Anyone else ever get that question and not really have an easy answer? LOL sure would save a lot of time if I could say South Beach or something. You know, one of the things that I think hurts most peoples chances of long term fitness is trying to find a "diet".

Everyone had different likes and dislikes in food so it is hard to recommend a menu for someone. However, if you understand healthy eating and good food choices, you have an infinite amount and variety of food choices at your disposal.

What has worked for me is understanding good nutritional information, exercise, adding lots of physical activity that I enjoy to my daily life, the concept of calorie density and volumetrics and a willingness to try just about any new food. Having a food log and great support forums have been critical to my success as well. There is a good book for visual people like me that makes volumetrics very easy to grasp. It is "Picture Perfect Weight Loss" by Dr. Shapiro.

It is not a diet, but a great way to learn about good food choices. I have gotten into exercise so much, I am studying to take my ACE certification to be able to do personal training. Not that I plan on quitting being and IT manager, it is just fascinating stuff and I want to be able to help people with fitness. Having been over weight for so long, I really want to help people anyway I can in the fight for fitness.

The last thing I would say is eating healthy does not have to equal not loving what you eat. You can make it so that you LOVE what you eat and lose weight. You are only limited by your imagination. The recommended percentages for fat is 30% or under, protein 15 to 35% and the rest carbohydrates. It is not recommended to go under 15% of good fats as fat is an essential nutrient in your diet. What works best for me because I do a lot of resistance training is hitting about 20% fats, 35% protein and 45% carbohydrates. It is easy to create and find things you love that will have you hit those ranges.

Here are a few things that I like a good bit. I make a really healthy great tasting Red Beans and rice that uses brown rice - a good size portion - more that enough for dinner comes to only 380 calories and right at 14% fat. I cook a lot of good chicken and fish. I limit my red meat consumption. When I do eat steak, I get very lean cuts of beef. Top round is one of the leaner cuts - then trim off any visible fat. Use great marinades to keep the steak moist and tender.

For ground beef in stuff like chili - I use 94% lean ground beef. Brown it then drop it in a colander. Run hot water over it to remove about 20% of the fat then add it to your recipes. Spices are your friend.

I make a mean Chicken Florentine. Grilled chicken with Cajun seasoning, served on a bed of fresh cooked spinach with a low fat tomato sauce with sauteed garlic all topped with reduced fat Parmesan cheese.

Subway - any of there 6" under 6 grams of fat sandwiches on wheat, no mayo or cheese but all the veggies - good stuff.

I have about a million other things that I love to eat that are good for me.

LOL for a guy that could not boil water 2 years ago, I have turned into regular Chef Boy R Dee

I wish you all the best!

It is a hard answer Charles I do love the people who ask "how did you lose weight?" hoping for some miracle answer to which they could tap into. I wish I could offer them one.

For me, I have to say that my diet is ever changing. I have been some what resistant to lowering my saturated fat intake as I love red meat. I recently decided that was something I needed to change so I've started incorporating more vegetable proteins and fish into my diet. I've been eating fish about once a week for the past year, but now it is more than that.

I recently gave up most sweeteners, natural and artificial. There are some items that I eat that have a small amount but for the most part, I've decided to cut them out as much as possible. I still enjoy an occassional piece of dark chocolate which has sugar, but that is manageable. The hardest part was giving up my sodas as I love diet pepsi.

I do have to say that I enjoy what I eat. If I didn't, I couldn't eat it. I think though that over the past couple years I have retrained my body on what I like to eat. Five years ago, I couldn't have imagined eating as much vegetables as I do today and really enjoy them. I couldn't have imagined eating fish as often as I do nor could I have imagined the millions of ways to make chicken. It is a process and it does involve a leap of faith but it is worth it.

