So, I'm Fat...

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dealmaster00

Golden Member
Apr 16, 2007
1,620
0
0
Originally posted by: Blackjack200
:roll:

According to Rippetoe's chart at the end of Practical Programming, it is strong. Why don't I just listen to him?

300 was also my 5RM, I never did a 1RM

I'm sorry but it's just not strong, I am over 80lbs lighter than that and my 5RM is 312lbs. I've only been training for just over a year too, so I still have much room for improvement.

Really, your strength is measured in a weight bracket...you want to be strong, you either up the weight you're lifting or drop your body's weight. You can check out the weightlifting standards to see how you are progressing.
 

AyashiKaibutsu

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2004
9,306
4
81
For me to lose 12 pounds in three weeks I'd need to be eating about 900 calories a day (something like 40/40/20 prot/carbs/fat). I exercise a bit and weigh 139 pounds atm though; it'd be different for you. It is possible to lose 4 pounds a week at 200 pounds if you eat little bits throughout the day and exercise a bit your bodies metabolism can only drop so low and there's things you can do to keep it up besides eat.

12 pounds would be brutal but doable at your weight (although most probably wouldn't recommend it). 20 pounds is probably pretty much impossible unless you're like 300+ pounds.
 

Pantlegz

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2007
4,627
4
81
Originally posted by: Kipper
Originally posted by: eits

this is a very temporary diet. i don't plan on doing it for long. i'm only doing it until i can drop more weight so i can run more... then, i'm gonna increase calories slowly. after graduation, i'm gonna start lifting again, which means more calories.

i'm trying to stay away from anything with high fructose corn syrup so it doesn't mess with my satiety.

the fats i'm getting are from the chicken breast as well as the butter on my green beans and baked potato. i also have an egg for breakfast.

as for feeling tired, i don't doubt i'll start feeling it. that's whenever i get up and take the dog for a walk instead of napping.

I am personally not convinced of the biochemistry which allegedly underlies HFCS' effect on satiety and therefore its connection to weight gain - particularly because it is basically a 50/50 fructose-glucose molecule (granted, there are varying forms such as 70/30, etc.), which is basically sucrose. But I digress. HFCS IS, however, a good marker of low-quality, highly processed foods, so that can simplify reading labels.

Brikis' fat criticism is quite justified. Let's assume you are eating a regular diet (2000 kcal): roughly 30-35% fats. That means roughly 70-80 g fat/day. As it stands, unless you are eating mostly dark meat chicken with skin and dousing your vegetables with butter, you're probably taking in less fat than you should, optimally (the egg is virtually negligible). If you want to cut calories, ideally you'd cut them across the board evenly, proportionally, instead of hacking them out of one food group. Cutting fat is the easiest thing to do, but you CAN cut too much.

Finally...how is your weight interfering with your ability to run? Are you getting joint pains or something like that? Or are you getting out of breath? You don't need to be out of breath to be burning calories - moderate pace. As a matter of fact, you don't even need to be running. A brisk walk with the dog - not a saunter where the dog is sniffing around every tree and fencepost - should do the trick
.

This is my question, I weigh considerably more that you do and I have no issues running ~2 miles every other day.

I've got to agree with SC here a slight calorie deficit is much easier, and healthier, than staving yourself. Regardless of what you say, thats what you're doing. Eating right, and exercising will guarantee that not only you lose weight but it stays off. You will have 100x more energy and you will be much happier with just about everything. Aside from the scientific research, I've done this and it works I'm down to 230 from 260 almost a year ago and, with the exception of a broke scale my weight hasn't, ballooned or jumped around like people that crash diet. I've also go so much more energy before it was took will power to do just about anything physical now I look forward to it and I'm able to keep up with my kids :)

If you really think weighing less is that important for your graduation just cut weight like a fighter, just very little sodium for about a week then sweat it off the night before. it's probably more healthy than starving. But in the mean time get on a decent diet and exercise!
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
Originally posted by: brikis98
Originally posted by: eits
caloric intake = 970 calories, mainly chicken, baked potatoes, green beans
If that number is anywhere near accurate, I give it about a week before you are constantly struggling with being hungry, tired, unmotivated, sick or just quit your diet. This is WAY too few calories for a 200lb exercising male and will put you in starvation mode. Your body will try to conserve energy, start to defend its fat reserves, burn up muscle mass and you will most likely be very unhappy with the results.

