In 1 week I lost 13 lbs

[Idaho]

Amazing how many people still cling to the discredited idea of calorie limitation and exercise. It doesn't work. You would have to run up and down the stairs 50 times to 'burn off' the calories from one piece of toast

It's all to do with metabolism and what kinds of fuel you are putting in your body.

There are, broadly speaking, 4 kinds of sugars:

monosaccharides
disaccharides
polysaccharides
oligosaccharides

The top of the list is simple sugar, the bottom is complex carbohydrate. If your body was a normal family car - the first is rocket fuel, the last is normal petrol/diesel. If you eat loads of monosaccharides then you are giving your body too much sugar. Your body will produce loads of insulin and turn it all in to fat. You will get fat and diabetic. Loads of stored fat, messed up insulin system. Coincidentally, what is happening to more and more people on a diet full of processed carbs and sugars - HFCS in the US being a particularly good example - although there are others.

Personally I don't eat any processed sugar because I messed up my metabolism with bad diet. Plenty of veg, meat, fish, dairy, complex carbs (oats, rye, brown rice, others). Lost lots of weight, felt lots better. No problem.

[jabarto]

Amazing how many people still cling to the discredited idea of calorie limitation and exercise. It doesn't work. You would have to run up and down the stairs 50 times to 'burn off' the calories from one piece of toast

No. If you expend more calories than you eat, you will lose weight. This is rudimentary physics were talking about here. If you don't, you should probably let the government know so they can study your magical body that produces calories from nothing so they can end the energy crisis.

[Aemilius Paulus]

No, Idaho is correct. Our bodies are rather efficient. One-hundred calories is a mile of running, roughly speaking. After that mile, plus a bit more passive exercise, you will be hungry and thirsty. You will not only fail to lose weight, but actually gain some. Read the new studies. Even the Times published an article on this sometime last year. The only way to lose weight is to eat a regular, filling, but yet healthy diet. Exercise builds up health, but it does not cause normal people to lose too much weight, if at all. Only the extremes do.

[jabarto]

No, Idaho is correct. Our bodies are rather efficient. One-hundred calories is a mile of running, roughly speaking. After that mile, plus a bit more passive exercise, you will be hungry and thirsty. You will not only fail to lose weight, but actually gain some. Read the new studies. Even the Times published an article on this sometime last year. The only way to lose weight is to eat a regular, filling, but yet healthy diet. Exercise builds up health, but it does not cause normal people to lose too much weight, if at all. Only the extremes do.

You only need a two hundred daily calorie deficit to lose weight at a reasonable rate. You are right in the sense that starving yourself is bad, but it's pretty ridiculous to claim that exercise doesn't help. If you lift weights, you will build muscle. Muscles require more calories to sustain themselves, ergo you will burn more of them and lose weight.

Seriously; basic science here.

EDIT: Actually you're sort of right. Exercise doesn't contribute to your weight loss as much as diet but it does affect your body composition which is a factor.

[Beskar]

That biggest loser or whatever it is called where they get fatties, feed them rabbit food then get them 24/7 in a gym shows that exercise and diet thing works for sure. After a month, they go from like 400 to 200 or whatever the weights they are.

[naut]

Read the new studies. Even the Times published an article on this sometime last year. The only way to lose weight is to eat a regular, filling, but yet healthy diet. Exercise builds up health, but it does not cause normal people to lose too much weight, if at all.

Again, it is more complex than that. As I've already said the type of exercise you do is key. If you go for a 8km jog you won't lose weight if you are eating an ordinary diet. If you however, do 60 sets of sprints and an hour of weight training, without supplimenting your intake you will lose weight, because your metabolic rates are boosted for the following 24 hours after exercise.

[Subotan]

It's natural for the body to increase it's intake of calories if you're doing that much intensive exercise though.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Man, I'd die from sheer stress having to take all of this nonsense into account. Eat this, eat that, exercise this way, that way.

Madness, I say!


Most Greeks grew up in far less abundance than 21st century US/Northwest European standards. They all smoke four packets of cigarettes a day. Can't keep their hands of the ouzo and wine either. Hospitals are so underfunded and full of obsolete equipment that your survival chances drop dramatically should you make the mistake of visiting one.

