Hi all,
Check out the diet plan that Steve Neese recommended to me below, which worked for him. This was written by him, and follows a strategy of low carbs and high fat. What do you think? Is the solution to weight loss really all about eating less carbs and more fat?

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DIET PLAN

It took many years to finally figure out what works. My friends and I averaged a loss of 30-40lbs and kept it off for many years now. My mother was the first one to come across this plan. It is most similar to the Atkins or S. beach plan but still a little different. Ironically, and to a testament of this plan, we are thinner now at our older age than we ever have been in our lives. We all did it WITHOUT EXERCISING. When I was younger, I worked out like crazy, weight lifting running, pick up basketball, etc. etc. I still had a beer belly! Now I realize, ITS PRETTY MUCH ALL DIET! My 72 yr old mother lost 40 lbs too without a bit of exercise. Exercise can’t hurt of course and may speed up the weight loss.

I believe that for some people, metabolisms can be slower than in others, hence it will make it harder for some to lose weight despite following a plan. But here is what we did and what FINALLY worked for us.

In a nutshell, this diet is a HIGH FAT and LOW CARBS. So far, despite years of this diet, my blood work shows a extremely healthy cholesterol levels. I eat nothing but high fat foods. i.e. bacon, high fat Soups, and fatty steaks! The naysayers who say that high fat diet will ruin your health are wrong to focus on that because Id rather risk the supposed cholesterol build up risk than be overweight and risk being diabetic and obese!! I would take the high cholesterol (if it was a given on this diet) over diabetes and obesity trade off any day. I have read that cholesterol levels of overweight people are higher than those who are thin and eat a very high fat diet. Our bodies can handle fat because man has always eaten fat. We cannot handle this recent (last 30 years) change of eating these foods that are man made/altered such as processed carbs (sugars) and additives.

The MOTTO for this diet is "if the caveman did not eat it, you don’t eat it". This means avoid foods that man has altered!! Really, if you follow this motto with every food choice, you are following this diet plan. No need to calorie count or any bothersome calculations of planning out meals. Anything man altered will cause weight gain! Americans were thin up until the last 40 years. Why? Think about it. Its not because modern technology has allowed us t o walk less. Its because of the explosion of Fast food and man alteration of grocery store foods which started about 40 years ago and has increased over time. Cereal, white rice, spaghetti, bread, soft drinks, Fast foods, are these are examples of UNNATURAL Processed foods and will cause you weight gain. Think about it, the cave men and the American diet prior to the 60’s did not have all this fast food and processed food garbage. That’s the only conclusion one can draw. And, American’s portion sizes have grown over time too.

Expect 2 lbs weight loss per week if you follow this plan correctly.

1. NO CARBS!!!!!! - Try to avoid carbs as much as possible. Natural carbs of fruits and veggies are not so bad but still be careful with them also. If you must have carbs such as OJ, milk, bread, yogurts etc , cheat only in the mornings when you have a chance to burn it all off.

2. HIGH FAT - I FINALLY lost weight when I went to a high fat regime. I eat only meats. For example, bacon 3 days a week, FATTY steaks 3 nights a week.

3. PORTION CONTROL - Understand this one thing, your stomach will shrink as you start cutting down the portion sizes. At first you will be hungry only a few hours a later when eating smaller portions. But over time, the same small portion will last you more and more hours before you are hungry again! You will adjust to eating less and less in time. My eyes were opened when I traveled overseas to the Philippines and Latin America. Foreigners eat about 1/3 the portion size that Americans are used to eating. I go to any hamburger place like Chucks burgers and I’m absolutely shocked to see what most Americans eat. I see the average person eating a entire burger, with fries or onion rings, and a coke and or a chocolate malt and then dessert, all in one sitting!!! You absolutely cannot do that!!! Myself, when I go to a hamburger joint (or any restaurant for that matter), I eat half the hamburger and have water or half water and half lemonade as my drink.