Eat a MODERATE caloric deficit (~400-700). Don't starve yourself.


Edit ---> And get some goddamn fat in your diet, you need it to live. Seriously, did you not read the fat loss sticky at all?
This is probably true. It's going to be extremely difficult to stick with low cal and high energy output. Being hungry is one thing, but after you've finished a workout and your glycogen stores are now depleted and you are combining hunger with a deep-rooted lust by your body to refuel, it requires exceptional will power at that point to say "Screw you, no food." If you're watching TV and every minute your body is begging for food, it will be so hard to resist. And other than the energy, just an overall body-wide malaise, like all you want to do is lie down and sleep. And you know the pill to cure it is food.
 

BeauJangles

Lifer
Aug 26, 2001
13,941
1
0
Originally posted by: dealmaster00
Originally posted by: Blackjack200
:roll:

According to Rippetoe's chart at the end of Practical Programming, it is strong. Why don't I just listen to him?

300 was also my 5RM, I never did a 1RM

I'm sorry but it's just not strong, I am over 80lbs lighter than that and my 5RM is 312lbs. I've only been training for just over a year too, so I still have much room for improvement.

Really, your strength is measured in a weight bracket...you want to be strong, you either up the weight you're lifting or drop your body's weight. You can check out the weightlifting standards to see how you are progressing.

Yeah, talking about static numbers isn't a good way to assess strength. It's much more telling to talk about lifts in terms of percentage of body weight moved.
 

brikis98

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2005
7,253
8
0
Originally posted by: eits
this is a very temporary diet. i don't plan on doing it for long.
Temporary diets rarely work, and if they do, they produce temporary results. This is not a good mentality to have and not only are you quite possibly wasting your time now, but you're also setting yourself up for bigger issues later. For example, if this crash diet works for you, all it's going to do is burn up a bunch of your muscle mass and suppress your metabolism. Both of these things will make a "proper" diet in the future MUCH harder!

Originally posted by: eits
i'm only doing it until i can drop more weight so i can run more... then, i'm gonna increase calories slowly. after graduation, i'm gonna start lifting again, which means more calories.
First of all, running is not the only option (and perhaps, not even the best option) for exercise. It does NOT magically make you lose weight. All it does is help you burn more calories, which can also be accomplished just as successfully by walking, swimming, biking, ellipticals, sports and so on. Second, weight lifting has a different purpose: to help you maintain muscle mass. If you're a total beginner, you might even gain some muscle mass. This is essential as the goal is to lose BODY FAT and not just weight. Without the weight training, your diet will burn up both fat and muscle and you'll likely be unhappy with the end product.

Originally posted by: eits
i'm trying to stay away from anything with high fructose corn syrup so it doesn't mess with my satiety.
I'm no fan of HFCS, but rather than picking one arbitrary ingredient to avoid, why don't you try a slightly more general policy: eat only whole foods. That means avoiding any of the highly processed "food products" that line the shelves in supermarkets: most cereals, most breads (ie, wonder bread), most pasta, all sweets, and anything with very long lists of ingredients (or lots of ingredients you've never heard of). Base your diet around natural products as close to their raw state as possible: fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, dairy, fruit, meat, poultry, fish and whole grains.

Originally posted by: eits
the fats i'm getting are from the chicken breast as well as the butter on my green beans and baked potato. i also have an egg for breakfast.
Depending on how it's prepared, chicken is very low in fat. So are eggs. This means that your only source of fat may be some butter, which probably ain't much. There is no reason to avoid fat to lose weight. It's as important of a macronutrient as the others and should be just as big a part of your diet.

 

skace

Lifer
Jan 23, 2001
14,488
7
81
Originally posted by: Skoorb
This is probably true. It's going to be extremely difficult to stick with low cal and high energy output. Being hungry is one thing, but after you've finished a workout and your glycogen stores are now depleted and you are combining hunger with a deep-rooted lust by your body to refuel, it requires exceptional will power at that point to say "Screw you, no food." If you're watching TV and every minute your body is begging for food, it will be so hard to resist. And other than the energy, just an overall body-wide malaise, like all you want to do is lie down and sleep. And you know the pill to cure it is food.

It goes beyond that. Ever passed out after a workout from lack of energy? I have. It's one thing to push yourself, but there are physical limitations present that you can't just work around, your body will shut itself down if you try to play that game.
 

gramboh

Platinum Member
May 3, 2003
2,207
0
0
900 cals a day is insane at your bodyweight for your goals, see what SC and brikis have said above (starvation mode), it is also not sustainable for the period of time you want. Try a 500-700 deficit like they recommend, combined with exercise. Eat healthy whole foods only, reduce carbs and junk foods.

