Looking in on Diets..

[Marykaa]

I decided a few weeks ago that when I'll have done 6 months cardio & weight training, my next step to fitness will be to correct my (probably) bad eating habits and maybe lean down a little.

For now.. I'm gathering information.. (and courage).

But there is soooooooooo much!!!!

I still have 6 weeks before I start..

But I'm quite lost..

I'm 5'6", weigh 136 lbs. I'm a mesomorph.

My Fat is very badly distributed mostly on my arms and legs, so I know I'll end up with a skinny body, but I really need to do this I think.

Any suggestions? URLs to read? Comments?

Thanks ahead!

[Lost Dog]

Why wait? Don't find the perfect diet, just start eating better now, and perfecting it as you go.

Adam's Diet is a good place to start. Here's more about it, too. "Adam's Diet" - additional explication

Also, Berardi's "7 Habits" is a great plan. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Nutritional Programs

Follow up this reading with his Lean Eatin' I & II Articles from here: JB's Nutrition

These are both plans where you don't count calories. I think that people who can do it without counting are better off, but some people need to count (like me).

The two programs are not mutually exclusive. Both are sound and you can easily mix and match (for the most part). With both, you limit your calories by virtue of your food choices. However, Berardi's focuses more on traditionally "healthful" ingredients.

[Marykaa]

For ADAMS's Diet : Maybe I'm just tired tonight, but I can't really find the basic diet on those pages.. juste claifications and explanations.. I'll have to take a closer look when I'm rested.

For the other.. I wouldn't need to change that much in what I'm doing.. but it's in the evening .. after 20:00 that I fall appart sometimes.. still eat healty, but can't loose any weight .

[RacerBill]

Mary, that same thing drove me crazy until I finally found it. Go to the sticky "Adam's Diet - Additional Explication" and it's all spelled out in a note from Kaiser that's fifth in the thread.

[Marykaa]

RACER ! AHHHHH ! LOL ok! thanks!

[Marykaa]

Well I finally started 3 days ago to at least write down everything I eat and check the calories.. around 1,400.. and through Gobbla's inspiration I decided to go with the South Beach Diet.. I'm still reading up on it.. gradually easing into it.

I should be completely into it and commited to it by November 6th.

[Marykaa]

The only URL I've been looking at for the SBD is this one this one. I don't know if there are any better ones.

I'm scared..

I thought I never made goals recently.. but this I really want.

[Marykaa]

.o0(humm maybe this is an Adam's forum.. )

[gobbla]

don't have any online resources...but I'll see what I can dig up!

[gobbla]

Newbies on South Beach Yahoo Group

check out the file section.

[Marykaa]

I'm having trouble with Yahoo ..

but trying again and again.

are there many books about the diet? which would you suggest?

humm I'll search the forum on SBD.. haven't yet.. should of..

[gobbla]

that site that you have has a pretty conprehensive list on what the original book has in it. the forums on that site seem pretty helpfull also.

Amazon has these books on it although I'm not sure that any of them are really "needed".

The premise is essentually to eat cleanly. First two weeks are low carb, from then on out you're on a somewhat limited carb intake but in large eating normal food. The only stipulation is no simple sugars and no processed foods.

If you look at the food lists (guides) for whatever you want to do...you're essentially set. Just plan your meals accordingly. If it's on the list and no stipulations then you're good to go, with as much as you can stomach.

If you're interested in nutrient timing a little more, then you should have your carb items as soon after a workout as possible. If not working out then earlier in the day is better than later in the day.

I'm sure that probibly doesn't cover what you're trying to find...but that's really about all their is to it. Is their anything specifically that you're looking for?

[Marykaa]

what to eat around workouts helps.. thanks.. there was nothing on the page i had about that(still can't get into yahoo)

i'm very scared of the no limit protiens.. i mean can we really loose fat not counting calories?

