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[Slader16]

I should also mention, a good alternative to candy is apple chips. They taste delicious, and they only have natural sugar! :D

[cynicalsandel]

In the U.S. pop consumption is super common. Most people around me drink more of it than water. I used to drink 3-4 cans of pop a day until about 6 months ago when I decided to quit drinking it altogether. Now, I have one occasionally (once a month approximately) just to remind myself of how terrible it feels. Which is something you can't understand until you quit. It's tough drinking only water, and I think tea is disgusting, so I'll make some koolaid sometimes. It's sugary, but it doesn't seem as bad as pop.

[Wolf_FGR]

I should also mention, a good alternative to candy is apple chips. They taste delicious, and they only have natural sugar! :D

Nah, Apple products are overpriced imho .
Thanks for the suggestion... I don't remember seeing industrialized apple chips anywhere... I'm pretty sure they have those in the natural products store though.

In the U.S. pop consumption is super common. Most people around me drink more of it than water. I used to drink 3-4 cans of pop a day until about 6 months ago when I decided to quit drinking it altogether. Now, I have one occasionally (once a month approximately) just to remind myself of how terrible it feels. Which is something you can't understand until you quit. It's tough drinking only water, and I think tea is disgusting, so I'll make some koolaid sometimes. It's sugary, but it doesn't seem as bad as pop.

At least in my case my stomach gets upset when I drink too much koolaid/tang. But yeah, perhaps they are options if I ever crave for some sweet drink... or perhaps I could just put lotsa sugar in a natural juice... Anyway, I wonder how these instant drink powders pack so much sweetness in so little volume.

[Slader16]

I buy my apple chips at Walmart/Target, next to the dried fruits.

[MeshGearFox]

Anyway, I wonder how these instant drink powders pack so much sweetness in so little volume.

THEY'RE MADE OF BLACK PEOPLE.
DON'T EAT BLACK PEOPLE.

[Netsu]

or perhaps I could just put lotsa sugar in a natural juice

Natural juice is already as sweet as any soda.

[TomHunt]

wow i feel like i could write a book in response to this topic.

on soft drinks - yeah, cut those out if you're trying to burn fat. they're not going to help.
lemon water works great if the flavor is what you're getting out of the soda. if you must have bubblies, club soda + lemon/citrus is also good (and also sold in bulk at costco).
what i do, because i like my caffeine, is i make a bunch of mate in a teapot and make iced tea with it:
pour the tea over a slice of lemon placed in a strainer over top a glass with a big ice cube that's on top of another slice of lemon.
i'm also not averse to watering down the canned stuff i buy at the store - it lasts way longer and adds hydration to counterbalance the dehydrating effect of the caffeine.

also, cutting out the bad stuff is just one half of dieting. you also need to make sure you're getting the right balance of stuff. what that balance is depends on where you're at and what you're trying to do, but know that there are a variety of options, so don't just spring at the first thing that looks neat. find something that will work for you.

essentially - focus on improving the quality of your diet, get into a daily exercise habit (hint: dont do the same thing every day) that you can be consistent with - whether thats 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 90 minutes, whatever. 30 minutes / day is the generally accepted amount of daily exercise. doesn't have to be intense. getting it worked into your daily routine is the most important thing - because once it becomes a habit, then you can build up with some more intense / fun stuff.

something to work towards? this was kind of a tough one for me, too. i had been working out for a while with the simple goal of getting fit and staying fit. eventually, i got fit, and i was fit, and it felt like i had gotten myself to a point where all i could do was run around in circles. that's when i started looking at outdoor activities - hiking, biking, parkour, basketball - go outside and do stuff, because you can. you'll have fun, and maybe even make some new friends.

one other thing - make your aim something more positive than "losing" weight. you want to be telling yourself that you're getting yourself to a better place, to the next level, gaining muscle, improving your body - you get the idea. when i read "losing weight", i get the impression that maybe you're self-identifying with the weight as a part of you (i've seen this in my own family members) which makes it REALLY difficult to get rid of, because it almost seems self-destructive in some weird psychological way. tell yourself when you do these things that you're building a new, improved version of yourself.

[Wolf_FGR]

Thank you guys.

LOL @ MeshGearFox.

or perhaps I could just put lotsa sugar in a natural juice

Natural juice is already as sweet as any soda.

