Dieting and experience or opinion

[sampa]

So I recently got a text from someone about being an endomorph, and reading about carb cycling. It got me going with a long text about my opinions concerning dieting, but I will refrain here and I'm curious about your opinions and experience?

 

[Sophrosyne]

I think I used to be an ectomorph but I've slowly gained weight and finally am a little overweight and am on a scrambled egg and half strength ice tea diet now.

 

[Sketcher]

Pick something healthier that you enjoy and can stick to, and stick to it. The need for a healthier choice can also be an opportunity to discover other foods that you don't know you'll enjoy yet, and looking at it that way I have found makes it overall more positive.

 

[sampa]

I think I used to be an ectomorph but I've slowly gained weight and finally am a little overweight and am on a scrambled egg and half strength ice tea diet now.

I hope you will be able to find that right balance for longevity and health.

Pick something healthier that you enjoy and can stick to, and stick to it. The need for a healthier choice can also be an opportunity to discover other foods that you don't know you'll enjoy yet, and looking at it that way I have found makes it overall more positive.

Sounds like some good tips for a healthier life.

 

[Sketcher]

Sounds like some good tips for a healthier life.

The proof is in the scale and the waste line. Taste buds are happy too.

 

[sampa]

The proof is in the scale and the waste line. Taste buds are happy too.

I don't think it's always with the scale. I think it's a common mistake to base your health off of a scale. If you are bailing hay and doing other sorts of heavy lifting or strength training, there is going to be some gain in your weight because of the muscle. And muscle burns more fat then aerobic activity long-term, at least I think that's what I've heard.

But it is true about the waistline there is some common ground where one should be. But then again if you are strength training and athletic it's going to be totally different than your average Joe.

 

[Sketcher]

I don't think it's always with the scale. I think it's a common mistake to base your health off of a scale. If you are bailing hay and doing other sorts of heavy lifting or strength training, there is going to be some gain in your way because of the muscle. And muscle burns more fat then aerobic activity long-term, at least I think that's what I've heard.

But it is true about the waistline there is some common ground where one should be. But then again if you are strength training and athletic it's going to be totally different than your average Joe.

In my case, the scale counts. I've accounted for my build and my body fat percentage too.

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

I'm either an endomorph or mesomorph. As far as dieting and losing weight goes I find it best to think long term. Where do I want to be a year from now, instead of, where do I want to be a week or day from now.

Since about January this year I've been beginning running on the treadmill again and some basic strength workouts. Progressively adding more and more while keeping track of my calories. Started to give up the really bad foods in my diet this month.

 

[sampa]

In my case, the scale counts. I've accounted for my build and my body fat percentage too.

Ahh, makes sense. Sounds like you're on the right path

As far as dieting and losing weight goes I find it best to think long term. Where do I want to be a year from now, instead of, where do I want to be a week or day from now.

I agree, I think of it 10 years from now. It's as a building process, where do I want to be 10 years from now and how can I get there? I'm glad that you found this long-term perspective and it's keeping you in a healthy direction

 

[Sophrosyne]

I hope you will be able to find that right balance for longevity and health.

Sounds like some good tips for a healthier life.

I've found that eggs have a lot of protein and are very filling and have lower calories as I was eating a lot of pasta type foods. Eggs are also cheap so if you are poor they aren't going to break your budget.

 

[com7fy8]

I suppose I'm more "ecto" than anything.

I think of this > I know someone who has built a lot of muscle, and during one hot evening he really felt the heat. Now I can see maybe why > all that muscle was burning energy to make him feel the heat . . . possibly. Meanwhile, excess fat layering can hold heat in. Maybe he has both . . . a lot of deeper muscle, and some lazy fat holding the heat in, now that he's more busy with ministry and not working out so much . . . maybe.

Another item I might have discovered > I eat in the morning and then I can forget that food exists until I'm back at the end of the day. I can do a lot or a little, but not get hungry . . . all day.

Well > in the morning I start with trail mix, yogurt, meat, boiled vegetables, spinach salad . . . things which make the body work to get the energy of these foods. And so it takes all day long to get the energy out of my breakfast - - because I eat what I call "slow-release" foods.

But because it is slow-releasing, I have only so much energy at any point in a day. I can do only so much before I hit sort of a ceiling and can't go up any more.

 

[Sophrosyne]

I suppose I'm more "ecto" than anything.

