nothing but twinkies for a month or two. He ate twinkies (also added in hostess cakes as he got bored with twinkies) but ate them calorie restricted. And sure enough he lost weight... Granted I'm sure he felt like crap as twinkies do not contain all of the proper nutrients.

Another tip I learned along the way is once you are well along (6 to 8 months in) on your weight loss and have your new lifestyle started. It's completely OK to have one day a week where you eat whatever you want and don't track the calories (this assumes you eat healthy and portion/calorie control every other day). This is only ONE day; you must eat right the other days. So some reading this probably think this is crazy!! I just spent the last X number of months learning to count calories and now one day a week I just eat whatever?!? ... yes... You can still count the calories for that day if you want... However doing what I am suggesting is actually important to keep losing weight. Why you might ask? Simply because the human body is an amazing machine! If you eat calorie restricted and very consistent your body will adapt to it! And you'll do what they call a plateau where you stop losing weight. However if you eat one day a week unrestricted you will confuse your metabolism and it will never quite learn the rhythm of your new lifestyle of eating.

It's pretty sad people have to resort to gastric bypass when really just making lifestyle changes and committing to them is what they needed. I feel bad for them while the surgery will help them lose weight the real issue isn't their body... I just want to give them a big hug and encourage them that they can do it!

70% of our country is overweight! I knew something was REALLY wrong when more than one person told me I was too skinny being a man at 165lbs @ 5'10". It was then I realized that people are use to looking at overweight people. My body fat is 20%; which is "OK" but no where near too skinny.

Best of luck to everyone on their lifestyle changes!

posted 20 Aug 2015, 09:29

New member
I mean no offense here to anyone, but the Atkins diet is kinda the "dummy" diet; as in it'll make you less intelligent over time. (this is no joke or insult) Your brain needs glucose which comes from carbs; without it you'll lose mental ability. Atkins proponents will say protein can be converted into glucose (this is true) but this is just something they'd like to believe to continue doing Atkins. In 1995 there was a study done where they tested people on Atkins vs regular calorie cutting diets; it was proven there was loss in cognitive ability and no difference in weight loss. Everyone lost the same...

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CEcQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fddr.nal.usda.gov%2Fbitstream%2F10113%2F23706%2F1%2FIND44133744.pdf&rct=j&q=Cognitive%20Effects%20of%20Ketogenic%20Weight-Reducing%20Diets&ei=tl5RTb-dFsH_lge8qcCYCg&usg=AFQjCNE6k7cq8nlstqTxlY_aO30Sab80Eg&sig2=aAv63FC4oDTq5CzcckLLVQ&cad=rja

If you read the study, you'll see people didn't lose any more weight on Atkins than someone who ate the same things they normally do; but just choose to eat less (i.e. stop 300-500 calories before you RDI)! As well you'll see a cognitive decrease in Atkins dieters (i.e. they are operating a little slower). You can't realistically maintain the Atkins diet. It's not a life long system that works and or sounds enticing. I don't know anyone who has done it and kept the weight off long term.

You don't need to "diet" to lose weight... (now if you have some sorta thyroid problem that's another thing)

Try and stop eating foods high in fat all the time, and eat 300-500 calories less than your RDI. And you'll lose weight at about 1lb a week. Just be sure to get an ACCURATE RDI for yourself, not some off the chart number based on your age.

As well you have to eat all day long, DON'T skip breakfast. If you skip that your asking for trouble. Your body has just spent all night starving itself while you sleep and now your asking it to go longer. This will tell your body when you do eat (around noon) that it needs to store those calories not burn them. You want to "wake up" your metabolism as quickly as possible every day, eat breakfast. But not some huge thing.

If you're not counting calories, you have no idea how much fuel your giving your body and you'll have no idea how many calories to cut.

Once you start seeing the effects of calorie restriction you'll eventually hit a wall (plateau) where you stop losing weight (this is with all diets). When you get there (this should take many months) read up on calorie staggering. This is where you eat the same total amount of calories per week, but some days you will eat more or less food. This practice is because your body has gotten use to your calorie restriction and learned how to cope with it. So to re-awaken your metabolism into fat burning mode again you trick your body.

Humans are creatures of habit; it takes awhile for your body to re-lean things; so be patient when switching stuff around. But remember to stick with the changes, eventually you will get use to the changes. It's not realistic to think you can make major changes in your life and be use to them in a few days. If so we could all switch careers in a heartbeat right?

Just know whatever changes you decide to make, make them for life. Why learn something your not going to continue doing every day for the rest of your life? To me it seems like a waste of time to me... This is why if I was going to commit to something I would commit to whatever is best (healthiest) for me.

Good luck!

posted 08 Feb 2011, 09:31

SiGGy has submitted 2 posts

SiGGy's Recent Food & Exercise

	1 serving Tim Hortons English Muffin, Turkey Sausage, Egg White Omelet, Cheese
	1 serving Old El Paso White Corn Taco Shells
	1 serving Jennie-O Ground Turkey Breast 99/1
	Bicycling (fast) - 15/mph
	Walking (brisk) - 4/mph
	Swimming (fast)

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