Crazy from Carbs!

Resi12

Hey there, I started eating healthy Monday and from that I have switched to all wholemeal pasta/rice/etc, cut out all sweets (had 4 squares of dark chocolate watching my weekly show last night and plan to keep it that way as far as sweets are concerned for a while), only drink green tea and water and have stopped salt altogether.

However with fruits as well I am still worried I am eating too many carbs but am not sure if it's bad considering they are coming from wholemeal and fruit mainly.

Can someone help me out/stop me from worrying that I am ruining my diet? I feel like all my good choices are being undone. Saying this however I only eat like 1,600 calories max (954 calories today) and every night go for a swift 50 minute 7km walk which burns off about 600 calories apparently. I'm just still worried though, am I being silly?

For example today I had:

Breakfast

Whole Wheat Toast With Mashed Up Bananas (2 slices, I large banana)
Green Tea

Lunch

Apple (Was full for a while from breakfast)

Dinner

Cod Fillet
Green Beans
3 Potato Waffles

6 glasses of water so far.

Today was an odd day, I feel a bit bad for the waffles.

EileenG

You are not eating enough. And the only protein you have in there is the cod.

Try some eggs for breakfast, or some cottage cheese, or greek yogurt.

Fruit is not bad unless you go overboard, but veg is a better use of your calories. At the moment, forget the bananas and pig out on strawberries and cherries and gooseberries, local if possible.

Tea and coffee and salt are not bad. You'll find that if you are eating whole foods, your taste buds tell you if you need more salt. it's the processed foods where salt and sugar are combined in an addictive combination that tend to cause the problems.

If you want carbs, eat new potatoes. Much better than waffles.

El_Dangeroso

I saw a study recently that 90% of Irish people's salt consumption comes from processed food (bread and breakfast cereals being the most common sources).

So if you cut out all processed food you've automatically cut out 90% of your salt intake and can therefore be quite liberal with it in your cooking.

Too little salt is actually just as bad as too much.

Resi12

EileenG wrote: »

You are not eating enough. And the only protein you have in there is the cod.

Try some eggs for breakfast, or some cottage cheese, or greek yogurt.

Fruit is not bad unless you go overboard, but veg is a better use of your calories. At the moment, forget the bananas and pig out on strawberries and cherries and gooseberries, local if possible.

Tea and coffee and salt are not bad. You'll find that if you are eating whole foods, your taste buds tell you if you need more salt. it's the processed foods where salt and sugar are combined in an addictive combination that tend to cause the problems.

If you want carbs, eat new potatoes. Much better than waffles.

I know it looks like I'm not eating enough but honestly I'm just not that hungry, maybe it's my body just adjusting to the better food or what have you but I guarantee you I'm not purposely trying to eat as little as possible.

Is 3 pieces of fruit a day overboard? That's not everyday but I might have something for breakfast and a snack later in the day most days? OK, I will go get some strawberries today then, thank you! Hate cheese and isn't Greek Yoghurt higher in carbs than protein?

I'm not a tea drinker anyway and only drink latte's mostly if I am having coffee which is like once every two months so that's not a big deal for me. I actually enjoy green tea more than normal tea so that's not me being tough on myself thankfully.

OK I take on the advice with salt. Like I said though yesterday was an odd day and the waffles were a last minute thing so it won't be happening again.

Today I have had:

Breakfast

1 slice of Wholemeal Toast
Boiled Egg

Lunch

Slice of Turkey
Orange

Dinner

3 boiled potatoes
Boiled chicken breast
Green beans
Carrots

EileenG

Unless you are very small, or extremely inactive, it looks like a very small amount of food. If this is enough for now, fine, but don't be surprised if your body starts demanding more.

blow69

A slice of turkey and an orange for lunch is very poor IMO. I would hardly consider that a snack.

How about a medium chicken breast/fish with a selection of vegetables.

Are you usually a small eater or is this just part of your new diet?

Rakish

OMG, that is enough food for anyone. Even if you are dieting.

You need to add lean protein with each meal at the very least.

eat way more. Use something like www.fitday.com to track your calories. You are way way under-eating and are in danger of damaging your health.

Also, brown bread is only very slightly less bad for you than white, just dump them altogether.

corkcomp

theres a lot wrong with that diet. your not eating enough and what you are eating isnt very nutritious. Today is Saturday, so if you only started on Monday give yourself a chance, if you go head first into a diet like that it wont last. I dont even follow a low carb diet but I still wouldnt be having waffles and id tend towards other fruit other than bananas..

Resi12

corkcomp wrote: »

theres a lot wrong with that diet. your not eating enough and

what you are eating isnt very nutritious. Today is Saturday, so if you only started on Monday give yourself a chance, if you go head first into a diet like that it wont last. I dont even follow a low carb diet but I still wouldnt be having waffles and id tend towards other fruit other than bananas..

Wow, OK. No offence but this reads as very condescending. None of it is helpful in the slightest.

I'm not even on a low carb diet so I have no idea where you got thay from. Instead of saying things like "what you are eating isnt very nutritious" and "id tend towards other fruit other than bananas..." how about you tell me where I can get nutrition in and what fruits are better.

If anything is going to hinder me eating better it's ****e like this. Thanks, you've made me feel like sh!t now.

metamorphosis

you are taking his remark way too seriously. He didn't intend to come across lime that at all at all. You're going to need to toughen up that skin to succeed at this and i speak from direct experience.

give the stickeid threads here at the top of this forum and in the main health and fitness forum a read. They will set you on the right path for sure. They will help you out and narrow things down for you

People can guide you where to go, but it's ultimately you and only you who can learn and do this.

