ottawa foodies

Eating is my hobby so why am I not fat? I stay active and have a high metabolic burn rate but as the years go by I've had to pay more attention to what I eat to avoid getting squishy. My waist size and body fat are the lowest they've been since I was in high school so I am confident that my approach is effective.

Counting calories -- aside from making eating less enjoyable -- is an activity more painful than per-transaction budget tracking. I prefer the ridiculously simpler and more satisfying approach of being conscious of what I eat and maximizing my bang for the caloric buck.

In case it's useful to others, here's what I do.

* Avoid high calorie drinks - Pop and juice are the worst offenders, but large coffee beverages and smoothies can be up there too. The sugar doesn't fill you at all and only a tiny percentage of each mouthful contacts your tastebuds. Not worth it!

* Use carbohydrates primarily as a vessel for fat - Carbs are calorically dense and nutritionally sparse (especially the white ones). However, they taste amazing with fat (proof: croissants, poutine). So don't fill yourself up with carbs unless they are accompanied by lots of tasty fat to make them disproportionately filling. You'll eat fewer calories overall and will be a happier person. :-)

* Enjoy fat - Fat does have the highest calories per gram, but it has an even higher *satisfaction* per gram. And it carries flavour like nothing else. Choose olive oil when possible but treat yourself to lard and duck fat once in a while too. In general, use fat for flavour but fill yourself with veggies and protein. You have to eat healthy food but there's no good reason to be afraid of a little fat.

* Try something new - Variety is the spice of life and spice can be the variety of life. Eat healthier by making healthy ingredients interesting. Explore foreign cuisines and cooking techniques -- most of them are healthier and tastier than the classic North American diet.

* Control your daily portion sizes - Splurge once in a while but for your daily meals make a habit of eating a little less than you would if you weren't thinking about it. Eating twice as much never doubles your pleasure.

* Don't deprive yourself of anything - If you love something, eat it. If it's bad for you just eat it less often. I pig out on fried chicken a couple times a year because I love it. I eat chocolate almost daily, but I eat a very small amount and I favour good quality. Deprivation breeds resentment, indulgence breeds contentment. :-)

* Take nutritional trends with a grain of salt - The industry that pushed low-fat high-sugar products as being healthy keeps changing its mind. When in doubt, follow Michael Pollan's simple advice: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." and "Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food."

* Don't eat within two hours of going to bed - I started this habit out of necessity when dealing with acid reflux more than a decade ago. It continues to make a lot of sense. If you have supper at 6pm, it's normal to feel a bit snacky at 10pm. But if you skip that snack you will sleep just as well and will feel fine in the morning. If you really need something, make it satisfying and sensible like a small piece of cheese.

* Savour every bite - As a self-described super savourer, this is the single most important piece of advice I can give. Enjoy each mouthful. If you aren't enjoying it then only eat the minimum you need to get by. Moving food from a bowl or bag to your mouth while your mind is elsewhere is a fast track to fat. Conscious savouring maximizes the pleasure you get from your food. Nothing gives you a better bang for your caloric buck!

That's all I can think of for now. Please feel free to share your own tips here! Remember, diets are bad and permanent lifestyle changes are the only way to achieve permanent results.

I disagree with some of those - the size of your waistline is not an effective barometer of your health, at least not in isolation, and while fats may taste good they have other negative impacts that can't be measured by your pant size.

If you want to keep your waist size down, or to reduce it, then using the calorific equation is the only reliable method. Consume more calories than you burn in a day and your body will store them as fat. Burn more calories than you consume, and your body will break down fat to make up the shortfall. If you want to eat high calorie foods (and who doesn't?), do more exercise. It's that simple.

I run anywhere between 40 and 70 kilometres a week as well as at least two visits to the gym for core strength stuff and my problem is getting enough calories to sustain my activity, but that doesn't mean that I can just stuff my face with high fat foods - even athletes can suffer with issues like high cholesterol, particularly as we get older. Keeping saturated fats to a minimum, which means limiting dairy products and red meats in particular, is incredibly important for your long term health. And we haven't even started talking about different types of carbs and their respective effects, or about salt intake.

Still, the single most important thing anyone can do to stay healthy is exercise. If you don't do that, then all of your tips above - even the ones with which I don't disagree - are moot.

For those who are counting calories, this is a pretty nifty body weight simulator:
bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/

Johnny, there's also evidence that running as much as you do is hard on the heart and can cause long-term damage. I run ~20 km per week at 11-13 km/h and some say even that is too much.

Anyway, I agree 100% that exercise is at least as important as diet. However, this is a food site. :-)

re: waistline: en.wikipedia.org

Watching what you eat is >>> how much you exercise... that is all.

Sounds like the sort of argument made by someone who doesn't want to bother with exercise.

There are lots of fat and unhealthy people who watch what they eat. There aren't many people who regularly exercise who are fat and unhealthy. It's that simple.

FYI, I play elite level rugby so, yes I do bother with exercise, 6 days a week.

Anyway, that aside, your anecdotal references to fat people who watch what they eat is just wrong. Clearly they don't watch what they eat. Otherwise, they wouldn't be fat.

It's mostly about portion control and eating clean. I said watch what you eat... I did not say count your calories. e.g. Calories from spinach > calories from chips.

It does come down to calorie-in, calorie-out. However, one can only know approximately how many calories they are eating/burning if they count their calories, which isn't always easy, especially when eating out. For those with smart phones, there are calorie counting apps. I'd say most people don't even realize how many calories are in a food.

The point I agree with most with FF, is avoiding high calorie drinks. Other than alcoholic drinks, I pretty much just drink water all the time. Everything else is sugar with little or no nutrient value. Even fruit juices are stripped of many of their nutrients, they provide a rush of sugar, which just makes you more thirsty.

