Author Topic: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?  (Read 9239 times)

mc6

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Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« on: March 02, 2013, 06:24:49 AM »
Curious to see what the MM community thinks about successful and sustainable weight loss suggestions.  I have had success on Atkins before but both the eating and the side effects were unsustainable.  I have a bad sweet tooth and am an emotional eater.  I am 5'6 and weigh 235.  At 35 losing weight isn't as easy as it was at 25 and I know with age and hormones it will only get more difficult.  I love the manic-high I feel during ketosis with Atkins but it is not sustainable. 

I'm pretty good about doing walkable errands to the shopping center by my home.  Work is about 6 miles away in a suburban landscape, with some hills and crazy drivers.  All my childhood bikes were cruiser styles with no gears and that is what I would prefer now.  Would that be a bad commuting set up? 

I eat out way too much.  I am a good cook and usually find my cooking better than a restaurant's.  I would welcome any good cooking suggestions for flavorful and economical dishes to prepare.   Pot roast and chili have been my recent go-to's. 

swiper

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2013, 07:02:14 AM »
Not so much on the lowfat side, but I've gotten some frugal meal ideas from the following: http://budgetbytes.blogspot.ca/

Saving mom

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2013, 07:34:27 AM »
Nothing worked for weight loss for me like giving up grains and sugar. Started out giving up wheat because I thought I might be celiac. Went gluten free waiting for lab results to come back and all of my bloating and puffiness went away and I had a ton more energy. Double up on veggies instead of carbs. Now I am paleo/primal mostly. Everytime i cheat, i feel ill. I work out for 10-15 minutes per day (push ups, lunges, planking, and burpees) and am my thinnest since high school and have ab definition for the first time ever. I shop for veggies at sprouts market. On Wednesdays you get discounts for last weeks and this weeks sales flyer. Good fats, lots of veggies, and some meat keep you satisfied. After two weeks of this, cravings go away significantly. I wasn't serious about all this stuff until my sister was diagnosed with MS and I took a closer look at my family history of autoimmune diseases (diabetes on both sides of my family among other issues). As a bonus, it reduces mood swings and PMS for me significantly.

tkaraszewski

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2013, 08:44:55 AM »
Losing weight is easy. Just stop eating and you'll lose weight. This pretty miserable though, and so when you start eating again, you'll go back to your old weight in no time unless you change your habits.

Fortunately, losing weight is just like becoming mustachian. If you want to cut your cable TV to lower your expenses, you don't do it for a month, measure your cash outflow, and then sign up for cable again, you learn to live without it. And this is what you have to do with food, too, if you want to keep weight off. The sweets or chips or basically any high-calorie food that you eat needs to go. You have to be able to convince yourself *not to buy it*, thus you won't eat it, and you'll lose weight.

Learning to live on 2,000 calories a day is exactly like learning to live on $2,000/month. You can also "increase your income" by exercising more, and this is good for your overall health, but most people don't realize how much exercise you have to do to overcome your eating. To burn off a single chocolate chip cookie, you probably have to run about two miles. You see why it's often easier to just not eat the cookie.

clarkai

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #4 on: March 02, 2013, 08:50:58 AM »
I did a month long vegan trail, and not only did I easily loose those last 10 lbs of fat, my acne went away. Of course, being me, this trial included not eating any processed foods, no sugar, no refined grains, and no fake meats/cheeses. So, basically, paleo minus meat and adding legumes. Lots of vegetables and fruits.

