I never got how vitamin pills work . . .

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I buy bigger jeans

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"It is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science."

Diets never solve anything. It's exercise that helps. I say that but I never work out. When I want to slim down quick I just begin limiting my appetite. Each time I'm hungry I eat an orange, peach, or plum. When I feel like snacking I down a handful of almonds and grapes. At dinner I only eat until I don't feel hungry, I don't let myself get to the point of being full. During that time no ice cream, cake, or cookies. Just water and salad with a light dressing in between. After just two or three days of this method you see your weight dramatically plummet. Then it evens out and will take a while before you can lose any more. When I'm through with that crap I go back to my regular bad habits and my weight skyrockets. So that's my method of periodic weight management.

I never go diet, because it seems no matter how much I eat, I couldn't gain any weight , if I slipped out my eating schedule a bit I would lose weight easily, once I've lost over 10kg in 2 weeks because I eat irregularly.

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"we are people because of other people"
"I am who I am because of who we all are"

ever heard of the "freshman 15". it's said that freshmen gain an average of 15lbs when at college. i know i gained weight during college. so i don't think this will work for most.

anyways, i've never really dieted before. i might stop eating fast food or drinking soda, but that's more because i want to eat healthy, not because i'm trying to lose weight. when i'm trying to lose weight i just start exercising.

I'm on one right now actually, but I'm hoping to permanently lose the weight, which means this is going to be more of a permanent lifestyle change than a temporary diet. From all the reading I've done, the equation is pretty simple.

When you burn more calories than you take in, you lose weight. 3500 calories equals one pound of fat. So I used an online calculator to figure out my weight maintenance calorie intake, which was about 1800, and reduced my daily calorie intake to 1400 calories. For safety, you don't want to go below 1200 or 1100 calories a day. Doing this I realized that what I used to eat lots of (pasta, bread) is really high in calories, so I can be just as full if I eat lower calorie foods like vegetables and chicken. Overall, lessening your calories is much more effective in losing weight than exercise, but it is best to do a combination of both.

I also didn't exercise before, so I'm learning to run (three times a week) and on days I don't run I go for a brisk walk or something. Exercise temporarily speeds up your metabolism. So between 400 less calories taken in per day and at least 100 extra calories burned, that means I should be losing at least 1 pound per week. You don't want to lose more than two pounds a week if you are less than 150 pounds because it isn't healthy.

One thing to remember: if you lose weight the wrong way, you will lose muscle instead of fat. You don't want to do that because muscle burns calories and when you lose muscle your metabolism will become less efficient. So I am making sure to eat protein and I am going to start doing some strength training on the days I don't run. Hopefully this means I will lose fat instead of muscle.

After 11 days I haven't lapsed in my diet or exercise and I am down 3.6 pounds. It is nice to see it working. One last thing. Remember that your weight naturally fluctuates throughout the day, up to as much as five pounds, so don't be discourage by a small gain. I weigh myself every morning before I eat, but for results I look to the net gain/loss for the week. (Actually, the best method is probably to measure body fat percentage or to measure waist, hips, etc. since weight can be deceiving if you lose fat but put on muscle).

Good luck, everyone! Let's all stay motivated together

Just ensure that your calorie output exceeds your input.
I love it during the Rugby season because I can eat more due to the fact that I burn upwards of 3000 calories per day due to the amount of training and games.
Half the reason I go to the gym so much is because I enjoy my food.

You underestimate the importance of exercising.
You body will always adjust itself to the amount of calories you are eating, which means that, for example:
Maintanance intake: 2000
Your intake: 1600

At first, you will indeed lose weight, but soon your body will adjust itself and the amount of fat you will be retaining will be equal to the amount you were retaining when your intake was 2000, only with the difference that you will feel and be weaker, since your body will not have as much material to work with. The amount of failed dieting I have seen in my life is absurd, some times it takes a year for them to fail, but they ALWAYS fail, and most people end up fatter than they started.

Well, soon you will probably start gaining weight again. The diet will stop working and the exercises will start working, your body, although heavier, will be stronger and firmer, which is good, since I guess that you are trying to look good on the mirror, not on the scale.

I suggest you to go back to eating 1800, fake weight loss will only give you false hope.
Diet cycle:
I'm starting > 70kg
Oh yeah it's working > 67kg
Oh yeah > 64kg
yeah > 62kg
It's not working anymore > 62kg
It's not working anymore > 65kg
Fuck this shit > 70kg

Well, naturally when I've lost a certain amount I'll need to reevaluate what my maintenance calorie level is, since a smaller body requires less calories. As far as that goes, your body adjusts itself to exercise too. When I've hit a weight (yes, you're right, I mean that as in the mirror, not the scale) that I'm happy with, I'll figure out what my calorie maintenance level is and go with that. I'm only trying to lose 15-20 pounds here.

