I went from 290 to about 220 by doing paleo a la archevore:
http://www.archevore.com/get-started/. Keep in mind that as a relatively low-earning person, I didn't do much about staying away from factory meats, so that was without switching to grass-fed anything. When my ex basically demanded I spend all my time with her, and refused to stick to such a diet herself, I found myself back on old eating habits and ballooned to 260 again. Now I'm down to 235 by managing to keep to low-carb, low-grain, low-processed ma-a-aybe 1/2 the time. At 6'4", this isn't exactly ridiculously fat, but I still have about 20-30 lbs before I'll feel good about myself.
I supplement this with exercise as follows: modified Starting Strength (add 5 sets of chinups each day) plus some running (about 1.5 miles now, working more for better speed than longer distance at the moment), 3 days per week. It makes for about 1 hour per session in the gym.
My biggest problem is with sticking to the diet. I'm full-time work AND full-time school so it's difficult to find the time to cook for myself, but I can usually knock out something over the weekend to eat all week. However, the bad foods are literally addictive. So even though I have about a pound and a half of beef brisket in my bag to split over lunch and dinner, I got nachos from Qdoba and some Cold Stone. A SMALL Cold Stone, which is a step in the right direction for me, but just a baby step.
Even with a high-fat, low-carb diet to reduce hunger while providing adequate nutrition, finding the difference between hungry and bored is difficult for me.
Y'all may find it interesting that carbs are actually the only unnecessary macronutrient. You must have some fat, or you will die. You must have some protein, or you will die. It is entirely possible to live and thrive without a single gram of dietary carbohydrate, thanks to the body's mechanisms for ketosis and gluconeogenesis. This is not to say I suggest a zero-carb diet although it seems to be a very helpful thing for controlling epilepsy and diabetes, possibly for minor help of autism as well (research, IIRC, is inconclusive), and for drastic weight loss. You would have to supplement or eat organ meats though. Adrenal glands are rich in vitamin C, but I far prefer to get it from fruits and vegetables myself.
Null said:
On topic, however, I'd strongly suggest everyone stop drinking all forms of soda. I completely wrecked my diet by picking up soda again. It makes me crave sweets like crazy and I firmly believed for years that aspartame had no affect on my appetite. It totally fucking does. Avoid it like cancer, because it is.
This is true. It also stimulates insulin secretion which contributes to insulin resistance (AKA type 2 'beetus) and, if consumed with a meal, causes storage rather than use of the calories.
CalmMyTits said:
I have a question for those of you who gained weight due to medication. How does that happen? What i mean is, does the medication screw up your metabolism, or cause you to retain water, or what? It seems crazy to me that a medicine that is supposed to help your mind is doing that to your body, and I'm just curious as to why that happens.
Depends on the medication. Some, like corticosteroids (often prescribed for inflammations or autoimmune disease) basically make you hungry all the time. ALL the time. Insatiably. They also make you retain water, which contributes to weight and puffiness. And they make you super bitchy.
Antidepressants, it may be just a factor of making you motivated to eat enough again.