4. FAST FOOD - Noooooooo WAY! My best friend was the fast food king. He said he didn’t even do my diet at first but all he did was cut out fast food and he immediately lost 15 pounds from that alone within 1 month. Fast food is EVIL! Trust me on this. DONT DO IT!! I’ll make one exception - most fast food breakfast items are not very altered (how can you alter an egg?) and do not have forced calories. For example, I do eat jack in the box supreme crescent a few days a week and I feel it does not harm me. Maybe it’s because I eat it early in the day so it burns off?

5. EAT ONLY WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY - Eat till you are satisfied, not till you are full. NEVER eat to fullness!! Most Americans habitually eat till they are full. BAD BAD BAD!!

6. TAKE THE OTHER HALF HOME - When going out to eat, I almost always eat half and take the other half home. This also saves money and spreads out the meals to more often with smaller portions. I love left-overs anyways because I save money and don’t have to leave the house to eat.

7. NO COKES OR SUGAR DRINKS - My trick is when I go out to eat, I do 1/4 lemonade and 3/4 water. It satisfied my taste buds just fine. The good thing is that the water button is always on the same tab as the lemonade, so I order water and just add some lemonade, they never notice and I doubt they would care if I sneak a little lemonade into my water. Be careful of milk, it has almost as much sugar as coke does!!! Also, all diet sodas are theorized to cause weight gain! Google it and you will see the articles. Avoid DIET SODAS unless your only alternative is the evil sugary sodas.

8. LATE NIGHTS SNACKS IF HUNGRY before bedtime - We all know that eating before sleeping is a huge sin. BUT, I’m one of those types who cannot fall asleep if I am hungry. So, I eat Cheese and crackers. Cheese is very filling and you will not gain weight eating cheese. I feel I lose weight with cheese. I’ve read many articles on the internet that say cheese helps lose fat. I believe it 100%! I will eat a small portion of cheese and crackers for my late night snack. Cheese is EXTREMELY FILLING due to the fat content. You won’t feel hungry for many hours after eating a little cheese. I also will dig into 2-3 table spoons of peanut butter and a little jelly on top (skip the bread if possible, just use a spoon) with half a banana for my late night snack and it does not cause me weight gain. Peanut butter has a ton of fat which is why it satisfies hunger for a very long period of time. Bananas may be full of sugar but they are not so bad because they are NATURAL sugars, not the man made processed white sugars. Bananas will keep you full a long time too. Half a banana and a few spoonfuls of Peanut butter satisfies the late night sweet tooth without the weight gain.

9. EATING PATTERN - Do not think of eating as separated into breakfast , lunch, and dinner. Change your mindset to eating only when hungry and eating small portions. Just eat when hungry.

10. SOUP - Soup is very filling usually due to its fat content. I can eat a bowl of soup, especially hearty soups like potato soup, and I find it will hold me over for 5-6 hours!! Fat does not turn into fat in your body, but CARBS DO, especially mad made altered carbs like simple sugars ( i.e. wonder bread, cereals, donuts , sphagetti -all these are man made, not natural).

My diet

1. Breakfast - Eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, oatmeal with brown sugar, Supreme crescent at jack in the box seems to be ok. On weekends I go to La MAdelien and order their champiagne breakfast crepe. I eat half and take the other half home! I ask for extra helpings of the mushroom sauce (no charge) that they use there so often because it is full of fat and is tasty! Fat fills you up without weight gain. You last longer between meals. I may cheat and have their very small lemon cake (its the size of about 3 fingers) to satisfy my sweet tooth.

