Reply #123: All calories are NOT created equally. [View All]

There are some foods that you can eat that will actually require more calories to be burned to process them. Protein calories. Whole grains. Certain vegetables, like broccoli. If you eat fruit rather than drinking juice - all these things actually rev up the metabolism, so you can actually eat more calories and lose fat while gaining muscle. You don't have to starve, in fact, you should eat more - the key being to eat the right foods.

Smaller portions, more frequently, and stop eating 2-3 hours before you go to bed. Eat breakfast every day without fail, and that will jump-start metabolism.

Moderate exercise, consisting of short intense bursts of weight training, alternating with short intense bursts of cardio will raise your RMR (resting metabolism rate) so that you burn more calories even when you are sitting here typing away at DU. :)

I've had GREAT success, personally, with a whole foods, meat, fish, veggie, fruit, reduced carb/whole grain diet (Atkins, and that is NOT an all-meat diet like some people think it is), and this type of exercise.

What's also essential is water. A lot of it. Take your weight, multiply it by .5, and drink that many ounces of water every day. For example, if you weigh 150 lbs, drink 75 oz water per day. And not "enhanced" water, like Crystal Lite and iced tea/coffee, but REAL FILTERED WATER or spring water. The other beverages may be consumed in addition to the water, so long as you don't overload on sugars from juices, sodas, etc. Vitamin/mineral supplements are also important, because unfortunately, our soil doesn't have so many vitamins and minerals anymore as it used to.