[Spareribs]

So I'm trying to lose some weight for the summer so I can look hot in a T shirt or at least more presentable in public with a reduced gut and smaller man boobs.  I've been eating more healthy foods which I like and tastes good and reducing my calorie consumption. But it's still not easy! We live in a world of food porn. And I see images of delicious food everywhere.
 
I recently moved to an area of a lot of good restaurants, food joints and great taco places. When I turn on the TV, I see advertisements for delicious burgers. I saw a bill board on the highway mentioning fried chicken. The junk mail in the mail box had coupons for pizza. And living near a BBQ joint can drive me crazy since I'm a BBQ addict.  Back in the old days, there was much less food promotions, less food visual advertisements  and people were skinnier.
 
So much temptation out there. Out on the road, on TV, in the airports, train stations, shopping malls- it's everywhere! It ain't easy trying to control myself. Temptation. 

 

[Eee Pee]

With a screen name like Spareribs... and I always see a spare rib before I realize it's Chewbacca.
 
Food porn.  Mmmmm.

 

[MalleAvel]

One thing that helped me out was staying hydrated. Try to get at least 8 cups of water a day, and start all your meals with a tall glass of water.

 

[crazychile]

  So I'm trying to lose some weight for the summer so I can look hot in a T shirt or at least more presentable in public with a reduced gut and smaller man boobs.  I've been eating more healthy foods which I like and tastes good and reducing my calorie consumption. But it's still not easy! We live in a world of food porn. And I see images of delicious food everywhere.
 
I recently moved to an area of a lot of good restaurants, food joints and great taco places. When I turn on the TV, I see advertisements for delicious burgers. I saw a bill board on the highway mentioning fried chicken. The junk mail in the mail box had coupons for pizza. And living near a BBQ joint can drive me crazy since I'm a BBQ addict.  Back in the old days, there was much less food promotions, less food visual advertisements  and people were skinnier.
 
So much temptation out there. Out on the road, on TV, in the airports, train stations, shopping malls- it's everywhere! It ain't easy trying to control myself. Temptation. 

 The easier stuff to do (at least for me)
1. Quit drinking any kind of soda (including diet)
2. Don't eat anything after dinner.
3. Learn to cook and cut down eating processed foods
4. Turn off the television, or at least anything with commercials.
 
Not so easy:
5. Cut sugar from your diet
6. Cut out grains, or at least white flour (this ends up as sugar)
7. No Beer. Make other alcohol minimal. (Sugar)
8. No white rice or potatoes (sugar)
 
BBQ is OK as long as you keep away from sweet sauces, fries and slaw usually has a lot of sugar.  The meat itself isn't really an issue.

 

[kramer5150]

I am 6' and am able to maintain a steady ~190-195.
 
>15-20 minutes of exercise 3 times a week.  A brisk jog-walk will do, something to get the heart rate up and lungs pumping.
>Cut bleached white carbs.  Brown rice and Oatmeal for me in moderate quantities.
>If I have to gorge on something, it NEEDS to be a lean vegetable.  If I get hungry at night it NEEDS to be a lean vegetable.
>No Alcohol
>Drink lots of water.  Ice water with Lemon is my fave.  I will sneek a diet soda like once-twice a week.
 
Get used to eating bad tasting food, and an empty tummy much of the time.  Avoid cream and cream sauces.  Avoid canned / processed foods.  Face the reality, if it tastes mind-blowingly good... its downright bad for you.  Lobster or Crab would be an exception.
 
I love poultry and fish, avoid deep frying either though.  Red meat is my weakness... Ugh I will cave and crash hard core when it comes to beef.

 

[Spareribs]

Excellent advice. Although I have no problem with the taste of health food because I can make tasty delicious low fat tofu and a bunch of other stuff since I'm a pretty decent cook with access with great quality fresh ingredients at local markets.
 
My weakness is portion control and the love of other junk and fatty meats. 
 
