[iDriveX]

So I'm more than 50% to my goal weight right now and I thought I'd take a little look back at my life before I started eating better. Here's how it used to be (typical day):

Code:
                                                                  Calories          Carbs(g)
Breakfast
(2) McDonald's Egg McMuffins                                        580                60
Hash Brown                                                          140                15
Large Orange Juice                                                  180                42

Lunch
Carl's Jr. Western Bacon Six Dollar Burg.                           1080               84
Large Crisscut Fries                                                407                43
Small Dr. Pepper                                                    262                68

Dinner
Jack in the Box (2) Monster Tacos                                   490                90
Large Curly Fries                                                   550                69
Small Dr. Pepper                                                    190                50

Totals                                                              3878               521

Just for reference, 521g of Carbs is equal to 1.14 lbs. (roughly) of carbohydrates.

[sugar_coated]

You are what you eat.

[Oneota]

Yikes! Learn to cook for yourself (it's healthier, really!), and consider expanding your diet to occasionally include something that didn't have a mother!

[paul w]

You had fast food three times a day?

I thought only that guy in Super Size Me did that. He nearly didn't make it, either.

[iDriveX]

Yeah, not proud to admit it, but most days I did have fast food three times a day. I lived alone, worked from 8 AM to 6 PM, only had a half hour lunch and was a lazy sack of sh*t. I have definitely refined my eating habits now and cook for myself every morning, noon, and night. I haven't been to a fast food place since I changed my lifestyle. Hell I haven't had a French Fry or a Soda the entire time. All I drink now is water about about 100 oz. a day of it. I have gone from being 250 lbs. to now being 209.5 lbs. (as of this morning) and am shooting for 170 lbs. to be healthy. I did a number on my body for sure.

[CollinG3G4]

what is the the total grams of fat in all that yummy food?

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by iDriveX:
Here's how it used to be (typical day):

That is obesity caused by lack of common sense or restraint.

[Oneota]

Originally posted by iDriveX:
I have definitely refined my eating habits now and cook for myself every morning, noon, and night. I haven't been to a fast food place since I changed my lifestyle. Hell I haven't had a French Fry or a Soda the entire time.

Well done!

Sounds like your current eating habits are healthier than mine.

[iDriveX]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious:
That is obesity caused by lack of common sense or restraint.

I was about to write "No Sh*t Sherlock, that's why I changed my lifestyle", then I looked at your name.

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by iDriveX:
I was about to write "No Sh*t Sherlock, that's why I changed my lifestyle", then I looked at your name.

That's funny. I was going to write stupidity in the first post and then I remembered your history on the board.
Equally as evident

[iDriveX]

Originally posted by CollinG3G4:
what is the the total grams of fat in all that yummy food?

The breakfast has 30g of fat in it, the lunch had 92g of fat, and the dinner had 59g of fat, for a total of 181g of fat a day.

[d0ubled0wn]

Changing to a healthy diet was the first step. Now you need to get yourself a gym membership. Get on the treadmill and get your heart rate up to about 160 for a half hour. Then finish off with some strength training exercises, get working on those abs and pecs.

[xenu]

We started watching the Dr Phil diet episodes, and realised we were probably eating twice the serves we should have been eating. Without even trying we were over eating.

So we halved our portions, threw out all our two minute meals, stopped buying processed food, stopped using sugar (a poison), and are eating more salads and vegitables.

We have lost weight, and are feeling much better.

I also go to the gym 3 to 4 times a week.

[storer]

Congratulations to all of you who've lost weight. I've done it before, and it's not easy. I lost 10 kg a year ago (I'm only 15) but unfortunately, its all come back. So, I'm in the process of doing what you're doing now, and detoxing my diet. I exercise more than enough, but I eat bad stuff.

[SimpleLife]

Originally posted by iDriveX:
I did a number on my body for sure.

But you are getting through.

Congratulations and keep it up. This is your life, not that of some obvious a**h*le.

That is hard work that will bring great benefits. The worst part is probably the guilt; keep focused on your objectives friend!

[BasketofPuppies]

Hasn't the low-carb diet fad been replaced by the high-whole grain diet fad?

