looking for weight loss ideas/rotations

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Feb-25-02 AT 06:46AM (Est)[/font][p]That's great! Congratulations.

The interesting thing is, it gets easier and easier as you get into it, and you'll find that once you reach a goal weight, as long as you keep up the workouts and water, you can eat way more than you'd ever believe calorie-wise and still gain nothing. I probably eat 2000 - 2500 calories a day now and weigh myself every day.

If you go several months without eating that stuff and then go back and try it, you'll be amazed at (i) how "yucky" and overly sweet some of it is, and (ii) how cruddy it makes you feel afterward. I can't say I never ever eat anything. Sometimes I eat an oatmeal cookie or a piece of gingerbread but I don't crave the stuff.

Dumping refined carbs from your diet also helps your mental acuity. I can't think of one bad thing that comes from it.

And really, isn't it easier to just boot the stuff and be able to eat more calorie wise and still lose weight rather than trying to shoehorn the carb calories into a 1200 - 1400 calorie diet and being hungry all the time? I thought so.

Great going. Keep it up.
 
I eat very little refined flour. Sugar is a problem. I already eat sugar-free jam, I eat low sugar everything. But, my question is, how do you cut it out completely?? I love soy milk in my coffee in the morning. I also use it for my cereal. It has sugar in it, and so do even the healthiest of cereal. Should I stick to completely oatmeal?? I guess if I really want it, I should do it, yes??? I hate to imagine my life without coffee. Even skim milk has a little. Any suggestions????
 
Search "glycemic index" and you'll find a lot of info. The idea is to eat carbs low on the glycemic index. The sugar in soy milk and even in regular milk probably is no big deal. What needs to be cut out is refined sugar and products made with it. I just sucked it up and did it, went cold turkey and I'm not going to say it was easy. I had two cruddy days where I hated everyone and everything, but then it was over.

A cereal replacement might be something like shredded wheat or Fiber One with skim milk and cut up strawberries, peaches or blueberries. But when eating cereal, my understanding is you have to balance it with protein, so I always eat an egg white omelet (4 egg whites) along with it. Balances your blood sugar beautifully.

I have also heard that coffee can play havoc with your blood sugar. I have never drunk coffee in my life so I don't have any experience with that. But I was a heavy Diet Coke consumer which also has a lot of caffeine and I found that my blood sugar stayed a lot more stable if I cut it down to 2-3 per day, no more.

The other part of this equation is motivation of course. The old carrot and stick thing. There will come a time in your life when you want to the lose the weight more than you want the "bad" foods and at that point, you'll do fine. It took me months and months of fits and starts to reach that point but when I did, there was no deviating.

Good luck!
 
Wow!
What a great thread! I decided to lurk the forum for some new ideas for diet inspitation. This one I've heard before, but never by someone who actually did it successfully. Thanks so much. I guess now it's time for some soul searching for the will power to do this. I love sugar!!

Thanks, Donna
ps. Sugar doesn't love me
 
The less, obviously, the better. I 'fell off' Wednesday night due to a lasagna dinner at MIL's house, but got right back on thursday morning. I made sure to slug even more water in hopes of helping to clean it all out faster. Saturday night I had a couple beers when we had company over, and sunday I showed no additional weight loss. I'm still paying for those two slips, but I know I'll be back to a calorie burning state real soon!! I was dropping an average of about a half pound every day til Sunday. I KNOW it's mostly water, but, I whenever you lose weight, you lose SOME water, and I was just glad to see it finally get going!

I'm back on program as of yesterday morning, and really working on getting rid of those setbacks. I bought myself my first barbell set and am doing MIS tonight for the first time. Cant wait!

And yes, it's great to be able to EAT and lose weight! If I didnt say this before, what's really cool about this is by saying "NO sugar or white flour" it's so clear what you can and cant have. So much of my munching was cut out. Yet I was eating to my fill, and still had to frequently have a tablespoon of peanut butter or slice of cheese with an apple or banana muffin before going to bed, just to get my calories up high enough. (I'm paranoid about lowering my metabolism with low cal eating, or worse, having my body burn muscle as fuel!) Previously, I'd been following a major international diet plan and figured out that I was probably getting about 1400 calories/day, at the high end of things.

And I really dont miss the sugar or the white flour. It's mostly a matter of convenience that I want to eat them. I'm finding alternatives tho. Even have my kids eating my new healthier cookies and muffins!! (I just watch the quantities on those. They ARE treats afterall, just quite a bit healthier w/o the white flour and white/brown sugars!)

