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webfairy
Moderator
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Posted: 22 March 2009 09:03 pm |
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This thread is intended to help with the Fat Loss 4 Idiots Diet. It gives guidelines and helpful suggestions to make this diet successful. Any discussion about these postings should be done on the "general discussion" thread, so we can keep this thread organized and easy for others to find the information offered. Thanks!
I thought to start this thread, I would post suggestions directly from the FL4I creators. One of our members, Katjia, emailed them in November 2008 asking about substitutions and this is what they offered:
SUBSTITUTIONS:
Here are the rules for food substitution:
1) Any type of fish can be substituted for another fish, but it must
be non breaded. For example, you may substitute Trout for Halibut,
etc.
2) Any type of meat can be substituted for another similar meat
item. For example, you can substitute ham slices for chicken (or
pastrami slices for turkey). The fat content is not important.
3) If you want to substitute for a particular fruit, then you may
only choose either: apples, pears, oranges, peaches or plums. For
example, you may substitute oranges for apples (but NOT bananas for
apples, and NOT grapes for apples).
4) If you have questions about which types of veggies are allowed in
a bowl of mixed vegetables -- then just remember that ANY veggies
are allowed except POTATOES or CORN (those are not allowed).
5) Different types of mixed nuts can be substituted for each
other. For example, if you want to substitute peanuts for walnuts
then that's okay. You can also substitute cashews for macadamia nuts,
etc.
*If you have another food substitution question then we can't answer
it for you -- since there are too many possibilities.
We recommend not using other types of food substitution unless both
foods are very similar (you'll have to use your own judgment in such
cases).
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kitty
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 22 March 2009 09:38 pm |
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Here's another tip~
After you have selected your food choices and you see what menu you have, if you don't like it, hit the back button as many times as needed until you find the combination's you can live with for 11 days. For example, I like to have cheese and eggs together sometimes, or chicken and nuts together so I can coat my chicken with ground nuts and bake or saute them. Don't think you are stuck with a menu the first time it is generated.
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webfairy
Moderator
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Posted: 23 March 2009 01:13 am |
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WATER:  Do not underestimate what role water plays in this diet, and your body in general! When your body does not get enough water, it taxes the liver, and your body ends up storing fat deposits. Too much fat can damage your liver. When you drink enough water, it flushes your system of toxins and impurities, increases your metabolism, and your body burns fat instead of storing it. It is just as important to drink all the water, as it is to follow the food menu, if you want to see the optimal weight loss results.
I drink all my water throughout the day so I am not drowning myself too much at a time. But I stop drinking the water 30 minutes or so before a meal. The reason is that if I drink all the way up to, and/or during a meal, I get a false sense of "fullness". Then I don't eat enough of the food, and an hour later I am hungry. So I would suggest stop drinking 30 minutes before a meal, so you eat enough food at meal time. The other good thing about having so much water to drink is that it helps to keep you satisfied in between meals.
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sunshine
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 23 March 2009 07:28 pm |
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 VERY IMPORTANT TIP FOR NEW PEOPLE!    
Measure yourself...chest,waist,hips, thighs, upper arms...before starting. This is a FAT LOSS PLAN and not simply a weigh loss plan like many diets. You will lose inches and sizes even more than the scale reflects!
Choose a too snug outfit to try on after each cycle to measure your size loss!
DO NOT LET THE SCALE RULE YOUR LIFE!! Measure by other standards...the scale will bounce up and down...this is NORMAL...you will gain after Choice days...this will come off with the next cycle plus more. DO NOT let the ups and downs of the scale discourage  you...if you are not cheating...you are burning fat and it will show up eventually!!!
Best wishes for successful losing!
 Sunshine
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Dee
New Member
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Posted: 23 March 2009 07:32 pm |
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Two tips from me:
Water:
Keep a shot glass beside your kitchen sink with eight pennies (or ten if ten glasses is your goal). Every time you drink a glass, put a penny in the glass so you can remember how many you've drank and how many you've got to go.
Menu Planning:
Save your DG menu to your computer desktop (ctrl +A to highlight all the text and then copy & paste to a Word or Excel document) and as you finish your meals, highlight the meal. This helps you keep track and you can cut and paste the items you need into a separate grocery list for shopping
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M0vingon
New Member
| Joined: | 15 April 2008 |
| Location: | Canada |
| Posts: | 25 |
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Posted: 24 March 2009 05:05 am |
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Dee, your tips are too smart!! I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally repeated a meal from a previous day- so yeah, duh, highlight the days I've done. *smacks self on forehead* And the penny counter is genius. 
