Quote:
Originally posted by ServinginEcuador
Aviod anything extreme!! Anything that is too extreme will never last. The best way to lose and maintain lost weight is small changes and adding some form of exercise. I have seen too many friends start something drastic and radical to lose weight, and then put it all back on and then some after switching back to a normal diet. That is EXTREMELY unhealthy and hard on your body. Add stuff like vegetables and fruits to your diet to add fiber and good, healthy nutrients.
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On extremes: If you want to just drop some weight really fast, enroll in a backpacking summercamp. I went from 190 to 150 in three weeks. That's
2 pounds a day.
Malnutrition(almost everything they had was served in half of a normal portion, and most was 'just-add water,' meaning no fats)
lack of water(they refused to let us drink for a day because the ******* counsellors hadn't brough enough iodine)
lugging 40-50 pounds of **** up and down mountains for 10-12 hours(longest day was 18h, shortest 6h) a day
then shivering in a puddle for the few hours before you are woken up early to fix breakfast as punishment for being the 'slow one'
really really takes it out of you.
I had a week afterward where I could barely walk, and had 3-4 inch gaping wounds on my shoulders, sides, and inner thighs(aggh, chafing). Buuuuut.... I lost the weight.
Of course, I didn't keep it off, I was 210 in another 6 months, and I'm 250 now, three or four yearslater.
It DID improve my stamina and patience a ton - dealing with the psycho-hippies that ran the place nearly drove me to suicide, but I made it through.
The thing that really pissed me off was that I found out later that they payed each of the two counsellors about $2 a day for each of us(group of 8), and gave them $5 per camper per week for food, and set us loose. My grandmother had payed approximately $100/day for the camp.
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I have recently got back on track, and I've lost 10 pounds in the last month or two.
Advice:
Give up soda. Drink water. Only.
Eat tons of vegetables. Carrots have around 45 calories a serving - If you're really hungry, have 5 or 6 servings, that's as much as you would have had in your average candy bar, and you're likely to genuinely have a full stomach. Ditto with most other vegetables(not including potatoes).
If you're the type who's left to make what's in the fridge, go out when your parents go grocery shopping and get some healthy stuff. I've found that the Healthy Choice/Lean Cuisine and all that crap present a decent selection of foods(hell of a lot more than the fscking diet smoothies), even if you're a pig and eat two of the damn things per meal, as long as you don't eat any snacks, you still stay around 2000 calories a day. Moderate with veggies if possible.
Don't pay heed to any of the diets that say that some foods are better for you than others. While some of the facts they say are true, many aren't, and the vast majority won't help you. Pay attention to calories, and calories only. It is by far the best indicator of the amount of energy you're putting into your body. This provides a flexibility that diets don't have - If you're feeling like chocolate, have a little chocolate, just make sure that when you add the calories onto your daily total, it doesn't exceed the number you've set for yourself.
If you're eating out, try to get to a Subway, they're now the biggest restaurant chain in the US, and most of their stuff is relatively healthy. A 12" turkey sub with cheese is guarenteed to serve as a large meal, and it's half or less calories as what would consitute a large meal at a McDonalds. If you're at a fast food joint where calories aren't prominently displayed, take into account Doctor Nick's Number One Rule of Weight Gain(paraphrased) - If you rub it against a napkin and the napkin turns transparent, then it's guarenteed good for weight gain.
Walk. It doesn't need to be at a certain pace, or a certain distance, as long as you make a habbit of it for at least an hour a day. I alternate between a 4-5 mile loop of bike paths(I take my dogs if they're awake) in about an hour and a half and doing an hour at 2mph on a treadmill - at 15 grade(burns about 5x the calories as flat, according to the counter).
Develope a taste for spicy foods right at the edge of your tolerence level. You tend to not be able to eat more than your share. A lone jalapeno(Started eating them a year ago when I discovered they sell them fresh at Popeyes for some reason for a quarter) and water will usually stop me from being hungry.
