My favorite diet plan

[RTP1031]

I finally hit a loss of 45 pounds over this last year and owe it all to two great tools, my bike and DietPower. You can download this program and the price was quite reasonable (dietpower.com). I'm a chef so eating rabbit food, Weight Watchers, or any plan that you eat from a box was not going to work. The program is like a calorie checking account. It tells you how much to eat today in calories and the choice is yours. You earn more calories with exercise. If you get "overdrawn" you gain. Before I found this program I had been on every miserable diet out there and always gained all the weight back and then some. I also cheated a lot because the foods offered were (IMHO)not very interesting or tasty. Not this time. Then I found the leaner I got the healthier I wanted to eat anyway. The program even tracks all your nutrients.

I have given up nothing, not potatoes, or french bread, or Trader Joe's ginger sandwich cookies, or a thick rib-eye steak. And it certainly took the stress off to see that if I just spun around the block (for about 10 miles) I could actually enjoy a small piece of birthday cake without gaining or guilt. What I love about this plan is that it treats you like an adult. This is how many calories you get, use them wisely.

This may not work for everyone, but it certainly worked for me.

[Nanci]

Beachdog,

How many are your base calories for the day?

Nanci

[Helen]

Is 1600 too much for a women ? Also I eliminated bread from my diet plan and I don't know what should I use to reach the same base calories. What product could substitute bread ?

Are you still using bread ?

[snapdragen]

I think you should go with 1200 calories a day and follow the standard 1200 diet plan.

1200 a day?! Please, didn't we go down this road a few months ago? I felt like I was on the eating disorders board.

[Trek420]

Helen "I eliminated bread from my diet plan and I don't know what should I use to reach the same base calories. What product could substitute bread ?

Are you still using bread ?"

I dunno about you but I eat bread, I just avoid the processed stuff, whole grain, multi grain, complex carbs....if I would just stop slathering it with butter ;-)

[DirtDiva]

I wouldn't have the energy to sit on my arse in front of the telly all day if I only took in 1200 calories.

[DeniseGoldberg]

I am sure I would have known that but anyway ... what I am trying to say is that 1200 calories a day is a standard diet plan. I only pass on the information I read on the internet ...

I'm afraid you are falling into the trap of picking up bad information. Just because it is on the Internet doesn't mean that it is valid. There are good nutrition web sites out there, and there (unfortunately) are bad one too.

You need to consume enough calories each day to support your body in all of your activities.

[runnergirl]

1200 a day is about right for a small, post-menopausal, sedentary woman (like my mom) who is trying to lose weight (she only burns 1800 a day if she's lucky). But as all of us here are active, 1800-2000 is a minimum. I'm with snapdragen, anything below that is eating disorder territory.

[Helen]

As long as you still ride your bike ... you cannot call yourself a sedentary person Cristina. Eat as much as your body needs ... and don't forget to take your vitamins

[mtnmunch]

There is no set caloric intake for everyone, even if they are the same weight. Lifestyle plays a large role, age, and your own body.

One person maybe able to eat 1200 calories and not feel deprived and lose weight.

Another person that may not work for them.

I use a software called Diet & Exercise Assistant. It uses basic math, you make up how what percentage of carbs, proteins and fats you want to have each day, along with how much weight you want to lose and by when. It will do the math and also warn you when your goals are unrealistic (i.e. I want to lose 12lbs in 5 days).

I've found it to be very helpful, and it's up to the end user what they choose to eat or enter in.

[SadieKate]

Check out: http://www.ediets.com

I think it did all that.

[caligurl]

i start my day with 1220 calories... however... i then get to add calories depending on my morningn workout and my bike ride! so generally i can get up to the 1600 to even 2000 range! (thank goodness cuz i LOVE food!) and for longer rides, of course, i can eat more calories... considering i can burn 3000-4000 calories.... i need to replenish!

as for what i eat... i try to eat "clean".... so that includes bread, if i want it, as long as it's whole wheat and not processed! brown rice, whole wheat pasta... a LOT of veggies, fruit lean meat, chicken... i even eat fish (which i always swore i hated! go figure!)

i allow myself "bad" treats... like when i do a long bike ride.. and we go out shopping after... i get to eat "bad" junk food or yummy "bad" sugary desserts!

i've found out if i'm too lenient on the "bad" foods... i gain weight.. and on someone my size... even 3 or 4 pounds makes a LOT of difference!

technically... i eat the "south beach" way.. cuz i've found it to be clean and healthy! i don't do low carb... ick! we NEED carbs.. but they need to be clean! low fat... protein! all good! i never bought into the no carbs lots of fat diet even before i took up cycling! (i.e. atkins)

[caligurl]

i take fish oil capsules too!

i'm still picky about my fish... here's a good talapia recipe

talapia is a mild tasting fish.. so maybe you'll like it too?

[traveller_62]

Diet Power is a decent software tool for tracking how much nutrition you get out of the calories you do take on board. I use it from time to time to make sure I'm getting all of the right amounts of micronutrients in my diet. I used it initially to get a sense of what I needed to eat to get the right balance of fat, protein, and carbohydrates.

I highly recommend a book called "Sports Nutrition" by Monique Ryan. She also writes a column for VeloNews. This woman knows nutrition and she also knows cycling. I've used a lot of her advice for fine tuning pre-ride and post-ride meals.

With respect to the 1200 calorie issue, it seems low to me. Even for a sedentary person. But my real concern is whether one can get decent nutrition in a 1200 calorie diet.

traveller

[mtnmunch]

As SadieKate said, eDiets does just that, recipes, grocery list, even exercise with instructions.

For fish, there are lots of options. I personally really like Salmon. It is the filet mignon of the sea. So many ways to cook it. Here are just a few I like.

- Salmon in Parchment (bed of pasta (any kind), a little olive oil, all the veggies you'd like, place on a sheet of parchment paper, top with a piece of salmon about the size of a deck of cards, spread some dijon mustard on top, fold up into a pouch and bake)

- Salmon wrapped in aluminum foil, with lemon juice and capers on the grille

- Salmon in a steamer with brown rice and asparagus with a light version of hollandaise sauce

So many possibilities