… here are some things I think can help the other folks who are doing it too

DietBet lets people put money up and possibly win cash when they complete the challenges.

This isn’t going to be a review. This particular article is just based on one DietBet and trying to answer some of the questions I saw come up frequently. People are looking for help and since I’ve been digging away at this for a long time I thought I’d write something up. 

For background, DietBet is an online tool that lets people join a short-term community weight-loss (or maintenance) challenge for a fee. That fee is the money you put up, basically saying “I can meet this challenge.” If you succeed you share the pool of money. Those who don’t succeed… have paid those who did. 

None of this is gospel and I won’t claim it is – just info based on the experiences of my wife and I.

Questions

Here are the key questions that seem to come up. Answering these alone could take up most of the internet but I’ll try to give some starting points.

What and how should I eat? 
Should I fast?
How and when should I exercise? 
Why did my weight go up?

Finally I’ll end on a note about motivation and what helps me.

Food & Fasting

Weight loss is 80% diet.

At its most basic, your diet is just ‘what you eat’, so we are all on a diet of sorts. That said the most basic principles for cutting fat and eating better are simple:

  1. Get your calories from nutrient dense foods. A couple of packs of Tastycakes and a meal of Thai curry chicken (no rice) may have similar caloric content but guess which is better for you? 
  2. Reduce sugar as much as possible: sugar = cravings, and excess sugar = stored fat. 
  3. Increase water intake – everything feels more (ahem) fluid with more water. And yes, hyperhydration is a thing but it’s you are unlikely to over-hydrate, especially if you are adding exercise. 

As for meal plans, I like Chris and Heidi, and they use carb cycling. While Jo and I aren’t keen on anything that includes high carbs (mainly due to insulin spikes and hormonal balance issues), they have been very successful with it. Heidi has a post about it here at Carb Cycling 101.

That said, the paleo and primal movements are also tremendously successful for many people. What’s the difference? Essentially two things – paleo is all about food while food is only a component of primal living. Also, primal allows some dairy. There are some other minor differences but these are large key issues. Both encourage avoiding all sugar, removing grains, and eating only whole unprocessed meats and vegetables. 

Finally, a 28-day Diet Bet is a great time for The Whole 30 – a challenge and test in one. The idea is to remove from your diet anything that might cause issues, anything that some people have sensitivities to, and see how you feel. Then you start adding things back in one by one to see what impacts you. A side benefit is that you often lose weight in the process. The best part? Tons of resources for free including program rules, shopping lists, and meal plans!

Regardless of your plan, using keywords like ‘Paleo’ and ‘Primal’ when looking for recipes will yield healthy diet-friendly results  you can use in almost any diet plan.

Sometimes things come up and you can’t or don’t want to cook. We use both PaleoOnTheGo and more recently Ice Age Meals to stock healthy, frozen, ready-to-go meals we can easily heat up for those days when we just don’t have the energy to put together a meal ourselves. Both are kind of pricey but really tasty and super healthy. PaleoOnTheGo even has paleo breakfast tarts and cookies you can use for the occasional treat.

Amazon also has some fun items like ‘Smartbuns’ – a high-protein fiber-based hamburger bun, FatSnax keto cookies, and Keto Bark, a delicious keto chocolate with hazelnuts or almonds.

While we do like low carb, up to and including keto, be aware that the first few days eating this way requires extra preparation and can be particularly tough, though the rewards are worth it. 

On Fasting

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention fasting. There are a few different kinds and you can experiment with them however you like. We like intermittent fasting in general – don’t eat after a certain time at night and don’t have a meal (coffee and MCT oil is ok) until late morning. This helps control cravings and maintain hormonal balance but is best paired with a low-carb, high-fat lifestyle. 

The other kind however, which I’ll call long-term fasting, is usually a juice or water fast that extends for a full day or more. We usually use the Master Cleanse, though this really isn’t intended as a weight-loss method. It’s supposed to be used to let your body heal itself, eliminate toxins, and we use it as a biological reset. We also add BCAA’s to the drinks to help prevent muscle loss. All that said, we don’t recommend this for weight loss or Diet Bets.

