BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Nutrition Weight Loss and Nutritional Diet??

well i play rugby and volleyball all week and i feel as though instead of losing weight, i'm gaining because i'm not eating properly. Everyday i go work out playing rugby i just come home and eat like a baked potato piled with melted cheese thinking its nutritional when its not. I mean im exercising properly and everything but I'm not eating right. What would you consider good nutritional meals?

Hi Nicky,

I'm the Holistic Health Host and I'm interested in balance in all things.

I don't talk about diets because there is no diet that has been invented that anyone can stay on for a lifetime and yo-yo dieting (going on and off diets to maintain weight) is one of the main causes of gaining weight, not to mention gallstones, heart conditions, kidney and liver problems and other chronic ailments.

Most diets, e.g., the Atkins or South Beach Diets help people lose weight by cutting out carbohydrates. But wait a minute, some carbohydrates, the complex carbohydrates are good for you! They contain the enzymes and substances that help you ward off disease and disability. Without them, staying on a diet for more than a week or two can lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies. (You can always take a vitamin and mineral supplement, but finding one your body uses can be a demanding task.)

Remember, losing weight at the cost of your health isn't a good trade-off. Fortunately, you can lose weight and still stay healthy.

To do that, plan your meals around fresh fruits and vegetables, adding a little protein from ocean fresh fish, soy (in the form of soy burgers, soy cheese, soy lunch meat, and tempeh). This will give you the fiber, vitamins and minerals and enzymes to keep you healthy and slim.

For more specific ideas on permanent weight loss, click on http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art13120.asp

Hope this helps!

Best,

Carolyn

Host, http://HolisticHealth.bellanline.com

OK you know I have to speak up on this one <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Low Carb isn't about eliminating all carbs, just the junk ones. So we talk about eating high fiber bread, not white wonder bread. We eat broccoli and cauliflower, not sugar corn. We avoid the high sugar peanut butter, going for the natural version instead. So it's all about eating things that are healthy without going for the sugar-loaded version.

So it's low carb ... but not "no carb". You want to minimize the sugars while you maximize the vitamins. So you'd eat a spinach salad instead of french fries as a side dish.

Hopefully any diet is a way of life that someone adopts - not a quick-fix that someone wants to "lose weight" with before they go back to their normal eating style. That would never work, since the normal eating style is what made them heavy to begin with <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hi- I am new to this site and looking for some nutritional advice. I've come to about my wits end with my current regimes getting no results! PLEASE HELP

All my life I was an athletic person, cheerleading, track, rowing, weights, aerobics instructor, etc. I never had to exercise for weightloss. Exercise was just part of my life. As the usual story goes...I graduated from college got a job and had to deal with the "adult world." I kept up a pretty good exercise routine. I am now 28 and my body just doesn't seem to be responding to my efforts. Over the last 6 months I have been trying to get my body to morph back to its college shape-with no success.

I workout 5-6 days a week doing cardio and strength for 40-60min. I think I have gained even more muscle but I'm trying to thin things out. I do have an athletic build and I like that but I want to trim things up. As far as nutrition I have been around in circles... not eating so well, food journals,eating small balanced meals every 3-4 hours, no snacking, strick salad and protein shake diet, back to 3 balanced meals with nutritous snacks (I do have a weakness for a handfull of M&Ms).

This has all been done with no measurable change; my weight doesn't go up or down, no difference in the mirror, no difference in the fit of my clothes. I would be happy with ONE pants size down. (size 8) that would put me back to my college days. I just can't seem to get any results. Besides being a slave to the gym 3hours a day....what can I do with my diet to get results?

HELP! HELP! HELP!

I should add that I do feel "in shape" I've taken the fitness test and always score well able to do the max or higher (jumping jacks, flexiblity test, cardio, sit-ups, etc. ) My doctor says that with my frame I'm fine. However, I want to be at the lower end of my weight range, not the top. I want to change the shape of my body!!!

any advice out there?

I think you double posted, so I did respond to the other message <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Maybe you should just concentrate on health and not so much on being skinny. My daughter plays softball in college and this summer she started eating healthier and lost some weight and her coaches were all freaked out, thinking she was going to slim down. My daughter is a good, proportional size and muscular. She says she doens't really care aobut losing weight, just being healthy.

Maybe if you're doing that much weight training, you're just bulking up. Maybe as you get older too, your body is finding it's own proper weight, the one you don't have to "diet" to maintain.

That's a good point, JoanJ. A lot of people want to be the "thinnest" because our media tells us to be thin. However, every one of our bodies has a healthy weight that it is good to be at. Super thin isn't healthy! You're more likely to be injured and to have health issues. Heck, look at the starving people in Africa, how incredibly thin they are. Hopefully nobody wants to look like that. It's a way to die quickly. You always want to have a proportional body with healthy amounts of muscle on you, to stay alive and healthy for a long time.