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Is this a good Diet? (1 Viewer)

Chad Ferguson

Supporting Actor
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Oct 31, 2000
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RIght now right when I wake up I take 1 caffine pill(250mg), 3 ephedrine(8mg each), and 1 asprin. I take these and have a can of Diet Coke. Then I'm off to run, or play some bball. After either of those I do not eat for at least 30mins. Then I can go about my day as normal and eat pretty much whatever I want within reason. Just curious if this diet is alright to do? If someone else has any other suggestions please feel free to tell.
Thank you
 

Carl Johnson

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I'm no doctor but I certainly wouldn't take ephedrine, I googled it and came up with

The use of dietary supplements and stimulants containing ephedra can cause strokes, heart attacks, and even kill. The FDA recently proposed strong new warning labels that pills containing the herb ephedra can cause heart attacks and strokes or even kill, and said a full ban was still possible.
 

Ricardo C

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Stay away from ephedrine and caffeine suplements. I know they're tempting, but the side effects can be horrendous, not just physically, but mentally, as well.
 

Chad Ferguson

Supporting Actor
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Oct 31, 2000
Messages
923
But Fat loss is the whole idea. Also this is the chemical ephedrine(not sure if that makes it better). is this just a horrible short term solution? Can you go more in depth as to why this stuff is so bad for you?
THanks for the quick reply's and honesty.
 

Cary_H

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 7, 2003
Messages
279
I would swap the word fat, for the word weight.
Working out first thing prior to eating is effective if you are eating right. If you're not, well, you'll be hard pressed to last through your workout.
No doubt you'll need the pill buzz.....just keep an eye on your BP and HR levels, OK.
 

Jason_Els

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 22, 2001
Messages
1,096
Jesus man. Since this is Home Theater Forum may I suggest you go out and rent Requiem for a Dream? Stay the hell away from ephedra. Guy I know took it and dropped dead from a heart attack at 33. He lost the fat.

... and everything else.
 

Randy Tennison

Screenwriter
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If your goal is to lose some weight in order to get into your tux for a one night event, and then after that, who cares, then what you are doing might work.

If you goal is to lose weight, get healthy, feel better, and maintain it, then you couldn't be more wrong.

There are numerous "diets" being discussed lately on the HTF. But one thing you have to remember . . .No "diet" works, as "diet" insinuates a temporary change in eating habits. You must make a lifestyle change, which will be permanent.

So many people crash diet, lose the weight, go back to eating what made them fat in the first place, and then announce "My diet didn't work. I gained all the weight back!" DUH!

The late Dr. Atkins hated the fact that he called his book "The New Diet Revolution", because he later came to understand that diets don't work. That's why it's known as the Atkins Lifestyle.

Drop the pills, and get out there and eat healthy, exercise, and maintain it!
 

Leila Dougan

Screenwriter
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Mar 27, 2002
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You're certainly not working with your body to lose the fat and that makes it all more the tougher.

First off, stay away from ephedra, caffiene and other stimulants. They are very dangerous and when you do get off them, you'll gain all the weight back.

Second off, not eating for such a long time is forcing your body into starvation mode. It doesn't get enough food so it thinks its starving. This puts your metabolism into the lowest gear possible so that your body can hang onto every last morsel you eat. You want your body burning fat, not hording it.

Stay away from soda (even diet). Although it has no sugar in it, the artificial sweetener still invokes an insulin response. Insulin is primarily responsible for fat storage! Drink plenty water and for some variation you can have unsweetened tea and flavored seltzer water (unsweetened). Stay away from caffiene because despite them being a stimulant, studies have shown it hinders weight loss.

I also recommend going on a low to moderate carb. Like Randy said, it can't be a diet. It needs to be a permanent change in order to be effective. Eliminate all sugar, artificial sweeteners, white flour, potatoes, and corn. Keep away from the candy, chips and soda. You want most of your carbs to come from vegetables, but some can come from whole grains and fruit. Nothing else.

To keep your insulin levels from spiking and creating unnecessary fat, eat all your carbs with protein. Don't go overboard with the carbs, though, just eat a couple of servings a day at the most.

And eat breakfast! Fat burning doesn't begin until about 2 hours after your first meal. The longer you delay breakfast, the longer you're delaying fat burning. You may also want to incorporate some weight lifting since there's a risk of losing muscle as you lose weight. Muscle is important for fat burning and it keeps your metabolism up, so you definitely don't want any shortage of it.
 