Re Blacjack: body comp and SS. I did SS for 8 months last year, started at ~220lbs untrained and fat (big gut, not much muscle although I am naturally stout). Ended at ~205lbs with mostly intermediate lifts (340 squat/dead, 235 bench, 165 OHP), I would not consider myself strong (then or now). Strong is 2X BW squat minimum. I did not alter my diet other than cutting out pop, still lots of eating out, tons of processed crap, tons of bread, Subway for lunch etc. I still lost a lot of bodyfat and gained a lot of muscle, I looked a lot better with my shirt off. SS did help me fix body comp if you stick to it.

This summer I decided to start taking steps to fix my diet, eating whole unprocessed foods 6 days a week with one cheat day. I am not measuring calories or macro content at this point. I eat mostly eggs, chicken, tuna, cottage cheese, veggies (lots of spinach) and fruit and drink only water. One day a week I eat junk (indian food, bread, pizza, ice cream, beer etc). I've been doing this about 6 weeks and am down from 208 to 198 with a noticible reduction in bodyfat in my midsection.

I have eaten a lot of sweets in my life, when I was a kid we used to have a "snack" every day after school which was 4 or 5 cookies, usually ice cream before bed etc (terrible). There is definitely something addicting about sugar, but I would not compare it to heroin, although I guess it depends on your relationship with food, body image etc.

This has been a rambling post, I guess my overall point from personal experience is that doing resistance training and trying to make changes in your diet will help your body comp.
 

NGC_604

Senior member
Apr 9, 2003
707
1
76
Originally posted by: eits
Originally posted by: brikis98
Originally posted by: eits
caloric intake = 970 calories, mainly chicken, baked potatoes, green beans
If that number is anywhere near accurate, I give it about a week before you are constantly struggling with being hungry, tired, unmotivated, sick or just quit your diet. This is WAY too few calories for a 200lb exercising male and will put you in starvation mode. Your body will try to conserve energy, start to defend its fat reserves, burn up muscle mass and you will most likely be very unhappy with the results.

Eat a MODERATE caloric deficit (~400-700). Don't starve yourself.


Edit ---> And get some goddamn fat in your diet, you need it to live. Seriously, did you not read the fat loss sticky at all?

this is a very temporary diet. i don't plan on doing it for long. i'm only doing it until i can drop more weight so i can run more... then, i'm gonna increase calories slowly. after graduation, i'm gonna start lifting again, which means more calories.

i'm trying to stay away from anything with high fructose corn syrup so it doesn't mess with my satiety.

the fats i'm getting are from the chicken breast as well as the butter on my green beans and baked potato. i also have an egg for breakfast.

as for feeling tired, i don't doubt i'll start feeling it. that's whenever i get up and take the dog for a walk instead of napping.

This rarely works, and it sure as hell didn't work for me back when I tried it a while back. I lost weight for a couple of days, but then my body got pissed because it wants to survive so it slowed my metabolism down to a crawl. I got close to 2 weeks in before constantly feeling tired and like death overcame my will and I grew tired of not losing much weight. To make matters worse once I started eating again I gained more weight than I had to begin with. Instead of dropping 15-20 lbs before a vacation I ended up being several lbs heavier.
 

eits

Lifer
Jun 4, 2005
25,015
3
81
www.integratedssr.com
i read the advice (most of it, anyways) and i'm converting to 500 calorie deficit.

food consists of:
eggs (2) and toast (whole grain)
banana
diet yogurt
baked potato with butter, salt, and pepper
the occasional lean cuisine
chicken breast (seasoned)
fresh green beans (steamed) with butter, salt, pepper
a couple bites of mac n cheese (whole grain)

jogging a total of 2.5+ miles per day on various terrains... at about, say, 4-5 mph.

thanks :)

any other quick advice without going into lengthy detail? it took forever to read some of those posts.

how many calories do you suggest i eat and what do you suggest i do as far as working out in order to boost my metabolic rate and fat loss?

how is it that people on the biggest loser can lose like 6 lbs per week by working out constantly and eating a healthy, low caloric diet, without crashing?
 
