December 31, 2010

Are you going on a diet for the new year...

... like everyone else with the #1 most common and boring New Year's resolution?

Are you going on a diet?
Yes.
No.
I'm doing something but there's something about the term "diet" that brings out the quibbler in me.
  
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Are you finishing up that bag of chips right now so you can get the house ready for the virtuous tomorrow? And what will you eat on that diet? Tell us in detail, but first, weigh in here:

What are you thinking of eating in the new year?
The same old stuff.
A variety of truly health-enhancing foods.
Smaller portions of basically the same stuff, leaning a bit more toward the healthful.
I'll cut out carbohydrates.
Cut the junk food, but otherwise the same basic stuff.
I'll set a calorie limit and count calories.
I'll pick a few foods that I'm allowed to eat -- maybe only one food.
Tiny plates. I can eat what I want, but it must fit on that plate.
A liquid diet.
Fasting, maybe one day a week.
  
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How much do you want to lose?
0
5-10 pounds
Over 10 pounds but less than 25 pounds
More than 25 pounds but less than 50 pounds
More than 50 pounds
  
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Will you meet your goal?
No, of course not. It never works.
Yes, because I'm strong and determined.
Yes, because I'm saying "yes" here and that's gives me new incentive.
Probably not. I may lose some, but these things tend not to work out in the long run.
  
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56 comments:

coketown said...

Some of us actually have resolutions to gain weight, you know.

Titus said...

I stopped drinking soda white flour and it I lost 10 pounds.

I am at my desired weight now-156.

I generally only eat one meal a day and the other items I eat are smoothies with fruit and veges and granola with almonds.

I do usually have a bad day and have something "bad" for me but I make up for it the next day and don't eat as much.

I am not eating anything after 8:00 either.

I was at 167 for over a month and my Indian UK husband called me muffin top. He can't do that anymore.

It's really a lifestyle choice.

Titus said...

soda and white flour.

I make typos sometimes.

Only whole wheat bread. It makes a world of difference and it actually tastes better.

reader_iam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
reader_iam said...

Titus: Happy New Year, dear Titus! May 2011 be full of your favorite ruff[-ough]ages all the year long.

d-day said...

Funny post. I'm not "going" on a diet, I'm staying on one. I second Titus on the "no white flour" - it's made a huge difference (20+ pounds over the last few months). My resolution is to drop wheat completely for 6 days per week.

chickelit said...

I'm halving it all next year.

wv = "bught" That's the Chaucerian (olde English) spelling of "butt."

Hee

Lincolntf said...

My New Year's resolution is more of a mundane task. I'm going to make sure that I take a digital temperature reading every single day for the year 2011 and at the end of the year compare my results with whatever "average" the NWS comes up with. Might do one thermometer mounted on the always-in-the-sun side of my shed and one on the always-in-the-shade patio.
Someone here, I think Madison Man, was the impetus for my little homegrown experiment.
In fact, MM, if you're reading this, you might consider doing the same thing up there in Wisconsin. Our brief discussion about average temps made me wonder how much they really vary from year to year (before they are modeled, projected and superimposed over superfluous trend graphs) in my own backyard.
I plan to take and record a reading every single day between noon and one PM. I figure to live in this house for at least a few more years, so I'll evetntually have a real set of data to talk about, not to mention real life gardening/lawn care anecdotes to correlate witrh the temps.

Alex said...

I need to lose 140lbs. I weight 140lbs. I need to disappear.

The Dude said...

I lost 146 pounds of ugly fat in 1992.

WV: clendump - have at it Titus.

Jim said...

1/1/2010-263 lbs.
12/31/2010-224 lbs.

Cut out sugar, taters, cut way back on bread.

I plan on more of the same for 2011. My goal is to break the 1/10th of a ton mark. Getting under an eighth of a ton was great, I can hardly imagine being less than a tenth of a ton!!

howzerdo said...

No white flour. It works great and I feel a lot better. I eliminated it several years ago, and lost about 10 pounds with no effort. But in about late October of this year, I fell off the wagon and it is amazing how addictive flour is. So back to no white flour in '11.

Lincolntf said...

I'm 5' 10" and weigh exactly (as of this morning) 185.5 lbs. I think I'm about 10lbs. overweight on the "official" chart. Nonetheless, my diet of "whatever I want, whenever I want it" will continue for a few more years.

ricpic said...

I blame it all on Sara Lee.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I lost 146 pounds of ugly fat in 1992.

Divorce? I lost 195 pounds in the same year...hmmmmmm

My resolution is to get my recipies in an organized status and try to print a cookbook of my favorites. Also to put together a cookbook of affordable, cheap, easy eats.

The Dude said...

I cut out sugar and lost over 10 pounds with no trouble. I didn't eat gluten for 15 years, so now that I can again consume gluten, I do tend to eat more bread than perhaps I should. I am not going to give it up.