The fruits must be really really sweet in your region because where I live you can't compare for example grape fanta to natural grape juice without sugar... in fact the grape fanta is so sweet that I really doubt you'll be able to drink the juice after drinking a glass of fanta.

Generally I don't add sugar to natural juices, except for bitter/sour fruits like cashew, lemon, passionfruit, starfruit, etc.

The only fruit I know that is sweet enough in natural state to compare to soda is watermelon.

wow i feel like i could write a book in response to this topic.

on soft drinks - yeah, cut those out if you're trying to burn fat. they're not going to help.
lemon water works great if the flavor is what you're getting out of the soda. if you must have bubblies, club soda + lemon/citrus is also good (and also sold in bulk at costco).
what i do, because i like my caffeine, is i make a bunch of mate in a teapot and make iced tea with it:
pour the tea over a slice of lemon placed in a strainer over top a glass with a big ice cube that's on top of another slice of lemon.
i'm also not averse to watering down the canned stuff i buy at the store - it lasts way longer and adds hydration to counterbalance the dehydrating effect of the caffeine.

also, cutting out the bad stuff is just one half of dieting. you also need to make sure you're getting the right balance of stuff. what that balance is depends on where you're at and what you're trying to do, but know that there are a variety of options, so don't just spring at the first thing that looks neat. find something that will work for you.

essentially - focus on improving the quality of your diet, get into a daily exercise habit (hint: dont do the same thing every day) that you can be consistent with - whether thats 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 90 minutes, whatever. 30 minutes / day is the generally accepted amount of daily exercise. doesn't have to be intense. getting it worked into your daily routine is the most important thing - because once it becomes a habit, then you can build up with some more intense / fun stuff.

something to work towards? this was kind of a tough one for me, too. i had been working out for a while with the simple goal of getting fit and staying fit. eventually, i got fit, and i was fit, and it felt like i had gotten myself to a point where all i could do was run around in circles. that's when i started looking at outdoor activities - hiking, biking, parkour, basketball - go outside and do stuff, because you can. you'll have fun, and maybe even make some new friends.

one other thing - make your aim something more positive than "losing" weight. you want to be telling yourself that you're getting yourself to a better place, to the next level, gaining muscle, improving your body - you get the idea. when i read "losing weight", i get the impression that maybe you're self-identifying with the weight as a part of you (i've seen this in my own family members) which makes it REALLY difficult to get rid of, because it almost seems self-destructive in some weird psychological way. tell yourself when you do these things that you're building a new, improved version of yourself.

Well, by today's standards you kinda wrote a book .

I'm already drinking more water and less soda, but I'm going to start seriously in January. I plan to lose 3-4kg a month, this way my BMI is going to be okay by the end of 2015. I expect to feel better gradually during the process and I seriously hope not to get saggy skin.

I think <1kg/week is a safe and realistic goal. When I was 20 I lose much more than that weekly without changing my diet. I think I lose weight easily... at last that's why people say. The problem is I gain weight easily too if I don't exercise, and specially if I drink 2 liter of fanta a day .

[Pfotegeist]

Even supermodels get airbrushed.

Heck I saw on TV, cola commercials used to airbrush babies and suggest it would improve their sociability in their awkward teen years.   

It sounded like a worthy mention in my head.

[Netsu]

It's the other way around, Fanta Grape is ridiculously sweet even for soda.
Fanta Grape is 13.8% sugar.
Tropicana Orange Juice has around 10% sugar, Pepsi (at least where I live) is 11%.

A good rule of thumb IMO is that any drink above 1% should be treated as candy. You don't eat candy instead of meals, same goes for drinking candy instead of water.

[Tanner]

yeah, cut soda right the heck out. replace it with flavored sparkling water which was enough to trick my stupid lizard brain into thinking i was still drinking soda. want caffeine? i'm not huge into tea but i turned good coffee into a hobby. (though caffeine is a whole other can of worms i guess) aeropresses are pretty cheap and can make--wait.

The problem is I gain weight easily too if I don't exercise, and specially if I drink 2 liter of fanta a day .

you drink a 2 liter bottle of fanta in a day? holy heck how are you still alive? stop drinking soda.
stop it. stop.

