diet plans?

[Ebi]

hey guys,

so i've been gaining a few pounds lately, and i was wondering if any of you guys have any good dietary plans that i can follow, i currently don't have time to go to the gym as my final exams are coming up.

so if anyone has anything that could help i would appreciate it :biggrin:

[Bowyn Aerrow]

I eat 6-8 servings of fruit and/or veg a day.

Yeah that is a lot of food isn't it? However a servings is a piece of fruit, say a banana sliced up in a small bowl of cereal, an apple between lunch and dinner, an orange between breakfast and lunch.

I also steer clear of added fats and added sugars - well mostly clear. I never add oil to cooking pasta, I use a nonstick skillet and a few drops of Extra Virgin Olive Oil that I smear into the pan, get the skillet hot before 'frying' potatoes. Instead of using a 1/4 cup of oil to fry up those taters.

I bake - but I substitute in baking. For instance my zucchini bread, the original recipe calls for 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup oil. I use no-sugar added apple sauce instead of oil and 1/3 cup brown sugar instead of 1 cup granulated white sugar. I end up with a moist and sweet tasting zucchini bread that is actually lower in calories since it doesn't have the oil and has less sugar.

In summer we BBQ meats - BBQ chicken, BBQ beef (I do not eat pork due to theological reasons). A lot of the excess fat drips off into the coals.

In winter I slow bake meats at 300F in the oven on a rack covered with aluminum foil - thus 'steaming' the meat until it falls off the bone. The majority of the fats drip down into the pan.

I prefer to mix whole grain with white bleached/fortified whatever grain. Thus bread I bake is half and half whole wheat and bleached white flour. The white flour keeps it from becoming super dense, the whole wheat makes it a wee bit more dense, giving me more nutrients thus I can eat less of it and feel 'full' and have more nutrients.

In winter I eat more dense/heavy foods. In summer I eat lighter, more veg and fruit. I have been known to swing nearly 20 pounds in weight between winter and summer, gaining weight in the winter, losing it in the summer. More typical its 10 pounds over the course of the year.

As for exercise: Well for one thing I have 2 acres of 'yard' that has been divided up into 5 gardens - I try to spend at least 30 minutes a day doing something outside - be it pulling weeds or getting the arm powered hedge clippers out and shape some shrubbery.

I also prefer to park out away from the store/office where-ever I am going and walk a few more parking spaces. Well actually limp, or cane it since my knee isn't as happy as it once was. It may not seem like much, but it is more exercise.

I dance with the broom/swiffer/vacuum. When I clean house I turn on some music - rave music mostly, and relive my raver days while cleaning house. That bit of extra body movement, bouncing while dusting, side steeping while doing dishes not only gives me more exercise but also makes that dully, boring chore of cleaning house a bit more fun.

Going to a gym is really not needed. Humans went for thousands of years without having a Gold's Gym to go to - we got our exercise by walking from place to place, by actually using our muscles to power tools - such as trimming hedges with a pair of by-pass hedge trimmers instead of using the powered ones. Sweeping and raking instead of using a blower.... Walking up stairs instead of using the elevator/escalator/lift...

You need to look at your daily routine and figure out how to add more exercise by by-passing using powered things such as the car/bus/elevator. If you take the bus to school get off a block earlier and walk that block. If you drive, park as far from the doors of the classroom as possible and walk it. If you have an appointment on the third floor, take the stairs to the second floor then take the lift to the third floor.

[Ebi]

Thanks Bowyn aerrow that was really helpful, I guess I should start having more fruits then and I really like the part about paking the car away, I already take the stairs most of the time though.

Thanks again

[mrk2010]

Eat less rubbish, drink more water and exercise, I'm sorry but that's what I've found to work, no need for crazy diets.

[spencer]

Watch your portion sizes and makes sure your plate is colorful. Color means more variety of nutrients, and of course always watch portion sizes. Also eat several smaller meals rather than three large meals. I think Bowyn Aerrow pretty much summed it all up pretty well.