[ShortcutToMoncton]

During the summer, I eat fast food 2-3 times a day: Timmy's or McDonald's for breakfast, a fast food restaurant for lunch, and depending on how late we're working out on the road (and it's usually pretty late), fast food for supper a few times a week.

I lose weight in the summer. Honestly. I'm pretty slightly built, 5"10, and I usually go from ~167 or so in the winter to ~162 in the summer.

Why? Because I work my �ss off, of course. I'm at a physical job, lifting heavy shi� and working up a sweat a lot of the day.

As far as I'm concerned, you can eat what you want, within reason. The real difference is in the amount of real exercise you do (and by that I don't mean 30 minutes on a treadmill a day ).

Of course, there's a limit to that...once I want to start work on real definition and serious toning, I have to start counting what's going in, and when. For just regular old-fashioned "decent shape," however, I think the exercise is the big limiting factor (and with our busy lifestyles today, hard to account for).

Congrats on the new lifestyle...hope it works out for ya!

greg

[milkmanchris]

Jeez you Americans

[SSharon]

Congrats on losing those pounds. Over the summer at work, I appreciate keeping kosher and not being able to eat at every fast food place that my partner does (ambulance work). I switch off between a 2 liter mountain dew with a bag of hotstuff and a 2 liter orange juice and a few apples.

[Cody Dawg]

I'm jealous!

Seriously, a HUGE to you.

Why don't you write it all down and get it published? Need an agent or a publisher? I know a few great ones.

Seriously, congratz.

[Il Duce]

Originally posted by iDriveX:
The breakfast has 30g of fat in it, the lunch had 92g of fat, and the dinner had 59g of fat, for a total of 181g of fat a day.

JEEBUS! I think the recommended fat intake is between 30 and 50 grams per day.

But it's never too late to start being healthier. Congrats on turning yourself around. Keep up the good work. You get a cookie (don't worry - it's one of the fat free ones )

[Ganesha]

Originally posted by iDriveX:

Just for reference, 521g of Carbs is equal to 1.14 lbs. (roughly) of carbohydrates.

Or about 50 miles on a bicycle (going easy). Less, if you are actually putting some effort into moving. Carbs are good, really.

[Superchicken]

I have gone from being about 315, currently I'm hovering around 265, and I estimate within a month I'll be closer to 250. I still occasionally eat crap, I just eat less of it, don't drink pop any more, and don't eat after 7pm. My goal is to be down to around 220. My original goal was 250, but since I'm so close to that I figure I might as well go for more since I'm not quite at the point that I'm happy with. I've become somewhat of a work out nut. I generally go to the gym for around an hour and a half to two hours. Over the summer I'm going to be able to roller blade to my gym for about four months or so. So I'll probably be there every day. I look forward to seeing how much better I can look and feel by the end of it all.

[malvolio]

Seamen in the Royal Navy back in the 18th and 19th Centuries had a daily intake of 5000 - 6000 calories (mainly from bread and bacon).
They never got fat because they were doing intense physical labor for 18 hours a day.
Not a trade-off I would care to make, myself.

[Eug Wanker]

Holy crap. 4000 calories a day of crap, with no exercise.

P.S. It's not the carbs. It's the calories. Most nutritionists/dieticians recommend a balanced diet with proportionally higher carbs percentage-wise than the average North American, actually:

60% carbs
30% fat
10% protein

Most North Americans have a much higher fat intake, at the expense of carb intake.

The key though is to keep overall calories much lower. My guess is that you were eating somewhere in the ballpark of 50% too many calories every day, if your list above is accurate.

[Athens]

Originally posted by iDriveX:
So I'm more than 50% to my goal weight right now and I thought I'd take a little look back at my life before I started eating better. Here's how it used to be (typical day):

Code:
                                                                  Calories          Carbs(g)
Breakfast
(2) McDonald's Egg McMuffins                                        580                60
Hash Brown                                                          140                15
Large Orange Juice                                                  180                42

Lunch
Carl's Jr. Western Bacon Six Dollar Burg.                           1080               84
Large Crisscut Fries                                                407                43
Small Dr. Pepper                                                    262                68

Dinner
Jack in the Box (2) Monster Tacos                                   490                90
Large Curly Fries                                                   550                69
Small Dr. Pepper                                                    190                50

Totals                                                              3878               521

Just for reference, 521g of Carbs is equal to 1.14 lbs. (roughly) of carbohydrates.

why are you Dr Peppers values different?

