Interested in starting some food lifestyle changes...

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Bill - 12 Jan 2004 16:32 GMT

Interested in starting some food lifestyle
changes...

Hello all,

Been trying to reduce my weight since August 2003
and have been faithfully hitting the gym 4+ times
per week, doing 45 mins on treadmill or bike
(alternating) and 3 days of moderate level weight
lifting.

Overall so far I do feel better physically BUT I
had not really done much modification to my diet
really and have lost only 11 lbs in the last 6
months. I am on aprox 2500 to 2800 calories a day
(I know some of you here are screaming that's a
TON of food vs what you maybe on) but I am a big
guy not just weight wise, large frame (even when I
was skinny) and am 6 foot 7 inches tall.

I made an appointment with a nutritionist who had
me keep a food journal and after I did and we
reviewed it for a 2 week period I realized a good
50% or MORE of my intake is processed sugars and
carbs (mostly from enriched pasta, bread etc).

So her suggestions were to reduce the processed
items and canned items with high sodium levels,
switch to more fresh veggies and frozen vs canned
items for less sodium, and for the carbs to switch
to whole grain items vs my current (all enriched
white items) and limit portions of those carbs and
add more protein choices to the meals.

So now for bread I am on earthgrains whole grain
vs wonder white, and for pasta im on about 1/3
portion sized whole wheat pasta vs the basic white
enriched barilla pasta, and I cut out the big
thick french bread as a side dish (just those
types of changes)...

And I am not an impatient person but I am
wondering in general by doing these things
(reducing the amount of carbs, changing the type
from enriched to whole wheat types) is this
something some people are doing here?

I notice alot of "south beach and Atkins" type
posts or mentions here, I have never read either
book to be honest but my doctor had said don't do
Atkins due to my kidneys or something like that,
(not trying to start a huge firefight here) again
I haven't even read these books but these changes
I have made going for less carbs and better
quality carbs and oh yeah upping lean proteins
like chicken breast etc.

Are these principles and basic guidelines anything
that you all are doing or have tried? I am a big
guy 6' 7' 410lbs (was 421 in august 2003) and I
have a large frame (football player type) but a
majority of my weight is in my gut (which Im told
is more of a risk by my doctor due to its
location), and I am honestly trying my best at the
gym at least 4 sometimes as much as 5 or 6 times
per week, and have done this pretty faithfully
(only missed 2 weeks when I was zapped with the
flu about a month ago), but portion size and bad
carbs were the things I were told that were
keeping me from losing more weight by the
nutritionist, just wondered is this the
group/place to discuss those types of issues or is
this more towards a certain "Atkins or southbeach"
type group of folks who look at ALL carbs as bad
(to be fair - maybe my ignorance of not having
read these books maybe I just don't know for a
fact they say totally cut out carbs)....

Just curious and hoping to get some ideas and or
suggestions of substitutions of my favorite things
to eat - trying to change my day to day shopping
and eating habits and make a better gain in my
efforts to lose this extra weight and once I
realized thru the nutritionist my carbs would be
lessened and changed to a different type I thought
maybe this forum might be a good place to hang out
and give or get ideas or inspiration from...

Beyond that this is my first post and hope I have
found a fun new place to bounce ideas off and get
feedback on.

Bill :)

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Susan - 12 Jan 2004 16:42 GMT

>but I am
>wondering in general by doing these things
>(reducing the amount of carbs, changing the type
>from enriched to whole wheat types) is this
>something some people are doing here?

Hi,

If you are still at 50% of your diet from starches, even if they're whole
grains, it's taking the place of far more nutritious high fiber veggies and
fruits, and still elevating your insulin levels a good bit.

Folks here are eating all different levels of carbs/fat/protein, but I doubt
anyone is eatng much more than 30-40% of their diet from carbs, period.

Also, 50% from carbs doesn't really leave enough room for adequate protein and
healthy fats.

As to your doc's concerns about kidneys, etc, kidney function improves on lower
carb, it doesn't worsen, and there's no evidence of damage to healthy kidneys
from low carb in the scientific literature. Low carb isn't high protein, BTW,
it's higher fat, or at least not low fat.

Congrats on being big enough and active enough to eat so much! :-)

Susan (1200 cal per day)

Reply to this Message

Bill - 12 Jan 2004 17:19 GMT

Susan,

(that's my favorite female name btw) dunno why,
maybe cuz I am a huge Steve Perry / old Journey
fan, and LOVED the song "Suzanne" - im sure you
hate that song LOL, but for whatever reason I have
always loved the name Susan, I even fought with my
wife about naming our first daughter Susan but I
lost the fight, afterall she was the one who gave
birth LOL so we went with Lauren Elizabeth, and
Lauren "fits" her yet I pushed for Susan...

Thanks for the info, yeah my daily intake was bad,
it was alot of calorie and sugar loaded stuff
processed things in cans with too much sodium,
things like that, I wouldn't say my nutritionist
is gearing me at high protein just less of the
white (enriched) types of carbs, smaller portions,
substitutions with veggies and fruits, and more of
a balance including portions of protein moreso in
the day (it wasn't uncommon for me to have a can
of soup, some spaghetti with sauce, and a side of
corn for dinner or something like spaghetti, bread
and meatballs that also had breadcrumbs in them),
but after reviewing the nutritional content of
these meals with her the main common things we
found in ALL were lots of carbs from white
enriched sources and too much processed canned
sodium and sugar content items.