[gobbla]

absolutely. remember you're eating lean proteins, and you'll likely be eating normal sized portions of them. the bulk of your intake will be from vegis...the calories you'll take in from them are negligible. The majority of your fat will come in form of oil for dressings.

if you do phase one then you'll likely be a real hard low calorie deficit...but full.

phase two will bring you closer to maintenance but still you should be at a negative.

Just as an example day

Breakfast:
8oz Tomato Juice
2 eggs

Snack:
Slice of bread\apple

Lunch
Peanut Butter w\ vegi's & 2 eggs

Snack:
2oz peanuts\apple

Dinner:
Salad w\ 2-4oz meat, vegis, oil

Snack:
2oz lowfat cheese

misc:
protien shake somewhere in there.

Equals out to:
Just at 2,000 calories
125g fat
118g carbs
120g protein

8 servings of vegis
2 servings of fruit

That's a pretty good bit of food, and not any attempt to stretch out calories at all. If you cut out the Apples and Bread you'd have phase I...right at 1,500 calories. That's IF you ate it all. Sometimes I didn't even clear 800 calories in phase one because I was full.

Typically I eat closer to 1,500c a day...I just made out this sample to give an idea for the future for myself with a set amount of calories and vegi's\fruit\grain intake that I wanted. You could easily adjust a bit here or there.

Try running out a sample menu of your own thru www.fitday.com to get an idea of what you're looking at. It's REALLY easy to be full and stay really light in calories.

[Marykaa]

i'll take a closer look at fitday at home.. but when i did lots of veggies diets.. i felt it so ENLARGED my stomach.. that when i finished my diet.. i had to eat such big portions.. if they were not "only veggies" i'd gain again.

and at 1880- 2000 calories / day.. even with all the sports i do.. i don't loose weight.

but i know i'm being very negatif now.. but i'll read you (and the infos) again and again until it sinks in.

one good thing i've noticed.. just changing some of the carbs to proteins these past few days.. i haven't been having that "heartburn" sensation when i get hungry..

i think i'll just change in my mind the "all you can eat protien" i saw on that other page i had.. to "normal portions" you talk about...you wouldn't believe how much i could eat in some times.. (long ago).. at a certain 1 week canoe workshop at a college.. where we had "free food all you want" after 3 days i realized i was eating 3,600 calories for breakfasts!!!!!!!!! surely my appetite HAS changed since 30 yrs ago.. but i can't allow myself not to be careful.

thanks for your patience and encouragements.

hey.. i can actually smile a little now

[Marykaa]

Sometimes I didn't even clear 800 calories in phase one because I was full.

just saw that.. lucky you!!!

[gobbla]

IMO having a schedule really helps things. Making sure you have food handy and set times that you eat them help curb the worst of hunger pangs. With eating every 2-3 hours you can really space out the calories so that you don't really hit it too hard at any given time and throw off your whole day.

There for a little while I'd have about 700calories for breakfast and be hungry again in two hours...that was no good. But by dividing up breakfast into two meals I could have half the calories total but never get overly hungry.

I've found that the oil on salads really help add some weight to them so you don't feel starved after an hour. Tossing on 1/2 serving of beans help out a bunch too.

Formulate a plan and try it out. If it doesn't work then you can adjust and bend rules as you need to. But having that skeleton of a plan should give you alot of guidlines to work with. Sometimes it's as easy as upping a portion, or distributing, or simply finding things that make you feel full. But you have to start somewhere. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Don't feel discouraged, don't be overwelmed. Whenever I start something new I give myself a month's time to "break in" and see where things have to be tweaked. Just do your best and remember that you have plenty of people to help and support you in your quest.

PS.
I do the normal portions of meat because like you...I can put down some critter. Given free reign I'll eat a chicken in a sitting. 24oz steaks with 2lbs loaded baked potatoes have fallen before me...and beer...sweet sweet beer.

[Marykaa]

The other thing is .. I have no idea what my goal should be..

But I got my smile back.. *SMILE*

I'll read all this again from home.