[oodavid]

• Only eat twice on working days; breakfast and evening meal - weekends you can have lunch too
• Portion control
• Don't drink booze / soda on a school night
• Get a pastoral class dog and walk it every day, minimum 1 hour - good for meeting people too!
• Do 20 minutes HARD workout every other day

I'm a massive foodie, it's my entire life in the meat world, must have close to 100 well worn cookbooks, but I honestly think one of the best things for your health is to be creative in the kitchen and try not to eat similar foods - be Vegetarian one week, do Moroccan food the next etc. etc. I think in this way it's possible to eat awesome food but have issues with dietary problems on account of being so varied that you never get the chance to be deficient of the good bits or an build up an excess of the bad.

I hope you figure this out man, your body is your vessel for life, and with such a high BMI you need to be careful that life doesn't pass you by

[Wolf_FGR]

Thank you guys!

It's the other way around, Fanta Grape is ridiculously sweet even for soda.
Fanta Grape is 13.8% sugar.
Tropicana Orange Juice has around 10% sugar, Pepsi (at least where I live) is 11%.

A good rule of thumb IMO is that any drink above 1% should be treated as candy. You don't eat candy instead of meals, same goes for drinking candy instead of water.

Yes, I was just saying there's a huge difference between fanta grape and natural sugarless grape juice... you can't compare them in terms of sugar. At least the 'perceived sugar' .

yeah, cut soda right the heck out. replace it with flavored sparkling water which was enough to trick my stupid lizard brain into thinking i was still drinking soda. want caffeine? i'm not huge into tea but i turned good coffee into a hobby. (though caffeine is a whole other can of worms i guess) aeropresses are pretty cheap and can make--wait.

The problem is I gain weight easily too if I don't exercise, and specially if I drink 2 liter of fanta a day .

you drink a 2 liter bottle of fanta in a day? holy heck how are you still alive? stop drinking soda.
stop it. stop.

In fact I couldn't care less about caffeine... I don't like coffee/tea, I only like coke (not much though) because of the sugar obviously .

• Only eat twice on working days; breakfast and evening meal - weekends you can have lunch too
• Portion control
• Don't drink booze / soda on a school night
• Get a pastoral class dog and walk it every day, minimum 1 hour - good for meeting people too!
• Do 20 minutes HARD workout every other day

I'm a massive foodie, it's my entire life in the meat world, must have close to 100 well worn cookbooks, but I honestly think one of the best things for your health is to be creative in the kitchen and try not to eat similar foods - be Vegetarian one week, do Moroccan food the next etc. etc. I think in this way it's possible to eat awesome food but have issues with dietary problems on account of being so varied that you never get the chance to be deficient of the good bits or an build up an excess of the bad.

I hope you figure this out man, your body is your vessel for life, and with such a high BMI you need to be careful that life doesn't pass you by

Thank you . Eating less meals won't work though because generally I get much more hungry in the evening and It's much harder not to overeat that way. Also, the lunch is probably the healthiest meal I have because I pay for executive servings in a restaurant nearby. It's well-balaced food with lots of veggies and stuff. I eat everything although I really hate most veggies. I drink natural juices.

Breakfast isn't a problem because I don't eat much in the mornings, generally I just eat a slice of bread with a little bit of jelly or margarine (I used to like corn oil margarine but I can't find it any longer), and I drink a glass of milk with ovaltine, or sometimes I just drink pure milk.

For the dinner I used to eat a lot of pizza and junk food but nowadays I eat some fruit around 5-6pm so I'm not very hungry later on. Generally I eat a pancake/some Italian food, generally with grape juice because I don't drink wine.

Of course I'm going to pay more attention to what I'm eating but I don't think there's anything significant to cut from my main meals. The real problem is the stuff I eat and drink between the meals, like 2 liter of soda and all kinds of junks like coated peanuts (of all kinds), sweet milk and caramel. Oh... I'm not mentioning the chocolate bars, am I?

[biomechanic]

Some motivational stuff (NSFW, nudity, photos of horrific medical conditions):
http://chaosandpain.blogspot.com/2014/10/your-fat-is-unequivocally-your-fault-5.html

If you want to give it a read without the pics:

This Site Is NSFW

In IE, block the images and make this site a bit less awkward around coworkers, Republicans, Christians, and grandmothers, by downloading a utility for IE to block images here (http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/answers/34.html).

In Firefox, go to Tools> Options> Content tab and uncheck the box that says load images automatically.

