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Biggest loser on CF.....

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Stravinsk

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Here are a few things I found help in losing weight and keeping it off. At my heaviest, I was over 110K (242 pounds) and am down to 96 kilos (211 pounds). The only thing that keeps me from shedding that extra 7 kilos I'd like to lose is beer drinking at night (carb rule). All that loss was for the most part independant of any change in exercise:


  • Drinking plenty of pure water. Soda, coffee, caffeinated tea and alcohol do not count as things that hydrate the human body. A diet high on water and low on dehydrating drinks helps promote bowel regularity and even helps in energy levels.
  • Making sure there is plenty of fiber in the diet. A piece of lettuce on a hamburger or tiny side salad doesn't count as enough for a day. Eating plenty of high fiber foods daily: Beans, raw nuts and seeds, fresh veggies, fresh fruit. Including raw cabbage in my diet - it's excellent for gastrointestinal health. (Fruits are best on an empty stomach, since they digest very quickly and of they are sitting on top of a protein meal they will ferment waiting to get to the small intestine)
  • Keeping to lean meats and not eating animal protein every day - it is simply not neccessary for keeping up protein levels when there are viable alternatives in the form of nuts, seeds, beans and wholegrains that contain protien as well as more fiber, vitamins and minerals.
  • Eating starches (cooked potato, rice, bread etc) seperate from animal protein at meals. Starches are digested with the alkaline enzyme amylase(in mouth with saliva and small intestine), while animal protein with acid protease in the stomach. When one mixes an alkaline and acid together they, to the point of their degree, cancel each other out, leaving rotting, partially undigested food that places a burden on the body.
  • Eliminating Fried foods, and any foods that contain "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" - they place a burden the liver - and the liver is essential in fat processing. So french fries, chips, fried fish and everything else put in a deep fryer is out. This also includes anything from the supermarket that is pre-cooked in oil, or contains "hydrogenated" in the label.
  • Using the carbohydrates one eats. If I'm not going to be doing something very physical or mind intensive (reading is mind intensive) - I try not to consume too many carbohydrates - especially not hi GI carbohydrates - as they will be stored as fat for later usuage. Too many carbohydrates before bedtime is a no-no. That includes beer (my vice), or sweet alcoholic drinks in general.
  • Cow's milk isn't a health food. Sure it contains calcium - but that calcium does me next to no good for bones unless I'm also getting an adequate amount of magnesium - it is essential in bone formation. The cow gets it's calcium from eating grass - and I can get enough calcium from eating leafy greens and raw seeds and nuts. One particulary rich seed for calcium is sesame (which also contains magnesium). But aside from all of this, dairy products are incredibly mucus forming and clog up the body's insides with too much usage. When one's insides are coated with gunk, one absorbs less nutrients - which means needing to eat more to get the basics.
  • Staying away from refined sugar and other unnatural hi GI carbs. Besides robbing the body of minerals such as chromium and vitamins such as B vitamins - they spike blood sugar giving a sugar high, to be followed by a sugar low when the body pumps insulin to compensate.
  • Adding lechithin to my diet. It's helpful to the liver and is a "healthy fat" that helps the body burn fat.
  • Last but not least: Chewing food thoroughly and eating slowly. The gut is often slow in telling the brain "I'm full" - and often if one eats too fast it's very easy to over-eat.
The biggest loss I've had in weight is from following the above principles. Exercise was secondary from the weight loss perspective alone.
 
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Stravinsk

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There's a lot of pseudo-science mixed in there, Stravinsk.

That happens to be your opinion. Those principles work for me, and for others that I have talked to who use them.

But maybe it is all psuedo science - and having lots of McDonald's and KFC's and the like next to or in hospitals is a good thing? The debate has been going on in Australia for some time. I'll keep my "psuedo science" and let the health professionals approve of feeding patients Big Macs, fries, Coke, Milkshakes, cookies, cakes and fried chicken. Obviously they know best.

This thread is about experience. I found the things I listed made a difference for me. I listed the reasons I believe they make a difference because I personally like to know why I am doing something, as do most people. It's possible some of it is slighty mistaken - and I'm happy to be corrected as long as it doesn't just come from a position of medical *authority*. I've seen plenty of fat doctors around.
 
