Forks Over Knives (Or, the Western diet vs. a plant-based diet)

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Restarting Point - 351.4 (July 2024). Top 5% of most obese men in America.
< 300 - Thanksgiving 2024
< 278 - My previous best. February 2025, now.
< 250 - This would get me out of the obese range for the first time since I was a teenager. Aiming to get here by summer; my birthday is three days after the first official day of summer, and I'd really like to be able to say my 48th year is my last as an obese human.
< 208 - Top end of the BMI 'normal' range. I know BMI is flawed, it's just a reference point for 'ok, time to consider where to go with the rest of your life now that most of the excess fat is gone'. I may go significantly further than this, I may not. Likely to be early next year depending on how things go, too early to really think about that much. For reference I was 210-215 as varsity athlete towards the end of high school, and I do think even then I was a little overweight. It would be surreal to get lower than that, but we'll see.

Dadgum. Congrats!

- 'Volume Eating' - The only way I can really effectively manage my hunger without it just being a constant thing is low-calorie whole foods. So I do that virtually exclusively (some exceptions made for holidays). I eat a lot of potatoes which are very filling. Hit protein targets and a lot of the rest is fruits/vegetables. I haven't had to make any significant cuts yet but I aim for the 0.5-1% body weight lost per week, which right now is right about 2 pounds a week, and will adjust what I eat as needed.

Can you list out some of your low-calorie whole foods?

Do you have a "reward" in mind besides just being healthier? Something tangible to strive towards?

[Ksyrup]

Congrats Brian! That's awesome progress!

Consistency and routine are essential and very underrated (boring) factors in maintain a healthy lifestyle. It's why I continue, well over a year now, to simply record my eating start and stop times in a note on my phone, every day. I'm well past the point with intermittent fasting that I need a reminder, but I still record my times every day. It just sets in my mind the bright line rule that I don't eat before or after those times.

I also have made working out a priority. I run (or sometimes hike on my treadmill) 6 days a week. It helps that I work remotely and only go into the office once a week, which is conveniently my one day of rest a week. I think my stubbornness has finally rubbed off on my wife, who is making a much more concerted effort to walk on the treadmill 4-5 days a week. She's overcoming a bunch of health issues, so that's been a barrier, but a portion of it is just discipline and consistency.

Sunday, I did the longest run of my life - 18 miles. That was after running 8.25 miles on the treadmill on Saturday. I broke the 18 miles down into 2 sets of 6 miles at slow/recovery pace and 3 miles at faster than projected marathon pace. It went well. I'm still trying to decide what pace to aim for at my first marathon. I'm thinking 9 minutes a mile, which would safely put me under a 4 hour marathon. If I feel like I can do a negative split, then maybe I push it the final 10 or so miles. But I want to make sure I finish, have a positive experience, and understand what the entire process feels like, while also giving myself a goal to shoot for at the next marathon.

[QuikSand]

Great update, Brian, very thoughtful.


This time of year, having a basket of oranges/citrus (skip the juice, eat the fruit with the fiber) is a no brainer foundational idea.

[HerRealName]

That is impressive, Brian. Congratulations. I'm the same height I haven't cracked 210 since I was 21 or 22. Keep up the good work.

[Kodos]

Nice job! Keep us updated.

[Brian Swartz]

Sincere thank you to everyone for the kind words.

Originally Posted by Edward64

Can you list out some of your low-calorie whole foods?

Sure, but with a massive caveat; I really think this is something best experimented with by each person. Some people are much pickier than others, we all like different things, some do better with cutting out 'junk food' entirely (me), others can handle moderation better (hahaha not on your life) so ... yeah. None of this I would put in the 'recommendation' camp. Example: soybeans. I discovered there's only one thing I don't like about them:

They have soy in them. I tried a number of soy products. I tried using them as a 'garnish' type thing, just part of another dish. They are just the definition of bland to my palate. I think celery has a lot more taste. It was like you'd imagine eating paper might be like. Just no. Some people they work great for. I'm happy for them, but really really not my thing.

Anyway, to actually answer the question:

- Meat Staples: skinless chicken breast, ground turkey, fish (salmon when I can get it on sale). I like tuna and ham, but the salt content is too high to be wise right now. Those are in the 'can have from time to time when you reach a healthy weight but for now fughedaboudit' bucket.

- Fruits/Vegetables: Broccoli (dat fiber), Carrots, Kiwi (as close to an actual 'superfood' as anything gets from what I know), Strawberry, Blueberry, Apple, Pear, Orange, Green Beans, Grapes, Potatoes, and I did I say MOAR POTATOES? The spuds are helpful to me at blunting late-night/overnight hunger, so every dinner has them.

