Do you see the irony in what you just asked for?

[Hraesvelg7]

A few years ago I was up around 210 and wanted to get rid of the excess fat. Since I was working in a bookstore, I checked out all the diet books and noticed that they were all written by chubby doctors, so I discounted their opinions immediately. All the bodybuilding books were written by people with little or no body fat, so I figured since they get rid of it for a living, they would be the ones who know best. It was dead on too.
I cut out all soda and drink almost nothing but water. I started a strict weight training schedule and started commuting by bicycle. Within a few months I was down to 160lbs and felt better than ever. Plus, the bike thing saved an astonishing fortune on gas.
Now I'm trying to put on more weight in muscle mass. It's really amazing the kind of control you can have over your body, but you have to work at it.

[Polenicus]

Back to the original topic of the magic skid-mark pills...

Back in the day, they (briefly) had released these chips made with "Olestra" or something. Basically a synthetic fat that your intestines couldn't absorb.

Guess what? Yeah, they had to start printing on the bags 'May cause anal leakage'. That pretty much destroyed the product right there.

So now we've got a pill that does the same thing, but without any of the muss and fuss of having to eat tasty chips? SIGN ME UP!

... Seriously, WTF is wrong with people? I SHUDDER to think what other effects all these diet pills and whatnot have on someone's body (From the list I've seen, Anal Leakage is about the most minor side-effect). Stomach stapling, gastric bypasses... millions of dollars spent on surgery that doesn't stop the behaviour, cripples the digestive system, and ties up doctors and operating rooms that could be used for more important things. (From what I understand, these procedures only help if the patient also makes a significant change to their eating behaviour... which begs the question, what if they skipped the procedure, and just made the signficant change to their eating behaviour alone?)

One has to wonder how we got so screwed up with food. We claim we know more about nutrition now than ever, we've got clinics and experts and rating systems and nutrition information and eating plans and school-based lunch programs and fitness centers and personal trainers... and we're fatter than ever, and ballooning up at an alarming rate.

[mischugenah]

I do apologize for that. I guess I got as bad there as the people that say skinny is the only way to be beautiful. Let me try to wedge my size 15 out of my mouth and give it another go:


I've known several absolutely gorgeous women (platonically, as I was engaged at the time) who developed severe eating disorders because they had curvier figures by nature and kept trying to starve themselves into being that skinny, and it's left me with a big chip on my shoulder about dismorphia (broad name for having an unhealthy obsession with getting a 'perfect' body).

There is, to me, an immediately noticeable difference in the appearance of a woman who is naturally slender, such as yourself, and one who has starved themselves because they don't want to admit they have a naturally larger frame than the current fashion-rag ideal. It's hard to describe, very much just a subtle wrongness about them, but the 'I can see her whole ribcage' thing is a lot easier to comprehend for most people.

Again, I apologize for the gross generalization. How do you want your NY Strip?

Don't worry about it. I guess between the constant comments from strangers and the high-school rumors that I was bulimic, I've got some body-image issues, too.
And I do know what you mean about the difference, I've seen it many times. It really is sad, perfectly lovely women ruining themselves because they're trying to change themselves outside, when what they're not satisfied with is their inside.

And I'll take the steak medium rare, baked potato with butter and sour cream


A note to those wondering how to excercise: the best way is to set up a daily excercise date with a friend who's also looking to get in shape. Then you'll have someone to poke at you and pry you out of the house when you're feeling lazy, and you can return the favor on their off days.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

If that were true, they'd be exercising more and eating less/smaller portions/healthier foods.

Beat me to it.


It blows my mind that people are willing to pay 60 bucks per month for the delightful sensation of being able to projectile shit. A pound a month is not even noteworthy.

That's not a diet pill. That's an Explosive Diarrhea pill. You can get the same effect for a whole lot cheaper by eating a whole lot of prunes and washing them down with a couple pints of unfinished beer.

They are willing to risk crapping themselves in public, but not willing to simply change their habits. It really blows my mind.

" Properly means that you are eating a low fat diet, exercising, drinking plenty of water and taking a multi vitamin. "

All due respect here, but if you are doing that, you don't NEED a diet pill. Furthermore, it's not the fat making you fat. You don't need to take something that will cause you to not absorb fat. There are vitamins and minerals that are fat soluable and you cannot absorb if your diet is too low in fat. This whole pill thing is a sham that is perpetrated by the people who have a vested interest in selling you on the myth that fat is to blame for obesity and other health problems. Fat is not to blame. SUGAR is to blame. So if you are cutting out fat and replacing it with sugar and starch (what "diet" foods are laced with to make them taste good), you are doomed to fail.

