Posted: 4/18/2012 6:57:40 PM EDT
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Long story short, I gained some weight after getting out of the service, about 25lbs, and now I'm trying to lose it.
I've always ran and been a heavy lifter. I'd say at my best I was a solid 205-210. I was 230 about 2 weeks ago. I got tired of being a overweight. My issue, I think, is my diet. From being in the service for 6 years, cardio wasn't a problem, neither was working out. I think I could never lose weight because of what I was eating, which since I was so used to lifting heavy, I would gorge myself. Well, about 2 weeks ago I started dieting. I would have a protein shake for breakfast, a light lunch, and another shake for dinner, or a small dinner. I up'd my cardio to at least 3 miles x 5 days per week. Starting last week I began to steer from heavy lifting to high reps, ie 6 exercises at least, and 3 sets of 20 per exercise. I do one muscle group per day. The endurance stuff is beating me up pretty good. Anyway, I've lost about 11lbs in 2 weeks, but now I've kind of plateaued. I don't think the cardio is doing it for me because my body was so used to running in the Army. I did the stairmaster for 30 minutes today instead of running, and it sucked. Any tips on getting this weight off? |
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2 weeks and you're frustrated? What's the rush? Is this a temporary weight loss, or a permanent life change? Read this and let it soak in...."80% of your body composition will be determined by your diet." If you're spending most of your time searching for information on weight loss through exercise, you're only working on 20% of the solution. Exercise is for your cardiovascular and muscle development, what and how you eat is for fat loss. If you follow the latest fad diet to reach a goal weight and then upon reaching that goal weight, revert to your old eating habits...you'll be fat again in 6 months. Take some time and search a healthy eating plan that you can live with for the rest of your life. You, not me. Count calories, read food labels on everything you put in your mouth. You don't have to be anal about every single calorie but it's good to have an idea of what you're ingesting. You may find that you're dabbing 4 tablespoons of 130cals per 2 tablespoon of deli sauce onto your "healthy" baked chicken breast. (speaking from experience) http://www.amazon.com/Beaver-Horseradish-12-Ounce-Squeezable-Bottles/dp/nutrition-facts/B000EY5T8K/ref=gronf_njs_1
If you're serious about living healthy, not just losing weight, it'll take time, you're not going to get your answer on a single thread in Arfcom, it will come from a little info here and a little there through various sources over time, but you will ultimately learn what works for you. |
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Aren't you hungry?
Seriously, how many calories are in you shakes ~450. So two of those a day are 900 calories. A light lunch adds maybe another 450. So you are looking at ~1350 calories a day. At your weight your BMR is probably around 2200 and that doesn't count any exercise. I've seen a formula for calories burnt while running (Body weight x 0..63 x # of miles) which means you're burning and additional ~420 calories. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Quoted: Aren't you hungry? Seriously, how many calories are in you shakes ~450. So two of those a day are 900 calories. A light lunch adds maybe another 450. So you are looking at ~1350 calories a day. At your weight your BMR is probably around 2200 and that doesn't count any exercise. I've seen a formula for calories burnt while running (Body weight x 0..63 x # of miles) which means you're burning and additional ~420 calories. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile That's the first thing that jumped out at me. OP probably isn't getting near enough calories. |
| I have enough calories in my belly. Yes I know I'm not getting enough. BTW my shakes are 130. My lack of calories is what makes me tired all the time I'm sure. Its hard trying to watch my diet after so many years of eating a lot to stay big. I know I'm starving myself, but I don't really know another way |
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Quoted: I have enough calories in my belly. Yes I know I'm not getting enough. BTW my shakes are 130. My lack of calories is what makes me tired all the time I'm sure. Its hard trying to watch my diet after so many years of eating a lot to stay big. I know I'm starving myself, but I don't really know another way  |
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Quoted: I have enough calories in my belly. Yes I know I'm not getting enough. BTW my shakes are 130. My lack of calories is what makes me tired all the time I'm sure. Its hard trying to watch my diet after so many years of eating a lot to stay big. I know I'm starving myself, but I don't really know another way How about this: Eat healthy food Eat just a little less than what it takes to maintain weight Exercise That's about it. You don't have to starve yourself.
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Quoted: Quoted: I have enough calories in my belly. Yes I know I'm not getting enough. BTW my shakes are 130. My lack of calories is what makes me tired all the time I'm sure. Its hard trying to watch my diet after so many years of eating a lot to stay big. I know I'm starving myself, but I don't really know another way How about this: Eat healthy food Eat just a little less than what it takes to maintain weight Exercise That's about it. You don't have to starve yourself. Quoted for truth. Shop the edges of the grocery store. Stay away from the processed as much as possible. Drink LOTS of water. Try not to drink any calories. Being on a diet doesn't mean you can't eat tasty food. Tonight we had greek (turkey) burgers (no bun) and zucchini tots. Low carb, tasty, low fat, tasty, fresh veggies galore, and best of all, TASTY! Even subbed greek yogurt for the mayo in the recipe for the sauce on the burger. |
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So basically you are aware that previously you were eating too much which lead to weight gain. And now you realize you are eating way too little. So somewhere inbetween these two extremes exists a happy medium that can allow you to not feel like shit and yet burn more calories than you take in, resulting in steady and substainable weight loss.
A good starting point is eat three real meals per day. Eat a protien source, a fruit and a vegetable. Eat enough to carry you over so you are not starving by next meal time. Eat a snack in between meals if you want. Eat single ingrediant foods. The ingrediant list on a bag of apples is apples, same with a steak, lettuce, grapes and such. If it has 20 different ingrediants its a safe bet you don't need it. Yes there are a few exceptions. Don't take the single ingrediant too far, a salad consits of multiple ingrediants. Look at it as a philosophy rather than a hard set unbending law. Drink water, water is good for you. Shoot for 90% discipline. The 10% wiggle room exists so you don't have a reason to kick your own ass and get down on yourself because you ate a candybar or two. It exists so you can go out with friends and not be the odd guy out at the ice cream stand. It doesn't exist so you can be super strict for 9 days and then eat like a fat camp escapee on the 10th day. The first time I ever seriously decided to loose weight I figured being well hydrated was a good thing so I was drinking half a gallon of gatorade everyday. Thats something like 400 calories of pure sugar. I understand it can be confusing at first, just as any new thing is. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I have enough calories in my belly. Yes I know I'm not getting enough. BTW my shakes are 130. My lack of calories is what makes me tired all the time I'm sure. Its hard trying to watch my diet after so many years of eating a lot to stay big. I know I'm starving myself, but I don't really know another way How about this: Eat healthy food Eat just a little less than what it takes to maintain weight Exercise That's about it. You don't have to starve yourself. This. If it comes in a box, don't eat it. If if has more than 1 ingredient, don't eat it. If your ancestors weren't eating it 100,000 years ago, don't eat it. It's damn hard to overeat on this diet for numerous reasons. And you won't be putting a bunch of toxins in your body that your kidneys and liver must deal with. |