Mar 22, 2002
10,483
32
81
Originally posted by: eits
i read the advice (most of it, anyways) and i'm converting to 500 calorie deficit.

food consists of:
eggs (2) and toast (whole grain)
banana
diet yogurt
baked potato with butter, salt, and pepper
the occasional lean cuisine
chicken breast (seasoned)
fresh green beans (steamed) with butter, salt, pepper
a couple bites of mac n cheese (whole grain)

jogging a total of 2.5+ miles per day on various terrains... at about, say, 4-5 mph.

thanks :)

any other quick advice without going into lengthy detail? it took forever to read some of those posts.

how many calories do you suggest i eat and what do you suggest i do as far as working out in order to boost my metabolic rate and fat loss?

how is it that people on the biggest loser can lose like 6 lbs per week by working out constantly and eating a healthy, low caloric diet, without crashing?

That diet looks pretty alright compared to what a lot of people eat. I would introduce some more fruits and veggies though.

I suggest you calculate your basal metabolic rate in the fat loss sticky thread and eat about 200 calories above it. That's my opinion though.

Even if you boost metabolic rate, you will still want to eat enough to only be in a 500 calorie deficit. Lifting will boost it, as will cardio. HIIT really kicks it into high gear while resting.

Also, people on the biggest loser are morbidly obese. Living in their body is resistance training to be perfectly honest. Their bodies require the muscle they have to even move so it puts the body in a state that it stresses muscle retension. That's what weightlifting does in lighter people. Also, they are crashing technically. You see why they cry so much? It's less because they're big babies and more because their hormones and balance of everything is so off. Don't let TV tell you what is standard. I don't feel something like that is the best approach for you. I would approach it differently if you were 300+ pounds.
 

angminas

Diamond Member
Dec 17, 2006
3,331
26
91
Yeah, don't take your lessons from reality shows, eits. Those things are about getting eyeballs on advertisements, not about helping people. Similarly, I would probably completely skip weighing yourself for now. I think the pounds are distracting you from your real goal which seems to be, look better and feel better without boring yourself to death. As you know, just weight, or even BMI, is only one small part of the picture. If you want the simple answer, brikis nailed it on the first page. But you didn't seem to be interested, so maybe some of these will help.

You could stand to do some thinking about what exactly you want out of weights. Check out this link for some quick and useful info on what kind of sets to do for what kind of results. You can exercise however you want to, but remember that your body will respond however it wants to, so it's best to set clear and realistic goals.

I'd hide the scale. Measure all the parts you're interested in growing or shrinking and keep track of them on a bi-weekly basis. Make sure your exercise targets them; better yet, do a professionally balanced routine. Same with your body fat percentage and your jogging performance (total distance, total time, and average speed). Since you lack motivation, see how many goals you can meet and give yourself a grade each week. Show your report card to your gf, your family, us. Take some before pictures, no matter how painful that may be. Set a time (two months?) when you'll show off your after pictures. If you really need to, threaten yourself that you'll post the before pictures here in one month if you don't get your butt in gear and meet at least half of your (realistic) goals. Tell us that, too, so we'll kick your ass if you don't follow through. :frown:

As SC mentioned, you're a smart, educated guy who already knows a lot of this. Sounds like you've got a thinkin' problem. Try meditating on why you're being resistant to good advice. If you want to get good results without complexity, it really doesn't get any better than what brikis said. That's what I say- stop thinking and get to work. This post is mostly for motivation and inspiration, if necessary.

BTW...have you asked your gf what she wants? That could be your motivation right there. Ask for specifics, and be ready to hear them.

Hope I helped! :)
 

eits

Lifer
Jun 4, 2005
25,015
3
81
www.integratedssr.com
my gf is helping motivate me by telling me that she's not giving me any until i've lost the amount of weight i wanted to lose (about 15 lbs). she's making it tough, too, because she gets all sexy and stuff just to mess with me and it sucks.
 

hzl eyed grl

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Dec 28, 1999
13,107
67
91
I've started gaining weight...like a lot...and it's a mystery. I eat crap, but my diet hasn't changed and I've become more active. I have hypothyroid but I'm getting a blood draw today to check for that to see if it's getting worse and for lupus and other stuff. I can't gain weight, man!! Good luck on your weightloss. Let me know if you need any other motivation. ;) lol
 

sthaznpride17

Senior member
Jul 31, 2005
252
0
0
I havn't read the entire thread, but here are the rules I try to stick by.