A lot of variety here on purpose, I've become a fan of that for nutrient balance.

- Grains: Whole Wheat Bread, Wheaties the Breakfast of Champions Amirite? I do Almond Milk these days.

- Rice in modest amounts, as it's not really a low-calorie thing.

- Edit to add: Greek Yogurt as well. Used to do regular yogurt, but the macros aren't quite as good.

I'm probably doing some forgetting, but that's most of the regular stuff.

Originally Posted by QuikSand

This time of year, having a basket of oranges/citrus (skip the juice, eat the fruit with the fiber) is a no brainer foundational idea.

Fully agree here. The following is an exhaustive list of all the liquids I drink:

- Water.
- More Water.
- Guzzle down that H20.

Along with the fiber point, it's just a case of drinking calories means fewer calories I can eat. For me at least, that's a craptastic tradeoff. I want every last solid calorie I can get.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Do you have a "reward" in mind besides just being healthier? Something tangible to strive towards?

I'm not sure if I really think of it that way. I could say so many words, but I need to think more about how to answer it. I think being healthier is the reward to my mind, when you sort of fill in all the things that means.

[Edward64]

Thanks. I've lost 20 pounds and thought that was a major accomplishment. Little did I know, so serious kudos to you.

I count calories so pretty much eat anything but try to keep it in the 1600-1800 threshold for maintenance, and about 1200-1400 when I was actively trying to lose weight (aka starving myself). I also specifically tried not to eat as much carbs (so wasn't on your potato meal plan).

It doesn't sound like you counted calories, just workout and ate low calorie foods?

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Example: soybeans. I discovered there's only one thing I don't like about them:

They have soy in them. I tried a number of soy products. I tried using them as a 'garnish' type thing, just part of another dish. They are just the definition of bland to my palate.

Salt, have to salt them or put them in salad with the low-cal salad dressing. I've bought a package of de-shelled edamame and snacked on them.

and I did I say MOAR POTATOES? The spuds are helpful to me at blunting late-night/overnight hunger, so every dinner has them.

My secret weapon is 100 calorie bag of popcorn at 8-9pm as a late night snack to tide me over.

- Water.
- More Water.
- Guzzle down that H20.

Yeah, I peed a lot when I was in my lose weight stage.

[Ksyrup]

I eat a 3 lb pack of Kiwi a week. I picked it up last summer and haven't stopped since.

Broccoli slaw and bean salads are also a staple of my diet.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Thanks. I've lost 20 pounds and thought that was a major accomplishment. Little did I know, so serious kudos to you.

It is a major accomplishment, don't downplay it; 20 pounds on your frame is a lot more than 20 pounds on mine. Most people can't lose as much weight as I am/need to, because they don't get as big as I did. They're better off.

It's esp. fantastic if you've kept it off, which it sounds like. The stats on that are depressing; tons of people lose a lot of weight at some point, almost all of them gain it back. Like I have, several times. I'm optimistic it'll be different this time, I don't have the complacency problem that derailed me before, but ultimately this is still the 'easy part'. People who keep weight off for 3+ years can be measured in the single digits %-wise.

In terms of counting calories; I do that, just didn't get into specifics. If I didn't, I would 100% overeat. I eat a lot, averaging around 3300 a day. It actually ends up being closer to 4000, but that's because I fast one day a week for two reasons:

1. The mental discipline of doing it. Reminds my body it can go without for a while and it will be just fine.

2. It allows me to eat a little more the rest of the week.

[Ksyrup]

I'm right there with you on the "lost weight and gained it back multiple times" train. The ONLY thing I've been good about over the years is not allowing myself to get completely back to as big as I was in the early 2000s. Like, 200 was a stopping point a couple of times, and now 185ish is where I've drawn the line a couple of times. At one point - around 2004-05, with some major work stress - I got up to 235-40. Never been back that far. But I've still yo-yo'd quite a bit.

Hoping this time with IF, that won't happen again. It's been 13 months and counting. I don't want to be climbing that mountain again in my mid-late 50s.

[QuikSand]

I'll offer a gentle reminder that we do have threads on this forum for generic weight loss, which serve that topic adequately.

[korme]

Also, the genesis of this thread was about Forks Over Knives, and plant based diets. Feels like it has been taken over - I click and the new post is a giant rack of ribs.

[Edward64]

Oh sorry. Glad to delete

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I'll offer a gentle reminder that we do have threads on this forum for generic weight loss, which serve that topic adequately.

My understanding is that we'd basically decided to fuse all of the fitness/weight loss/other such topics into this one place, it's not like there are a lot of high-volume active conversations that it needs different threads IMO.

If people don't want to be the case, I can post future comments elsewhere.