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Thread: What kind of Diet works for you?

  1. #1
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    What kind of Diet works for you?

    As I grow older, I notice that my metabolism has changed drastically. When young, I could eat anything and not gain weight. Now I can look at food and gain. Mantis is extreme on exercising, but I still have trouble maintaining my weight. I do not eat snacks. I do not drink sodas. I have tried a lot of diets but none fit me. My biggest problem is that I have a busy schedule with work, kids, and kung fu. I do not have time to prepare healthy food, and I知 not rich enough to buy that prepackaged plan type stuff (food?). I am in good shape, but I知 also overweight for my body type. I don稚 smoke either.

    For those of you that have a diet to watch their weight, what works for you?
    There is nothing so stupid as the educated man if you get him off the thing he was educated in.
    -Will Rogers

  2. #2
    I say this with absolute strong conviction! YOU MUST TRY TO DO A CLEANSE!
    I just finished with my spring master cleanse and just started eathing food agin after 7 days with no food what so ever........... just a simple potion that sustains you for up to 40 days...... for own sake you must try this...
    search google and look up (master cleanse)
    KUNG FU USA
    www.eightstepkungfu.com
    Teaching traditional Ba Bu Tang Lang (Eight Step Praying Mantis)
    Jin Gon Tzu Li Gung (Medical) Qigong
    Wu style Taiji Chuan



    Teacher always told his students, "You need to have Wude, patient, tolerance, humble, ..." When he died, his last words to his students was, "Remember that the true meaning of TCMA is fierce, poison, and kill."

  3. #3
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    Maybe have your blood sugar checked? If its normal, eating less food and burning calories by exercise should help. Also, some foods are definitely healthier to eat than others, but a variety should not do you great harm. Just my take on what I've seen and experienced.

    jwwmantis

  4. #4
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    sounds like you're thirty-someting plus....

    try some DHEA. it will help restore your metabolism to when you were young.

    if you have other metabolic problems such as diabetes it will help in insulin absorption and regulation. it also works well with hypothyroidism, increasing the body's ability to utilize these hormones. a low dose is all that is needed: the 25mg chelated capsule from GNC is a better quality product in my opinion than many calcium based products. if i take 50mg i have to eat around 4,000 calories to maintain a 'normal' blood sugar level.

  5. #5
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    Everyone's gonna scream, but:

    South Beach Diet.

    There's a couple of reasons why this may work for you:

    1. The recipes are designed to be prepared quickly and easily and taste good (so you can make a meal for the entire family, just add rice/pasta to the kids' dishes).

    2. The food combinations are set up so you are less likely to fall off the wagon -- yes the carbohydrates are lowered, and they're replaced with whole grains & alternatives like nuts or whole fruits.

    -- I lost 30 lbs. in 9 months last year on this diet. My total caloric intake didn't change (about 2200 cal./day), but my weight sure did.

    -- No disrespect intended ED, but I don't believe in 7-day fasts. I think they can be quite harmful. Just an opinion (and a strong one, I know).
    There is a great streak of violence in every human being. If it is not channeled and understood, it will break out in war or in madness. ~Sam Peckinpah

  6. #6
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    I'm of the pretty strong opinion that fasts aren't that great.


    I do not eat snacks.
    How do you eat your meals? Do you only eat 3 times a day?

    Some simple ways to lose weight:

    *Cut down your portion size. Nothing bigger than your fist.
    *Eat low fat meats
    *Try to eat lots of whole grains instead of non-whole grain foods. 100% whole wheat bread, brown rice, etc. The carbs in these foods are more complex, which makes them harder to break down.
    *Avoid all processed sugars. This includes corn syrup in all of its forms.
    *Eat a lot of fruits and veggies.

  7. #7
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    EarthDragon: I agree that a cleanse is very good for the body.

    Jwwmantis: I have had some test on my blood. My wife works in a hospital with doctors that have research grants on cholesterol and other things. They always want to use my blood because I love steak, but yet my cholesterol level is below average. It is even lower than some of the vegetarian doctors (good genes). I have no blood sugar problems either.

    YuanZhideDiZhen: I知 almost 50 . I値l look into the DHEA. No diseases like that in my family.