If anybody knows of a forum that gets into this style of eating more, let me know!

Karen
 
K60--You've mentioned balancing your carbs with proteins before, and that it helps to stabilize your blood sugars. Is this something that the Zone recommends? Guess, I'm looking for more info on this.

I hear you TOTALLY about about going thru months and months of 'fits and starts'. I think part of that is due to not finding the right way to do it. And like you said, it's tough to be satisfied with 1400 calories of empty carbs. I really found that I was less occupied with food on this.

Karen
 
Yes. I don't believe that any of these "diet in a box" (or book) things works for everybody, so I modified (like we do with Cathe's tapes) and cobbled together bits and pieces of things that made sense to me. Another resource is that book called "Hot Point Fitness" which lays out this theory as well. I found that snack like a cup of raspberries and a small block of cheese worked very well, or a few nuts and a piece of fruit.

The water is a big element too. You look a little strange running back and forth to the ladies' room all day (at least I thought I did) but hey, look at it this way - extra cardio! LOL
 
Faythe, I just saw your post. Sorry.

I did the Firm's Power Walking With Weights (the hard one) for the first couple of months every night on the treadmill set at about 4.7 mph and a 7 incline, going up to 12 on the parts where you just walked. After I lost enough weight to do more impact, I started running again and doing Cathe's PS series and MIS.

You sound like you're really kicking it. I hope you don't run out of energy!
 
Have any of you ever heard of Stevia? It's an herb from South America that is used as a sugar substitute. It is intensly sweet (so you don't need much), has no calories and, best of all, it is actually GOOD for you (for starters, it helps to stabilize blood sugar levels)! I get it in bulk at my local heath food store and use it all the time (you can even use it for baking). I also do not touch sugar or white flour (actually, no wheat or dairy) and am a strict vegan. I have been using Cathe's tapes for years and at age 47 (5'8") got into my first pair of size 2 jeans last week - I'm not skinny like I was when I was a ballet dancer - just all Cathe muscle! Yippie! Anyway, check out stevia if you miss a sweet taste in your foods (it's great in tea also!)

Robin
 
This thread has inspired me. This is day 2 for me. Yesterday I wanted to slap my Mama!! BRUTAL!! Bad headache. Today headache is gone. Hope to feel a little better.

I have a great book that simplifies the Zone Diet. It's called "40-30-30 Fat Burning Nutrition" by Joyce and Gene Daoust. Paperback and thin=easy read. Has Different menus from regular Zone to Fat Flush to Vegetarian Zone. Anyhoo, it just simplifies the whole Zone thing for me. I'm taking K60's lead and just adapting this to my own personal plan.

I'm excited!!! (Doesn't take much. LOL) Robin.
 
I have that book too and it's great.

The sloppy joe recipe is delicious. That's a staple of mine on an Eziekel bun (flourless but you'd never know it).
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Feb-26-02 AT 12:52PM (Est)[/font][p]RobinC, WOW! Let me ask you this. I have heard of stevia. It's at the health food store, right? Also, what about Splenda? I know that the Atkins folks use it cuz it doesn't cause a spike in insulin levels. Do you know? Does anyone know? K60? TIA. Robin.
 
Do you guys have any thoughts on eating soup and the sodium content? I usually have a can of progresso soup everyday for lunch. Do need to be more consistent with the amount of water I drink daily.
Thanks,
Tracy
 
Hey Robin!

Check out this site for info on healthy sweeteners:

www.holisticmed.com/sweet/

I'll use Splenda in a pinch when I'm not home or out of Stevia, but I'd rather stay away from the chemical sweeteners if I can...I don't trust them...BUT, stevia can be expensive because the FDA has it listed as a drug rather than a food (I think we can thank the big artifical sweetener companies for that - think of the business they would lose if everyone used stevia instead of aspartame!) Give it a try and see if you like it! Yes, I get it at my health food store.

Robin
 
I've read a lot of the posts, and I too can attest to the fact that giving up sugar and starch will deliver super fast results. In January 2001, while wearing a size 16/18, I decided that I was going to lose weight. I completely gave up processed sugar and starch. When I first told people I was doing this, I received a lot of strange looks and even a few odd stares. By September, I was 60+ pounds lighter, wearing a size 10 (and some 8's) and the same people who looked at me strangely were now asking me to detail exactly what I did.

In addition to overhauling my eating habits, I also exercised every morning with step aerobics, kick boxing and some light weight toning. I build muscle really easily, so I could always go light on weights and still see great results. I am now wearing a size 8.