kolorado

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2013, 08:52:47 AM »
Flexitarianism! I only learned the term for the diet style a few years ago but I've been eating that way my entire life. I'm your height, 33 years old and weigh 120lbs even after having three children so in my case I've proven it is a sustainable lifestyle diet. The idea is to severely limit your meat consumption and learn to get most of your protein from fresh produce, legumes and whole grains. Whole foods and natural fiber content are big components in this eating style. I feed my family of 5 this way. We are all very slim and active and I spend $300 a month on groceries. It does help that I happen to love fruits and veggies and crave them more than I crave junk. But most people who break the addiction of sugar usually say they feel the same way after a while. I recommend you start doing some heavy reading of the topic by today's leading health specialists. Robert Lustig's "Fat Chance" is about this topic and may be a helpful read for you.
I've been taking a nutrition class and I've learned over the last few weeks how important the balance of eating is. I shifted my calorie allotment to 55% carb, 25% fat and 20% protein which is slightly more protein and less fat than I used to eat. I cannot believe how much more energy I have after a month of this and how great my skin looks.
I track my diet and fitness for free on www.SparkPeople.com. I do not recommend you use their suggestions for your calorie range and nutrient range but rather use the method nutritionists use.

Convert your weight in pounds to kilograms(1kg=2.2lbs). 235lbs=107kg
To lose weight you eat 20-25 calories per kg.= 2140-2675
55% carbs=1177-1471 calories from carbs or 294-368g
25% fat=535-669 calories from fat or 59-74g
20% calories from protein= 428-535 calories from protein or 107-134g

You will need to recalculate your numbers every time you lose about 5lbs. ;)
And of course, be active! You should aim for at least 20 minutes of fitness activity daily. I personally do a blend of walking, yoga and resistance band strength training at home/in yard/in neighborhood becasue they are all free to me. There are lots of online videos to help with learning fitness at home.
Please do not believe the lie that losing weight in your 30's is so much harder than in your 20's. The difference is minimal. Most research show that muscle mass and basal metabolic rate doesn't really start falling noticeably until the late 30's-mid 40's and even then it is only enough to gain several pounds per decade assuming one makes no other changes in diet and fitness routine.

Crash87

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2013, 08:59:00 AM »
My personal belief on achieving sustainable weight loss is to take baby steps.

If you go on a hardcore diet you'll very likely get sick of it and return to your normal habits. So, I recommend tracking what you eat with the free app myfitnesspal for a week. Then tweak your diet eat week to be slightly healthier. Eventually you'll reach your goal and simply maintain the current eating routine.

In America I think we tend to overeat fatty meats and carbs. So I would slowly cut those out of your diet and REPLACE them with healthy fats (almonds and natural peanut butter for example), healthy proteins (beans, salmon, chicken breast, etc.), and healthy carbs (the more fruits and veggies the better).

As far as sweet tooth issues go... frozen berries and peanut butter help me.

Make sure you actually eat healthy food instead of just eating less crap food. Crap food is generally calorie dense and leaves you craving more. Most healthy food is not calorie dense so you can feel full while consuming less calories. Don't ever say, "I'm hungry but I've hit my calorie limit for the day so I can't have any more fruits or veggies."

Of course exercise will also help... but BABY STEPS! This is a tortoise and the hare type deal.

TheDude

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2013, 10:05:24 AM »
I've been doing Atkins style diet now for a month. So far I have lost 15lbs. What do you find unsustainable about it? I view the diet as a chance to learn more about yourself than as a short term diet. As you slowly add back in carbs take notice what they do to you. Then either eliminate or greatly reduce your consumption if you cant handle them. I understand its hard as I have sweet tooth too but its not worth it if its just going to make you unhappy. And just because you cant eat them everyday doesn't mean you can never eat them.

I do think there is a lot of merit to just give up sugar and processed foods. I specifically buy into the notion that fructose is the devil. There is a lot of research out there that shows that Alzheimer's is just a form of diabetes. On my moms side there is a history of both Alzheimer's and diabetes. I have decided if there is a chance that I can do something about it now I probably should.

I would recommend checking out "Why we get fat" by Gary Taubes and the video "Sugar the bitter truth" here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

The video is amazing. The science behind fructose and sugar is pretty cool imho.

Mama Mia

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2013, 12:50:45 PM »
I like using Spark People to track my eating & exercise!

FIRE Realtor

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #9 on: March 02, 2013, 01:14:28 PM »
I would recommend reading Eat To Live or The Fire Engine2 Diet, for inspiration on how to change your life, and especially to convince you Atkins isn't the way to go.  Skinny Bitch is helpful too if you don't mind some fluffy girl talk.  Vegan on $4 a day is also good to learn how to cut costs. 

