Weight Reduction!...On yourself.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by weederr33

Just do califlower rice like all the hippies lol

Cauliflower rice works great in soupy things with lots of flavor like jambalaya.

[86TOYO2k17]

Caloric deficit = weight loss
Caloric Keep = weight maintenance
Caloric surplus = weight gain.

Its simple math at the end of the day.

If you understand IIFYM and apply It you will lose weight. At least the "spirit and intent" you can obviously abuse it. Although in the short term you can still recomp your body.
You can lose weight and gain muscle eating donuts, gummy bears, and egg whites for every meal if you really wanted, long term you'll have some health issues I am sure which would trickle down to effecting body composition eventually, but short term you can still recomp. I wouldn't recommend that approach. but you can eat just about anything in moderation and achieve whatever body comp goal and do so healthily.

If you know your caloric needs, and macro distribution to achieve your goal. Hit those macros at the end of the day preferably with a good diverse amount of micro nutrients. You will be good.

No need to give up or sacrifice foods you really enjoy, you may need to alter them and/or cut back on them eating only in moderation in order to fit it into your caloric/macro needs.

If you are allocated 2500 calories total distributed into 540 calories / 60g fat, 1240 calories / 310 carbs, and 720 calories / 180g protein.

If you really want to eat a cheeseburger with 30g fat 45carb and 25 protein, go for it. subtract from the above, now you want some cheesecake with 25g fat 50carb 5 protein go ahead.

but now you have 5g fat, 215carb and 150g protein left to consume. Good luck getting 150g of protein with only 5g fat to spare, that's a lot of egg whites, tuna, and protein shakes.

Now you could make a cheeseburger with reduced fat cheese, a wheat thin bun, leaner ground beef, random veggies and drastically reduce the fat, lower the carb and raise the protein. now it fits easily into most diets.

You want pizza, pasta, tacos? no problem use a leaner meat, a low/non caloric sauce preferably low sugar and no artificial sweeteners, lots of good organic low sugar pizza/pasta sauces, fat free mozzarella, low fat Mexican cheese, choice of whatever meat and cut you prefer that fits. Add in some random veggies, tasty and nutritious. Can easily make those taste good and be macro friendly.


no food is inherently good, and very few foods are inherently bad.

You judge a total diet by its entirety the entire contents of what is consumed. not just by one food, snack, or meal that is eaten.

You can combine the above principles with any other "methods" or "fad diets" like keto, intermittent fasting, paleo, carnivore, vegan etc... none of those are special or provide an inherent benefit really at least in terms of weight loss/body composition, they are just tools to aide in achieving a goal. A deficit will be a deficit regardless.

[Cephas]

^ This man spits truth.

[2020BRZtS]

I'll add my story...

51 YO 5'10", 174.5 lbs as of yesterday.

Pre-pandemic I weighed 165 in the winter, and 148 in the summer like clockwork. I have the metabolism of a hummingbird.

I have never exercised a day in my life, looked at a nutrition label, or worried about my weight. I drank a 12-pack of Mountain Dew every day for the last 30 years and ate 4 triple bacon cheeseburgers on a pretzel bun in a single sitting. I will never eat a french fry and I gave up pizza seven years ago. I average 4 hours of sleep a night.

The pandemic hit and I gained 20 lbs. The only thing that changed for me was Mountain Dew Throwback was discontinued due to the aluminum shortage. For those who don't know Throwback is made with real sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup.

I am a firm believer child obesity started with phasing out real sugar in drinks. I am a product of the 1970's and 80's and there were very few overweight children at least in my area.

I live in an area with a large migrant population and observed that native Mexicans are also on the thinner side overall. We have specialty stores which sell only soda with real sugar... even Coke. I believe there is a definitive link between HFCS and obesity; it's not natural and your body does not process it very well.

Back to my story.. In mid-July I was made aware my cholesterol was off the charts. I made a decision to limit my soda intake to one a day and only when the caffeine headaches start. Otherwise I drink sparkling water with lime.

I am down 12 lbs from my top weight and my cholesterol is back on track.

[alphasaur]

Originally Posted by 86TOYO2k17

Caloric deficit = weight loss
Caloric Keep = weight maintenance
Caloric surplus = weight gain.

