Starting a new diet

Well, I am taking the plunge and am going to be starting a new "diet" on Monday. It's Bob Harpers (from the biggest loser) The Skinny Rules. I have really struggled losing weight after my two back surgeries and I must lose the weight if I am to ever run injury free and be healthy. I am quite certain that once I get the weight off I will be able to keep it off as I love working out and running, it's just getting the weight gone. In the last 19 months I have lost 12-13 pounds, which while is nice and slow is mostly weight loss in my legs (I have not lost enough in my waist to even get into a smaller waistline pair of jeans). It also does me not a lot of good in running injury free. My 5'7.5" body needs a lighter build on it if I am ever going to be able to keep running.

I am quite nervous as it seems no diet out there really takes into account picky eaters like me (meat and potatoes, meat and potatoes). They all say there's plenty of variety in foods, and there is, if your not picky and gag on a lot of foods (veggies). As it sits I will really struggle on this diet with lunches and dinners. All the snacks and breakfasts will be easy and close to what I do already. I also grew up in an eating family (all big eaters) so I am afraid of the portion sizes and still being hungry after eating. Any advice or words of encouragement? On a positive note, I seem to be running again barefoot, although very short distances. Hopefully as I get lighter this will get better.
 
Just treat it like you do running, make small changes until your body adapts to new eating patterns, then make some more.
What i did was looked at the foods i liked and tried to find healthy, lower calorie counterparts. Replacing milk for rice milk, roast chicken was replace with grilled chicken, sweet things were replace with fruit. etc.
The problem with diets is that they are viewed as a means to an end when what your really need is a change of lifestyle that will stay with you forever.
Don't worry about the belly fat just yet, it's always the last to go in blokes.
You are going to feel hungry from time to time, I always liken that to muscle soreness after a long run, it sucks at the time but in the end you know it will pass and you'll be stronger and fitter for it.
Great to here your running BF again Nick, awesome.
 
On a positive note, I seem to be running again barefoot, although very short distances. Hopefully as I get lighter this will get better.
That's great Nick ! I hope we all do Jingle Bell barefoot just like last year.
 
Thanks Ske. I do hope this will help me to make a lifestyle change with eating, which I really don't do too bad on anymore (for the most part) other than the quantity. My distances right now are very minimal with running right now, but I seem to find I feel much better throughout the day with the smaller easier mileage along with certain stretches. I find if I don't stretch periodically through the day, even on off days, I tend to tighten right up and am back to barely being able to walk. It took nearly a week this time to get all un-knotted up and stretched back out. Not sure why my leg muscles keep getting so tight, but it kind of sucks.
 
That's great Nick ! I hope we all do Jingle Bell barefoot just like last year.
Thanks Dan! I am going to sign up for next years WD today too which I saw you signed up for as well. Hopefully I will be completely better by then and will have no worries. I guess I will always be able to sell my ticket if I need to.
 
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Nick,

you can do it. remember diet isn't just another four letter curse word. if you eat, you're on a diet. it just wasn't one that you needed to help you lose excess weight. i didn't eat ANY veggies before either. i forced myself to eat salads. they were covered in dressing. it was more like dressing with veggies. i can now eat a salad dry and love it. dont' kill yourself over not making big steps right away. congratulate yourself on every little step and don't beat yourself up if you want a treat. enjoy it. tell yourself you're giving your body exactly what it needs and it will believe you. the mind is a powerful thing. so positive thoughts. including "i don't have pf, i picked up and annoying passenger and am looking to drop him as quick as i can."
 
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Thanks Mike. I eat and love salads all the time. I just don't like yard weed salads (modern salads that are popular now a days). I'm an iceberg lettuce type guy. As far as dressing I use about half a serving worth on a giant salad. I eat veggies, just rarely cooked or steamed, yiiiiiicccckkkkk! I love them raw.

Anyhow, thanks for the encouragement everyone!
 
My dressing trick: Put dressing in a cup on the side. Swirl fork in dressing, then spear your forkfull of salad. You get dressing in every bite, but your actual portion size of dressing drops through the floor.
 
