Eating to Lose Weight28 lbs LOSTso farJanuary 22, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 18 comments
That’s right. You heard me say it: eating to lose weight. I’ll say it one more time to let it sink in: eating to lose weight.
Now why in the world would someone eat to lose weight? Well, here’s the secret: It’s not the amount of food really, but the number of times. Let’s look over a couple of myths so I can explain it to you a little better:
1. “You have to eat less to lose weight.” If you’re downing a gallon of milk with a bag of cookies, then yeah, it’s time to cut back some. However, if you’re eating sensibly and not losing weight if you’re overweight, then it’s probably when and how often. Your stomach is like a log fire. Keep logs on it and it keeps burning (calories), but if you let it go out, it takes forever to get it going again. So you need to eat smaller meals but more often in the day, like 5 or 6 times. What’s good is 3 regular meals and 2 to 3 snacks. If you drink plenty of water with each meal and spread them out, then you’ll feel full most of the day and your metabolism will run like crazy, burning the heck out of calories. Snacks should be slightly smaller than meals.
2. “You have to eat vegetables or food that tastes bad to lose weight.” Veggies are good for you, sure. But they are not a necessity to losing weight. I eat pizza once a week. I also have hamburgers and fries. And I’ve lost over 70 pounds so far from diet alone. If you don’t get enough vegetables, then hopefully you’re at least taking a decent multivitamin. The main thing to remember is to not go nuts. Limit your portions. Don’t eat an entire medium pizza. Eat a personal size pizza or 1 or 2 slices of the medium instead. The cool thing is you get to do it again in about 2 hours.
Eating food makes the body burn calories. Eating too much food makes it store fat. However, eating small amounts throughout the day keeps it burning calories even when you’re sleeping. When I first started my diet, I’d go to bed and wake up 5 pounds lighter. Sure, I weighed 355 pounds so that much came off easily, but it was purely by diet changes. Don’t let your “log fire” burn out and you’ll be shedding pounds fast without very much work at all. When that stops working, then you will need the exercise to lose weight. But you’ll be in better shape and able to handle the exercise easier.
Written by Mike White of Saphrym.com
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Mike, that’s pretty impressive. Over 70 lbs with no significant exercise.
Yeah. I think so too. But now they’re coming off slower. So it’s time for more exercise. Although those B vitamins I’m taking are giving me more energy and making me feel more hungry.
Impressive weight loss there! And your article is so true. I think I’ve reached the point where exercise is fun and a must.
Yeh, once Mike starts exercising regularly, the rest will melt off and he can start sculpting his physique.
Hey Mike,It sounds like you’ve found something that works for you well! I like the pizza example and the amount of meals rather than focusing on every little calorie/fat gram. I have to start drinking more water (my wife always tells me) but you might like my post entitled, “Chili-Cheese Dogs for Lunch?” at http://leananmean.com/chili-cheese-hot-dogs-for-lunch/ because I make a similar point. It should not matter what you eat so much as changing your habits (as in eating smaller meals, more often). Great post, John W. Zimmer
I keep having the same argument with my wife, she thinks a diet means not eating. I eat a solid 3 meals a day but keep the fire going with liquids, seems to work for me.
70lb is very impressive.
What kind of liquids?
I try and do at least 6 pints of water and throw in a small glass of semi-skimmed milk every 3 hours.
Ok, I do something very similar. Thanks Paul. I like your site by the way.
Thanks, I’m enjoying writing it, really helps with motivation. I might have to try and brighten it up a bit though.
This article is great!
Thanks to everyone for the compliments on the article and the weight loss. And yes, I do loving eating pizza and still losing weight.
Thank you man. You are welcome anytime. Just hit me up.
I just posted on my top five tips to start living healthier. Swing by and check it out.
I’m a firm believer in not depriving yourself of any foods, and as you mentioned, it’s not the food you’re eating by how much you’re eating.
Yes, you need to eat. Because if you don’t you don’t gonna love to eat so you can get a danger disease.
I am 21 years and weigh 55kgs.I want to put on 5-10 kgs of weight.Can you help me with a diet to put on weight???
Sure, we can try a few things out. Send me a message via my contact form above.