So we dumped the juices and pops, (big sources of
my daily sugar), canned soups & canned ravioli
(another daily fav or mine, both high in sodium
and just junk in general), and for the pastas and
breads we brought those down (one sandwich on
whole grain bread and a side salad or some fruit
or yogurt or extra protein type extra add-on vs
having two sandwiches both on white with some
chips and a can of coke etc.....

I would say it was about %50 carbs and junk yeah,
so im hoping by making these moves to smaller carb
portions (I eat about 1/3 the amount of spaghetti,
no french bread, and added a salad and some
chunked chicken ontop vs meatballs with the extra
breadcrumbs, and have upped my water intake vs
using pops or juice at dinners, just things like
that....

But I guess just asking the group here (without
doing Atkins or southbeach stuff really), is this
change - what I have started to discuss, a good
choice in terms of helping to reduce the weight?
Seems as tho its cutting out alot of sugar, alot
of sodium, alot of enriched carb sources, adding
veggies and salads and a bit more protein... so
far so good its been about a week altho weight
wise no change yet, but in general im still fine
tuning things and reading alot of labels watching
out for sugars, carb sources, sodium etc etc....(I
do have high blood pressure and high cholesterol),
so again I wanna drop some of this weight to also
bring those into check since I am only 36 and
still have the energy and stamina to do the full
workouts etc, I figure if I finetune the foods and
such I should get better results than my previous
6 months efforts of only losing 11 lbs, altho 11
down is better than 1 up in weight!!!

Bill :)

> x-no-archive: yes
>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>
> Susan (1200 cal per day)

Reply to this Message

Susan - 12 Jan 2004 17:29 GMT

>But I guess just asking the group here (without
>doing Atkins or southbeach stuff really), is this
>change - what I have started to discuss, a good
>choice in terms of helping to reduce the weight?

I vote yes. Others will weigh in, I'm sure (pun intended). Anytime you cut
out stuff like soda, juice and plain sugar laden stuff, you've made a major
change for the better.

>Seems as tho its cutting out alot of sugar, alot
>of sodium, alot of enriched carb sources, adding
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
>Bill :)

Keep eating better, and you'll always feel young enough for workouts! :-)

Also, if you're at your appropriate carb level, expect your BP to drop like a
rock. Monitor it and talk to your doctor about adjusting meds if that begins
to happen.

Susan <thinks Lauren is a beautiful name

Reply to this Message

Julia - 12 Jan 2004 17:36 GMT

Seems to me that you are doing much better now than previously, but I would
still buy one of the books, such as Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, and
read it and find out exactly what you are putting in your mouth and why.
You might not necessarily want to follow it completely, but at least you
would know what it is.

Julia
250/175/150

> Susan,
>
[quoted text clipped - 106 lines]
> >
> > Susan (1200 cal per day)

Reply to this Message

Ignoramus26983 - 12 Jan 2004 17:31 GMT

> I made an appointment with a nutritionist who had
> me keep a food journal and after I did and we
> reviewed it for a 2 week period I realized a good
> 50% or MORE of my intake is processed sugars and
> carbs (mostly from enriched pasta, bread etc).

scary stuff

> So her suggestions were to reduce the processed
> items and canned items with high sodium levels,
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> white items) and limit portions of those carbs and
> add more protein choices to the meals.

You have a beautiful nutritionist. Hold on to that nutritionist.

> So now for bread I am on earthgrains whole grain
> vs wonder white, and for pasta im on about 1/3
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> from enriched to whole wheat types) is this
> something some people are doing here?

I do exactly the same things. No sugar, period. (other than trace
amounts in, say, turkey breast in brine made with some sugar). No junk
food, period. Limited pasta and bread. (I bake my own sourdough
bread). Portion control, made possible by reduced junk carbs. No
eating after dinner (after 6).

Lost 47 lbs in 100 days and have been maintaining since Sep.

> I notice alot of "south beach and Atkins" type
> posts or mentions here, I have never read either
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> quality carbs and oh yeah upping lean proteins
> like chicken breast etc.

Just don't go on radical diets if you have kidney problems. Some
premises of atkins -- pasta and sugar are bad -- are valid. Take what
you can and leave the rest. Use portion control instead of strict carb
control. Don;t eat fake LC foods. Maybe ask the doctor if a diet
leaned more towards [good] fat than toward protein, would be more
acceptable to your kidneys.

> Are these principles and basic guidelines anything that you all are
> doing or have tried? I am a big guy 6' 7' 410lbs (was 421 in august
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> maybe I just don't know for a fact they say totally cut out
> carbs)....

Well, there is lots of atkins people, very few SB people, and some
like me who just lowered their carbs some, made sure that those are
better carbs, control portions, work out etc.

It's usenet, the ultimate free for all.

i

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