Diet Soda: Good or bad for fat people?

[chipwhich]

This thread is an example of pure excellence: posters nit-picking other posters' diets, without knowing a thing about them.

What do you need to know about a poster to understand basic nutrition???????

You can lose weight eating a diet consisting of nothing but Skittles, that doesn't make it a healthy diet.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

What do you need to know about a poster to understand basic nutrition???????

You can lose weight eating a diet consisting of nothing but Skittles, that doesn't make it a healthy diet.

That's a good point. Weight gain/loss doesn't necessarily correlate with it being a healthy diet. However, it seems that the diet posted above was perfectly healthy...maybe just not ideal. I could be wrong, but "healthy" is definitely a relative term.

[matty dread]

diet soda is bad for everyone... period

---------- Post added February-28th-2011 at 10:43 AM ----------

lol @ raisin "brand"

really?

[Bang]

Oh no the evil of soda!

The horrors of not eating perfectly!

Anyone here not going to die?

Show of hands....

That's what I figured.

Life goes around one time. You can spend your entire life worrying like a bulimic woman over every little morsel you put in your mouth, or you can be reasonable about what you eat and you can enjoy things that are supposedly so awful for you.

You like Pepsi? Enjoy one. Just don't enjoy five.

You like Popcorn or Chips?

Have some, at the proper portion, and not every day.

You like red meat?.

etc. etc. etc.

as far as I know, every health guru that has ever lived has also died. None of the fretting over healthy food causes anyone to live longer,, becuase if it did, then everyone who ate like that would make it to their 90s,, but they don't. Some do. Jack LaLanne did, but Jim Fixx the jogging guru dropped dead while jogging in his late 40s.

Don't want to develop diabetes? Then watch your sugar intake. (and you might still get it because it runs in the family) But don't be afraid of a can of soda unless you're drinking a half dozen of them every day.

Don't want to die of a heart attack? Then watch your cholesterol, and you might still have a heart attack anyway.

If you want to lose weight, count calories. Period. You burn roughly 2000 of them every day doing nothing. So if you do nothing (or have a sedentary job) drop your calories to 1500 per day, and the weight will come off.

It really is that simple. Manage portion sizes. Change that bag of chips in for a banana, or simply stick to the serving sizes that are on the package. Some things just do not equal Utz chips. So eat the 15 or so that make up a portion and put the bag away. That ls where the willpower comes in. Once you can do that, you can pretty much enjoy your food again. Get accustomed to eating the proper portion.

You can drink nothing but water and eat nothing but rice cakes every day for the rest of your life and you'll still die. And it might be when you're 90, and it might be when you're 62.

~Bang

[Botched]

I drink alot of diet soda (can't stand regular), and put a packet of artificial sweetener in my coffee every morning. Been doing this for years. Even as a kid, my parents would only buy diet soda and I drank quite a bit.

If eating fake sugar means I will die at 83 instead of living to be a 108 year old diaper-wearing, bed-ridden vegetable, then I'm fine with that.

So anyway, when am I going to start seeing the profoundly horrific effects of artificial sweeteners?

[Elessar78]

I believe a missing factor in the way people view eating and drinking these days is NUTRITION. The focus seems to be on caloric intake, which is an important factor but not the whole story. Because a person consumes zero calories that isn't necessarily healthy. One cup of chopped broccoli has 30 calories but is packed with nutrients.

If you want to lose weight, counting calories is essential. If you want to be HEALTHY focus on the nutritional content of the foods you're eating.

[LD0506]

Damn I luv it when Bang just drops the bomb on a thread...........

Common sense has become so rare is damn near a superpower.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Condescending Diatribe

Damn I luv it when Bang just drops the bomb on a thread...........

Common sense has become so rare is damn near a superpower.

The main focus is not about living longer with everyone. Some people want to be better athletes, feel good, and yes, look good. Personally, living longer has not really crossed my mind too much when dieting. It's more about staying in shape and feeling good than anything else.

