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Question about weight loss and soda
billwill
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I have a friend who is looking to lose some weight. He told me his plan and it sounds pretty severe. He's drastically lowering his caloric intake per day and amping up the exercise quite a bit, too.
I mean, we're talking ~1500 calories per day for a tall and big guy who will also be running and doing a bunch of other physical activity. I told him maybe that wasn't such a good idea, and then he asked me why. I didn't really have an answer. When I lost weight, I kept my calories around ~2500 and did mild exercise. What's going to happen to him if he follows his plan? Will his body go into shutdown mode or something or will he just lose an insane amount of weight (he's like eighty pounds overweight I'd guess).
He also posed a question about diet soda. Again, when I lost weight, I went cold turkey on drinks that weren't water. He wants to continue drinking diet soda. Again, I wasn't able to state a con to this. I mean, it is zero calories. But on the other hand, I'm sure there's other junk mixed in there, right?
Thanks.
I mean, we're talking ~1500 calories per day for a tall and big guy who will also be running and doing a bunch of other physical activity. I told him maybe that wasn't such a good idea, and then he asked me why. I didn't really have an answer. When I lost weight, I kept my calories around ~2500 and did mild exercise. What's going to happen to him if he follows his plan? Will his body go into shutdown mode or something or will he just lose an insane amount of weight (he's like eighty pounds overweight I'd guess).
He also posed a question about diet soda. Again, when I lost weight, I went cold turkey on drinks that weren't water. He wants to continue drinking diet soda. Again, I wasn't able to state a con to this. I mean, it is zero calories. But on the other hand, I'm sure there's other junk mixed in there, right?
Thanks.
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I basically cut soda totally out of my diet (except for the rare indulgence on special occasions) and went to water and I both feel a lot better and it's actually off-putting to me to drink it in any significant amounts now, a can and I am like "okay that was good but no more", drink more and my body really complains all over, start sweating way more, my stomach gets upset and I feel like I have less energy.
I would suggest he try out going for pure water for a bit, he might enjoy it more once he get going and a diet is a fine time to do it, focussed on it there anyways.
About the calories, I don't know, I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about diets, but it does sound like something he at least needs to consider deeply what he is doing with.
I wouldn't drink that much diet soda.. I think it's better to drink tea or water, but I'm biased because I really can't stand artificial sweeteners. Crystal Light makes some 5-calorie flavor packets that aren't awful, and there are flavored waters out there that are completely unsweetened but still taste like something. Ayala's is my favorite; they have a pretty strong flavor without the sugar or anything else, and they cost about as much as a 20oz soda at the store near me.
Diet soda does a few funny things. Your body tastes sugar, and then expects it. If it doesn't then get it it starts craving it. If he's looking at something to replace it I'd reccommend mint tea and if he is craving for sugar, throw in like half a teaspoon. But really as the guy above me said. Water is best for primary water consumption.
Satans..... hints.....
Origin: KafkaAU B-Net: Kafka#1778
So the issue with diet soda is more of a psychological effect?
And that's what I thought, Blake T, concerning losing muscle as well as fat. But he says he's going to counter this by dramatically increasing protein consumption and doing weights.
Ceres, I should clarify, as I WISH I had a fast metabolism... I'm also a little tall, around 6'4", and I started my weight loss at 320 pounds. My recommended daily intake was somewhere around 3500 calories to maintain my weight. And I exercised quite regularly, just not as much or as intense as he's starting out. Trust me, my metabolism is as slow as they come.
But look, he seems pretty dead set on doing this his way. The best thing you can do, as a friend is to support the guy and if he falls off this wagon, help him back onto a slightly smaller wagon.
Satans..... hints.....
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
Artificial sweeteners can be worse for you than actual sugar.
Cut the soda intake down and supplement it with V8 or 100% juice.
How does that compare to your friend? Because if he is in the same neighborhood, going down to 1500 calories a day seems excessive. And if he really, really wants to go on such a crash diet, I'd say he'll have a hard time maintaining his weight once he gets down to his target weight.
Also - tell him to talk to someone who knows this stuff. His doctor for instance.
I've lost 35 pounds so far, usually target 1800-2000 calories a day with a lot of running and golf as exercise.
I also drink a couple coke zeros a day, one with lunch and one with dinner. Hasn't affected my progress at all. Naturally, I drink a ton of water as well, which is key.
I don't believe there is any actual link to drinking diet soda and things like insulin spikes. But I could see it having a mental effect on you. Personally, I like having the carbonation..helps me feel full.
Those are barely any better than soda. They contain as many calories, are still highly acidic and the only benefit is that they contain some vitamins.
Additionally please state what damage they do.
Satans..... hints.....
Insulin not glucose. Glucose is a sugar itself. It produces insulin in response to sugar being detected (sort of a "hey I'm ready to metabolize this shit let's do it!")
Mostly you want water. Water helps your body metabolize fat. The more water, the better your body can do it. If you're working at a calorie deficit (Exercise + base metabolic - food = -value) you'll lose weight, water will help you get rid of fat quicker. Or something like that, it's super complex and not really my expertise but anything is better than soda or juice. I'm not sure how diet soda plays into weight loss, if it causes you to crave sugar more because of the insulin response to the sweeteners. Certainly wouldn't hurt to avoid it just from the sodium angle.
