[sfcom]

Another day, another shower. I step out and stand on the oh so faithful friend, Mr. White Scale. What does he have to say to me today? 220....what??? 220!!! You have got to be kidding me, Mr. Scale, what an insult.

Unfortunately, the scale wasn't lying.

I am a typical guy who eats everything that I desire. I am about 5' 11' and wear a size 36 waist in jeans. Seems like I am one of those that always fools the person at the "Guess Your Weight" booths at the amusement parks and fairs. Normally they are off by at least 20 lbs. So, I carry my weight well.

During a typical summer, I lose about 20 lbs or so due mowing grass, outdoor projects, and overall just eating less and drinking more.

I figured that it is time again to go on my "10%" diet (last used this 3 years ago w/ great results.) Also, I though it would be great to share it here with my friends of ABW in case it helps someone out.

Simplicity is the key. Take a look at the "nutrition facts" panel on the label of whatever you think you are going to feast on. Is the percentage for saturated fat more than 10%? If so, you don't get to eat it. Is the cholesterol more than 10%? Same here, none of this for you. Two other rules: no desserts and no non-diet sodas.

So, take a look at what you have around you. A cinnamon mini-bagel, perhaps? Saturated fat 0%, cholesterol 0%. Winner---winner---winner.... Eat as many of these things for breakfast as you want (no butter!)

How about the scenario of a serving of Pop Tarts Chocolate Fudge (1 pastry). Saturated fat 8%, cholesterol 0%. Woot! Shove one down your pie-hole!

For a snack you decide to grab that box of Cheez-it Stix cheddar the kids have been munching on. The marketing on the back of the box with the "Flavor Caps", the "Crunch Complex" and the "Endo Cheezmic Wall" has truly made an inquiring mind want to change to inquiring mouth. No. Not gonna do it. Although the cholesterol is 0%, the saturated fat is 10%, just over the limit. You lose in more ways than one...

Again, the simple rules that worked for me (lost 40 lbs over 3 months last time I did this...)

Saturated fat per serving = less than 10% of DV
Cholesterol per serving = less than 10% of DV
No sodas that are non-diet
No desserts

Anyone want to join me? I am starting on February 1st. If interested, please post below. Let's be losers together!

-sfcom

[Mr. Sal]

Anyone want to join me? I am starting on February 1st. If interested, please post below. Let's be losers together!

I have been thinking about doing something similar on February.

But, since we still are in January.

I will take the fifth until February 2nd, in case I have to chicken out again.

;-)

No comments! (until February 2nd)

:-)

[bibby]

Sounds liek a plan...what am I getting myself into. My wife's expecting our first child in May and it's made me rethink my priorities. I want to be healthy and set an example for my child. Luckily I have a very supportive wife who will support me in this endeavor.

I've found in the past that the key to keeping off your eight is incorporating a workout schedule to accompany healthier eating.

I think I might join you in February but I'll be using the Weight Watchers program..

good Luck

[Leader]

Overall it sounds intriguing! I'm tempted to jump in, however, I never sign up for anything while tired, and I'm quite tired now. And, I have a couple of questions assaulting my brain's logic centers.

Starting with-- you say no desserts, then allow fudge Pop Tarts. What's the difference you see between a fudge Pop-Tart and a "dessert?" It's made of pastry and fudge!


Mmmm...die-cut chocolate pie...dessert!

And this doesn't make sense to me:

(Referring to cinnamon bagels) Eat as many of these things for breakfast as you want (no butter!)

a serving of Pop Tarts Chocolate Fudge (1 pastry).

So which is it? Are there portion limits or not?? Or is it that some things are all-you-can-eat, but not others--and if so, which are which (or is there a general guideline, since it'd be logistically ridiculous to try to list every possible food)?

Not meaning to flame. But these kinds of contradictions drive me nuts. And, if I assume that there aren't any portion limits and it turns out that there really are, it's not gonna work for me. Whether I bother or not depends a lot on whether it works by portion limitation--if a single serving didn't leave me ravenous, I wouldn't need to lose weight in the first place!

Also the "no dessert" clause needs to be made clear. It's totally contradictory now, having "no desserts" yet allowing fudge-filled chocolate pastry.

Not saying it didn't or won't work, but in order for the readers to be successful at it, we need specifics. It seems that you've internalized some knowledge from prior experience...a common occurance when trying to describe a well-known technique. Unfortunately, I and other readers of this thread have no way to know those currently-unstated things unless you tell us outright.

[flamingoworld]

All I know is from a healthy standpoint, pop tarts should not be allowed in any diet.

[sfcom]

Originally Posted by Leader

Not saying it didn't or won't work, but in order for the readers to be successful at it, we need specifics. It seems that you've internalized some knowledge from prior experience...a common occurance when trying to describe a well-known technique. Unfortunately, I and other readers of this thread have no way to know those currently-unstated things unless you tell us outright.

