Losing Weight: What’s Working for Me
12 Comments Published by Joel October 16th, 2006 in Fitness. Share ThisI’m losing weight. You can, too. Here’s how:
• Buy pre-packaged foods.
• Eat less than 1,500 calories worth a day.
That’s it. I’ve lost about 20 pounds in a couple of months. (The first week there was a huge drop off, though, which has settled down to a pound or two a week.)
There are several little tricks that I’ve used to make it through and I’ll be happy to share them with you later today—like how to eat food that isn’t pre-packaged—but I wanted to underline how simple the core of what I’ve been doing actually has been. If you were to do those two things above without fail, all the other tips and tricks would become apparent.
12 Responses to “Losing Weight: What’s Working for Me”
- 1 Pingback on Mar 21st, 2007 at 3:07 pm
You say, “Buy pre-packaged foods” but from you later comments I’m wondering if you meant “Don’t buy pre-packaged foods”. Am I confused or is there a typo?
I’ve been doing nutrisystems for the past month and a half– so far so good for me. Down 25 w/ 20 to go.
Doug: I definitely mean buy pre-packaged foods. It makes it much easier to know exactly how many calories you’re eating.
I lost about 200-250 pounds. You can read how on my blog.
And don’t worry, there are no ads and I’m not selling anything. It’s just good old common sense. :)
http://benders-blog.blogspot.com/
What has worked for me:
Of late, bringing the same lunch to work at least four days a week. Consisting of this:
2 handfuls of bag salad greens in a tupperware container
small tupperware cup of low cal italian dressing
Campbells soup at hand (preferably Chicken with Mini Noodles, only 90 calories)
Lunch Pak bag of Wheat Thins
60 Calorie Light & Fit yogurt
Fruit (apple or orange for nibbling on)
This has been doing the trick for me for over a month. If you can nibble on this and stay the hell away from the snack machine it’ll help you too.
Also switch to Diet soda, but that goes without saying. Doesn’t it?
I’ve found similar results – it’s the sticking to the plan part that is hard for me. But I’m glad to see Fitness Week on Dethroner, because I got up this morning determined that this was the week I was getting back on the program. Thanks!
-mike, who was at the gym at 5:00am
buying pre-packaged foods to lose weight? the fat & sodium are usually through the roof and it doesn’t end up being a lifestyle change. Americans are kings at losing weight, it’s keeping it off that we can’t do. I’ll wait to hear what else Funkmaster Joel has to say.
I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. Buying prepackaged food is horrible advice and you’re doing your readers a terrible disservice by recommending it. Yes, they do tell you how many calories are in the package, but if that’s the only advantage you’re not coming out ahead. There are diets in the style of atkins/southbeach which have published recipes that include portion size and calories per portion. Yes, this requires actually buying food and cooking it. Eating in a fashion that won’t lead to a Type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease by 40 requires buying raw ingredients and preparing them.
You’ve lectured about how there are things you have to admit to yourself if you want to be successful losing weight. You’re going to have to admit to yourself that you must eat fresh, minimally processed food regularly if you want to be healthy.
I’m glad that you lost weight through calorie control, but please…there’s enough bullshit misinformation out there about diet and exercise already.
Come on, man, I’d expect this kind of shallow tripe from Lifehacker, but I thought you were trying to rise above that a little…
Hello. Just some feedback. By coincidence I seem to have tried a very similar approach as you and it’s working.
I have an apple and an orange juice for breakfast, I have a (big) sandwich + salad for lunch. Almost every night I have a 600 – 700 calorie pre packaged meal for dinner. They’re not very processed and there’s a lot of variety and yes, some even have raw ingredients. Between meals I mostly eat fruit or soup. Most days I guess I’m between 1500 and 2000 Calories. Some days I binge (fried food, chips, chocolate bar). I hardly exercise except 10 minutes bike to/from work.
I’ve lost 15lb in 3 months. Never needing to think about cooking does make it much easier. If I cook myself it’s too easy to prepare and then eat more than I need. Not having a kitchen full of ingredients or breakfast cereal makes it less likely that I snack on them.
This approach has given me more success than my previous attempts that were based on increasing regular exercise (which is also important but not practical for me right now). I’ve kind of stabilized and I have no intention of changing my diet back again. Yes being on permanent “restriction” is annoying, and never cooking is pathetic, but so is heart disease and a beer gut.
Wow, talk about timing. I have recently started the same diet plan in June of this year and so far I’ve lost 26 lbs. I wouldn’t put too much stock in people who poopoo a plan that’s working for you. Sure there may be more healthy alternatives, but don’t you think you’d already be doing them if you were predisposed to?
I think eating frozen meals everyday for 6 months can’t be worse for you than eating “to go” crap and being obese for most of your adult life. This plan works for me, and its slowly changing my life for the better. Now that the weight is dropping I can exercise easier as well.
Also, while they are probably just as horrible for me, Amy’s frozen foods are at least organic and I think they taste better than a lot of the more standard choices. (http://www.amyskitchen.com) Also, I use PhysicsDiet.com to track my results. They are sorta bare bones, but they get the job done without much hassle.
I agree with rd. At least switching from fast-food to pre-packaged meals is a step in the right direction! Then, once you’ve learned what more appropriate portion sizes and healthier foods ARE, you can start making your own meals.
Plus, a lot of people don’t have TIME to cook three healthy meals a day. Some of us have work, school, etc. Popping a Lean Cuisine in the microwave is still a lot better than stopping at Jack-in-the-Box on the way home.
If it works for you (and it has for me!) then more power to you!