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Jamesy
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26 Feb 2013, 3:54 pm

I do a lot of cardio (cycling) if I get a job and have not as much time for cycling how can I keep my healthy weight by eating the right foods?

Basically how should I diet too keep my fat off and preserve my weight?



pezar
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26 Feb 2013, 5:57 pm

I'm currently trying the Paleo Diet. It is contained in the book Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes (and many other books, such as Neander Thin) but if you want to save a few bucks just google "paleo diet". The basic idea is that we should eat generally what our caveman ancestors ate: meats/fish, eggs, leafy green veggies, cheese (most books will say cow milk cheese is fine, but aspies tend to be allergic to it, so you may want to substitute cheese made from goat or sheep milk), nuts and seeds, and an occasional piece of fruit. Avoid anything that wasn't eaten before humans domesticated it, such as grains, sugar, and stuff like that. Processed food is out. Taubes's book has the scientific underpinnings, but if you're a dummy when it comes to biochemistry, you may want to skip the book. The "food pyramid" and other such diet nonsense is heavily subsidized by big grain interests, that's why it says to eat so much grain.



VIDEODROME
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26 Feb 2013, 6:32 pm

Gary Taubes' book made sense to me.

I think if you want a quick version watch the documentary Fat Head. It is influenced by people like Taubes or Dr. Micheal Eades (Protein Power).

At this time I think an approach to this is to first watch Carbs and then if you lose weight evaluate your Calorie intake. The good thing about eating like this is the food is more satisfying and you're not as hungry.

I do think it's generally true that Starch or Pastas are filling at first when you eat them, but later on you'll become much more hungry.



paris75007
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26 Feb 2013, 6:41 pm

Not gaining weight is very simple. To stay the same, the number of calories you eat should equal the number of calories you burn. If that is happening, it is literally physically impossible to gain or lose weight. There are loads of calorie calculators online where you enter your height, weight and activity level and they can tell you how many calories to consume. They will also tell you how many calories in basically every type of food. I use myfitnesspal.com for this but others probably work the same. All the diets out there are pretty much mumbo jumbo. Example: if you follow the paleo diet and consume more calories than you burned of foods within the diet's recommendations, you will still gain weight. Just watch your calories and make sure you are choosing healthy foods and keeping the junk food to a minimum (but no need to deprive yourself, if you want fast food or sweets from time to time).



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26 Feb 2013, 7:09 pm

I think Paleo is a starting point, but Paris75007 makes a good point to. In fact I read a comment on Dr. Michael Eades' blog regarding calories. A person following Dr. Eades' Protein Power plan had reached a plateau and their weight wouldn't come off anymore. Eades actually said that because the person lost weight their calorie requirement was now lower.

What I take from that is following a Paleo Diet makes sense, but evaluate your totally calorie intake as well. I do think it's much easier to manage food intake while following a Paleo style diet. I now realize Starchy food or Pasta contribute a lot to hunger later. Or if I have a baked potato and a sandwich the Starch and Bread make my stomach bloated and the later I get a ridiculously strong appetite.

Another thing to consider though is the effect on body composition. Is the way a person is eating making them lose weight because their muscle mass is dwindling? I know the Thermodynamics argument is popular regarding diet but this is dealing with more than a simple closed system.

In some cases i think a person living heavily on Starch and Sugar would eventually have skinny arms, skinny legs, and a puffed out belly. Their body would be in a bizarre Famine mode geared on saving fat rather than keeping up muscle mass.