1) Lift weights - Focus on form before anything. Push yourself in an intelligent manner (don't overtrain)
2) Eat healthy - Self-explanatory
3) Cardio - Elliptical, Running, anything that gets your heart rate up. I do it on off days, but everyday works too (after lifting)
 

fleshconsumed

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2002
6,486
2,363
136
Originally posted by: eits
my gf is helping motivate me by telling me that she's not giving me any until i've lost the amount of weight i wanted to lose (about 15 lbs). she's making it tough, too, because she gets all sexy and stuff just to mess with me and it sucks.

So suppose you put a little more effort and lose 2 lbs per week, that's still 7 weeks of teasing and no action. Are you sure you can practice abstinence for so long? :D

If I were you I'd play it other way, propose your gf the following scenario - for every minute you spend exercising a day she "matches" the time later that evening. More motivation for you and bedroom activities are known to burn calories too. Double benefit. At your current arrangement I'd get cranky after two days.
 

Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
15,995
1,688
126
Originally posted by: fleshconsumed
If I were you I'd play it other way, propose your gf the following scenario - for every minute you spend exercising a day she "matches" the time later that evening. More motivation for you and bedroom activities are known to burn calories too. Double benefit. At your current arrangement I'd get cranky after two days.

lol, i'd only exercise two minutes a day if I had that arrangement.
 

fleshconsumed

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2002
6,486
2,363
136
Originally posted by: Blackjack200
Originally posted by: fleshconsumed
If I were you I'd play it other way, propose your gf the following scenario - for every minute you spend exercising a day she "matches" the time later that evening. More motivation for you and bedroom activities are known to burn calories too. Double benefit. At your current arrangement I'd get cranky after two days.

lol, i'd only exercise two minutes a day if I had that arrangement.

Well, his GF can always set minimum redemption time to 30 minutes with no refunds/rain checks allowed... :D
 

magomago

Lifer
Sep 28, 2002
10,973
14
76
Originally posted by: eits
i read the advice (most of it, anyways) and i'm converting to 500 calorie deficit.

food consists of:
eggs (2) and toast (whole grain)
banana
diet yogurt
baked potato with butter, salt, and pepper
the occasional lean cuisine
chicken breast (seasoned)
fresh green beans (steamed) with butter, salt, pepper
a couple bites of mac n cheese (whole grain)

jogging a total of 2.5+ miles per day on various terrains... at about, say, 4-5 mph.

thanks :)

any other quick advice without going into lengthy detail? it took forever to read some of those posts.

how many calories do you suggest i eat and what do you suggest i do as far as working out in order to boost my metabolic rate and fat loss?

how is it that people on the biggest loser can lose like 6 lbs per week by working out constantly and eating a healthy, low caloric diet, without crashing?

I'd probably cut the butter in your potato and green beans. You can do withiout it. I'd probably also forgo the baked potato and put in more veggies/fruits.
 
Jul 10, 2007
12,041
3
0
Originally posted by: Kipper
I should add that there is no chance of you dropping that much weight (5-10% of body weight?!) in that little time. At least, not healthfully.

Worse still, crash dieting of this sort generally leads to the yo-yoing of weight which so many Americans struggle with.

first off, getting fat doesn't happen overnight so it didn't sneak up on you.

secondly, it can be done. 10 pounds is not a lot. we had a weight loss contest here in the office and the top people were losing 8 pounds a week during the first couple of weeks. and they were also around 200-220 pounds.

it's all about will power and self control, and not eating that extra slice of pizza.
 

angminas

Diamond Member
Dec 17, 2006
3,331
26
91
Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

first off, getting fat doesn't happen overnight so it didn't sneak up on you.

Understanding and perceiving that you're fat can happen overnight. That's kinda the definition of sneaking up- something happening slowly that you're not aware of, and suddenly there it is. He was talking about his perception, methinks.

secondly, it can be done. 10 pounds is not a lot. we had a weight loss contest here in the office and the top people were losing 8 pounds a week during the first couple of weeks. and they were also around 200-220 pounds.

This is why I told eits to hide the scale. Pounds are more of a distraction than a helpful guideline in most instances. Those people weren't losing 8 pounds of fat in one week- a lot of that was water and probably some muscle. Losing muscle lowers your fitness, attractiveness, and ability to lose fat. It's like eating your house to save on groceries. And getting dehydrated and hypoglycemic is going to make most people hate the whole thing, quit, splurge, and not even try again for years. Sure, it can be done, but should it? Better to have a fitness contest than a weight contest...most miles walked, or most inches lost as a percentage, or something along those lines.