I followed the China Study principles (vegan, whole foods only - no oil, whole grain, etc...) for a month to see how I would feel. While I don't necessarily agree with the conclusions made in the book, it did make me feel better and lost some weight. While I am not strictly following those principles anymore, I have dramatically reduced my added fat intake and dairy products consumption. I feel less hungry after a meal making me less likely to snack, and have more energy.

Johnny English, it may be *that simple*, but that doesn't meat it's *that easy* for everyone.

I tried the My Fitness Pal online calorie counter recently and I lasted a whole week. I gotta agree with Fresh Foodie's comment "Counting calories -- aside from making eating less enjoyable -- is an activity more painful than per-transaction budget tracking." It's great for tracking calories in packaged foods since the calories per serving size are already on the package. But I rarely eat packaged foods so it was a real pain calculating calories. For example I made shakshuka from scratch that week and the only choice I had to pick from was "Homemade shaksuka" and some calories listed. It didn't specify which ingredients were used so it's impossible for me to tell if the item listed contained the same type/quantity of ingredients were used as the version I made. Same thing with the French onion soup I made - I had to estimate how much butter/onion/beef stock I had in each portion and work from there. Estimating the calories in the fresh fruit and veggies I eat was also a pain - what does one consider "one apple" or "one tomato"? They come in varying sizes so it's difficult to say exactly how many calories I am consuming. So I just went back to my original "diet" of eating nutrious meals made from scratch and exercising.

Has anyone heard of Fat Free Body Mass? I think this is a useful way of looking at things/gauging your fitness level. Core Strength is definately important as we age and you can either have it or not in varying degrees independent of your waist size.

I have had weight issues in the past and have managed to maintain my healthy weight for over three years now. I have a few tricks in addition to what has been mentioned here.

One of my favorite things to do is share. Most restaurants don't bat an eye if you want to share things. My other half is also into sharing, so rather than share one plate we often split two orders with each other. We also ALWAYS order different things so that we get to sample more of a restaurant's menu. And I never keep eating something that I'm not REALLY enjoying.

I get leftovers boxed all the time. There is always a small cooler in my trunk so if I need to refrigerate something I'll just grab some ice and pop in the doggie bags. Last week in Dallas I had a taste for fried pies, so we bought two - had a couple delicious bites of each and saved the rest for later. By the next meal time we were on to a different flavor train and we never did finish the rest of those high calorie pies. Yes that kind of attitude can sometimes be wasteful I guess, but for me it has worked. And it has also given me all kinds of interesting breakfast hashes the next day.

I remember watching a rail thin woman eating an Oh Henry bar one day and thinking "How can she stay so thin eating crap like that?". When she got about 1/3 of the way into the bar, she wrapped up the rest and put it back in her purse. I had never done that in my life, and it was a watershed moment for me.

and I'm not sure whether the carrot cake referred to here is worth the indulgence - with that kind of calorie and sugar count it's maybe a one bite thrill. www.weightymatters.ca

And one other tip: I almost never have high sugar or high calorie drinks. That includes fruit juices. I eat fruit every day, but won't drink the juice which has all the sugar and none of the fibre. No caramel macchiatos, no pina coladas. I prefer to eat my calories.

Blubarry - that weighty matters piece is quite shocking - didn't know that Burger King (somewhere) is selling a Bacon Sundae. I'm pasting the list as it is very telling re: desserts at chain restaurants/fast food outlets. I think I won't be having a blizzard/mcflurry for a long time to come ...

1.McDonald's Large Rolo McFlurry - 830 calories, 26 teaspoons of sugar.
2.Denny's Oreo Blender Blaster - 890 calories, 19.25 teaspoons of sugar
3.Coldstone Creamery Gotta Have It Oreo Creme Ice Cream - 1,060 calories, 22.75 teaspoons of sugar
4.Cinnabon Pecanbon - 1,080 calories, 19 teaspoons of sugar
5.Dairy Queen Banana Cream Pie Blizzard - 1,090 calories, 29 teaspoons of sugar
6.Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie - 1,250 calories, 40.75 teaspoons of sugar
7.Applebee's Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae - 1,550 calories, 52 teaspoons of sugar
8.Outback Steakhouse Chocolate Thunder From Down Under - 1,554 calories, 33 teaspoons of sugar
9.Cheesecake Factory Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake - 1,679 calories, 51.5 teaspoons of sugar
10.The Keg Carrot Cake a la mode - 2,344 calories, 65 teaspoons of sugar (just 7 teaspoons shy of 1.5 CUPS)!

Omg, that makes my teeth hurt just reading about all the sugar and calories. Dr Yoni Freedhof has been preaching about excsesive sugar for years.
I don't drink fizzy drinks, fruit juices and no sugar in my tea or coffee and have maintained my weight for ears this way.

...yet you are Sugar Sugar...haha!

Ugh. Not to get political here, but I have to respond to Johny English -

"There are lots of fat and unhealthy people who watch what they eat. There aren't many people who regularly exercise who are fat and unhealthy."

This is based on what, exactly? What is your definition of "healthy"? I personally know a ton of people who lost weight through food alone and only started to exercise after their excess weight was gone. Were they healthier as lighter people? Most likely. Were they truly healthy? I have no idea. I cannot visually assess that.

You have absolutely no idea whatsoever when looking at someone what their activity level is. Body weight does not directly correlate to activity level. There are countless naturally slender people who never work out and are incredibly out of shape (they may even have very high proportionate levels of body fat, which you can't see because you cannot visually assess someone's bodyfat percentage). They're unfit, but you can't "see" it, just like a large person can be incredibly fit but still have extra mass. It's thinking like this that leads to cliched thinking that "fat people are lazy" or "fat people have no discipline".

