Thread: everything hurts

Originally Posted by Stealthyking

Just out of curiosity, What kind of foods did u change up in ur diet to bring ur weight back down that low? I hover around 184, but in highschool (being only like 3years ago) i was 170 and looked Great, Not that i hate being 180 but i kno i could stand to lose a few more pounds and ive tried everything from cutting soda/beer/engery drinks out of my diet replacing with water and iced tea, but i cant seem to find the right combination to help me burn the last few pounds i want away any ideas?

Getting off your ass might help.

Originally Posted by Stealthyking

Just out of curiosity, What kind of foods did u change up in ur diet to bring ur weight back down that low? I hover around 184, but in highschool (being only like 3years ago) i was 170 and looked Great, Not that i hate being 180 but i kno i could stand to lose a few more pounds and ive tried everything from cutting soda/beer/engery drinks out of my diet replacing with water and iced tea, but i cant seem to find the right combination to help me burn the last few pounds i want away any ideas?

For me the trick was cutting out most carbs for 2 weeks, and simple carbs for the next 4.

I don't know the details of the whole low-carb thing. I've read the basics. I don't know if it's all that. But it did something for me - turned on some motor in my metabolism that hadn't been running.

Anyway, just paid real close attention to my diet and sleep in addition to the regular exercise. Lots of protein - meats and other. Lots of vegetables. No junk food, no microwave meals, no short-cuts (no energy shakes or powder mixes or protein bars), just real food. The first week sucked, but then I started to lean out visually, and my energy levels were higher. After about 3 weeks I began eating more fruit and added back the starches in small amounts; but brown basmati rice instead of white, whole wheat and mixed grain bread instead of white, etc. After a month or 6 weeks I stopped worrying about any of it. My eating habits kept me mostly in-line for healthy food. I drank beer or wine when I felt like it.

That was a while ago, and I maintained it for a while. A job and lifestyle change disrupted my groove and put 15 pounds back on over 2 years - couldn't get to the gym regularly, was often traveling and couldn't cook my own meals. I'm in the process of trying to get back on track again.

Not saying any of that will work for you. Just my personal experience.

Good luck,


AetheLove

Originally Posted by Stealthyking

All good info, what did u consider to be MOST carbs and Simple carbs? Gonna pick ur brain a bit cause i have a feeling this may be my problem. Cause ive done basically EVERYTHING else youve mentioned and i lost like 15lbs, but want to lose a little bit more to lean out my belly a bit more, My upper and lower body im fine with, just my stomach is whats bugging the hell outta me haha.

What I considered to be "most carbs" was me taking what I already knew about food and deleting that which I thought had any more than a few carbohydrates. I was unscientific about it. If you're serious about it, you can find a zillion lists on the web which will break it down for you.

Typical breakfast for me was yogurt with nuts. After the 3-week mark I might add dried fruit or whole grains (swanky granola). I had coffee w/cream or tea w/milk. No sugar.

Alternative breakfast for me was a two-egg cheese omelet. Vegetables or mushrooms optional.

Lunch might be tuna w/mayo, diced onion and pickle, served in baby romaine lettuce leaves. I ate out a lot for lunch, and a Caesar salad with either chicken breast or salmon was very common.

Typical dinner for me was one of two things.

(1) meat and veg on the grill. I have a nice grill, and it was easy for me to come home and fire it up and cook dinner. Any meat, prepared or plain, tossed on the grill until done. Accompany with vegetables on the grill. Asparagus was my fave. Pole beans were good. There is no limit; fennel bulbs, broccoli, peppers - work it out. Learn what you like. Most vegetables can be tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then be grilled to awesomeness.

(2) stir fry of meat and veg. I have a wok. Cut up some meat, marinade with soy sauce and other stuff, cut up veg, brutalize it all for 5-8 minutes in a blistering hot wok. Some nights I'd do tofu instead of meat. DO NOT use a bottle of store-bought "stir fry" sauce. It's a bottle of candy. Marinade your meat in good soy sauce (or tamari), garlic, ginger, hot sauce, sesame oil... stuff like that. You need flavour, but not xanthan gum and high-fructose corn syrup.

I'd sometimes do other things that my "oh, you're doing the low-carb?" friends would suggest. Cauliflower done like mashed potatoes for example. I would sear kale in a cast iron pan with sesame seeds. I used olive oil, and butter (I hate margarine) for fats. I'd make ranch dip (I posted a recipe in these forums a while ago) and have raw veggies dipped in ranch.

But the point wasn't to be all gourmet about it (thought that happened too), the point was to get through 3 weeks with my sanity intact.

For me, the hard thing about going ultra-low carb was figuring out how to get enough calories. I think there's a real chance that the success of the low carb thing isn't about body chemistry, it's about people effectively starving themselves because if they deny themselves any food in their normal diet that has carbs, they struggle to put together 1500 calories in a day. Seriously. It's hard to get 2000 calories a day without carbs.

When you're used to bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, etc., and then you get rid of them, you miss feeling full. At least I did. I had to make a big stir fry for dinner not just for the calories but because I needed to feel full.

So that was how it went. For the hard-core time I concentrated on the gym every morning, job every day, and eating for purpose. I did it as an experiment. I lived near a really good market, and I was already a hobby chef, so I also learned to cook some good things. But the important part for me was getting through three weeks. I was lucky to have variety but if I had to do it with omelets, caesar salads, pork chops and broccoli for 3 weeks I'd still make it.

At that point, for me, the effect had kicked in. I relaxed some. I'd have a little honey in my yogurt. I'd have some brown rice with my stir-fry. When the crew would come over to watch football, I'd have some Cheetos with my beer.

But in the three weeks I'd figured out how to make the other stuff taste good. I'd still cook and eat that most nights.

Cheers,


AetheLove