Everybody always makes comments on how much I use, which is next to nothing. They tell me it's not worth it to even use any but I like to have just a slight flavor, but I don't like to have enough that it overrides the flavors of my salad. With my dressing 1 tablespoon is a serving and I use a half or less of a tablespoon. People don't realize how small a true serving size is until they try it. I use to use probably 3 servings worth or more of dressing on a much smaller salad. A couple years ago I started measuring out the actual serving size for my salad and then somewhere along the road I started not liking even a full serving on my salads. I know my tastes have changed and I'm sure if I keep on this road that pretty soon I will just eat my salad bare bare salad to carrot with no dressing interspersed throughout.
 
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Thanks Mike. I eat and love salads all the time. I just don't like yard weed salads (modern salads that are popular now a days). I'm an iceberg lettuce type guy. As far as dressing I use about half a serving worth on a giant salad. I eat veggies, just rarely cooked or steamed, yiiiiiicccckkkkk! I love them raw.

Anyhow, thanks for the encouragement everyone!

I call those nasty things "exotic weeds" lol.
 
I also grew up in an eating family (all big eaters) so I am afraid of the portion sizes and still being hungry after eating.
The Okinawans, who "have a large population of healthy centenarians", eat only until 80% full.
it takes our brain 20 minutes to recognize that your stomach is full"
You are going to feel hungry from time to time, I always liken that to muscle soreness after a long run, it sucks at the time but in the end you know it will pass and you'll be stronger and fitter for it.
It seems that intermittent fasting maybe good for insulin sensitivity, too.
"In conclusion, the findings that intermittent fasting increases insulin sensitivity on the whole body level as well as in adipose tissue support the view that cycles of feast and famine are important as an initiator of thrifty genes leading to improvements in metabolic function"
 
Remember the dark salad leaves have the most nutrients in them. Things like fresh chopped chilli and freshly squeezed lime juice go well on salads and help the cut through the rawness. Adding blueberries can also help, great antioxidant properties and really good for you.
Beetroot can help your muscles to be more fuel efficient and in turn boost stamina so always worth a munch, i think the GB Olympic cycling team experimented with beetroot in their diet this year.
.
 
I used myfittnesspal.com last year and slowly lost about 20 lbs. Injuries always make maintenance more of a challenge, but after losing that 20, it's easier to "reset" now and lose a couple of lbs again when I need to. For me, there's nothing as effective as counting calories and weighing myself regularly, because I'm always hungry!

I love my creamy salad dressing, so came up with a way to make it with yogurt, a little mayo, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. If you want the recipe/proportions, let me know. It makes a great base dressing. We even used it for chip dip this weekend.
 
Yuck, so today is the start of the change of how I eat. The book calls for me to eat 1 cup of nonfat greek yogurt. I have yet to find a greek yogurt that I like. I've been trying different ones all weekend so I could find one that I like, but the least bad (still bad in my mind) is the yoplait greek yogurt. Why do all these greek yogurts suck the moisture right out of my mouth and tongue? Feels like I just got done licking a salt lick only without the salty flavor... Thinking I may just eat my normal nonfat yogurt and skip the greek yogurts.
 
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buy the yogurt you like and strain it. that's all greek yogurt is. with cheesecloth, not a strainer.
 
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water i guess. strain it and you'll see a good amount of water come out.
 
That must be why greek yogurt feels it needs to take the moisture from my mouth. Seems pointless to me to take it out if all its going to do is dehydrate my mouth to rehydrate the yogurt.
 
The book calls for me to eat 1 cup of nonfat greek yogurt. I have yet to find a greek yogurt that I like. I've been trying different ones all weekend so I could find one that I like, but the least bad (still bad in my mind) is the yoplait greek yogurt. Why do all these greek yogurts suck the moisture right out of my mouth and tongue? Feels like I just got done licking a salt lick only without the salty flavor... Thinking I may just eat my normal nonfat yogurt and skip the greek yogurts.
I was never a fan of greek yogurt, as it just wasn't that filling for me. I did find a no salt added cottage cheese by Friendship dairies and added some dried fruit. Fresh fruit would probably be better, but I'm lazy. A container would get me through breakfast/lunch. I also take a gallon of water to work. Doing this for a year helped me lose 70 lbs. Your mileage may vary.
 
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