[Bang]

The main focus is not about living longer with everyone. Some people want to be better athletes, feel good, and yes, look good. Personally, living longer has not really crossed my mind too much when dieting. It's more about staying in shape and feeling good than anything else.

I know,, the longer living just stemmed from the 'what you should or shouldn't eat" chat.

I think it blends together. A few years ago I got sick of being overweight and decided to count the calories, and I lost about 30 pounds in a few months. ( I also picked up playing tennis, so the exercise also helped. An hour's tennis burns about 500 calories, but I figure in those days I burned maybe 150,, wasn't in any shape to run like I can now.) I think most of the weight loss stemmed from me counting calories and keeping it to about 1600 per day. (NO BEER! Holy smokes, it's amazing how much you lose if you just stop drinking beer for a few months.)

As Elessar says above, nutrition is a HUGE factor, and even though I am a hound for salty snacks and chocolate gooey ice cream and pizza with french fries and fried chicken..., here's how it changed for me. I can eat a half a cup of vanilla ice cream.. which is good,, or I can eat a whole bunch of broccoli or carrots. While the ice cream tastes great I was still hungry afterward, and with the sugar taste in my mouth, I wanted more of that. I could get a bowl of boroccoli crowns and carrots and munch on them for a lot longer, and I'm full... while eating about half the calories or even less of those few spoons of ice cream. Dried fruits handle a lot of the sweet,, i love dried cranberries and cherries. Mmm!

So, simply to stop being hungry, I began to eat healthier. (But, I drank diet soda throughout. I live on diet Pepsi. Water actually gives me heartburn if I drink too much.)

When I play tennis I drink a lot of water, especially in the summer. I'll put a gallon jug down in a few hours... and heartburn the rest of the day.

To the OP, my suggestion is to find a simple activity to do, and count calories.

I made a book for myself, and every day I weighed myself and wrote it down, and then wrote everything I ate or drank and how many calories it was.

Use a website like www.calorieking.com and you can track everything easily. If at the end of the day I was under 1800, I gave myself a sticker Days I missed it I got a sticker. Corny, but it worked.

Within about two weeks I was centered on the book, it dictated what I felt like i wanted to eat.

I'd still like to drop about 20 pounds, but considering where I was five years ago and where I am now, I couldn't be happier.

Now, I wasn't obese, but I was fat enough.. middle age plump. That's what worked for me.

~Bang

[richard saunders]

I'd recommend the Sodastream products for those of you who want to continue to drink soda, but want 2/3 less sugar. No high fructose corn syrup, saves money, environmentally friendly, and saves space in your house. Bed Bath And Beyond has the machines and syrups cheaper than anywhere else.

[Heidenreich]

My fault everyone for hijacking the thread. My love for pepsi will never die, I'll just have to deal with that.....

[Tweedr01]

The best thing to do (and the obvious answer) is simply to forego it and find a way to handle your cravings in a more productive manner.

Soda, regular or diet, is bad for any person, skinny or fat. Drinking water is much healthier and also saves a great deal of money compared to drinking gallons of soda or tea every week.

Gaining fat is all about not burning as many calories as you consume. Losing fat is the opposite. On the calorie front, you are good. There's the argument towards it causing cravings; I just stay away from this stuff. Personally cut out soda from my diet by switching to zero calorie sports drinks, and even those I've pretty much erased from my diet. Also a regular black coffee drinker.

Water is the essential fuel for man. Consuming it improves pretty much all functions. Don't sip it, chug it.

These are all completely right and good advice. I used to be fat, part of the process of leaning out was chugging water. Due to previous generations lack of ability to produce food as we have now the body learned to conserve nutrients. It believes that it is dehydrated, so it soaks up all the water it can. Chug enough water and your body won't feel dehydrated and you will start shedding weight like nothing.

---------- Post added February-28th-2011 at 12:38 PM ----------

The best thing to do (and the obvious answer) is simply to forego it and find a way to handle your cravings in a more productive manner.

Soda, regular or diet, is bad for any person, skinny or fat. Drinking water is much healthier and also saves a great deal of money compared to drinking gallons of soda or tea every week.