I was in Japan last year and noticed that many people are skinny and the food is still great. The same thing I noticed on my trip to France. Lots of skinny people in a society of great food. But portions tend to be smaller.
 
One thing I noticed in France is that eating fried food was rare compared to in America. The Japanese eat fried foods but in small portions. In America, fried foods come in huge portions in comparison.
 
Also, my weakness is Mexican food. For me Mexican food can be very fattening and in places like Japan and France, Mexican food is very rare and almost non existent.
 
I think the bottom line is portion control. 

 

[JuanseAmador]

Oh God, guys. If you could see our food in Ecuador... I mean it's absolutely delicious. But schiit, everything is fried. Luckily my father is like really healthy and the food in my home is organic and you know, healthy.

There hasn't been a bag of sugar in my house for more than 8 years... We use "panela" which is unrefined cane sugar, and yet we still use very low quantities. Organic non-processed honey is also a favourite.

If you ever come down here you will probably love it since we have some very unique cuisine. Try anything made with "verde" (banana-like vegetable/fruit) it could be "patacon", "bolon'', ''tigrillo'', anything.

 

[Spareribs]

I've had Ecuadorian food and it's very good. The food of South America is really good. Traditionally, the people don't junk so your father is eating better. However, the young Ecuadorian kids in USA are getting fat and eating junk food along with fried foods. I love it though. Delicious!

But yeah, I also like healthy foods too because the good stuff is natural and in season. So I'm going to quit my junk habit. In a modern society like America, it's not as easy since it's everywhere. The food corporations here are relentless in their advertisements and promotions which is one reason why so many people are fat. This is a society of temptation.

Temptation is everywhere here! But awareness and education is key.

 

[money4me247]

I recently dropped a little bit over 10 lbs over the past 6 weeks with just dieting, no exercise. It's quite tedious, but if you are willing to count calories, it actually works really well. I was probably consuming 2k+ calories previously, and cut it down to about an average of ~1-1.2k calories a day. the trick for me was to cut out all soda and reduce portion size at every meal (x2 pieces of whole wheat bread + egg + apple for breakfast, intensely reduce carbs for lunch/din & add a fruit). If I went to eat out one day, I would over-estimate my calorie intake and cut down on another meal. my body adjust to the lower calorie intake after about 2 weeks and it feels pretty normal now for me. looking to drop maybe 5 more lbs, but just eating healthier makes your day feel much betta.
 
edit: not sure if you know how to cook or if someone cooks for you, but if everyone in the household is on-board with the diet plan and goals, it makes things a lot easier! It is easy to get rid of a lot of extra calories if doing home-cooked meals. if eating out, saving half for another time is a good way to really cut down on your calorie intake. usually a meal out would equal at least 600-800+ calories, which is basically my entire day's calorie allocation.
 
good luck & have fun! as long as you don't make it a chore, it's kinda enjoyable

 

[JuanseAmador]

I've had Ecuadorian food and it's very good. The food of South America is really good. Traditionally, the people don't junk so your father is eating better. However, the young Ecuadorian kids in USA are getting fat and eating junk food along with fried foods. I love it though. Delicious!

But yeah, I also like healthy foods too because the good stuff is natural and in season. So I'm going to quit my junk habit. In a modern society like America, it's not as easy since it's everywhere. The food corporations here are relentless in their advertisements and promotions which is one reason why so many people are fat. This is a society of temptation.

Temptation is everywhere here! But awareness and education is key.

Well, yeah. American food is just poison. I mean all the candy or junk food people regularly eat is just devastating. Packed food is too processed and artificial.

 

[JuanseAmador]

Besides, American food is just European food with more bread or flour.


-Pizza is supposed to be thin and light, American pizza is greasy and thick.
-Hot dogs are sausages (german) with bread. Corn dogs are similar but they use corn instead of flour.
-Hamburgers are fritadeller, Danish meatballs, with bread.
-Pancakes are crepes with twice as much flour.
-Waffles are not American, Belgian.


