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Healthy diets are more then calories and

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Kalika View Drop Down
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    Posted: April 21 2005 at 7:37am

A long post but I'll try to make it worthwhile :)

Healthy Diets are more complicated then counting calories and carbs.  I see a lot of people complaining about not loosing weight when they take no account for sodium levels, trans fats, cholesterol and so forth.

I also had this problem before speaking to a nutritionist.  I recommend ALL of you go see one if your serious about losing weight.  Now I understand a lot of people cant see one, or go through meal planning, but I will share what I learned myself.

Now there are tons of things to look into when trying for healthy eating habits, however if you eat a variety of foods and pay attention to the "big 8" then you can have a healthy well balanced diet, lose weight and keep it off.  Its easiest to start in stages, going all out will have a much greater risk of diet failure.

I myself have suffered from an eating disorder that I have only recently come to terms with.  I was in my target range for weight, but it was extremely unhealthy and doing more harm then good.  I’m almost 22 years old and have had it off and on since I was 15.  I never told a soul until several days ago.  Since then I have been seeking therapy and sought out a nutritionist to relearn everything I knew about food.  Food ruled my life for many years, and it doesn’t have to do the same to you.

One thing I learned is that most people, myself included, paid attention to only 2 things.  Calories and carbs.  You can follow all the fad diets and stay within the target areas for them, but it doesn’t mean your eating healthy at all, and this can mean that you will not lose weight.  You can eat 500 calories a day but if all you’re doing is drinking diet sodas and eating "diet" foods, of course you wont lose weight.  And dropping too many calories can halt your metabolism, screwing your body up even more.

Yes you can mess up your metabolism.  Yes you can fix it.  Unless you have a medical problem (like a thyroid issue) through proper diet you can restore your metabolism.  It doesn’t take years, usually 2 - 3 months.

Now remember, it is ok to occasionally cheat.  You can go out to a restaurant occasionally and have that steak, and potatoes, and dessert.  But you have to remember the word "occasional".  It is ok, and the best way to do this, is to plan for it.  My nutritionist made me promise to cheat!  But she said its only ok to do every now and then, and I must plan for it.  If you plan to cheat then you’re less likely to cheat when you DONT plan for it, which can lead to diet failure.

Now all that out of the way, here are the juicy parts.

If your drinking diet sodas (or even worse, regular sodas), for the love of god stop!  Yes there may be 0 calories and 0 carbs in them, but they are SO full of bad stuff they just destroys your body.  Any nutritionist or doctor or dietician that says its ok to drink all the diet soda you want should be strangled.  Its hard to wean yourself off, I did this a couple years ago, and I used to drink 6 - 10 diet sodas a day!  But you can do it; the goal is to ease into this, not do it all at once, because again, diving headfirst will have a much greater chance of diet failure.  I’m sorry if I’m repeating myself over and over but its true. 

If your soda addicted like I was, start by setting a limit.  I drank a LOT so I started with 4 a day.  I drank 4 sodas a day and replaced the others with tea or juice or water, just something to wean off of it.  Then once a week I lowered the can of soda a day, and at the end of the month, voila, off of soda and it was totally painless.  Now I do occasionally have one, but its ok to cheat every now and then. :) Plus I’m doing a lot better after cutting out all that caffeine.

Seriously, the diet sodas are a killer for loosing weight.  They are SO terrible for you.  Even if you don’t change anything else about your diet, you will notice a difference if you get off those damn sodas.

Now for the big 8.

Remember to ease into this.  Take the steps you feel as if you can take.  I know that I have failed diet after diet so I’m taking this slowly.  Write everything out, and plan ahead.

The big 8 things are - Fat, Saturated Fat, Calories, Cholesterol, Sodium, Carbohydrates, Fiber and protein.  Based on a 2000 calorie diet (means mostly a sedate lifestyle, light work, something akin to an office job) the recipe for healthy weight loss is as follows...

Total Fat: 25 grams or less

Saturated Fat: 10 grams or less

Calories: 1200 (bare minimum) - 1600

Cholesterol: 300 mg or less

Sodium: 2400 mg or less

Carbohydrates: 50 - 100

Fiber: 25 grams

Protein: 60 - 80 grams

I know it looks like a lot, and it really is, I have NEVER counted things like sodium and fiber and protein before, but it is essential for a healthy well-rounded diet.

This applies to me and my personal needs, but for my first month I will not even pay attention to sodium, fiber, protein and cholesterol.  In order to ease into this I need to use what I DO know, and ease into the rest.

What I do know...

Not to drink soda!!! Take a multi vitamin.  Drink more water.

For my first week I’m easing into the calorie counting. Next week I’m adding fat, and the week after that saturated fat.  And the week after that carbs.  In one month I will have eased into the top four keys to weight loss.  Because I know these 4 things it will be easier for me, so I’m only taking them a week at a time.

After I have these down, then I will ease into the other 4.  How do I do this?  Well hopefully by this point your writing everything down, and practicing meal planning.  Lets say I’m going to tackle sodium first.  What’s the big deal about a little sodium?  Well too much causes osteoporosis and water weight gain for starters.  Too much sodium can hinder your diet.  So lets say I’m tracking my progress and I see I’m eating 8000 mg of sodium a day.  The average person who doesn’t track it consumes 7000 - 10,000 mg a day!  I just cut down.  Week 1 I go from 8000 to 7000.  Week 2 I go from 7000 - 6000.

By doing it this way and taking small steps, you can succeed.  Crash dieting and rapid weight loss is not good for you and you wont keep the weight off.  This way you will ease into a healthy lifestyle and you will LIVE it.  This will teach you meal planning, you will relearn what you know, you will rewire your brain.  You can keep it up forever and ever and be healthy and trim for the rest of your life.

Trust me, I know ALL about unhealthy eating.  This really makes me feel good about myself, and I feel that I can do this.  By taking small steps I can ease into this, and I feel good about it.  I’m actually excited! 

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fatmoogas View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote fatmoogas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 21 2005 at 12:57pm

Thanks, Kalika for sharing this with us. I am one of those who complain about never losing weight. I am sure you are right about most things. However, it does seem a tall order to be counting out grams, fat content, etc., for everything we eat. I have a busy lifestyle with irregular hours and places...and I can't always be counting and observing these things.

PS.  Nice hair.

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Kalika View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kalika Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 21 2005 at 3:31pm

it is a tall order.  But Ive had so many problems with food, that this is like a godsend to me.

Plus the counting out everything helps prevent snacking...

"ok so I need to check sodium...wheres the sodium...damnit...forget it"

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