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Low carb/sugar diet

Spearhead04

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Nov 6, 2002
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So trying to get rid of the dad bod belly I have slowly developed at age 41. I’m on day 16 and down 12 lbs. The damn cravings for sugar haven’t stopped. Anyone been able to maintain this kind of diet long term? Hoping once the rest of the tire melts off I’ll able to re-add some cheat food with maintenance exercise.
 
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Sugar can be very addictive so it can be a slippery slope. I successfully cut most sugar out of my diet for years, though I started that lifestyle change after I was recovering from bad injuries, and I believe the general focus on healing/taking care of myself helped with that process.

Thing is, successful diets aren't just diets. They are lifestyle changes. If you plan to keep things up long term, it takes more than saying "I will do this until this point then I'll be able to relax a little." That's when people revert to old habits, and you should know that there will be highs and lows from a motivational standpoint as well.

Starting diets aren't fun. As you said, your body is missing and craving the things that make those feel good chemicals and hormones release. Things that may help you are to stay active. Don't let yourself get bored and stay occupied with things you enjoy. It may help to get into a routine (from a daily standpoint and a food standpoint) and be strict until you get the hang of it at least. Do things like cook in advance to make sure you have healthy meals for later in the week when you know you may not be as motivated to cook. For me, I have always found that my diet changes with my gym memberships. When I am dedicated to getting better in the gym, my diet becomes much more a a priority. I watch my macros and care about the general quality of the food I'm eating. That is where my motivation has come from.

Good luck @Spearhead04! I hope you reach your goals, but keep in mind the diet does not (read: should not) end when you hit those milestones. Long term = lifestyle change.
 
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And a word on chest meals. This is just my personal preference and individual results may vary:

Don't plan cheat meals. Plan to continue your lifestyle, including things that may cause cheat meals to occur. Have a cheat meal because you go to a celebration for a friend and it's what they have to eat, or because you want to go to you and your spouse's favorite restaurant. Don't limit yourself in those moments because that would take joy away, and that joy really helps with keeping you happy and motivated in your new lifestyle.

The idea of a weekly cheat meal glorifies the bad food, and in my opinion is not a good thing. Your focus goes to the bad thing and you should not use that just to get through the week. If you deviate from your new lifestyle at any point, intentional or not, it's not the end of the world. Acknowledge it, go back to eating well and move on.
 
I think the key is lowish carbs and sugar. Completely cutting them out is nearly impossible long term unless you’re so completely and utterly locked into it that I’d question your sanity. I lost about 10lbs a couple years ago without making any massive sacrifices and have kept it mostly off. I also didn’t need to lose much so 10lbs was a lot for me. I was lighter than I had been since I was prob 20y/o. As for cravings you may just wanna try to find a compromise of sorts to help with that. There are tasty “sweets” that are low in sugar.
 
I think the key is lowish carbs and sugar. Completely cutting them out is nearly impossible long term unless you’re so completely and utterly locked into it that I’d question your sanity. I lost about 10lbs a couple years ago without making any massive sacrifices and have kept it mostly off. I also didn’t need to lose much so 10lbs was a lot for me. I was lighter than I had been since I was prob 20y/o. As for cravings you may just wanna try to find a compromise of sorts to help with that. There are tasty “sweets” that are low in sugar.
Be careful though because many low-sugar, sweet tasting products use sugar alcohols which can be just as bad as they are good.
 
In my experiences with weight loss and/or athletic training is to find something you like when it comes to healthy food. The best way to kick cravings is to make the the healthy things you enjoy.

I will also agree with @Dhersh when mentioning stay busy. Your body got used to something that you did not build for yourself in 12 days. Meaning, cravings will not just go away in 12 days. So give you brain other things it likes to focus on.

Another thing I used to do if/when cravings started would be to switch up the diet a little bit. Instead of focusing on carbs and sugars I would focus on foods from other "diets" like Mediterranean, Pescatarian, Vegetarian, etc. Change it up every now and then.
 
