[cosmokindra]

I have decided the best way to start my weight loss is to research diets and figure out what the heck I am doing! I came across a book that had very good reviews called the body type diet.. I am the A-type and basically need to avoid red meats it also gave me an exact diet to follow. I was a little shocked as by judging by my body type it knew what I crave (pasta, meat no sweets!), where I gain weight at (my stomach with a flat butt!!) even that I am night owl! I want to do a little more research but I Think this diet is def going to be what I start out with.. Has anyone ever done this diet or heard of it? IF not what kind of diet do you use? Is it very specific ect? I just need all the info on dieting I Can get! Thanks everyone

[JohnP]

If you believe it, and follow it, you'll lose weight.

Ultimately it comes down to restricting calories.

[DezziePS]

I totally agree with John.

If you eat the most healthy food in the world, but you eat too much of it, you will gain weight.

If you are good with restricting certain foods and getting onboard with a specific diet, go for it. I have found that that's really not the way I lose weight best, though, because it's always too difficult to plan my life around things that I "can't" have. I set myself a daily calorie range (right now between 1300 and 1600) and try to stay within the range for the day. I record everything I eat. There are lots of websites and applications to help you do this if you google "calorie counting." It's simple, it works, and you can do it anywhere when you are presented with any food to eat. You just have to make sure it fits into your calories for the day. That means I can eat things that would be "off limits" on stricter diet plans, but as long as they fit into my calorie range for the day, I don't feel like I have failed on my diet and get tempted to quit. Measuring food is also really important. Your idea of a serving size of something is usually VERY different than the manufacturer's idea of a serving size. Get a $5 food scale from the grocery store and a set of measuring cups and spoons. Good luck!

[kaplods]

Originally Posted by cosmokindra

I have decided the best way to start my weight loss is to research diets and figure out what the heck I am doing! I came across a book that had very good reviews called the body type diet.. I am the A-type and basically need to avoid red meats it also gave me an exact diet to follow. I was a little shocked as by judging by my body type it knew what I crave (pasta, meat no sweets!), where I gain weight at (my stomach with a flat butt!!) even that I am night owl! I want to do a little more research but I Think this diet is def going to be what I start out with.. Has anyone ever done this diet or heard of it? IF not what kind of diet do you use? Is it very specific ect? I just need all the info on dieting I Can get! Thanks everyone

Realize though that it's just as likely that the author is just guessing - and you just happened to fall within his guesses. Even if he's right only 20% of the time, it will seem "amazing" to those 20%.

The body-type and blood-type diets have been around for decades - unfortunately the diet authors don't seem to agree on which diets are right for which body types.

I've been dieting most of my life, and "this time" you could say that I've lost my weight on one diet, or you could say also say that I've lost my weight on a dozen different diets. That's because I've used an exchange plan from the beginning, but I've distributed those exchanges differently, based on my best-guess theory in the moment.

You could say that I chose to "translate" popular diets into an exchange plan.

When my doctor recommended that I try low-carb, but not "too low" I chose South Beach, but I stalled fairly early because I can gain weight on the healthiest diet if it doesn't have a portion/calorie control element.

I like exchange plans, because they insure some balance and are calorie-controlled. I found a reduced-carb exchange plan online (like those on frugalabundance.com) and have modified it in several ways (mostly in the guidelines I chose for choosing foods to fill the exchanges).

There is no magic to the exchange plans though - or to any food plan. I don't think the food plan itself is the biggest factor for most folks. Although I am much hungrier on high-carb eating, so carb-control is a necessary component for me, but of all the restricted carb plans I've tried, they all work fairly well - if I translate them into an exchange plan (that is - if I control the calorie intake).

I think the biggest challenge for most dieters isn't the food - it's all the rest. Dealing with frustration (preventing frustration), learning to see the "big picture," and not defining slow success as failure, and not punishing/rewarding mistakes with bigger mistakes (getting rid of the "I've blown it, so I might as well eat everything in sight until I lapse into a food coma and can start fresh tomorrow).

[ncuneo]

Gosh I don't know...sounds kinda like a gimick to me. Here's is the big secret to "diets" every single diet on the planet (that actually works) restricts calories in some shape or form. So you can literally pick any "diet" you want and stict to it and you will lose weight. I just prefer to eat what makes me feel good and keeps me satisfied, fuels my workouts, and keeps me healthy in appropriate portions that to follow something than restricts a food group.

But if it sounds like something that will work for you - try it out.

[LisaTcan]

Echoing everyone here..my close friend is a dietitian who works in bariatrics and she always says "a calories..a calories.a calorie" meaning when it comes to weigth loss the only thing that matters is the amount of calories you eat. Now nutrition and fitness is a different story.

[Unna]

A calorie is a calorie. True. But what about fiber calories?

