Weight loss tips - preferably of the less obvious kind

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fortyfour

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Rules: Sorry but i think they are useful to make this a good sort of thread.

1. only one tip per post
2. each tip should be brief and to the point but provide enough information to make it convincing. Try to stick to one short paragraph
3. If you disagree with a tip, post your disagreement and say why.
4. recipes are ok. I notice, there is not much in the way of healthy recipes given on this site. Although i think recipes are worthy of their own thread.
5. As far as i'm concerned links to useful articles make for a good tip.
6. If you refer to prepackaged foods, could you describe the food so that those of us who don't live in your country can at least understand the post.
7. Be aware that a lot of dietary information is contentious so links to support your point are recommended.
 
A tip for drinkers

To make a glass of wine go further and last longer, fill your glass of white wine or rose up with ice cubes. I can sit on this for an hour whereas i might drink the whole glass in considerably less time without the ice. I started doing this because i live in a very hot climate and wine out of the fridge is not chilled enough. Note that my glass of wine is a metric cup - 250 ml whereas a glass of wine in a restaurant or pub is about 150ml i think.
 
If you don't like drinking water but are trying to kick other more calorific or unnatural (e.g. calorie free Pepsi or Coke) drinks, try adding a little lemon juice to the water. I'd want to add about two teaspoons per glass (my glasses are about 350mL), and according to my bottle, each teaspoon contains the princely sum of one calorie.
 
fortyfour said:
can at least understand the post.
7. Be aware that a lot of dietary information is contentious so links to support your point are recommended.
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Um, maybe, but make sure its links that are from a reputable source and are not spammy.
 
Yeah make sure its not spammy. But it helps to have links so we can assess how credible the source is likely to be.
 
Running - people should get advice from their regular doctor as to whether its advisable for them to take up running. And then as to how much they should do for their weight. Running is really hard on the knees, even if you are not overweight. So be careful everybody Walking may be a much better option for a lot of people here. It just takes longer so walk faster if you are impatient. Ignoring this warning can lead to the need for knee replacement. That is both expensive and often not trouble free. MY father's general practitioner go so far as to say that people over 40 should not run. He's obviously seen a lot of knee problems in runners.
 
I'd add to the above post and say that if you can get it, get someone to help you set up a personalised program for you (it's something I would consider worth paying for, it keeps me motivated and my program is very effective).

Now this is something that fortyfour disagrees with me on, but I'm going to put it on anyway. Consider switching to lower fat dairy, especially milk. It might take some adjusting, but if you can do it and switch to similar amounts of dairy when you do (this is where fortyfour thinks the plan falls apart- we've agreed to disagree), you'll save quite a few calories.

This nutritional information is from Tesco (a major UK supermarket), on their own brand of whole milk, semi-skimmed milk, and skimmed milk (unfortunately you need to log in with a valid UK postcode and phone number to look at the website I'm looking at).

Whole milk (blue cap in the UK) contains 64 calories/ 100ml, 3.3g protein, 4.7g carbs (all of which is sugar), and 3.6g of fat (of which 2.4 saturates).
Semi-skimmed (green cap in the UK) contains 50 calories/ 100ml, 3.6g protein, 4.8g carbs (all sugar), and 1.8g fat (of which 1.1 saturates).
Skimmed milk (red cap in the UK) contains 37 calories/ 100ml, 3.6g protein, 4.9g carbs (of which all sugar), and 0.3g of fat (0.1g saturates).

Switching may take some time to get used to- I'm fortunate in that my mother switched me over as soon as I was old enough not to need whole milk anymore (I was about 8). But I've thought for a long time (since I was... 8 and a few months, I suppose) that whole milk tastes revolting and even semi-skimmed is a little too creamy for my liking (in most things). So your tastes adapt, as they do if you're coming to a diet and trying to kick junk in favour of fruit and vegetables.
 
Make a diet plan and stick to it firmly. Cheating is not allowed. And low carbs really help in losing weight.
 
I'd disagree, Colmer. Yes, you need a plan. But it doesn't need to be strict- some people just can't live like that. I've said several times before if I had to choose between weight loss and never having chocolate again, I'd pick the chocolate. You need to do what's realistic for you, and that you can stick with (more or less) for the rest of your life. And low carb diets are quite contentious- I err on the side of them being a fad diet, although one of the less problematic fad diets out there.
 