I carry extra body fat on top of a very muscular frame. I weight train and do cardio several times a week. I am athletic. I have also consumed too many calories over the years, which I am working to address. If my eating is out of wack, my work in the gym has no result on the scale; however, that doesn't mean that exercise that week didn't have an effect on my fitness level.

I wholeheartedly agree with all of FF's points. I don't agree with some of the reductionist views expressed on this thread re: weight/activity, but since I'm not a pro I would direct people to places like the Weighty Matters blog - Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, a bariatric doctor whose life work is in the field of treating obesity, has said with great clarity that while exercise is absolutely important with respect to health, caloric intake is really the determining factor of weight.

For what it's worth, in terms of tips, I have found that starting meals with salad/soup/veggies means that I can truly enjoy the more indulgent items in smaller quantities since I am already partially satiated and not starving (which leads to inhalation of food).

That is all.

Well said, Tina. The fact is, sure, you lose weight by burning more calories than you consume. But very few people have the time (or inclination) to spend the hours and hours of exercise needed to burn off the calories that are so easy to consume. If you're already exercising, it's way easier to eat 500 calories less than it is to do 500 calories of additional exercise each day.

In general:

* Exercise to be healthy and fit.
* Reduce caloric intake to lose fat.

Of course they're related, and if you had to choose just one go with the exercise. I would choose being overweight and fit to being thin and unhealthy.

Another interesting thought: From a weight/fat loss perspective, perhaps the most useful role of exercise is in providing the confidence and feeling of self-worth required to motivate you to manage your caloric intake.

Eating too much because of low self-esteem is a stereotype, but it's a real one that affects many and creates a vicious feedback (no pun intended) cycle. If you're exercising and seeing results, you will feel good enough about yourself that watching what you eat feels like a worthwhile thing to do!

Tina thank you. Well said. And may I remind people not to judge someone who appears obese or overweight as unhealthy. Having been there myself in the past, these judgements can be very hurtful. If you're extremely overweight it can be a gruelling process of calorie restriction and/or exercise to lose even 10 or 20 pounds. If you have all those extra pounds, you will need to go beyond eating halthier to lose them. If you're working hard, making life changes and happily realizing some progress to that goal, snap judgements from people unfamiliar with your struggle can be very devastating. Especially if they come from a 100lb person who may look "healthy" but consumes nothing but coffee flavored milkshakes and pastry every day. I don't mean to sound bitter but I speak from experience. Appearances can be deceiving.

Woah there. I didn't say anything about appearances. I was responding primarily to the idea that you should go ahead and keep eating saturated fats because they taste good and justify it by means of a bunch of fairly ineffective tricks. The OP started talk of waistlines.

My point was, FF's tips, even the reasonable ones, are fairly pointless without exercise. I'm not judging anyone for their lifestyle choices, just suggesting that people not try and kid themselves into thinking that it's OK to eat high fat, high sodium foods as long as they mix it with the right carb.

It sounds like you may have misunderstood pretty much everything I said. For fats, I emphasized moderation as an alternative to deprivation. I didn't mention saturated fats or sodium, although I have plenty of thoughts on those too. ;-)

"Use carbohydrates primarily as a vessel for fat - Carbs are calorically dense and nutritionally sparse (especially the white ones). However, they taste amazing with fat (proof: croissants, poutine). So don't fill yourself up with carbs unless they are accompanied by lots of tasty fat to make them disproportionately filling."

If you're concerned that I've misunderstood what you meant, you may wish to reword this particular tip which clearly says that the only time it's fine to eat lots of carbs is when they're accompanied by lots of fat.

Also, the not eating late thing is a proven fallacy, or at least it's a massive over-simplification. A cheeseburger has the same amount of calories and saturated fats at 10am as it does at 10pm. The problem is that people have a tendency to eat fat-laden foods such as the cheese that you recommend as their late night food; they then assume that the problem is the time that they eat rather than what they're actually eating.

www.nature.com

www.oprah.com

The problem is that you posted a whole load of "tips" as to why you don't gain weight despite what you eat, but only subsequently did you then admit to the single most important factor of all which is the fact that you run. I've no doubt that you didn't mean it to be, but I'd suggest that your initial post was somewhat disingenuous; there's no cheating the basic calorific equation.

I'm probably just not being clear enough or you're making a lot of assumptions (probably both). I do maintain that you shouldn't eat *lots* of carbs without fat, because you will need more calories to feel full. 800 calories of carbs is nowhere near as filling as 500 calories of carbs + 200 calories of fat. Anyway, I think we're agreeing, because it's a simple matter of calories in vs. calories out. Eat fewer calories "in" if you want to lose weight. 700 < 800.

I mentioned not eating late because it's easier to skip a snack if you just go to sleep and forget about it. I never mentioned (and don't subscribe to) any weird theories on calories being absorbed differently at certain times of the day. A cheese snack has everything to do with "satisfaction per calorie" and this, along with the fact that cheese helps inhibit tooth decay, makes it a good evening snack. 100 calories of cheese will cure your cravings much more than 100 calories of dry toast or 100 calories of fruit.

Oprah?!

It was more the University of Texas study to which it refers that I was interested in than the site itself.

As someone who has lost weight through both intense exercise and calorie based dieting, I have found the following to be the soundest weight management advice I've come across:

nosdiet.com

And yeah, I exercise every morning, albeit I've traded running for power walking and am happier for it.

By the way, great thread and an excellent topic to cover on this site. I read an interview with a chef last year talking about losing 50lbs while working with food. He said he decided to only eat what he LOVED. No love, no second bite which makes sense, we talk about which meals and food items offer economic value, but what about caloric value?