I slowly transitioned to eating a whole food vegan diet a few years ago and it helped a lot with emotional eating issues.  Once you start doing it, your palate changes too and you won't crave processed sugar as much. 

If you want any advice, steps to take to start, anything, just message me I'm happy to help. 

psychomoustache

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #10 on: March 02, 2013, 01:57:39 PM »
+1 for Eat to Live. You could also take a look at the Peer Trainer site which has a lot of information.

I have A Very Hard Time sustaining Eat to Live (basically no sugar/white flour and lots of legumes/vegetables/fruits) but I try - I truly try - to make it the base of my eating habits.

I hear you becaue at the end of every winter, my weight goes up about 2 kg (almost 5 pounds) and I'm small, so it shows.

+1 for baby steps too. When I try to follow E2L in a too-draconian way, I will swing back the other way...so not the point. So this evening, had steamed broccholi and hummus, and then a nice square of chocolate for dessert, y'know? A girl's gotta live...

Sweet Tart

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #11 on: March 02, 2013, 02:30:46 PM »
I'm just a very baby mustachian, but finally there's a topic I have some experience with.  12 years ago I was 5'6", 257 pounds, and 38 years old.  I lost 90 pounds that year and maintained within 10 pounds for 11 years.  This past year I lost another 30 pounds and am now 20%BF at 50 years old.

What worked for me was finding an eating plan that I could stick to for the rest of my life.  Dieting doesn't work, once you go back to eating the way you did before you will gain the weight back.  There is also increasing evidence that even if you don't go back to eating the same way you may start gaining the weight back as you body compensates for the weight-loss by changing your hormones and decreasing your metabolism.  You will think that you're hungrier or have lost your willpower.  These are very powerful hormones trying to get you to lose weight.  This is the reality you need to be aware of if you want to maintain a large weight-loss over the long haul.

For me the only thing that worked to control my hunger enough to actually reduce what I was eating was a low-carb plan.  Low-fat, higher-carb eating makes me ravenously hungry and just doesn't work for me.  I don't know if it's a metabolic issue, or that fat and protein are more satiating than carbs.   If find that the hardest thing about maintaining a low-carb lifestyle is that the world we live in is high-carb and social situations can be tricky. 

It sounds like Atkins both worked and didn't work for you.  Perhaps there's a middle ground that you could try--South Beach or Primal?  You don't have to be in ketosis to reap the benefits of low-carb.  Think about what you would want to eat for the rest of your life when looking at eating plans.  I knew that I could eat steak and salad every day for the rest of my life so low-carb was a no brainer.  The important thing is knowing what you like to eat and what's realistic for you.

I try to follow Mark Sisson's exercise prescription which I find to be quite sustainable. Personally I do kettlebells 2x/week and incorporate a lot of walking and stairs into my daily life. 

I will say that being very overweight is a much different thing than trying to lose 10- 15 pounds or maintaining slimness on an already slim body.  This is a hard road and the changes you make are for life.  But totally worth it in the long run!

mm1970

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #12 on: March 03, 2013, 05:52:59 PM »
I've had very good experience with weight watchers online.

But lately, I canceled my membership, and I use MyFitnessPal (free).  I do better on a "balanced" diet (not vegan, not paleo).  Really, the ONLY thing that works for me is counting calories.

meadow lark

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #13 on: March 03, 2013, 06:05:17 PM »
  Ditto to everything Saving Mom said.  Paleo works, and it feels sustainable for me.  I love it.  Also, I love Overeaters Anonymous.  If you are interested go to www.oa.org to find a meeting.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2013, 06:07:32 PM by Meadow Lark »

happy

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #14 on: March 04, 2013, 05:52:30 AM »
Although initially cautious, and concerned about the cost ( especially since I'm already struggling with reducing grocery costs), I've committed to going Primal ( with some interest in Nourishing Traditions) for 2013, and probably for life. Ditto to Saving Mom: stopping grains and sugar has made all the difference. Also no fake sugar products. I feel much better. I'm past the cravings and if I feel tempted I just tell myself that this will make me feel sick, which I know to be true having tried it. Also, it takes me a couple of  weeks to lose the cravings/exhaustion/appetite to reduce etc so its not like I just feel yuk for a day or two. Marks Daily Apple is also a daily read/motivation for me.

