Diets

2bsticks

Platinum Member
I know this is a drum forum thats why I'm posting this in the Off Topic Lounge. 2Bb here needs to get some weight off. I have tried Atkins, Weight Watchers and after a few weeks on these diets I get bored and fall off. I am reaching out to my fellow drummers who may be in or have been in my position and found something that worked! Or maybe we have a doctor or nutritionist among us that can share some wisdom with us?

I know common sense tells us, portion size, plenty of water, fruits and veggies, whole grain, low fat and on and on...
 
I know this is a drum forum thats why I'm posting this in the Off Topic Lounge. 2Bb here needs to get some weight off. I have tried Atkins, Weight Watchers and after a few weeks on these diets I get bored and fall off. I am reaching out to my fellow drummers who may be in or have been in my position and found something that worked! Or maybe we have a doctor or nutritionist among us that can share some wisdom with us?

I know common sense tells us, portion size, plenty of water, fruits and veggies, whole grain, low fat and on and on...

Exercise, I'm afraid. I discovered jogging 6 months ago, thanks to a programme we have in the UK called "Couch to 5k". I've never been able to run water, but this worked for me and most astonishingly of all, I don't hate it.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k-plan.aspx
 
The problem is not the diet, it's your commitment to it. Yes it's easy to get bored with a regimen, but you have to stick to it in order to get - and maintain - results.

Do you ever think to yourself 'if I'd just stuck with it, I'd be there by now'? Well, there's the answer.

I'v e been down that road. Just 3 years ago, I lost 30 pounds, was very proud of myself and got sloppy, soon put about half ot it back on, and am now thinking ''if I'd just stuck with it, I'd still be 30lbs lighter'.

But you're right, whole grains, low fat, cut out extra sugar, reduce starches, no glutens, and reducing red meat doesn't hurt. And a little exercise goes a long way, even a treadmill or brisk walk 30-45min a day, 4 or 5 days a week works wonders.

Bermuda
 
"Boring" really has nothing to do with it.

I think one of the diet industry's biggest sins is when they try to promote a certain diet as "easy" or fun.

Truth here, it's hard and it sucks but it's worth it. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something.

Diet for 6 weeks on and at least 2 weeks off to avoid metabolic slowdown.
 
I don't really feel a diet that feels like a diet works.

There's no way around exercise. It's good to do a little something in the morning to get going. How ever you exercise, don't just do light cardio, but do some strength exercise to build some muscle. And if you do cardio get some sprints in there.

Make your own food so you know what goes into it. It might be wise to change what little wheat you should use to other grains. Spelt, millet, quinoa and oats are generally good choices for most people. Wheat isn't bad just because it's starchy, but mainly because it causes an allergic reaction and slows down the metabolism in most people.

Soft drinks and chips are offcourse out, but that doesn't mean that snacks are out. Just choose some healthy ones. Maybe just have a carrot, an apple or a few raw nuts.

Start making salads a big part of your main meals.

Eat often enough to keep you meatbolism going.

Supp with omega 3.

Don't eat too much in the evening.

Drink lots of water.

Get enough sleep.

No problem with fat, but they should be unrefined and of high quality. Olive oil and a touch of raw butter takes you a long way.

If you need a sweetener use thinks like maple/birch syrup, clear agave or stevia. Just drop the refined sugar all together.

A supplement might be a good idea to be sure to get your vitamins and minerals up to optimum levels, but if you choose to take one make it something really good. Those regular vitamin pills at the grocery store probably do more harm than good.


I wouldn't consider the diet that helped me lose lots of wieght hard. In fact I've hardly eaten better in my whole life. The main thing was to have a plan where it was easier and quicker to make something healthy from scratch.

Don't do weight loss diets. Change your lifestyle and make it enjoyable so you stick with it. Loosinf weight shouldn't be the main concern, that will happen by itself. Just focus on eating well. feeling good and getting healthy .

A diet that is based on depriving you of a basic nutrient can't work long term. It's not balanced. We all have different bodies too, so there is no diet that works for everybody.

