after losing and keeping 80lbs off using the Atkins method over a year ago, I’m really really tired of not being able to eat w/ friends due to a restrictive diet… on Atkins, you can seriously set yourself back by cheating badly on one meal… anyway, as the topic asks…
if I eat five of these 300 calorie, 7-10g fat meals a day, will I, a 24 year old 390lb male who’s job keeps him on the run(serving tables) lose weight in a healthful manner?
What do I need to watch out for? I’ve never done a diet like this… how badly will a cheat day hurt me?
at 390 lbs, depending on height your rough daily metabolic rate would be around 3000 calories (very rough). So if you consume less than 3000 calories a day you should be steadily losing weight. If your job requires you to move around, you might be able to eat 3000 calories a day and still lose weight. However, if you can reasonably eat 1500 calories a day(5 healthy choice meals) then you will lose over 3 pounds a week. Note that this assumes you are drinking only water or unsweetened tea/coffee, and the only food you consume is 5 healthy choice meals.
You will definitely need a multivitamin and maybe a calcium supplement every day.
(note, I am not a dietician, so take this with a grain of salt)
Watch out tho - those things have (on average) 600MG of sodium and 2.5g of saturated fat per meal. 600MG = 25% of the RDA of sodium and 2.5g of sat fat is about 15% (of course that’s for a 2000 cal diet, but still…) And there’s a good bit of cholesterol too.
To me, doesn’t seem too overly healthy.
However, if this is going to keep you motivated as opposed to having to do alot of cooking which is the downside of Atkins or really any other whole-foods type diet plan, I don’t see how it could hurt too much.
Might want to find a local drugstore with a BP machine (if your arm will fit - at 300 lbs mine didn’t!) to keep track of your blood pressure while you partake in this.
And the Diet Coke addiction…well just keep up with that 1-2 gallon water promise, ok? You’re going to be eating alot of salt and alot of caffiene and that will have adverse effects on your quest to lose weight. Here’s a randomly found, quickly researched link on the topic of diet drinks and diets: http://www.diet-i.com/diet-drinks.htm
About ten years ago I lose about 100 lbs eating mostly Healthy Choice meals. Continued eating them, but about three years ago I started putting weight back on (about 60 lbs worth). Went to the doctor and found out I had pre-diabetes and that Heathly Choice meals, being high in sugar and carbs in general were not working for me anymore. He put me on South Beach and I have since lost 30 lbs and continuing to drop. I would definitly recommend that you talk with a doctor about your diet and get a blood screen done before you do yourself more harm than good.
I’m impressed that you have stuck to Atkins to the tune of 80 lbs, it’s not an easy diet to stick with.
I have lost 120 lbs (335 -> 215) on a combination of frozen dinners, soup, tuna and salads, keeping total caloric intake down to around 1500 per day. My advice is not to worry too much about sodium at this stage of the game - that weight will kill you long before a little too much sodium does any damage. Healthy Choice dinners are good, as are the Lean Cuisine. IMHO the Weight Watchers dinners are uniformly horrible. I also go for the little $1 Freezer Queen dinners - they are quite tasty and have similar calorie counts to the more expensive brands.
And as for cheating, never feel too bad about going off the diet once in a while. Not much purpose to life if you can’t ever have a little fun. On a limited calorie diet, every day is a new day, so if you fall off the horse once in awhile, just start the next day with renewed determination.
The neat thing I have found is that after being on a diet for a year or so, a lot of unhealthy foods have lost much of their hold on me. I used to practically live on burgers, now I find they just taste nasty to me. Candy bars and sugared sodas are so sickeningly sweet they are no temptation at all. The key, it seems to me, is to stay away from the fad diets and train yourself over time to crave healthier foods. Big ol’ bowls of salad are now one of my favorite meals! Yummy!
You might also want to consider joining Weight Watchers, if you feel like spending the money. I started it about 2 weeks ago, and am already noticing the difference. There is nothing off-limits, as long as you stay within your “points” range.
It’s worth looking into, anyway. And I second talking to your doctor before you do anything.
You’re going to be eating alot of salt and alot of caffiene and that will have adverse effects on your quest to lose weight. Here’s a randomly found, quickly researched link on the topic of diet drinks and diets: 