In Chrome, click the wrench icon on the browser toolbar. Mac users: If you don't see the wrench icon, go to the menu bar at the top of your screen and click Chrome. Options (Preferences on Mac and Linux; Settings on Chrome OS)> Under the Hood> Content settings in the "Privacy" section> select "Do not show any images."

The instructions for FF seem outdated. Instead go to about:config and set permissions.default.image to 2.

[TomHunt]

The real problem is the stuff I eat and drink between the meals

first thing to do on feeling hungry is to drink a glass of water. a lot of people confuse the thirst reflex with the hunger reflex.

that being said, you really should be eating a little bit between meals - just not soda, candy, potato chips, etc. - get the healthy stuff in there, too.

my go-to snack foods:
apples, pears
peanut butter
low-fat cheddar (5g total fat / oz)
if you have access to a blender, some frozen berries with some protein powder and some OJ (or milk) will make a nice smoothie (probably a lot of sugar, but also vitamins/antioxidants from the berries and also a good solid dose of protein)
tortilla chips and salsa

[Netsu]

Thank you . Eating less meals won't work though because generally I get much more hungry in the evening and It's much harder not to overeat that way. Also, the lunch is probably the healthiest meal I have because I pay for executive servings in a restaurant nearby. It's well-balaced food with lots of veggies and stuff. I eat everything although I really hate most veggies. I drink natural juices.

Breakfast isn't a problem because I don't eat much in the mornings, generally I just eat a slice of bread with a little bit of jelly or margarine (I used to like corn oil margarine but I can't find it any longer), and I drink a glass of milk with ovaltine, or sometimes I just drink pure milk.

For the dinner I used to eat a lot of pizza and junk food but nowadays I eat some fruit around 5-6pm so I'm not very hungry later on. Generally I eat a pancake/some Italian food, generally with grape juice because I don't drink wine.

Of course I'm going to pay more attention to what I'm eating but I don't think there's anything significant to cut from my main meals. The real problem is the stuff I eat and drink between the meals, like 2 liter of soda and all kinds of junks like coated peanuts (of all kinds), sweet milk and caramel. Oh... I'm not mentioning the chocolate bars, am I?

Replacing bread, pancakes and jelly (all just carbs) with ham, cheese, cottage cheese, fish salads etc. would make a difference too.
But yeah, removing sweet drinks and candy is a priority.
You can also replace coated peanuts with plain peanuts if you like them, they are pretty good for you.

[Superb Joe]

happy new year, my portly friend. it is wonderful that you have made this commitment to perhaps giving thought to in future making a commitment to doing the really obvious things that you know through cultural osmosis and the blindingly simple realities of life will make you stop being fat. i am here to help you every step of the way, which is to say i am here on the computer screen that you apparently do not ever leave sight of. go outside, it's great out there. there's all kinds of urban youths who never completed mario and deadly predators to run away from to make you stop being so fat.

[Superb Joe]

i don't actually want to be too mean, because that is the road to ruin. i am helpful joe and i am here to encourage you: eat less and exercise more. You can't give it up! Triumph or die! but in another, more real sense, spoken less enthusiastically, it's very easy to give up. failure is always an option and it is the most immediate one. however, if you don't wish to die young, or live a shitty life, or consider at some point cultivating some wispy pubes on your face and then through careful and considered movement of the razor blade fashion them into some sort of fucked up face pube race track to delineate where you would like those who inhabit our shared horror reality to believe the outline of your face lies, you should start exercising. it's really good. it's fun. it's good and good for you. it feels good. it's great. mmm mm mm mmm mmmmm Tasty. I'm Lovi'b IT.

[knifeySpoonie]

Hey Apolgies if these have been answered but i read the first post then skimmed the replies and this seemed the easiest way reply

Also I should say from a fellow "big man" Im 6ft 5in tall, and about 300lbs of muscle and fat mix, Ive always lifted weights and played soccer so have always been "fine" with being a bit chubby as Im fairly athletic.. but now Im early 30's im doing something about it.

Hello there.

