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DoubleF · 06-02-2016, 03:01 PM

Personally, I still maintain a metabolism of many individual's dreams, but have been doing "experiments" to deal with the inevitable slowing of my metabolism. My wife ascribes to this "lifestyle" with me and it seems to work ok for us. I don't mind a few suggestions or criticisms to think about, but this set up so far seems to work best after watching my friends/wife deal with diets with pure frustration and defeat and I'm not in a rush to tweak it.

I tried calorie counting for a month to slim down for my wedding and I was miserable. My wife had results but was miserable too. So we changed and our current set up allows us to at least have a more positive outlook and our figures are pretty close to what they were around our wedding. Most of our friends are miserable with many of the methods they are using as well.

In a paragraph, I eat as I need to eat and I can eat what I want. But if needed I will tweak the ratios of what eat to bring down my body to a healthy range. Healthy range is also not limited to food consumption.

What we do in a nutshell
- Ketogenic/Paleo "inspired" diet. (Lots of fruits/veggies/meats, less processed foods)
- Stay properly hydrated.
- Exercise as possible
- Everything in moderation.
- You have to be honest about what you're doing... (explained below)
- If you have a craving, satisfy it... but on a loose idea of calorie counting. Certain "bad things" are restricted to lower calorie levels. But eat it whenever you want.
- Must maintain a certain level of happiness with the diet/lifestyle. I believe studies show stressed individuals are more prone to gain weight.

DoubleF overshares

Spoiler!

The main things about our diet perhaps is that my wife and I consume soups on a regular basis. We can also eat all the veggies and fruits and fibre foods like oatmeal, cheerios etc. which help to curb hunger pangs. If we have a craving, we satisfy it, but limit the consumption of it.

Another slight caveat is that the success and failures are shared. If I am ahead for instance, I will consume the bigger portion of the cheat item (ie: Tiramisu cake or cheese platter) and my wife less. If she is doing well, she gets more and I get less. If both of us are in the higher range and not doing well, neither of us gets any. I joke that my wife's snacks are half the calories now because we share them and since I'm usually doing well on weight, I consume half if not more. Sometimes my wife has like two bites of different desserts and I finish them off. Sometimes, it's reverse. We often watch our weights go up and down together. On average, it's probably true. I eat about half. But weirdly, my wife perceives we both have consumed a full portion of a snack item and is either satisfied or worried she consumed too much. Win either way I think?

Think of an Aero bar. 221 calories and 8 ish squares or about 28 calories per square. Consuming 2 of those squares is about 56 calories, can somewhat meet a chocolate craving and is still less calories than those calorie conscious 100 calorie chocolate bar. If my wife has consumed 2-3 square and I the rest, She's at about 58-84 calories consumed, me, 137-163 calories. BUT, she had the satisfaction (or horror) of watching the entire thing disappear. This either tricks her into fulfilling her craving or affirms a need for her to stay diligent to a healthy diet for a day or two. Then in a few days or week, we rinse and repeat.

"If I'm not starving myself to enjoy myself on occasion, what am I starving myself for?" This was something I said on my honey moon. Rather than have a honey moon filled with regret for the foods we ate or didn't eat, we agreed to consume with recklessness and deal with the weight gain over the next few weeks. I think we tricked ourselves because several weeks later, we didn't mind the "diet food" because in our convos, that binge... so worth it.

Special occasions such as anniversary, stat holidays, crappy week at work beers or friends over means we don't overly count calories or worry at all about what we are consuming. We will gain, but if we don't have such targets to look forward do, it's a grind. On a recent trip, I gained about 8 lbs in a little over a week. When we returned, my wife and I used discipline to consume more fruits/veggies and more soups to counter the high protein/carb diet we had consumed prior. Because the weight was gained fast, it was lost pretty quickly too. Sometimes we just diet in anticipation of a big feast we will have. 2-3 day disciplined consumption of food prior to a no bars held Thanksgiving isn't too horrible I'd think.