Good luck to everyone who adopts this new eating lifestyle. I have to admit, for me, it was REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hard at first. Someone on the board mentioned a two-day adjustment, but for me, it was more like a two-month adjustment. I just LOVE sweets. I was a complete sugar addict, but if I could do it, anyone can. Trust me. It just takes will power and self control.

As far as rotations go, I am a strong believer that ANY rotation will yield results - if you are consistent. Consistency being the key word. Instead of focusing on following a particular roatation, choose exercises that you like that you know you can stick with. A good rule to follow is to do any areobic activity, e.g. step aerobics, biking, running... at least 40 minutes for 4-5 days per week. Add to this, strength training 2-3 times per week. Be sure to get a variety of exercises to ensure that you are working all muscle groups. Give up the sugar, alternate the strength training and the aerobics, and you should see the weight fall off fast!!!!
 
Great results, mojolisa! Very inspiring story. Thanks for sharing it.

Question for you, and anyone else who has cut out sugar and white flour and lost weight. Have/did you replace white sugar with anything? honey? aspartame? fruit? splenda? Stevia?

I'm having mild sweets cravings. Raisins actually quench my sweet cravings quite well, but I understand them to be not only high in calories, but posess a high glycemic index as well. Figures!!!

I'm worried about finding replacements for other reasons: I think part of my own initial success with this was that it was so clear and obvious what I could and couldnt eat, that so many things were now off limits. If I start to find replacements for those things... well, I'm worried that my weight loss will slow in proportion to replacing those foods.

Ok, now, I'm rereading your post, and you talked about avoiding starches. So, that would that count raisins? Or just things like corn and potatoes and rice?
TIA! Karen
 
Raisins and other dried fruits are not optimal because the sugar in them is concentrated.

I used those great big navel oranges you can get at this time of year, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, nectarines, and occasionally bananas (although they're pretty high on the GI too). You might see if you like that Fiber One stuff (it's very tasty and crunch especially with fruit) to help with sweet cravings.

BTW, yesterday I had a "bad" day so to speak - ate 2 oatmeal cookies after writing about them and about 2700 total calories, but this morning, I weighed 108.5 pounds, the lowest I have been since I was about 13 years old. When you get the weight off and replace the fat with muscle it is really true that your metabolism changes and you can handle more food.
 
Hi-
I just found this thread and am very, very interested!! I have read so much on so many different ways of eating....it's mind boggeling!! :-(

I think this would be a good way to determine what to eat, etc.

My question:

What foods should I have one hand BEFORE I start this?

Did you use a particular portion size or just count calories?

Can you make your own Ezeikel bread or did you buy it at the health food store?

Any other comments/suggestions you have will be greatly appreciated.

I'm almost 49 and have this very ugly inner tube around my waist I would like to get rid of...not even for appearance sake, but just because it FEELS so icky!!

I have several FIRM tapes and am in the process of buying some of Cathe's cardio tape....defintely need more cardio!!

Thanks for responding-
Deb
 
Funny thing... just yesterday I got one of those printed out coupons at the checkout, and it was for $1 off a box of Fiber 1!! I put that one in my wallet for the next trip to the store. And even tho raspberries are fairly pricey right now, they cost less than a bag of Doritos or something like that, so I think I can justify the purchase! :)

Wow, you're down to 108.5 lbs now?!?!? That's incredible! I'm so motivated to do this. Thank you K60, and everyone else for all the great info! Feel free to tell us all more. We're just gobbling all this up you know!

Karen
 
Hi Deb!

I'm new to this, so take my advice for what it's worth. But from what I understand, you probably have LOTS of the food allready. To eat clean, means to eat stuff that isnt refined. A simple way to START that is to not eat things with white flour or sugar in them. Do you have oatmeal? Great breakfast. Fruits, veggies, lean proteins and dairy all work in as well.

Ezekiel bread is a sprouted grain bread, that has no flour in it. I've seen recipes for it on the internet. Dont know how easy it would be to make tho. I get mine at the health food store.

There's quite a few book references in this post, and I might add that the Muscle and Fitness magazines usually have an article or two in them about clean eating, as well. If you start with taking out the white flour and sugar, you'll be well on your way.

As far as counting calories... it sounds like you can eat more when you're not eating empty, refined carbs. Personally, I'm shooting for 1600 calories of clean food a day, and that's giving me very good results. I could probably eat more and still have results. Varying it up a bit also sounds like a good thing to do, so your body doesnt get used to a set routine.

Good luck! Would be nice to hear how you're doing with this, so, please, share your results!!

Karen
 
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