I don't really have a problem with food. I like good food (duh!) but I don't feel like eating lots of it, and I don't like candies and sweet stuff in general. The problem I think is that I don't exercise any longer. Also, for some reason I don't really feel like an old fat guy,

You might not think you have a "problem with food", but if your putting on weight your probably eating too many calories, so you you might be subconsciously just telling yourself I'm fine I dont eat cake while eating 4000 calories of "healthy" food. You'll still put on weight. Try Calorie counting and being honest with yourself about food intake see exactly how much your eating.

- I don't have a single 'real-life' friend any longer that is not from my family; all my friends were all jerks and I had enough (so, no one to be ashamed of having a fat friend).

Ouch... Go out, get some friends, join a club or a church group (I see your religious) and socialise. Its important to have people you can trust and be social with.. Also putting (so, no one to be ashamed of having a fat friend) suggests you may have issues with your weight that you'd rather joke about than deal with which could be a sign of low esteem and self preservation. Real friends aren't ashamed of a friend for being fat and they will support a friend when losing weight and be happy for you when you succeed and support you when you fail etc.. Hiding away just allows you re-enforce the "why need friends they might be ashamed of me" mechanism

- I'm lazy/don't_want to exercise; I used to enjoy exercising but nowadays I simply don't feel like.

Im currently here too and working towards fixing it.. forcing yourself to do exercise is incrementally better and easier, the longer you do it the more you will enjoy it again. I say there's a 2 month point you need to break through where doing exercise becomes part of your routine than a chore you have to do.

- I couldn't care less about being fat/slim--so far I haven't experienced any negative effect at all, and I don't give a single f**k to what people think about me.

Do you not? above you joke about no friends to be ashamed of their fat friend. Maybe you do care and acknowledging that might be beneficial so you can deal with why it's effecting you? maybe seek impartial counselling if you don't have any trusted friends.

- I don't have a gf any longer--I'd surely like to have a gf but it's not just about simple attraction (I grew up), I'd like someone to spend some quality time with, someone who thinks alike so I can talk and enjoy another actual person, I'm afraid that person doesn't exist though , unless I go gay . (NOTE: I'm not implying that women are dumber/inferior than men, it's just a fact that in my life I haven't met any woman I could enjoy talking with, it's mostly because of religion though, I respect all religions and my family is heavily christian and personally I do believe Christ was a cool dude and stuff, but I have my own opinion about religion and stuff, and that kinda affect the way I see everything, and I'd like someone who share that view, not simply 'tolerate' it.).

How do you intend to meet any cool awesome women who also like Jesus as much as you, do you go places where you have a chance to meet them? get out in the real world. Join clubs, go to church events if thats what your looking for. Also if you had some friends to talk shit with and agree with you and your opinions etc you might be happier accepting a girl into your life who is a bit different and offers some well placed opinions etc..

But you aint going to meet a quality woman if you don't care enough about yourself to get off your backside, get out and meet people, and generally take care of yourself which includes being healthy/losing weight.

Also, one important factor is that I absolutely don't want those horrible hanging skins on my body, like lots of people have after losing weight. I'd rather be fat. Any ideas if I'll get those?

Your 25.. lose weight slowly and healthily 2 lbs a week and your skin should naturally shrink as you lose weight.. lose lots of weight too fast and it will hang... Basically make this a long term goal.

My plan to lose weight is simple, just cut the soft drinks and exercise when possible. It's a huge effort for such a lazy person though.

Good start.. I still think calorie counting is important until you know how much your eating.. Calories in are the single biggest factor, if you eat less than you need you will lose weight...

anyways Good luck. Get started. Seek advice from doctors or councillors if you need support.

[Ammypendent]

Lots of sound advice is given here already.

One method I found worthwhile is to focus on adding healthier things to your diet to crowd out the unhealthy things. While it's possible to cut out things like sugar/soda/salt/caffeine/etc cold turkey, the body will often react with strong cravings for some times and in some severe cases have withdrawal effects.

One other thing you should look into is your carb intake. Do a vast majority of your meals have bread/pasta in some form? If so you might find that making some of your meals carb free (ie: instead of ceral/toast for breakfast, you eat eggs/fruit) can really help you shed some of the excess weight.

Also for margarine, get rid of it. That stuff practically acts like plastic plaster to your insides and even bugs won't touch the stuff if you leave it out. Use real butter or equivalent for your cooking (olive oil, lard, etc) because one of the major things figured out in the last 10 years is that consuming natural fats & cholesterol are important to your health and could help you loose weight (if you don't eat tons of it).