[Drew]

Originally Posted by s7eve

Eating high GI foods increase cravings so if you are craving your eating to much high GI food,

Um, what's a "high GI food"?

Also, since you (and Bob) seem somewhat experts in this subject, my plan is to essentially cut back on excess calories (I'm consuming more than I need, as evidenced by the fact I've put on weight) namely in the form of empty calories from booze, but also by actively striving not to overeat to the point of feeling too full, which on occasion I'm guilty of (eh, I'm Italian, I love food), coupled with substantially increasing the number of calories I'm burning through serious cycling, and striving to put on a bit more muscle mass and tighten up my abs through situps and pushups.

Any reason this shouldn't work? Anything I need to be aware of? I already eat a fairly healthy diet, low in sugars and this time of year at least maybe not as high as I should be in fresh fruits and veggies, but higher than average, I suspect.

[ElDuderino]

Originally Posted by Drew

Um, what's a "high GI food"?

A food that contains carbohydrates that quickly raise blood sugar (glucose) levels. Here is a short list of some high GI foods - I'm sure there are better lists out there... High Glycemic Index List

[s7eve]

Originally Posted by Drew

my plan is to essentially cut back on excess calories (I'm consuming more than I need, as evidenced by the fact I've put on weight) namely in the form of empty calories from booze, but also by actively striving not to overeat to the point of feeling too full, which on occasion I'm guilty of (eh, I'm Italian, I love food), coupled with substantially increasing the number of calories I'm burning through serious cycling, and striving to put on a bit more muscle mass and tighten up my abs through situps and pushups.

Any reason this shouldn't work? Anything I need to be aware of? I already eat a fairly healthy diet, low in sugars and this time of year at least maybe not as high as I should be in fresh fruits and veggies, but higher than average, I suspect.

Cut back , don't quit. Your more likely to succeed if you don't try to force your self to do something you know you can't. If you can cope try to give yourself one day a week for drinking, the danger there is that you will overdo it, the alternative is to have a couple of drinks each night and count the calories in your daily intake, choose which suits you best. Unfortunately despite the calories alcohol is detrimental to weight loss, the reason for this is the body will not store alcohol so when you drink your body will process the alcohol before it can process other forms of energy. I know people who are losing weight and still drinking one to two glasses of red wine and the media have been spouting the benefits of red wine and dark chocolate lately but

Lowering your calorie intake while increasing your activity is the best way to lose weight so your plan is sound, just remember "Energy in vs Energy out".

With the Italian diet my only warnings would be stick to premium food, the Italian diet in the US and Australia is not the same as the diet in Italy because generally speaking our ingredients are poor in comparison. Use wholemeal flour and other high fibre ingredients, check the calorie content of cheeses and stick to those with a low calorie content (I love cheese).

[s7eve]

The other thing I would mention Drew is make sure you are eating enough protein, it is an essential macro nutrient, if you can get your balance to 60% carbs, 40% protein that would be good 50:50 would be optimum IMO.

[s7eve]

66.6KG

[Drew]

I do almost all of my cooking from scratch, dude - 90% of my pesto sauce starts life as fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, and good quality parmesean, and most of my red sauces are either based on fresh tomatoes or a can of Hunts diced tomatos. I also make about half of my pasta from scratch - I've experimented with 100% whole wheat flour, but the texture isn't right. I think maybe a blend of whole weat and white unbleached might work, but I haven't experimented much.

I cook for flavor before I cook for health, but as I ate a pretty healthy diet as a kid, the two overlap surprisingly often.

[TomAwesome]

Originally Posted by Drew

I cook for flavor before I cook for health, but as I ate a pretty healthy diet as a kid, the two overlap surprisingly often.

I found that after a pretty short "adjustment period" when I decided to start eating better, healthier food started tasting really damn good to me and all the junk food I used to love and almost live off of started to taste like crap and make me ill. If the right things are available to me, it's really not even hard or unpleasant eating healthy, or at least healthier.

[s7eve]

Originally Posted by Drew

I do almost all of my cooking from scratch, dude - 90% of my pesto sauce starts life as fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, and good quality parmesean, and most of my red sauces are either based on fresh tomatoes or a can of Hunts diced tomatos. I also make about half of my pasta from scratch - I've experimented with 100% whole wheat flour, but the texture isn't right. I think maybe a blend of whole weat and white unbleached might work, but I haven't experimented much.

I cook for flavor before I cook for health, but as I ate a pretty healthy diet as a kid, the two overlap surprisingly often.

Same here, except I only like whole wheat pasta now, it needs a lot more working to get the right texture and bloody hell it's hard work but I prefer everything about it now.

[Drew]

Hmm.What do you do to it to improve the texture?That was the dealbreaker for me...

By the way, I didn't say I was quitting drinking altogether. I'm leaving myself weekends (friday night thru Sunday night), and every monday we go tot his bar up the street to see a couple bands play, so I usually have a couple then. Even then though, biking my ass off plus drinking four nights a week tops instead of 6-7 is makling a difference - I jumped up to about 197 by about the 4th, and when I weighed myself this morning I was maybe 191-2. I dropped about five pounds in the last week and a half; if I can keep this pace up I should be good to go.

[s7eve]

Good flour and kneading it for ever, I'm going to try a food processor next time to try and make it less work, if I remember I'll let you know how it goes.