[roberto blanco]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
P.S. It's not the carbs. It's the calories.

actually it's a combination of "processed" sugars and foods, carbs and calories which make you fat. lack of excercise and not drinking enough fluids will do the rest.

the trick is to keep the insulin level low, while at the same time eating healthy food.

i went from 98,7 kilos (215 lbs.) on january 1st this year (most of it i put on since i quite smoking last year) to 85,5 kilos (187 lbs.) today, simply by cutting down on carbs/processed food (sugars) and drinking lots of water.

[Superchicken]

hehe I love how we always say "all it is" when it's a ton of things that contribute. For me it was actually not making the purchase of my iPod mini a meaningless venture... I had to find a way to rationalize having one, so the gym seemed like a good reason... go figure I loose over 30 pounds as a result hahaha

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by roberto blanco:
actually it's a combination of "processed" sugars and foods, carbs and calories which make you fat. lack of excercise and not drinking enough fluids will do the rest.

the trick is to keep the insulin level low, while at the same time eating healthy food.

i went from 98,7 kilos (215 lbs.) on january 1st this year (most of it i put on since i quite smoking last year) to 85,5 kilos (187 lbs.) today, simply by cutting down on carbs/processed food (sugars) and drinking lots of water.

No, it was simply by cutting down on calories taken in, and/or calories expended. Really it's just common sense.

And if you don't believe me, just look at the Stanford meta-analysis of Atkins Diet studies. Those who lost weight didn't lose weight specifically because of carb calories. They lost weight because of calories.

eg. I lost 10 lbs a couple years ago on a high carb diet, and by high I mean high percentage of overall diet. I just ate less and exercized more, so my overall caloric intake was lower and my overall caloric expenditure was higher. And I keep that weight off, also on high carbs (eg. pasta, rice, bread, etc.). But I eat healthily.

But yeah, it's good get rid of the el crappo carbs in most North American diets. Many such carbs are also high fat too. eg. Potato chips, french fries, etc.

[wdlove]

Following the guidelines of grains, milk products, fruits, and vegetables are very important.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by wdlove:
Following the guidelines of grains, milk products, fruits, and vegetables are very important.

I generally agree, but in truth, milk products aren't all that necessary per se. Many cultures get along just fine without much milk products in the diet. It's more of a Western thing. And that's coming from someone who loves milk products, and eats them all the time.

I also you don't mention meats. For most people, meats and fish make up an important part of the diet. It's possible to exclude them with a healthy vegetarian diet, although it's difficult.

[Superchicken]

I think putting in an iPod can help a lot too...

[spiky_dog]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
No, it was simply by cutting down on calories taken in, and/or calories expended. Really it's just common sense.

And if you don't believe me, just look at the Stanford meta-analysis of Atkins Diet studies. Those who lost weight didn't lose weight specifically because of carb calories. They lost weight because of calories.

citation? a pubmed search for meta-analyses containing "atkins" and "stanford" returned no hits. the reasoning behind atkins (wrt insulin/glucagon/different carbs' impact on them) seems sound to me given what i know about metabolism from having just finished the class of the same name...

[iDriveX]

Originally posted by wdlove:
Following the guidelines of grains, milk products, fruits, and vegetables are very important.

Actually those pyramid guidelines were set up by a group of farmers in America. While I think it's got the right idea, it puts too much emphasis on cheeses and milks, along with grains.

[Dimethyltrypt]

WHAT THE ****?!!!!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!? EATING AT FAST FOODS ALL DAY?

YOu'll die soon man. It's over. You damaged your body.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by spiky_dog:
citation? a pubmed search for meta-analyses containing "atkins" and "stanford" returned no hits. the reasoning behind atkins (wrt insulin/glucagon/different carbs' impact on them) seems sound to me given what i know about metabolism from having just finished the class of the same name...

JAMA April 2003, Bravata et al. Efficacy and safety of low-carbohydrate diets: a systematic review.

"Among the published studies, participant weight loss while using low-carbohydrate diets was principally associated with decreased caloric intake and increased diet duration but not with reduced carbohydrate content."

