I hate dieting!

[Fred]

I suggest starting to play a sport or activity that you enjoy (and can be social around) rather than going to the gym.

Invariably people stop going to the gym, either through laziness, or having plateau'd in which case you gain all the weight back in a hurry.

With a sport, it tends to be more longterm, you have friends and obligations to motivate you and well its ultimately more fun.

 

[John Reynolds]

My anecdotal evidence is that the Midwest US is fat, has the lowest % of sidewalks (more driving), no bikes lanes, yucky Summer weather and tons of air conditioning. Consequence is McD's for Dinner whilst playing video games

Isn't that the truth. Wife has been having trouble getting me out for post-dinner walks lately, the heat + humidity combo have been wretched for the last few weeks here in Ohio. Plus my LOTRO captain isn't exactly going to level all by himself.

Speaking of AC, did a hard cardio workout at the gym Friday nite, come home sweaty as all hell, and the furnace blower is out. The house was at 80 degrees and climbing. Fortunately we got a repair guy who's a friend of the family out by 10 and he had the blower motor replaced by 10:30, so the house was tolerable by around midnight or so.

 

[Mize]

You're not kidding JR. With the rain and humidity around here I've taken to calling my (wooded and overgrown) backyard "the Congo." I actually pulled out of the garage last Friday and was using wipers for two blocks for the condensation on the outside of my windshield. Good garage doors!

Oh and that front that came through around 11:00 AM today? Took out my power and Duke says 8PM for it to be back on with temps hitting 90F here by three! Good day for the gym!

 

[nintenho]

If you look at China (in the cities), Japan, and Taiwan, you'll notice that on average they are getting fatter as they can afford to eat more. I notice this especially in Japan as each year I come here, high school kids get fatter/larger. It's vastly different than when I first started coming here regularly back in 1985. They tend to lose some of it once they enter the workforce as they start to work long hours 6 days a week. But even there people are heavier than they were 30 years ago.

And only anecdotal evidence here, but weight gain in the US seems to have accelerated when the US government moved away from the 4 food groups and instituted the nutrition pyramid with carbs as the basis of the largest food group to be consumed. Which then influenced public school dietary guidelines not to mention people trying to switch and subsequently gaining weight.
SB

I'm sure the cost of meat and animal products had far more of an effect on school lunches than anything else...

The thing about Japan is that they follow the number one rule of dieting, small portion sizes. Obviously, their carb-centric diet has worked well for them when following the first rule. As portion sizes increased over the last several decades, belt sizes followed

The people who say that you should avoid carbs as much as you can say that because they believe it will lead to hyperinsulimia, which leads to diabetes and then obesity. That didn't happen in Japan obviously. Some people might have more or less insulin sensitivity depending on what kind of diet that they grew up on but assuming you keep your portion sizes under control, a carb-centric low GI diet should be healthy for any member of the human species. Of course, some people have gas problems when they eat complex carbs but put some Beano on it and you'll be fine.

Also with carbs, you would need them for the glycogen necessary for aerobic exercises. I really don't see what benefit there is in being on a "paleo" diet that is designed to just replenish your fat stores as you burn them.

 

[John Reynolds]

Oh and that front that came through around 11:00 AM today? Took out my power and Duke says 8PM for it to be back on with temps hitting 90F here by three! Good day for the gym!

That front was as black as the devil's heart. I work in a windowless building, but a co-worker said a storm was heading in, so I went out to rollup my car's windows, looked up and saw it. I think I stood there admiring the size and ugliness of it for a few minutes.

Speaking of cars, anyone own a Honda Fit? My 16yo, 198k miles Civic has been leaking anti-freeze everywhere, taking it in tonight to be looked at, but I've decided if it's the water pump, a cracked radiator, or anything that's going to cost me $500+ that it's time for a new car. I like small cars, and I just need something that gets good reviews for reliability and safety to get me to work and back. So I want to spend as little as possible, but without stooping down to a Toyota Yaris class of car.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Speaking of cars, anyone own a Honda Fit? My 16yo, 198k miles Civic has been leaking anti-freeze everywhere, taking it in tonight to be looked at, but I've decided if it's the water pump, a cracked radiator, or anything that's going to cost me $500+ that it's time for a new car. I like small cars, and I just need something that gets good reviews for reliability and safety to get me to work and back. So I want to spend as little as possible, but without stooping down to a Toyota Yaris class of car.

No, but my wife just got one of these and I really like it. Highly recommended!

I sort of like dieting, less cooking work for me.

 

[Mize]

The Fit kicks the Yaris' butt. I have a friend in Beijing who has been driving one for the past 5 years with no problems whatsoever. The Mazda 3 ain't bad either.

 

[Grall]

Honda can't sell the Fit over here, as it would be the equivalent of a Honda Cun...

In a somewhat similar vein, I saw a car today with the registry "ASS 527" (or somesuch number.) Obviously, "ass" in Swedish doesn't mean anything offensive. Then again, "fart" in Swedish is speed, and "kiss" means pee.

Ok, end of juvenile humor/useless knowledge post!

 

[Davros]

Someone said to me the reason americans are so big is the amount of growth hormone in their meat

 

[DuckThor Evil]

But remember there is a big difference between slow and fast carbs and how it affects insuline levels and fat storage system.

