I'm going on the Lindsay Lohan/Nicole Richie diet.

[Yollam]

Okay, so I'm not going on anything that extreme, but I have worked up a low-calorie diet designed to get my weight, which has ballooned to 260 lbs (I'm 6'2", 36 yo) back down under 190.

I was fat as a teen, but before I married and had kids, I kept trim with diet and a LOT of exercise. Now, with busy schedules and a sedentary telecommuting job, the exercise has slowed down to about 30 mins. once a week.

So I've worked up a fairly strict menu, am giving up sodas and sweets and am making 30 mins. daily exercise, either walking or cycling - a requirement.

I saw myself on a video, from behind today, and I was shocked - I don't even know myself. I guess I'm like the opposite of an anorexic, because all this time I'd look in the mirror and think "I look all right", but looking at that video, I realized that I look like CRAP.

I know some people talk about "fat acceptance", but I do not accept this fat. I do not accept the extra burden on my bones and arteries, or the reduced lifespan. If this has to be a lifelong lifestyle change, dammit I am going to do it.

I gave up smoking for 13 years - I can do this.

Cheers to anyone else who is dealing with this and working on it. You are doing a good thing for yourself and the people you love. And to those who say that lo-cal diets are bad, I really disagree. Lab rats on lo-cal diets have shown significant increases in longevity. Hi-calorie diets are associated with increased rates of cell oxidation IE aging. There are so many things I want to enjoy in this life other than food. (and I will still treat myself, on occasion, with small servings)

Anyway, six months down the road, I hope to be able to tell you that I've reached my goal, or at least made significant progress. Feel free to come on and tell my why I shouldn't or won't be able to do it. It will make me that much more stubborn and deadset on doing it.

[IChing]

1. Have you seen Peter Jackson lately?

If you visualize your reality and dreams in a honest appraisal

you can be that and you know it.
For you have done that before in your struggles

and that is what we all do
to fight our demons that
try to control us.

good fight, I know you can do it.

[Yollam]

2. Thank you, and yes, he looks terrific.

I do hope he's done it in the healthiest way possible.

A year or so ago I tried jogging, which I used to do religiously, but I sprained my ankle within a week. Too fat.

Anybody that tells us to "accept" something so destructive to the normal functions of the body is not doing us any favors.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

11. I still think his new, svelte appearance

Was managed with CGI somehow.

I mean, really now, can Peter Jackson accomplish anything without the use of CGI these days?

[Wetzelbill]

34. hahaha that's good

[Robeson]

3. Good for you. I wish you success....

...a great book I read about how to extend our lives with our diet was "The Anti-Aging Plan" by Roy L. Walford, M.D. It really sunk into me, because he not only showed how a good food program is important, but how it expands our life span. In other words, it made the mortality thing quite real.

Good luck to you...:thumbsup:

[Chicago Democrat]

4. Cocaine and Semen?

Couldn't resist!

[Yollam]

5. LMAO

...and yet, somehow I feel insulted...

Oh well.

I'm tempted to change it to the "Peter Jackson" diet, but this way is funnier...

[Chicago Democrat]

6. Just be happy! Don't do anything drastic...

some people are meant/made to be large, Just love you. Whatever happens..


Oh and Cocaine is bad I hear.

[Wetzelbill]

35. oh lord

just.. oh... lord.. :rofl:

[lildreamer316]

7. Do you like tofu?

I found this diet I like (although I have not stuck with it because I'm just lazy) called the reverse diet. What I like about it is that I actually feel FULL. Saw a news report about a lady who did it and what I liked about it is that it ALSO took care of her extra skin from being fat (guess the tofu had something to do with that.) Let me see if I can find some links..

here is the rundown:
http://www.reversedietsolution.com/

I think I put a link here too: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=295&topic_id=1816

Recipes at the second link (since her site makes you pay)

Here are two easy recipes that Cunningham enjoys:

Cut a piece of tofu about ½-inch thick. Add two spoonfuls of fat-free sour cream and a squirt of fat-free ranch dressing, and stir it all together. Spray some butter substitute on a baked potato and spoon in the tofu.(I put minced garlic in this too.)

Mix tofu with chunk light tuna, some chopped onion and celery, minced garlic, and sour cream. Add parsley flakes, oregano and basil for flavoring, then scoop it all into a cored tomato.

good luck and I hope you like....

[Yollam]

8. Yeah, I like tofu.

That sounds like a lot of food though. But I am intiending of making tuna, no-skin chicken and tofu my protein staples for a while. No meat servings bigger than a deck of cards...

[MissMillie]

9. Kudos to you!

Making up your mind to take control of your health is a positive thing.

My only recommendation is to get some exercise in every day. Yes, life gets busy, but you wouldn't give up eating or brushing your teeth. Exercise is just as important, and it's important that you show your kids (through positive example) that it is.

Good luck to you!