It is more expensive but I'm really starting to eat much less, so that helps counteract the extra cost.

Trouble losing weight in your 30s pfft! try being a post menopausal woman.... :)

Progress so far 4.5kg (10lbs) since 1/1/13. Slow and steady and very sustainable.


Arbor33

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #15 on: March 04, 2013, 06:43:32 AM »
  • Get rid of your scale. You'll know when you're healthy (and fyi, it's not determined by your weight).
  • Stop eating anything processed.
  • Stop consuming sugars outside of those that naturally occur in fruits and veggies.
  • Stop consuming grains.
  • Regulate your consumption of carbs that don't naturally contain high fiber.
  • Only eat things that were once alive.
  • Exercise regularly.
  • Eat frequently and whenever you're hungry.
  • Drink a lot of water. To the point where you're emptying your tanks every 1-2 hours.

You're not dieting. Get that straight from the get go. You're forming a new diet/lifestyle. When there's dieting, there's cheating. You should never mix morals and food consumption. It's a gateway to eating disorders.

Exercise doesn't need to be done in a gym or on a treadmill. Take walks, go on hikes, just start moving and do so regularly. If you really need a jumpstart on your calorie burning, build up your leg muscles. The leaner your body is, the more calories it'll require on a daily basis/the more fat reserves you'll burn.

You don't have a sweet tooth. You've been poisoned by sugars which has tricked your body into thinking it needs them. It doesn't. Sugar has side effects. Warning: may cause tooth decay, diabetes, obesity, etc. It's a drug. Stay away.

If you want to be healthy, prove it. If you don't, it'll show. You only get one body and the health of it determines how long you get to stay alive with family and friends. Get the most out of your retirement!

bluecollarmusician

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #16 on: March 04, 2013, 07:00:23 AM »
Congratulations on facing your challenge!  You will be walking a well-worn path by many before you, so make sure you look for inspiration from people who have been successful - and encouragement.  Many people drop a load of weight- far fewer find a sustainable new lifestyle and truly change for a lifetime.  It is hard to accept that if we want to change our bodies dramatically, we literally have to become a different person.

As a personal trainer, time and again, I have seen so often people who want to change- but really what they want is to look different, but they don't want to actually be a radically different person.  The trick is to focus on creating new habits, with the weight loss being a secondary and unavoidable result of the lifestyle.  Not much we can offer here except encouragement... but it would be important for you to spend time with people who support your success.  Most people will actually discourage you, and will actually want to see you fail.  It is unbelievable, but true- people don't want to see you enjoy dramatic success.  You have to find people who will support you, encourage you... and who do the things you want to be doing.

Diet wise- Atkins is a great diet for actually losing weight- the problem is that by following phase 1 people are not actually setting themselves up with lifetime habits- you have to transition through the various phases.  Phase 1 is NOT for a lifetime, and was never meant to be- it isn't healthy for the long term(well, not as prescribed.)

Paleo seems to have a lot going for it.

I have always found weight watchers to be great - if you listen to what your body tells you, it works, and the support system is great for accountability.

I like the concept behind Tim Ferris's slow carb approach.

The #1 thing to help with diet is preparing your own food.  You have to be the kind of person who prepares their meals if you want to be successful.  It is possible to eat out low cal, but that is for WAY down the road.  It is next to impossible to control your calories when you eat out, and you need to be in a different place for you can successfully navigate this.

Exercise is key- Diet is critical.  Avoid the hype and focus on "progress not perfection" (stolen from Bill Philips in Body for Life- a great book and great inspiration, although you don't need the supplements he tries to sell.)

Good Luck!