Just a few examples...

 

[kjk1281]

Besides, American food is just European food with more bread or flour.

You do realize that the United States is a nation of immigrants, many of came from Europe, right? Of course much of our cuisine has its roots in Old World recipes.

-Pizza is supposed to be thin and light, American pizza is greasy and thick.

Pizza Hut neither serves pizza, nor is it a hut.

New York style pizza is not thick. There's a reason why people fold the slices in half while they eat.

Chicago style is thick, but there's not as much crust as you may think. Also, the good stuff isn't really greasy, either.

And if you really want "real" Napoli style pizza, you can get that here, too.

Contrary to what you might believe, not all of our food comes out of boxes or drive thru windows.

 

[crazychile]

I have a theory, based on my experience traveling to Europe and Asia. Whenever I travel I eat plenty of the local delicacies, many of which may be considered junk food or fast food from street vendors. Funny thing is, whenever I travel for a week or two, I usually return to the states about 10 lbs lighter. In Europe and Asia most places have banned gmo ingredients and many of the food additives. The food tastes a whole lot better too. Call me a tinfoil hatter if you wish, but the crap they put in our food in the states is what's giving us cancer, diabetes, and making us fat. Sure, food quantities are also an issue, but the stuff I mentioned is a big part of our problem.

 

[Spareribs]

Yeah I agree. There has been a lot of studies and theories about what you said. The bottom line is that food consumed in its natural state tends to be less fattening and least cancerous. Many people believe this including myself.

The challenge is that after a while, we tend to forget and in our busy life, we may slip in a Big Mac like its nothing and living in a society of junk food doesn't help. It's kind of like being a recovering drug addict but living in a drug neighborhood trying to resist some temptation.

However, junk food is growing in Asia and Europe as some people call it the "Americanization" that is spreading. KFC is popular in Japan for example. And as a lover of Paris, it looks so wrong to see a McDonalds there as it looks out of place but I'm sure some Parisians are loving the Big Mac attack.

 

[moriez]

In Europe and Asia most places have banned gmo ingredients and many of the food additives. 

 
As an European I'm not too sure about that. Especially about additives. No doubt in my mind that most products in regular supermarkets are artificially enhanced one way or another. Maybe on a different level compared to the US. Personnally I try to maintain a balance between buying ''not too bad'' or ''ok'' products and organic products, if not too expensive.
 
 

Call me a tinfoil hatter if you wish, but the crap they put in our food in the states is what's giving us cancer, diabetes, and making us fat. Sure, food quantities are also an issue, but the stuff I mentioned is a big part of our problem.

 
Yeah, and to help giving some perspective from this side of the world, whenever there's a program on television that concerns food The States are depicted as the opposite of Valhalla. It's said to have the highest rate of obese people. The UK is not too far behind if I remember correctly. The way media brings it is that you're being bombarded from every possible angle through commercials, street corners and if it isn't that it's your mind that will tell you to get that quick bite anyway. From my own experience, you will feel twice as good by just resisting the bad foods and basically resisting such lifestyle and replace it by something much better that works for you. Don't get me started on temptation but for example, whenever I get that sudden crave that m-u-s-t be dealt with, one good hand of nuts or some nice fruit instead of bread, crisps or bars of chocolate. It works!
 
 

The challenge is that after a while, we tend to forget and in our busy life, we may slip in a Big Mac like its nothing and living in a society of junk food doesn't help.

 
Those are the moments you need to be cautious about but in a situation like that I ask myself, do I really want this? Most of the times it's no even. I personnally feel there's nothing wrong with some fastfood once in a while. It's about keeping it in good balance.
 
 

And as a lover of Paris, it looks so wrong to see a McDonalds there as it looks out of place but I'm sure some Parisians are loving the Big Mac attack.

 
Le Big Mac ^^