Diet Evolution 1st Goal Weight Loss 2nd Goal Go Cheap

[kuritzl]

I was overweight by 30lbs and took part in a weight loss competition at work.
I studied ahead of time to nail down some details.
Here's one: Eat Veggies or get scurvy. Turns out this doesn't mean everyday. You can miss vegetables for long periods of time.
Here's another: Meal x is most important, eat y meals per day. Not true, we are designed to store food, we are not the luckiest hunters.
Here is a 3rd: Lean labels are by weight percentage, not by calorie. Fat and Lean take up dramatically different volumes, and the calorie count is 9x for fat. For instance 97% Fat Free in a 100 calorie serving, means 3% fat x 9 = 27. This means that 27 of the 100 calories are from Fat ! Very deceptive. So choose 99% Fat Free Lean meats. Turns out breast cuts do best. Ground is worse.
Here is final: Don't add crap. Even the little spray that say 0 cals, well thats for a .3 second spray. That's not what you are doing. No one does a .3 second spray. All 3 of these (fish, chicken, turkey) create their own juice when cooked covered and will not stick to the pan, so go as pure as you can.
Given this info, the super weight loss diet is #1 choose between lean cuts of fish, turkey, or chicken, cook them in nothing. Stay at 500 calories per day. Have vegetables, fruit at some spaced out times. Once a week.
3600 calories = 1 lb
So a normal person burning 2000 cals per day, now runs a deficit of 1500. That means a 1 lbs every two days.
Yes, exercise, but it's only to fight the loss of muscle on such an extreme diet, it's impact on the weight loss is minimal.
Running or walking 1 mile is 100 calories. So even if you ran 5 miles per day, it's not much in the scheme of things, and it makes you hungry.

You will say its wrong to do this, because of the muscle loss, and you'd be correct. Any other reason is B.S.

The issue is that a gradual weight loss, lets say a calorie deficit of 500/day.
Your body can compensate for that like nothing. There are calories burned at different rates while sleeping, sitting, (activities that you do for long periods of time) and your burn rate gets adjusted by your body. It knows you are at the deficit and makes minor adjustments, you are more rest sitting vs your normal attentive sit at posture, your sleep is deeper, and slightly longer.

Of course I won. No one else in a work competition makes these kinds of commitments, or does all that studying.

None of the challenge is this math and knowledge, the challenge is strictly mental. You literally need to just stay away from people the whole time. When you tell people you are dieting, they all tend to know better and tell you what to eat.

Even after I won, the losers were in my office telling me how to lose weight. Human nature I guess.


None of that is why I'm writing this.

My food budget was near $500, sometimes $600. I just assumed that during this diet, it would drop. It didn't !!
Turns out good cuts of prepped meat are costly and so is even a cheap but good diet fish like tilapia.

So I am looking for a diet that keeps me at this new low weight, yet cost less.
Of course ramen noodles are the lowest cost per meal, but I'm trying to minimize salts, sugars, fats, cholesterol. My goal is to get the 3 (protein, fat, carb) with nothing else - I mean nothing else. As pure close to mostly protein and carbs and less so on fats but included as they are good for you also.

This month was my first trial month.
I'm eating shredded wheat cereal and fat free milk.
This cereal literally has a single ingredient, wheat.
The cost per meal is as cheap as can be. I found an Aldi's that has milk at 1.99/gal. Walmart has the cereal at 2.99 per box.
One month done, with a few failures to be strict I am at $120, I think I coulda hit under $100 and will try again this month if I was more stick. Also, I ate a lot and gained a little. So, some moderation will lower the number.

Of course, I have to add people back, so while I'm perfectly happy with this (I actually like it), I'd also like to live in the world.

So I'm looking for some healthy eaters that have found strict oil/butter/salt/sugar free ways to get the basics, high on the proteins side, while staying cheap. 

[nessness]

Please think about your long-term health - you're missing out on a lot of essential nutrients and micronutrients by eating such a restrictive diet.

That being said, I did successfully maintain a <$100/month food budget when I was single, and lose weight. It was several years ago, so there's been some inflation, but I also lived in a HCOL area.

I was (and still am) a vegetarian, and the bulk of my diet was oatmeal, brown rice, frozen veggies, whole wheat pasta, lentils, and dried beans, and whatever fresh fruits and veggies were cheap that week. I also ate cheese, nuts, and other foods as budget allowed.