I am just going to reiterate my water tip- which is have your first glass as soon as you wake up in the morning. I put a glass of water beside my bed the night before and down it before my feet hit the floor in the morning. It's just one less glass to deal with later in the day and it seems to prime my body to want more water throughout the day.
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webfairy
Moderator
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Posted: 24 March 2009 05:56 am |
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Choosing your food on the DG – If you choose certain foods, like eggs or nuts, you can pick one form (i.e. hard boiled eggs instead of both scrambled and hard boiled) so you don’t get eggs as often in the meals on your menu. The same goes for nuts. If you like these items more often on your menu, then by all means, choose them as often as they are offered. Also with meats, if you want to have lots of meals with meats, like roast beef, ham, turkey, etc. choose more meat options. But if you want them to show up less often on your meals, choose only one or two meat choices. Also, make sure to choose the deli sandwich option, so that on fruit day you will get a sandwich for one of your meals. That is normally a life saver and incentive to get through fruit day for most of us!
One extra note on substitutions… Be careful to substitute meats on the list for other meats on the list, only. When anything other than the food listed on the diet is substituted, you are at risk of changing the outcome, and seeing less weight loss than is possible if you stuck exactly to the diet. What may work for one person, may not work at all for another, so keep this in mind when you hear others discussing substitutions. For newbies it is best to stick exactly to the diet for at least one or two cycles, before attempting substitutions. That way you can have an idea of what you are capable of losing when following the diet as outlined, and can compare that to a cycle where you substitute. For more information, please refer to the first post in this thread discussing substitutions.
Planning: Planning is very important, and at times can save you from straying from the diet because you don’t have the food you need for a meal. I like to shop at Costco for some of the food items that I choose often on the menu. For instance, sausages, shrimp, and fish are all things that I buy in bulk and freeze in individual freezer baggies. Then I can take out portions the day before I will be having them on my menu, and I don’t have too much sitting in the refrigerator and eventually going bad. Wherever you shop, it is good to get at least a two or three days worth of food ahead of time, so you have what you need. There are a also few things I have found, that make it a little easier for me. I buy the snack sized baggies in addition to the other sizes, as they are a great size for items like nuts and other small portions.
Nuts: Speaking of nuts… they are a great protein, and easy to transport as they don’t have to be refrigerated. I keep a snack size baggie of nuts in the console of my vehicle for those times that I am not at home, and away longer than planned. This way I can eat them easily, and they will take the place of a meal that would have been skipped and upset my diet. The good thing about having nuts in snack sized baggies is that you won’t overeat, which is easy to do without realizing it. While they are a good fat, they are still fattening if you overeat them, so thye are one of the things I would limit in portion size. My suggestion is 1-2 ounces at a meal. Try to eat another item on that meal, for the bulk of the meal, and the nuts as a “side”. Also, if your menu says a certain type of nut, you can have any nut. It does not have to be the type listed.
Frozen yogurt: This is another item that I think should be eaten in limited portions. Those of us who have opened the lid with good intentions and found ourselves scarping the bottom of the container in one sitting, know how easily this can happen. If you have frozen yogurt on your menu, try to eat a larger portion of what the other part of the meal is, and keep the frozen yogurt portion to a reasonable size. (No, 16 oz. is not a reasonable portion!)
Bread: The diet recommends oat bread, but if you cannot find that kind, try to get a whole grain bread. Other than the deli sandwich on fruit day, bread is not on the menu for any other meal on any cycle.
Eating your meals: Eating all the required meals, and spacing them at least 2 ½ to around 4 hours apart, is important, so your body does not think it is being starved and then go into fat storing mode. One of the worst things you can do for weight loss is to skip a meal. If you find yourself still hungry in the evening, after eating all your meals, you can have a piece of fruit to satisfy you, but I would do this as a last resort. I would try to fill up on liquids (water, tea, etc) before eating. If you can get by with no food, that would be best, but at least this is an option you have that will not sabotage your diet efforts.
Cooking for more than yourself: If you cook for others, in addition to yourself, and you find this a challenge trying to do this diet, and feed your family, you can often use what is on your meal as an item for your family and just add sides for them. For instance, if you have roast beef slices on your meal plan, you can cook a roast (no, you don’t have to have deli meat as your only form of meat), and do potatoes and veggies for your family, but only cut slices of the roast for your meal. Whatever else is on your meal can be your side. (Mmmmmm… prunes and roast beef! ) Once you do more cycles you will get the hang of it and get more creative with your meals.