Its simple math at the end of the day.

If you understand IIFYM and apply It you will lose weight. At least the "spirit and intent" you can obviously abuse it. Although in the short term you can still recomp your body.
You can lose weight and gain muscle eating donuts, gummy bears, and egg whites for every meal if you really wanted, long term you'll have some health issues I am sure which would trickle down to effecting body composition eventually, but short term you can still recomp. I wouldn't recommend that approach. but you can eat just about anything in moderation and achieve whatever body comp goal and do so healthily.

If you know your caloric needs, and macro distribution to achieve your goal. Hit those macros at the end of the day preferably with a good diverse amount of micro nutrients. You will be good.

No need to give up or sacrifice foods you really enjoy, you may need to alter them and/or cut back on them eating only in moderation in order to fit it into your caloric/macro needs.

If you are allocated 2500 calories total distributed into 540 calories / 60g fat, 1240 calories / 310 carbs, and 720 calories / 180g protein.

If you really want to eat a cheeseburger with 30g fat 45carb and 25 protein, go for it. subtract from the above, now you want some cheesecake with 25g fat 50carb 5 protein go ahead.

but now you have 5g fat, 215carb and 150g protein left to consume. Good luck getting 150g of protein with only 5g fat to spare, that's a lot of egg whites, tuna, and protein shakes.

Now you could make a cheeseburger with reduced fat cheese, a wheat thin bun, leaner ground beef, random veggies and drastically reduce the fat, lower the carb and raise the protein. now it fits easily into most diets.

You want pizza, pasta, tacos? no problem use a leaner meat, a low/non caloric sauce preferably low sugar and no artificial sweeteners, lots of good organic low sugar pizza/pasta sauces, fat free mozzarella, low fat Mexican cheese, choice of whatever meat and cut you prefer that fits. Add in some random veggies, tasty and nutritious. Can easily make those taste good and be macro friendly.


no food is inherently good, and very few foods are inherently bad.

You judge a total diet by its entirety the entire contents of what is consumed. not just by one food, snack, or meal that is eaten.

You can combine the above principles with any other "methods" or "fad diets" like keto, intermittent fasting, paleo, carnivore, vegan etc... none of those are special or provide an inherent benefit really at least in terms of weight loss/body composition, they are just tools to aide in achieving a goal. A deficit will be a deficit regardless.

Good post! I like to look at it as a pyramid with calories being king and really is what is primarily driving mass gain or loss. Macro distribution can start to affect body composition and satiety. When you get into micro-nutrients, meal timing, hormones, etc are really fine-tuning things for athletes/physique competition. Too many people focus on fine-tuning their diet (eliminating food groups, meal timing, micronutrients) before they have gotten caloric intake in check.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by 2020BRZtS

I'll add my story...

I drank a 12-pack of Mountain Dew every day for the last 30 years

Interesting story.

I got the picture -

[Sapphireho]

.

[spcmafia]

Another thing to take into consideration when trying to lose weight, is mental health. Though it is believed that working out releases hormones that make you feel good, it is important to be in a right state of mind whenever you take a day to rest, or just in general.

I love working out, but a big part of it is how I am mentally doing to keep a certain level of motivation up. I firmly believe that having some system to express your thoughts can help you get there. It can be a diary, blog, forum, friend or even a therapist if you have one. So if you are on a weights loss journey, having someone or something where you can express your thoughts and feelings as you travel along, could improve your motivation and overall mental health.
Or maybe you are self-driven and don't require any soft of support, which is also good. But like I said in earlier posts, every journey is different, some do better with others, and some do better by themselves.

[86TOYO2k17]

Originally Posted by alphasaur

Good post! I like to look at it as a pyramid with calories being king and really is what is primarily driving mass gain or loss. Macro distribution can start to affect body composition and satiety. When you get into micro-nutrients, meal timing, hormones, etc are really fine-tuning things for athletes/physique competition. Too many people focus on fine-tuning their diet (eliminating food groups, meal timing, micronutrients) before they have gotten caloric intake in check.

Good points!

Just to further expand on this.

