Dieting Sucks

anyone else doing a diet right now and just hating it? I usually don’t pay much mind to what I eat but I have gained about 30 pounds since I quit smoking 3 years ago and so when I walked past some guys at work talking about doing a diet I decided I would join them. im doing a diet called the ideal protein alternatives. Its pretty hardcore. only 8 oz of meat a day, no sugar whatsoever, no fruit, and even limitations on some vegetables. basically I can eat as much lettuce as I want and 8 oz of meat as long as its not breaded or fried, oh and I cant have more than 2 TB of olive oil in a day so basically any meat I eat has to be steamed or baked or grilled. Im in the middle of day 2 lol….. I must say im doing better than I thought I would be at this point but I could really go for a slice of pizza or 20 about now.

Good for you crappie. It can suck but it makes the difference. Between high school sports and the army I have always exercised and sort of tried to eat healthy but it wasn’t until two years ago I really started to focus on what I eat, and it made me realize that the phrase “diet and exercise” isn’t just a cliche; for most of us, the diet part is extremely important.

I’ve never done any specific diet other than just watching my calories. I’ve tracked them using the MyFitnessPal app and it really helped. Sometimes I had been eating healthy foods per se but just to much of them. I think it’ll get easier for you, you’ll start enjoying and appreciating the foods you can eat and it’ll become part of your life.

Keep up the encouragement and stick with it. So many people quit diet or exercise programs. You’ll have bad days, bumps in the road, and a night or two of drinking and pizza that you shouldn’t have. When that happens put it behind you, focus on the objective, and instead of giving up just re-focus and keep moving.

thanks for the words of encouragement Dan! Part of the reason I wanted to do this was just to see if I can. I wanted to show discipline and stick with it even though its a pretty strict diet. The goal is to do it for 1 month and I am hoping to lose 15-20 pounds.

Not to be discouraging but diets only work when your on them, and if you stay on something like this you’ll waste away to nothing…

Cardio exercise and cutting out pop will usually do the trick pretty quickly.

That being said… I don’t eat much for carbs or sugar and could stand to lose a few myself.

I’m mostly doing Whole30 for the 4th(?) time but only because my SO is so I don’t really have a choice. The food is really good besides how much it all costs. My problem with any of these though is that they aren’t sustainable. I think there is a pretty healthy middle ground between ordering pizza 3 times a week and Whole30 but I just “don’t understand”

If that doesn’t work, lookup intermittent fasting.

You basically eat all of your food during a 1 hour period each day. Typically in the evening. Doesn’t hurt to leave out the carbs and sugar.

Many claim it can be quite beneficial for your health. Not a great diet for women though. It will mess with their cycle

Keep it up man, it’s worth it. Not for the looks part of it(although its not a bad side effect) but just the way you feel.

I splurged on junk food ending last year bc I typically do the new year’s thing once in awhile. Got to my all time high weight, pretty proud of myself. 15# lighter to date so far, probably go another 25# or so. I’m not one of those that can count calories or be told what or what not to eat. Theres good food out there, eat it, that simple. Water or milk. No beer, just liquor with splash of water for cocktails. It’s easier losing weight than putting it on, tell ya that, packed on #30 after I got to my all time low running years ago and had to gain muscle mass for work, couldn’t sustain all day.

I’m fortunate my work is physically demanding, so as long as diet is there it’s easy to drop. Can tell my age a bit this time though.

Don’t loose to much. Women like a lil huskiness We’ve meet before and I don’t recall you being a round guy at all.

Dan 40 lbs ago I came down w diebetis. What worked for me is watching carbs. If something tastes good spit it out. Seriously I ignore calories but watch carbs. 45 to 60 per meal but probably lighter for lunch. I am 6’2” 210 lbs. the down side is I can have 2 beers per day so now I am up to the year 2035.

Oh forgot to mention I do eat a fair amount of meat.

Good luck

On second thought, what I will really really miss is Lil Ceasars $5 lunch combo. Hmmmm, so tasty.

nhamm wrote:

On second thought, what I will really really miss is Lil Ceasars $5 lunch combo. Hmmmm, so tasty.

oddly enough ive been thinking about that all day long today lol

Really a diet only works if you decide to life style change. I diet once a year by eating sensible. Whole grain cereal for breakfast. A nutri grain bar or granola bar along with a piece of fruit before lunch. Low fat protein for lunch and a sensible supper watching the portion size. Also finding time to get a bit more active whether it’s brisk walks or workouts at the gym to increase metabolism. I stay away from donuts and sweets at work and cut my alcohol intake also. Fad diets are just that – a fad. Eating correctly and increasing your metabolism will lead to a healthier happier you long term…

Btw congradulations on quitting smoking!!!!