Brian Harnish

Screenwriter
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Dec 15, 2000
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1,216
I don't take ephedra (and never will as I do have a heart murmur + a history of heart problems on the male side of my family and don't want to aggravate anything), but I wanted to chime in and rebuke some erroneous statements regarding Ephedra. Ephedra is perfectly safe as LONG as it is taken under doctoral supervision AND the individual taking it stays within the dosage limits.

Unfortunately, far too many people tend to disregard dosage limits and supervisory conditions and end up taking too much, which *can* result in a fatal heart attack; e.g. they want to lose more weight so they think more is better.

Ephedra can be safe if taken according to the instructions on the label and while under a doctor's supervision. Unfortunately, many individuals do not read the instructions or talk to their doc before taking this stuff. Also, ephedra is not that effective unless taken with a sound nutrition and exercise program. As with any dietary supplement, it is meant to SUPPLEMENT a weight loss program. It's not meant to replace good nutrition or exercise.
 

Hunter P

Screenwriter
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As stated above, ephedra is not harmful to most people. But to some it can be deadly. If you have a heart condition then you will want to stay away.



Dude, I can't believe how much caffine you are taking, especially if your ephedrine pills also have caffine in them. As also stated above, the caffine is holding you back instead of helping.

I would recommend taking a multi-vitamin with one of your meals. Your body needs to replenish after all those stimulants.
 

Chad Ferguson

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 31, 2000
Messages
923
FIrst of all, Thank you for the replies. Now I just have a couple more questions. I'm getting the point about the fact that Diets do not work. Now, I'm curious, if I drop the caffine pills, diet drinks, and what not. If I continued to use the eph and went on a healthy low carbs diet would that be alright. Then, after say a month kill the ephies and just continue? Plus I am running now every second day and doing just little-medium work out on the other days. This may sound stupid but my goal was to look like Shamus McGrady from Charlie Angels 2. :b Not huge but just slim with very low body fat. Now if the Ephies just hurry the process somewhat then I do not see the problem, as long as I was not dependent on them. As for the caffine, I was not aware that was hurting my cause. One last thing if anyone has the time. Could you type a daily plan that you use? Like heavy breakfast and salad for supper type deal? And where your workout fits in there.
Thank you very much
 

Chris Lockwood

Senior HTF Member
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Apr 21, 1999
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> Stay away from caffiene because despite them being a stimulant, studies have shown it hinders weight loss.

Then how come everything I read about it says the opposite? It's a generic substance; I don't see an incentive for writers to say it helps if it doesn't.
 

Greg_R

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Chad, you should be eating 5 small meals a day (vs. less large meals). This will keep your metabolism elevated throughout the day and help you burn fat. Try to schedule a meal before and after working out (burns fat more efficiently).

Ephedrine has been proved to be dangerous. Caffeine will just cause you to loose water weight. Although this looks like you've taken off a few pounds, the actual gains (fat loss) are minimal. A well hydrated & fed body will gain muscle more efficiently.

Pills are not the way to a healthy lifestyle. If you feel differently then you might as well go all the way (steroids, methamphetamines, etc.).
 

Leila Dougan

Screenwriter
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Then how come everything I read about it says the opposite? It's a generic substance; I don't see an incentive for writers to say it helps if it doesn't.
Here is the abstract of one such study:

Can J Physiol Pharmacol 2001 Jul;79(7):559-65

Caffeine ingestion elevates plasma insulin response in humans during an oral glucose tolerance test.
Graham TE, Sathasivam P, Rowland M, Marko N, Greer F, Battram D.


We tested the hypothesis that caffeine ingestion results in an exaggerated response in blood glucose and (or) insulin during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Young, fit adult males (n = 18) underwent 2 OGTT. The subjects ingested caffeine (5 mg/kg) or placebo (double blind) and 1 h later ingested 75 g of dextrose. There were no differences between the fasted levels of serum insulin, C peptide, blood glucose, or lactate and there were no differences within or between trials in these measures prior to the OGTT. Following the OGTT, all of these parameters increased (P < or = 0.05) for the duration of the OGTT. Caffeine ingestion resulted in an increase (P < or = 0.05) in serum fatty acids, glycerol, and plasma epinephrine prior to the OGTT. During the OGTT, these parameters decreased to match those of the placebo trial. In the caffeine trial the serum insulin and C peptide concentrations were significantly greater (P < or = 0.001) than for placebo for the last 90 min of the OGTT and the area under the curve (AUC) for both measures were 60 and 37% greater (P < or = 0.001), respectively. This prolonged, increased elevation in insulin did not result in a lower blood glucose level; in fact, the AUC for blood glucose was 24% greater (P = 0.20) in the caffeine treatment group. The data support our hypothesis that caffeine ingestion results in a greater increase in insulin concentration during an OGTT. This, together with a trend towards a greater rather than a more modest response in blood glucose, suggests that caffeine ingestion may have resulted in insulin resistance.