Couple good articles on it: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/artificial-sweeteners-insulin/#axzz20ELDb1rb
http://www.livestrong.com/article/477679-insulin-weight-gain-and-artificial-sweeteners/
Second link includes references, which is helpful.
Again, I would stick to water for the most part, but a diet soda once again isn't going to affect your weight loss. Just like any good diet / nutrition plan, it's about moderation.
Yeah, my doctor said the major drinks to avoid are these:
1) Full-calorie soda (diet/zero are OK in moderation)
2) Sports drinks (Gatorade, etc)
3) Fruit Juice (it's basically all the sugar of fruit in concentrated form without the fiber and many of of the nutrients of eating a real fruit)
In a pleasant surprise, she said that beer and wine don't need to be completely removed from your diet as long as you drink in moderation (defined as 1-2 per day, max). Moderate alcohol consumption has minor health benefits and it is easier to plan the diet around it than to try to remove it completely and wreck it every time you have a drink.
As far as soda replacements, there are flavored sparkling waters out there that are pretty good. No idea what makes it different from any other soda (besides marketing), but the flavor profile is generally somewhat lighter than a traditional soda.
The psychological effect is that by drinking sweet things, your body still craves more sweets. By going off artificial sweeteners, you get used to not having sweet things around and your cravings for them are reduced. But there's nothing wrong with having diet sodas if you don't otherwise have a sweet tooth, or want some variety.
I love the stuff, even have a carbonator so that i can just make it with tap water
PSN: Robo_Wizard1
I switched to sweet tea to ween myself off the carbonation which was the main thing for me (sweet tea has about the same calories it's just not carbonated so it wasn't better for me) Then I switched from sweet tea to unsweetened tea and THAT was the difference I was looking for. Then once I got over the whole "it needs to be sweet and bubbly" thing with my beverages I drink a lot more water.
I think he meant that you can't tell it's artificial.
Juice just isn't terribly productive. For the most part, you're taking the good parts of the fruit, the fiber and such, and stripping them away, leaving just the sugars and calories.
Here's a random V8 fusion, which you can see is mostly calories, potassium, sodium, sugars, and some vitamins. Compare to straight up V8 vegetable juice and you get the dietary fiber back, with a lot less sugar and calories.
Or you could just... you know.. have a banana and some strawberries, have just a few more calories tied up in it than the V8 Fusion, quell your hunger better, and get a lot more nutritional value out of it.
TL;DR - Don't drink your calories.
Your body does not recognize calories in liquid form - i.e. you do not "feel" full, even if you just drank 1/3 of your daily calories. It would be wise to cut out liquid calories wherever possible.
Huh? I definitely feel full after a big protein shake.
Nothing wrong with drinking your calories, just don't drink "juice". Instead, like @bowen stated, make a smoothy. Still get all the good fiber and whatnot in the fruits and veggies.
Calculate how many calories you actually consume in that protein shake, convert it to actual food eat it and compare how hungry you feel half an hour later. Additionally, you just admitted its a "big" protein shake.
Smoothies still have a bunch of extra calories in them in the firms if milk and yoghurt. In fact when it comes to weight gaining its almost the universal advice is to blend that stuff up and drink it.
Satans..... hints.....
He's going to go into starvation mode and he won't make it on that diet. He should start by slowly working his caloric intake down, it makes the transition into diet mode much easier.
Say he heats at Taco Bell everyday. First week stop getting sodas and just drink the water. Second week get 1 less burrito. Third week stop going to taco bell and start making his own lunch.
If you drop from a 3500 calorie a day diet to a 1500 calorie a day diet you're very likely to fuck your metabolism up seven ways from sunday, and not make it very far in the diet.
Its going to be SO much easier for him if he just eases into it. I also feel like when peope try and jump into something that crazy that it just completely turns them off of diet and excercise if they were to fail. Thats just my two cents though.
For the duration he manages to follow the diet and exercise plan (which I estimate to be 1-1.5 weeks) he will feel like shit all the time and never have the kind of energy he needs to do real exercise.
Start the exercise but just try eating like a reasonable human being instead of trying to starve. 80 pounds overweight is the result of life habits that will not be easily broken. Most attempts to depart completely from those habits overnight will result in complete failure.
Yep, but the difference is you can control the quantity of sucrose rather than with buying a premade beverage. I often will take a small squirt of Mio into a 2 liter of carbonated water just to give it a hint of flavor, which I find very pleasing. It also lacks the sodium quantity of Coke Zero.
But yeah, moderation is the main thing. You could drink mountain dew in moderation and still lose weight/be healthy, though I wouldn't recommend it.
A protien shake is designed to make you feel full. How full do you feel after you drink a 12 oz can of coke? More or less than if you ate 2 medium sized apples? because the calorie difference between those two is approx 10 calories
I don't know about you, but I could knock back six beers in an evening and not feel like I just ate a big meal, but @ 150 calories each (on average, some beers have less, but some also have more) I just drank 900 calories - which almost half of a 2000 calorie diet - I just drank my dinner and half of my lunch. I could have eaten 11 apples instead and had the same caloric intake
My wife makes smoothies with whole fruit, no juice. She uses greek yogurt and we have been using cocunut or soy milk instead of regular milk. She also adds spinnach and protien powder which you cannot taste if you do it right. You can also add ice as a filler to cut down on calories but make more smoothie
I am not saying don't drink a smoothie. Smoothie = food (if done right). Soda = not food.