[Aluback]

I know a lot of people here are probably knowledgeable about nutrition so I'm going to ask this here.

I've been dieting trying to lose weight for kendo, my diet generally consists of cereal/no-fat milk and a bannana for breakfast, then throughout the day every hour or two I'll eat an apple or some raw baby carrots for snacks then a sensible dinner.

Well, on certain days when I'm really pushing to lose weight I'll eat an extremely light dinner; for instance, yesterday I ate a 6" Subway chicken sandwich with no cheese and no mayo. The thing is though on the days I eat an extra light dinner I lose no weight, when I eat a more normal dinner (tonkatsu for instance at my favorite Japanese restaurant) I almost consistently lose weight.

Does anyone know what i'm doing wrong on the days when I eat light that's stopping me from losing?

[KraskiNetu]

Does anyone know what i'm doing wrong on the days when I eat light that's stopping me from losing?

Lack of exercise perhaps? You talking about dieting, but not about getting some exercise. Losing weight is all about the right type of food (and not starving yourself) and a lot, and I mean a lot of exercise. Start of slow and slowly build up speed and duration. It's common knowledge.

[joanbertis]

If you want a kendo diet, just do what my sempai told me and eat lots of fish and rice.

[OWV9LSxH]

You can't get an accurate picture from daily measurements. Your weight loss/day is small and will be overshadowed by fluid retention. It's easy to gain or lose a few pounds in water over the course of a day, but really hard to gain/lose that much actual body tissue. Measure yourself once per week, at the same time of day and on the same scale, then you'll get an idea of how you're progressing. One or two pounds/week is healthy weight loss.

Also, what matters is the overall balance of diet and exercise. You can use a service like www.fitday.com to track how many calories you burn and how many you consume. If you are burning more than you consume, you will lose weight. Every 3500 calories is about a pound, so to lose a pound a week adjust your diet so you are burning 500 calories more than you consume, on average, every day.

[Queueftof]

I could tell you so much about this topic, but you only need a little to take care of it the right way.

The reason why you have been losing more after eating more is really simple, though it takes some a while to truly get their mind around it: if you have too little throughout the day, your body gets triggered to store more and conserve energy. It doesn't know you're doing it to yourself. This is why people who eat fewer times a day, even with normal sized portions, risk gaining a little weight - all that time not eating, or not eating enough, puts your body on the starvation protocol. Answer - relax a little bit with the intensity, and keep with 4-6 smaller meals a day, whatever you can do with consistency. Also, don't eat anything starting 3 hours before bedtime.

The goal should be moderate weight loss. 2-3 pounds a week should be considered the maximum; anything above that risks a higher percentage of muscle loss. Muscle is vital, since more muscle means higher metabolism and more efficient fat destruction.

If I go on any more I'll bore you to death. I apoligize in advance.

[prkddfokic]

on the days when my wife is out of town, and i don't have to go to work, i can truly enjoy my special kendo diet.. i usually start off with light breakfast.. kirin. then for lunch, i like full mouth feel of good english ale.. fullers esb. for dinner, nothing beats the satisfing 5 course meal.. 5 pints of Guinness.

pete

[pipojambo]

J Bouch wasnt this the basis of the Atkins diet?

Personally I prefer the very very traditional approach of warriors throughout the ages and from all continents. My diet is based on alcohol and I am a keen adherent ( better not say disciple or some people might misunderstand again)Wahoooooo

[Blahhhshsh]

I've been doing some reading on the web and I think Jbouch hit the nail on the head, too few calories and my body was going into starvation mode. Thanks for all of the extremely helpful advice guys, Neil that website link you gave me is incredible, thanks so much! And Pete, that was hillarious, unfortunately I got a DUI a few years back though so I had to cut Guinness ouf of my life. But so what, I have kendo now to take its place!

[plantBanceper]

Even if it were the basis of the Atkins Diet, it wouldn't work with the presence of carbohydrates in the diet, so unless you just went off and actually did the Atkins Diet, you shouldn't engage in such eating habits.

My research and experience tells me that the body adapts to what is put in it and how it is treated. As such, there is no need for dieting unless significant weight loss is called for; establishing a healthier lifestyle with the body's ways of functioning in mind would take care of everything in the long run, and it would be easier to maintain.