Gaining fat is all about not burning as many calories as you consume. Losing fat is the opposite. On the calorie front, you are good. There's the argument towards it causing cravings; I just stay away from this stuff. Personally cut out soda from my diet by switching to zero calorie sports drinks, and even those I've pretty much erased from my diet. Also a regular black coffee drinker.

Water is the essential fuel for man. Consuming it improves pretty much all functions. Don't sip it, chug it.

There are two problems with this blurb:

1. The calories in vs. calories out view of dieting is far from a perfect model of how the human body handles food. It is obviously very practical and is a useful tool to have at your disposal but you can't neglect its limitations.

2. Gaining or losing fat is not what caloric intake actually correlates to. Were you to replace the word fat with the more general weight your statement would be far more accurate.

This is exactly right, you don't necessarily lose just fat, but weight, which would consist of muscle and fat.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

~Bang

Cool. Good story, I guess I'll share mine as quickly as possible.

I was a three sport athlete from age 8 to 18. Always in shape, but got an office job when I was 22 and wasn't privy to nutrition. The snowball effect was ridiculous. Before I realized it, I was in the worst shape of my life, thanks to my ignorance.

I dropped that gig and picked up a couple blue collar jobs since then. It dug me out of the love handle era, but I still never fully recovered from that office-job lull.

On top of that, I fell in love with the world of craft beer. That doesn't equate to Miller Lite, or even Guinness. It goes way beyond that: beers that are packed, pre-Big Bang style, with calories. Ignorance was bliss, I had an idea of the negative effects, but I was "exercising enough to cancel the beer out." Jeez, what did I know? I look back on my lifestyle and shake my head. I finally had to consider the craft beer scene as merely a phase in my life. A fun, but largely-penalizing learning experience, for lack of a better term. It's not who I am, I'm an athlete at heart, I needed to get back to who I truly was.

Fast forward. It takes too many words to explain how much better I feel these days. I wake up, and feel like working out right away. I can't make my egg whites fast enough, the toaster can't toast the whole wheat bread fast enough. I want to do some situps and go spar with my buddies right off the bat. A few years ago, I'd sit on the side of my bed rubbing my forehead for 30 minutes after waking up. It's amazing how nutrition can dictate a lifestyle. My life turned from night to day in the matter of a few months.

That said, I still reward myself with a big beer every weekend. I'd love to cut that out, but I'm still too weak to leave that scene just yet. Working on it, as much as I'll miss my Beer Thread buddies.

I never paid for advice or an exercise program, and have never even had a gym membership. I don't even believe in buying that much exercise equipment. What I do have, is a lot of passion for nutrition an exercise. I'm extremely happy that I'm addicted to it, as it improves pretty much everything in my life.

The best thing I can share over the internet, is this guy's Youtube channel. He breaks down a ton of subjects that are great to know if you want to lose fat, gain muscle, and get in shape. He's not trying to sell a product, just wants to share his knowledge. This guy is the man:

http://www.youtube.com/user/scooby1961

Sample video:

PF5yTLzWyBU

[Enter Apotheosis]

If I do the second thing I quoted, won't the first thing I quoted happen? My understanding is that the quickest way to gain muscle and get ripped is that I should focus on exercise and protein, while burning more calories than I consume.

One gram of protein per pound of body weight, like you said. It's worked perfectly, and you want me to up my calories? Nobody has ever recommended that to me. I've gained muscle mass despite the fact. You want me to gain weight that quickly? A pound a week? There is no way that could be muscle weight. Upping my calorie intake would go against the main thing I've learned so far, from a nutritional standpoint, when it comes to losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time.

There are a couple things to consider here. First and foremost, getting ripped is not quite the same as gaining muscle. Getting ripped is about lowering your body fat percentage so that the muscle you do have is not obscured by layers of fat. You can get ripped without building any additional lean mass and, while your muscles may appear more impressive, you won't have much to speak of in terms of performance gains in spite of the fact that you look better. If you're trying to increase your performance for athletic purposes or size for aesthetic purposes your focus should be more on building additional lean mass.

