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Your Most Effective Diet Change

7,432 Views | 55 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by MooreTrucker
rlb28
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AG
eating a snack (almonds and dried banana chips) at 9:30 a.m. and a protein bar at 2:45 p.m.
The_Thinker
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So I guess I have to ask...
Is 1650 calories not a normal weight loss area for a 6' 175lb guy? I just started the IIFY or whatever its acronym is.

As to what has worked, using my fitness pal to record but not as the place to get the calorie amount for food. Many of their estimates are so far off from manufacturers numbers it is scary.
CrockerAg98
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AG
I can tell you that at 5'11, 190, and 40 years old, my fitness pal targets me for 1590 calories (net) per day for a 2 lb a week weight loss.

So, essentially, based on the low/ moderate exercise level I selected when I signed up, I'm running a 1000 calorie a day deficit.

Based on that, I'd think your 1600 calories a day would be on track for weight loss, but low for maintenance.
aTm2004
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AG
Cutting out sweets. That's really it.

Not long after I graduated A&M, I decided to cut out all of the sweets I ate (aside from alcohol) and continued pretty much the same lifting/running routine I had during college. I dropped from about 275lbs down to 220lbs. I ate about the same throughout the week (not a lot of fast food or take out and a lot of chicken/pork/fish with a vegetable), but did allow myself to eat whatever I wanted on Saturday, which was normally a Diet DP from Sonic and cheese sticks for lunch, and then Hooters or Mexican food for dinner with some booze. When I'd begin to crave something sweet, I'd get some sugar free ice cream or candy and that would satisfy the craving. I know it's not diet food, but it worked for me. YMMV. I did allow myself to have actual sweets 3 times per year: my birthday, Thanksgiving (usually within a week or so of my b-day), and Christmas. There was no way in hell I was going to miss the desserts people in my family only make once per year.

After I met my wife, I began running a lot more with her but got back into eating sweets more often. Due to the running 3 or so miles per day, the weight stayed off, but after we had a baby, I wasn't able to run nearly as much and I saw the weight come back on and I was back to the 270ish area. In February, I made the decision to cut out sweets again and have dropped back into the 240's (just hit there last week) while doing the same workout/run routine that I've been doing since last summer. I am doing weight watchers with my wife, though I'm loosely following it and sometimes sneak a hand full or two of chips and not count them. I'm now fitting into my old clothes and stuff I was wearing in January is too loose to wear, which is a good thing since all of my good clothes are in the size I'm wearing right now.

I'd like to get down to around 230ish since I think that's the best weight for me. Anything below that would be icing on the cake.
chipotle
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shano0603 said:

Getting rid of soda or processed sugar.

This is the biggest for me. And I do a cheat day per week. And when I cheat day, I cheat day hard. So hard that I feel like ass and never what that day to come again.
MikesFamousJava
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AG
AGSPORTSFAN07 said:


No Dairy (which means no cheese, mayo, things like that)


Real Mayo isn't dairy...HTH

Not trying to be a smarta**, just don't want you to miss out on mayo accidentally.
TxAggies2012
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went Keto 2nd week of January and I'm down 51 lbs.

My 2 vices are diet coke soda and alcohol. Diet sodas being the worst.

Sodas are next on the chopping block to rid myself of completely, then cut back that tasty bourbon to just once in a while.
CFTXAG10
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AG
Recently took things a step further and cut out soda (was drinking 2 or 3 Dr Peppers a week), pre-workout (was taking a scoop before lifting days), and I am slowly working on the coffee habit. Feel a lot better throughout the day and I can see the results.

It took me way too long to find out that there are 24 hours in day, 1-2 of them are spent working out in some capacity, and the rest are what make the difference (DIET!). Also a big fan of Whole 30, and once you come off of it stick to eating as natural as possible with a cheat meal or two thrown in for good measure.
AgDad777
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7 years ago weighed 219 - 38" waist at 6' tall.

Since have done 7 rounds of one of the P90X programs - very effective programs, especially for leaning out, core strength and flexibility. My opinion - original 90X is great, but hard core. 90X2 - did once and not a big fan, 90X3 is excellent - still hard core, but jams workouts into 30 mins, so it works great for fitting in daily schedules. All of them are basically HiiT type workouts - constantly raising and lowering heart rate.

My Fitness Pal as others have said - great tool.

High Protein (clean - plenty of fish and chicken, lean beef), Low carb (no whites - sugar, flour, rice) and increased fats - avocados, nuts etc.

Water, water , water - at least 64 oz a day.

I like to create calorie deficits with exercise, not diet. Eat your maintain calories and create an exercise deficit of 300-500 calories - should always stay above 1300 cal daily total for the average base - total varies for different body types, just base off of your maintain calcs. If you get down below a 1300-1500 total daily deficit - eat more as you earned it (more clean calories).

Lowest weight was last summer at 177 and 32" waist. Feel best at 180-185 - lean at 10% BF and 32" waist.

Currently at 189 and following the above program again to get back to desired. More HiiT running this time, same nutrition plan.

Supplements - fish oil, BCAA drink powders, syn proteins

Sleep - at least 7 hours - very important. Body does all its repair and change during this time. You cut it short and your results will be cut short as well. Been using a new App for last 5-6 months - Sleep Cycle. Give it a try, great App.

BlackGoldAg2011
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AG
Mine are very similar to what has been said, but for weight loss, one that I didn't see said, that I do that helps me a ton is planning for my vices. The two that get me are carbs and alcohol (so i guess just carbs). Deciding early in the day that i want a beer that night or if i know I will eat pasta and then planning for it allows me to eat things I actually enjoy while still staying on track I just have to be hungrier during the day (worth it). Before I started doing this i failed every time because with nothing in my diet I really enjoy, i would eventually crack. and i know for myself, when I indulge due to failing will power I have a tendency to vastly over indulge, but if the indulgence is in the plan, i am far more likely to enjoy it and stick to just the one.
94DallasAG
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AG
Counting calories.