DoubleDown

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #17 on: March 04, 2013, 08:47:23 AM »
1. Running will make the pounds fall off of you. If you think you'd like weight lifting, that would be great to do, too. But at least run (you can start with fast walking if running is too difficult to start, just add in some bursts of running along the way). It's not a coincidence that you pretty much never see an overweight runner. Added bonus: appetite often decreases after running.

2. Drink a full glass of water and eat something healthy that you like before each meal, without fail. You will automatically take in less calories from your more fattening/calorie-laden meals by filling up first on the healthy thing. You don't have to deprive yourself at all or be hungry, just fill up partially with the glass of water and thing that you like. Put a smaller amount of your regular meal on a plate, then stop eating when you are comfortable/full. You can always get more if you're still hungry, just don't start will a full plate and be tempted to eat it all even when you're full. A lot of people use bananas as the thing to eat first, but you can choose something else you like that is healthy and filling (apples, oatmeal, celery, carrots, etc.). This goes for eating out too: eat the healthy thing first before you go out, and stop your restaurant meal when you're full.

Iron Mike Sharpe

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #18 on: March 04, 2013, 10:26:55 AM »
I lost a lot of weight by becoming my paleo/primal.

I did it by following the advice in the book Diet Evolution:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Gundrys-Diet-Evolution-Waistline/dp/0307352129/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362417815&sr=8-1&keywords=diet+evolution

It absolutely works, the pounds just melted off for me.  But, not only that, it tells you why it works and why our normal grain-based diets fail.  He's a heart surgeon who also runs a diet/nutrition center and is able to measure the weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and other metrics with this version of primal eating.  He's seen his own patients artery blockages clear completely up with just the change in diet, no meds/surgery.

I highly recommend this book to everyone.

jfLip

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #19 on: March 06, 2013, 09:04:42 PM »
I'm a personal trainer that used to be fat.  Losing weight made simple:

- Eat less: caloric deficit = fat loss
- Increase lean muscle mass: more muscle cells = faster metabolism = fat loss

Two things: 1) we're made to move 2) fat = stored energy.  Sedentary lifestyle + eating too much = fat.  A majority of the population doesn't realize how easily calories add up.  For example, ONE TABLESPOON of olive oil (healthy) = 120 calories.  Now think of the oil/grease in burgers, fries, everything a typical "American" dish, etc.

I would suggest to start tracking what you eat using an app (MyFitnessPal, Calorie Counter by Fat Secrets) or a website (Sparkpeople.com).  Also I would address your emotional attachment to food.  Develop an understanding of what triggers you to feel certain ways when you eat certain foods.  The better you can detach yourself from food, the more efficiently you'll be able to live a healthy lifestyle.  Eating should be enjoyable, but you shouldn't feel pressure to eat canned tuna, broccoli, and chicken breast all the time.  Take one step at a time and start to track your food.

As far as exercise, start with simple body weight movements: pushups, plank, and squats (stand up & sit down from a chair with good form, seriously).

dragoncar

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #20 on: March 06, 2013, 09:12:41 PM »


Diet wise- Atkins is a great diet for actually losing weight- the problem is that by following phase 1 people are not actually setting themselves up with lifetime habits- you have to transition through the various phases.  Phase 1 is NOT for a lifetime, and was never meant to be- it isn't healthy for the long term(well, not as prescribed.)

Paleo seems to have a lot going for it.

I have always found weight watchers to be great - if you listen to what your body tells you, it works, and the support system is great for accountability.

I like the concept behind Tim Ferris's slow carb approach.



Agree here- very low carb to get down to your target weight (ESP since it has worked for you before). 

Long term I'd say slow carb, but since you have a sweet tooth maybe Tim's weekly planne cheat day will help.

This is similar to my plan and I've been maintaining for a while

savingtofreedom

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #21 on: March 06, 2013, 10:47:46 PM »
Dealing with your emotional eating issues is very important.  You probably know how to lose weight but fall off the wagon - I say this as I have done this in the past myself.