I'd usually make a couple meals each week with several servings, and portion them out for meals, which seemed to work better than cooking every day.

[Freedomin5]

So I am looking for a diet that keeps me at this new low weight, yet cost less.
Of course ramen noodles are the lowest cost per meal, but I'm trying to minimize salts, sugars, fats, cholesterol. My goal is to get the 3 (protein, fat, carb) with nothing else - I mean nothing else. As pure close to mostly protein and carbs and less so on fats but included as they are good for you also.

I wonder if beans could provide a good portion of what you’re looking for. I’m not saying only eat beans, just that beans could replace some of the meats you’re currently purchasing, and that would lower your grocery bill while still giving you lots of protein.

[Metalcat]

Uh...I lost over 70lbs with a deficit of only 100-300 calories per day and kept it off for years.

[maizefolk]

How long was the weight loss contest/how much did you lose?

Running a 1500/calorie a day deficit eating mostly protein is going to burn through one's body's glycogen reserves in 1-2 weeks. Glycogen is bound to lots of water so as one's body uses it up and cannot replace it a lot of water weight is lost. Depending on your height and build glycogen loss can easy produce a 10 lb weight loss in short order. The rapid early weight loss -- pound a day or more -- is part of why people get so excited about Atkins (high protein, low carb) or ketogenic (high fat, low carb) diets. But a single day of eating a more regular diet and your body rebuilds its reserves, you get super thirsty, and those pounds come back on.

Which is not to say you won't also lose fat weight running a sustained 1500/calorie deficit (probably 3 lbs/week easily, as you say). But after living on only small amounts of meat, just be conscious that you can expect to regain a significant amount of water + glycogen weight -- perhaps 10 lbs -- if and when you revert to a maintenance diet containing more carbohydrates. It doesn't mean you'll keep gaining weight or regain as much as you lost once you switch to a more balanced diet, but regaining glycogen+water weight can be as discouraging to folks as the rapid weight loss at the beginning of low carb and/or super high calorie deficit diets was encouraging.

[kuritzl]

More than one reply added beans and lentils. Of course, that makes perfect sense. It's cheap, has the protein I want, and I bet there is a ton of research saying its all good. - Thanks.   

Water weight loss reply - you are right, and I knew that going in. I lost more than the 30 I mentioned here during the competition, but I know it was just water weight, as it came back on in just two quick weeks after the diet.

A big wow goes out to the post that lost so much weight and kept it off for years with the "proper" moderation diet. I envy you. part of my make up seems to be an inability to be moderate at anything. I'll try more.

[Metalcat]

More than one reply added beans and lentils. Of course, that makes perfect sense. It's cheap, has the protein I want, and I bet there is a ton of research saying its all good. - Thanks.   

Water weight loss reply - you are right, and I knew that going in. I lost more than the 30 I mentioned here during the competition, but I know it was just water weight, as it came back on in just two quick weeks after the diet.

A big wow goes out to the post that lost so much weight and kept it off for years with the "proper" moderation diet. I envy you. part of my make up seems to be an inability to be moderate at anything. I'll try more.

If you have challenges with moderation, then I strongly recommend therapy, because that's a behavioural regulation issue, and your brain is triggering you to be unregulated to meet some kind of need.

I've always said that the best diet is a good therapist.

Also, yes, my diet is largely legume based. I have also never heavily restricted calories. I started with eating the number of calories that would support a lean healthy weight with the logic that if the diet can sustain that weighty, it can't sustain excess weight.

As a result, I made permanent, sustainable changes and never had to transition to "maintenance" because I started in maintenance. Maintaining weight is the hardest part for people, so learning to maintain the kind of eating that sustains healthy weight was where I started and where I just stayed for years.

[Josiecat22222]

Some really good points have already been made here regarding importance of moderation and the behavioral component to successful lifestyle change.

Some inexpensive protein sources include eggs, canned tuna and chicken, and of course the beans and lentils already noted. 


The best book I have read to help explain the science of weight loss is The Obesity Code by Jason Fung, MD.  He is a big proponent of a high fat, low carb, lower protein diet based upon the impact of insulin on body's storage of fat.  It's well written for a lay public, but he cites the research which supports his position.