Susie Q may be in my neighborhood making great donuts but I'd rather save up the calories and put them towards an Art-is-In burger or half pint of Hoptical Illusion at the Gastropup (along with whatever crazy beautiful dessert they're offering that night... like the chocolate cheesecake with salted caramel topping a couple of weeks ago... talk about love at first bite!)

I don't care what adults do but honestly save the kids. Parents have to realize that most kids will eat what is in-front of them. (unless they are picky eaters) They don't understand calories, fats, carbs, and they don't go to the store and buy food. I know that there is a comfort to giving kids all the food they want, it seems like a loving thing to do but its not worth it in so many ways.

I was chubby/fat till I was 15yrs old and honestly later in life I couldn't understand the stupidity of my parents. (and I never got bullied much) I took over my life in junior high school and ever since I've always been my ideal weight or lower.

It's def a balanced method of watching portion size and doing exercise/playing sports. I eat what I want, though. I've always been the person that can easily gain weight if i don't watch it and easily lose weight if i eat too little calories.

Few tips:

1. I think a lot of people don't see drinks as playing a part in weight-gain. They think they will just piss it out. Consider all the drinks you have daily..milk, juice, soda, coffee, tea..that contributes a lot. Don't stop yourself from having drinks but a lot of the time I have half a glass instead of full. If you slow down you realize you dont' need a full glass of orange juice or a full glass of anything.

2. Yes nuts are healthy, fruits are healthy, veggies are too, but there is such a thing as having too much of a good thing. Just because its healthy does not take away the portion size idea.

3. Think about losing weight from the health perspective. When you control your portions, when you have less liquid, when you take walks or do excercise, think about how you are already improving. The benefits of eating less take affect right away. If you are really overweight, forget excercise at first. Prove to yourself by losing 10-20 pounds that you can first control your portions. IT's also a good idea because you can't start with too much pressure. Don't think you have to do everything at once.

4. Connected to the 3rd point, don't kid yourself and think that drinking skim milk is much better than homo milk, (but same quantity) and that having no cheese on a usual sized sandwich, or small things like that will add up..they won't really. Such things clearly show a lack of discipline and naivety and will only frustrate you. It's more abut cutting the portions. Have the cheese but a smaller sandwich. Have the really good milk that you love but half only half a glass. THAT makes a difference.

5. Eat slowly. It takes about 15 minutes for the signal to get to your brain on your fullness level.

6. On the days that you can't control yourself and you feel you need the dessert or a little something else...cheat a bit but in a way that will keep your weight the same or maybe even lose. If you feel like ice cream in the morning, or a bit of cake..and believe me i have those cravings sometimes as weird as that may sound for some people....have a small portion, get it out of your system but have a really really small breakfast..im talking about a piece of toast or two. dont have a big breakfast and that.

"If you are really overweight, forget excercise at first."

Please, everybody, stop saying things like this. It's JUST. NOT. RIGHT.

Sure, cut your portions. Eat the right things. Eat less of the bad things. But ****ing exercise. That doesn't have to mean running marathons or pushing half a ton of iron twice a day, but it does mean get off your arse and start moving every day, because exercise does a lot more than just burn calories.

Exercise comes FIRST. Exercising makes up for a lot of sins of ingestion. It's the single most important thing that you can do.

I'm talking about being realistic, something people may do, to ease into it. I do excercise and play sports but that's me. Everyone should excercise but if you are really overweight I'd suggest first to ease into it without worrying about that part.

I can get even more specific than you probably and set up an exact eating plan, on top of a mixed excercise system, but I'm trying to make people have some hope..to make change you have to believe that every good thing you do each day makes a difference...and it does. By controlling portions to a level that will make a difference in terms of weight, even if you are still eating shit food, you are now eating HALF less of it. Again, it's the same as the excercise/no excercise thing..of course you should be eating healthy, not shit food, it doesn't change the fact that you are eating half less of it. You gotta see the positives.

Then you build and build and get to the point of doing everything you need to do...including eating all the right foods, excerise, etc

I'm enjoying my popcorn, Mont-eh, Mont-eh, where are you?

I'll tell you what, I do find this whole "thumbs up, thumbs down" thing on this site a little annoying. Three people have given my last post on this thread a thumbs down - I'd be all ears to hear why you disagree with my assertion that exercise is so important.

iheartsamosa, I hear what you say but I'm afraid I still disagree with you - especially if you're talking about the significantly overweight. Just cutting food intake requires a fairly significant reduction to reduce the waistline, because you have to take someone from ingesting more calories than they burn just through the course of a normal day, to less than they burn through doing the same.

Weight loss will be easier, more effective, faster and probably more rewarding if it's achieved through a mix of diet planning and increased calorie burn. It's very difficult to just slash your food intake and stick at it for any length of time.

Well, I suppose that was predictable. If the best counter-argument you can make is clicking a little anonymous button, then I guess you've kind of made my point for me, haven't you?

I've resisted jumping into this fray but I've got a couple things to add:
1) Not eating at night is a good way to cut calories/lose weight/whatever if you've eaten 3 meals etc. beforehand and you're looking for a late night snack. The study linked to above focuses one the percentage of daily calorie intake consumed at night. If you eat breakfast and lunch and then put dinner off till 11pm, then you're probably consuming roughly the same amount of calories (or maybe more since you've starved yourself for 11 hours...). The problem is having a bowl of ice cream late at night because you're bored/craving something sweet/etc despite the fact that you don't really have cause to be eating.