That’s the best thing you could of done!

My plan.

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Good one Mike.

Years ago I saw an old friend that I hadn’t seen in awhile. He lost a ton of weight, and I said nice job man. He said best thing about the whole thing, it made his you know what look so much bigger. I couldn’t stop laughing.

There’s some good advice here, good stuff.

One other thought. You’re an “outdoors guy”. That involves a lot of walking and climbing and casting and carrying and all that stuff. As you get older, that kind of activity gets tougher. So look at your new life style as an investment in yourself. The healthier you are, the more fun you have.

Good luck and keep it going!

SR

My ice creme, pizza, soda, Hostess snack cake, mashed potato, peanut butter & jelly sandwich diet is hard to control. I have found I can’t drink enough water to off-set my diet so…….I’m fat & out of shape which meshes well with being old.

Crappie,
The ONLY thing that works for me is no carbs. Once you make it into ketosis the pounds literally melt off.
I lost 50 back about 15 years ago and have pretty much kept it off. Every few years I need to go back on it (and currently I’m back on).
Lotta foods you can eat. I’ll bake up a dozen chix wings, hard boiled eggs.
I can put just about anything you put on a bun in a lettuce wrap and it aint to bad.
Wine, vodka, old #7 with diet is carb free also.

I’m telling you it works, and for me it’s not too difficult. I love chips and pizza, but I seriously look the other way because I know it will pay off in the long run.

PS my wife knows I am on the diet and yet she buys CC cookies and just leaves them on the counter top. That hurts.

To lose weight and quit smoking, both of which I have done successfully you just have to want to.

As you can see crappie a lot of different pieces of advice here, everyone just needs to see what works for them. I for one have never, ever eliminated a food group, so I’ve never done the no carb or no sugar diets, but I have strictly, and I mean strictly counted calories and that’s worked. Everyone is different so see what works best.

Pretty interesting thread with a lot of input so it shows that the struggle is real. A few comments based on others:

Bigpike mentioned food at home and work. Regarding home, I hardly buy anything that isn’t good for me. So simple, but that way it’s not there. I don’t buy candy, chocolates, pastries, etc. This forces a person, when they’re hungry or craving, to eat what they have at home.

Regarding work-That’s a HUGE trap for a lot of people, myself included. Someone’s birthday? Bring donuts! Oh s$&%, we’re all working Christmas night? Bring donuts! Last shift before a few days off, bring donuts! It got to the point where I realized all the hunger and cravings I felt, and all the hard work I put in at the gym were not worth throwing away to eat junk food at work, so I pretty much just decline every time.

Oh and congrats on quitting smoking. Can’t say that enough. Between quitting that and eating better, you’re fighting two battles, so stay tough! I (kind of mostly) quit chewing last fall and that has its own battles too. Used to be that if I was hungry I could just pop a dip in and psychologically a void was filled, now I can’t do that. It’s tough but stick with it. They stay accountability is a huge motivator so if you find yourself falling off the wagon post about it here and a bunch of dude will give you hell for it, that should help!

Dan wrote:

off the wagon post about it here and a bunch of dude will give you hell for it, that should help

Idk about that, I might ask to meet him at the nearest lil Ceasars….

nhamm wrote:

Idk about that, I might ask to meet him at the nearest lil Ceasars….

I hardly ever eat out, both for financial and healthy reasons, but on Veterans Day Little Caesers was giving the Five Buck Lunch for free to veterans. Pure happiness.

I lost 50 pounds 2 years ago by running 4-5 times a week, packing sensible lunches for work, eliminating soda, and cutting way down on alcohol which was mostly beer in my case. Throughout the entire thing I never denied myself any one specific food type, except for soda. Empty calories kill.

I’ve gotten to a place where the healthier diet is just a way of life but now I’m struggling with the motivation and discipline to stay on top of my exercise goals. I’ve put probably 15-20 back on, unfortunately. But I’m still so much better off than I was at 225.

When I started running I couldn’t make it a mile, the pain in my knees was unbearable and it was really discouraging. I also hated the boredom. I started running the shoreline and river bank near my place and everything changed. The experience of being out in the elements was much more interesting and engaging, and the impact on my knees was drastically less. At my peak I was doing 8 miles and still had energy to spare. Hope to work back to that by this summer.

My only advice is to not be too hard on yourself when you backslide and to try to settle into a routine that you feel will be sustainable for you. Gimmick diets can be a good way to start yourself on a healthy path, but eventually try to morph it into a healthy lifestyle that doesn’t drive you crazy.

