In this “light” period for sports in the middle of summer, Jim and I were trying to figure out what to talk about on our latest podcast. When I realized we’d lost a combined 57 pounds in the last 18 months and it was largely just due to our diet, I figured we’d share some of our insights. And given it’s “summer beach weather,” what else could we talk about that would mean as much to our readers?
In our latest podcast, we talk about what we’ve stopped eating and what we’ve started eating instead that has led us to leaner bodies (and neither of us had a heck of a lot to lose in the first place). You can listen here; And some of my personal diet changes are after the jump. Plus, share your insights here as well!
Some of my diet changes that have lost me 8 pounds in four weeks:
- Cut my bread/pasta/rice/potato intake to once (total) every 3-4 days. When I do eat bread and pasta it’s whole wheat or multigrain.
- In it’s place I’m eating quinoa, millet, lentils, oats.
- Also eating salad and vegetables whenever I get hungry. And eating some fresh fruit like cherries, blueberries, strawberries.
- Cut my alcohol intake to max of 2 drinks per week.
- Eating oat bran or oatmeal every morning (with dried cherries or bananas & walnuts).
- Not adding sugar to anything, except about 1/2 teaspoon of honey or pure maple syrup to the oat bran or oatmeal.
- Drinking soy milk and almond milk instead of dairy milk and rice milk.
- Cutting my meat intake to ONLY white chicken, white turkey and fish (and when I eat fish, it’s halibut, snapper, salmon – the fattier fishes).
- Cut out butter and cheese completely. Haven’t touched it. Instead of the butter, I’m using canola oil and olive oil. Instead of the cheese, I’m eating avocado.
- Taking a tbsp. of flaxseed oil every day.
- Finally, as a treat I am eating 1 ounce of DARK chocolate every day. It’s supposed to be healthy for your heart and this little bit of sugar/fat isn’t going to hurt (it certainly hasn’t).
on Jul 13th, 2009 at 4:39 AM
you lost me at 2 drinks per week
on Jul 13th, 2009 at 8:21 AM
Which of your bodies is in the picture?
on Jul 13th, 2009 at 11:23 AM
This week I had four drinks, but still below the 6-8 I was having. You don’t have to be militant about sticking to it – it’s just a guideline. Some nights I really want a cookie, so I have one. It’s just a guideline to follow – and after following it for a couple weeks, I found my desire to eat butter and flour and cheese just started fading away.
We’re withholding pictures to auction off on ebay.
on Jul 13th, 2009 at 11:55 AM
what about just working out more to build more muscle and eat as much as you like and still lose pounds??
on Jul 13th, 2009 at 1:17 PM
OK, I live in Portland, OR and there’s just too much good beer and fun pubs to do 2 beers a week. I just make sure I don’t skip my run and bike more.
Certainly the more lean muscle mass you have the higher the set point of your metabolism is and more calories you’ll burn. Everyone should be doing some form of resistance training if but for better bone mass density. Particularly important if youre not a runner or doing impact exercises as these increase bone mass. Bikers loose bone density/mass w/o resistance training.
Alcohol and candy/sugar is treated by your body like the easily accessable empty calories they are. Both really f’s w/the trigliceride level of your blood lipid profile. Basically your body produces the triglycerides based on your diet. Mine was 300+ also once upon a time. My Dr. read me the riot act due to family history of coronary artery disease. I’ve done a ton of research/reading since.
Olive oil for your fat source and raw almonds/tree nuts can help improve lipid profile numbers.
All this info is out there online and easily accessable. Less surfing free porn and hook sites and more time researching your diet and lifestyle???
Cyds right give up “the whites” in your diet and you’ll loose weight and feel better. White: flour, potatoes, pasta, rice and sugar. You won’t miss them after about a week. Go whole grain/whole wheat but go easy on it. Your body can access the sugars in the whites very easily and it will drive your appetite by giving you sudden surges and drops in blood sugar. Eating more fiber helps lock up the easy stuff and your body doesnt get a shot at absorbing all of it. Think green veggies and the leafy veggies.
Wheat free isn’t so bad. I have wheat intollerant friends and it’s manageable to pull off a weekend of nice meals w/o wheat.
Eat less animal products over all and particularly full fat dairy and red meat. That’ll help improve your blood lipid profile. Fat is dense calories and less of it might help shrink the belly roll. Your dietary carbon foot print is huge the more meat and dairy you eat too. Working on that and not liking it.
I’d suggest paying attention to the glycemic index of the food you eat to avoid developing insulin resistance and type II diabetis. Easiest way to avoid these two is to stay slim or get slim and watch what you eat. Aerobic exercise too.
The Dr. who developed the South Beach Diet was cognicent of both weight loss and blood sugar issues as his diet was targeted for the obease and heart patients too unfit to get an exercise program going w/o significant wight loss. Most of these folks have or will have type II diabetis. Google “metabolic syndrome” and see if that’s you and take action if you fit that profile. Leading cause of impotence is diabetis.
Try phase 1 of SB for 2-3 weeks and you’d be surprised out how quick you can drop some tonnage.
OK, long rant . Sorry about that. Cheers.
on Jul 13th, 2009 at 2:56 PM
In the great wise words of Roseanne Connor, “we’re not some California, tofu-eatin, Nordic-trackin freaks who wanna live past 50!” lol
There are several components that worked for me in losing excess weight and it wasn’t the simple and vague “eating right and exercising”. Different things work for different people and that’s a real challenge. The Atkins plan isn’t going to work for everybody (made me very, very sick at the end of the first week). I tried the Body-For-Life plan which was good but if you’re on a tight budget it’s nearly impossible as nearly all these specific diet-and-exercise plans are.
What REALLY worked for me really didn’t have anything to do with diet. I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and I was surprised at how much of a role it played in my weight issues all these years. The doctor put me on Adderall and let me tell you, it has made all the difference. Yes, it is a stimulant and even though I’m not hungry 24/7, I still get quite hungry at times and even have cravings (now it always seems to be chocolate). I’m going to be honest with you, I haven’t changed WHAT I eat but HOW MUCH I eat. I eat NORMAL PORTIONS. That’s mostly half of a standard-sized meal and save the rest for another time. I’m not dropping cheese and replacing it with avacado (GROSS!) Fuck that! That’s bullshit. [No offense to you, Cyd. It's perfectly ok if you like avocado. lol]
I guess the main point I’m trying to make is to quit obsessing so much over how you look or “being fit” and just let it happen. That’s what worked for me. I lost more weight by not TRYING and just being active for AT LEAST an hour a day and eating regular-sized meals. Pay close attention to your body and get the advice from a physician, even if you have to check with 2 or 3 doctors for another opinion. Don’t automatically assume that the most popular regimen out there now is THE ONLY WAY you can lose weight. You should ALWAYS check with a medical professional first anyway. If I hadn’t followed through and gotten tested for ADHD, I would regret it at the end of my life (whenever that would be). I’m 31 and wish I could have had a say-so when I was much younger when I felt something was wrong.
Update on me. I have lost 25 pounds in the past 3 to 4 months.