It's like the reason some people can more easily lose weight with a low carb diet is because they feel full longer at the same caloric intake if the proportion of fats and protein is higher than what would be seen on a high carb diet. However, again, what really matters is the overall caloric balance.

Originally posted by iDriveX:
Actually those pyramid guidelines were set up by a group of farmers in America. While I think it's got the right idea, it puts too much emphasis on cheeses and milks, along with grains.

Most of the healthiest diets in the world are high on grains/carbs. Not heavily processed carbs/sugars of course mind you.

[ReggieX]

Originally posted by iDriveX:
All I drink now is water about about 100 oz. a day of it.

That's ridiculous. Nobody needs that much water, even if you were working out in the sun all day hauling asphalt around.

Congrats on the change, though, you're only going to feel better.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by ReggieX:
That's ridiculous. Nobody needs that much water, even if you were working out in the sun all day hauling asphalt around.

Yeah, 2.8 L per day is a lot of water if you're just sitting on your @ss all day, but it's not *that* much if you were working out in the sun all day hauling asphalt around.

[BasketofPuppies]

Originally posted by ReggieX:
That's ridiculous. Nobody needs that much water, even if you were working out in the sun all day hauling asphalt around.

He's on a low-carb diet. Most of the weight he's losing is water.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by BasketofPuppies:
He's on a low-carb diet. Most of the weight he's losing is water.

Err... That doesn't really follow...

He's lost 40 lbs. Much of that will be water, but of course, that's true if he's on a low carb diet or a high carb diet. He could be on a high cockroach diet and it'd still be the same.

Anyways, I'm off to the gym now.

[jcadam]

Hit the weights hard. This is more important than cardiovascular exercise (but do SOME cardio).
Eat a diet high in protein to promote lean mass, take protein powder if you need to. Whether you go low-carb, moderate-carb, etc. is up to you, but in either case eliminate refined sugars (CORN SYRUP!!! AS IN SODA!!) and other simple carbs from your diet completely. As far as fat goes, eliminate saturated fat as much as possible, make sure you get your EFAs (take some flaxseed oil or fish oil to supplement if you have to).
Restrict your calories at first to burn off body fat. As you grow muscle mass from the weight lifting and the high protein diet, your body's resting metabolic rate will rise (muscle takes a lot more calories to support than fat), and you can gradually increase your calorie intake to keep growing lean mass

Well, the above is what has worked, and is working for me, anyway. That and I stopped drinking massive amounts of alcoholic bevarages per day (down to one glass of red wine per evening with dinner)

[SSharon]

Originally posted by ReggieX:
That's ridiculous. Nobody needs that much water, even if you were working out in the sun all day hauling asphalt around.

I spent a summer in the desert in Israel doing an archeological excavation and drank 3 liters of water between 4am and 1pm every day without peeing, so its not that crazy.

[E's Lil Theorem]

I love having a fast metabolism. I eat whatever I want and don't gain weight. For the past six months, however, I've been trying to eat a bit more healthier, came up with a consistent exercising schedule (kung fu mostly) and as a result I've put on a few pounds of muscle.

[iDriveX]

Originally posted by E's Lil Theorem:
I love having a fast metabolism. I eat whatever I want and don't gain weight. For the past six months, however, I've been trying to eat a bit more healthier, came up with a consistent exercising schedule (kung fu mostly) and as a result I've put on a few pounds of muscle.

My brother has a super fast metabolism and he thinks it gives him the authority to eat the way I was eating and that his body just processed it "better". I always told him that I'm glad my body puts on so much weight cause I'll always know what the interior of my arteries look like by looking at myself in the mirror. He'll just have a massive coronary one day and show no signs.

I think we can all come to a common consensus here, there is no 100% right way to eat but we can all argue that the way I was eating was 100% wrong. I may not be doing anything perfect right now but I am helping to restore my body to the way it should be little by little. 41 lbs as of this morning btw.

[Oisín]

Originally posted by ReggieX:
That's ridiculous. Nobody needs that much water, even if you were working out in the sun all day hauling asphalt around.

I've always been told (from home - it's sort of a 'standing truth' like the half litre of milk every day) that you should drink approximately 4 litres of water every day.