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lostaquarium

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I'll keep my "psuedo science" and let the health professionals approve of feeding patients Big Macs, fries, Coke, Milkshakes, cookies, cakes and fried chicken. Obviously they know best.
No one does that. We have a fruit market in our hospital lobby.
 
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Stravinsk

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You keep confusing "medicine" with "bad practice". I've pointed this out to you before.

*sigh*. So um, Lost, what's your weight loss experience and advice? I won't challenge it with one line sweeping generalisations, promise. ;)
 
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lostaquarium

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*sigh*. So um, Lost, what's your weight loss experience and advice? I won't challenge it with one line sweeping generalisations, promise. ;)
The Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine condenses the current established evidence into a few succinct pages of advice:

Healthy, enjoyable eating
‘There's a lot of people in this world who spend so much time watching their health that they haven't the time to enjoy it.’ Josh Billings (1818-85).

There are no good or bad foods, and no universally good or bad diets. We must not consider diet out of context with a desired lifestyle, and nor should we assume that everyone wants to be thin, healthy, and live for ever. If we are walking to the South Pole, our bodies need a diet as full of energy-rich fat as possible: taking any other food would be a waste of space. But if we live a sedentary life, the converse is not necessarily true. After decades of research, we still do not know who should eat what, or when. Are 3 meals a day healthier than 1? Is fat bad if weight is normal? Is a balanced diet best? Should we eat 3, 5, 7, or 9 fruits per day? The latter is one recommendation for men, but recent studies find no benefit beyond 3. The traditional answer to these questions is ‘Yes’ - and the more fruit the better - but evidence is far from complete, not just because of the paucity of randomized trials, but because of complex interactions between eating and health. All diets have unintended consequences: eg the ‘good’ antioxidant epicatechin (a flavonoid) in dark chocolate is annulled by taking milk at the same time. Randomized trials show how an Atkins-type diet (low in carbohydrate; high in fat & protein) can improve lipid profiles and insulin resistance, but with possible side-effects of renal problems and excessive calcium excretion. To complicate matters futher, diet is also confounded by lifestyle - whilst some studies have shown that vegetarians may may be less likely to die from ischaemic heart disease, is this effect because vegetarians in the UK are more likely to be non-smokers?



Current recommendations must take into account 3 facts:
  • Obesity is an escalating epidemic costing health services as much as smoking - 1 in 4 adults in the UK are now classified as obese.
  • Diabetes mellitus is burgeoning: in some places prevalence is >7%.
  • Past advice has not changed eating habits in large sections of the population.
Advice is likely to focus on the following
  • Body mass index (BMI): aim for 20-25; ie eat less. Controlling quantity may be more important than quality. In hypertension, eating the ‘right’ things lowered blood pressure by 0.6mmHg, but controlling weight caused a 3.7mmHg reduction in 6 months in 1 RCT.
  • Oily fish: Rich in omega-3 fatty acid (eg mackerel, herring, pilchards, salmon - but benefits are not fully substantiated). If tinned fish, avoid those in unspecified oils. Nuts are also valuable: walnuts lower total cholesterol and have one of the highest ratios of polyunsaturates to saturates (7:1). Soya protein lowers cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins, and triglycerides.
  • Refined sugar: Use fruit to add sweetness. Have low-sugar drinks: a 330ml can of non-diet carbonated soft drink can have up to 10 teaspoons of refined sugar. Don't add sugar to drinks or cereals. (In a thin, active, elderly, normoglycaemic person, sugar may be no great evil.)
  • Eat enough fruit and fibre and reduce salt intake.
  • Enjoy moderate alcohol use (adults): women <15 units/week; men <20 units/week. Taken regularly, not in binges. Alcohol inhibits platelet aggregation and is an antioxidant (cardioprotective). There is no evidence that spirit or beer drinkers should switch to wine. There is evidence that the benefit accrues only to those whose LDL cholesterol is over 5.25.
Avoid this diet if: <5 years old, Crohn's, UC, coeliac disaese. Weight loss is expected.
Emphasis may be different in: Dyslipidaemia, diabetes, obesity, constipation, liver failure, chronic pancreatitis, renal failure (less protein), hypertension.