2. Dinner/Evening meal - small portions!! Foreigners are SHOCKED when they come to the US and see how much we eat in one setting

1). Rib eye steaks (I like the fatty ones as they taste better and fat keeps me full longer, staves off hunger) Load up a bunch of the ribeyes in the freezer so its convenient to defrost as needed. I eat only HALF of the steak at all times. NEVER eat 1 steak in one sitting!!! PORTION CONTROL!!!
2.) Home-made meaty spaghetti sauce without the spahgetti. I throw in meat, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, ....it makes a pretty hearty meal. I make a big batch and freeze it.Take it out as I need it. I may eat the equivalent of 7 table spoons for my dinner. if I get hungry again after that, I resort to snacks (see below)
3. )Turkey sandwich - despite the carbs in bread, a little bread wont kill ya, its all about limiting carbs as best as you can. No diet is worth doing if you cant continue it over the log term
4.) Tuna melt with mayonnaise (the cheese and mayo are high fat and hold you over a long time)
5.) Fish - Prepackage frozen talapia or salmon.
6) Pizza without eating the crust. Yes, as bizarre as it seems, I scrape the top off with my teeth
and leave most of the crust behind.
7.) Chipolte is very good for this diet as long as you leave out the sour cream (sour crème is man made and full of calories) Chipolte does not alter the food or ruin it with salts, MSG, or other weight gain causing additives etc. Chipolte is not really fast food as we know it. CHipolte is cheap $6.75 will make two meals if you follow the small portion per setting plan. Thats a bargain!
Sonny Bryan’s or any TX Barbecue place is great. They offer all kinds of meats to choose from and meat is a major part of the eating natural foods plan. The serving sizes at Barbecue places tends to be quite large such that it is easy to take the other half home
Chucks burgers, fudruckers, and other more upscale non fast food burger joints offer a great alternative to fast food. There they cook their burgers naturally. Just don’t forget to try to only eat half there and take the other half home.
Vietnamese restraunts are known to serve natural foods of all kinds. The chinese restraunts aren’t so much that way. Chinese restraunts often convert their food into fast food type ingredients. Be careful what you choose, go as natural as possible if you go Chinese. The Vietnamese restraunts are very different and are the best choice of the two. .

*MISC SIDES - I add in peas, corn, no sugar apple sauce, peaches ... whatever you like to add as side items to go with steaks and fish.

3. Snacks - anytime I get hungry outside of breakfast and dinner - I eat crackers and cheese or crackers and dip. My favorite is Tom thumb's/Kroger's cajun seafood dip. Its a thick hearty cheese and fish dip. Both cheese and fish is what we like in this diet! I can have 3 crackers loaded with this dip and it will last me 3-4 hours easily! SNACKS are good cause they are SMALL PORTIONS!

Cheating with sweets is ok and is expected with any diet that must last a lifetime. Its ok as long as its occasional, in small amounts, and in small sizes.

On a side note - We don’t realize how little it takes for us to get by food wise. American culture teaches us that we need these big a** meals. It’s so WRONG!! It’s why we are so obese!!! Live like the foreigners do, eat very small portions each time you eat! Go overseas and watch what they eat, you will see.
I was inspired when I watched the history channel's special on the Rugbee players that crashed in the Andes in chili in 1972. Most of you will know this story. I think they survived 2 months on limited food, mostly eating their fellow crash vicvtims flesh in small doses as they journeyed 60 miles over frozen mountain tops. When they got to the basin plains and saw the greenery of the plants and grass, they said they thought they made it to a smorgasboard. LOL. Think about that! We don’t need much to live! At the end of the documentary, these guys said many times "life is so simple, you don’t need much to live". They are so correct!!. The key is that most Americans have grown up used to eating large portions. Parents teach kids to finish their plates (SO WRONG! Its Teaching kids they need to finish what’s in front of them, then they go to our American restaurants and fast foods joints that serve up HUGE portions and the kids grow up feeling they need to finish it all in one sitting!) But if you keep trying to gradually lessen your portion sizes (which is easy to do when you convert to high fat foods that keep you filled longer), you will notice you will not get hungry like before. I do believe the stomach shrinks or something like that because friends who have been successful on this diet do report being able to get by more and more hours on less and less food.