2) I'm hesitant to fully support dieting over exercise or vice-versa simply because no one seems to be in agreement about what's good and what's bad (see also: eggs, types of cholesterol, fat). That being said, there are studies like this one: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov which makes sense to me. Namely, that men can lose weight through exercise or through better eating but that men generally see the best results through a combination of exercise and better eating. According to this study, if you're a woman, exercise alone is not particularly useful but just eating better can cause weight loss.

I'm not arguing that doing both isn't better -- but to quote some network TV wisdom:
The world don't move to the beat of just one drum, what might be right for you, might not be right for some.

Interesting study, PB&A. The conclusion "For women, the cumulative effect of concomitant changes in diet and exercise on weight loss was more than additive" seems to confirm that doing both is much better than picking one.

There is a caveat though : the study used BMI, a measurement that is getting increasingly discredited. And it's easy to see why... According to the BMI, I should lose 100 pounds to be healthy. But, with that measurement index, it makes no difference if the weigth I lose is fat or muscle. When you think about it that way, exercise alone may not make you lose much weight...if you gain muscle as fast as you lose fat. Replacing that fat with muscle still makes you healthier though, IMO.

I personally think I'll be in far better health if I lose 50 pounds of fat and no muscle than if I lose 50 pounds of fat and 50 pounds of muscle! The BMI disagrees, so I think the BMI is not a good measurement.

If I manage to lose the superfluous fat while keeping the muscles I've built up staying active despite the extra weight, I'll be happy. And I'll be able to carry a very heavy backpack!

I must admit I have been following this forum with great interest as I have been on a weight loss journey for a while now and am the curious sort. I suspect most of you agree on most things with the quibbles happening on the fringes.

It is almost entirely self-evident that to lose weight (or more accurately fat) an individual must burn more calories than they injest. This has never been in dispute. The challenge is how to make that happen. I agree completely with all the points made in the first post in this thread. None of them are absolute but together they would help anyone reduce their calorie intake without letting the word "calorie" pass through their mind. BTW, the only reason that the "not eating two hours before you go to bed" things works is because most of us eat junk or extra, excess food at that time.

As for exercise I would be hard-pressed to find anyone that believes no exercise is a good prescription for weight-loss. The challenge with weight-loss,especially at the beginning of your journey, is that your fitness level is so low that it is almost impossible to achieve any calorie-deficit with the little bit of exercise you can muster. From my reading, none of which could be considered canonical, it is estimated that most people who have lost weight have done so with about 80% diet and 20% exercise. For some of us middle-aged couch potatoes, it is very important that we get moving, but it is unlikely that we can generate enough calorie burn to significantly lose weight. Having said all that, exercise is such an important part of weight-loss for so many other things, mood, sleeping, etc. My personal goal is to walk for at least one hour six days per week at a pace of 8.5 minutes per kilometer. I am still 250 lbs, so if you see me coming, get out of my way!!!

It's interesting reading the comments about eating before bedtime. There was a time in my life when I was working two jobs and would return home at 9:30 pm after an 11-odd hour workday. I had lunch then an afternoon snack to tide me over but by the time I got home and made dinner I would eat at 10:00 pm then go to bed. I did in fact put on a little weight (5 lbs. or so) due to the fact I wasn't getting any after dinner exercise (or any exercise for that matter) and my slow metabolism doesn't help. I dropped the weight when I finally landed a permanent job that paid a living wage therefore had time to get more exercise. Now I have middle age weight gain to deal with so I am now fighting the battle of the bulge and loosing-;) I just keep exercising, I try to eat nutritious meals that are grilled, baked, or steamed, and try to eat dinner earlier and on a regular schedule. Now a full night's sleep would be helpfull...

@Isabelle, you're absolutely right. There are lots of indicators of health and bmi is not the most reliable. However, if we're just talking about losing weight, I'm not sure it's a terrible indicator. That being said, it's easy to be skinny and unhealthy too. You have to take into consideration whether you're getting enough vitamins and minerals, how much muscle you have, whether you're ingesting too much alcohol or red meat etc.

My point was mainly about weight-loss pure and simple. And I wasn't trying to simply disagree with Johnny English either but I'm sure there are plenty of folks who get lots of exercise, look great, but eat terribly and may not be particularly healthy when analyzed from a perspective different from that of strength or body fat percentage.

If we're moving to a more holistic approach to health (one that I can really get behind), then obviously many variables. I try (and am subject to my fair share of failures) to maintain a plant-heavy diet, low in refined foods, with lots of beans/nuts/lentils. I still eat meat although I try and consume less but bbq season really does me in. I probably drink too much beer. I exercise but try and get most of my physical activity in through doing as much by foot or bike as possible. I sit in a chair all day so I try and get in some higher intensity exercise where possible but I'd prefer to do more in the course of my life to build functional strength rather than have bulging biceps. I think there's a point of diminishing returns -- once you've achieved a certain level of fitness, there's obviously a notion of 'personal best' which eggs oneself on. However, I've found in the past that this can devolve into a sort of vanity or self-competition which is less about being healthy than it is about being very fit. And if that's your thing, then go for it. Myself, I prefer the path of moderation in all things. That being said, I'm fairly young so I'll see if such a plan holds out for me.