Temptations, Issues, and Unexpected Situations: Weekends seem harder for me, as I am not in a structured environment, like I am during the week at work. I could end up anywhere longer than expected, and faced with situations that may not be ideal for the diet. Water is one issue for me on the weekends, so I make sure I have a large bottle of water in the car with me when I leave. As far as food is concerned, if, while on a cycle, I ended up in a restaurant (notice I said “ended up”… as if I was Bewitched, and wiggled my nose and poof!... there I was… ) , I will choose something that closely resembles the items on my meal. For instance, if I had chicken on my menu, I could order grilled chicken pretty much anywhere. Once I went to a Mexican restaurant, as my boyfriend wanted Mexican food. I had chicken on my menu and did not want to ruin my diet efforts, so I asked the waitress if the cook could just grill me some chicken. He grilled a huge breast with some spices and it was fabulous. I also could have had it with salsa on top, since salsa is an allowed condiment (…slap your hand for even thinking about chips!). Don’t be afraid to ask your server, as they are there to serve you, the paying customer. Most of the time they will be happy to accommodate you. Ok, maybe not happy, but willing. If a fast food restaurant ends up in the scenario, you can make some substitutions without hurting your dieting efforts too badly. Many of them offer the grilled chicken options and you should always omit any form of bread. Lettuce can be used as a “wrap” with salsa/onions tomatoes. Buffets can be a real danger zone as we are tempted to eat “all you can”. The best thing to do is to eat healthy choices first, like salads and veggies, and add lean proteins to top it off. Skip the deep fried, breaded and fattier items, and don’t even look at the dessert bar! Remember, you will regret it the next day, and a few minutes gluttonous pleasure is not worth all the guilt. Also, something seemingly innocent, like salad dressings, can be calorie ridden, so use these sparingly. I used to douse my salad with dressing, and these days I have learned to lightly “dress” my food. As a matter of fact, today I brought a spinach salad to work, and forgot the dressing, so I ate it dry! The feta cheese and nuts flavored it enough, believe it or not. I would never have eaten a dry salad pre-FL4I! I am bold, carefree, and daring now! I cast my cautions to the wind, and live life on the edge! Ok, well… I can eat a dry salad, anyways. Eating out at friends and relations can be a bit trickier as you are faced with eating whatever they are serving, and you don’t want to offend anyone. Again, try to eat the healthier choices as the main part of your meal, and try to pass on the dessert.
Alcohol:  No martinis allowed, sorry.  Wine is the only alcoholic drink allowed on the diet. You are allowed one 4 oz. glass per day. Of course, these are empty calories, so none would be best. But if you are like someone I am very close to (me) you may feel that a glass of wine is a nice treat, and does not makes you feel like you are really dieting. You may feel that after a long hard day at work, you deserve a glass of wine. After all, red wine is good for your heart, right? And some people (me) feels like it would be un-Italian to NOT have wine. Plus, if the creators of this diet say wine is ok, then who am I to say otherwise? No, sireee… I will take that glass of wine, and toast the FLFI authors and say Salud! Thank you for giving me yet another reason to have my wine and drink it too! So wine must be good for weight loss or they would not have added it to the menu, right? Ok, well that may be pushing it, but the bottom line is if you like… drink your wine and be thankful. Or don’t and save a few calories.
Get creative with meals: Meals don’t need to be plain and boring. Many of us, including myself, started out eating plain food on this diet, thinking this is what the diet expects us to do. Wrong! There are several allowed condiments that can really take the” boring” out of your meals. Salsa is one item you can actually do more with than you may think. Since salsa is an allowed condiment, and tomatoes and onions are the ingredients in salsa, many of us add them to meals (in moderation) here and there. I discovered I love mixing cottage cheese and salsa for a yummy topping for chicken and shrimp. Also, jalapenos… and other spicy peppers are great for weight loss, and they are also an ingredient in salsa, so those can be added (again… in moderation) to meals to “spice” things up. Barbecue sauce is another allowed condiment that you can use with many foods… chicken, red meats, shrimp, even! Summertime is great as you can barbecue outdoors and have dishes that can work with your menu. When buying BBQ sauce, I check labels and opt for the one that has the least sugar. Actually, I do that with most items. 
More ideas coming soon….
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KmcK
New Member
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Posted: 27 March 2009 05:59 pm |
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| WEB- thank you so much for your tips!! Learn something new everyday being on this diet!