Exercise

Fitness is 80% exercise

When it comes to exercise, the main rule is “move more”. If you are a classic couch potato, get up and go for a walk. If you get in 2 workouts a week, go for 3. Usually take the elevator? Try the stairs instead.

Unfortunately every body is different, and while yes, some people will have food allergies or sensitivities, the possible issues in the body and accumulated damage over the years mean you really do need to check with your doctor before starting an exercise program. From there you can determine what that program should look like. 

A few simple rules:

  1. If at all possible, your exercise should not be restricted to ‘cardio’. Your muscles and your hormones will respond positively to using weights, whether that means squats, dumbbells, barbells, or some other device.
  2. Accept that you will hurt more the first 1 to 2 weeks. Your muscles will be sore and that’s normal, but they will adapt and you will feel better. Just get through those first weeks. 
  3. Use proper form with light weights while you learn a movement. Then…
  4. Add weight over time. Your body needs challenge to get strong. Challenge it! 
  5. If you aren’t already familiar with exercise, get a trainer if you can, even if it is just for one or two sessions. You can use those sessions to have them correct your form and walk you through a simple program.

Weight Fluctuations

When you start seeing your weight go up and down it can be scary. The debate as to whether to weigh-in every day or only every so often such as every week is an ongoing one and both sides have reasonable arguments. 

Whichever you do (we suggest daily, or at least multiple times per week), be aware that your weight will always fluctuate. What did you eat the night before? How much fluid did you get in? Did you go to the bathroom? 

These factors and more will all contribute. For instance, if you had rice in your dinner you may be holding on to more water weight. I’ve seen a several pound difference from one day to the next that can be primarily attributed to a specific meal. 

In short, weigh-in more than once per week so you have more data points, but don’t let any particular day discourage you. And if you do see the scale go up, take corrective action. If you wait a week between each check-in then you won’t know when you really do need to change something. 

Rest and Motivation

Wellness is 33% fitness, 33% diet, and 33% rest.

Rest

Proper sleep and down time is fundamental to health. This impacts recovery from exercise, mood, cravings, and your ability to be disciplined. Take time to rest!

  1. Aim for at least seven hours of sleep per night. Eight to nine hours is better, especially if you work out. Sleep is the repair process of the body and is necessary to maintain mood and heal. Sleep deprivation is linked to more snacking, increased cravings, lower metabolism, lower willpower, increased stress levels, lower insulin sensitivity and causes fat storage.
  2. Maintain consistent sleep times. This is one of the key actions you can take to get better sleep. Going to bed (and waking up) at the same time lets your body get in a rhythm where it will prepare for sleep and make it easier to rest.
  3. Take up a meditation practice. Mindfulness and meditative practices can help relieve stress and improve the way you respond to stress in general. The “Headspace” app can help with this, but try different things including yoga or tai chi (which is a moving meditation).

Motivation

Finally you will have days that are more difficult than others. If you aren’t careful and conscientious your motivation will wane. Here are a few things you an do to keep that motivation up.

  1. Plan – Plan everything. Plan your workouts, plan your meals, and plan to fail. If you have everything ready you remove potential obstacles. If you are ready for when the plan fails (put healthy frozen meals in your freezer at home and work, put protein bars in your car, desk, and workout bag, etc…) then you are less likely to make a choice that isn’t in line with your goals.
  2. Change your speech – We are what we tell ourselves. So tell yourself you can, that you are the kind of person who sticks to their diet and their workouts. Don’t let yourself be a pessimist. 
  3. Immerse yourself in your goal – Read about it, listen to it, watch it. Youtube is full of inspirational videos. Try watching the Crossfit Games. Listen to Podcasts. Just keep feeding yourself with knowledge and inspiration and you will think about it more; when you think about it more you will naturally maintain better motivation. 

I hope these tips help you. Look things up and prep as much as possible, keep your goal in mind, and you will succeed. 

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