Why did I get 3 fitness dvd's from 3 of my friends this Xmas is someone trying to tell me something.

try re-gifting next year !!!!

Stick em on FleeBay Failing that buy some more and you will have a matching set a Coffee Cup Coasters

Are you fat??

Every New year the same, sales of diet books and exercise videos, effectively none of them work or we wouldn't have an obesity problem. Still, they sell well as people kid themselves that's the way to go.

The way to lose weight and keep it off is cheap and simple. You don't need exercise (tho that is good for your health) and it needn't cost much. You just need to understand what the processes involved are and how they work.

Try shoving less down your neck & keep off cheap beer , wine , spirits..........

Basically yes.

You need to understand that you are a plains ape evolved to eat certain things. Leaves, shoots and stems, a few roots, a few seeds and fruits and a small amount of meat (grubs, lizards, the odd baby bird) which is most akin to seafood, I guess.

We are not evolved to eat dairy products, red meat or grain products, and of all of them refined grain products are the worst thing you can eat.

I thought that we may have evolved a little by now... anyway - I`m off to plunder a few nests.

Bil, You are still my sweetie

Hi sweetie.

Yeah, we are evolved, but not by much. Just a bit here and there.

The bottom line is we can eat most things and coz we're dead clever we have even made the neccessity that is eating stuff actually pleasant by amongst other things combining different flavours and textures into a single meal.
So long as the energy we consume is greater than the energy we expend we'll get fat - it's just considerably more difficult to take in an excess of energy if you only eat say, celery.

I just love the way that people believe that fat is the enemy, and low fat in itself means healthy. Ever seen what the calorie content is for those 'healthy living' grain type bars? Atkins was right when he identified carbs as the enemy.

Bil,
Forgive my lack of imagination but what would you eat for breakfast, for example, under a regime that excludes dairy, red meat and grains?

Sad b*stard that I am, I have a slice of buckwheat toast (buckwheat isn't a grain product) with crunchy peanut butter, (no butter) and about a pint of strong black coffee.

I didn't actually say don't eat them (grain, dairy, red meat). What I do say is, recognise that you shouldn't eat them, but they are very nice. So, only have them as a treat.

I love spicy tomato soup with cream and cheese. The challenge is to minimise the cream and the cheese. I do this by having a small amount of cream, 1 - 2 dessert spoons, and measuring it out, not pouring it by eye. That way lies madness. I put in the bottom of the bowl about 4 chunks (10 grams) of a good strong, solid cheddar that will form 'bogies' and not melt completely. That way they are eaten in the last few mouthfuls, and the effect is that you have had a very cheesy soup. The bowl is 4 - 500 grams, and clocks in at 250 - 350 calories. Not too bad eh?

From past experience, if you melt the cheese and mix it in, you can consume 500 calories worth of cheese without realising it is there.

Oh well I will look out for buckwheat but would have to give the peanut butter a miss. Although I could substitute jam. Might need more than one slice too, as the mornings are when I am most hungry.

Could not manage without tea in the mornings but the dairy would be minimal.

I realise that the "rules" do not have to be absolute. But I think they are something to be aware of and I especially agree with on your comments about carbohydrate content.

Many thanks.

My pleasure.

Watch the jam. It might not be the case for you, but that would upset my blood sugar badly and leave me with terrible sweet cravings all day.

I have the problems that I am a plate clearer, and a foodaholic. If I crack open a bag of sweets, I will probably end up eating the lot, almost certainly by the end of the day, if not in one sitting.

I do have the advantage that I can eat the same thing day in day out, so as long as I can get buckwheat bread, I can have a 'safe' breakfast that at only 250 calories will keep me going till late afternoon as long as I am at work.

Sitting at home usually involves a bit of boredom, well, in the UK at least as I have nothing much other than work to do, and you know what boredom does....