Yet all Greeks live to be ninety years old, in great physical and mental health. The Greek 'pensioner' works or tills his lands in the morning, dozes a bit in the afternoon, plays a game in the village square late afternoon, then spends the entire evening from six to one 'o clock eating and drinking. Olive oil, fish, lean meat and veggies. All fresh and unprocessed.
The more your diet and lifestyle resembles this, the longer, happier and healthier you live. Everything else is bollox that will only get you a heart attack at 48.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Centurion1]

i love southern europe so beautiful.............

ive never tried losing weigh ti just gain gain gain. so i always try to have as many calories as possible without becoming overweight.

do you guys know how they determine whether a population is overweight right? with the bmi index. im like 206-7 right now and im not overweight, i should be 155 if i want to be normal sized. Im 6'1 thats a tiny weight, i could see 175 maybe. so i dont really know how honestly to take those statistics for america. i mean no doubt there are plenty of fatties here but i think 50% percent which is the new buzz number is a little ridiculous.

anyone care to enlighten me.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Most Greeks grew up in far less abundance than 21st century US/Northwest European standards. They all smoke four packets of cigarettes a day. Can't keep their hands of the ouzo and wine either. Hospitals are so underfunded and full of obsolete equipment that your survival chances drop dramatically should you make the mistake of visiting one.

Yet all Greeks live to be ninety years old, in great physical and mental health. The Greek 'pensioner' works or tills his lands in the morning, dozes a bit in the afternoon, plays a game in the village square late afternoon, then spends the entire evening from six to one 'o clock eating and drinking. Olive oil, fish, lean meat and veggies. All fresh and unprocessed.
The more your diet and lifestyle resembles this, the longer, happier and healthier you live. Everything else is bollox that will only get you a heart attack at 48.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Nice alternate reality there... I think you were joking, right?

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Man, I'd die from sheer stress having to take all of this nonsense into account. Eat this, eat that, exercise this way, that way.

Madness, I say!


Most Greeks grew up in far less abundance than 21st century US/Northwest European standards. They all smoke four packets of cigarettes a day. Can't keep their hands of the ouzo and wine either. Hospitals are so underfunded and full of obsolete equipment that your survival chances drop dramatically should you make the mistake of visiting one.

Yet all Greeks live to be ninety years old, in great physical and mental health. The Greek 'pensioner' works or tills his lands in the morning, dozes a bit in the afternoon, plays a game in the village square late afternoon, then spends the entire evening from six to one 'o clock eating and drinking. Olive oil, fish, lean meat and veggies. All fresh and unprocessed.
The more your diet and lifestyle resembles this, the longer, happier and healthier you live. Everything else is bollox that will only get you a heart attack at 48.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I tend to agreed, with the addendum that retirement kills you. Once you retire you have less of a reason to keep living; this is why College Dons live so long.

[Strike For The South]

No, Idaho is correct. Our bodies are rather efficient. One-hundred calories is a mile of running, roughly speaking. After that mile, plus a bit more passive exercise, you will be hungry and thirsty. You will not only fail to lose weight, but actually gain some. Read the new studies. Even the Times published an article on this sometime last year. The only way to lose weight is to eat a regular, filling, but yet healthy diet. Exercise builds up health, but it does not cause normal people to lose too much weight, if at all. Only the extremes do.

This is just flat wrong. I've seen guys drop and gain hundredes of pounds before by counting calories, it's what stregnth sports are based on.

Now Idaho made a good point about macronutrients but Calories are still the most important thing.

A 500 calorie meal is a 500 calorie meal, eat only that and you will lose weight no matter what it is.

[Idaho]

This is just flat wrong. I've seen guys drop and gain hundredes of pounds before by counting calories, it's what stregnth sports are based on.

Now Idaho made a good point about macronutrients but Calories are still the most important thing.

A 500 calorie meal is a 500 calorie meal, eat only that and you will lose weight no matter what it is.

You are making a massive assumption which is distorting your understanding.

Just because you eat a meal with a calorific value of 500 - doesn't mean your body will absorb, or do the same thing with those calories.

Firstly, your body absorbs different food at different rates. What is shit made of? Fat and fibre. You don't get fat from eating fat. You shit most of it out.

Secondly, your body adjusts to it's diet. Put your body on reduced calories and it will start conserving energy.

Therefore the concept of a 500 calorie meal is nonsense. 500 calories of sugar will be rapidly absorbed by your body. 500 calories of nuts will not be.

[Kagemusha]

Im with Idaho in this one.I dont know so much about dietiing as dont count normally calories in my meals. But from personal experience i can say that after i reached thirty something changed in my metabolism. Before that i had a good appetite and pretty much consumed anything i ate without getting fat. After 30 i started having some digestic issues and gained some weight quite rapidly.

After that point i changed my diet somewhat. More whole meat. compared to processed stuff. Less wheat of anykind compared to meat and vegetables, preferable whole grain bread( which i consume still too much because i just like to eat that damn bread too much ;)). I dropped soda alltogether and switched to water and milk with food and for thirst. Lastly i have started eating lots of nuts and almonds as snacks and i feel and look lot better now then in long time before. For me the daily calories intake is not such a problem. In the long run it seems in what form i take it seems to be lot more important.