I wrote something yesterday in relation to Isabelle's comments about BMI and it seemed to have vanished. Just wanted to point out once again that if you are starting to increase activity level, Fat Free Body Mass is a helpful way to look at things. This measures the weight of muscle, water and soft tissue. I'm hoping over time to increase this measure and decrease my fat mass. I am not going to worry about weight loss. I can certainly stand to loose weight but like others point out counting calories is no fun and really what is currently bothering me is that over the last 5 years my body has changed, my weight hasn't necessarily changed but I have fat in new places which leads me to assume I've lost muscle mass as I've been busy having children and cut time spent on formal excersise. BUT I think realistically, I'd be lucky to "convert" 5-15 lbs of fatt mass into fat free muscle mass so ultimately I will need to reduce calorie intake if I want to loose weight or see the proportion of Fat Free Body Mass increase dramatically as compared to Fat mass. For example, my trainer (who is like more than 10-15 years younger than me) weights about 140 lbs and she says her Fat Free Body Mass is about 110 lbs. I think my Fat Free Body Mass is about 80 lbs. I've likely gained a couple 2-3 lbs of FFBM over the last 8-10 weeks. We'll see where this leads in the Fall ...

A timely article by Mark Bittman: opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com (via LifeHacker: lifehacker.com)

He's highlighting that studies are showing that not all calories are equal. This makes sense, because calories refer to the total energy stored in the food rather than the energy the human body gets from the food. More evidence that processed carbs and sugar are the biggest problem in our diets!

From a dietary perspective, a 300 calorie snack of cashews is a superior choice to a 300 calorie snack of potato chips. 300 calories of full-fat ice cream is better than 300 calories of sorbet. Not only is the former in each case more satisfying (which was the original premise of my posting here) but apparently it isn't turned into fat as readily as the latter.

As for tips, I subscribe to a lot of FF's original thoughts, but do need to get better at putting things down that I'm not really loving. Sometimes it's just automatic to keep shovelling food in, especially when I'm in a rush.

Other things that I do are:

On those occasions when fast food is needed and I'm with family and the one placing the order, I ask for one combo and make the other order just a sandwich. That way, we're splitting the fries. I generally skip the pop myself, so it's all for the other person.

If I have one carb based meal (e.g., toast at breakfast, rice or pasta at lunch), I try to limit or avoid carbs at my next meal. It's an easy way to keep track for me, rather than having to be too conscious about my overall intake.

Something else that I intuitively do, which I realize is probably a bit odd and not very scientific, is seasonal eating. I find my appetite is greatly reduced in the heat, but it's habit sometimes to plate my 'usual' serving. So, as much as possible, I try to eat smaller portions in the summertime and then, when the cold weather hits, I don't feel quite so guilty when I'm indulging in those hearty helpings of comfort food and holiday fare.

Also, flavourful rubs and marinades make everything so much more satisfying. I never cook bland food (not deliberately, anyways).

Well Johnny English, looks like you are just plain wrong about "eat less, exercise more"

www.marksdailyapple.com

I don't know about "just plain wrong"...eat less/smarter, exercise more is always a good thing...

I love this post! Thank you, FF. These tips are quite possibly the best I've ever seen. About a year-and-a-half ago, I read a book that convinced me to do exactly this: "Don't deprive yourself of anything - If you love something, eat it."

Now I take the time to assess exactly what I want. If it's unhealthy, that's fine. What I'm finding though, is that I often crave the healthier things. Now that there's no guilt factor -- regardless of whether I choose healthy or unhealthy foods -- there is no urge to overeat. I just trust what my body is craving. It's a much simpler way to live. Not trying to sound preachy.

Some people will understand what I mean about guilt. People who feel guilty about what they eat (disclaimer: this is all according to my brain) end up eating more than they want because of all the negative emotions, I'm guessing. I really don't know. I just know that it's a cycle.

I have to say: now that I've loosened up about what I eat and don't berate myself for it, not only do I eat less, but I feel so much better all around. And it's not about trying to be this way, it's just much easier to do. Eat what you want.

Why did I write such a long post? (I can't believe you're still reading.) Because when I felt bad about my food decisions, I thought about it constantly. Negative thoughts consumed me. I live a much more positive (and healthy) life now.

As a final note, I'd like to add another tip.
I think it's worth mentioning that you should stay away from diet/low calorie/nonfat foods. They're so processed and bad for you. Don't do it. Yogurt, mayo, cheese, whipped cream -- non fat? Give me a break. That is straight up unnatural.

Well, Zym, I guess you get to choose whether you follow basic, immutable principles of physics and biology or the latest commercial from someone selling a book. People will make their choices as they see fit.

gim·mick   [gim-ik]
noun
1.
an ingenious or novel device, scheme, or stratagem, especially one designed to attract attention or increase appeal.

"You can lose weight and be healthy without having to do any of that hard work or depriving yourself of any of those good things you like to eat! Just buy the latest book by me, and I'll show you how! I've got a degree, and I've got a buddy with a degree who says my ideas are good, so everything I say must be true."

Edit: he doesn't even have any qualifications in anything to do with nutrition or health - he's basically a smiley, handsome front man. "When he is not consulting or speaking, Bailor works as a senior program manager at Microsoft. He graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from DePauw University where he studied economics, philosophy and computer science." (www.jonathanbailor.com)

What are you going to give me next, Jane Fonda's Tips For Faster Coding In C++?

It does not appear that you even read the link Johnny - there is tonnes of science cited there, including this quote :

The simplistic notion that weight can be controlled by ‘deciding’ to eat less and exercise more…is at odds with substantial scientific evidence illuminating a precise and powerful biologic system that maintains body weight within a relatively narrow range.

– Dr. J.M. Friedman, Rockefeller University

I do have my problems with Mark and his selling of books - no doubt about it. But he rarely makes a claim without backing it up with science

Mankind is causing irreparable damage to the Earth, and I can prove it with reams of scientific evidence.

Mankind is having a negligible impact upon the Earth and climate change is part of an inevitable cycle, and I can also prove that with reams of scientific evidence.

Any scientist who tells you that you won't lose weight and become healthier by exercising more and eating less calories (assuming you're overweight in the first place) is a &%$@ing quack. It's that simple.

