Need a bit of advice please.

robert18

Hello could I possible ask for a bit of info about weight lost .Here is my story I am a man of 35 and at present weighting in at about 95 kg .I finished working in dell in june and started a college course in september . I have always been very active and at the moment train about 7 - 9 sessions a week ( I double up some days ) .My training involves 2 weight sessions a week , at least 2 swims a week ( I train with good swimmers ) so the sessons would involve minimum 2000 meters and also I do about 3 hour long cycles .I don't consider what I eat alot and only at the weekends do I eat bad food,I don't eat before college at about 11 I would have a sandwich and my dinner when I come home .To be honest my dinner would involve a sizeable portion and then maybe a sandwich before I go to bed .2 more bits of info before I leave the food side of it is that i think I have an irritable bowel as I find that down through the years constipation has been a problem ,also I have high cholesterol a present from my mother hereditary which I am on medication for ,I drink which involves maybe 4 drinks on a friday and about 8 on a saturday .Now since I left dell it has gotten worse and I do admit during xmas I left myself go but its getting out of hand .Have ye any advice on what to do like is there foods I should totally avoid ,I am a maniac for bread and potatoes .I think for the amount of training I do the results are not there now I have got a good shape but to much weight sits on my stomach thanks for any adice I get .

EileenG

From the sound of it, you know what you need to do, you just don't want to.

You've got to get your diet in order. First, cut the drinking. You don't have to go t-total, but you can't drink at that rate and expect to see results.

Cut out the processed stuff, and cut way back on the bread. There are a lot of people here who find that wheat is extremely hard on the bowels, and you already have problems there. It's a no-brainer. Potatoes are not so bad, as long as you eat them to fuel workouts, and you don't deep-fry them.

Base your meals on fresh food. Whole eggs (there's a big study in the University of Texas which found that whole eggs improve the ratio of HDL to LDL cholesterol, so they are good for you), oily fish, fresh meat, lots and lots and LOTS of green vegetables, olive oil, some dairy, some fruit, some nuts, some wholegrains.

No sugar, box breakfast cereals, deep fried food, processed or junk food.

No, you won't die if you don't eat breakfast, but it does sound as if you are the classic case of no food in the morning, then tons at night.

Sit-ups are not the way to shift belly fat, it's diet that does that. Everyone has a six pack, most of us have it well hidden by a layer of fat.

robert18

Thanks eileen for your answer , juist a few quick ones ,would sugar cause weight gain as I thought it would only affect blood and teeth and also when you say whole eggs is that without the yoke as I was led to believe that the recommended weekly intact of eggs was about 3 .Also what are the main types of processed foods sorry for my ignorance ,I used to play rugby and spent years trying to put it on now I am the opposite and thanks for your replies.

EileenG

In the end, it always comes down to calories. But sugar tends to make it a lot easier for the body to store food as fat rather than burning it for fuel. Also, food with sugar added tend to be low in nutrition. Sugar is almost unique that it has no nutrients to compensate for the calories in it. Even butter has vitamin A and D.

I mean whole eggs. The thing about cholesterol is that the majority of it is made by your liver, and especially if you have a problem with cholesterol levels being too high, it's almost always due to your liver making too much rather than your food. Whole eggs, yolks and all, tend to increase the amount of HDL (good) cholesterol relative to LDL (bad), so it improves your cholesterol profile.

The idea that just not eating cholesterol will lower your blood cholesterol levels is out-dated. Eat a diet with very little fat or cholesterol and your liver will make more. Ideally, you should be eating lots of healthy, nutrient dense food that makes it possible for your body to get into good shape, inside and out.

Anything that you couldn't catch, grow or make yourself is a processed food. The big one, that most people don't realise, is bread. If you've ever tried to turn wheat into a batch loaf, you'll know what I mean. The food you eat should almost all come from the green grocer, fish monger, butcher, dairy. Not a factory. There should not be a long list of ingredients, and there should be nothing you can't pronounce or find in your own kitchen.

corkcomp

I would echo what Eileen said above, with one exception - I have found in the past that eggs raise cholesterol (yes, I know they also raise HDL etc etc) but I would really check with your doctor if your cholesterol is high. Lots of fruit, veg, lean meat and fish along with porridge and other whole gains FTW
if you post a FULL daily diet you may get some better advice?

robert18

The thing with my cholesterol is that it is hereditary and so the doctor has me on medication for it .As far as eating is concerned yesterday I ate a bap sandwich at about 11 ,in it was turkey ,lettuce ,mayo and onions .When I went home I ate a roasted chicken leg and then went to the gym .After the gym I ate my dinner which involved a sizeable portion of mash chicken and plenty of brocelli carrots and parsnips .I also ate a activa for digestion . Lately I am trying to keep it in and around this thanks again .

El_Dangeroso

Don't worry about egg consumption, in fact most reseach coming out now is showing that eggs are actually protective against heart disease. From this article in Men's Health interviewing one of the leading researchers in this field, Dr. Ronald Krauss. The whole article is well worth a read:

Down an omelet every morning and you may lower your small-particle count, University of Connecticut researchers recently found. People who ate three whole eggs a day for 12 weeks dropped their small-LDL levels by an average of 18 percent.