Good luck!

If anybody can give me a plan to drop Diet Dew I’m all ears. I’m good except when I’ve driving, unfortunately I drive 70,000 miles a year.

Dang guys both congrats and good luck. But ya made me both tired and hungry reading this!!

I don’t know if you’re serious or not Dutch but…

What you’re describing sounds like an addiction that revolves around association, meaning you associate driving with Diet Dew. Happens all the time. That’s what makes it hard for people to quit almost anything. When I chewed and wanted to quit, I couldn’t fathom certain times at work, fishing, or a firearms range without a dip in my mouth. It takes a lot to get over that hump.

You’d have to start small and show yourself that you can drive without that Dew and win the mental battle.

There’s a ton of bad info out there about dieting/exercise. In my opinion, if you’re the researching type and don’t mind reading a lot, educate yourself on how the body processes fat, protein, and carbohydrate and how they affect the body together and individually. Once you figure that out, you should have a good idea of what diets work and which one’s most likely will fail.
A ketogenic diet is probably one of the best diets to try as far as weight loss and sustaining long term. Someone mentioned intermittent fasting and it’s actually what the human body is set up to do for survival. Many diabetics have cured or greatly diminished the disease with a combination of fasting and a low carb/high fat/moderate protein diet. Cutting out sugar and processed food will definitely improve health.
I myself stick to a very low carb or no carb diet along with intermittent fasting and at 38 years old, have way more energy and feel ten times better than I did when I was in high school or for that matter when I was a young kid.
One of the best reads I’ve found is Dr. Jason Fung’s blog on fasting, diet, and exercise. It’ll take awhile to read as it’s about two years running but it’s full of great information and is backed up with solid facts and sources.

What most people don’t realize is that it can take a very long time to reverse the damage of a poor diet and they give up because they don’t see immediate results.
Didn’t mean to be long-winded, but hopefully this helps.

Hope the fish are biting for everyone!!!

I’ve dropped about 50 pounds. The key for me loosing weight is eating enough food. Starving myself does nothing. 6 meals a day, 2400 to 2600 calories total. Lots of lean meat and other protein. Lots of veggies. Simple carbs. Try tracking your food with my fitness pal.

Stopped drinking all soda. Mostly water now. Upwards of a gallon a day. Drinking tons of water has huge benifits including helping process all the food I eat. Drink until you pee clear.

I also joined Farrell’s gym a while back. Kick boxing and weight training. Building muscle will ad weight but also burns fat. Farrell’s thinking is if you just loose weight as soon as you stop starving yourself the weight will quickly come back on. Build a muscle tone body that burns a lot of calories and the weight will stay off.

I find kick boxing a lot of fun. Some days it’s just great stress relief to pound the hell out of those bags. Hanging out in a gym full of hot women in yoga pants is not bad either. Just don’t get caught looking as most of them could kick the crap out of you.

Other popular nutrition plans I’ve seen people doing are Keyto diet. Think this is basically cutting out all carbs. I’ve heard this is tough to do with a workout plan as carbs are energy. Isagenix is another popular one that people seem to have good results with. Think this one is basically one big meal a day with meal replacement shakes and fasting. I think both of these will work for dropping weight but not sure how long the results will last once off them.

Enough for now. Just got home from leg day at the gym and it’s tine to feed.

Check out this fellow: http://drczys.com/

Read the “articles” section.

Lots of good advice. I use kind of a Paleo diet of protein, nuts and vegetables and some fruits. Really the only carbs I have is oatmeal every morning other than what I get through certain vegetables. Lifting weights is very important. Build muscle, burn fat. I try to lift 4-5 days a week with 20-30 minutes of cardio afterwards. Love dairy, pasta and breads/grains but cutting those way back has made a difference along with no soda and a few less beers. It gets harder as you get older. You see lots of guys over 50 that are limited in what they can do outside, in the woods and on the water. I don’t want to be limited plus I want to be able to keep up with my first soon to be grandchild.

Only thing to add/suggest: is there a way that you can “tier” the regimen at all, so that you have a little something to work for? (without cheating yourself out of the result)

i.e. 2 weeks of sheer misery, followed by 2 more weeks of slightly less rigid, followed by a month of almost tolerable, etc

Good on you bro!

Yes, yes dieting does suck. Unfortunately I am almost always on a diet due to horse crap metabolism. I have lost 40 lbs since last March and it is a constant battle for me. LOTS of water, lean protein, all the veggies you can eat, cut down on the booze. It gets harder as you get older…just a way of life for me, but beats the alternative