How many people do traditional diets? How many actually lose weight and then keep it off? Not many. There is a reason for that. Don't take my word for it. Think about it. Do some research. You'll find your way.

The bill of goods you 've been sold about how to "eat right" is a bunch of horseshit. Read up. Take ownership of your health. Don't follow the crowd and believe the hype.

No, I'm not overweight... anymore. Yes, I know how it is to try to lose weight and fail. Took the weight off, kept it off, going on 6 years. Cholestrol: perfect. Blood Pressure: perfect. Blood sugar: good...much improved.

I'm just saying.

[Mark Healey]

This bullshit puritanical attitude about food and exercize.

IF someone is SERIOUS about losing weight then all they have to do is eat SENSIBLY & start & maintain an excercise plan that works for them.
Wishing for something that you can either eat or drink & just sit back expecting you to lose weight is absurd.

Let's put this attidude in another context.

If someone is SERIOUS about avoiding an unplanned pregnancy then all they have todo is AVOID SEX, and maintain abstinence. Wishing for womething you can either eat or drink and just having sex and expecting to avoid pregnancy is absurd.

To anyone who isn't saddled with a double digit IQ exercize is painfully boring. Most of us have figured out how to lift and replace things a long time ago. The same with running.

If you only want to avoid hunger then leaves and roots are fine. Some of us actualy want to enjoy the flavor of our food.

Using science and technology to make life more enjoyable is a good thing.

[Andara Bledin]

It's amazing how many foods and how much of them you can eat when you eat the right types of things, and in the right portions. You don't have to eat "leaves and roots" to lose weight.

Your largest meal should be breakfast, dinner should be the smallest, you shouldn't eat within the last several hours before going to bed, and you should eat about 5-7 meals per day. Avoid processed foods as much as possible, and especially avoid white sugar like the plague. Don't reduce your intake to below what it will normally be. Restricting your caloric intake too much can cause your body to burn fewer calories as your body goes into "conservation mode."

As for exercising. I'm a "triple-digit" IQ, and while exercising alone can be mind-numbingly boring, anyone "who isn't saddled with a double-digit IQ" should be able to come up with a couple dozen different ways to put together an exercise routine that is at least moderately engaging. From setting up an exercise schedule with a buddy (which can be incredibly productive for both parties) to putting together something interesting, such as taking a martial arts class, to putting together a routine that allows other activities at the same time, such as a stationary cycle or rowing machine that will allow for television watching. Exercise doesn't have to be boring and it shouldn't be that mentally taxing to come up with something decent.

One form of exercise that often gets overlooked is yoga. Yoga is a very low-impact form of exercise that is particularly good for flexibility and muscle toning, but can also be effective for weight loss over the long term.

^-.-^

[AFpheonix]

I guess Im saying, know someone before you judge them.... perhaps that woman in the car was like my mum, desperate to do anything to get her excess fat off. My mum knows better now but thats only after a year of doctors cramming it in her head.... some people are too ashamed to ask for help.

She's a regular customer, she gets around just fine. There was no handicapped sticker in her car window. She was just being lazy.
We're just about sold out of this stuff, and it's scary how many of the people buying it know absolutely nothing about it. They just heard some of the marketing and thought to themselves "woohoo! I can still be lazy and lose weight!" Had several of those come through last night, and they were genuinely suprised when the pharmacist was trying to get them to READ any of the literature we had before dropping money on this stuff. He was not successful in dissuading them.

To anyone who isn't saddled with a double digit IQ exercize is painfully boring. Most of us have figured out how to lift and replace things a long time ago. The same with running.

If you only want to avoid hunger then leaves and roots are fine. Some of us actualy want to enjoy the flavor of our food.

Using science and technology to make life more enjoyable is a good thing.

You can still eat yummy stuff, but just be smarter and more motivated about it. Also, being smarter about WHEN and HOW MUCH you eat helps. Unfortunately, we still have much to learn about apetite and food drives.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...627006,00.html

Time had an interesting article on this just a few weeks ago.

Also, exercise can be as boring or as interesting as you want it to be. Me? I tie it into actually getting work done at the farm, but then, horses are a very physically intensive hobby so I luck out that way.

[cinnamaniac]

Eating sensibly does not mean you have to eat leaves and roots. When I lost 90 pounds, I still ate Pizza Hut and other fast foods. I still ate sweets. I just didn't stuff my face with them everyday like I used to.