[Ufkkrxcq]

Oh, also I've managed to lose over 20lbs in just over a month and a half, I know that's not advised but I was severly overweight so I don't think its such a bad thing, when I get to a more reasonable weight I'll try to slow it down though so my muscle can catch up, I'm doing kendo twice a week and I try to do calistenics at least a little bit everyday for now.

[Msrwbdas]

Cervantes, if you want to make sure you drop the fat without dropping too much muscle, you should be making sure to eat enough protein (at least .8 g/lb of lean body mass) and also doing some weight training. Fitday will help you track the protein. I don't think 3 lbs/week is out of line if you were very overweight, but it's definitely pushing it for sustainability.

[SimSlim]

Well, its not so much a diet that I'm on as an eating habit change, I don't plan on going off of this eating schedule so hopefully I can keep it off. Also I plan on starting to do more excercise to help keep it off, and hopefully kendo will help with that.

[yarita]

The problem with 3 lbs per week is that crash diet or atkins or whatever doesn't really change your habits. If you figure out how many calories your body needs to sustain your current weight then eat that amount and exercise enough to burn another 3500 calories per week you will lose 1 lb. As you lose weight adjust your caloric intake down or your exercise up so that you have a 3500 calorie deficit per week. When you hit your target weight adjust again. Now you have a habit.

[Arrocousa]

What kinds of things could you eat 4 times a day though and stay in the right calorie range, most "meals" it seems would take you way over?

[Staillateno]

Also remember that when your body is full of carbohydrates (like after a sandwich) it will store more water, and because of that you will seem heavier.

[kimaddison]

on the days when my wife is out of town, and i don't have to go to work, i can truly enjoy my special kendo diet.. i usually start off with light breakfast.. kirin. then for lunch, i like full mouth feel of good english ale.. fullers esb. for dinner, nothing beats the satisfing 5 course meal.. 5 pints of Guinness.

pete

yeap, could not agree more, guiness is the breakfast of champions....

[unapelosina]

Cervantes, I take my hat off to you! Ive never been on a diet (unfortunately one or two weeks of stress will cause my wieght to crash, and Im skinny to start with), and to tell the truth, I wouldnt have the willpower to last a week.

Good on you for getting into a healthy lifestyle!

[aparneioninny]

I know a lot of people here are probably knowledgeable about nutrition so I'm going to ask this here.

I've been dieting trying to lose weight for kendo, my diet generally consists of cereal/no-fat milk and a bannana for breakfast, then throughout the day every hour or two I'll eat an apple or some raw baby carrots for snacks then a sensible dinner.

Well, on certain days when I'm really pushing to lose weight I'll eat an extremely light dinner; for instance, yesterday I ate a 6" Subway chicken sandwich with no cheese and no mayo. The thing is though on the days I eat an extra light dinner I lose no weight, when I eat a more normal dinner (tonkatsu for instance at my favorite Japanese restaurant) I almost consistently lose weight.

Does anyone know what i'm doing wrong on the days when I eat light that's stopping me from losing?

im not a expert but my coaches taught me alot. every week for 1 day do this. find an empty football field and then get a stop watch. ok now (this hurts really bad but is awesome for agility and quickness) take the stop watch and sprint as fast as you can around the edge of the football field. (time yourself as you do this) make sure you touch both goal posts.and now try and get 1 second faster everytime you do it, and before you know it weight will be gone!(also keep up that healthy diet ) i did this twice a week and saw major differences within like a few weeks.

[Gscvbhhv]

All good advice Steph,

but I have a teensy problem with one bit of it....PASTA.

1- it tastes of glue
2 - it smells nasty
3 - it is bland
4 - it gives you an horrendously fat arse when you are older ( don't believe me? go to Italy and look at the size of older Italian womens arses. Honest, walking round them is like going out to sea)

Now before every red blooded Italian gets in a bit of a tizzy I would point out that I love Italy but I am always surprised that the whole planet thinks Italians eat only Pizza and pasta. The Italian diet is varied and I was surprised that they also used LARD in cooking. yup lard. Apparently it is used in some dishes to enhance flavours ( chip shops are you listening - veggy oil is SHITE).

So, back to Stephs posting - eating a little bit of everything is a good start to a balanced diet

[glasscollector]

but I have a teensy problem with one bit of it....PASTA.

1- it tastes of glue
2 - it smells nasty
3 - it is bland

Well, you should obviously stay away from British pasta. Everyone knows British food tastes horrible.