This doesn't really matter that much in the end. Slower carbs just keep the insulin levels higher longer and the end result is pretty much the same. At the end of the day the amount of calories eaten minus calories spent is the thing that matters as far as losing or gaining weight.

I have recently changed my eating/living habits aswell. After being diagnosed with gout and seeing how my father has to eat a handful of different pills each day, I finally decided enough of this fucking shit!

I now exercise regularly every day atleast 75minutes, either walking, exercise bike or lift weights. I eat 2000Kcal per day divided into four 500Kcal meals. About 160-200g of protein per day, lot's of vegetables, berries and some fruits. I also take quite high dosages of Vitamin D and some other suplements as well. I weigh and calculate everything I put in my mouth, as it doesn't feel like work to me, but an enjoyable activity and no errors.

Breakfast is 75g oatmeal (dry weight) with 7g fat supplement (don't know the english name for that) 100g bluberries and 35g of protein powder (2/3 whey 1/3 casein)

Meal 2 0.5 liters of fat free milk, an apple, 200g of bluberries, banana and 35g of protein blended together + fat supplement

Meal 3 150g steak, 200g potatoes, 3 tomatoes, carrot, apple, paprika, cucumber, some fish oil.

Meal 4 500g of fat free quark, 250g frozen strawberries and a banana mixed. (excellent!!)

I do that with little variations each day and with the amount of exercise I do, I have lost about 1.5kg per week so far, coming down from 125kg to 110kg. I don't do cheat days anymore, atleast if I don't feel that my metabolism is slowing too much. Right now I feel great and very energetic. I wan't to get my weight down to about 85kg, which should be less than 10% bodyfat.

 

[Mize]

Someone said to me the reason americans are so big is the amount of growth hormone in their meat

Lol. We have plenty of fat vegetarians & vegans. It's sheer volume of food plus couch surfing.

 

[John Reynolds]

The Mazda 3 ain't bad either.

That's not a bad suggestion. The Sport trim comes in around $17k, looks better inside and out than the Fit, and more horsepower with comparable mileage.

 

[Mize]

That's not a bad suggestion. The Sport trim comes in around $17k, looks better inside and out than the Fit, and more horsepower with comparable mileage.

Just don't get the MazadaSPEED version or you'll have many tickets.

 

[John Reynolds]

No worries on that, my lead foot days are long gone.

Got a quote from a local dealership on the Sport, 15K and 0% APR. Over 60 months the payments would be around $270. Very tempting.

 

[Sonic]

I highly recommend the Mazda 3 It is a very sexy looking car for its price range and is quite pleasurable to drive. Roomy enough on the inside for my boy and two friends to sit in the back without being all scrunched up next to one another. Handles pretty well and I feel the brakes are really good for what this city has to offer. Also decent enough acceleration to go up a steep hill without a compromise, unlike that Prius collecting dust. I don't have the sports package, but I net around 28 MPG in the city and 33 - 35 MPG on the highway with it. I do drive like a grandpa in it though. It is my daily driver as of now, outside of my bike.


As far as losing weight goes. I do pretty well I think. Body fat is hovering around 8% in the warm months and goes to 10% usually by December or shortly after Thanksgiving. I live in a place where it is quite difficult to be obese you're active at all. I cycle at least 3 days a week but usually 5 or 6. I used to do weight lifting but stopped long ago due to time restraints. Now I do some calisthenics and that works out well to keep my bodies toned. I eat like a slob though and will gorge quite a bit. I think the cycling and cutting of most junk foods has helped tremendously, that and these beautiful lovely hills.

 

[Mize]

Fit looks like a shuttlecraft from star trek...Mazda3 looks fast (and is decently so). Let me know if you want the consumers reports info on them...basically, Fit a little more reliable, Mazda3 more fun to drive.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Since we are talking about cars aswell, I can't help myself telling how much I'm in love with my 5 week old VW Golf 1.2 TSI!

Very comfortable driving and nice quality interior. Only 105hp, but the power is always there 10.5 on 0-100km/h is not bad for a 1.2 also. You can drive 60-65km/h on sixth gear with ease and watch the computer show 3l/100km consumption. On my drive to our summer gottage I have got 4.6-4.8l/100km average everytime. Turning radious is very small.

The only downside is that there is more tire noise than what there should be and it's magnified by the fact that they have reduced the other incoming noises.

 

[John Reynolds]

Fit looks like a shuttlecraft from star trek...Mazda3 looks fast (and is decently so). Let me know if you want the consumers reports info on them...basically, Fit a little more reliable, Mazda3 more fun to drive.

Already read those reports, but thanks.

 

[NRP]

Diets are funny. No matter which one you end up using, ultimately the only way to be successful is to change your lifestyle habits such that you're eating less food than you previously did. Unfortunately, changing your lifestyle habits is the hardest part, both to initiate and to maintain. I think that us why so many diets fail.

 

[Mize]

Diets are funny. No matter which one you end up using, ultimately the only way to be successful is to change your lifestyle habits such that you're eating less food than you previously did. Unfortunately, changing your lifestyle habits is the hardest part, both to initiate and to maintain. I think that us why so many diets fail.

QFT.

d(Calories in - calories burned)/dt = rate of fat growth

Edit: actually that would be rate of fat growth acceleration, but you get the idea. You consume more than you burn then you get fatter.