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Don't cheat with artificial sweeteners. They all pretty much do the same to your blood sugar levels and the up/down feeling that keeps you craving sweets. It seems hard at first, but once you change your eating habits and replace the sweets and other carbs (even non-sweet carbs like bread/rice/pasta/potatoes raise your blood sugar and create the same cravings) with other things your body starts to crave the things you are now feeding it regularly.
 
So trying to get rid of the dad bod belly I have slowly developed at age 41. I’m on day 16 and down 12 lbs. The damn cravings for sugar haven’t stopped. Anyone been able to maintain this kind of diet long term? Hoping once the rest of the tire melts off I’ll able to re-add some cheat food with maintenance exercise.
Read labels….use a measuring cup for certain things like cereal…portion control.. when you go to dinner, you must give up at least one of the following, preferably two: appetizer, alcohol, dessert.
 
I've started this plan called OptaVia (formerly known as MediFast). It's similar to Keto because it puts your body in a state of Ketosis where you burn fat like crazy. I've been on it a month and dropped over 30 lbs in the process.

But like Dhersh said, starting it and maintaining it the first few days is the hardest. Not only was my head swimming and was I craving the foods I loved, but without going into any details, my body was disgorging all the junk that was in it.
 
Anyone else notice low carb beers have a tendency to put weight on you unlike drinking distilled spirits or am I crazy?
 
So trying to get rid of the dad bod belly I have slowly developed at age 41. I’m on day 16 and down 12 lbs. The damn cravings for sugar haven’t stopped. Anyone been able to maintain this kind of diet long term? Hoping once the rest of the tire melts off I’ll able to re-add some cheat food with maintenance exercise.
Started my low carb on April 19. I'm down 19 pounds total from 217 to 198. I'm working out like a beast so I'm putting on a lot of muscle. What had been great for me is Core Power Elite. It comes in chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. It's made by fairlife do it's quality stuff. 42 grams of protein.

Good luck and it gets was easier. Even if I go
Through a fast food joint drive through, I get the double cheeseburger and throw the bun away.
 
Day 22 and no further weight loss. Lol. I think my metabolism has adjusted. I have been increasing my strength training though so perhaps gaining muscle weight.
 
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Day 22 and no further weight loss. Lol. I think my metabolism has adjusted. I have been increasing my strength training though so perhaps gaining muscle weight.
There definitely is a trade off there with muscle fat and overall weight. But keep thinking long term and don't get discouraged when the numbers stop changing.
 
I started a few years ago and did it slowly at first just cutting out the high sugar items at first then working on other things. There wasn't a rapid loss initially like some get but it came off at 2 pounds a week or so for a solid 6 months. I just cut out high sugar items and left the carbs that didn't have high sugar content. I dropped 50 pounds or so and managed to keep it off. I've been back at 220 for over a year and hadn't seen that weight since right after high school. One thing that helped and cant overstate is water. Drink lots of water.
 
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So trying to get rid of the dad bod belly I have slowly developed at age 41. I’m on day 16 and down 12 lbs. The damn cravings for sugar haven’t stopped. Anyone been able to maintain this kind of diet long term? Hoping once the rest of the tire melts off I’ll able to re-add some cheat food with maintenance exercise.
I have been on Keto for almost 3yrs. I have lost around 50 lbs since I started. This diet is sustainable for me but one thing that I will tell you is that if you want to lose the bellyfat then you will have to combine diet and belly fat burning exercise. Even though my belly size has decreased, any fat that I have stays right there.
 
So trying to get rid of the dad bod belly I have slowly developed at age 41. I’m on day 16 and down 12 lbs. The damn cravings for sugar haven’t stopped. Anyone been able to maintain this kind of diet long term? Hoping once the rest of the tire melts off I’ll able to re-add some cheat food with maintenance exercise.
Hey there, I am on year 3.5 of keto/low carb diet. I cheat every once in a while but pretty much low carb. I do it as I am a diabetic. I am 51 years old. I am healthy and work out regularly with weights 4-5 days a week.

There are so many keto options now at the grocery store. You still need to watch the carbs but it is much easier than when I started.

If you want to chat PM me.

Eric
 
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