Now, it is of course possible to maintain a steady weight while building lean mass at the expense of fat. You just have to be aware of the fact that there is somewhat of a ceiling for what you can accomplish at a given weight and as you approach that ceiling you would be wise to up your calorie total a bit (could be by as little as 100-200 extra per day). With that said, my previous suggestion may have been a bit erroneous given that I don't really know what you actually want to accomplish.

[Koolblue13]

I am extremely healthy in some ways and ridiculously unhealthy in others.

Smoke 2 packs a day and live a rock and roll lifestyle, yet eat the right way and am a vegetarian, don't drink soda and does yoga.

I still look and feel great, but one of these days, it'll probably all crash down pretty fast.

And as for the "if I live to 80 instead of 100" argument, It's not how long you live, but how painfully gruesome you die.

[el gorilla]

I have lost 130lbs in the past year and a half and have been drinking 1 diet soda in the process. No increase in blood sugar or blood pressure but I would say consuming lots of water is also key.

[Special K]

What do you need to know about a poster to understand basic nutrition???????

You can lose weight eating a diet consisting of nothing but Skittles, that doesn't make it a healthy diet.

Maybe I didn't emphasize the NIT-PICKING portion of my sentence enough. The guy seems to have an okay diet overall and you keep railing on him about his sodas. Lay off him, the dude's already dropped 50 lbs., and he never said his sodas are a "healthy" part of his diet. You're just nit-picking to nit-pick.

---------- Post added February-28th-2011 at 05:42 PM ----------

I have lost 130lbs in the past year and a half and have been drinking 1 diet soda in the process. No increase in blood sugar or blood pressure but I would say consuming lots of water is also key.

Wow, congratulations! That is a major accomplishment!

I will never give up my damn coke zero, I don't care what literature comes out about it. In fact, when I was living in Africa for a few months, I bought out the entire village of Coke Zero (12 cans total) to last me a couple weeks. I was known as the wierd ass Coke Zero addict (I drank 1 a day then, and a ton of water...I drink 1-2 during my 4 day work week now, and a ton of water).

IMO, the main thing is that people eat a moderate diet in all things and do something active for at least 20 minutes every day if their goal is to be generally healthy overall... Sodas here and there aren't gonna kill ya, but you might start having problems if you go overboard. My biggest thing has been increasing my activity level substantially. Late last summer, I decided to pick up my tennis racquet for the first time since high school and now I'm playing about 10-12 hours a week and have lost 15 lbs. Yeehaw. For people with specific athletic goals, they might need a special diet. But for the majority of us, it's about getting off our bottoms and moving, and eating moderate portions in everything. Amazing how simple it really is.

[blitzpackage]

I'll give you my Diet Mt. Dew...when you pry it from my cold dead hands.

[zCommander]

And once you get in the habit of drinking water, soda tastes like chemical ****.

Explain how a 1 year old will want soda over milk or water? They don't have any habits at that age yet. Soda is just evil, very evil! This is why I do iced tea instead of soda most of the week - plus it has 50% less sugar and the anti-oxidants to boot.

[chipwhich]

Maybe I didn't emphasize the NIT-PICKING portion of my sentence enough. The guy seems to have an okay diet overall and you keep railing on him about his sodas. Lay off him, the dude's already dropped 50 lbs., and he never said his sodas are a "healthy" part of his diet. You're just nit-picking to nit-pick.

The U.S. is in the top 10 of overweight nations in the world.

If you think cheerio's and waffles along with his sodas, plus a sprig of broccoli is a good diet, well that's your thing.

Meanwhile the thread is whether diet soda's are good for fat people.

No, they are not. Neither are regular soda's or waffles.

If you don't want to discuss a healthy diet in a thread about diet, then don't enter My passion is nutrition. I am not going to pamper someones ego while they make bad choices.

As I said, you can lose weight eating Skittles. Doesn't make it healthy.

---------- Post added February-28th-2011 at 11:53 PM ----------

Oh no the evil of soda!

The horrors of not eating perfectly!

Listen Bang.

