I seem to have developed a pretty good weight loss lifestyle without really meaning to. The two boyfriends I've had that moved in with me (and therefore adapted to my diet) lost weight on it (one lost three stone in under six months), all the flatmates I've had who've let me control the kitchen (!) think it works well, and I've never had a problem with weight myself.
Its not some weird faddy diet plan its just based around the common sense food principles I grew up with. It includes plenty of really nice foods so shouldn't be too hard- I eat like this because I like it, not because I'm trying to stay slim- give it a try for a few months and see what happens. Unless you have a medical problem, it should work. (BTW, I'm vegetarian, but as long as you eat "real" meat and not fatty procesed or deep fried stuff, I see no reason why you can't add in a little meat or fish- grill it, rather than fry it)
FOODS TO NEVER EAT:
Supermarket "Ready Meals"
White bread
White pasta
Fast food (Mcdonalds, Burger King etc)
Processed frozen, canned or chilled food such as burgers or potato cakes (learn to make your own!)Frozen or canned veg in "pure" form (such as peas) is OK.
Jelly sweets
Anything with non-natural or chemically derived ingredients. ( good guidelines: if you can't pronounce it, don't eat it, if you don't know what it is, don't eat it, if you wouldn't pick it up off the floor, don't eat it!)
fizzy soft drinks
Deep fried foods
Shop bought cakes
lager or beer
sugar (or anything coated in sugar)
salt
FOODS TO ONLY EAT OCCASIONALLY (once a week max)
Full fat dairy produce
chocolate
home made cakes
caffeinated drinks
"Natural" crisps (e.g. kettle chips)
homemade baked potato wedges
takeaways such as pizza or Chinese
anything with alcohol in (OK, so sometimes I drink more than this, but generally alcohol is a bad plan if you want to lose weight!)
THINGS TO EAT LOTS OF:
Pulses
Beans
Fresh fruit and veg (lots of different types)
nuts and seeds
Brown rice
Quinoa
Porridge
Chamomile tea
water
I tend to base most of my diet around stir fries, homemade soups and casseroles. I take in salads to work for lunch and have either muesli or porridge made with rice milk for breakfast. Try to make sure you get a good balance of carbs, protein and vitamins in each meal (so a 1 grain food or potatoes, 1 lot of meat, fish, nuts or pulses, and lots of veggies to complete the meal)
Other guidelines:
-Don't keep junk food in the house. Chuck it out and it won't tempt you. If you have kids you'll be doing them a favour. Instead keep tasty healthy snacks like strawberries and grapes.
-Carry bags of unsalted nuts and boxes of raisins around in your bag or pockets in case you get hungry on the run
- If you don't have time to cook in the week, prepare meals in advance (on a Sunday night maybe) and freeze them- effectively creating your own ready meals, but without the crap in the supermarket versions. There is never ever any valid excuse for eating a McDonalds. If you're fat and unhealthy and you eat in fast food joints, then frankly you kind of deserve it.
You can increase the effect with exercise. You don't have to go to the gym (unless you're insane. Why would anyone want to go to the gym?) just encorporate some excercis einto your life in general- walk or cycle to work instead of driving, do a bit of yoga before breakfast in the morning, stop by the swimming pool on the way home from work - whatever takes your fancy.
There's no magic formula to losing weight- just use a bit of common sense. Chips= bad, fruit and veg= good. How hard can it be?
Comments
WOW!! Good advice, and good job on losing weight!
by Darth Belal on January 18th, 2004
Excellent answer. Most people concentrate on the food so much that they forget about a very important detail, the excercise.
by DARON J on December 7th, 2004
Grats on the weight loss :) but you are probably a Mesomorph (athletic) this plan will not work with most Endomorphs (heavy)
by Scoundral on May 28th, 2005
Wow, well done!
by 1Simmy on March 5th, 2007