In my case I would say that I probably eat carbs as my main nutrient. The thing is though that my carb sources are natural, low glycemic, organic and high in minerals. I eat oats for breakfast. My lunch is often a salad with millet and olive oil-lemon dressing. For dinner with my meat or fish I'll occasionally have a couple of potatoes, but mostly I use a home made spelt-quinoa tortilla. All this is supplemented by lots and lots of my favorite leafy green and other vegetables like bell pepper, onion, cucumber, asparagus and lots and lots of herbs like parsley, cilantro and basil. The veggies are usually raw.

Dairy is no problem for me so I usually throw and egg yolk in my dressing and I use a bit of goats cheese and raw sour cream here and there. In my case all these help my metabolism, but that might not be the case for everyone.

I do a smoothie here and there. That gets a little complicated, but it basically all the sort of super food stuff which you'll learn about if you check out people like David Wolfe, Truth Clkins and Robert Cassar. Not necessary to loose weight, but a good choice if your goal is to stay healthy for a long time.
 
Look into an alkaline (vs acidic) diet. The main benefits are health, but there's a certain amount of weight loss involved as a result. It also means cutting out or severely reducing such seemingly benign things as coffee and tea. But those aren't about the caffein, it's about the fact that when the beans/leaves are roasted, they become acidic. So, green tea is fine, for example. Anyway, there are lists & charts online that can guide you as to which foods are more alkaline, and which are more acidic. If you can stay about 80% alkaline, you'll see & feel results within a week. Add exercise to that (read: keep your heartbeat up) and you'll really see weight and size results soon.

I lost 30 lbs in 6 months with a mostly alkaline diet, and time on the treadmill 5-6 days a week. Felt great, slept well, more stamina on tour, looked noticeably thinner and more fit, had almost no asthma symptoms, and even reduced my snoring!

Like I said, if I'd stuck with it, I'd still be there. :(

Bermuda
 
I think many "diets" fail because they are viewed as a short term solution to be abandon once a person reaches a certain goal weight. Which leads to people falling off of them, because the mentality sets in "because this is short term anyway, I'll just end the term a little early..." or similar type of thought.

I think the key is to tell yourself this is a lifestyle change, not a temporary measure. Once you can wrap your head around this is a permanent change, it's easier to stick to.

The other aspect is different diets accomplish what they do in very different ways. Jumping from one concept to another concept (as many people do) ends up giving your body contradictory signals.

And then, everyone is different. What exactly works for one person may not work for some else's metabolism.

The biggest issue is when faced with a elimination type diet (i.e. a plan that is focused on not eating certain items) it can be temping to over indulge on acceptable items.

For years and years I've eaten a low fat diet, with no red meat, lots of veggies and not to much sugar. But over time I still added weight because I over indulged on carbs (bread, potatoes, pasta) because "it's not fat" and the reality is to many carbs are just as bad as too much fat.

I also started riding a bike to work. So I started to say "it's OK to eat this doughnut, because I rode my bike today" but then reality is replacing and exceeding all the calories I burned doesn't lead to any weight loss.

For myself, I am not on any "diet" per se. I just made a choice to be better. Step one was to eliminate as much sugar (both real and artificial) as possible. No more sugar in my coffee. Rum&coke is replaced by small amount of rum with club soda. No more doughnuts or cakes or whatever other garbage is being served around the office.

My biggest thing was figuring out breakfast. For myself, I just was never hungry first thing in the morning. So I'd bike to work. Now I've arrived at work on an empty stomach, and I'd want to eat everything in site. And it didn't matter how many "healthy" breakfast choices I'd keep stashed at my desk, I'd eat them all!

So I turned to green smoothies. It doesn't matter if I'm not hungry, because it's a beverage.
Some kale, almond milk, a tablespoon of wheatgrass powder, and handful of assorted frozen fruit, and I'm good to go. I've experimented with different items to add in to the smoothies. Some work, some don't.

I also experimented with gluten free. It did nothing for my waist, but my asthma and allergies went away, and my wife says I stopped snoring.

Between the smoothies, no refined sugars, and gluten free, I have way more energy to work out in morning, which has lead me to being in way better overall shape. I wish I had started doing this years ago!
 