I think I will have some rice to usher in the New Year. It's only fitting. And maybe I'll have a beer. A decade and a half with no beer (and only the occasional sip of sake was difficult). Not that I drink all that much, but once in a while a beer is a good thing.

On to 2011 - it can only be better than 2010.

David said...

"I never works." True enough.

AllenS said...

No diet for me. I started to put on 5-9 miles a day on my treadmill. Shadow boxing with 2 1/2 lb weights in between the treadmill and this blog! 194 lbs this morning. 5' 9" and 64 years old. If you don't diet, you must exercise.

Haven't worked out for about an hour, and my blood pressure is up a little. 114 over 80 pulse 79.

Ain't easy getting old.

Unknown said...

I'm sticking to the South Beach diet. Been on it 3-4 years now and love it. I'd rather have bacon than a donut any day, so it works for me.

I just saw Hoop Dreams, the doc about basketball kids from the inner city shot in the early '90s. Not one person in the inner city (or the suburbs) was fat! Good thing the government stepped in to feed all those kids.

Alex said...

AllenS - you are correct that one can go about maintaining weight by different combination of diet & exercise. However what you might be missing is the eating all the carbs you want is not good from an inflammatory response to your cardiovascular system. It's not ALL about weight.

mc said...

@Coketown

This is true. Bad year!

Fingers crossed...

HT said...

Forget weight. Eat for enjoyment and health. You'll be fine.

I'm gluten free only because I have to be - Celiac disease.

I l-o-v-e-d toasted white bread for my BLT, and miss it dearly - among five thousand other flour-related things.

Shanna said...

Eat more veggies, less sweets. This is sort of an ongoing thing. I did cut out cokes completely, oh, two or three years ago now? I don't miss them, but I do drink a lot of iced tea.

Also, run a 5k.

jungatheart said...

Allen, I agree with Alex, except I thought it was fats that caused the inlammatory reaction (in the lining of your arteries).

Also, if you don't take something already, maybe you would like to ask your doc about lisinopril. I think the just over 80 on the bottom number, resting, is not desirable (these days). But, COME ON, the 114 is amazing.

HT said...

Alex said...

AllenS - you are correct that one can go about maintaining weight by different combination of diet & exercise. However what you might be missing is the eating all the carbs you want is not good from an inflammatory response to your cardiovascular system. It's not ALL about weight.

___

Thank you. I spent countless minutes maybe hours trying to convince a few people of this here on this blog.

James said...

I got a HUGE wake up call on Tuesday during my annual physical. My BP reading was 180/100 so the doctor did an in-office EKG and concluded from the results that I'd had a minor heart attack recently. He immediately placed me on 81mg aspirin and Lotrel 10/20 daily. I haven't yet checked today but yesterday my BP was down to 138/98.

So early in the new year I have to look forward to a consult with a cardiologist and a cardiac stress test. I'd known for a while that I was prehypertensive - my mother, two older siblings and a younger brother are all on medication - but I had chosen to try to control it through diet and lots of exercise. I did notice some shortness of breath while running during the fall.

Alex said...

Allen, I agree with Alex, except I thought it was fats that caused the inlammatory reaction (in the lining of your arteries).

Natural fats from meat, fish, nuts, olives are fine. Trans-fats are the ones that do the cardiovascular damage. The ultimate bad boy for your heart is a pie/cookie made with Crisco.

Alex said...

Thank you. I spent countless minutes maybe hours trying to convince a few people of this here on this blog.

Gary Taubes' "Good Calories Bad Calories" really was an eye opener.

Alex said...

My last blood pressure reading(Sep 7) was 102 over 60. Yeah I rock.

HT said...

Alex said...
____
Thank you. I spent countless minutes maybe hours trying to convince a few people of this here on this blog.
___

Gary Taubes' "Good Calories Bad Calories" really was an eye opener.

____

Thank you again!! I'm not sure we agree on much else, but on this we can FOR SURE agree. I go back to that book all the time. I'm trying to understand the part about liposidity. That's not the exact word, but it's the fat storage process - it will take several attempts, I think, before understanding sets in. But he makes the effort to explain it.

Loved that book.

Alex said...

I think he explains it quite simply. Carbs or sugar provoke an insulin response which immediately generates fat. I watched a more involved lecture on the biochemistry of it, but that's basically the gist of it. Carbs/Sugar-->Insulin-->Fat.

Unknown said...

Drink more wawa, cut down on as much as I usually eat a bit - it does add up.

Or down.

And I have to disagree about the "annual nonsense" tag. People who make resolutions are likelier to succeed at the goal than those who kinda, sorta think about it, according to something I saw yesterday.

I suppose you have to see Lee Ermey in the back of your head inviting you to chug on over to namby-pamby land.

Alex said...

We could all use our own personal Marin drill instructor to whip us into shape.

roesch-voltaire said...

No diet --just grass fed beef, fish, vegetables from the farmer' market, complex carbos only and very little sugar follow by a glass of wine each night. Tasty.

Unknown said...

Carbs/Sugar-->Insulin-->Fat.

