Little things that help on losing weight

[Lowdown3]

Their are more and more products out that are "low calorie foods." Some are good, some should probably be avoided.

If your losing weight some of them can be helpful in that regard.

A good example for me was the sugar I put in morning coffee. I always put a LOT of sugar in. I shudder to factor out what I used to use, but I'm guessing it would be in the 200 calorie range just for the sugar in the coffee. My whole breakfast now is 150 calories.

Looking around we found "Stevia" which is a natural sugar substitute. It's not chemical tasting like Splenda and sweeteners like that.

Stevia is also ZERO calories! If your drinking coffee and putting even a little sugar in each one, you could save a couple hundred calories a day just switching to Stevia.

Butter/margarine- never been a fan or margarine but well over a decade ago we started using "Buttery Spray" a spray on butter substitute. Also ZERO calories. Fats and oils produce beau coup calories. If you put a couple big pats of butter on something like toast, you would be adding a lot of calories unnecessarily. Their are also products like "I can't believe it's not butter" and "Good life" (IIRC) that are also ZERO calories.

Their is a lot of calories in Gatorade/sports drinks. Powerade has a line of their product out now with ZERO calories.

For the chocolate/treat cravings, nothing beats a glass of Swiss Miss 25 calories "Sensible treats" cocoa. I put two packets in a large coffee mug cause it tastes really watered down to me with just one. Not zero calories, but better than the alternative.

For the soda drinkers, both Coke and Pepsi now have zero calorie non "diet" (and diet TASTING yuck) sodas out. Coke Zero is pretty good and I've never cared for Coke products. Like regular soda, the stuff in these isn't the best for you, but when it's late afternoon and your starting to run down cause your at 400 calories for the day, a little caffeine pick me up helps. A regular soda like a Pepsi will cost you 170 calories for nothing. And the Coke Zero doesn't taste nasty like diet coke (tastes nasty to me anyways ;)

Energy drinks- "Monster" has a zero calorie drink out as well as a "lo carb" 10 calorie drink. Both are loaded with B vitamins also. Walmart is carrying a generic called "SLAP" and their is a 10 calorie version of that also.

As with any diet and normal everyday use, be sure your drinking plenty of good water. Distilled is a good option IMO. Take your vitamins.

In the book "The ground game" Greg Jackson, famous for training fighters like GSP, has a chart that shows estimated daily caloric needs for energy balance.

For low: (sedentary) it is 13-15 calories per lb/BW

For Moderate- people that train 30-60 min/day 3-4 times a week, it is 16-18 calories per lb./BW

For high- people that train 60-90 min/day 5 or more times a week, it's 19-21 calories per lb/BW

Example- a guy 187 lbs. at the "low" need basis would require 2,431 calories to maintain current weight level. 187X 13= 2,431

Jackson goes on to say that "In order to lose one pound over the course of a week, a daily deficit of 500 calories is required. For a loss of two pounds weekly, that deficit would need to be 1,000 calories. Unless someone is significantly overweight, a loss of two pounds per week is the maximum amount that should be lost in order to minimize muscle breakdown." Ground game Page 13.

I've found his formula to be pretty accurate for me.

The little things to cut calories I mentioned above could really easy cut 500 calories a day for a loss of one pound per week for most of us. Couple that with adding in good exercise at least 3X a week and watch the magic happen!

Good luck.

[protus]

good post.

This is what i did when i lost all that fat a bit back.
i cut all the sugars out. all of them.

That meant most things that would be turned into sugars/carbs/fat by my body.
I cut out
white breads, breads for the most part,all together it seemed.
all treats- i didnt have peanut butter cups for 6 months......i love those things.
soda- not a big drinker but if i wanted one on the road it was a diet mnt dew or coke zero.
taters- no fries, nothing....no chips, salsa anything.

for bfast i went with egg beaters, and protien shake drink, and 2-3 different Vitamins ( just at 150-175 cals for my AM intake)
lunch was a light salad or protien shake ( again 150-200 cals there)
dinner was a meat( chicken or fish)small salad and a veggie side.

i cut out beer the 1st month.

i worked out 6 days a week on avg for 30-45 minutes jogging and weights.

i dropped 14lb in 14 days ( 2 work weeks) just doing that.

the 500 a day is a good simple goal good tip!!!!

[Cimarron]

Thanks for the reminder guys.
I oftern forget that, grabbing that little snack when I'm walking by the Christmas/Easter/halloween bowl adds up.

I often forget that I should not be snacking after 7:30 pm. But do so anyways..

I remember being told that when filling my plate, do it in the kitchen and go eat in the other room. don't do stuff like, bring the Doritos in with you and leave the open bag in front of your plate, for example . Cause invariably, you will grab a couple more hand fulls.

Coming from a guy that likes to eat, and I don't just mean sitting down and "pigging out" lol. I mean cooking and baking (yes, I'm a guy and I admit that I bake ;)) often from scratch. I like food, all kinds, lots of different cultures, the different tastes. When you cook/bake you just HAVTA taste test..

"Moderation" is a bad word in my vocabulary :D

[littleant]

I love those Swiss Miss hot chocolate 25 calorie packs. I don't drink coffee in the a.m. and am in the routine of starting off most mornings with a mug. If I feel hungry in between a meal I have some to tide me over as well. I have a giant stockpile as it tends to come and go at our local store.