It's like targeting a 6 lb weight loss to allow for a targeted 5.5-6 pound weight gain. Overall not much changed, but better than languishing in a 7 pound weight loss only to possibly back slide 8 lbs later and not even enjoying oneself during that weight gain. It's like a delayed gratification thing. Friends often comment about how much junk food just sits in our home. IMO, if you don't trust yourself around snacks, what happens when you're put in a situation where snacks are everywhere? The other thing I hate is dishonesty. These chips are healthier than those chips; I ate out, but I got a salad so it's ok since salad is healthier; I have pop every day, but it's ok, it's diet pop. All BS IMO. It's like saying, what's better to your body? A cold or a flu? Neither, really. (Yeah, it's hyperbole and a bad example. No one actually enjoys a cold or flu)

I'm about 6'0 maintaining between a 170-185 lb range. Weight isn't static, so sometimes gaining weight or fluctuating back up isn't something I lose sleep over. Setting a single number and getting frustrated being .5 lbs away is silly. Celebrate the progress you made, not worry about the progress you didn't. I feel guilt is a big problem in many diets. Every time I watch someone succumb to guilt, I often see them lose all the progress and more.

Like I mentioned, I target a weight range. I usually target 170-175 lb and in periods of special occasion I can hit up to 185 lb or so. My wife and I use this to our advantage. If we didn't stay in the lower end of the spectrum, we can't celebrate as much. It sucks watching people enjoy foods you've limited yourself because you're on the higher end of the spectrum. We found having an option to "enjoy next time" if is/we are disciplined is its own motivator.

I dislike many diets. Many of them take joy out of food. Joyless food IMO on occasions start vicious cycles. You backslide, feel bad, backslide more because you feel bad etc. Other times you just feel really hungry. When you backslide and need to eat? You'll target the foods that destroy your progress. The worst IMO is putting together an "alternative" that doesn't even fill your craving. Better to have that horrible item in all its godly yumminess then work it off diligently later than consume an alternative, not kill the craving, but still have added those calories into your body (however, "lower" it might be. ie: Cold vs Flu)

Overall, it is highly plausible that my method is complete nonsense and the only reason it's working is due to a high metabolism. But I believe not fighting the craving, feed it in moderation and never be hungry or unhappy are concepts/principles that are working out well for my wife and I so far.