I would first work on your emotional eating issues - I recommend the following book - http://www.amazon.com/Food-Feelings-Workbook-Course-Emotional/dp/0936077204 . I didn't work through all of the exercises but reading it helped me realize that I was using eating as a way to deal with stress.   

I am also a huge fan of sweets!!! I have to work on it - where before I could eat a whole bag of whatever was in the house now I have trained myself that all I need is one serving.  I also switched to more fruit which helps. 

Also start eating a ton of vegetables so you get full from that and not crap.  Eat lots of veggies at every meal - salads, slaws, roasted, steamed, figure out different tasty preparations and keep them in your refrigerator.  Eating alot of broccoli (steamed) will help fill you up. 

Tracking my caloric intake - while annoying - is eye-opening - you need to understand what you eat directly impacts your weight.  It gets harder as we get older.  Restaurant food is so high calorie it is hard to not gain weight unless you are pretty focused on what you consume.

Good luck - this is hard but you can totally do it!!

BPA

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #22 on: March 07, 2013, 04:48:38 AM »
Check out myfitnesspal.com.  I aim for no more than 30 grams of carbs/meal and to eat at least 14 grams of protein/meal.

As for the emotional eating, check out some of the books by Geneen Roth.  I think the one I have is Overcoming Emotional Eating.

Cycling burns a lot of calories, but unless you live in a very flat place, I would recommend a bike with gears.

GuitarStv

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #23 on: March 07, 2013, 06:23:10 AM »
Most people say "I want to lose weight" and really mean "I'm too fat".  The problem with changing only diet as many people attempt, is that you'll lose weight . . . but your body will become weaker and you'll tend to feel like crap.

A combination of weight training and aerobic exercise works very well to build strength/endurance and burn fat.  If you do a program like Starting Strength (M W F program) with 30-40 minutes of moderate cardio on your off days, and maintain your current eating levels you'll get in much better shape.

Once you've done this for several months, and are in OK shape, then you can start making very small changes to your diet to drop off the remaining fat.  Start out by eliminating any high calorie stuff you're drinking (chocolate milk, any kind of juice, alcohol, soda, coffee with cream/sugar, etc.).  Drink water instead.  This is a small change that most people find pretty easy to get along with and you'll adapt to quickly.  Next on the hit list is dessert/snack stuff.  You're going to replace half of all the sweet desserts you eat with fruit.  (Yes, fruit has calories (and sugars) but the fiber in it will help you control your cravings and the vitamins are much more plentiful than in cheesecake.)  Once you're used to that cut the portion size of the remaining desserts you eat in half.

What I'm trying to get across is that many small changes over a long period of time will always work better in the long run than a quick switch to a new fad diet.

unitsinc

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Re: Mustachian weight loss and cooking suggestions?
« Reply #24 on: March 07, 2013, 10:50:26 AM »
Nothing worked for weight loss for me like giving up grains and sugar. Started out giving up wheat because I thought I might be celiac. Went gluten free waiting for lab results to come back and all of my bloating and puffiness went away and I had a ton more energy. Double up on veggies instead of carbs. Now I am paleo/primal mostly. Everytime i cheat, i feel ill. I work out for 10-15 minutes per day (push ups, lunges, planking, and burpees) and am my thinnest since high school and have ab definition for the first time ever. I shop for veggies at sprouts market. On Wednesdays you get discounts for last weeks and this weeks sales flyer. Good fats, lots of veggies, and some meat keep you satisfied. After two weeks of this, cravings go away significantly. I wasn't serious about all this stuff until my sister was diagnosed with MS and I took a closer look at my family history of autoimmune diseases (diabetes on both sides of my family among other issues). As a bonus, it reduces mood swings and PMS for me significantly.

This. This worked very well for me. I was never too big, but after the military I started gaining some extra pudge I didn't care for.
But cutting out most all carbs(I still tend to eat beans fairly freely) has done wonders. Lots more energy and the weight came off pretty quickly. I also only tend to do about 10-20 minutes of bodyweight stuff for exercise daily.