Difficulties
It is an imposition to ask us to change our diet (children often refuse point-blank); a more subtle approach is to take a meal we enjoy (eg Coke and crisps) and make it healthier (eg fresh fruit juice, low-salt crisps made from jacket potatoes, and fried in sunflower oil).

Traditional low-fat nutritional advice: the balance of good health
A low-fat diet may not only be for the sake of good health, as it can can also help control symptoms, eg as in gallstone disease, and while it is unrealistic to expect all our patients' troubles to drift away as the weight comes off, we can offer the incentive of an improvement in both symptoms and health as encouragement.

Starchy foods:
Bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc. form the main energy source (especially wholemeal). Increase fluid intake. Warn about bulky stools. This diet decreases calcium and iron absorption, so restrict main intake to 1 meal a day.

Fruit, vegetables:
eg >6 different pieces of fruit (ideally with skins) or portions of pulses, beans, or lightly cooked greens per day. This probably reduces cardiovascular and cancer mortality.

Meat and alternatives:
Meat should be cooked without additional fat. Lower fat alternatives, such as white meat (poultry, without skin), white fish, and vegetable protein sources (eg pulses, soya) are encouraged.

Dairy foods:
Low-fat semi-skimmed milk/yoghurt; edam or cottage cheese.

Fat and sugary foods:
Avoiding extra fat in cooking is advised (&#8216;grill, boil, steam, or bake, but don't fry&#8217;). Fatty spreads (eg butter) are kept to a minimum and snack foods (crisps, sweets, biscuits, or cake) are avoided.

Loosing weight&#8212;why and how?

The risks of too much sugar
Excess sugar causes caries, diabetes, obesity - which itself contributes to osteoarthritis, cancer, hypertension, and increases oxidative stress - so raising cardiovascular mortality).

Loosing weight
Consider referral to a dietician - a needs-specific diet may be more effective. In conjunction with exercise and diet strategies, targeted weight-loss can also be achieved successfully with psychotherapy.

Drugs for obesity?
The most desirable treatment for obesity is still primary prevention, but pharmacotherapy does work. Orlistat lowers fat absorption (hence side-effect of oily faecal incontinence). Sibutramine increases post-ingestive satiety (side-effects of hypertension and tachycardia).

Surgery for obesity? See p579.
 
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Stravinsk

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*Your experience* is what is missing from that post, Lost.

I'll add that someone reading that list from the esteemed Oxford Handbook of Clinical medicine might walk away just a little confused. For instance - eating chips fried in sunflower oil is "ok" but frying foods isn't. Or that the opening line says there are no "good or bad foods" but numerous times refined sugar is warned against. It is interesting that under the heading "Losing weight - why and how" - only refined sugar is warned against specifically - but otherwise we are told to exercise and find a good dietition.

I notice too that "low fat" dairy is recommended as a general guidline. I'm curious as to how our ancestors improved upon nature and reduced the fat of the cows milk they were consuming so as to stay healthy. Perhaps in the future science will have learned how to remove the puss and blood from cow's milk so as to make it even healthier! [/sarcasm]

Yay! to eating more fruit, wholegrains and legumes, and, if one eats meat, to sticking to lean meats. That is something I can agree with Oxford on.
 
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lostaquarium

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*Your experience* is what is missing from that post, Lost.
I don't see why you want my personal experience. I'm a very atypical sample. The advice in OHCM was compiled by the experience of millions of people, through many research studies.

I'll add that someone reading that list from the esteemed Oxford Handbook of Clinical medicine might walk away just a little confused. For instance - eating chips fried in sunflower oil is "ok" but frying foods isn't. Or that the opening line says there are no "good or bad foods" but numerous times refined sugar is warned against. It is interesting that under the heading "Losing weight - why and how" - only refined sugar is warned against specifically - but otherwise we are told to exercise and find a good dietition.
No, if you read it carefully (without trying to nitpick) it actually makes plenty of sense.

I notice too that "low fat" dairy is recommended as a general guidline. I'm curious as to how our ancestors improved upon nature and reduced the fat of the cows milk they were consuming so as to stay healthy. Perhaps in the future science will have learned how to remove the puss and blood from cow's milk so as to make it even healthier![/sarcasm]
LOL! Our ancestors didn't have obesity, diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol. They could eat pretty much anything they wanted (providing they could find enough).

