secret to weight loss

What is the opinion of the group on NSNG (no sugar, no grains)? It's a slight variation on Paleo or Atkins. I feel like the general consensus is that avoiding processed sugar is a good thing. But I know that these can be controversial. Thanks!

 

I will wade in here, at the risk of stirring up a hornet's nest of blowback.

When you ask, what the general consensus about processed sugars, there needs to be a bit of context. What is your goal? Health, or weight loss? Because the two are not the same necessarily. One can be thin, and not healthy (in terms of biomarkers like cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.); and vice versa, one can be somewhat on the heavier side (not fat or obese) and still be quite healthy.

So if one's goal is to be healthy, then, yes, avoid processed sugars (sodas) and processed simple carbs (white bread, sugary cereals), but if one's goals were simply to lose weight, then the focus should simply be about calories-in, calories-out. If you burn more calories than you take in, you will lose weight, and it really doesn't matter where those calories come from -- be it processed refined carbs (like a Twinkie) or wholesome grains (like quinoa or farro).

Of course, many people have both goals in mind. And if that's the case, I always feel like moderation is best. I don't ever think it's healthy or wise -- esp. for long-term adherance because really how or why we eat should not be termed a "diet" but more of a lifestyle motif -- to completely eliminate entire food groups.

Yes, minimize refined sugars and carbs, but don't eliminate all of them. Sometimes, a cupcake is just what a person needs to adhere to a more wholistic lifestyle eating pattern. In fact, allowing such "deviations" is exactly what the body and mind needs to ensure that everything is copacetic.

TL;DR Don't eliminate any entire food groups; moderation is key

 

Simple rule of thumb, the more something weights per unit volume, the more calories. Butter and sugar are both pretty high. Butter is ~100 calories per tbsp. When you consider that, you suddenly say, HUM? Do I want to spend those calories on this piece of toast or on something g else. THAT is what causes the lifestyle change. I still eat ice cream but much less often and I generally guy bars because it is a metered amount. I still drink but drink whisky neat because it is much lower calories. Choices choices

 

I should stop drinking water. No wonder I am so fat!

 

BIG yep. I try to tell people all the time, DO NOT OVERCOMPLICATE THIS!! All these percentages and "scientific" diets...hogwash. Forrest for the trees. Just exercise, choose healthy nutrient dense foods, and stop eating so damn much!!

 

I GUARANTEE you will lose weight if you don’t eat for two days.

I also GUARANTEE the idea of eating a double cheeseburger after two days will make you sick.

The reality is can you lose your bad habits? Modern consumerism is deadly. Try and cut sugar out if your diet. Then look at how much sugar a gram of ketchup has.

Screw it. Nobody lives forever. If it wasn’t for my bad habits, I wouldn’t have no habits at all.

There is a glimmer of hope guys. The older you get, the more you will be surrounded by women.


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

It's not easy...and of course modern consumerism is a large part of why carbs are so vilified and an easy target for diet pushers. I mean, a five gallon bucket full of pasta on a plate is most definitely NOT a serving, but few people understand that and just think huge portions are "normal" amounts of food.

I managed to really cut everything down my sophomore year of college and I lost 60lbs pretty quickly, then built back 30 lbs of lean muscle. I've stayed there for twenty five years! BUT - I wrote down EVERYTHING I was going to eat for the day, when I was going to eat it, and how many calories total I would consume. Sticking to that schedule really helped me, not only because it provided what I came to view as an inviolable template, but also because it forced me to learn what is in what - how many calories, how much fat, how much protein, etc. Now, it's just second nature and I know exactly what to eat.

 

So true.
Health and losing weight are not the same. Although both do work in tandem in an ideal world.
But our world is far from ideal and we are surrounded by constant temptations that want to trick our lizard brain.

Yes, the If It Fits Your Marcro's rule applies here. A pound of sugar is the same weight as a pound of oat meal. A pound is a pound.
A calorie from sugar is the same as a calorie from rice/oatmeal.

However when you are trying to loose weight, most will agree that eating a bowl of oatmeal/rice will keep you much fuller and thus making it eaiser to lose weight than a handfull of sugar. Calories are the same but end result typically matters.
In controlled experiments we see the same resulst when people diet with twinkies or oatmeal (unhealthy vs healthy) when calories are the same.
Longer term studies do show a bit more mixed results as life style changes matter the most.

Again, the take away message will always be calories in vs calories out. Always.
It the simple message everyone understand.

I could go on and write a complete scientific essay about when you dig deeper, insulin, Leptin, GHrelin and other hormones that also come into play, but 9% of the conculsion will be the same: stop overeating.

