Awesome! Thanks for all the advice, guys! Greatly appreciated. I'll let you all know in a couple of weeks how it's working out. Also, I find that it's easier to not eat as many snacks if you use mouth wash after meals. Seems to be effective for me.
Pasta is a great for sneaking in vegetables. I usually sautee various combinations of squash, zucchini, mushrooms, and eggplant and add them to pasta. I'll also throw in some of those marinated artichoke hearts too. You could also look up some stir-fry recipes online. It's another relatively simple way of preparing vegetables that are actually kind of tasty. Up until a few years ago, I wasn't a big vegetable fan either, but there are so damn many of them that, from my experience, you're bound to find a few that you like. And yeah, grilled cheese sandwiches aren't exactly healthy, but 100% clean diets are hard to maintain. No one is perfect. Whenever I indulge in certain less-than-healthy foods, I at least try to make them out of healthier ingredients. Like, if you're making grilled cheese, use butter instead of margarine, wheat bread instead of white bread, and real cheese instead of Kraft or whatever.
To follow up, I have cut my soda intake to maybe 3 or 4 glasses a week. To put this into perspective, All I drank for the majority of the past 10 years is Mountain Dew and other various sodas. I hardly drank water and barely any juice. Milk I only had every once in a while as well. Nasty habit, I know... Anyways, my daily caloric intake has decreased exponnentially. The sugar withdrawls I was having, I've calmed with Minute Maid Tropical Punch that I've watered down by 50% or more. I actually like it watered down more than the way it somes right out of the carton/jug. It cuts the sweetness down, but not all of the way to where it tastes nasty. I know that the Minute Maid stuff still uses HFCS, but my intake of it is so much less than what it was. I have also been drinking bottles of water at work instead of my all of the time can of soda. Breakfasts have changed for me at work as well. Instead of indulging in poptarts, toaster strudels or doughnuts everyday, I have an apple at about 7:30 followed by a banana at 9:30. The apple wakes me up and the banana keeps the hunger at bay. Anyways, I've already lost 5lbs from doing this so I thought I'd share.
I do feel better. What amazes me the most now is that when I have a can of Mountain Dew now, it doesn't taste nearly as good as I remembered it.
Great! Those are definitely things that will make you feel better and healther. Keep it up About myself, I've also being trying to get more serious with my food and exercices habbits lately. I have been training daily for the past 4 years (with some periods that were more productive than others) , but I did get really lazy about all of that stuff during the past 3 months or so. Exams period didn't help. So now, I'm getting more motivated again. And it's nice to feel less tired and better again
I feel like i'm the complete opposite of you guys..No matter how much i eat ,my weight never rises up..May seem like a blessing to someone but to me,it is actually a curse..
Then we're the same I guess Yes, I'm training daily, but it's not really to stop my weight from rising, it's more to keep me healthy. 4 years ago, I was really really skinny, despite the fact I was eating like 2 persons. Since I'm quite tall, it was even easier to notice it. I started a special diet at the time, and began to eat 5 or 6 times a day, each times ton of starchs (especially rice and bread), with some proteins too (tunas and eggs are full of them ). I finally gained some weight; in 2 years, I went from 121 pounds to 187, which is pretty good in regards to my height/weight ratio, and it haven't changed since then. I'm not eating that much anymore though: 3 times a day for now, but still more in quantities than a "casual eater". And during the diet, the training helped turning the new weight into muscles. All of this to say I know how lack of weights can also be a bitch, and how it's possible to get over it
No problem Decreasing your soda consumption as you're doing at the moment will help a lot. So yep, you're on the right way to achieve that goal
A few months ago I completely removed high fructose corn syrup products from my fridge. It was amazing how many things had it. Doing so hasn't had any noticeable impact on my weight or well-being since alternatives have real sugar. I eliminated artificial sweeteners as well. I'm trying to quit fast food too but I still give in to cravings about once a month. Right now I eat twice a day, breakfast and dinner, since I don't have to time for more frequent but smaller meals. However, since I'm totally healthy as it is I'm in on rush to change my routine.
Smaller and more frequent meals aren't necessary unless you're diabetic really. Eating all of your calories in 1 or 2 bigger meals is fine. Check out intermittent fasting if you are interested. With intermittent fasting you consume all of your calories within a certain eating window, say 6 hours, and you fast the other 18 hours of the day. Supposedly it's a better way to achieve fat loss and overall better health. I loosely follow it mainly because I'm too lazy to cook 3 or more different meals a day. I like sitting down and pigging out and getting it over with.
I prepare my meals ahead of time so im good for like two days in a row. Im currently dieting and working out. Since I started this I feel sluggish because of the amount of carbs I consumed then and now. Im happy to report I am 165 pounds now. Ive been struggling with my weight since 2008. 2009 I weighed around 240. I stopped weighing myself after that for a couple of years and ate fast food like everyday. Now, I eat fastfood only if I have no other option. Its been a hell of a journey. My suggestions: High protein, lower carbohydrates (NOT Atkins), Steam vegetables not canned (I buyy frozen for convenience and still packs a nutritional punch) Also, when I diet I tend to have slight anxiety and depression. This can set in (during the winter) and is not uncommon. I beat this by using a lightbox (google it), keeping my blood sugar elevated with smaller meals throughout the day, first thing in the morning I hike in the woods to boost endorphins that surge throughout the day, and allowing a cheat meal every three weeks. I also use thermogenics. Some people think they are crap but it works for me and I am only taking them temporary.
Have you tried shifting your macros (carbs, protein, and fat) around a bit? Low carbs can lead to muscle fatigue among other things due to your glycogen stores in your muscles running low. If you're working out hard and quite a bit I imagine you feel pretty lousy. High protein can also put increased stress on your kidneys if you're consuming more than your body needs and if you're not drinking enough water. Getting more calories from fat could also make you feel better. It helps regulate your bodily functions and also helps with digestion and absorbing nutrients into your body. Fat is extremely important. So if you know how many calories you're eating per day, try switching up where you're getting those calories from and see if you feel better. There's 9 calories per gram of fat, 4 per gram of carbs, and 4 per gram of protein. Maybe getting 1/3rd of your calories from each macro would make you feel better. Or some other split. Everyone is different and it gets complicated breaking things down like that. Usually I like to say just eat what you want as long as you're eating the right amount of calories to lose weight.
I've found that I'm much better served by several small meals throughout the day. I have a rather physical job. So I find that if eat relatively small portions throughout the day (we're talking like, 7 meals a day because my metabolism is insane) I'm much more satisfied, energized, and just feel better. So instead of climbing and trimming 2-3 trees, feeling drained, eating a bunch and getting all fucking bloated and no more energized, I eat in the morning before we go out, probably after every tree, and when we get back to the shop. So I think if you have a physical job like me that might be the way to go. Maybe less, but larger meals depending on metabolism and other things.
Thanks for the tips Travz. I do calorie shifting but nothing too intense. The diet is getting boring but I have to condition myself so both psychologically and the physiology aspects come to terms with portion control. Its not always an easy thing for some of us. And Joe, I never really cared for pop but I watched my mom drink it constantly as a child and it wasnt easy for her to stop so I give you props! Congrats sir!