Alex, that sounds pretty much like South Beach Diet too.

My cholesterol numbers went way down and BP stayed at normal after a year on it.

Alex said...

It seems that South Beach & Atkins agree on the biochemistry of fat storage, just differ on what is acceptable levels of carbs. It really comes down to what works for you.

Alex said...

rv - you are obviously wealthy to afford ONLY grass-fed beef. What about black people in the projects?

Harry said...

I started dieting November 30. No flour products, nothing with sugar in it, no fruit except berries, no starchy vegetables, minimal dairy. Meat, nuts, and green vegetables only.

To my surprise I've barely lost 5 pounds so far. I did this about 7 years ago and had more rapid success.

I'm sticking with it as it's bound to make a difference sooner or later and has already helped in some ways. For example (excuse me, this is gross) my hemorrhoids are no longer killing me. I have no idea why, but that alone is motivation.

roesch-voltaire said...

Alex as we eat meat cooked Asian style that is small amounts added to vegetables etc, and even poor folks could afford that life style, but to be honest we also slow cook cheaper meats like roasts to save money. From my experience I find It is a false either or that you must be rich to eat well when it is more about wise choices and cutting out the expensive sugar treats or the big portions.

Alex said...

rv - if it's so affordable to eat grass-fed beef and heirloom vegetables like YOU do, then why are black ghetto people chowing down on carbo-loaded processed crap?

Wince said...

"Calling Doctor Curly, calling Doctor Curly, go to Room 6, see a man about a dog...diet."

rhhardin said...

Tony Hendra noted that the three best sellers in tabloids are aliens, pets and diets.

He suggested an alien pet diet story.

Wince said...

rhhardin,

Coincidence?

Anonymous said...

Bread, once the staff of life, is now the bane of our existence.

roesch-voltaire said...

Alex I understand where your generalizations originate, but you might want to consider Milwaukee's inner city farmer O.W. Allen who has transformed his Growing Power project into a national training center for the community food movement-- affordable "heirloom" vegetables as you call them. Just one of many counter examples that give me hope.

HT said...

Yes, roesch-voltaire, Will Allen is an inspiration to me too. In DC, there is really nothing like this. We do not even have a recycling center.

LarsPorsena said...

Bread, once the staff of life, is now the bane of our existence.

__

Ain't it the truth. I read that Celiacs cannot be ordained by the Catholic Church.

former law student said...

I make no such resolutions now, but I find Lent is a good time to cut back on eating. It's only forty days, not a year, and it's good to feel a little privation for a defined time.

affordable "heirloom" vegetables as you call them.

Almost all the heirloom tomatoes I've tried to grow merely sicken and die. Give me some hybrids!

former law student said...

I read that Celiacs cannot be ordained by the Catholic Church.

I wonder if alcoholics can be ordained, for the same reason.

But low gluten Hosts can be consecrated. The following webpage lays out the canonical position and provides an American source of 0.01% gluten Hosts:

http://www.usccb.org/liturgy/innews
/1103.shtml

Paddy O said...

I hadn't really thought about diet, thinking more in terms of keeping up with the exercise I've been casual about for the last few months. But it turns out that I had the flu for the the last few days, haven't kept anything down during that time.

I figure I might as well take advantage of it, and turn this fluish fast into something fashionable.

Charlie Martin said...

Some of us actually have resolutions to gain weight, you know.

We forgive you.

Charlie Martin said...

Taubes has a new, less technically oriented book out: Why We Get Fat.

BEK477 said...

hAnn Althouse,

I weighed 408 lbs on 10/31/2009. Today I weigh 297 lbs. My goal is 180 lbs. I walk or run or jog with hand weights (5lbs) 1-2 hours per day five days per week.


I do not eat potatoes, rice,noodles,pasta,white bread,cake,pie,ice cream or candy.
I use alcohol sparingly.


On average,I have sex twice every two days.

I take no diet pills or fat burners.

The foods that I eat are found in the color set of red,orange,yellow, green,blue and violet. I avoid white and brown colored foods as much as possible.

My portions are normal to large. I place special emphsis on meat that is trimmed of fat and not fried but braised, roasted, grilled,steamed and broiled.

My breads are high fiber natural grain breads. I have two slices per day.
I use olive oil.

I eat one bowl of oatmeal everyday. I use
sweetner or sugar per day.

I use no more than one tablespoon of honey or sweetner or sugar.

Beer and chocolate are scarficed.

I have kept off the weight for over a year.

I intend to begin PX90 training soon. I'll contact you with the results next year.

Anonymous said...

Ten years ago, I resolved to stop making resolutions. Have a perfect record on keeping that one so far.

Tank said...

As soon as you think in terms of "going on a diet" .... FAIL.

I'd like to gain a few pounds this year, but it gets harder as you get older. Obviously, I'm looking to build on some muscle.

Sokmnkee said...

While my husband and I do want to lose some pounds, the new regimen is more about us adopting a new habit of eating that will cut our cancer risks considerably.

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