    SaMantis: You致e got me curious. I値l look-up that diet and read about it.

    Reggie1: I eat 3 meals. Breakfast is something like 1 pack of those peanut butter crackers, 1 slice of pizza with onions and peppers, or really anything small and not sugary. Lunch is a vegetable plate, sandwich with chips, fish & chips (small portion), I LOVE SUSHI, or anything else in that size portion.
    Dinner is about the same size as lunch portion.

    I have always had better luck in watching how much I eat rather than what I eat.
    There is nothing so stupid as the educated man if you get him off the thing he was educated in.
    -Will Rogers

  8. #8
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    The only diet that has worked reliably for me is the Influenza Diet. The last time I had the flu, I lost 15 pounds and it took a good two years before I put it back on. I'm dealing with somekind of bug right now, and I'm down around 10 lbs.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pilot
    Reggie1: I eat 3 meals. Breakfast is something like 1 pack of those peanut butter crackers, 1 slice of pizza with onions and peppers, or really anything small and not sugary. Lunch is a vegetable plate, sandwich with chips, fish & chips (small portion), I LOVE SUSHI, or anything else in that size portion.
    Dinner is about the same size as lunch portion.
    Maybe you ought to try eating smaller portions at each meal and eat more meals. I eat 6 times a day and don't have a problem with weight at all. Some research shows that by eating every few hours you keep your metabolism up.

  10. #10
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    Pilot:

    you're that old?

    try an 1800 calorie diet supplemented with chewed multivitamins and a larger quantity of tap water.

    since you like small portions invest in a Tapas menu cookbook. Talk about gourmet on a budget! that's the ticket! (for an appetiser)
    Last edited by YuanZhideDiZhen; 03-18-2005 at 12:12 AM.

  11. #11
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    I don't know of a good diet to use when doing martial arts, I myself eat as well as possible and just try to eat so I don't pass out at kung fu. My problem though is I drink a lot of Mountain Dew not just because am addicted to it but I get a headache if I don't have a little bit. I have cut down some, but my advice is drink a lot of water and stay hydrated or you will not be able to do your workout at opimal effieciency which because of soda my water intake is twice as much since it does suck all the water out of your muscles and leaves you dehydrated. I don't know water is just so tasteless so that is why I don't drink it a lot but should which am working at curbing my habit of too much soda.

  12. #12
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    I hesitated posting on this thread....

    I've been in weight class sports for years. I'm constantly manipulating my weight. However, I can tell you that no DIET is ever going to work for permanent weight loss. This requires food choice changes. A diet has a beginning and an end....you're looking for something different. For the record, I'm never fat either, so no yo-yo dieting stuff!!!

    The biggest problem people looking to lose weight experience, IMO, is NOT BEING ABLE TO COOK!!! This goes hand in hand with having good knife skills. I do the cooking in my house. My wife - doesn't. Knife skills turn a 20 minute ordeal into a 5 minute snap - like jointing a chicken, for instance or something as simple as chopping onions. I'm not trying to be difficult, just telling it like it is.

    Assuming you know how to cook, the secret to getting good food during the week is engaging in batch cooking when you do have time. Soups, stews and sauces can all be frozen or refrigerated and reheated. Roasts can serve as one meal, used in other ways for others or also reheated for meals. Add a fresh salad or frozen vegetables, cook some potatoes, pasta, rice, couscous, or add some bread and you're looking at a complete, healthy meal.

    The beauty of things like roasts and roasted vegetables and the soups, stews sauces and roasts, is that they require very little actual work. I made an eggplant, cauliflower and potato curry (not with that foul yellow curry powder, but more in the general Indian concept of a stew-like dish) that took me about 10 minutes of actual work....the rest was waiting for it to cook. I ate 7 meals off that and coupled with a yoghurt Raita and some Basmati rice, I had a complete meal

    Make a pot roast, eat for a week. Roast a big chicken, use the bones for stock, the leftover meat for soup and do your bills will it simmers. Don't even have time for that? Buy some chicken stock at the store (I like Pacific Organic), carrots, celery, onion, bay leaf, chop up some chicken breast - add lemon and dill at the finish and you have soup. Total time is so low and you can reheat and eat.