I indeed have left a couple of things out due to me being familiar with how it had worked for me previously. Sorry about that.

With that being said, you do have to use common sense when it comes to some things... Just because I said "non-diet sodas not allowed" doesn't mean you can go out and drink unlimited beer or wine each day. Stick to diet sodas if you are a soda drinker. Like bottled water or diet flavored water? Even better. Drinks are much easier to choose an alternative than food.

As far as food goes, keep in mind that just because it meets the 10%/10% limits, doesn't mean to eat all you want to. The goal here is to reduce the fat by decreasing the fat intake. When I say - "no fat or cholesterol in these mini bagels so eat as many as you want..." I mean within reason... No you cannot eat 20 of them. But I will tell you to eat as many as you body needs for breakfast. Start with two and then give it 5 min. Are you still hungry or do you just feel the need to chew on something? If you need to chew on something, get some gum. If hungry, eat another. Give it 5 min. again, etc.

With the other foods that contain some saturated fat and cholesterol, you can just do simple math. Take the number of servings you wish to have times the % of saturated fat. Does the number equal less than 10%? How about for the cholesterol?

Example: Low-fat blueberry muffins, serving size 1, saturated fat=4% of DV, cholesterol=3% of DV. You want 2 of them. Total sat fat=8%, total cholesterol=6% of DV. Good, now you can eat 2 of these and be under the 10% limits. Three doesn't quite work though. Now, I would suggest eating the one and then following the 5 min. test I had above to see if you need the second one. Gum or hunger?

With the Pop Tarts... yes, they can be in a diet. Grab yourself some of the low-fat brown sugar cinnamon ones and they are even a better solution. Can you eat 5 of them? Of course not.

The point here is not to starve yourself. Following these guidelines has helped me lose fat by cutting the saturated fat and cholesterol intake. Simple really, but adding the 10% limits to the mix helps you keep an eye on things without having to count calories all day. I think everyone has a hard time when it comes to adding up subtotals all day in order to find out that hmmm... "I'm only 100 calories away from my daily limit and I haven't had dinner yet." Wonderful. Nice bunch of lettuce then for dinner. Yippee! With my plan that simply doesn't happen.

I hope it works for someone here. Glad to see the interest. I would write a book on it, but I couldn't make myself come up with more than 20 pages on this (fluff-free), so I guess it would be more like a "leaflet". LOL. I don't believe those sell well on Amazon.

I would like to give my diet a title though: The "10/10 no/no diet". 10/10 for the percentage limits on the saturated fat and cholesterol and no/no for the no desserts and no non-diet drinks.

If you stick to this the worst that can happen is you end the day with 3 meals and totals of around 30% DV of saturated fat and 30% DV of cholesterol. No hunger and no lettuce. Now, who is going to join me?

-sfcom

edited to add:

The no desserts simply means no "dessert" in the traditional sense of the word. You can't have an after-meal dessert, like at a restaurant. If you want to have a Chocolate Fudge pop tart for breakfast though, go ahead. It falls under the guidelines and tastes good too. Who says you have to suffer to have a diet that works?

[bibby]

falmingoworld,
That's not entirely tru and that's why I'm chosing to do Weight Watchers. Weight Watchers uses a combination of Calories, Fiber and Fat to determine a particular food's point value. Each person gets a daily points total. So every food is potentially ok. It's up to you to decide what to eat and use your points on.

I don't think 1 pop tart would be so escessive in point alue and may be ok for breakfast. I don't have a package in front of me to confirm this.

That's just my thoughts.

[Leader]

SFCom, thanks for the clarifications. They make sense. Although I am disappointed it's not a true "all you can eat" plan, I pretty much expected that when it came down to it (reminds me of when people say to "call anytime" and how they qualify that after I say, "it's normal for me to be up at 3AM...are you SURE that 'call anytime' really means ANY time?"). The only plan I've ever seen "all you can eat" mentioned in relation with repeatedly is that Atkins Diet, but that diet hates bread and other carbs so I've never gone for it.

The speed of your prior weight loss makes it so I can't just ignore this idea, though. That's so much faster than what I had been figuring it'd take!

Now that I've had my sleep (when I wrote my prior post I was practically falling asleep at the computer), I've been able to give it proper consideration.

After looking at the SF values of what I usually eat:
I can see where my weight came from!!
and
Since my usual food is practically ALL in violation of the 10/10 no/no rules, it would be a very drastic, sudden change in my entire consumption habits to start doing this full-on by February.

I've read that dietary changes are much more likely to stick when they're not so drastic as that'd be for me, so rather than starting it quickly like you and the rest are (you probably eat healthier than me to begin with), I'm going to ease in to the replacement of the old foods.