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sparklemum
Member
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Posted: 5 April 2009 05:31 pm |
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Webfairy- Awesome tips You rule
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Annie
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 13 June 2009 04:54 pm |
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 Bumping to bring thread back to the top.
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webfairy
Moderator
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Posted: 19 June 2009 09:47 pm |
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Here is how to post your cycle weight loss for the teams we started: Cycle weight losses are calculated by taking your starting weight on Day 1 of the cycle, and subtracting your ending weight the morning after Day 11 of the cycle. That is your net loss that cycle. If you choose to be a part of a "team", please post your losses in the general discussion thread the day after ending the diet (or shortly thereafter), so that they can be added to the "cycle weight loss record" thread by the moderator. Thanks!
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losinglbs
Member
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Posted: 11 July 2009 03:37 am |
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Wow great tips.... these are very helpful. Thanks web!
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Latinluva
New Member
| Joined: | 13 July 2009 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 25 |
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Posted: 14 July 2009 06:53 am |
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Okay, i've just started this diet, and on the second day (which happened to be the day where 3 meals are fruits) i bombed big time and ate watever i usually do (aka i ate like a pig).......So my question is, i want to get right back into it and not waste any time procrastinating, so would it be better to start from DAY 1 of the 11 day cycle, or should i just continue with DAY 3 tomorrow. please respond quick if you know an answer to this question.......thanks all!!!!
(btw i didn't know if i posted this in the best possible section but hopefullly i did, it seems to fit. give me "tips" on what to do!! i really wanna be successful, any help is greatly appreciated!)
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losinglbs
Member
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Posted: 15 July 2009 03:03 am |
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I would start all over.
Also I would suggest posting in the general discussion thread on FL4I because more people check/reply to your posts there.
Robert
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AK_Snowbird
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 15 July 2009 06:21 pm |
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Here is a trick I use for  Bacon
Take a whole package (or 2) of bacon and lay out the slices on a sheet pan,then bake in the oven at 325* till almost cooked. Drain on paper towels and when cool put them in a plastic container and store in fridge. When your menu calls for bacon just take out as many slices as you want and finish cooking either in Micro between paper towels or in fry pan as usual.It cuts down on the grease splatter all over your stove. I love bacon but hate the mess and this way helps alot with that!!
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losinglbs
Member
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Posted: 16 July 2009 02:43 pm |
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Having trouble getting that 45 minute walk in 3-4 times a week? I found doing simple things around the lawn add up in walking minutes. EG: I cut quite a few lawns throughout the week (my grandparents, neighbors, mine, etc). Each lawn takes 30-45 minutes to cut with a push lawnmower. Towards the end of each lawn I work up quite a bit of sweat and I keep my walking pace at 3-4 MPH. Depending on the size of your lawn, you could very well be walking OVER a mile just cutting an 1/2 acre of grass (if someone could measure this that would be GREAT).
Even if you don't cut your lawn or multiple lawns, try walking around and planting flowers and pulling weed. The bending over and staying on your feet boosts your metabolism just as well. Your killing two birds with one stone -- a prettier yard and a slimmer body :).
Just some tips,
Robert
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Latinluva
New Member
| Joined: | 13 July 2009 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 25 |
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Posted: 16 July 2009 05:02 pm |
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ok. this is my question. there is some foods that aren't on the list of available foods to create the diet generated plan. but some things i don't have. like shrimp, i'm substituting with Flounder, cuz the nutrition facts look almost the same except flounder has a lil more protein. and Canned Tuna, used to make Tuna salad....instead i had canned salmon so i'm using that. are these good choices to switch or am i messing up my diet????? help me!
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webfairy
Moderator
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Posted: 18 July 2009 03:28 am |
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| Greymatter - I agree. SO many get constipated with all the proteins on this diet and the extra water and psyllium husk really helps immensely!
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spitlicious20
New Member
| Joined: | 29 July 2009 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 5 |
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Posted: 30 July 2009 11:03 pm |
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AK_Snowbird- that is a awesome idea what you said to do with the bacon and such, that would be better then just getting up and cooking it more then i have too. So can i eat whatever kind of bacon? like already fully cooked bacon and then just put in the oven or do i have to cook it fully myself?
thanks so much.
Spitlicious
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AK_Snowbird
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 31 July 2009 08:16 am |
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| Spitlicious, You can use any bacon of your choice. I usually just get the store brand or whatever is the cheapest and looks the best.
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