Also, if you'd bother to research your Dr Friedman then you'd understand what he's talking about, which isn't that you can eat yourself thin or eat yourself healthy, but that the body has a natural weight which it will attempt to maintain. 250+ lbs is a not the natural weight for anyone unless they're 6'8". Unfortunately, in Western society it seems we're determined to override our body's natural instincts. Eat less, exercise more and your body will regain its natural weight.

www.wired.com

www.rockefeller.edu

I've been reading the exchange with interest and finally decided to jump on. First, there is something ironic about these messages on a foodie site that also features ads from Dr. Bernstein.

Second, as someone who has struggled with weight most of her adult life, I can only say that I wish it was as simple as some of you make it sound. I am not fat by choice, nor is it about having been taught bad habits as a child or having no willpower. Being overweight is partly science, ie calories in, calories out, but it's also about metabolism, environment, and no end of other physical, physiological and psychological factors.

I have lost 100s of pounds over the years. I have also put them back on. Twenty here, thirty there, it's like the old joke about smoking. I'm an expert at quitting - I've done it dozens of times!

But there are some things that I have learned along the way.

1. If you need to lose a serious amount of weight, not just 5-10 pounds, consult your doctor. Someone mentioned Dr Yoni Freedhof and there are a few others in Ottawa that specialize in bariatric medicine.
2. Calories in, calories out - the math matters.
3. Skip the fad diets - healthy, vitamin rich, nutritionally balanced meals are the way to go. The ice cream, cabbage soup or whiskey diets may show promise, but they're not sustainable for real weight loss.
4. Don't deprive yourself of treats completely, but consider using them as periodic rewards, ie make them special like Sunday dessert or date night.
5. Watch for hidden calories, eg fruit juices, pop, etc.
6. Learn portion control. Our eyes - and our stomachs - deceive us. A normal size steak is the palm of your hand. (I can hear the groans already.)
7. Eat slowly, enjoy your food. Someone else mentioned that it takes 15-20 minutes for your brain to register that you've had enough.
8. Never eat until you feel full! By then, it's too late and you've eaten too much. Take the extras home - no need to waste good food!
9. It's summer, so enjoy the great veggies and fruit at one of the many markets in Ottawa or from a local CSA.
10. This has to be about happy, healthy lifestyle choices, including exercise if you're so inclined. it cannot be about being on a diet, which makes you feel deprived and often unhappy.

I'm 40 pounds down on a 100 pound journey. It's slow, sometimes painful, but ultimately worth it if it means I enjoy a longer, healthier life. After all, there's a lot of wonderful foodie things that I haven't yet had a chance to try!

Well said ECK. I would add another tip that has been helpful to me in changing my habits. Track what you eat. It's a pain in the butt, but if you are trying to get a handle on putting the right amounts of quality fuel into your body, it is incredibly helpful to track. I used a website called sparkpeople.com to help me get things under control. It's free and you can track not only calories, but carbs, proteins,and other components that might be important to you depending on specific health conditions. The good thing is that you get a pretty accurate history of what you're doing and that can be important when you have a week of good results or bad results, and you start to see patterns emerge.

Nice post, ECK.

I will quibble about one thing though: I don't think it's fair to point out the Dr. Bernstein ads, because those ads are chosen by cold unfeeling computers, not people with a keen sense of irony ;)

Does anyone have any experience with Dr Yoni Freedhof, mentioned above ?

Please send me a message through this page: Captain Caper

I never used Yoni per se....but I know the guy who is/was the personal trainer there. Never kept in touch. Seems like alot of emotion in this thread and I choose not to enter the emotional subjects. I can tell you though what worked for me:

this guy's ebook www.burnthefat.com/

cardio and weights 5+ times per week. heart rate monitor. rigid diet, and by that I mean 90% of what I ate was home made. Minimal dining out aside from a weekly trip to the pub.

I believe in the laws of thermodynamics. watched my caloric intake, watched what I had burned. Believe in the right balance of protein, fat and carbs to make you full. nutritionally dense eating is important. choose a yam over potato.

I hit my target of 8 percent body fat and 50+ lbs lost and had more energy than 10 average people in Canada. There are alot of fads, books, plans, diets. I chose to learn to cook healthy and exercise. The Engineer in me says that the laws of Thermodynamics dont change if you are willing to follow them to the T. I put together a spreadsheet of calorie intake and calories burned and my weight loss pretty much followed the graph!

Captain Caper just sent you a private message and happy to relate my positive experiences with Dr. Yoni Freedhof in private messages to anybody, just don't want to go into detail in the public forums.

Thanks to both krusty and blubarry for your responses.

I'm sooo tired of yoyo-ing.

So not only am I looking at a weight loss .... It's the maintenance that is important to me as well.

Anyone wanna 'weigh in' on tips for successful weight maintenance. (Besides the typical output must = input).

My hight is 5'2" and weight is about 52kg, it hasn't been changed since I was 15. ( I am 38 now) I didn't gain any extra weight even when I was pregnant.
But when I came to Canada, I gained 10kg in 3 months. Food portion here is so much bigger than Japan, and I ate too many chips and cookies!

I figured out the right portion size of Canadian food (Canadian means more meat and potato than fish and rice)for me, so I lost weight.
I also drink a glass of water before the meal, and I try to eat food slowly and chew well, this will calm down the hunger and craving, so I don't eat too much.
I eat anything I want, I still eat chips and cookies, I make pastry almost every week but I don't gain any, and as soon as I feel my jeans getting tight, I adjust my diet.