When people ask me what diet or plan I am on, I either say "I'm doing my own thing" or "Eating less and moving more." No one yet has pressed me for more details. I do get a lot of support at work, people really notice and compliment as I lose. I did have one person say, after she hadn't seen me in a while "Wow, you haven't gained it all back!" Talk about a left-handed compliment! I have also gotten a lot of people who say it's great I've been maintaining when I bemoan the fact that I haven't been losing, until recently, for a long while.

Charles, your recipes sound great!

Yum, Charles! I'm going to try some of these recipes, especially the chicken/spinach.

I tell people a variety of things: I got rid of a micromanager boss, I listened to my mom and started eating my vegetables (thanks to Misti in Seattle for this one ), eating less and moving more, greatly diminished my intake of highly processed foods.

I know, I'm not even on a "diet" so that question is always a difficult one to answer. I usually say "I'm eating less quanties and better quality of food."

I started out on WW and I pretty much still continue to do that as a basis - it is very well balanced for me and easy to follow, although you still have to work to make the plan work - it doesn't do it for you. I don't use the points for a lot of junk food as some people do who follow the plan. I eat so much more fiber - a lot of oatmeal and whole grains. I buy all "light" ingredients and incorporate these into my recipes and DH doesn't know the difference. I read a lot of labels and there are so many good "diet" (for lack of a better word) foods these days compared to back in the 70s when I tried WW for the first time. That was a nightmare.

For the most part, I make good choices. Do I want to blow 3 points on a cookie (which I could have) or should I have an apple, a cup of cantalope and a cup of grapes for that same amount of points. To me, there's no choice to be made there. There's no real reason to ever be hungry - you just need to decide what your priorities are. If this is a lifestyle change, then I need to get in the habit of eating right. I would never be able to follow anything where I ate "their food" for the whole time I lost the weight and then be expected to maintain that weight by starting over again with trips to the grocery store. I know that works for some, but it wouldn't work for me.

DNR

P.S. Charles, you come up with so many good topics for conversation. I think you would make a good personal trainer and you would inspire so many people by what you have accomplished. Go for it!!!

I really agree with this comment, at least for me personally: "You know, one of the things that I think hurts most peoples chances of long term fitness is trying to find a "diet". I mean, I've lost weight in the past on lots of different diets, almost all of us have, and what happens eventually... we go off our "diet" and it all goes in the crapper.

That's why I'm excited about where I am mentally right now, because I'm not thinking "diet," I'm thinking, "Dang, I really want to feel better and be healthier, and teach my little one (when she gets here) to live a healthy life."

That's not to say that for some people, being on a "diet" doesn't work for them. I've met people who have been successful, especially on WW. But the difference with those is that WW was not something they were "on," it had become such a part of how they functioned, that it really *was* more about good food choices and moving more, etc. The WW was just their particular way of structuring it, if that makes sense.

-Sara

Argh!!! Finally!!! Someone else has heard of this fabulous book. I found it in a discount outlet, almost being given away, and bought it because it had pretty pictures (sigh, I am so shallow) and it's so ace!!! Really good for men, as well as women. My dh had it in his head that you just need to cut down on portion sizes, he had no idea just how much food you can eat if you make good choices.

I get this all the time. When you don't ahve a magic solution for people, it's like you have let them down. Eating better choices of food and exercising a lot sounds so unappealing compared to "I took this drug....had this surgery.... tried this diet"

The realit is so much simpler, yet so much harder than anyone could ever realise!

I'm not on a diet. I follow the Fat Flush Plan (helped me shed 57 pounds and a bazillion dress sizes) and I've been in maintenance phase for 2+ years.

So what is the fat flush plan??

Great post Charles! Inspirational.

I'm on Atkins. But I'm modifying it so that it's not a diet for me. No carb counting but with a little common sense thrown in regards to saturated fat and eating too many high caloric foods. I love what it's doing for me. I feel good and I'm looking smaller little by little. I'm not losing super fast, but I'm happy with my results.

Hi Shonna,
check out my intro thread: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76734 for more information on Fat Flush.