So you're foregoing eating altogether? How long do you think you can do that for? And then when you do start eating again, how will you be able to handle the inevitable weight gain? Also you say "So, my plan is to eat a normal portioned dinner." but you've given us some pretty imbalanced forms of breakfast and lunch so who knows what your idea of a "normal" dinner even means at this point.
Even those do meal replacements with smoothies know that they need to add some protein whether it's powder or yogurt and it's also important to add fat.
Diets like these don't work. Especially this kind of diet. You need to find a way of eating that you can see yourself doing for the rest of your life.
And this breakfast:
Mixed lettuce --20 cal
Carrots (handful) --50 cal
A small yellow mango --100
Water
Frozen berries --100
Frozen Pineapple --50
Total: 320
I'll be hungry hours before lunch. And the sugar rush from all this would make me dizzy.
It's very tempting to lose weight using drastic methods but those don't tend to stick unless you're able to find a plan that will work for a life time. I haven't been able to find that, but I'm working on it.
In the meantime, I would definitely use greek yogurt as a base for your smoothie instead of water, to up the protein and calcium at least.
I admire your motivation and I do think green smoothies can add some great nutrition to your daily intake, but having some balanced meals would be more ideal. Perhaps you'd be willing to have your green smoothie for breakfast and then have two healthy meals the rest of the day? Just a thought.
Thanks WannaBeSkinny. Yup. This is not a long term diet . I know I am not going to last a month with this. I am planning to take this one week at a time. Some people do a three day cleanse, but I am unable to go without food for three days so this has to be my way of cleansing. I have been eating junk left and right. I can eat 5 portions of spaghetti in one seating, which I have never done before. My body feels like it needs a clean.
I just finished my juice. Just went to the bathroom (TMI but ) And I am feeling great.
It's very tempting to lose weight using drastic methods but those don't tend to stick unless you're able to find a plan that will work for a life time. I haven't been able to find that, but I'm working on it.
In the meantime, I would definitely use greek yogurt as a base for your smoothie instead of water, to up the protein and calcium at least.
I admire your motivation and I do think green smoothies can add some great nutrition to your daily intake, but having some balanced meals would be more ideal. Perhaps you'd be willing to have your green smoothie for breakfast and then have two healthy meals the rest of the day? Just a thought.
I wish you great success and health.
Thanks LM. I am planning to drink the green smoothie for breakfast and 2 healthy meals per day after this week. I want to jumpstart the weight loss and feel "clean" before I go on the healthy route. I think I will be less likely to go back to my unhealthy habits when I feel light and clean.
So, it has been ....10 years since I have gained 30 lbs and tried to take it off. It's sad to say that I have not been very successful. I have been able to lose 1-2 lbs here and there, but nothing major. It always goes up again.
No matter what, I WILL lose weight this year. I don't feel good. I feel sluggish. I don't have the energy. My clothes do not fit right. AHHHHHH!!!!!
Okay, so here is the plan. If you see fit, please give me suggestion or support. I am planning to lose the darn 30 lbs before summer ends. I want to lose 6 lbs per month. That is about 1-2 lbs per week. That will take me about 5 months ....so until August!!!!
Plan for this week to jumpstart weight loss:
WEEK 1
--------- Breakfast ---------- Lunch ------------ Hours of Walking
Mon---- Green Smoothie---- Green Smoothie---- 2 Tues---- Green Smoothie---- Green Smoothie---- 1
Wed---- Green Smoothie---- Green Smoothie---- 2 Thurs---- Green Smoothie---- Green Smoothie---- 1
Fri---- Green Smoothie---- Green Smoothie---- 1 Sat---- ---------------------- ---------------------- 2
Sun---- ---------------------- ----------------------- REST
So, my plan is to eat a normal portioned dinner.
Kitkat, I have to agree with wannabe. Diets like these don't work. You simply can't keep this up for five months. They lack nutrition and satisfaction. I'm sorry you have chosen to climb the bigger mountain if you continue this way.