I don't know what you mean by pus and blood in cow's milk. That's gross. And by the way there isn't any.

Finally, sarcasm isn't needed. I'm not trying to pick a fight with you. I only have a huge problem with the way you present some things which aren't true, as if they were. It's misleading, and can be damaging.
 
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Stravinsk

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I don't see why you want my personal experience. I'm a very atypical sample. The advice in OHCM was compiled by the experience of millions of people, through many research studies.

Because it's relevant to the thread. On the previous page I listed what is the ideal I found for losing weight and keeping it off per *my* personal experience along with the reasons I believe it works. I could have quoted any number of books, dictionarys or authorities *alone*, but personal experience coupled with the knowledge of why it words speaks the loudest.

No, if you read it carefully (without trying to nitpick) it actually makes plenty of sense.

Reading it carefully would still leave the reader confused as to whether fried foods in general do or do not contribute to weight and general bad health. They are advised against generally - but allowed in the case of low sodium crisps fried in sunflower oil.


LOL! Our ancestors didn't have obesity, diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol. They could eat pretty much anything they wanted (providing they could find enough).

Well I don't know the history on that so as to make a conclusive statement - but my point in making that statement was that if dairy were such a great food to eat, why the need to modify it so that it's "low fat"?


I don't know what you mean by pus and blood in cow's milk. That's gross. And by the way there isn't any.

Is there really puss and blood in milk? - Yahoo! Answers

Within that link there are two more in the "best answer" you might look at.

Finally, sarcasm isn't needed. I'm not trying to pick a fight with you. I only have a huge problem with the way you present some things which aren't true, as if they were. It's misleading, and can be damaging.

Again, it is only your opinion that they are untrue and "damaging". You didn't specify, just made a general sweeping comment - May I assume that because you might not have read it in a medical book whatever you disagree with or haven't heard of before is automatically labled as quackery and psuedo science?
 
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lostaquarium

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Because it's relevant to the thread. On the previous page I listed what is the ideal I found for losing weight and keeping it off per *my* personal experience along with the reasons I believe it works. I could have quoted any number of books, dictionarys or authorities *alone*, but personal experience coupled with the knowledge of why it words speaks the loudest.
Cool. You could say "such-and-such an approach worked for me". I wouldn't argue against anything like that. But if you then give reasons (e.g. protein binds carbohydrate to impede absorption or whatever) which are incorrect, then I must say something.

Reading it carefully would still leave the reader confused as to whether fried foods in general do or do not contribute to weight and general bad health. They are advised against generally - but allowed in the case of low sodium crisps fried in sunflower oil.
Because it's better than what the person would otherwise have eaten. Read again.

Well I don't know the history on that so as to make a conclusive statement - but my point in making that statement was that if dairy were such a great food to eat, why the need to modify it so that it's "low fat"?
You do know that obesity is a recent problem. Dairy is great because of the calcium etc that's in it. Removing the fat makes it even greater.

Is there really puss and blood in milk? - Yahoo! Answers

Within that link there are two more in the "best answer" you might look at.
SERIOUSLY? You go to Yahoo Answers for your information?

There is no blood and pus in milk. Pus consists of clumps of dead neutrophils, which forms during an infection. Unless the cow was septic at the time of milking, there was no pus. The "blood" referred to, if you read the wikipedia article, is actually "white blood cells" which are part of the immune system, and definitely not "blood".

Again, it is only your opinion that they are untrue and "damaging". You didn't specify, just made a general sweeping comment - May I assume that because you might not have read it in a medical book whatever you disagree with or haven't heard of before is automatically labled as quackery and psuedo science?
OK, pseudo science is damaging because it's fake, by definition. If people believe in fake things, they might:
a) Do things to themselves which are directly harmful.
b) Avoid doing things that actually help, and so indirectly harm themselves.

If I read something surprising, I'll go and research it in textbooks and journals. If I find that it has no scientific basis, I'll dismiss it as pseudoscience.
 
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Stravinsk

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Cool. You could say "such-and-such an approach worked for me". I wouldn't argue against anything like that. But if you then give reasons (e.g. protein binds carbohydrate to impede absorption or whatever) which are incorrect, then I must say something.

It is a fact that starch foods are digested with amylase, in the mouth (saliva contains amylase) and small intestine. It is a fact that amylase is alkaline.