From everything I've read (and I've done a fair amount of research and thought it through carefully) my maintenance calorie level will only get lower (in your words, become used to the lesser amount of calories) when I reach that lower weight, and at that point, I'll be shifting to weight maintenance anyways, so then my maintenance calorie level should be the same as I've been doing all along or, more likely, a bit more.

I'm not on some fad diet. This is a carefully researched and thought out plan based on widely accepted facts for a goal of gradual weight loss of a specific amount. Calories are simply much more effective when compared to the amount of exercise necessary to achieve the same affect. Also, I am paying careful attention to my body. I am not going to starve myself, nor will I diet to the point of weakness. I'm eating just as much--only the amount of calories in the food I eat is different. In fact, I am eating a much healthier diet than before, since I didn't eat nearly enough veggies or fruits and way too much carbs and processed foods.

And I'd like to point out that I have increased my exercising--in fact, the intensity of my exercising is increasing every two weeks as I increase my time jogging and decrease my time walking. I am also eating protein. So my muscle mass shouldn't be decreasing and that is what would lower the calorie maintenance level of my body considerably. I want to keep my muscle and lose my fat.

Anyways, everyone should do their own research before they start a diet rather than taking other peoples' word for it. The important thing is to diet safely, which generally means slowly.

I have been doing basically the same exercises for 3 years and they never ceased to be effective in keeping my weight in check.

And I don't know where exactly you got this idea, but I never said your "carefully researched plan"( ) wasn't going to do what is meant to do, which is make your body prettier, I just said there is no need to lower the amount of calories you consume in 400 as long as you are willing to keep your exercises.

Eat what you need ,1800, with all the vitamins and shit you can get, and lose, say, 200 (VERY easy) with exercises. You will be getting under the maintenance, which means you will lose fat, and you won't be doing almost any harm to your body.
Take your time, your muscles won't just pop up anyway.

Edit: If your maintenance will go down or up with this kind of exercise will really depend on your body, some people get muscles easily, others have a harder time. My mother's, as an example, actually went up as her body got heavier, since she developed her muscles easily.(she didn't only run though, she also exercised her arms so they wouldn't get "floppy"

Last edited by Klapzi at 10:34 am, Mar 7 2012

My friend's been doing some shake thing that *appears* to be working for her... but she's been eating like a rabbit, I don't think it'll last too long.

Anyway, to all these people saying "diets do nothing"... uh... that's not true. Haven't you ever heard the saying "70% in the kitchen, 30% in the gym"?
I would say if anything, they're at least equally half a part of losing weight. Yeah, you can just exercise... but you'd have to do a hell of a lot if you don't want to change what you eat. And eating poorly reverts you back to old habits.

I cut out ice cream, switched my milk to skim, my white bread to brown bread, and cut off a couple hundred calories a day, with some added exercise. Lost 25 lbs, and I've kept it off :/
But I think it works differently for everyone.

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Go to work, send your kids to school;
Follow fashion, act normal;
Walk on the pavement, watch T.V.;
Save for retirement, obey the law.
Repeat after me: I am free.

When I say dieting I mean eating less than you should, not eating better. At least that is the general meaning of the word "diet" in my country.

It is completly true that changing what you eat is extremely important.

But it is also true that if you do enough exercises you can eat virtually whatever you want, as my girlfriend does, but she spends more time exercising than most people are willing to (around 6 hours a week). And genetics help a lot too.

Here's my 'diet:' I only eat when I'm actually hungry, I only eat portions that fill me up and not more, and I eat little meals every few hours instead of large meals three times a day. I don't eat organic or anything like that, I only eat fast food every once in a while, and I certainly don't stay away from chocolate or sugar... I just don't eat too much. I pay no attention to calories or anything like that.

I rarely exercise and both my parents are way overweight, yet because I simply eat only what I need to fill my hunger and I don't eat processed foods all day, I've stayed a steady 120 pounds since my early teens. Never worried about my weight, I'm happy with my body image, and I wish more people would eat smaller portions and stop using unhealthy extreme dieting methods.

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i dont eat anything after 4 p.m., thats what i do when i want to maintain my weight

if i gain weight then i stop eating breakfast too, instead i just have a really heavy lunch and eat nothing else throughout the day.

i know this isnt anywhere near healthy but honestly this is the only way it works for me.

Yep, intermittently starving yourself and wrecking your metabolism is always a functional method. Definitely won't reverse itself the second you go back to a normal lifestyle. Definitely won't.

On my end, it's simple: eat a little less, eat a few more veggies, exercise more. Generally I don't have any problems though. It's easy to stay healthy if it's a constant routine, and (luckily) I happen to enjoy distance running.

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