I think of this > I know someone who has built a lot of muscle, and during one hot evening he really felt the heat. Now I can see maybe why > all that muscle was burning energy to make him feel the heat . . . possibly. Meanwhile, excess fat layering can hold heat in. Maybe he has both . . . a lot of deeper muscle, and some lazy fat holding the heat in, now that he's more busy with ministry and not working out so much . . . maybe.

Another item I might have discovered > I eat in the morning and then I can forget that food exists until I'm back at the end of the day. I can do a lot or a little, but not get hungry . . . all day.

Well > in the morning I start with trail mix, yogurt, meat, boiled vegetables, spinach salad . . . things which make the body work to get the energy of these foods. And so it takes all day long to get the energy out of my breakfast - - because I eat what I call "slow-release" foods.

But because it is slow-releasing, I have only so much energy at any point in a day. I can do only so much before I hit sort of a ceiling and can't go up any more.

I usually have some carbs for breakfast maybe a small donut and some orange juice not too much as I work outside a lot doing construction and it is often hard work and a big breakfast can make you sluggish. I can be very energetic at times. I knew someone that put on a lot of muscle in 6 months gaining almost 50 lbs I think and wanted me to get all "buffed" and I refused as I don't like lifting weights and when you eat protein like candy and do heavy weights and your body gets used to it and then one day you quit it slowly starts turning to flab while you are fighting an insatiable appetite that your body is used to eating something like 3000 calories but you only need about 1800 now and months later you've put on 20 lbs and can never get back to skinny again. People who are thin likely end up average weight in their old age compared to those who are average end up obese often. I always eat lunch since I have a light breakfast as I start to get weak around noon to 1pm if I don't eat something and am working rather hard.

 

[timewerx]

30 minutes everyday of hard cardio exercise and you won't have to worry about your diet.

I mix limited calorie diet + exercise to keep my weight around 125 lbs.

Or else I die of heart attack! Quite literally.

 

[Sketcher]

30 minutes everyday of hard cardio exercise and you won't have to worry about your diet.

That's false for a lot of people, especially in the US with the food we have. Exercise needs to be combined with eating better.

 

[Sophrosyne]

There is no one size fits all diet/exercise plan at all as people differ greatly all over the place genetically, age and lifestyle and other issues. Managing stress can be just as important as diet as excessive stress can change the needs of your body that if not met can lead to declining health and weight gain/loss that is unhealthy. Staying active and rotating different foods in and out of your diet is almost essential as it not getting into a rut exercising try new things. Building up your inner core is absolutely essential as a weak core will likely discourage you from vigorous activities that build strength and endurance causing a more sedentary lifestyle. Mental health is just as important in a diet as unmanageable stress can defeat diets big time causing demands on your body that need a different diet to service it and we often eat too much of the wrong thing in response. Knowledge is essential as is good math skills too. Reading labels on food in stores to determine actual calories that are in them along with how dense the calories are plus other ingredients that may be detrimental in large amounts like cholesterol and sodium and saturated fats etc plus finding helpful ingredients like potassium and magnesium vitamins and minerals that often your body isn't getting enough of from you normal diet. Even though foods are required to have labels to determine how mucht of what stuff is in them there is no set amount to measure for these levels and measurements are getting more easy to calculate but still you have to do the math. Since food is listed by what they consider a "normal portion" one item may say 1 ounce a portion another 3 ounces and yet another half a cup, a cup, 12 ounces even. Some will list it in grams and if you aren't used to thinking in grams it can be hard to get a good idea so you often have to go to how many portions and divide that by total ounces. Some products have a "full can/package" type number on them which you can divide by number of portions to figure out how much there is. So you can't go by the numbers without a calculator on you for most of us. It is hard to remember things like is cottage cheese less calories than sour cream both use different portion sizes and I think sour cream "looks" like less calories but portion size is 1 ounce roughly while cottage cheese uses more ounces per severing so an ounce of cottage cheese is about 25=30 calories while an ounce of sour cream is about 50-60 calories or about twice as many calories. I like potatoes but find chips have about 110-180 or so calories an ounce while some fries have 120 calories for 3 ounces or about 1/3 or less calories and if you don't fry them in oil then they are a better choice.
Bread and Pasta are cheap but for dieting should be reduced but not totally eliminated if you like it a lot. I don't advise any diet eliminate foods you enjoy entirely as it can lead to a growing crave for them and binging and some times these crave foods have some nutritional value to them that other foods aren't giving you and not necessarily what you need ALL THE TIME but at this time as different activities/weather/stress can cause your body to need different levels of stuff much of which your body either gets or can convert but sometimes it needs more than usual.

