So I am on the most horrible diet ever...

[bocmaxima]

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

Just two points to make:

1. As someone else mentioned,when you cut your intake too much or too abruptly, your body thinks it's under attack and goes into emergency mode -- which means it clings grimly to every molecule of fat you've got. You have to sneak up on your body... cut back portions and reduce carbs gradually over a couple of weeks, so you don't scare your system!

2. Jen, I may disagree with some of his diet ideas, but I think your boyfriend is a very articulate and thoughtful person, and he obviously adores you. You're so lucky to have each other!

The problem is that we have tried to gradually cut portions/carbs before, to no avail. I find that it was much easier to slip back into the old ways if we weren't too far removed in the first place. A rigidly designed diet seems a much better way to stay on track, because you aren't adding things here and there, and then ending up back where you were.

I do think we will be adding some extra low-GI foods into this diet though. Since we don't eat meat, its already pretty boring, and we don't have the 3 choices of meat each meal. So at least some quinoa at the minimum.

I do adore Jen, and have been trying to figure out a way to get her to where she wants to be, with the least amount of compromise to the way she wants to do it. Unfortunately, her plan involves mainly 100 reps of Web Surfing.

 

[leli]

I'm not saying your diet is no carb. I realize there are carbs in fruits and veggies, albeit much less than breads, pastas, etc. I see your point as far as wanting to eat low GI foods and that's a great idea. My point is that before starting a diet, everyone should sit down with their doctor and make sure that what they are planning to eat covers their basic metabolic needs. Not just for carbs, but for vitamins, minerals, proteins. As vegetarians, you have to be very vigilent about what protiens you are eating, because certain amino acids are not present in more than a handful of non-meat sources. I'm not saying that a rigid diet won't work or that you couldn't slowly expand it later. I just want you two to check with a doctor to make sure you have everything you need.

I also stand by my earlier statement that a loss of 20lbs in 30 days is partly muscle mass, not straight fat. It's a good indicator that the diet is not covering your other needs, metabolically speaking. However, minor changes and increases of carbs (low GI, so not white and high in fibre is best) and certain proteins can make your diet more healthy but also let you lose weight quickly. Just not 20lbs quickly. You could probably lose around 10lbs give or take without compromising muscle.

 

[preciousmom]

Originally Posted by Jen

It is the no carb no sugar low calorie EXTREMELY STRICT diet. I can eat salad with oil and vinegar, veggies, beans, egg whites and tofu and that is about it. Today I ate a can of corn and celery sticks for breakfast. For lunch I made tofu, egg whites plus one whole egg, black beans, salsa and corn all cooked together. For dinner I had another salad, carrots, corn and green beans. I can drink water and diet soda, I can have a cup of milk occasionally and one piece of fruit if absolutely necessary.

Thing is, you do this 6 days of the week and on the 7th you can eat whatever the heck you want to. I can eat donuts and ice cream all day if I want to. You are supposed to eat whatever you want on that day because it keeps your metabolism up or something.

The point is you will lose 20lbs in one month.

All I can say is BOY AM I HUNGRY!

Of course you are hungry! Your body isn't getting the nutrients and food it needs!! Sounds like a fad diet

FYI losing more than 3 pounds a week is NOT healthy. When you starve your body like that, it will then begin to hang on to ALL the food you are giving it instead of naturally burning it off....thereofre you will either stop losing and/or begin gaining.

 

[preciousmom]

Originally Posted by Jen

It is very hard believe me, it is really hard when I can't even have a glass of juice. Some things in the diet are a bit ridiculous and I don't quite understand. But I know the point is that it is a diet for people who don't exercise. So if you are going to lose weight and not exercise, you have to be very selective on what you eat and limit yourself.
I already don't eat meat so that is out from the beginning. Eating a lot of beans and tofu and veggies is NOT bad at all. Throw some eggs in there and it's all good. An occasional salad. That is already what I ate basically, but I also ate the junk food too. Chips, coffee, ice cream. Pastas and breads are not that great for you anyways. I would gladly eat whole wheat pasta and multi grain breads as opposed to regular pasta and white bread if it meant I could eat a little more normal diet! But that is where exercise comes in to play. Until I gt motivated to do that, if I want to lose weight, then I have to be very picky about what I eat I suppose.

I am looking to see if I can sign up for a kickboxing class or something with my sister. So then maybe I can go onto a more normal diet rather then one so restrictive.

So incorrect! I have been on Weight Watchers for 3 years now, going on 3 years of being Lifetime under goal. I BARELY exercised and I lost 50 pounds. I ate whatever I wanted, just in moderation and I followed good healthy guidelines (drink water, fruits/veggi's, multivitamin)

 

[KitEKats4Eva!]

Originally Posted by preciousmom

So incorrect! I have been on Weight Watchers for 3 years now, going on 3 years of being Lifetime under goal. I BARELY exercised and I lost 50 pounds. I ate whatever I wanted, just in moderation and I followed good healthy guidelines (drink water, fruits/veggi's, multivitamin)

Yup me too. I hate exercise and I did WeightWatchers and lost 30 pounds really quite quickly. I never said no to any type of food for myself, I just got very creative with my cooking, learned how to incorporate the foods that I loved into my meals and my daily life so I didn't miss out on anything, and it was so easy. It really was. One of the things that many good and decent diets will teach you is that it's not about willpower.