Of course, I've never actually done it - I drink very little water, 'cause unfortunately I don't much like the taste of pure water. I mostly drink milk, juice, tea, or 'saftevand' (why can I never find a good English word for this? Concentrated 'juice' [orange, strawberry, lemon, cranberry, whatever] that you mix with water to make... well, saftevand! Argh!), but not much pure water.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by jcadam:
Hit the weights hard. This is more important than cardiovascular exercise (but do SOME cardio).

Uh no. Cardio is much more important than muscle bulk. (And I just got back from doing weights at the gym.)

Originally posted by iDriveX:
My brother has a super fast metabolism and he thinks it gives him the authority to eat the way I was eating and that his body just processed it "better". I always told him that I'm glad my body puts on so much weight cause I'll always know what the interior of my arteries look like by looking at myself in the mirror. He'll just have a massive coronary one day and show no signs.

Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. There are a lot of variables, but all things being equal, the obese person has a higher risk of coronary artery disease than the thin person.

Originally posted by Ois�n:
I've always been told (from home - it's sort of a 'standing truth' like the half litre of milk every day) that you should drink approximately 4 litres of water every day.

An average sized person needs probably around 2.5 L of water per day, but much of that comes in food. So, you need to drink more like 1.5+ L of water per day (or more if you're exercising or whatever). Anyways, you're better off just drinking when you're thirsty than following some old wives' tale rule.

[faragbre967]

iDrive, it's good to see you're still alive the way you've been eating. Gratz and seeing the light, you probably saved a lot of years by changing the way you eat.

[mitchell_pgh]

Fast food is find ON OCCASION.

But anyone thinking they can eat it three times a day and not start to break down is fooling themselves.

[Il Duce]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
JAMA April 2003, Bravata et al. Efficacy and safety of low-carbohydrate diets: a systematic review.

"Among the published studies, participant weight loss while using low-carbohydrate diets was principally associated with decreased caloric intake and increased diet duration but not with reduced carbohydrate content."

It's like the reason some people can more easily lose weight with a low carb diet is because they feel full longer at the same caloric intake if the proportion of fats and protein is higher than what would be seen on a high carb diet. However, again, what really matters is the overall caloric balance.


Most of the healthiest diets in the world are high on grains/carbs. Not heavily processed carbs/sugars of course mind you.

It's generally agreed that a mediterranean style diet is one of the "healthiest" (but that doesn't mean it will make you skinny). I don't know if I would say that these diets are high on carbs. They do include a reasonable amount of bread / pasta, but as Eug said, the important thing is to cut out the processed stuff (refined sugar, soft drink, fruit juice, candy, white bread). That said, the japanese eat a crapload of rice (they just don't overeat).

It sorta works out both ways - because less refined carbs have a higher GI, you can eat less, but stay full for longer. Plus you don't get the massive insulin release after meals (trust me - you don't want diabetes).

Other eating habits that will help out are:

- Drink lots of water (but no more than 2L a day unless you're exercising heavily or feel thirsty)
- Eat fish at least twice a week
- Eat lean meat, and the more gamey stuff if you can (rabbit etc)
- Only wholemeal or multi-grain bread
- Lots of fresh fruit and veg
- Brown rice instead of white
- Eat free range eggs
- Use extra virgin olive oil (or good canola if olive to too pricey)
- Eat avocados and nuts (almonds, cashews and macadamias up to 30g a day)
- Take fish oil (EPA / DHA) supplements to raise HDL (good cholesterol) levels

I know it's easier said than done, but eating well makes such a huge difference. Just start out slowly and work your way up. A big part of the problem in the states is the serving size. I guess you guys feel like you aren't getting your moneys worth unless your meal is 2-3 times what you actually need. It isn't a bad thing to leave food on your plate (and you should try to stop eating before you feel full)

Food for thought anyway

[techweenie1]

Calories Exist! Along with Fat, Carbs, Cholestrol, etc. Up until the last part of 2004 I completely denied their existence. Since then I've lost around over 40 lbs. I've been exercising daily now and eating moderately. Want to get into even better shape so will continue and probably increase my workout routine...anyway just my 2 cents. Oh and also the serving size in the states in restaurants is way too big. After living abroad I noticed this, anyway I suggest either cooking for yourself more often or taking more of your meal home from your restaurant, avoid buffets.