My good wishes to you though, and anyone else who joins in your weight-loss marathon!

I would write a book on it, but I couldn't make myself come up with more than 20 pages on this (fluff-free), so I guess it would be more like a "leaflet". LOL. I don't believe those sell well on Amazon.

Perhaps you could sell it with a lot of heated ad copy about how simple and straightforward it is to follow, and how you won't waste the reader's time with 200 pages of BS puffery

[sfcom]

Originally Posted by bibby

Sounds liek a plan...what am I getting myself into. My wife's expecting our first child in May and it's made me rethink my priorities. I want to be healthy and set an example for my child. Luckily I have a very supportive wife who will support me in this endeavor.

I've found in the past that the key to keeping off your eight is incorporating a workout schedule to accompany healthier eating.

I think I might join you in February but I'll be using the Weight Watchers program..

good Luck

Congratulations on the first child, bibby! Having kids definitely does change your outlook on things a bit.

Thumbs up on the Weight Watchers thing. The point is this diet (or any diet for that matter) won't work for everyone so you have to do what is best for you. And, if you have to do Weight Watchers then so be it.

Please keep us updated on how it works for you.

For now, I am on my last weekend of food freedom, so I am going to celebrate a bit!

Do I have at least one other person willing to give this a try???

-sfcom

[sfcom]

Anyone? Anyone??

This is my last day of food freedom for three months. I think I am going out to celebrate tonight w/ dinner at Outback.

I know this is not an easy time for a diet with the Super Bowl upcoming on Sunday. When is a perfect time to start a diet anyway? I'm sure that every day we can find an excuse not to because of this or that...

I really hope someone comes forward to partner with me. Although, I did fine by myself previously and probably will do so again if needed. I will be updating this thread frequently for accountability purposes, so stop by if you have a chance.

Tomorrow starts it all off. Anyone care to join me?

-sfcom

[popdawg]

Hey, missed this thread somehow, sorry about that.
I'm not following this plan but as you mentioned in the thread I started, I'm right behind you in this, which would explain the panting and wheezing you hear.

I had fast food today for the last time for a long time and it's funny because they screwed up and gave me an extra 2 burgers and side of fries. I almost ate them too.

All the best as you go and I'll keep stopping in so we can compare notes

[sfcom]

Thanks Dawg. I appreciate the support. This weekend had to be the worst to start, but I made it through OK, how about you?

I have a feeling that it will go a little smoother after a couple of weeks. Temptation looms large in the beginning.

Good luck to you and the others over in your thread and I will stop in to see you there also.

-sfcom

[IOWNIE]

Can I join your diest support group? I just ate enough Superbowl junk to last me a week. I wish there was something I could take that could just suck it out of my stomach. I officially feel bad enough to say I NEED HELP!!!! ( Plus, I really want to turn my one really big pack into at least a 3 pack before ASW.
Stop the insanity! Where is Suzanne Powters when you need her?!?!?!

[popdawg]

Made it the first week, posted about it in my thread over yonder, but I wanted to stop by and see how are you doing?

I don't know about you, but I ate something called celery this week. Apparently it is good for you.

best wishes

Pop

[sfcom]

Originally Posted by IOWNIE

Can I join your diest support group? I just ate enough Superbowl junk to last me a week. I wish there was something I could take that could just suck it out of my stomach. I officially feel bad enough to say I NEED HELP!!!! ( Plus, I really want to turn my one really big pack into at least a 3 pack before ASW.
Stop the insanity! Where is Suzanne Powters when you need her?!?!?!

Join in if you want, but this diet is harder than it first seems. I myself have lost 7 lbs during the first week. Got enough extra that it really wasn't a big deal. Regardless of what diet you choose, you have made a step towards health. Congrats.

-sfcom

[Leader]

While I didn't make it to 10/10/no, this thread did inspire me to improve my diet a lot!

Result: About 7lbs lighter for the month!

Originally Posted by sfcom

If you need to chew on something, get some gum.

I just got some sugar-free gum yesterday. I actually got it for a different reason, but as I sat here chewing it today I realized how I hadn't had the urge to actually eat something for hours!

Granted, I hadn't analyzed it before, but I would have never thought I was eating just "to chew on something" if you hadn't made that comment. My stomach actually had to send a hunger signal out in order to get food! It must think I've gone on strike or something...

[sfcom]

Glad to hear your success Leader!

Keep it up. You are doing a great job. The gum helps fool the brain. Normally after my stomach growls a bit (around 30-45 min or so) then I will go for the food. It works as designed, both as a deterrent to eating before hungry and also gives the brain a illusion of eating food.

Fool the brain, win the battle!

-sfcom