[Yollam]

12. Thanks. I got in a good 45 min. walk today...

It's been 24 hrs, and I am jonesing for grease in any form already. I allowed myself 1 tbsp. dressing on my salad, and the parts with dressing were positively tantalizing.

It's amazing how we get conditioned to slathering oily stuff on everything, and how we jones for it when it's gone.

I ate a LOT of carrot sticks today to keep from getting too hungry. How amazingly unsatisfying.

There are white castles in the freezer, but they are off limits. :cry:

But I bought some salsa today. I thought maybe dipping my carrots & celery in something spicy might liven it up a bit...

[put out]

28. Maybe you could try pouring the dressing

you intend to eat into a separate dish (little dish, so the dressing looks big) and dipping bites of salad into that? Dressing on every bite, that way.

Works pretty well for me, otherwise the greens are just an excuse to get the dressing into my mouth without making a mess or being uncouth.

[Yollam]

29. Nice idea.

And the salsa thing is good too. It has almost no calories and is fairly natural. And since I like the spicy kind, there's little risk of constipation...


LOL. Now I have an image of someone drinking salad dressing straight from the bottle.

[put out]

30. That wasn't me! Guzzling Bleu Cheese from the bottle! No, I say!

By the light of the fridge, I swear, no one can keep a secret these days.

[Rising Phoenix]

10. good luck to you!

and know that I will be doing it right along with you...any time you need some support or a pat on the back, drop me a line....

[Flaxbee]

13. I would recommend not totally depriving yourself of

sweets, soda and alcohol (if you drink it) all at once. When I've wanted to shed a few pounds, I cut out sweet stuff and get used to that. Then after a week or so, I'll eliminate the sodas (though I used to drink diet stuff, now I just substitute iced tea, but diet shit is bad for a person anyway) and lay waaayyy off the beer. I never drank a lot, but even one Dos XX once a week when we'd go get Mexican food seemed to attach itself to my midsection.

I can handle deprivation easier if it's one thing at a time. And I usually always allow myself one small indulgence a day - if it's good salad dressing, or a glass of wine, or some brown sugar on my oatmeal, or even a little cream in my coffee instead of skim milk. That way, it's also easier to make it a lifestyle change, and you really haven't added on more than 50 calories (but you've given yourself a treat).

Good luck! And keep us posted...

[Taverner]

23. Yes - Alchohol is the killer!

When you are young you can shed alchohol pounds easier, but once you hit 30, it goes right to your midsection.

Beer, Wine and even spirits will add lbs because the both (1) slow your metabolism and (2) don't burn until EVERYTYHING else burns.

Better to eat a Pint of Ben and Jerrys than a Pint of bitter...

[Ellen Forradalom]

14. Food is overrated

Sex, on the other hand...

[Hardrada]

36. We have so much damn snow here now

that we can't walk and have to substitute sex for our exercise.

[Yollam]

15. I discovered a good dietetic snack...

I love nachos or tortilla chips with salsa, but since the chips are a no-no, I'm eating carrots, sliced into thin chips with salsa (which has almost no calories) as a spicy snack instead. It's zippy and less depressing than just veggies all the time.

I had just under 1300 cal. yesterday, although the limit I set for myself is 1500. I ate a LOT of veggies so I'm not feeling any hunger pangs per se, but psychologically, I really want something with GREASE. I also miss my diet ccokes, but I have wanted to quit them for a long time for a different reason. I know they are terrible for you. So, coffee, tea or water it is...

[Taverner]

24. 1300 calories...whaaa?

You need at least 2000 to not go into "starve mode"!

You can play with the 1800-2000 range, but really you need at least 2000.

[Yollam]

42. I'm eating up to 1500, but I don't count any of the carrots & celery...

... I chomp on to keep full throughout the day, so it's actually a bit higher than that.

As for 1800~2000, I don't think I would lose weight with that amount. My job keeps me chained to a desk for way too long, and the best I can do is 30 min. walking each day. I think 1800~2000 would be a "break-even" weight for me. Even before the diet I was only eating about 2500 calories a day and I still hit 260. Unfortunately, I'm too sedentary.

My primary goal is 190 lbs, after that, I'd like to get to about 170, but I will probably ease the calorie intake back up near 2000 while increasing the intensity of the exercise. Like I said before, I used to love to job, but with all this weight, it's too easy to get sprains, etc., so I'm just doing fast walking.

[sbj405]

40. Replace the diet cokes with flavored seltzer water

Get the kind with natural flavor (some have splenda or other fake sugar crap). No calories and the fizz may be what you are missing. I find that it makes drinking water easier.

[LeftyMom]

16. I lost 45 lbs by eating mostly stuff from the McDougall plan cookbooks

and doing a lot of walking. I highly recommend his books. The recipies are tasty and filling, too.

[Yollam]

17. Another Resource: "The Hacker's Diet"

http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html

If nothing else, the calorie counts on various foods are useful.

