Help

dlennon

I gave up smoking almost a year ago, and since then I have put on a lot of weight. Before I gave up smoking I was a size 10, at 9stone, I now am a size 14-16 and almost 12 stone, I am 5ft 6. When I first gave up smoking yes I ate a lot of rubbish, but in the last 4 to 5 months I have been watching what I have been eating. I play football once a week, cycle 2-3 times a week and walk every day for about 20 mins, and to date I have not lost as much as a pound in weight!! I actually went to my doctor because I was worried, she advised me to go on Lipotrim for 4 weeks, but from all the review this had, I decided to stay away from this.

Can anyone please give me any advise as to what I am doing wrong or give me any advise on what I can do to lose weight, I dont want to smoke again!!!

TommyKnocker

Hi There

Could I ask you to post your age and give an example of a typical days food intake (warts and all) please?


Best Regards,

M

dlennon

I am 30, typical day:

Breakfast: Bowl of cereal - normally special K
Lunch: two slices of brown bread toasted and Banana
Dinner: Potatoes, veg and a meat, typically pork, chicken, fried and then put in oven.

I try to drink 2 litres of water daily. I also would snack on fruit, bananas, oranges, nectarines.

I might socialise once a week and would drink a light beer, maybe I would have 4-5 bottles?

G86

Kudos on not going near Lipotrim! With the diet, I'd cut out the bread and the special K. Replace the special k with porridge or even weetabix. Banana's are great for you, but having one with 2 slices of toast is a fair amount of carbs for something that isn't really going to fill you for long. Have you ever tried Ryvita or oatcakes? I found them a godsend when I was weaning off the bread. Also, when you say potatoes - how many? You'd be best just sticking to one or two max.

Be careful of all the fruit too, of course it's healthy but it still all adds up to extra cals and carbs at the end of the day.

TommyKnocker

dlennon wrote: »

I am 30, typical day:

Breakfast: Bowl of cereal - normally special K
Lunch: two slices of brown bread toasted and Banana
Dinner: Potatoes, veg and a meat, typically pork, chicken, fried and then put in oven.

I try to drink 2 litres of water daily. I also would snack on fruit, bananas, oranges, nectarines.

I might socialise once a week and would drink a light beer, maybe I would have 4-5 bottles?

Hi Again

Not being funny, but is that everything that would pass your lips in a normal day?

Now firstly let me state that I am no expert and have no qualifications what so ever related to fitness or Nutrition (apart from beign a qualified chef in a past life). Fitness and healthy nutrition are just some of my interests.

Now some things that stick out about your diet given that you are looking to lose weight (and by weight I mean body fat, not just weight) are

• It is carb heavy
• Lack of protein
• Lack of healthy fats

Have you any idea how many calories you are consuming on average per day?

Special K and tbh most of those type of boxed cereals are rubbish. Loads of added sugar. A much healthier option would be oat flakes with maybe a few fresh berries and a splash of milk.

An example diet might look like

Breakfast: 20g oats flakes, tbl spn of mixed seeds, tbl spn of blueberries, tbl spn raspberries, 200ml low fat milk, cup of gren tea.

Supplements: Fish Oil and pssibly a multivit

Snack: Half an apple and 1 or 2 tbl spns of Peanut Butter

Lunch: Lean source of protein (chicken , turkey beef, fish) with a good Salad. Plenty of veg and mixed leaves with an Olive oil or Coconut oil based derssing. Mug of green tea

Snack: Small amount of mixed nuts (brazil, almond, walnut, hazel, cashew etc) and 100g cottage cheese.

Dinner: Lean protein source and good service of green veg (sprouts, brocolli, green beans, Ratatouille etc) No potatoes, pasta rice etc. Mug of green tea

Pre Bedtime snack: Maybe 100g cottage with some berries mixed in.

This diet is an example of the types of foods to eat, you would need to make sure that these meals and portions stayed within your daily calorie requirements.

I guesstimate (using this site) that you Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is around 1,555 calories per day. This is the number of calories requried if you just lay in bed all day. When I use the moderately active multiplier it brings your daily calorie requirements to around 2,410 calories daily. This is the number of calories required each day to maintain your current weight.

To lose weight (body fat) in a halthy and sustainable way you should look to create a daily calorie deficit of around 500 calories. Giving you a daily calorie requirement of around 1,900 calories.

Finally for now, walking and cycling would not be the fastest ways to lose weight. A 20 minute walk is probably burning off 120 - 140 calories. Without knowing speed and distance it's not possible to guesstimate how many calories your cycling would expend, but I doubt that it is a huge amount tbh. Likewise with the football. It would depend on how intense the game/training was.

I think you would see some gains if you tried some of the workouts shown on the links below and sorted out your diet so that you are eating in a way that helps with your goals while providing the energy you need for living and training.

• The Transformation Catalyst -- Transforms web site
• The Home Workout Thread -- What it says on the tin

Hope some of this helps.


Best Regards,

M

dlennon

Thanks for the help, will try some of your ideas and let you know how I get on!