The comparison between eating sensibly and practicing abstinence doesn't even make sense. They are not the same thing. If anything, eating sensibly would be more comparable to using a condom, not abstinence.

I exercise all the time and I do not have a double digit IQ. The key to it, as someone else stated, is to find what works for you. I change my routine all the time. One day I do yoga, the next day pilates, the next day belly dancing. the next I do cardio, maybe the next day I'll go for a walk, then I'll focus on my abs or another area of my body for that day. Exercise doesn't have to be the same exact thing everyday.


"Using science and technology to make life more enjoyable is a good thing."

Yes, and it would be better to use that science and technology to figure out how to take enjoyable foods, including fast food, and finding a way to make them less harmful to the body with the same taste. If we can clone a sheep, something like that is definitely possible. Using that technology to create diet pills, ones that don't even WORK might I add, is pointless. They have yet to develop a diet pill that actually takes off weight and keeps it off once you reach your target weight, subjects tend to put it back on.

The same thing goes for surgery. Every time someone packs on too much weight, getting fat sucked out shouldn't be a repeat option. Both diet pills and surgery have been known to have a serious amount of health risks accompanying them. I've never heard of health risks associated with eating certain foods in moderation and following an exercise plan.

[Seshat]

Yes, and it would be better to use that science and technology to figure out how to take enjoyable foods, including fast food, and finding a way to make them less harmful to the body with the same taste.

I can make a burger that has a better taste than fast food burgers.

Ingredients:
1 packet of burger buns
Fat-trimmed mince (highest quality you choose to afford)
Mixed greens (NOT iceberg lettuce)
Tomatoes
Cheese
Other ingredients as preferred.

Shape the mince into patties a bit larger than the burger buns. Grill by preference, shallow-fry with a little olive oil if grilling isn't feasible.
When the patties are almost cooked, lay a slice of cheese on top so it melts nicely onto the patty.
Load the buns with greens, sliced tomatoes, and other ingredients.
Put the patties on top.

Enjoy.

I like to use a fried egg, maybe some bacon, tinned beetroot and pineapple slices, and maybe mushrooms.

By the time you've finished one of those, you don't want fries.



Eating well is in no way a 'roots and leaves' proposition. There are so many ways to make tasty food with fresh ingredients. It does take more effort than a trip to McDonalds, though.

[cinnamaniac]

That looks like it would be good, but I don't eat meat, so yeah.

I agree with the statement that there are many ways to make tastier and healthier foods. That's what I'm used to eating everyday. On the occasion that I do crave something from Pizza Hut, McDonalds, or any other fast food joint, I don't deprive myself though. That's something that the other poster thinks has to be done. That's the problem with a lot of people who hear the word "diet". They automatically associate the word with being starving all the time and eating nothing but salads, but that isn't what dieting is at all.

The poster said that using science and technology to make life more enjoyable is a good thing, but they can utilize that in other ways. Some people don't have time to cook all the time, which is why it's so easy for them to run to a fast food joint everyday. I heard it's best to eat 5 to 7 small meals a day, but when I dieted I didn't do that at all, simply because I have too busy of a lifestyle to do so. I had to rely on purchasing things that I could eat on the go most of the time. I think that if they really wanted to though, fast food could be made much healthier. It's just that it costs too much to produce it, or at least it seems. Heck, I'm a huge fan of soy "chicken" nuggets and I have had friends and family try them and even the most brute meat eaters of my family actually ENJOY eating them because they taste EXACTLY like chicken. If they can do that, they can make foods that people love be healthier for us. Just like those delicious 100 calorie snack packs and cupcakes and brownies that are out now.

[Maximillion]

All of this is confusing the hell out of me but yeah...

I do agree that there are ways of excercising that can be fun without making one not want to keep it up. For two days I would use my Gazelle while watching a Tyra Banks Show re-run, but I stopped because I was tired of trying to do that without waking up my brother (the Gazelle squeeks).

As far as eating habits are concerned, there are a lot of decent foods out there you can eat if you only seek them out. Triscuits and cheddar cheese are pretty good together with some grapes. That's all I can think of (I'm tired right now). There's other stuff too. Instead of eating a burger today, I went to a supermarket and bought some sushi and a piece of carrot cake. I could have done without the cake but it was a nice change of pace. And getting iced tea from starbucks didn't help much but hey. I drank a lot of water along with that.