Quick and dirty scenario- pretend you're not eating anything at all and your body is burning only fat. Let's say you burn about 2300 calories a day, a pretty solid amount for someone who's starving. That's 2/3 of a pound of fat a day, 4 2/3 pounds a week. If you're eating even half of what you normally do, you're going to cut that to 2-3 pounds. And this is assuming your metabolism doesn't drop, you're not losing muscle, and you're not losing water. See what I mean?

"Dieting" is a recipe for failure. "Losing weight" is usually misguided and inefficient. What out-of-shape people need to have as a goal is improving their health, and other things will follow. There are a lot of better ways to measure that than with a scale.

it's all about will power and self control, and not eating that extra slice of pizza.

This I somewhat agree with. Willpower is a muscle- it gets stronger with use. I think Americans on the whole have let our willpower get flabby, a by-product of the "do whatever you feel like" philosophy that is hollowing this country out. But that also means that a lot of us need help getting started. Should we, in a perfect world? No, we should all have the guts to put down the ice cream and get to the gym RIGHT NOW and stick with it the rest of our lives. But we don't, so it's not always simple. Some people need to play mind games to motivate themselves, while some people need to tell their mind to shut up. One size doesn't fit all.

If you've got a lot of willpower, you might not quite understand people who don't. I think the can-do, no-nonsense attitude is like any other form of power- great when it's aimed in the right direction and destructive when it's not. :beer:
 

Kipper

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2000
7,366
0
0
Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

first off, getting fat doesn't happen overnight so it didn't sneak up on you.

secondly, it can be done. 10 pounds is not a lot. we had a weight loss contest here in the office and the top people were losing 8 pounds a week during the first couple of weeks. and they were also around 200-220 pounds.

it's all about will power and self control, and not eating that extra slice of pizza.

Ten pounds is a LOT of weight for the majority of the population, unless you happen to weigh 500 lbs. In that case, still 2% of your body weight. A large amount. Even at that weight you are not going to lose 10 lbs/week unless you're in a hospital.

Regarding your office contest, how many people kept that weight off successfully? If the weight loss was sustained and permanent, they are to be congratulated. The statistics show that the odds are definitely stacked against them. Initial weight loss on a crash diet is mostly fluid AND lean muscle loss and is in fact a smaller proportion of fat. This can be encouraging at first, but the problem is people cut TOO much. Then, eventually, they fall off the wagon, and the weight is gained right back (and usually more to boot). Then, they try the diet again six months later. Same problem. Weight lost regained, plus more. The secret behind all of this? Your metabolism isn't elastic (unfortunately).

The other half of the problem is that reducing calories an extraordinary amount actually causes shifts in mental status that can foster binge eating by causing you to focus inordinately on food. There is a famous experiment conducted on a group of conscientious objectors during the Second World War conducted by Ancel Keys, the same guy behind the cholesterol->heart disease research. They cut the calories of young, healthy men by a significant amount, intending to have them lose 25% of their body weight over 24 weeks. Some of the subjects started to binge eat, literally going down the block, ordering a massive amount of food at each outlet, eating it all to the point they developed nausea and vomited it up. They were depressed, inordinately focused on food, emotionally moody, and one guy even chopped off some fingers with an axe, under the rationale that they would have to release him from the study.

What's my point? Granted, most people are not going to go as far as developing the symptoms of an eating disorder if they crash diet. But what will happen is in the process of restricting calories they will inevitably start to think about food, and it will occupy much of their thought process. The more you try to not think about something, the more you end up thinking about it. The ubiquity of food in this country, with food on every corner and everywhere, makes it all the more harder to distract yourself from thinking about food. Sooner or later, you fall off the wagon. Think it's simply a matter of "self control?" Tell drug addicts to stop using drugs, smokers to stop smoking and alcoholics to stop drinking - or perhaps an example closer to home - tell compulsive coffee drinkers to lay off the caffeine. Breaking habits is not as easy as some people would make it out to be - and as evidence, I point to the billion-dollar quit [insert habit here] industry.
 
Mar 22, 2002
10,483
32
81
Originally posted by: eits
so far, i've lost about 8 lbs. doing alright. i'm running at least 1.5 miles every day. today, i went for 1 hr of spinning and 1 hr of pilates.

8 pounds in 10 days... Not healthy. Don't ask for info if you don't want to take the answers to heart next time.