When eating a dinner in a restaurant, ask for half of your meal to be put in a 'to-go' container before it even comes out to the table. This is a good way to control your portions in a place that serves large portions.
 
:waving: Hi...off and on lurker on the right track again in life.

Sneaky trick....eating smaller portions, put them on a smaller plate.

Smaller portion on a small plate vs on a large plate tricks the eye/brain. Optical illusions for losing weight, cause that "small" portion looks "big" .
 
Jofthepeace said:
Sneaky trick....eating smaller portions, put them on a smaller plate.

Smaller portion on a small plate vs on a large plate tricks the eye/brain. Optical illusions for losing weight, cause that "small" portion looks "big" .
Click to expand...

Or just use a magnifying glass while you eat to make it seem like you're eating more LOL
(fitness.com)
 
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pbl, that's a great original diet tip. (The sort of thing i hope this thread can be about). To take it one step further and to minimise awkwardness with restaurant staff, try taking along your own container and do it yourself as soon as you get your meal. I say this because i worked for a restaurant that served huge meals and they would not have agreed to do doggy bags at all, let alone before your meal gets to the table.

Amy i think you've misinterpreted me somewhat on your point about dairy but i don't want to debate it here. I do think its brilliant that your mother weaned you off full cream milk when you were a child and perhaps its something that parents of young children could think about doing for their kids.
 
Emerald said:
.....What?
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1. touché salesman

1. A phrase used to concede a point, typically one of no-contest, such as pointing out an obvious correction.

2. a common reference to Family Guy
"Hold on there, son. 2+2=4, not 5."
"...Touché salesman"
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On another note, Cutting sugar and carbs and fatty oils (and foods) is an obvious tip.

Now I'm not sure if it's just me or if this happens to alot of ya'll, but after cutting down to almost nil on those three areas I really don't desire much of them. No, I take it back...still love my carbs....I'm a midwest guy, we strive on our potatoes and bread and corn. But the greasy stuff, especially fast foods, I almost get ill thinking about eating that crap. I havn't had a greasy burger in months, and don't really want one.
 
@ Jofthepeace
Wow. I'm pretty sure I live under a rock lol


Tip:
Some people like to make vegetables the main dish instead of a side dish. This may cut down calorie consumption.

 
fortyfour said:
pbl, that's a great original diet tip. (The sort of thing i hope this thread can be about). To take it one step further and to minimise awkwardness with restaurant staff, try taking along your own container and do it yourself as soon as you get your meal. I say this because i worked for a restaurant that served huge meals and they would not have agreed to do doggy bags at all, let alone before your meal gets to the table.
Click to expand...

Wow, I've never heard of a restaurant not packing up doggy bags! Crazy! Well, that's a good point then... you may have to bring your own container... or maybe split the meal between 2 people? I'm not sure how the restaurant would look at that, but really, they shouldn't be looking down on people for not wanting to eat a ridiculous amount of food.
 
To Emerald: no no, it's just a common phrase my friends and I use alot, and I wanted to clarify in case there was a misunderstanding. Certainly don't want to offend anyone accidentally.

Now there are two commons of "drink a big glass of water before a meal to help you feel more full/eat less" and "eat slowly and you will feel yourself get full before you overeat".

On the first one, I started doing this...well..until I got to the point of drinking an average of 2 to 3 gallons of water a day. Side-tip though is to find your body's sweet spot on how long before the meal to drink the water. Too early and it will have passed your stomach already and not be effective. Too late and it's not good for digestion (had a friend that had to test to find the time cause just before dinner gave her bad indigestion).

Eating slowly is a good one. Also try to eat whats good for you before the other things. Example of a average meal: steak, vegetable of some sort, and a starch. Eat the vegetable first, eat the steak and starches as a secondary item. So if you get full, you've gotten the important foods into you rather than the 'fun' foods.
 
Keep your food interesting. I think this errs on the obvious but it bears repeating. If you're bored with your food you're not going to want to stick to your diet. This doesn't necessarily mean having chocolate (or other "junk") every day (although if you can fit it in your allowance without sacrificing your nutritional requirements then go to it), but rather making sure you have a variety of food that satisfies your taste buds. (I'm doing a lot of cooking to try to find low calorie dinners for this very reason, and I think I'm eating nicer food now than I was before. I certainly feel a lot better about my food now)
 
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