Changed my entire outlook on health, fitness, and how I eat.

It's made it easier on me to manage cheat meals and I feel as though I have more opportunites to go "off the range" when I manage all the other meals so closely.
Geriatric Punk
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AG
94DallasAG said:

Counting calories.

Changed my entire outlook on health, fitness, and how I eat.

It's made it easier on me to manage cheat meals and I feel as though I have more opportunites to go "off the range" when I manage all the other meals so closely.
So it's been nearly 2 months since I posted this. I pretty much have just counted calories and exercised regularly (nothing crazy: push-ups, air squats, planks, light dumb bells, and 2-6 mile runs 3x a week). I've lost 14 pounds. I still have 1-2 IPAs at night. I still eat burritos on Fridays (give myself an extra 1000-1500 cals on that day). Really, it isn't a huge deprivation, either. I've set my count at about 1-1.5 lbs per week. Sometimes I lose more. I'm not starving myself. I feel great.

I've noticed, though, that a natural by-product of counting calories is avoiding sugar. I would rather have a 300 calorie beer than a bowl of ice cream, etc.
Diet Cokehead
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AG
I've lost almost 60lbs since the beginning of the year. Here are the biggest keys for me:

  • Cut out alcohol - It's almost impossible to lose weight consistently while drinking every day. I'm an all of nothing type of person so I just eliminated it completely.
  • LoseIt App - I log ever single meal and snack. I'm obsessed with it to the point that I drive my wife nuts, but it works. It's simple math - burn more than you consume (and in my case about 1000 more than i consume per day) and the weight will come off.

Once you have momentum, it's easy. If I know I'm going to want to splurge a little on something, I'll go the gym that morning and "earn" some additional calories.
theeyetest
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Knowing my BMR and tracking my calories. For the first 30 days, I would fast all day, run 30 minutes at lunch at work, and fast until dinner. For dinner, I ate whatever I wanted and as much of it as I could handle. Lost 13 pounds in 30 days.

Next 30 days, I fasted all day again and did weight 3 days a week/cardio 3 days a week, and ate a relatively healthy meal, until I was full with a bowl of ice cream. Lost another 13 pounds and was down 4 inches in my waist.

And now, I just kind of maintain. I still fast all day and eat as healthy as possible at night while still weight training/cardio 6x a week on my lunch break.
reddog90
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Counting macros. Eating calorie surplus to bulk and deficit to cut.
reddog90
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The_Thinker said:

So I guess I have to ask...
Is 1650 calories not a normal weight loss area for a 6' 175lb guy? I just started the IIFY or whatever its acronym is.

As to what has worked, using my fitness pal to record but not as the place to get the calorie amount for food. Many of their estimates are so far off from manufacturers numbers it is scary.
I am 5'11", 182 and cutting. I am currently eating about 2,740 calories a day (250p, 60f, 300c). I guess it would depend on your activity level.
wcb
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AG
I was thinking about this yesterday. I typically burn about 1k calories daily during workouts (per Garmin). Generally I've looked at that as 1k bonus calories I can add to my daily consumption (of say 1800 when trying to lose). Doing this the losses have been slow to none.

I'm thinking about just sticking to the 1800 and then any exercise would hopefully just speed up the loss. I'll make sure a good chunk of that is protein to prevent muscle loss.
BAT2007
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wcb, in my opinion (and just from previous experience) while I would not eat back everything that was burned during your workout, I would eat back some of it to prevent muscle loss (along with making sure to hit your protein goal, as you stated).

I cannot remember if you are male or female, however 1800/day does seem low for a male but is probably decent for a female. As I posted on another thread, I'm 5/4" and on days that I workout I typically eat between 1900-2000 calories and on days I don't workout I try to stick between 1650-1700 calories. My breakdown of those calories is usually about 30% protein, 40% carbs and 30% fat. This goal keeps me from losing too much (if any) muscle mass while being able to lose fat.

Just wanted to share my thoughts and opinions based on experience however I'm all for everyone finding what works best for them!!
bagger05
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1. Skip breakfast.
2. I only cook about three or four things. I've found I prefer the monotony of eating the same things all the time over the hassle of meal planning and figuring out what fits into my macro goals.
3. If there's no ice cream in the freezer, it's much less likely that you will eat ice cream.
Diet Cokehead
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One other thing that helped me was to eliminate the idea of cheat days or meals.

That's not to say I don't splurge occasionally, but I don't have a set day that I allow myself to eat whatever I want. When you are trying to lose, one bad day can kill a week's worth of work.

I have the mindset that I wasn't willing to do anything to set me back even one day from my goal so I can't afford cheat days.
Frok
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I will fail without cheat days. My problem is I just absolutely love unhealthy food. No matter how healthy I get there is nothing like that satisfied feeling of a great burger and fries. Or pizza.
MooreTrucker
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AG
AGSPORTSFAN07 said:

I was looking for a Whole30 diet thread but this one came up first so I'll add my 10 cents here. I made a drastic change 2 months ago by using a non-militant flavor of the Whole30 diet plan and I have since lost 30+ pounds without working out. Best part is that I'm really not craving those foods I've given up anymore. It's crazy.

So my diet consists of the following:

No Sugar (which translates to very low sugar and no processed sugar)
No Dairy (which means no cheese, mayo, things like that)
No Grains (which means no bread, corn, beans, etc...)

Now I don't sit there and read all the labels but I've used the diet as a spring board to make better decisions and it's helped a ton. My friends who have done the diet to a "T" have seen even better results.
So basically just meat, fruit, and leafy greens?
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