At the beginning of the year I was 202 and thinking a few more pounds to lose would make things perfect. Here I am at the end of the year facing 227, whoops! So I'm thinking I might skip a few lunches and have those diet health drinks instead but I don't know much about them. Recommendations on the drinks?

Dave

water is probably the best. . .diet drinks can have caffeine and sodium. . .(unless Diet Rite. . .my favorite diet drink).

A dry apple martini? maybe a gin and tonic? how about some tequila shots.

Mix yourself a smoothie of low-fat or no-fat yogurt and some frozen fruit like strawberries or mixed berries, and a banana. You can add a little honey to sweeten it. It will keep you going all afternoon and it's delicious. Just buzz it up in a blender or use a stick blender.

if you get a smoothie best to make your own. . .if you buy them. . .they might have a lot of sugar in them so watch out for that. . .

V8...

Can't stand the stuff, personally, but if you like vegetable juice it's healthier than the diet mt dew I down at work.

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Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
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Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
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Eureka, CA

that sounds like something you could add vodka to...

Actually I was thinking about those cases of health drinks I've seen in the stores. Drink it instead of a meal, nothing to prepare. Was hoping to get an opinion on which one was best. Gutenberg, yours sounds great but I'm not sure I have the time to put it together (or the blender).

Dave

supposedly one bowl of cereal for lunch will work as well. or if you eat a whole sandwich, try eating a half a sandwich instead.

depends some of those "meal replacement drinks" can have a lot of calories. ..you have to read the labels.

The plus with them is if you are on a calorie restrictive diet. ..they are convenient (you just drink them) and you know how many calories you ingest without having to count them all the time. . .since it is on the label.

A couple of women I used to work with swore by Slim Fast Rich Chocolate Royale. It's tasty enough, but to me it seems like drinking dessert, not lunch.
[www.slim-fast.com]

If you don't have time to make a smoothie, the Stonyfield Farm ones don't seem to be too bad for you.
[www.stonyfield.com])

Never skip a meal, that just leaves you famished and you make up for it at the next meal. I'd just shoot for lower calorie lunches. Half a sandwich and some soup. Skip the chips. Have salads. Also skip the snacks or bring your own to work and make them healthy. Since you are just focusing on lunch, my guess is you don't really want to change your eating habits at home, and that may be where your larger problem is ;)

Sure Pam. Cut me where it hurts!

Seriously, if you are a heavy soda drinker - you will probably lose 20lbs by simply switching to water and unsweetened tea.

Sugars are a big problem. If you have a big carrot juice for lunch, you'll feel fairly full and the natural sweetness of it is an adequate replacement for a sugary soda.

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Unpaid Social Liaison

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Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2006 10:09PM by Pat.

I'm not the one saying you need to lose weight! But since you did ask... it's better to make a few small changes in your all around diet than to sacrifice 1 meal a day. And I doubt you need anyone to tell you where to make those small changes. I hate diets, I think they cause more problems than solutions, and will always advocate sensible eating where you are not deprived of the foods you like. Especially your home brew. Just identify your bad eating habits, work on getting rid of them, and cut back on the crap you know is bad for you.

Eating only once a day is a very bad idea. You need to eat a little all day. Spread it out into 5 small meals. If you starve yourself all day you will lower your metabolism. Just figure out your caloric needs and spread it out. Or try weight watchers.

I have lost 15 pounds in the last 12 days. I just went from eating everything in sight, to

BF: Eggs OR oatmeal - glass of water or milk

bottle of water

Lunch: Small salad or soup - water

Dinner: fresh fruit and salad or eggs - water

It surprised me how fast I can lose some weight. I'll see how the next few weeks go.

Oh - my first time dieting - not bad for 40!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/2005 05:00PM by SteveJobs.

The problem with diets is what do you do when you have lost the weight? Keep eating the diet or risk weight gain? They can be good as a jumpstart to better eating, but if that change doesn't occur, you just gain the weight back again. Or stay on the diet forever.

Pam Wrote:
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> The problem with diets is what do you do when you
> have lost the weight? Keep eating the diet or risk
> weight gain? They can be good as a jumpstart to
> better eating, but if that change doesn't occur,
> you just gain the weight back again. Or stay on
> the diet forever.

you need to stay on some sort of diet. and try to think of it as eating behavior instead dieting. modify as necessary so you don't keep losing weight.

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It sounds strange, but in order to lose weight, you need to eat more meals. Portion control and what you eat are the keys.

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3GHz - The clock is STILL ticking Steve.

juices: how about pomegranete/blueberry cocktail? i just had some over the weekend, it was great, and lots of antioxidants. follow up with water, too.

or unsweetened tea, even thought it has caffeine, there are supposed benefits to drinking tea. i like green tea, but earl grey will do as well. sweeten with honey if you like, another source of antioxidants, and natural to boot.

substitute other crunchies for potato chips. even Sun Chips are better for you. i like those dry, super-crunchy Wasa breads, as they're loaded with fiber.

btw, i'm no health food nut, just sharing a few things i've been doing of late. i do have an occasional diet Coke, rarely drink the HFCS* stuff.

*High Fructose Corn Syrup. this crap is in EVERYTHING now!

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Pat Wrote:
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[snip]
> Seriously though, I usually only eat dinner and
> I've gone from 205 to 220. And it's the f'n Coke!
> Soft drink, not nose candy. Since I quit
> smoking, I've been drinking Coke like there is no
> tomorrow.

You're not going to want to hear it, but give Diet Coke a try if you need your cola fix. Or Diet Rite, or whatever sugar free one you can tolerate. Granted, they may bring their own baggage health-wise, but with zero calories you'll no longer have the soda to blame for weight gain.

You will have to make the effort to acquire the taste for it, as it is definitely different. I can't drink a regular Coke (or Pepsi or any other sugared soft drink) anymore.

Booze. Skipping the hookers makes it healthy.

heh.

Actually, thot I'd post a followup to the Coke addiction (soft drink, not nose candy)... Try Coke Zero. Actually does taste like regular Coke. Still has the caffeine and other stuff, so I wouldn't call it a health drink, but it seems like a good substitute for regular Coke if you're calorie conscience.

As for home made smoothies, I have a great recipe that came on a Splenda box. (found it and copy/pasted from the Splenda Canadian site, eh?)

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Yield
3 1/2 cups, 3 servings

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) Frozen, unsweetened strawberries (about 1/2 bag I think)
1 banana
1 cup (250 mL) skim milk yogurt
3/4 cup (175 mL) SPLENDA* Granular (I don't think I used this much)
1/2 cup (125 mL) skim milk

Directions
In blender, combine strawberries, banana, yogurt and SPLENDA* Granular; blend until smooth. Gradually blend in milk until desired consistency.

Notes
To make a Peach Banana Smoothie, substitute frozen unsweetened peaches for the strawberries.
(I think I see how I could make salmon smoothies!)

Nutritional Information
per serving
Energy: 141 Cal
Protein: 6.2 g
Fat: 0.4 g
Carbohydrates: 29.6 g

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Don't ask who the bell's for, dude. It's you.

In addition to what everyone else has said, you need to add exercise to the diet. For me, the big hurdle was going from regular soda to diet (that's about 120 calories eliminated per can). I do the "liquid lunch" of PowerBars and protein shakes, but neither is really a low-cal solution for someone looking to use diet to control calories...I'm doing an hour of cardio daily, so I'm using them as a workout supplement, not a diet control device.