[Taharka]

One thing i'd advise is whatever changes you make to your diet, make sure it's something you can keep up long term. There's no point in sticking to it for a few months until the weight comes off and then going back to your old habits. So by all means try to eat more healthily but make sure you enjoy what you're eating too. mile:

[pellaz]

...i currently don't have time to go to the gym ...

your in luck because loosing weight has nothing to do with the gym. Go to the gym and your work out will use up 600 calories. Further ahead if you didn't eat that candy bar and can of soda.

you have to eat less than 1700 to 2000 calories a day. If you do this you will loose weight. Make a list of what you eat, use count_calories.com and figure how much you have to cut out.

Because you are eating less what you eat is more important. There is a ration of carbs, fat and protein that you need. Supplements work. Eventually you will need to work in a normal maintenance diet when you reach your ideal weight.

[nfisher1226]

No big tricks or surprises. Weight gain and loss is *primarily* about calories in vs. calories out.

So eat sensibly and exercise. Bottom line.

I don't care if you don't have time to go to the gym, exercise anyway. Park further away, walk instead of drive, do pushups, do chinups, heck - do jumping jacks. Do something physical. It feels good. It can be addictive. You can be skinny and still completely out of shape and unhealthy. You can carry a few pounds and be in basically good physical condition. I prefer the latter, although I do love really buff guys with like 0% body fat

[CustomMadeKid]

I'm pretty healthy most of the time but if I gain a bit of weight, its usually because Ive been over indulging in junk food. So limit yourself to how much junk you have, now and again is ok as a treat but not all the time. Instead eat fruits and vegetables and drink lots of water. Exercise is great too, it always cheers me up and spurs me on to keep eating healthy.

About 2/3 times a year I go on a week long detox too, where I eat no processed foods and only drink water. That's always great for dropping a bit of weight and getting rid of toxins and chemicals in your body, although probably best not to do if you have exams as it's quite hard to detox I think!

[brybry87]

I used to be 260+lb's three and a half years ago and now I'm around 150+lb's. Crazy change, eh? Diabetes and heart problems ran in my family, and my brother who is only a few years older than me is already taking meds for heart problems. I didn't want to follow the same route so I had to change.

It was hard at first; I didn't go to the gym when I first started out. I went out walked or biked around town or to work. I tried my best to exercise early in the AM to wake up your bodies metabolism.

I stopped eating fast-food and drinking soda and started to substitute healthier alternatives. Instead of candy snacks, I started buying different kinds of nuts; almonds, cashews, soy-nuts, etc.

I also started eating a lot of veggies and fruits. And to be honest; I'm not a vegetarian, but I find myself just eating vegetables prepared in different ways for most of the week. I love everything green; spinach, collared-green, mustard-green, kale, etc etc all rich in iron . I've always loved all kinds of veggies so it wasn't that big leap.

As for meats; for some reason I just stopped eating a lot of red meats like pork and beef. I don't really know why, but I guess after years of it being heavy in my diet I got tired of it. When I do eat 'meats', it's usually chicken or fish, sometimes turkey, but I'm not that big of a fan.

For starch/carbs; someone already mentioned whole-grain breads and pasta. Some of my friends say that it has a weird taste, but to me it tastes the same as white regular pasta. Whole grain products are great for losing weight because you don't need to eat a lot of it to feel full, and plus the added nutrients don't hurt. If I want to eat rice, I usually stick to brown rice; it took me awhile to get used to it, but now I prefer it more than white-rice. When I do eat potatoes; I bake or roast them on a pan with the skin on. The nutrients are pretty much on skin and it actually helps in digestion. You can also make your own fries or use sweet potatoes, it has less starch than a regular potato.

When I started to change my diet; at first my stomach took awhile to adjust to the new foods. It'll take awhile for your pallet to get used to it too, but after awhile the thought of fast-food and junk food didn't seem so appealing as it used to. Plus I found that when I do eat fast-food; my body feels like crap the day after.

I didn't join a gym til a year and a half ago. They are good for maintaining your weight/health and plus I have come to like working out. Gave me time to listen to my music and my thoughts, Plus, the endorphin's didn't hurt afterwards ;]

If you really want it to happen, I'm sure you'll get there. It's hard work >___< good luck!