I stopped eating processed foods/grains almost entirely, and filled up on veggies instead. I lost 10 pounds the first 3 weeks, 6 more the next 3 weeks, and I'm now in week 7. I wasn't looking to lose weight in the least...just eat healthier. I didn't change my exercise habits at all. I'm hoping I stop losing weight and eventually level out, otherwise I will be concerned for my health. I might have to start eating processed carbs again. :O

Anyways, "common sense", yeah, I know, but it works for weight loss.
 
I always heard that diets don't work. It's a matter of changing your eating lifestyle or the weight comes back on.

In the end there's no way to get away from calories in vs calories out. The more sedentary your lifestyle, the less you should eat. The problem is that when you're sedentary it's easy and fun to eat!

I've been gaining weight since retirement. 2b, we both need a lifestyle change. A change of habits. Things we now eat regularly need to become treats. Treats we have now need to become more rare. And as Madge said, we need to get off our fat bums and exercise.
 
My wife got me onto the Aktins diet, and it actually works if you stay with it. At first it's very difficult and completely counter-inuitive to not eat bread, potatoes, pasta or rice, but I got used to it.

Drink lots of water. And you will be hungry, that's the truth.
 
To re-iterate once again:

In the end there's no way to get away from calories in vs calories out. The more sedentary your lifestyle, the less you should eat.


One thing that never seems to get enough mention is sugar. It is everywhere and in almost everything. "Fat free" stuff sometimes has gobs of sugar in it ... that that is what the body loves to convert to fat. Even things like dried mango, cranberries, etc. are often loaded with sugar. It's evil.

Little things can help:
Reduce sugar in your coffee until you don't have any.
Pass on the after dinner mints, the chocolates, etc. etc.
Stop drinking pop (and toxic diet pop).

I was lucky that my metabolism always stayed at about a 15 year old's level. Until I hit 40, then the body wasn't so forgiving.

And one more thing ... sigh ... beer ... limit it ... this was painful for me ...

Drink scotch. :)

radman
 
NEVER!!!!!!

I'll run that extra mile, or do those extra 20 sit-ups. But take my beer? From my cold dead hands!

What will I wash my whiskey or vodka down with?

I'll second that!!
Here's a tip though- do not wash your beer down with apple cider (learned this the hard way last weekend)!
 
You should watch fat sick and nearly dead http://www.youtube.com/user/FatSickandNearlyDead

While I have not been able to go on an all juice fast (horrible headaches) I have incorporated them into a healthier diet with excercise and lost 15 lbs in the past three weeks and so far I feel much better than I did. I don't get tired and have energy to spare
 
Wow, lots of great ideas. Thanks all for the info. I did shop tonight with my wife and I am starting a low carb diet (eating plan) starting tomorrow. I do get my exercise between walking, drumming and soon my 10 speed. My blood work is very good but due to my weight my BP is high. I also need to cut out the salt, my downfall. Salted peanuts and a few beers, nothing like it. I do agree it's a lifestyle change and maybe that's why I have failed in the past. I think that part of it has scared me! I have no idea why, maybe it's admitting that I need to change my ways?

Well the journey starts tomorrow, wish me luck. I know I will never get back into my 1970 silver sparkle pants (use them as a headband now lol) I just want to work on it a little at a time.

Thanks again, this is a great place :)
 
.......... and soon my 10 speed.

Have at it mate......brilliant form of exercise.

Since I gave up smoking I've rekindled an affiliation with road biking that I haven't had in years. Change the diet, ride hard, ride often, lots of climbing and watch the weight fall off.

Best of luck with it!!
 
You should watch fat sick and nearly dead http://www.youtube.com/user/FatSickandNearlyDead

While I have not been able to go on an all juice fast (horrible headaches) I have incorporated them into a healthier diet with excercise and lost 15 lbs in the past three weeks and so far I feel much better than I did. I don't get tired and have energy to spare
I also wanted to add that my blood pressure went from high 150+over 100+ to 130 over 90.
 
I'll second that!!
Here's a tip though- do not wash your beer down with apple cider (learned this the hard way last weekend)!

Beer is for washing things down... You don't need to wash beer down.
 
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