If you only need to lose 6 pounds a month you can do that quite easily. Trust me its about what i've been doing since January, though i haven't really gone back to check. But you can see if you look at my profile and tracker.
You can see how i did it if you read my blog in my signature.
But that's quite a lot of boring reading you probably won't want to do. Besides i don't expect we'd eat the same foods. However there are some generals principles and ideas you can pick up on if you skim through it.
You may not want to count calories and going by your plan, you probably don't want to. I understand. Its a long tiresome process from what i've seen. It must have been **** before everyone got on the internet. I don't count calories very much but i do base my intake on calorie counting and i check on it occasionally to make sure i'm more or less on target. The scales give me the bottom line but i am not emotionally at the mercy of the scales so long as i know i am eating right. (scales go up and down every day for a number of good reasons. You need to learn how to understand those fluctuations in order to not be upset by them. )
Someone wrote a post here somewhere which had a helpful comment that they register their weight every day and average them at the end of the week and consider that their actual gain or loss. I'd say that's probably a pretty good system if you do not understand the daily ups and downs of the scales.
I wish you success ask you consider easier options for weight loss.
As long as it's very temporary then ok, and as long as it's not for a huge loss of pounds fine. I would say that you need something in terms of protein and fat though. Yogurt or peanut butter in those smoothes will at least make your day tolerable. If I do juice fasts it would send me running to 5bowls of spaghetti in a day or 2.
Have you tried eating salads as a meal? I have found salads to be really enjoyable to make and can prep them a day ahead and take them with me when necessary. I put in a whole head of romaine, some cukes, green peas, avocado,carrots, radish, peppers, grilled chicken breast or tuna, or chickpeas. It takes a long time to eat, crunch crunch crunch, which makes you eat slowly and get full. And no matter what, by the end of the day you at least know that you've already got your daily 5!
One question, is your smoothie a juice with or without the fibre. I mean do you lose half the body of here food in it. If so you are doing more damage than good with such a drink.
Juices give you concentrated calories. Yes you get vitamins and probably minerals but you don't get the fibre and lots of other ingredients that belong in a whole fruit or vegetable.
So the concentrated calories mean that your body digests this all very very quickly and so you will be hungry in no time.
Give up the idea of cleansing. Its a complete myth. Detox has no scientific basis whatsoever. Its pseudo science.
But if you want to get over your carb binge, it can help to fast for a short period of time. Personally i've not really been able to do that unless i'm in the right frame of mind. I used a fast at the beginning of this diet. A one day water fast. It was bloody hard and i think i talk about that in my blog post.
I think you can get over your carb binge quite easily and quickly, if you just banish everything that is a problem food for you for a little while. And when you appetite settles down you can bring back some of them.
But i think a lot of the success even then, as for any diet, is about what's going on in your mind. Its like quitting cigarettes. I don't know if you've ever done that but i have realised that there is a great deal in common between quitting cigarettes forever successfully and successful weight loss. Because i have observed these parallels, i've decided to quit refined sugars pretty much forever except on rare occasions when i think the risk is worth while.
However, back to my point, you have to build up mental resolve. I write about that in my blog i think, near the beginning. And you have to build up commitment. that's all mental. And it means that when a temptations comes your way, you must be willing to overcome it and find a better solution. With each little success confidence grows and so does commitment.
After a little while of going without binging on your problem foods, or even eating them as is the case with me and sweets, you will lose your appetite for them. I am not sure if that's the case with pasta but if you are a meat eater anyway, i am sure you will be fine. I don't eat much meat so i need pasta. But then its never been problem for me.
Maybe it would have if i didn't always give into my sweet tooth instead. I don't know.
Anyway make your food nutritious and healthy and satisfying. Watch your salt intake, fibre intake and try to get protein into each meal. Salt's mainly an issue with processed foods so if you can avoid those you will not have a salt problem to worry about.
