Where can I find a bullshit free diet that will work for me?

Note: by diet I mean permanent, a new eating habbit so to speak.

Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Body diet for rapid fat loss worked well in my experience (although I fell off the wagon). It’s a good diet for guys, because you can eat your way out of the problem.

He has another section for muscle building and some other advice for getting ripped. If I were you, I’d just check out the book. It’ll at least have a starting point for you if not the whole deal.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Healthy foods are not a secret. Lots of protein, good fat, good carbs. White meat, veggies, whole grains. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Eat mostly paleo. It’s how we evolved, eating meats, nuts, fruits and veggies for the most part. Sparing amounts off grains and legumes. Dairy is the controversy, but I usually say eat it if you digest it fine. Even then, go for cultured stuff more, and all animal-based foods should come from free-range or wild sources if possible. Obviously avoid processed foods, too much sugar, and artificial sweeteners.

Some fat in necessary for a healthy body. A basic well rounded diet of protein, fruits, veggies, complex carbs and plenty of water is healthy for anyone.

An occasional splurge of ice cream is not a problem. If you deprive yourself of everything you like you will be more prone to go off your diet and/or really binge on bad foods.

Becoming OCD over a diet is just as bad as not paying attention at all.

Listen to your body as well, if you’re in touch it will let you know what you need.

Do not eat any sugars, white bread or white rice or eat anything pre-prepared or that comes in a box except whole grains and you will be amazed at the weight you will loose! Also quit smoking the weed and getting the munchies!!

Ok, here it is, the completely BS free diet and the only one on the planet that really works:

Calories in < Calories out

Yep, that’s it. Bottom line is that in order to loose 1 pound per week your daily calorie intake needs to be around 500 less calories than you burn.

The great news is you get to choose how to make up the deficit. While exercise is very important to a healthy lifestyle, our bodies are pretty darned efficient. You can spend an hour on a treadmill and only burn around 300 calories. Now, take a quick look at the nutritional info on that bag of cheesy poofs in your hand. For me, I would rather put down the cheesy poofs than spend an hour on a treadmill compensating for eating them plus another hour and a half creating the deficit.

When you start counting calories you will find that they hide in places you wouldn’t expect. Bread, for example, one measly tortilla has a whopping 110 calories. Same with a piece of bread. And cheese, YIKES! So, you have to ask yourself, does that slice of cheese or extra chunk of bread really bring that much to the party?

In short, for me counting calories works best, but you have to be both totally honest about counting every morsel that goes in your mouth (including condiments, drinks, salad dressing, toppings, etc…) as well as tracking the number of calories you burn. (Your mileage may vary)

One additional note about “getting ripped”. When/how much you eat in a sitting makes a difference in what energy your body chooses to burn. If you restrict your calories but only feed yourself once or twice a day, your body will think it is a time of famine and go into fat storage mode and will be less likely to burn your excess fat stores. However, if you eat several small snacks throughout the day and still stay under the calorie limit your body will think it is a time of plenty and will more easily let go of the fat to make up the deficit.

One last note about the myth of “spot toning”. Sorry, your body just doesn’t work that way. You can no more get your body to burn fat in one particular area than you can to get your car to burn only the gasoline in the upper right hand part of the tank. You can build muscle in a particular area which can make a particular area look more solid, but your body gets to choose which fat to burn (and it usually ain’t that trouble spot you would like).

Go to the Men’s Health website if you don’t want to subscribe to their magazine.

Eat at least 5 CUPS of Vegetables and fruits (always more vegetables than friuts) a day. Don’t drink your calories, Eat your grains whole and in moderation (oatmeal or other whole grain cereals) Limit your protien to lean protiens and keep the servings to the size of a deck of cards, eat only non fat dairy,
Avoid or limit high calorie, low density foods like nuts, alcohol, cheese, pastry, candy, processed meats, chips ect.

From willpower and common good sense..ask your grandmother if she is alive about how to eat properly.

This sounds a bit silly and obvious, but take time to tune back into your body. Chew slowly, savour the food, and sense the connection with your body. Gradually your body will tell you want it wants to eat, with what amounts, at what times.

All else really is bullshit and quick fixes.

When you go for a burger, eat chicken instead. Or, preferably, fish. Exchange all the foods you like for lower calorie foods. Eventually you will prefer your new foods over the old. Ease way up on the sour cream and stuff.

For any diet not to be BS, you have to provide the impetus. DO NOT fall off the wagon. Otherwise I don’t think there’s any diet out there that would form into you that healthy eating habit for good. This is why this dieting thing is hard.

Having said that, I’ll recommend South Beach diet.

Start counting calories.

really, you can take your regular diet you’re ingesting now and cut it down and you will lose weight. Combine that with working out and you will gain muscle. Also, it seems like you don’t want to get massive muscle mass, just a lean and toned figure, so make sure you are doing medium weights with a very high number of reps in your workout. I also thoroughly enjoy a good fortified soy milk and fruit protein shake after a workout!

The Master Cleanse is pretty popular right now. Can’t speak for it since I didn’t do it, but 2 of my friends did

The @YoBob diet above has my vote. “kcal in < kcal out”.

Have you considered hiring a Personal Trainer to help you get started in the right direction? They understand the human body & how food impacts it.