TIP - It is proven that a coffee a day will increase your metabolism by 15%!! Have your coffee and visualize the caffeine burning away your fat. I believe that visualizing yourself losing weight on this plan somehow works. There is proof out there that visualization actually works. Think yourself thinner as you make these changes!

IN CLOSING
EAT LIKE A FOREIGNER - VERY SMALL PORTIONS

EAT LIKE A CAVEMAN - ONLY NATURAL FOODS THAT MAN HAS NOT MESSED WITH

DO NOT EAT TILL FULL! Eat till hunger is SATISFIED. There is a huge difference. You will not be successful unless you realize this difference!



Last edited by Winston on Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:38 am; edited 1 time in total
_________________
Happier Abroad Grand Ebook
Meet Foreign Women

"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell

why not just adopt a moderate eating lifestyle?

teas, natural fruit juice, or fresh fruit as much as you want in the morning to clean your inner plumbing...

a reasonable, vegetarian, healthy, balanced lunch and the same for dinner.

avoid snacking, iced drinks, excessive desserts,

stick to fruits and vegetables as close to natural state as possible.

add a bit of daily exercise to the mix including abdominals and forget about it.

(btw: lo carb hi fat sounds fadish and unsafe)

have a good balance of carbs, fat and protein...just have the least processed you can find/make.


_________________
marriage is a 3 ring circus: engagement ring, wedding ring and then suffering.

Keep in mind that doing adominals /sit ups do not cause fat loss nor burn much calories. It just builds muscle underneath the fast. Only cardio burns fat both when doing it and after you are done. Leg type exercises are the cardio you want to do. Cardio forces your body to create oxygen burning cells (and oxygen needs fat to burn). When they say you are "getting in shape" , scientifically this means your body is CREATING oxygen burning cells and these oxygen burning cells are what burn fat. When you are in shape it means that even when you are not exercising, but in a state of rest, your body is burning more fat because it has created more oxygen burning cells which use fat to burn calories.


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* Member of the Happier Abroad Team and Owner of Global Dating Solution

No carbs = no energy .
I agree with everything else in the diet plan .

I do powerlifting workouts , so I don't worry too much about dieting .
My modest gut actually helps me in some routines like free squats and dead lifts.

The gym I go to has some bodybuilders both pro and amateur , and there is a meet coming up June 25 . They've been at it for months in preparation for this competition , and they all look like hell .
They portion their food out by the ounce , and as they get closer to go time , they cut their carbs down to almost nothing .

Their faces look hollow , they're sluggish , and they get weaker as they lose weight . Weird .


I admit , it takes a lot of discipline to diet the way they do , and they tell me that lifting the weight is actually easier than the dieting.

Everyone is an expert in the gym , and I can't count how many times some expert has given me some jackassified advice about dieting .

Super blue green algae this , wheat grass that - not my thing .

Everyone is different , and I listen to my body more than I listen to anyone else . Everything in balance is a rule of thumb for me .


_________________
" I rang'd the world , I cross'd the seas,
in hopes my restless breast to ease,
By pleasures yet unknown :

To all amusements I have run ,
that's found beneath the daily sun;
Till weary I have grown . "

- Samuel Patterson a poor , lowly sailor circa 1800's

My advice:
-Get good sleep
-Don't stress over anything
-Drink plenty of water especially in the morning
-Don't microwave anything
-Eat as much of your food raw (apples versus dried apples, nuts versus roasted nuts, fresh seafood vs fried calamari)
-Try to get on the one meal a day diet, eat only dinner (takes 2 weeks to break any addiction, in this case eating breakfast)
-Breaking sugar addiction is very trying. Cut it out of your diet! It's a drug.
-Don't pay attention to the calorie content of your food. Just eat it. Strict diets don't work! Keep yourself preoccupied and you won't be tempted to snack needlessly. Let your body naturally gravitate towards what it needs and how much.
-Exercise if you can. 30 minutes a day does wonders. But when I've lost weight it was always during periods when I was reading a lot and thinking really hard. You don't have to get your heart rate up to lose weight...