[kaplods]

Originally Posted by Unna

A calorie is a calorie. True. But what about fiber calories?

This is one of the reasons "a calorie is a calorie" is a lie. If you're a cow, fiber has calories. If you're a human, it does not, and yet the calories in fiber are often included in the nutrition label calorie counts (The FDA allows companies to subtract fiber calories from the calorie total, but many do not - in fact, I'm starting to believe that very few do - because whenever I've checked the math, the fiber calories often seem not to have been subtracted).


Another reason a calorie isn't always a calorie, is that the food you eat, can effect the "calories burned (calories out)" part of the equation.

When I found more success on low-carb, I initially thought that the hunger-control was the only reason (I'm a lot less hungry on low-carb), however by looking at my food journals closer, and experimenting with exchange plans - I learned that I actually lost more weight on 1800 calories of low-carb than 1800 calories of high-carb (and I'm not counting the first two weeks of those plans either - because low-carb always has an advantage in the first couple weeks, because your body holds on to more water on a higher carb diet, because water is needed to process carbs).

From what I understand, not everyone experiences such a drastic difference between low-carb and high-carb weight loss, but it's still pretty clear that not all carbs are created equal.


There are other carbs that aren't fully digested (such as sugar alcohols and "resistant starches"), but there don't seem to be clear answers yet as to how many of the total calories are absorbed. So the "calorie count" in a calorie counting resource is basically a "worst-case scenario," measure of calories.

I think it's a shame though, when the fiber calories aren't subtracted, because it makes healthy, high-fiber foods seem higher in calorie than they actually are (providing you're not a cow or termite).

[Unna]

kaplods: thanks for the answer. I'm always a bit torn whether I should also keep track of my fiber grams per day.

I always hear people talking about how they lost more on a whole foods diet - or, rather, how they could eat more calories and still lose. Fiber seems to be the reason for that - they probably count 1800, but, after subtracting fiber, they have really eaten closer to 1700.

[Esofia]

The body type diets and the blood type diets seem remarkably like astrology or homoeopathy to me. A lot of nonsense masquerading as Serious Scientific Method, dividing people arbitrarily into groups, and ascribing personality traits and physical characteristics to those groups in such a vague fashion that something is bound to ring true for someone sooner or later.

[MariaMaria]

You're just saying that because you're a Capricorn, Esofia.

[Beach Patrol]

Actually, I find some truth in the "body type" or "blood type" diets. I did a little research, specifically on the blood type diet, and learned that as an A+, my body holds on to beef for a LONG time. Meaning that I don't eliminate it within 24 hours (it can take up to 36 or even 72 hours for me to eliminate a cheeseburger!) However, I don't take that as the gospel when it comes to weight loss.

A person's blood type can mean the difference between a particular treatment for certain kinds of cancer. The blood type can dictate whether or not certain drugs effect you in a particular way. Interesting, huh?

Now as for the BODY type, surely we can all understand how we can take two people, with the same height & weight & yet see how DIFFERENTLY they hold that weight - so you can see how a certain "diet" might be beneficial to one & not necessarily the other.

Of course, this is all just "body science" to me. I still adhere to calorie counting because for me that's the easiest, cheapest, most effective way to go.

[kaplods]

While it's physiologically possible that body-type and blood-type can determine which type of diet you should follow for weight loss - there's just virtually no science as of yet, backing this up.

The author's of these books generally have created the theory - but have not tested it rigorously (and in many cases, not at all). And in many cases, one book will contradict another on "which diet" is best for "which type."

Since the authors can't seem to agree on which diets are best for which types, it tends to sound like a whole lot of nonsense.

Anyone can have a theory, but unless it's rigourously tested (with many controlled studies, not just one). Testimonials from people for whom it's worked, just doesn't cut it as "proof." Because even if the theory is completely wrong, you're going to find some people with the designated body or blood type who just by coincidnence found the plan effective.

[ArtyKay]

I agree...its not necessarily about what you eat, but how much. I think that smart dieting needs to have a fair amount of common sense....

I'm trying to stick within a certain calorie budget and trying to make decent food choices. I don't need to buy a book to follow that diet.

Not knocking people who do, my uncle lost 100 lbs on the blood type diet. But he followed it religiously, and as other posters have said, if you follow any plan to the T you're probably going to lose weight.

Eat less, move more, make better choices. that's it. The only restrictions are calories, and I try to watch my carb/sodium intake. This is the only thing I've ever been able to stick with where I'm not starving myself.

Fad diets seem like they may work for the most part, but sticking to something so restrictive (and sometimes expensive) seems too unrealistic to be long term. I plan on continuing the same eating style that I have right now 50 lbs from now...I don't want to lose this weight by means that I can't continue doing for the rest of my life.