Portion control is key, I think, as is appropriate snacking when hungry (so you don't get to a heavy meal starving hungry). Having a drink of water or watered juice when you feel hungry is also a good way of judging whether you're actually hungry or if your stomach just feels empty. ;)

But I think portion control is the biggie.

One of the keys for me has been to have snacks with at least 5g of protein. For me, that seems to stave off the hunger and when I look back over a week, the days that I have made smarter choices are preceded by meals and snacks that contain protein. If I have fruit and yogurt for a snack it doesn't sustain me as long as nuts, a hard boiled egg or a piece of cheese.

Would it be absolutely shameless to mention that I just started distributing a natural health product that could potentially help all of these weight loss ideas?If there's any interest, message me. I can see all the thumbs down if I go any further than this lol.. Might anyway ;)

I did not give you a thumbs down. I'll tell you straight out IMO - it is not appropriate and I don't believe promoting a weight loss product is what this site is about.

www.theglobeandmail.com
Quite relevant, I think!

I agree with a lot of what other posters have talked about re maintenance and totally believe the flavour per calorie theory espoused in the article linked to by yessi, especially as it pertains to vegetables (since it results in eating more) and meat (since it results in eating less).

Here are a few other things that I try to do that work for me, when I actually follow them:

As much as possible, eat with and in front of my kids. This helps in so many ways. I'm less inclined to sneak marshmallows from our junk cupboard (yes, I do this, and, yes, we have a junk cupboard), I exercise restraint when I do indulge in sweets or treats in front of impressionable eyes, I eat at regular meal and snack times, I buy food that helps to make the case for healthy eating, it makes food a social experience as opposed to an emotional/bored one, etc. Overall, it just makes me more mindful and helps me to tap into my better self. Of course, there are those nights when I refrain from that second piece of pie at dinner only to have it once the kids are asleep ;)

Use small plates

Drink lots of water

Pay attention to what constitutes a serving size when buying items. If the serving size for a cookie is one, then I'm a goner and don't even bother. But I can eat 15 (15!) of those heart-shaped ginger snap cookies, it's still only one serving and I feel like I actually got to indulge a bit. Even Oreos are at least three! Of course, all bets are off when I go to Art-is-in. I don't even want to know the caloric value of my spicy pickle melt and bread pudding combo. Hmm. What's that you say? It's not a combo???

Play with my kids. Show them how to do a lay-up instead of coaching them from the sidelines, get on the monkey bars, etc. I'm past the age where I can do this without it being totally embarrassing, but I love it and weight loss/maintenance is besides the point.

Eat some protein at breakfast. I started doing this during my first pregnancy out of necessity because I was ravenous when I woke up. But I kept going with it, as I've found that a bit of leftover steak or some eggs, Greek yogourt or cheese first thing in the am really helps to moderate my appetite for the rest of the day and minimizes empty snacking in the morning especially.

Probably goes without saying, but treat dessert as an indulgence rather than a given.

Plan to meet friends for an activity, like a walk, rather than meeting at a restaurant or coffeeshop as a default. In a similar vein, if your job permits and you need to hash out some ideas with a colleague, take a walk instead of sitting in a conference room. And keep walking past Starbucks. I've actually only done this a couple of times, but each time I've asked myself why I don't do it more. It's so good for you in so many ways, not the least of which is one's mental health, and there are plenty of discussions that can be had without the benefit of a notebook or computer.

Skip or limit buffets. I mostly do this because I'm a germophobe, but also because I tend to eat stuff I wouldn't normally order and end up feeling gross.

Refuse to buy fat clothes. This I do mainly because I'm cheap and have other things I need to spend my money on, but I think it also acts as a bit of a pass. If my clothes are getting a bit tight, I suffer through wearing them and it motivates me to work on it. On a related note, find excuses to dress up occasionally. If you're at all vain, this imposes an external deadline to work towards.

Plan menus and limit eating out.

Now if I could just stick to all this, I'd be golden. Some weeks and months are better than others!

cardamom, those tips all look excellent to me!

On the subject of Yoni Freedhoff, I recently started communicating with him via Twitter and discovered that many of his ideas mesh well with those that I shared in my first post in this topic. For example, look at his post from today, in which he declares that one should not deprive oneself of anything and that diets are bad: www.weightymatters.ca

I'm understanding more and more that the ideal way to eat is by carefully balancing pleasure and nutrition and maximizing how much of both you get on a per calorie basis. Minimizing empty calories is the best way to make calories count. The calories you eat should either give you a lot of pleasure or be nutritious (and preferably both!). Empty, depressing calories (like rice crackers and crappy bread) are the worst. :-)

The calories in vs. calories out argument works for tracking on a personal basis, but the same numbers can't be used for all people. Calorie absorption during eating and calorie expenditure during exercise both vary from individual to individual.

I met with Dr. Freedhoff after finding his blog. His clinic offers a free consult (covered by OHIP). The consult lasted about half an hour.

He is a very nice man. He tells you straight up that he will do most of the talking during the consult, but will ask some quick questions (diets you've done, goals, how often you eat out, etc) and weighs you. His goal is to help you to find the healthiest lifestyle you can enjoy, not just tolerate. It's kind of funny that he talks in a radio voice (likely from going over the same speech hundreds of times), but it's not insincere.

His program is a combination of meeting with him, a nutritionist, a trainer, getting blood tests done (presumably to check for hormonal imbalances, etc) and some other things. You cannot selectively pick which parts of the program you want to use. I think it's a brilliant program that seems to offer a lot of support, but since I already work with a trainer buddy at a gym and have a solid nutritional base, I didn't feel like I would get full use out of the whole program.

He seems completely genuine and really believes in what he's doing. IMHO.

Here's today's post from Dr. Yoni. Weight = food, health = fitness.
www.weightymatters.ca