So, it has been ....10 years since I have gained 30 lbs and tried to take it off. It's sad to say that I have not been very successful. I have been able to lose 1-2 lbs here and there, but nothing major. It always goes up again.
No matter what, I WILL lose weight this year. I don't feel good. I feel sluggish. I don't have the energy. My clothes do not fit right. AHHHHHH!!!!!
Okay, so here is the plan. If you see fit, please give me suggestion or support. I am planning to lose the darn 30 lbs before summer ends. I want to lose 6 lbs per month. That is about 1-2 lbs per week. That will take me about 5 months ....so until August!!!!
Plan for this week to jumpstart weight loss:
WEEK 1
--------- Breakfast ---------- Lunch ------------ Hours of Walking
Mon---- Green Smoothie---- Green Smoothie---- 1 Tues---- Green Smoothie---- Green Smoothie---- 1
Wed---- Green Smoothie---- Green Smoothie---- 1 Thurs---- Green Smoothie---- Green Smoothie---- 1
Fri---- Green Smoothie---- Green Smoothie---- 1 Sat---- ---------------------- ---------------------- 1
Sun---- ---------------------- ----------------------- REST
So, my plan is to eat a normal portioned dinner.
Hey Kitkat
This is probably a well intentioned attempt at weight loss but I fear it will end as your other attempts did. Please don't do this for more than a day or two. You're setting yourself up for a fall.
Anything will work, as long as you can stick to it long term. Being consistent over a long period of time and maintaining good habits is the key to being healthy and fit.
Okay, since most people say it's not a good idea to go for smoothie twice per day . I am planning to change it a little bit.
Ultimately it's not about what works for "most people," but what works for you. If you happen to love smoothies and have good, healthy smoothie recipes, it could work. On the other hand, if you get more enjoyment out of eating than drinking (as most of us do), I would not recommend smoothies as a mainstay of your plan.
To be sustainable, I think a plan has to revolve around foods you find tasty enough to truly enjoy, but not so tasty that you're continually tempted to eat more. That's why I aim for dishes that fall between 7 and 8 on a taste scale of 0 to 10. Nine or 10 is too dangerous (for everyday fare), and anything below 7 is not enjoyable enough.
Beyond solid, liquid, carbs, fat, protein, size and timing of meals, or anything else, the central question you need to ask yourself is: Can I enjoy this way of eating enough to sustain it?
F.
Last edited by freelancemomma; 04-07-2014 at 02:09 PM.
I think it is ok to "over-correct" sometimes at the beginning of a change in your eating direction to physically, mentally, and emotionally switch gears. And sometimes not having to deal with constant food choices can be so much less stressful when you are trying to make a big change.
I know my first couple of months of change were quite rigid in the planning department because I found it easier to fight the cravings and break bad habits when I simply followed my plan and didn't have to spend alot of time making food choices or cooking.
Hang in there. As Freelancemomma said, go with what works for you. It sounds like you are very aware that this isn't your long-term eating style and I assume you have some idea of where you'll go from here.
I think it is ok to "over-correct" sometimes at the beginning of a change in your eating direction to physically, mentally, and emotionally switch gears. And sometimes not having to deal with constant food choices can be so much less stressful when you are trying to make a big change.
I know my first couple of months of change were quite rigid in the planning department because I found it easier to fight the cravings and break bad habits when I simply followed my plan and didn't have to spend alot of time making food choices or cooking.
Hang in there. As Freelancemomma said, go with what works for you. It sounds like you are very aware that this isn't your long-term eating style and I assume you have some idea of where you'll go from here.
Good luck to you!
As long as it doesn't lead to binging then yes it works, anything works as long as you stick to it and don't eventually binge. Changes to my diet that are this drastic always lead to binging and undoing any "good work" I've accomplished. Perhaps this doesn't happen to other people but it does to me whenever I introduce an extremely restrictive way of eating.
New to the forum, Old to dieting
) And I am feeling great. 