It is also a fact that animal protein is digested in the stomach with the acid enzyme protease.

It is further a fact that these enzymes can be hindered or inactivated when they are met in conditions where the relative acidity (hindering amylase) or alkalinity(hindering protease) is enough to do so.

There is an old adage that says "fruit first". The reason is probably not known as to *why* - but people's experience bears it out. Eat a heavy protein meal - follow it with a couple of hi GI fruits such as banannas. Voila! The explosions you have in the stomach and general ill-at-ease feeling testify to the truth of the rotting bannans that can't make it to the small intestine in time to be properly digested - due to the fact they are sitting on top of a meal designed to be digested in the stomach.

Eat a pizza and follow it with a good serve of fresh fruit. Same results - indigestion.

Fruit is the example I used here in combining because it is digested *so quickly*. Since many starches take longer to digest, the results are not always so dramatic - but the same principle applies. There is a reason people are fatigued after that large pizza or steak and potatoes meal. There is a reason antacids are the number one over the counter medicine. There is a reason people find relief by eliminating carbs or eliminating animal protein and eating meals that don't combine. It's poor digestion. And what I have quoted above about enzyme is fact and is science.

Maybe you'd appreciate this source:

wikipedia said:
Digestion is a complex process which is controlled by several factors. pH plays a crucial role in a normally functioning digestive tract. In the mouth, pharynx, and esophagus, pH is typically about 6.8, very weakly acidic. Saliva controls pH in this region of the digestive tract. Salivary amylase is contained in saliva and starts the breakdown of carbohydrates into monosaccharides. Most digestive enzymes are sensitive to pH and will not function in a low-pH environment like the stomach. A pH below 7 indicates an acid, while a pH above 7 indicates a base; the concentration of the acid or base, however, does also play a role.
pH in the stomach is very acidic and inhibits the breakdown of carbohydrates while there. The strong acid content of the stomach provides two benefits, both serving to denature proteins for further digestion in the small intestines, as well as providing non-specific immunity, retarding or eliminating various pathogens.[citation needed]
In the small intestines, the duodenum provides critical pH balancing to activate digestive enzymes. The liver secretes bile into the duodenum to neutralise the acidic conditions from the stomach. Also the pancreatic duct empties into the duodenum, adding bicarbonate to neutralize the acidic chyme, thus creating a neutral environment. The mucosal tissue of the small intestines is alkaline, creating a pH of about 8.5, thus enabling absorption in a mild alkaline in the environment

Red, bold, highlighted for emphasis.

Because it's better than what the person would otherwise have eaten. Read again.

But eating *any* fried foods is not recommended for weight loss. It might be a hair better than what they otherwise would have eaten - but it represents a compromise that is contradicted later in that article you quoted.

You do know that obesity is a recent problem. Dairy is great because of the calcium etc that's in it. Removing the fat makes it even greater.

And as I pointed out earlier - the cow get's it's calcium from the grass it eats. Leafy greens, seeds, nuts and legumes are *far better* because 1) They aren't nearly as mucus forming 2) They don't contain puss and blood 3) They contain fiber and more of other vitamins and minerals 4)Magnesium which is neccessary in bone formation.

I'd also add they are better because many people are lactose intolerant, and lactase and rennin (enzymes that digest cow milk) are markedly lower in humans past the age of 3, generally speaking.

SERIOUSLY? You go to Yahoo Answers for your information?

There is no blood and pus in milk. Pus consists of clumps of dead neutrophils, which forms during an infection. Unless the cow was septic at the time of milking, there was no pus.

No, I chose that because of the links it contains *within* the "best answer" response. I'm guessing you didn't read it. They are from Wikipedia and from USDA.

Edit: Here are the links plus one other:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_cell_count

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ceah/ncahs/nahms/dairy/dairy_monitoring/BTSCC_2005_infosheet.pdf

http://www.notmilk.com/forum/505.html

OK, pseudo science is damaging because it's fake, by definition. If people believe in fake things, they might:
a) Do things to themselves which are directly harmful.
b) Avoid doing things that actually help, and so indirectly harm themselves.

There is nothing in my post on the last page that is harmful or damaging. What you call psuedo science, so far, you have only shown to be your opinion.
 
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