Jen, your boyfriend is remarkably articulate and sounds very caring, and I can see why he has you so convinced! He sounds like he's done a lot of research and has some very strong ideas. I agree with some of what he's said, but not all of it. Particularly the part about willpower. Saying that if you don't have the willpower to deprive yourself of almost everything you like for a month means you don't have any willpower is just not true at all. Eating is not about willpower. Eating is a basic, fundamental, physiological need. Like breathing and sleeping. Could you, with enough willpower, stay awake for a month? Could you, with enough willpower, stop breathing for a month? No, you couldn't. Drastically changing your habits immediately is not going to be successful - in fact, all you are going to think is that you are a failure who didn't have enough willpower. And that old `habits take about 27 days to form' chestnut is a great one - but a complete myth.

What you are doing is setting yourself up to fail. That is not going to work for you. You have to set yourself up to succeed. Then you will succeed. There is no rule anywhere that says in order for you to achieve anything you must overcome the almost impossible.

Essentially, there are no fandangled magic bullets to weight loss. You simply have to consume less calories than you expend. That's it. Easy peasy. So, if you aren't going to exercise, you need to make food choices that mean that you consume less energy than you expend. Vegetables are a great choice. They are fat-free, and full of nutrients. On WeightWatchers, vegetables are `free' foods - you can have them in abundance with no restrictions. The only ones you need to watch are potatoes, pumpkin and corn. A regular potato is one point - I got 20 points a day. I would cut up a potato into chips, spray it with cooking spray, in the oven and bingo. A bowl of chips for one point. Food I like, delicious, tasty, and not going to go to my hips.

Lowering the carbohydrates in your diet as a concept is not a bad idea. In fact, it works very well for some people. But this is ridiculously restrictive. If you can stick to it, I'm sure it will work for you. You'll spend a month of your life being miserable and feeling like you are constantly depriving yourself, and you'll lose the weight. You'll get the reward and you'll have worked hard for it. What next? You start eating normally again? What happens? You stack the weight back on again. You feel like a failure, you feel like you have no willpower, you feel like you can't succeed at anything you try. To me, that's not worth it.

In order to lose weight and keep it off, you need to change the way you eat, period. You don't need to change the way you eat for a month to get a quick fix. You need to follow a diet that is balanced across all the food groups, that is low in fat, and high in nutrition. You can have the foods you love but everything in moderation. You are going to lose weight in a healthy way, and most importantly you will keep it off for your whole life. You will feel like a success, and you will feel positive and confident.

Tests have proved over, and over, and over, and over, and over again that this kind of restriction and sacrifice and self-denial just leads to an opposite to what was intended. If you don't want to exercise, fine. Exercise isn't just about weight loss, though. It's about being strong, and healthy. It gives you more energy. It reduces your risk of heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and other illnesses. Too many people think they only need to exercise to lose weight and that's rubbish. You should exercise to improve your life. Half an hour, four times a week, would vastly improve your quality of life and help you lose weight. You don't have to go for a run or climb a mountain or anything like that. A good solid walk half an hour four times a week would work wonders - for your health and your waistline.

Phew! Sorry about the essay, but I see what you're doing and I just really feel sorry for what you're putting yourself through. I'm not talking out of thin air, I have lost A LOT of weight. I tried all the things you've tried until I finally just pulled my head in and realised that those methods don't work. Consume less than you expend, get off your butt and go for a walk - you'll be amazed at the results.

 

[esrgirl]

Stay the heck away from that horrible diet. Join us at sparkpeople.com!!! http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/g...individual.asp We are in the spark team called TSCers. I've lost 20lbs since Lent by following this very simple diet and exercise plan. It's free, it's simple, and it won't cause damage like the GI plans do. I can eat between 1200-1500 calories a day, between 135-252 carbs, 27-60 grams of fat, and 30-136 grams of protein. It gives me a list of what to eat each day, with recipes and substitutions. It has all the major brands and their nutritional information. It promotes balanced, healthy eating, and you won't starve. It has you eat normal foods like whole grain breads, sweet potatoes, grapes, chicken, tuna, carrots, whole wheat waffles, etc. It isn't like Jenny Craig or anything, this is just stuff you buy on your own. The recipe for my dinner today is really tasty and I'll post it below. It gives you a simple exercise program that you can do in your home. It tells you how to successfully lose appropriate weight and has so many motivational resources, a huge message board, support groups like the TSCers, expert help, etc. It's super easy and totally free and it works for long term, healthy weight loss. Aside from the recipe below my dinner calls for spinach, brown rice, some tomato, and a tiny mini candy bar for desert. The rest of my day calls for the following: a pear, english muffin, tbsp honey, whole wheat bread, peanut butter, jam, 5 baby carrots, oatmeal with milk and brown sugar, and apple juice. You need to do your six-eight servings of fruits and veggies and eight glasses of water. The menu changes every day and you can print a handy shopping list. You can substitute stuff and it gives suggestions. This website is really great!! I'm losing an average of 2lbs a week, which is healthy and recommended by doctors.

Sticky Chicken RECIPE
ingredients



* 1 teaspoon salt

* 2 teaspoons paprika

* 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

* 1 teaspoon onion powder

* 1 teaspoon thyme

* 1 teaspoon white pepper

* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

* 3-4 lb. roasting chicken

* 1 cup chopped onion


\t

\tFat: 3.8g
\tCarbohydrates: 5.6g
\tCalories:155.3
\tProtein: 24.0g
\t



1. In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin. Place in a re-sealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate over night.



2. When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions, and place in a shallow baking pan. Roast, uncovered, at 250° F for 5 hours. After the first hour, baste the chicken occasionally (every half hour or so) with pan juices. The pan juice will start to caramelize on the bottom of the pan and the chicken will turn golden brown. If the chicken contains a pop-up thermometer, ignore it. Let chicken rest about 10 minutes before carving.