Kapinga626 wrote:

No carbs = no energy .


The gym I go to has some bodybuilders both pro and amateur , and there is a meet coming up June 25 . They've been at it for months in preparation for this competition , and they all look like hell .
They portion their food out by the ounce , and as they get closer to go time , they cut their carbs down to almost nothing .

Their faces look hollow , they're sluggish , and they get weaker as they lose weight . Weird .

I think they use a 2 stage strategy:

1st Stage (several months or more): Build-up muscle mass

2nd (weeks before contest): Get their body fat percentages way down to show all their muscles and look extremely defined

The reason they don't look so healthy is that they've lost so much fat so as to make them look facially gaunt. And yes, cutting out virtually all carbs (say 20 g or less per day as per Atkins) is going to make you tired and sluggish. So extreme carb cutting does help very fat people to lose weight. But it may not be a healthy long term strategy.

Some have suggested a raw diet which is very high weighting in simple carbs. With a lot of aerobic + anerobic exercise and protein sources added in, this might be a better way to build lean tissue which ultimately boosts metabolism. This diet calls for many meals a day, opposite of one meal per day plan suggested above. Under eating can lead to slower metabolism and loss of muscle size increasing your body fat percentage.

If I was 20 lbs. or more overweight, I would first use a low carb diet to get my weight down, and then switch to a quasi raw diet + protein supplements combined with weight training to build-up lean muscle mass.

Hey man you have inspired me to write a "crazy American diets" rant!

Cutting carbs and replacing it with fat calories always causes me to lose quite a bit of weight.

Winston, you'd be surprised how much weight you can lose simply by cutting out sugar. You mentioned that you like cake and sweets. Make yourself a bet that you can survived ONE MONTH without any dessert or soda drinks.

Then it's just a matter of eating less rice and more meat/veggies/fruits.

If you get hungry, walk out and by some meat on a stick from a vendor.

Try this and report back and tell us how much weight you lose in a month!

Winston wrote:

Hi all,
Check out the diet plan that Steve Neese recommended to me below, which worked for him. This was written by him, and follows a strategy of low carbs and high fat. What do you think? Is the solution to weight loss really all about eating less carbs and more fat?

Aren't you a vegetarian?

sugar is definitely a contributor to increasing fat. ultimately diet pills, weight loss plans, and exercises will help you lose the weight.

BUT...there is emotional conciousness that will bring the "fat back" so to speak. if you insolate your emotions all the time it actually creates and sustains the fat. bringing it back. this is why american women have a hard time losing weight. gaining it, losing it, gaining it, losing it. the emotional energy creating the fat is still there. hence fat comes back automatically.

sexuall abused people for instance or obese. because the emotional trauma produces large masses of fat.

judging by the way you look winston you may not want people to know stuff about you so hence the fat around your body.

BUT your probably have released these emotions and are now ready for fat to disappear to reflect this reality.

hope this helps.

I think most of his suggestions are okay, but the problem is that his approach ultimately comes down to estimating things correctly for yourself. "Only eat when you're hungry." Well, that sounds wise, but sometimes when you feel hungry, you are really just thirsty. Therefore, you can try to drink some juice or water and see if your feeling of hunger goes away. Or maybe your body truly does need some food, but you mistakenly eat twice as much as it needs during one meal before the feeling of being full is usually delayed. Hunger is often very psychological and isn't always a good indicator of what your body needs.

A lot of nutritional "rules of thumb" are fine, but in the end, it all comes down to math: in order to lose weight, you must eat fewer calories than you burn. That's it. If you follow all of this guy's rules, but end up still eating a bit more calories than you burn, you will continue to gain weight. The only way to be sure, is to count your calories. If you're not losing weight while eating a certain amount of calories, you eat fewer calories. There are formulas for estimating how many calories you need to eat to lose weight.