Eating an icecream won't kill you, neither will drinking a 30 year old single malt. Does our body need it? No. Does our soul; I'd like to say yes!
The stress from not giving into our whims from time to time will probably be higher than the impact of the actual food.
The problem arises when you eat a bucket of ice cream each and every day....

For those that do want to go a bit deeper into optimising diets for health/performance/life style, the science does weigh towards limiting sugars and increasing lean proteins......

 

You mean those starvation diets most women like to do do before a wedding/party/vacation?
The sience is fortunately very, very slear on those.
The majority of weight loss is water, lean muscle and organ tissue and in last place body fat.
Starving oneself is one the worst possible things one can do health wise.
(not counting a day of fasting here!)
It foks up your body in every way possible and is thus extremely unhealthy!

 

Followers of Edgar Cayce, the sleeping profit, believe that eating 3 almonds every day will prevent (not cure) cancer. Also eating oatmeal (whole oats) is good.

 

Yup, somehow a lot of women like to do that kind of diet.
Loose the 5 pounds and gain back 6.
Female psychology….

 

I'm doing my best by cutting carbs from my diet, I really love bread so this is going to be a real challenge for me.

 

Yup - In summer of 2015 I lost over 45 pounds - FAT DOG DIET

==> What do you do when your dog is fat? Feed him less and walk his ass around the block - period.

==> Eat less / move more / balanced diet / track calories in and calories out

All these fad diets are BS and either produce zero results at the profit of the people marketing them - or produce quick but unsustainable results - or unhealthy results.

I use the cheap Fitbit app and wrist band to count steps and track calories in/out - Most foods now have bar codes you can scan and get the information and load it in the app for foods you eat on a regular basis and the database is pretty complete when you do a search - worst case use the "Common" entry.

Glad to hear things are going well Rob - Cheers

 

There are plenty of low carb breads around.

 

I'm a fan of Dave's Killer bread, 21 grain & seeds.

 

Not a low carb bread…. And not even whole grain at that. Sorry

 

The secret sucks. But yes, you simply have to eat less than what you will be burning on average.
I do love comfort food so i have to work out every day of my life if i want to stay at my weight (which is still too heavy). I run, lift and sauna every day (2h). But then i **** it all up when i get home and chill. The weeks i do find the strength to cut the junk food out, i start to see a difference after 48h. Everything feels so much better. My skin, my hair, my belly is way less bloated. I want to do much more things. Want to go out. Etc.

And then boom, i let myself go and back to square 1. I wish i could hypnotize myself to hate sugar or chocolate. My wife cant stand sugar. So she never craves for anything unhealthy.

 

Why aren’t Almonds mandatory then….!? Would save a few billion per month in health costs….

 

Eat more healthy stuff. Simple (not so simple). Cravings exist because you aren’t eating enough. Try to eat more healthy stuff.
My wife hates it when I make/eat salads. Quite simply because I aim to pile up over 0.5 - 1lbs of salad! try to measure that out… It’s 2 of the biggest plates of food you can find. I never get hungry after that.
Or eat 1lbs of low fat greek yoghurt. See if you are hungry after that.
My biggest diet ‘ hack’ is to increase veggies. Nothing fills up you up more for virtually zero calories.
So I virtually never cheat during the evening, I simply am not hungry…..

My breakfast consists of 5 whole big eggs mixed with bacon and tea. No carbs. Best diet change I ever did. I am not hungry for at least another 3-5 hours and feel focussed and energized. Oatmeal aways made me feel bloated and sluggish….

When you would see me eat during the day, you wouldn’t say I’m on a diet. Nor does it feel like it because I’m always eating, but am also cursed with a slow metabolism.

 

I can't speak for others, but for the past 15 years or so, practically every day I eat 10 almonds, giving more than 3X the protection. I have never been diagnosed having cancer. Also not smart enough to analyze the cause and effect.

 

In biochemistry it doesn't work like that....
I won't debate that almonds aren't healthy, but preventing cancer is several bridges too far.....
At leats it beats 99% of other 'snacks'; so you could far worse in eating something else.

The impact of a healthy diet on cancer probabilities has been extensively studies for the past deacdes around the world.
The effect is there and it's considerable.
However the healthy diet looses out to exercise (keep on moving daily) not smoking and simply your genetic makeup for cancer.

 

I went to this for a very long time. Many times I tried to limit myself, but in the end I could no longer diet and broke down. Now I have determined my calorie intake, and I try to stick to it. I can afford to eat a little more once or twice a month, and it doesn't hurt me much. Sometimes I can even eat fast food, and it fits into my calorie allowance.