I will say though, the older you get the more and more the micro nutrients will make a difference, they do not directly impact body comp / gaining losing weight really, but they do impact organ function, hormone levels/balances, and immune system, which can then all potentially effect body comp and overall results. (if you are sick or injured for example your probably not progressing possibly digressing)

Meal timing is practically pointless for body comp directly speaking, but can make a difference for performance which could potentially effect body comp if your timing impacted your training. 1 meal a day or 10 meals a day, intermittent fasting, or eating every 2 hours really doesn't make much of a difference for most people, whatever is easiest to fit into your schedule and is easiest to adhere to.

I wouldn't worry about counting and tracking micros, but a conscience effort to include micro nutrient dense foods would be wise. Toss in a random veggie or two in a couple meals a day is probably good enough. I do prefer to cook most of my veggies, as well as looking at the FODMAP and typically sticking to low FODMAP veggies, I eat enough higher FODMAP foods in rest of my diet figure its a good method to balance it out. Don't want to be a walking methane factory.

Hormones are one of the main driving forces behind resource allocation. Which will directly impact if the weight you gain or lose is muscle or fat, macro distribution, as well as lifestyle will also greatly impact resource allocation.

Agreed, no need to eliminate groups, unless you are intolerant of certain foods. You can take tests for this to see how well your body tolerates varies foods like wheat, rice, eggs, dairy etc.. Most people are actually gluten and lactose intolerant but not to a degree they have major obvious issues (like when you think of typical lactose intolerance or celiac disease), it may but subtle and/or you have grown so accustom to it that you don't realize or notice something is off. Could be triggering slight inflammation, fatigue, headaches, or contributing to bloating that you think is normal at this point.

If you are in overall good health, with no underlying conditions, no lack of energy etc.. You are probably fine, but getting a blood work analysis could be good especially for people who struggle and think it is "genetics". Lots of supplements, medications, treatments for resolving hormone and thyroid issues. Pinpointing potential micro nutrient deficiencies as well. If you think its an uphill battle its probably because you are going the wrong way. So fix the underlying issue.

[cjd]

Pre-pandemic I was ~155 with cholesterol issues. Eating habits haven't changed much (more curries for lunch vs a sandwich, but still all home-cooked, even the bread). Exercise reduced as I do not have the walk to/from the train, though I find time for more yoga it's still less overall.

Last weigh-in was just shy of 128lbs.
5'10" conveniently middle-aged.
Cholesterol was "OK" last time it was checked.
So what did I change? I started using a paper filter when making espresso (sits in the bottom of the portafilter... )
Doc thinks weight loss alone dropped the cholesterol, and maybe so, but what caused the weight loss? It was pretty dramatically quick for the first 15lbs. And I've maintained just shy of 130 since I got there... I'm not really interested in going back to unfiltered coffee to test, but I suspect both reductions were a single cause.
We eat lots of pasta - typical serving if store-bought is 75g dry. Plus whatever sauce, etc. Often a salad along side. So yeah... Pasta isn't the issue for some, it's the calories. And probably the balance.


I gave up soda years ago. HFCS gives me migraines.
I can't drink much fizzy water - causes my teeth to hurt.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by cjd

Last weigh-in was just shy of 128lbs.
5'10" ..

What? My youngest son is 5'10" 138lbs and he is the skinniest guy I know. Eat a few quarter-pounders for God's sake.

[spcmafia]

I lost 5 Lbs!!! A little slower than I would’ve wanted it. It hasn’t been a perfect change of eating habits but is something.

Current weight : 217lbs
Starting Weight: 222lbs


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[Spuds]

Originally Posted by spcmafia

I lost 5 Lbs!!! A little slower than I would’ve wanted it. It hasn’t been a perfect change of eating habits but is something.

Current weight : 217lbs
Starting Weight: 222lbs


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

5lb in a week is a lot. I wouldn't expect that rate to last. The first 10 for me was pretty easy/quick, and I am still working on the next 10 lol.

[weederr33]

Originally Posted by spcmafia

I lost 5 Lbs!!! A little slower than I would’ve wanted it. It hasn’t been a perfect change of eating habits but is something.

Current weight : 217lbs
Starting Weight: 222lbs


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Probably water and other expended waste with maybe 1-2lbs as good weight loss.