Best to avoid wheat if you want to look after the ticker. Wheat raises triglycerides more than pure sugar, and triglycerides levels in the blood are an independant risk factor for heart disease.

corkcomp

robert18 wrote: »

The thing with my cholesterol is that it is hereditary and so the doctor has me on medication for it .As far as eating is concerned yesterday I ate a bap sandwich at about 11 ,in it was turkey ,lettuce ,mayo and onions .When I went home I ate a roasted chicken leg and then went to the gym .After the gym I ate my dinner which involved a sizeable portion of mash chicken and plenty of brocelli carrots and parsnips .I also ate a activa for digestion . Lately I am trying to keep it in and around this thanks again .

keep in close contact with your doc re cholesterol, any further advice on the subject breaks the charter rules as many should know.

your diet looks ok but i wouldnt bother with the activia tbh, im sure your digestion will work fine without it there is nothing wrong with eating bread and carbs around training times but try not to eat too much fat and too many simple carbs together e.g. white bread and mayonaise = bad ..

El_Dangeroso

corkcomp wrote: »

your diet looks ok but i wouldnt bother with the activia tbh, im sure your digestion will work fine without it there is nothing wrong with eating bread and carbs around training times but try not to eat too much fat and too many simple carbs together e.g. white bread and mayonaise = bad ..

Sorry but there is PLENTY wrong with bread when it comes to keeping healthy lipids and no amount of training will mitigate it. Avoid.

corkcomp

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Sorry but there is PLENTY wrong with bread when it comes to keeping healthy lipids and no amount of training will mitigate it. Avoid.

in your opinion there is plenty wrong with bread, and you are 100% entitled to express your opinion, in a NON dogmatic way. in my opinion bread is fine as long as whole grain and eaten as part of a blanced diet and at different times to fats, and i am 100% entitled to my opinion. hopefully end of story, the op can decide for himself

robert18

Thanks for the advice ,I have stopped drinking sugar with tea and all soft drinks I was hooked on diet coke ,did not know that it could been one of the reasons why I am finding it hard to shift the weight ,Its so annoying all the training I do and don't seem to get the proper results .I mean today I have ate a sandwick this morning a bowl of stew for dinner and a bit of scrammbled eggs a while ago and my stomach is bloated as if I was eating all day .Anyway thanks for the info .

robert18

Well lads have been doing well since I started it, friday apart over going to the match , I have stopped with the sugar in my tea and bread ,for breakfast, I am eating scrambled eggs for breakfast and made my dinner portions smaller , just a quick question I want to start the mornings with either eggs or porridge so bought the microwave type .Is this ok also I bought manuka honey to put into it as a small bit of sweetness again is this ok . I have dropped about 2 kg in the last 2 weeks so everything is going right again thanks .

corkcomp

robert18 wrote: »

Well lads have been doing well since I started it, friday apart over going to the match , I have stopped with the sugar in my tea and bread ,for breakfast, I am eating scrambled eggs for breakfast and made my dinner portions smaller , just a quick question I want to start the mornings with either eggs or porridge so bought the microwave type .Is this ok also I bought manuka honey to put into it as a small bit of sweetness again is this ok . I have dropped about 2 kg in the last 2 weeks so everything is going right again thanks .

micro porridge is fine, but I prefer jumbo oats, soaked over night and then microwaved

robert18

H ave to admit the porridge and honey was lovely ,so is honey ok then for tea and stuff .

EileenG

Honey is tasty, and has some trace vitamins etc, but nutritionally, it's sugar. Be very sparing with it.

robert18

Hi lads and thanks for the advice just another question about food portions ,how do you judge dinner portions , my dinner last night was made up of grilled chops ,sweetcorn , peas and a big portion of mash so was just wondering is there a handy way of judging how many calories was in it , the mash was about the size of 2 fist fulls so was wondering is this too much also for brealfast I had 90 g of porridge with goats milk and for lunch I had a wrap made from 2 slices of ham and 1.5 of eggs .Is there a way that I can judge how many calories I took in the day as a whole thanks .

Melia

You could start using a calorie counting program like FitDay (I don't work for them, I swear!), or you could keep a notebook with the calories of things you normally eat in it, and as you encounter new things, add them in.

It's tedious at first but gets a lot quicker after the first couple of weeks.

EileenG

The best way to judge portions is to weigh your food. I have a little diet scales from Salter, which cost about a fiver, and weighs in units of 5g or 1/4oz, but even a regular kitchen scales would do the job.

Spend about a week weighing your food, and then you'll know what your average portion is, and what a recommended portion is. Most people pour out far too much breakfast cereal, for instance, and think they are hitting the 30g portion.

After that, you'll be able to make an educated guess at all your food, even what you get in a restaurant.

Fitday is great for tracking your food, but you do need to weigh it first.

robert18

Hi lads just said I would let ye know ,I have lost about 4.5 kg since the last time I posted which I am happy with ,just one question as I used to drink about 20 cups of tea with 2 spoonfuls of sugar, and the only thing since I give up all sugar my energy levels have gone down bit.This could be due to the increase in exercise any suggestions .

EileenG

More sleep? Sugar tends to give false energy, in that any burst of energy tends to die very quickly leaving you feeling worse than before. There's a lot of research about how important sleep is.