It is best to slowly change your diet for some than drastically changing it and drastic changes for a short time can be managed but long term may be difficult there is a sort of psychology to dieting and part of it has to do with building up will power which for some is easy but others not so easy and severe stress can destroy will power as can peer pressure and social interaction. You have to account for not being on your diet 100% of the time and develop it with 50% of the time in mind as a starting target and also experiment with exercises finding those you like or can easily do on a sort of schedule so your body gets used to the rise/fall of calories consumed/burned.

I'm not an expert at dieting I've struggled as it is a lot harder to diet with a tight budget and stress and living alone you have to be sort of creative. My problem with losing weight and dieting is less about cutting back on food and more about not finding exercises that I will do often enough to force my body to burn more and more calories. I'm not a fan of cardio I do like a brisk walk and sports but I can walk alone but sports I don't like doing alone at all. Walking outdoors is a problem when the weather isn't within a range that is comfortable. I quit walking much lately because the heat index has been around 100 degrees and after about 1 mile I was drenched and starting to fade and no way to cool down. In the daytime the sun is too much and at night the humidity goes up to counter the heat so you fry in the daylight and boil at night. Add to that at night the sprinklers often run at places along the way and excess water drains into the streets causing areas with almost super humidity. If I were rich maybe I would go to an exercise place on some machine but the idea of running or biking to nowhere and lifting weights and getting nothing done is not appealing at all. I guess I need an exercise "partner" that is why I like sports for exercise it is fun, you socialize and don't think "just 5 more minutes or one more mile or 10 more repetitions and I'm done with it" instead you often want to extend your sport session.

If your diet is a task as also exercising then your success will depend on how you (in your mind) pay yourself for the "work" done in it. The less a diet and exercise routine seems like another dreaded chore the more likely your success is and the easier it is to make it a lifestyle rather than a "chore" to do.

 

[timewerx]

That's false for a lot of people, especially in the US with the food we have. Exercise needs to be combined with eating better.

I stand corrected! Perhaps make that 1.5 hrs of cardio!

When I did 1.5 hrs cardio a day, I was hungry all day and consequently was eating all the time!

 

[Sophrosyne]

I stand corrected! Perhaps make that 1.5 hrs of cardio!

When I did 1.5 hrs cardio a day, I was hungry all day and consequently was eating all the time!

Just make a youtube channel and do cardio live 12 hours a day and be done with it

 

[JustSomeBloke]

I don't think it's always with the scale. I think it's a common mistake to base your health off of a scale. If you are bailing hay and doing other sorts of heavy lifting or strength training, there is going to be some gain in your weight because of the muscle. And muscle burns more fat then aerobic activity long-term, at least I think that's what I've heard.

But it is true about the waistline there is some common ground where one should be. But then again if you are strength training and athletic it's going to be totally different than your average Joe.

When I was younger, conventional wisdom always seemed to be that weight loss should be achieved using aerobic exercise. However, I'm not convinced that this works well for everyone. I think some people are better suited to achieving weight loss through anaerobic exercise.

Healthline has an interesting article on aerobic versus anaerobic
Aerobic vs. Anaerobic Exercise: Which Is Best for Weight Loss?

I'm one of those infuriating people who has remained slim and toned my entire adult life. I've always been fairly active, with Salsa, Badminton, Cycling, Hiking, Mountain Biking, Weight Training, and other forms of exercise, although I only ever do a few at any one time.

 

[Miss Spaulding]

Over the past two years I've had a total weight loss of almost 50 pounds. The key to weight loss for my body type and metabolism was simply - keep my body moving. I had a career change that inserted continuous physical activity/labor into my day on a 10-12 hour basis. Naturally I took advantage of this opportunity to give my health the undivided attention it long needed and also incorporated better eating habits, essential supplements, ect.

Like others have stated, when it comes to dieting/weight loss there is no "one size fits all" method. Some can simply tweak their diet a little and lose that stubborn 10 pounds they gained over the holidays without any added exercise. This would never work for me - I have to shed the weight from movement. While I'm certainly sweating and getting my steps in at work all day; this is why I took up ballroom dancing.

I have the body type that if I were completely toned and muscular, I would look like one of these thick women that cross-fit. I don't care to look more like a man than a woman, soo...no thanks.

 

[JustSomeBloke]

I have the body type that if I were completely toned and muscular, I would look like one of these thick women that cross-fit. I don't care to look more like a man than a woman, soo...no thanks.

In my opinion there is nothing unattractive or unappealing about women who have the thick, cross-fit body type. And for me, femininity is more about behaviour than body type.