What about your eating habits?

I'd rather eat than a Whopper.

 

Does your car run on methane?

 

I've got to start eating more healthy foods and getting Doc to eat more healthy foods.

I made a resolution this week that I am not eating anymore fast food and I plan on cooking most nights. Other nights will be a frozen pizza or ramen because I won't want to wait until midnight when Doc gets home to eat dinner.

Lots of salads are in my future, I think.

 

It's taken me a long time to change my eating habits but I'm glad to say that I've gotten so much better.

Cut out all soda and late night snacks. If you have to have a snack only eat veggies. No carbs, no protein.

Drink lots of water. Buy one of those huge 32-ounce water bottles and drink the whole thing while you're at work. You'd be surprised how fast it goes.

When you go to the gym, don't just work out. Add lots of cardio. Start running, even if it's on a treadmill or an eliptical.

Cut down on portions. Don't eat seconds, and only have (a small) dessert once or twice a week.

Finally, don't expect the weight to come off right away. For me, because I didn't get thin fast I relapsed and gained even more weight. I really started dieting in March/April, but I've lost 27 pounds. I've gained tons of muscle and I'm pretty close to my goal weight.

I'd like to be around 140-145. That may seem like a lot these days but I'm 5-8 with broad shoulders and wide hips. Anything less and people would be throwing sandwiches at me.

Be realistic and good luck.

 

I can't do salads, like most people, but I have managed to be smart about what I eat now. I buy lunch meat on sale from the grocery store deli -- almost always ham or turkey -- and use wheat bagels to make sandwiches. I bring in two each night. I might also eat a banana. That's it.

So for five nights on desk, I might spend about $10 -- $5 on meat, $3 on the bagels and $2 on the bananas.

And I decided to swear off pop as much as I can. I might get pop when filling up at the convenience store, or maybe on days when I run the planning meeting for the department. Otherwise, I simply keep a stadium Royals cup at my desk to constantly fill with water from the cooler 10 feet from my desk. I even bought one of the Brita pitchers for home. Water nonstop for me these days.

It's amazing how many pounds I've lost since February simply be following the plan I just listed. That, and being able to resist the fast food temptation. I'm far healthier as a copy editor now than I ever was as a reporter before.

 

Please, if you believe nothing else I ever say on this board: Ramen is evil. Pure carbs, zero nutrition, loaded with sodium. Metabolizes into pure sugar. Frozen pizza, almost equally evil---all fat and salt.

You will be amazed how much weight will melt away if you lay off bread, rice, pasta. Sounds impossible, but those bad empty carbs are like tracking cookies in your computer...they call to their friends. As soon as they're in your system, they make you crave more. Cut the cycle, and you cut the craving.

Someone mentioned grazing, like it's a bad thing. It's a great way to eat, if you graze on low carb/high protein foods. Keeps your blood sugar in check so you don't get that 'starving' feeling, which leads to binges. You're better off eating all day--small amounts of non-junk--than sitting down to a big meal that overloads your digestive system....guarateed to make you fat.

Once a week grill a bunch of chicken breasts--an easy snack, chopped up with some vegetables or in a low-carb wrap. You can freeze a few as well.

Balance bars, Clif bars, Luna bars....a quick snack when you can't have a meal.

Protein fills you up longer, curbs sugar craving, and requires more calories to digest.

Read. The. Labels. 'Low Fat' can mean 'Loaded with Sugar'.....'Sugar Free' can mean 'Loaded with Fat.' There's no free ride. Processed Food = Contains Something You Probably Don't Want.

Drink water. Not soda. Even diet soda...studies have proven that the fake sweeteners in diet soda actually trick your brain into thinking you're getting sugar....your insulin kicks in, way too high....and eventually that diet soda makes you fat.

It's baby steps...if you try to overhaul your entire diet at once, you'll get frustrated and probably give up. Do what you can, don't feel bad if you cheat. And remember, in an emergency, there is definite proof that Peanut M&Ms constitute a complete meal.

 

My parents have had lots of success on the South Beach Diet, but as soon as they eat any carbs, all the weight they didn't want comes back.

I am a rice addict. My sister lived on rice and pasta when she was studying in Germany and lost a lot of inches, but she was walking everywhere and needed the energy. I eat a lot of veggies and protein now, but when I started at my last stop I started to quit cooking and eating a lot of fast food and *gasp* ramen.

On an unrelated/related note, we did a back to school survival guide for the college students this summer and one of the reporters found out that a diet consisting of ONLY Ramen will result in Scurvey. I'm not sure he knew what he was talking about, but that's interesting that it could happen just from Ramen.

 

I forgot.

When you cut down on carbs, don't think you can just load up on protein. You body can only handle 2-4 ounces of protein at a time. That means it could turn the rest into fat.

Oh, one easy tip. Drink COLD water. Your body actually burns calories when warming it.

That being said. I've found that hot water with a sqeeze of lemon fills me up. ;D

 

Completely likely--scurvy is caused by a deficiency of Vitamin C. An all-Ramen diet would cause that, and a whole lot worse.

South Beach works when you view it as a lifestyle, not a diet. If you go back to white carbs and sugars, you get fat. Period.

White rice = sugar. Processed rice dishes are loaded with sodium. At least try cutting back...fill up on vegetables and protein, with a little rice on the side if you need it.

 

Divorce might be one of the best remedies for me because I've learned how to cook, and since it's just me most of the time, I always have leftovers which I can then eat at lunch the next day. You'd be surprised how much you can save (money) and how nice it is to have a home-cooked meal for lunch.

 

Something that at least helps...diet soda.

During my last stop, I was miserable. So I always stayed up late, thinking about how miserable I was. Which meant I would consume two bottle of Mountain Dew the following day.

Finally, I realized that not only was I packing on unnecessary calories, but I was murdering my teeth to boot.

Diet gives you the caffeine fix with less sugar and calories. It's an acquired taste, yes, but once it's required, you'll almost prefer it.

Also, though this is more for reporters who face press box spreads on a weekly basis: Find The Fat Guy in the press box. You know who I'm talking about. There's always one Fat Guy. I always find this person and watch him eat for five minutes straight.

If there's no Fat Guy, I try to sneak in to one of those special alumni rooms, if they have one. They have Fat Guys, too.

After five minutes of watching the Fat Guy eat something that I was planning on eating, I no longer want to eat it. Or, at the very least, I appropriate my portions.

This works. I'm serious.