EDIT: Looks like Ernie does something similar

06-02-2016, 03:01 PM	#86
DoubleF Franchise Player Join Date: Apr 2014 Exp:	Personally, I still maintain a metabolism of many individual's dreams, but have been doing "experiments" to deal with the inevitable slowing of my metabolism. My wife ascribes to this "lifestyle" with me and it seems to work ok for us. I don't mind a few suggestions or criticisms to think about, but this set up so far seems to work best after watching my friends/wife deal with diets with pure frustration and defeat and I'm not in a rush to tweak it. I tried calorie counting for a month to slim down for my wedding and I was miserable. My wife had results but was miserable too. So we changed and our current set up allows us to at least have a more positive outlook and our figures are pretty close to what they were around our wedding. Most of our friends are miserable with many of the methods they are using as well. In a paragraph, I eat as I need to eat and I can eat what I want. But if needed I will tweak the ratios of what eat to bring down my body to a healthy range. Healthy range is also not limited to food consumption. What we do in a nutshell - Ketogenic/Paleo "inspired" diet. (Lots of fruits/veggies/meats, less processed foods) - Stay properly hydrated. - Exercise as possible - Everything in moderation. - You have to be honest about what you're doing... (explained below) - If you have a craving, satisfy it... but on a loose idea of calorie counting. Certain "bad things" are restricted to lower calorie levels. But eat it whenever you want. - Must maintain a certain level of happiness with the diet/lifestyle. I believe studies show stressed individuals are more prone to gain weight. DoubleF overshares Spoiler! The main things about our diet perhaps is that my wife and I consume soups on a regular basis. We can also eat all the veggies and fruits and fibre foods like oatmeal, cheerios etc. which help to curb hunger pangs. If we have a craving, we satisfy it, but limit the consumption of it. Another slight caveat is that the success and failures are shared. If I am ahead for instance, I will consume the bigger portion of the cheat item (ie: Tiramisu cake or cheese platter) and my wife less. If she is doing well, she gets more and I get less. If both of us are in the higher range and not doing well, neither of us gets any. I joke that my wife's snacks are half the calories now because we share them and since I'm usually doing well on weight, I consume half if not more. Sometimes my wife has like two bites of different desserts and I finish them off. Sometimes, it's reverse. We often watch our weights go up and down together. On average, it's probably true. I eat about half. But weirdly, my wife perceives we both have consumed a full portion of a snack item and is either satisfied or worried she consumed too much. Win either way I think? Think of an Aero bar. 221 calories and 8 ish squares or about 28 calories per square. Consuming 2 of those squares is about 56 calories, can somewhat meet a chocolate craving and is still less calories than those calorie conscious 100 calorie chocolate bar. If my wife has consumed 2-3 square and I the rest, She's at about 58-84 calories consumed, me, 137-163 calories. BUT, she had the satisfaction (or horror) of watching the entire thing disappear. This either tricks her into fulfilling her craving or affirms a need for her to stay diligent to a healthy diet for a day or two. Then in a few days or week, we rinse and repeat. "If I'm not starving myself to enjoy myself on occasion, what am I starving myself for?" This was something I said on my honey moon. Rather than have a honey moon filled with regret for the foods we ate or didn't eat, we agreed to consume with recklessness and deal with the weight gain over the next few weeks. I think we tricked ourselves because several weeks later, we didn't mind the "diet food" because in our convos, that binge... so worth it. Special occasions such as anniversary, stat holidays, crappy week at work beers or friends over means we don't overly count calories or worry at all about what we are consuming. We will gain, but if we don't have such targets to look forward do, it's a grind. On a recent trip, I gained about 8 lbs in a little over a week. When we returned, my wife and I used discipline to consume more fruits/veggies and more soups to counter the high protein/carb diet we had consumed prior. Because the weight was gained fast, it was lost pretty quickly too. Sometimes we just diet in anticipation of a big feast we will have. 2-3 day disciplined consumption of food prior to a no bars held Thanksgiving isn't too horrible I'd think. It's like targeting a 6 lb weight loss to allow for a targeted 5.5-6 pound weight gain. Overall not much changed, but better than languishing in a 7 pound weight loss only to possibly back slide 8 lbs later and not even enjoying oneself during that weight gain. It's like a delayed gratification thing. Friends often comment about how much junk food just sits in our home. IMO, if you don't trust yourself around snacks, what happens when you're put in a situation where snacks are everywhere? The other thing I hate is dishonesty. These chips are healthier than those chips; I ate out, but I got a salad so it's ok since salad is healthier; I have pop every day, but it's ok, it's diet pop. All BS IMO. It's like saying, what's better to your body? A cold or a flu? Neither, really. (Yeah, it's hyperbole and a bad example. No one actually enjoys a cold or flu) I'm about 6'0 maintaining between a 170-185 lb range. Weight isn't static, so sometimes gaining weight or fluctuating back up isn't something I lose sleep over. Setting a single number and getting frustrated being .5 lbs away is silly. Celebrate the progress you made, not worry about the progress you didn't. I feel guilt is a big problem in many diets. Every time I watch someone succumb to guilt, I often see them lose all the progress and more. Like I mentioned, I target a weight range. I usually target 170-175 lb and in periods of special occasion I can hit up to 185 lb or so. My wife and I use this to our advantage. If we didn't stay in the lower end of the spectrum, we can't celebrate as much. It sucks watching people enjoy foods you've limited yourself because you're on the higher end of the spectrum. We found having an option to "enjoy next time" if is/we are disciplined is its own motivator. I dislike many diets. Many of them take joy out of food. Joyless food IMO on occasions start vicious cycles. You backslide, feel bad, backslide more because you feel bad etc. Other times you just feel really hungry. When you backslide and need to eat? You'll target the foods that destroy your progress. The worst IMO is putting together an "alternative" that doesn't even fill your craving. Better to have that horrible item in all its godly yumminess then work it off diligently later than consume an alternative, not kill the craving, but still have added those calories into your body (however, "lower" it might be. ie: Cold vs Flu) Overall, it is highly plausible that my method is complete nonsense and the only reason it's working is due to a high metabolism. But I believe not fighting the craving, feed it in moderation and never be hungry or unhappy are concepts/principles that are working out well for my wife and I so far. EDIT: Looks like Ernie does something similar Last edited by DoubleF; 06-02-2016 at 03:06 PM.