Everyone can live care free. If that's their choice, so be it. So what is your point? It's a thread about fat people and diet soda. Sure you can live your life how you want to live it. And if that is your excuse for ignoring the obvious, that's ok. I could buy a Ferrari tomorrow, and just say **** it, I want to live life for the now with no regrets. It doesn't make it an intelligent decision.

So if I am asked if a fat person should drink diet sodas or a poor person should buy a Ferrari, the answer is no. But if drinking a soda makes your life complete, congrats. You are in the top 10% of the world in obesity.

[Enter Apotheosis]

Chip, I will sum up your problem with a question...

Does anyone like a preachy vegetarian?

[Special K]

The U.S. is in the top 10 of overweight nations in the world.

Defensive much?

I am very well of the health problems in the nation. I am also very well aware of the fact that there are much healthier breakfast options than cheerios and waffles....which is why I don't eat those. I prefer pancakes.

Just making an observation that the way you go about presenting your "passion" is rather...off-putting

[chipwhich]

Chip, I will sum up your problem with a question...

Does anyone like a preachy vegetarian?

Are you implying a vegetarian diet is a correct diet???????

Sure you should live your life like you want, and drink what you want, eat what you want, smoke a crack pipe if that is your thing.

Meanwhile the post was questioning if diet soda's are good or bad for fat people.

It's simply answering the question.

If you think otherwise, so be it.

A preachy "nutritionist" will answer your questions.

Don't ask question's you don't want answered.

My friends daughter loses weight sticking her finger down her throat, I would tell her the same thing.

Meanwhile we are in the top 10 of obese nations. It's not about preaching, it's about stating facts.

You have something to say about facts?

I am not pushing vegetarianism, just answering a simple question. Argue if you wish.

---------- Post added March-1st-2011 at 12:23 AM ----------

Just making an observation that the way you go about presenting your "passion" is rather...off-putting

Uhhh, it's an epidemic in America. Not a joking matter. But glad you trivialize it.

Do you really think the fact that our country is one of the top 10 fattest in the world is a joke????

[PokerPacker]

I'll give you my Diet Mt. Dew...when you pry it from my cold dead hands.

keep drinking it and that won't be a problem

---------- Post added March-1st-2011 at 12:27 AM ----------

Chip, I will sum up your problem with a question...

Does anyone like a preachy vegetarian?

Not even other vegetarians.

[Enter Apotheosis]

Are you implying a vegetarian diet is a correct diet???????

Sure you should live your life like you want, and drink what you want, eat what you want, smoke a crack pipe if that is your thing.

Meanwhile the post was questioning if diet soda's are good or bad for fat people.

It's simply answering the question.

If you think otherwise, so be it.

A preachy "nutritionist" will answer your questions.

Don't ask question's you don't want answered.

My friends daughter loses weight sticking her finger down her throat, I would tell her the same thing.

Meanwhile we are in the top 10 of obese nations. It's not about preaching, it's about stating facts.

You have something to say about facts?

I am not pushing vegetarianism, just answering a simple question. Argue if you wish.

---------- Post added March-1st-2011 at 12:23 AM ----------

Uhhh, it's an epidemic in America. Not a joking matter. But glad you trivialize it.

Do you really think the fact that our country is one of the top 10 fattest in the world is a joke????

This seems as relevant as ever right now...

0MRmxfLuNto

Now, to answer your question. I don't like vegetarianism as a diet, although I can respect people who opt to go that route for ethical purposes, and I don't assume that's what you are pushing (although I am curious as to your personal dietary restrictions). The point I was getting at is that no one likes a preachy vegetarian regardless of their views of vegetarianism itself. You have a similar problem in this thread. Your views are perfectly valid in their own right but you're pushing them a little bit harder than is actually productive.

If you care enough to want to make a difference you have to master the art of selling your perspective. That means adapting a calm, neutral tone and explaining your point of view to those who do not share it or do not comprehend it. Urging change in small doses almost always works better than immediately pushing people toward a militant diet.

Not even other vegetarians.

That's the spirit.