There’s a lot of good intent in here, but the OP was pretty clear:
And the empirical evidence has been reviewed in so many past threads …
His plan is a fine one. The evidence is solid that any plan that results in calories in going down and while increasing calories out will result in weight loss. Becoming non-sedentary and some resistance exercise will help with keeping the weight loss more fat than muscle and have other benefits as well.
Which plan he is more likely to stick with to hit his goal is not something we have a body of evidence to consult about.
The empirical evidence is also solid that the losing the weight, while difficult, is the relatively easy part. Maintaining loss and developing and sustaining the long term habits that both keep it off and optimize the odds of a long disability free life … that is the more important and challenging part. A complete plan can use something unsustainable to lose the weight but MUST include some concept of how to attack phase two or it is doomed to result in regain.
And evidence definitely supports that yoyoing in weight makes it much harder to take off the more you do it. My husband is having that problem.
OK, you want empirical evidence? www.nerdfitness.com Read and heed.
Clawdio’s advice is solid. Soylent doesn’t teach you you portion control, and is not going to keep the lbs off.
Going all the way from a normal desk to a treadmill desk tends to be too much of an adjustment for people. What seems to work is getting a sit/stand desk and gradually increasing the ratio of standing to sitting until you’re comfortable standing full time, then moving to a treadmill desk, alternative walking and standing. Even the most avid treadmillers still stand for intense focus work and only treadmill for light, routine tasks.
You need time to develop the muscles required for standing and walking. Taking it slowly is much better than trying to do it all at once.
edit: Also, yes, sleep is huge. It’s the #1 thing holding people back from their weight loss plans because people don’t take it seriously enough.
It kind of amazes me that they actually named it Soylent, though. Does no one remember Soylent Green? :eek:
Forgive me if somebody has mentioned this buy I missed it.
One point people seem to misunderstand when they start to diet. They get upset that they are not loosing weight. What they fail to notice, and it is important, is that they have STOPPED gaining weight.
Your soylent diet sounds horrible. I’d go with something more like portion control of edible food like Lean Quizine (sp?), Weight Watchers, or a couple others like that out there. When still hungry, snack on stuff like celery and carrots…
Then, see if that at least has STOPPED the weight gain. If so, you are already better off.
Then, if that works for awhile, modify that to actuall loose weight.
And remember, if it took you a long time to pack on the pounds, there is no shame in taking time to get them back off. Just keep track of the overall trend.
And congrats in any case on tackling the problem.
That’s the point.
That it’s made of people?
Habeed, I won’t repeat what most responders have stated, other than that your plan is an absolute disaster waiting to happen, because you *really *need to hear it. Eating foods you don’t enjoy is the first step of a precipitous drop into failure. Jumping into an extreme (for you) and unfamiliar exercise regimen is the second step.
You need a balance of moderate exercise and healthful eating without starving yourself. By healthful eating, I don’t just mean foods like broccoli and chicken breast. There’s a balance to eating as well. Eat what you like, just less of it, cut out as many processed foods as possible, eliminate sugary drinks, snacks, and deserts, at least during your weight-loss phase, and increase your daily water intake.
The key to losing weight is to take in fewer calories than you expend; it’s not rocket science. The goal, however, should not be to simply lose weight, but to achieve and maintain an overall healthy lifestyle, but don’t delude yourself into thinking you can get there over night. It, like almost everything else, is a process. For example, with exercise begin with less than you can manage and work your way up in intensity and frequency over time.
I am 5’ 7". At one point I was 235 pounds. I am now 165 pounds and have maintained this weight within 5 pounds either way for the last 2 years. Your process may be different than mine, but I reached my goal weight and became healthy and much stronger than I have ever been by doing a few rounds of P90 and P90X in conjunction with working with a dietitian to learn how to eat smart and healthfully. Again, I don’t deprive myself of the foods I like; if I want a slice of pie, I have a slice of pie. I just don’t have pie or other sweetened deserts more than once every few weeks, and I have become very cognizant of the calories I take in and be sure to expend 10% more than that during my workouts.
I work out for 45 minutes every day, but you don’t have to. Doing some exercise a few times a week and eating less will help immensely. Your progress will be slow, but you will make progress.