Our family did away with soda a while back and we now keep two - one gallon pitchers in the fridge filled with 5 calorie per serving drink mixes. That's done a lot for us as we were drinking a lot of our calories, more so than we had realized.

Another thing I keep on hand is the generic frozen Snap Pea Stir Fry Veggie Mix. They come in four serving bags at only 30 calories a serving. I will often cook up a whole bag for lunch for a total of 120 calories and its a good amount of veggies so it fills you up. I usually throw in some chick peas for protein, maybe a bit of shredded cheese. Still ends up as a filling lunch for not a lot calories and cheap. Good to keep on hand when you're busy and in a hurry as that's the time I tend to grab the wrong kinds of food.

[biathlon]

Good reminder. I had my left hip replaced a few years ago and put some pounds on before and after as I was essentially a cripple before the surgery. Didn't get around real well for another 9 months after either. I now spend so much time on my teles when on duty with Ski Patrol and the rest of my free time on cross country skis my main problem is getting enough calories to keep it up. You'd be surprised at what being out in the cold can do for weight loss.

[Lowdown3]

We've been eating a lot of soup and sandwiches for our big dinner meal.

Today I was shopping and found some Progresso "light" soups. We just had a can of the Progresso light Italian style vegetable soup and it was AWESOME! The wife and I split the can and it was just 60 calories for each of us for the soup. Added to that was two slices of bread with some "Best life" spray on it. All total less than 200 calories for the meal and it tasted great!

[Chatwin]

Little things like exercise, walking, joging, and runing help you
in cutting weight. if you plan your diet sheet it would more help full
for you.

[Aldrich]

O that's really good one post... I think that new one's to the fitness need these kind of advices and need these kinds of the help..... Thanks for sharing this kind of data with all the member's and keep sharing more in next future.....

[Bearman202]

My big weight loss was on the South Beach diet. I like that one because one of the things it emphasizes is that you don't let yourself get hungry. It's low carb, so you cut out sugar, white anything, and just eat. No special planning, etc. to make it work. I ate a LOT more salad than I ever had, but I found that if I bought one of the side salads at McD's, (off the dollar menu) then added a hard boiled egg and some cheese, it was a pretty good meal. I dropped 55 pounds on it. Now I do low carb, but that's because of the blood sugar issues I've developed. I could stand to lose another 15 pounds, (215 right now) but I don't want to lose much more of that. After the big weight loss, I feel cold a LOT more than I did before. Also, now when my hands get cold, they actually hurt. They didn't do that before. I am going to do a minor variation of South Beach when I start the exercise program. Don't need a lot of sugar and starch anyway, right?

[Samurai]

Weight loss needs actions . people waste there time in reading books and other things . And dont take serious actions about it . Start taking actions instead of just reading .

[Grand58742]

One of the things to watch out for in diet sodas is the sodium intake on those as well. While yes, they are no or little calories, they can do just as much harm by raising your sodium and retaining water in your body. And water retention adds a significant portion of the weight you can stand to lose.

Just an FYI for those thinking of switching from regular soda to diet and still drinking the same amount. Everything in moderation...

[priceoftoast1]

Very good and healthy advice. Thank you very much for the reminder of things that I already knew but seem to forget from time to time:)

[Rmplstlskn]

I look at weight loss as TWO-FOLD... One, portion control with GOOD FOODS in correct combinations... Two, get the FRANKEN_FOODS out of my system... Both support HEALTH... CELLULAR health.

Lots of things mentioned previously are not naturally occuring (frankenfoods) and many believe they lead to sicknesses and disease, including myself. My wife treats lots of SKINNY people every day with terminal CANCERS... Be THINNER and with CELLULAR HEALTH is my goal...

Disease is actually a DIS-EASE, a cellular SCREAM... It is the WARNING LIGHT on a dashboard. My goal is to prevent the warning light from ever turning on...

[kihnspiracy]

Eliminate soda from my diet. That is my first step. Doing a 5K run with the missus once or even twice a week.

[1Admin]

It's kinda similar to the Dave Ramsey saying "if you live like no one else, later you can live like no one else."

You may have struggle, massively cut calories for 3 months, 4 months, six months, etc. But once it's off, it's just about maintaining.

I figured I would put a fair amount back on after I cut. Honestly kinda figured I would be back to high 180's by now. Checked weight yesterday at the gym and it was 175 at midday. I've been as low as 171 but that was too low. Highest since Jan has been 177.

The thing to remember is that you shouldn't do this just for the time period and then go back to old eating habits. These habits should be your new NORM- and I don't mean the guy named Norm, I mean normal. :)

I don't worry so much any more about having a steak one night, or going out for pizza every so often. I just watch it the following day. Every day is new. Having a weekend away with the family and having a couple big meals isn't the end of the world and it should not make you quit or feel like you have to "re start" all the time. If your prone to worry, just get back on your normal routine the following day and don't check your weight for a couple days.

I hit a couple of "plateaus" in my journey, around 199, around 185 and again around 179, I think I posted about them. You just have to not lose hope and continue to press on.

Just like with our survival planning- we need to remain FLEXIBLE and keep and maintain the INITIATIVE. Initiative is the freedom to ACT rather than being FORCED TO REACT.


A temporary setback should not ruin your overal goals/plan.