It's difficult to keep an excercise schedule when you're working and have a low energy level like I do but at the same time, it could be possible to make up some random routine to do after work that won't completely burn me out. A poster had suggested earlier to do sets or something and do a small amount each time while gradually increasing the amount of stuff you do. I think that's a good idea because then you can actually start to build endurance.

[Hraesvelg7]

There really isn't any deprivation necessary as far as diet is concerned. It can't hurt to limit excessive sugars and oils, but if you think cutting back on pixie sticks, pizza and pepsi is deprivation, then there might be some more personal values to reconsider.
One of the best things about a really good workout is eating afterward. The more muscle you put on, the more you have to eat to maintain it. The thought of the steak dinner waiting for me is a sweet incentive for me to bust my hump to earn it.
I'm a big proponent of bicycling, not so much as a sport, but for transportation. Instead of sitting in traffic, why not get some exercise and get to work/home at the same time? You get your workout done, get to where your going without the road rage, feel great with the endorphine rush when you get there, and burn off some steam from all the aggrevations of the work day. Even the cost can't be argued because riding instead of driving saves gas, the bike pays for itself.

[GingerBiscuit]

I find exercise great fun and have an IQ that's almost genius level, so there we go.
It's about what you choose to do. As well as the weights workouts and aerobic stuff that I do at home, I also do salsa dancing (amzing fun, great for the arse) Yoga (relaxing, great for flexibility, pain problems and muscle toning) and am considering starting pilates too.

In fact, most people I know find exercise quite fun, as it sparks an adrenaline rush.
And eating healthily doesn't have to mean just eating roots and leaves- it's eating in moderation. And hell, I can make a meal with 'just roots and leaves' that makes most hardcore, carnivore, junk food addicts beg for more, so it's all about how you cook things. Diets and Diet pills DON'T WORK, it is that simple. The only thing that works is a life-long healthy approach to eating and lifestyle. Some people can't do that, for whatever reason, and the bigger you are the harder it is to get started. but that's all there is to it. Oh, and the argument made about abstinence? Flawed, really, mainly because they aren't the same thing. As someone said above, healthy eating and lifestyle is more like using contraception.

With my focus on eating healthily and exercising, my life is also very enjoyable. Why? Because I have TONS of energy, feel happy and positive (research ahs shown a good diet can improve symptoms of depression and anxiety, and it certainly has for me) and what you eat and do effects every part of you. And as the fuel I give myself is top-notch, it means I feel better.

As we're handing out recipes, last nights dinner.
Healthy Curry:
Mix 200mls of water and 200mls of low fat coconut milk, and use to cook some red lentils. Add a vegetable stock cube.
Dry fry an onion, some chopped fresh ginger root and two cloves of garlic with mixed spices (i use panch poran whole spices from a local indian shop, but any whole indian spices will do) until they are all becoming fragrant. Add to the lentil mix. Add either a chopped, fresh chilli or a teaspoon of dried chilli powder/paste. Cook until thick and creamy, and 5 minutes before serving add vegetables of your choice. Serve with brown rice or quinoa.

[JustADude]

...such as taking a martial arts class...

Not necessarily, AB. I'm belted in Shotoshinkai Karate and some bastardized form of TKD (went there because it was the only Dojo in the area), and it never really helped my weight much. It helped me greatly improve my reaction times, agility, flexibility, and coordination, but I didn't drop much poundage at all. Of course, I blame that mostly on the fact that I wasn't actually able to fully exert myself during sparring, which was a good half of my lessons at the Shotoshinkai Dojo, which is where I was for the longest. Because of my size and the muscle I already had I didn't just have to go easy on my strikes, I had to practically pantomime my sparring matches. Please don't take this as bragging, because it's not, but it's hard to burn calories when I can send someone sprawling 10 feet away with what feels, to me, like a casual 'tag' to the chest.

I guess the lesson here is that MA is a great way for most people to lose weight, but only if you've got people you can work with without holding back too much.

[Seshat]

That looks like it would be good, but I don't eat meat, so yeah.

Swap out the meat patty with a patty of your favourite legumes. Or instead of a bun, put the veggie mix in a tortilla and add a heaped spoonful of legumey/pulsey protein-goodness.

I guess the lesson here is that MA is a great way for most people to lose weight, but only if you've got people you can work with without holding back too much.

Yeah, you have to actually USE the muscle for it to really burn the calories. Annoying.


I'll just slip off and make a healthy-recipies thread in off-topic.