PM me if you want to know more about my experiences with P90 or P90X.
Disclaimer: Although I work in the healthcare industry, I have no contractual relationship with, nor am I a spokesperson for P90, P90X, its affiliate programs, Tony Horton, or BeachBody.
It’s a joke on mass produced, nutritious, generic Human Chow.
What could be more bioavailable?
I’m not going to repeat the advice that other people have given you, but get a fitbit or a Jawbone UP. The basic Jawbone UP MOVE is about $30.00. This will tell you how much you actually move. I’ve been using one for a few months, and it is still surprising to me how little I move in my day to day life unless I go out of my way to take a walk or work out. Some days, the vast majority of my steps are from a workout or some planned activity.
I looked up Soylent. It’s 500 calories per serve. Last night I made Sweet and Sour Stir Fry Chicken, which came out at 350 calories per serve. Unlike Soylent, which has a single flavor some describe as “pancake batter”, the range of stir fry flavors are almost infinitely variable just by changing the meat, sauce or vegetable combo. It takes longer to prepare than Soylent, but using fresh or frozen stir fry veggie packs and ready made sauces makes it quick to cook - around 15 minutes, start to finish. To round it up to 500 calories you could finish your meal with a small bowl of ice cream, a serve of light chocolate mousse or a bowl of fruit salad - or any one of dozens of recipes for sweet treats under 150 calories that are only a Google away.
Doesn’t that sound more appealing than drinking three meals a day?
So much Soylent hate from people who have never tried it. Well, I haven’t tried it, either. My only thoughts on it were this : why do I overeat?
- Food tastes super good, especially food like candy bars, crackers, the nice kinds of fruit.
- Stress makes me gnaw on food
- The fat I’ve already picked up from #1 and #2 emits signals to create a powerful, almost irresistible set of cravings if I do anything that causes that fat cells to no longer be at capacity (meaning I’ve lost a little weight)
Well, can’t do anything about #3, but the idea of something that is near tasteless is to remove #1 and #2 as causes. So I at least won’t gain any more weight. Figuring out how to lose it is another story.
Why do you think you won’t end up binging on candy bars and fruit again?
Because I’m too lazy to go to the store to buy more.
There’s are lots of fair criticisms of a Soylent diet, but I don’t think this one is fair. Calories in a serving is a poor barometer for the quality of a food for diet purposes. One can easily consume half a serving or two servings. It’s arbitrary. The relevant factors are the satiation you feel eating the food per calorie (with something like broccoli at the high end of that scale and something like high fructose corn syrup at the low end, varying somewhat from person to person), and it’s macro- and micro-nutrient profile. The nutrient profile of Soylent is probably just as good as your Sweet and Sour Chicken and certainly better than the version that includes dessert for someone trying to lose weight from a high level of obesity. I have no idea how satisfying either meal is, and suspect that’s somewhat individual. I find liquids in general to be less satisfying (meaning I could drink more calories at a sitting than I could eat). But *that *would be the relevant characteristic to compare, not calories-per-serving.
(You also omit all of the additional time that your meal involves, from shopping to clean-up. A realistic estimate of the time would be double what you state. Not sure if that’s relevant to OP though.)
Habeed, you’re not the first person to want to lose weight. You’re also not the first person to have difficulty achieving it. How you’re planning, or at least contemplating, going about it will not work. You’re not being barred from the snack aisle in the grocery store against your will. You can go there any time you want with no one to stop you, and you will. Believe me. I’ve been there. Eating something you hate will get old faster than you think, especially if it is your entire diet, and will simply make you crave what you are used to eating more.
If you are insistent on sticking with your soylent plan, more power to you, but I’d wager you’ll be on this board next year at this time sickened with yourself for having put on even more weight.
There’s no magic to becoming fit and healthy, and there are no shortcuts.
Even if you manage to stick to Soylent long enough to shake the extra weight, at the end of it you’ll be a thin man with a fat man’s bad relationship with food. You feel like you’ve got willpower enough to stick to consuming Soylent for the six or so months it would take to get your weight down. Why not instead focus on using that willpower to learn portion control and better habits so you sustain your weight loss over the long term?