    Beans and other legumes are also useful and reheat well. Again, you're not actually DOING anything, just waiting around.

    Food is infinite in variety, because knowing how to cook keeps you from getting bored, even when using the same basic ingredients.

    The biggest investment a person can make in changing their life to lose weight is grabbing some cookbooks and learning how to make magic out of humble ingredients - and learning what does what and how - an example is that lots of people use rump cuts for pot roast - BLEAH!!!! The meat is tough and has no fat - it won't hold up to that type of cooking. Chuck, by contrast, off the shoulder, has lots of connective tissue and some fat. The connective tissue turns into gelatin with heat and time and the fat transfers flavors while keeping things moist.
    Last edited by Merryprankster; 03-18-2005 at 08:52 AM.
    "In the world of martial arts, respect is often a given. In the real world, it must be earned."

    "A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand. "--Bertrand Russell

    "Liberals - Cosmopolitan critics, men who are the friends of every country save their own. "--Benjamin Disraeli

    "A conservative government is an organised hypocrisy."--Benjamin Disraeli

  13. #13
    MP,

    Pot roast- every used a 7-bone blade roast? It's from right on the neck and gets its name from the bits of shoulder that get into it. No one knows what it is, so it's cheap as h*ll, marbled beautifully, from the flavorful neck, and has all the lovely deep beef taste from the bones in it. I scored a 6 lb roast of organic grain-fed at whole foods for $2.99/lb. *Amazing*.

    I may not be the best example of weight-loss through cooking ability, I'm no stick figure by any stretch, by the same token, I know that my weight has been most out of control when I haven't been cooking, and have been living on delivery and scrounging instead.

    Right now I'm doing pretty well eating low-carb, low gi carb, high protein, moderate fat, and trying to keep my daily caloric intake under 3000 while consuming 150-200g of protein a day, having a modest cheat day every 10 days to 2wks. This seems very sustainable for me.

    A few quick cooking tips-

    -Find the best, freshest ingredients you can and exploit them. If you can hit a farmer's market. It's generally cheaper and nicer, and gets you excited about food.
    -Roasting veggies deepens the flavor. Aside from being a nice trick when you're adding them to other things, my favorite side right now is some brocolli, cauliflower (purple rocks!), asparagus, or other such vegetable tossed with olive oil, garlic, sea salt, and black pepper, roast at 400 until looks ready.
    -Love your ground turkey. Low fat, high protein, and very forgiving, little turkey patties broiled can take almost any flavoring and get away with it- greek (oregano, olive oil, garlic, pepper), indian (cumin, coriander), italian sausage (paprika, fennel seed, oregano, black pepper, garlic), steakhouse (worschtershire sauce, onion powder and/or caramelized onions, maybe a little blue cheese filling)
    -bison is a great low fat red meat
    -modern pork is extremely lean, especially certain of the chop cuts. This gives it a tendancy to dry out- brine for 24 to 48 hrs prior to cooking to avoid this.
    - if you own one cookbook it should be the Joy of Cooking.

    Andrew

  14. #14
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    p.s. Pilot, I forgot to add --

    One of the deciding factors for choosing the South Beach Diet was that it lets you have chocolate, wine & cheese. I mean ... YES!! (obviously, I'm female LOL)

    When you read up on it -- note the diet structure & the recipes and compare them to the different eating methods & recipes that folks are listing here. You'll find a lot of similarities. Which was another deciding factor for me after comparing it with several other diets.
    There is a great streak of violence in every human being. If it is not channeled and understood, it will break out in war or in madness. ~Sam Peckinpah

  15. #15
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    Andrew,

    Yup! Any cut from the Shoulder area, clod, chuck, 7-bone/blade. All are excellent pot roasts.

    Rump is....just not very good....unless you attack it with an INTENSELY flavored marinade (Sauerbraten!) To tenderize and flavor
    "In the world of martial arts, respect is often a given. In the real world, it must be earned."

    "A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand. "--Bertrand Russell

    "Liberals - Cosmopolitan critics, men who are the friends of every country save their own. "--Benjamin Disraeli

    "A conservative government is an organised hypocrisy."--Benjamin Disraeli

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