The truth people!

[EJFan]

I had a friend who dieted by just increasing her water intake and she lost around 50 lbs. She called it the "flush your system" diet. Worked in the short-term but she has put most of it back on.

funny thing about how the body works. with something like water, the more it has available to it, the more it flushes out... so the more you drink, the less water your body keeps in "reserve."

i want to stress that i THINK i'm recalling this correctly... competitive body builders will sometimes drink huge quantities of water (far more than normal, which is already a lot) for a period of time before a competition. then, a day or two prior, they'll practically stop drinking completely. their body is still in the "excessive piss" mode and they bring down the amount of water in their body dramatically... which, of course, enhances definition. again, it's been a long time since i've read anything related to that so it may be inaccurate... it suffices for anecdotal purposes though.

while i'm here, i'd just like to repeat my mantra that "diet" should never be a verb... never, never, never. ugh but i hate that.

 

[Leah57]

Leah57 - How do you drink that much in a day! Drinking water has been one of the most difficult things for me to do. It is a big part of any successful diet. I lost around 30-35 lbs last year but never accomplished my goal of increasing my water intake to the suggested level.

At work we have bottled water available to us and I buy the Crystal Light flavor packets. I still can only drink about two bottles a day. How do you do it?

Actually, I drink between 100-140 oz water a day, depending on what my activities are for the day. ie. if I'm doing 45-60 min on the treadmill, that's good for at least 25 oz during, with probably another 25 oz in the 60-90 minutes after. If I'm up and awake for more than an hour at home before going to work in the morning, I can usually down 25 oz before work. I take a water bottle to every meeting - seems I drink more water at meetings than if I'm sitting at my desk working. As EJ said, I just try to keep the water bottle in my hand, and keep sipping! Most of what I drink is more of the "room temperature" water vice cold or cool water (it's a personal thing, I have some teeth that are temperature sensitive).

I remember hearing/reading somewhere that to get your "ideal" amount of water to consume daily, you should use the "1/2 oz per lb of weight or 64 oz, whichever is more" (Sorry pq, i'm not good at converting that to metric! )

And yeah, I'm the one at work that if I'm not at my desk, go stand by the bathroom door.... In a few minutes, I'll either be coming out, or going in!!!

 

[BluePoet]

We all know we should eat healthy, exercise, don't blah blah blah, do blah blah blah, never blah blah blah, always blah blah blah.

What do you know you should but don't, or do, but hate.

Breads full of grain, wonderful stuff for your system, if you enjoy eating horse food, you spend more time picking bits and pieces out of your teeth than you do actually eating.

Milk, I love it, not that white coloured water, with bit's of who knows what goodness added, I mean the stuff that comes from cows, mmmmm.

Sugar, REAL sugar, not aspwhatsaname or nutracrap, or any of the other "tasteless" substitutes. I can taste them, for hours after, give that to the horses too, I'll suck the sugar cube myself.

Your taste buds are spoiled little brats.
It takes time, but you can get use to healthy eating.
I rarely touch real sugar. I eat low fat, low carb, low sugar, low sodium, no trans fats, whole wheat, green tea, soy products, foods with lots of antioxidants, skim milk, etc. Once you get away from sugar, salt, fat and all the "good" stuff, you won't really like the taste of it anymore. You'll enjoy the taste of the actual food. When food is loaded with salt and fat, you're tasting salt and fat more than the actual food.
You shouldn't diet or exercise. Instead, change your lifestyle and eat the way you believe you'll be able to eat for the rest of your life. Stay active doing things you enjoy. I'm a diabetic, but probably healthier now than before I was one. I changed my lifestyle years ago.

 

[EJFan]

...Once you get away from sugar, salt, fat and all the "good" stuff, you won't really like the taste of it anymore. You'll enjoy the taste of the actual food. When food is loaded with salt and fat, you're tasting salt and fat more than the actual food.
You shouldn't diet or exercise. Instead, change your lifestyle and eat the way you believe you'll be able to eat for the rest of your life. Stay active doing things you enjoy. ....

YES! truer words have never been spoken.

 

[Denae]

Truth is I DON'T floss every day, more like every 3 days or so unless I've eaten something that is stringy or otherwise sticks (meats, licorice...)

However, I'm anal about brushing. Minimum 4 times a day.

 

[EJFan]

Truth is I DON'T floss every day, more like every 3 days or so unless I've eaten something that is stringy or otherwise sticks (meats, licorice...)

However, I'm anal about brushing. Minimum 4 times a day.

this reminds me of something that seems to astonish many people... i've never flossed and brush 2x a day... never had a cavity, never had my wisdom teeth out and never had braces. [/bragging]

den... if you're brushing 4x a day i hope you're using a soft bristle brush and going for duration rather than pressure... you could seriously damage the enamel brushing that often.

 

[Denae]

this reminds me of something that seems to astonish many people... i've never flossed and brush 2x a day... never had a cavity, never had my wisdom teeth out and never had braces. [/bragging]

den... if you're brushing 4x a day i hope you're using a soft bristle brush and going for duration rather than pressure... you could seriously damage the enamel brushing that often.

I do use a soft bristle brush. My dentist hasn't mentioned enamel damage, but my teeth have recently given concern (darn can't think of the term they used). They asked if I grind my teeth at night. To my best knowledge, I don't. There are several teeth that we need to watch.

I don't think I'm using too much pressure. I do a light brush in the morning to get rid of morning breath, then it's after meals/before bedtime. There are some foods I just can't stand to have on my teeth after eating.

 

[Denae]

this reminds me of something that seems to astonish many people... i've never flossed and brush 2x a day... never had a cavity, never had my wisdom teeth out and never had braces. [/bragging]

My sister was like that too when we were younger. Mom & Dad would have to rag on her to brush once a day, then there's me. Guess who had the worst reports from the dentist...But it's all changed now, my dentist says that my teeth are in very good shape, despite the areas we need to watch.

*arrrgggh, wish I had your luck***

 

[EJFan]

I do a light brush in the morning to get rid of morning breath, then it's after meals/before bedtime. There are some foods I just can't stand to have on my teeth after eating.

i know... that disgusts me too. yuck. i wish everyone had that inclination. i hate smelling my own, or other people's, meals.

 

[WST]

My father had quadruple bypass back in January, I find myself watching my trans fats, sodium, and cholesterol intake much more.

Other than that, anything sugary. Meat and potatoes. Having steak AGAIN tonight. 2nd time this week. Yay!