[CarpeDiebold]

18. I wish you the best!

It's a great thing you're doing. Yeah, schedules can be busy but it's not too tough to get in 30 mins a day if you put your mind to it. Weights will give you the biggest bang for your buck, IMO. Aside from that, I hope you stick with your diet and do well on it :)

Oh, something that worked for me when I was trying to cut: take a picture every 6 weeks to see your progress. Looking in the mirror, you can see what you want to see. This way, you have a pretty objective way of evaluating your progress.

Best of luck!

[Yollam]

19. Isn't it funny though...

...how a 125 lb. woman of average height can look in the mirror and see a bloated pig, but I, a 270 lb. man, see an average, decent-looking guy? I wish I had a little of that distorted body image women have.

But when I saw myself from behind on that video, fat ass a wobblin', my mind changed.

[AlCzervik]

20. i've lost 62 pounds on the South Beach diet and by using my treadmill

about 5 days a week. I'm about 10 pounds away from my goal and now it's really slow going whcih is actually ok. I wish all the luck!

[wickerwoman]

37. Me too.

I lost more than 70 pounds on South Beach. I'm the thinnest I've been since high school and it didn't even feel like I was dieting most of the time.

Crash exercise never worked for me. It's more important to establish good habits gradually than to try to totally overhaul your life in one week. You'll get bored or sick or tired or stressed out some time in the next month and give it all up.

What really worked was picking the easiest exercise I could think of (20 body twists) and doing it absolutely every day. It was easy and only took ten seconds so I stuck to it. The next week I added twenty sit-ups. The week after that I added twenty squats, then twenty push-ups, twenty calf-raises... After three months I had a twenty-five minute exercise routine that I did every single day. It was an established habit, I could really see the results and I had a much better sense of self-esteem about exercise (I'd never been able to stick to a plan for more than three weeks before that.)

[AlCzervik]

41. wow, good for you!! I am in the best shape i've ever been

thanks to SB. The first 4 days were awful though, i had a migraine and i was worried it was going to let up and then on day 5 i woke up and it was gone and so were my cravings. As far as exercise is concerned, like you this is the loongest i've stuck with any exercise program, i'm still on the treadmill 4 or 5 days a week and i notice i feel better on the days i do use it.

[Skittles]

21. Yollam

USE A FOOD DIARY! For a free one online I recommend www.fitday.com

Do some research to estimate the number of calories you want to shoot for daily but as a general rule, multiply the weight you WANT to be by 10 and DO NOT GO UNDER THAT - you want to boost your motabolism, not wreck it.

[Taverner]

22. South Beach is healthy, and works

Basically its not a no carb or crazy fad diet - just common sense. High protein, GOOD carbs (whole grains) in moderate amounts, and lots of fresh veggies.

[AlCzervik]

25. yes, like Atkins without the heart attack.

[Taverner]

26. Yep - you eat good protein at that

Salmon, Fish, etc

The stuff that doesn;t clog your ateries

[AlCzervik]

27. and the boca burgers, i love those.

[Flying Dream Blues]

31. I'm keeping this kicked for inspiration. Good luck!

[The Flaming Red Head]

32. Don't you need cocaine, laxatives, and active finger induced vomiting

too maintain those sickly starved looking weight regimens. I though Nichole was much prettier when she first showed up and so was Lindsey.

[Yollam]

33. The odds of me getting that thin...

...are about a Bush budget deficit to one.

My primary goal is 190, which I would like to set at my top allowable weight - anything higher than that starts the diet again.

A healthy weight for a man my height is supposed to be about 170, so I'm going to try to get an equilibrium at 180, because I don't care to be skinny, just don't want to be a flab monster anymore.

Those two girls are emaciated twigs. My brother is one who thinks that kind of girl is HOT!. Personally I'm fine with a girl about Sandra Bullock size, or even a bit bigger, as long as there are some curves happening. Even Queen Latifah is pretty hot...

[NNadir]

38. You are doing it the right way, counting calories and exercising.

The fads will kill you, but doing what your doing will work.

[LynneSin]

39. So you're going to starve, take up smoking, drugs & partying

I'm sorry, if these are your role models for weight lost please get yourself to a therapist AND nutritionist.

These two gals starved themselves until they were an anerectic levels. In fact Lindsey Lohan recently even commented that she was 'too thin' and put some weight back on.

Both girls are notorious for saying that it was 'smoking' that kept them thin. What they don't mention is they can pay thousands of dollars a week for a trainer to push them to the edge.

I just really hope this is a big joke thread because women have got to stop playing attention to Hollywood for what is and isn't beautiful. What is beautiful is in your heart.

I just hope you get the help you need because this is a very dangerous diet. Please google Felicty Huffman and Eating Disorder because she did the same thing when she was young and she is very outspoken about stars who starve themselves to death.