As I mentioned before, an increase in the insulin response is not a good thing. Too much insulin will mean too much glucose is taken out of your blood and into cells. The glucose in cells is then turned to fat. The other effect is low blood sugar, which will make you hungry. When you're hungry, you'll just want to eat something. This results in an increase in caloric intake that normally wouldn't be present without caffeine.

Now keep in mind, though, that this is one of those "your milage may vary" type of things. Some people have a lot of problem with weight loss while consuming caffeine, others not so much. If weight loss is a problem, then certainly eliminating caffeine can help.
 

Hunter P

Screenwriter
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Here is a strategy given to me by a nutritionist. I won't bother with his "hyperglycemic" and other jargon. Here is how I understand it. It might be full of shit but it makes sense to me. Maybe I just like shit. :D

Proper Diet
The secret to preventing weight gain is all about monitoring your blood sugar level. (Let's call it the BS level.:D ) Think of your BS level as a sine wave (or sound wave.) The median of the wave represents the correct amount of sugar in your blood that your body needs to operate. You want to keep the peaks and valleys of the wave as level (close to the median) as possible. That means you don't want too much sugar in the blood or too little.

Too much sugar means that the body will store the excess energy as fat. Result: weight gain.

Too little sugar means that the body thinks you are fasting. The body will lower your metabolism to reserve energy and will store some of it as fat for emergency use. Once you eat again, your median level will be lower due to decreased metabolism causing the body to store more fat. Result: weight gain.

This is why the common school of thought is to eat five-six small meals a day. You should try to eat just enough food to last you until your next meal. You don't want to eat so much that you are still digesting in your stomach by the time you start your next meal. You also don't want to put too much time in between meals so that the body doesn't start going into "fasting" mode and lower your metabolism to help you last until your next meal.

With this in mind, you should have a small bite to eat of something the FIRST THING IN THE MORNING. Before you shit, shower and shave, put something in your stomach. This gives your disgestive system and metabolism a little kick start.

As for best time of day for exercise, I would have to say in the morning. Again I'm regurgitating advice from the nutritionist but it also makes sense.

You burn fat while exercising because your body has burned all the sugar in your blood and has to go into it's reserve energy (fat.) Most people don't burn up their BS until about 20 min or so of cardio. So the more sugar in your blood, the longer you must excercise before you start to burn fat. In the morning, you just woke up from a long night of fasting. Your BS level is low so you get more out of your workout.
 

Leila Dougan

Screenwriter
Joined
Mar 27, 2002
Messages
1,352
The median of the wave represents the correct amount of sugar in your blood that your body needs to operate. You want to keep the peaks and valleys of the wave as level (close to the median) as possible. That means you don't want too much sugar in the blood or too little.
Exactly!

Eating small frequent meals, avoiding caffeine, eating only carbs that have a low glycemic index, and pairing said carbs with protein will flatten out the waves and make your blood sugar and insulin levels more steady.
 

Leila Dougan

Screenwriter
Joined
Mar 27, 2002
Messages
1,352
I don't know what you like to eat, but here's a shot:

BREAKFAST
1-2 eggs and 1 slice whole wheat toast
or
1 cup plain unsweetened yogurt with fresh fruit
or
1 serving Kashi with milk

SNACK
1 oz cheese
or
1/4 cup nuts
or
celery sticks with 2 tablespoons peanut butter
or
hard boiled egg
or
apple slices with peanut butter or slice of cheese

LUNCH
salad with cheese and meat (tuna, chicken, ham, etc)
or
hamburger with whole wheat bun and a side salad
or
grilled chicken breast with a 1 cup broccoli

SNACK
(same as above)

DINNER
essentially any type of meat (not breaded) and some veggies, if you do have a starch side item (potatoes, rice, pasta) have only a small bit and fill yourself up on the veggies

DESSERT
1 serving ice cream (try to stick to the flavors with the least amount of carbs), the protein in the milk will help balance out the sugar

Obviously this menu will have to be modified if you are allergic to peanut butter, are lactose intolerant, or are vegetarian.
 

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