When bodybuilders want to lose weight, they basically eat high-protein, low-carb diets. However, as a vegetarian, this can be tough to do because most vegetarian sources of protein, such as nuts and dairy products, already have a lot of carbs in them.

Although as far as "rules of thumb" go, you could try to eat only three or four eggs and a piece of fruit for dinner, instead of what you normally eat. Stay away from things made with refined sugar or white flour. And drink lots of water, so you don't mistake thirst for hunger.

momopi wrote:

Winston wrote:

Hi all,
Check out the diet plan that Steve Neese recommended to me below, which worked for him. This was written by him, and follows a strategy of low carbs and high fat. What do you think? Is the solution to weight loss really all about eating less carbs and more fat?

Aren't you a vegetarian?

Yes. But Steve told me that you can also eat peanut butter (without bread) and cheese, because they are high fat, low carb foods that won't make you fat. Those are my favorite foods, so if he's right, then that's a good thing.

I do eat too much bread though, as I am a big bread lover and often will eat a whole french loaf of bread. It is hard to exercise here as it is too hot and humid everyday and plus Angeles City has no decent places to walk with fresh air. The only clean place to walk is the mall, but my feet often get tired after 30 minutes of walking around in the mall. I don't know why, because when I am in the forest, I can walk for hours and never feel tired. Is there a scientific explanation for that, or is it something metaphysical? Some guys actually told me that they get tired more easily walking in nature than they do in the mall, which I find hard to believe.

I honestly think that junk food ought to be banned. I don't buy the excuse that, "Junk food should be allowed on the shelves in a free market society, and it's up to the consumer to make wise choices." That's just an excuse. The fact is that most people CANNOT resist the temptation of junk food nor do they have the discipline to avoid it, especially since they are dumbed down by pop culture, and especially since junk food contains additives that make you addicted to it (e.g. Doritos and Cheetoes). So you cannot expect everyone to be a "wise consumer". It's not realistic. Better to eliminate the temptation altogether, so that people don't get addicted to it, which becomes like a slow poison.


_________________
Happier Abroad Grand Ebook
Meet Foreign Women

"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell

Winston wrote:

Yes. But Steve told me that you can also eat peanut butter (without bread) and cheese, because they are high fat, low carb foods that won't make you fat. Those are my favorite foods, so if he's right, then that's a good thing.
I do eat too much bread though, as I am a big bread lover and often will eat a whole french loaf of bread. It is hard to exercise here as it is too hot and humid everyday and plus Angeles City has no decent places to walk with fresh air. The only clean place to walk is the mall, but my feet often get tired after 30 minutes of walking around in the mall. I don't know why, because when I am in the forest, I can walk for hours and never feel tired. Is there a scientific explanation for that, or is it something metaphysical? Some guys actually told me that they get tired more easily walking in nature than they do in the mall, which I find hard to believe.
I honestly think that junk food ought to be banned. I don't buy the excuse that, "Junk food should be allowed on the shelves in a free market society, and it's up to the consumer to make wise choices." That's just an excuse. The fact is that most people CANNOT resist the temptation of junk food nor do they have the discipline to avoid it, especially since they are dumbed down by pop culture, and especially since junk food contains additives that make you addicted to it (e.g. Doritos and Cheetoes). So you cannot expect everyone to be a "wise consumer". It's not realistic. Better to eliminate the temptation altogether, so that people don't get addicted to it, which becomes like a slow poison.

Make your own bread. You'll exercise through kneading bread dough. All things in moderation -- too much peanut butter will probably be bad for you.

Have you looked into local gym membership?


Link

Homemade sprouted grain and sourdough bread is different from the high carb bread you usually find in stores (including 'wheat' bread). It's much better for you.



Last edited by Enishi on Sat Jun 18, 2011 6:20 pm; edited 1 time in total