Id say read the stickeis to narrow things down and then come back with specifics. Worth a shot

Resi12

metamorphosis wrote: »

you are taking his remark way too seriously. He didn't intend to come across lime that at all at all. You're going to need to toughen up that skin to succeed at this and i speak from direct experience.

give the stickeid threads here at the top of this forum and in the main health and fitness forum a read. They will set you on the right path for sure. They will help you out and narrow things down for you

People can guide you where to go, but it's ultimately you and only you who can learn and do this.

Id say read the stickeis to narrow things down and then come back with specifics. Worth a shot

I have no idea what you mean, why would I need thick skin to be on a diet? Mental strength perhaps but thick skin? I don't need any more of that (lolz).

People can guide you where to go, but it's ultimately you and only you who can learn and do this.

Seriously though, I am not expecting people to point me in the direction of a magical pill to lose all the weight. I of course know it's all down to myself but what I would like to know is what I asked, not to be told off by somebody who isn't even right in what they are saying (low carb diet remark) and in doing so being a bit bitchy (the other fruit remark).

All I am saying is I came here to ask for some help, not to be criticised. Sorry, not to sound stupid (most likely will) but specifics for what?

It is completely constructive criticism.

Tough love is exactly what will help you, not people saying "ah don't worry, you tried, unlucky".

Resi12

Deleted User wrote: »

It is completely constructive criticism.

Tough love is exactly what will help you, not people saying "ah don't worry, you tried, unlucky".

Can you show me where the constructive part is from it?

EileenG's first post was great constructive criticism. I'm not expecting anyone to patronise me and I'd rather not considering I'm not 5 but I'd also like to be talked too rather than down at.

What have I failed at to be told that or was that an example? What's with all the agro posters all of a sudden on here..

Kimia

To be fair it looks like you're the only one getting agro on here. I saw nothing wrong with Corkcomp's advice - he basically told you straight up where you are going wrong without sugar coating it.

I wouldn't put so much weight into it - take it for what it is which is just advise, like you asked for...

ps so many weight puns! non-intentional. :pac:

Corckcomp told you that you're not eating enough, and what you're eating isn't very nutritious at all (both of which are correct), this is constructive.

You wont get a meal plan online that suits you, due to tastes etc, what you need to do is start to learn what your body needs to make you look like you'd want, where you can get these things from and how to avoid falling off the wagon.

Piece of advice I give everyone is really very straightforward, for the next week, eat as you normally do, but weigh absolutely everything you eat, and log absolutely everything (www.fitday.com / mynetdiary app on iphone / pen and paper / etc etc). You need to learn about what it is you're eating, but if someone just tells you, it wont be half as beneficial as htre above.

Questions like "why is a banana less good than an orange?" all stem from a basic lack of understanding of the composition of food, and the needs that your body has. Instead of trying to locate specific individual differences, you will learn far more by using one of the apps I've mentioned above, and seeing for yourself what you are putting in your body.

Resi12

Kimia wrote: »

To be fair it looks like you're the only one getting agro on here. I saw nothing wrong with Corkcomp's advice - he basically told you straight up where you are going wrong without sugar coating it.

I wouldn't put so much weight into it - take it for what it is which is just advise, like you asked for...

ps so many weight puns! non-intentional. :pac:

To be honest, I saw nothing helpful from it. I appreciate him telling me I was going in the wrong direction but he wasn't very helpful besides that (what nutrients and where from, what fruit besides banana's and also he got my diet wrong which show he didn't even read my posts properly) and that's all I'm saying.

Resi12

Deleted User wrote: »

Corckcomp told you that you're not eating enough, and what you're eating isn't very nutritious at all (both of which are correct), this is constructive.

You wont get a meal plan online that suits you, due to tastes etc, what you need to do is start to learn what your body needs to make you look like you'd want, where you can get these things from and how to avoid falling off the wagon.

Piece of advice I give everyone is really very straightforward, for the next week, eat as you normally do, but weigh absolutely everything you eat, and log absolutely everything (www.fitday.com / mynetdiary app on iphone / pen and paper / etc etc). You need to learn about what it is you're eating, but if someone just tells you, it wont be half as beneficial as htre above.

Questions like "why is a banana less good than an orange?" all stem from a basic lack of understanding of the composition of food, and the needs that your body has. Instead of trying to locate specific individual differences, you will learn far more by using one of the apps I've mentioned above, and seeing for yourself what you are putting in your body.

I already am using www.Dailyburn.com and have been logging since I started, it's actually why I asked my original question.

I always seemed to come up with more carbs and was unsure if it was a good thing or not considering they were coming from fruit and wholemeal. Saying that though I was always under my guided 224 to 336g of carbs daily.

metamorphosis

Ok lets move on shall we? Thing about the internet is that tone can be easily picked up on wrong. having CC post here for years, he gets to the pont but no offense is intended, that's generally the posting style of many users here. Anyway, back on topic to stuff to help!

Have yo read the stickies threads at the top of this forum?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055157091

and

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055963342

These should be of help

What calorie count are you aiming for a day?

What split in terms of macro-nutrients?

If you are going low carb, you need to up your fats, what kind of level of the days calories are you aiming for from fat?

Personally I am on a keto diet at the moment, and am aiming for ~ 1900kcals a day, with a 55,5,40 split between fat, carbs and protein.

Carbs from brown bread = carbs from white bread
Fruits high in fructose = carbs

You need to figure out a way to work out your food. For me I think of it like a budget.

I have to eat ~1900kcals, which must consist of foods that match the ratios I have above, I plan meals for a day or two in advance. It is difficult at the start to get into the habit, and be carefully measuring everything, but it won't take too long for it to become second nature.

Resi12

Resi12 wrote: »

Saying that though I was always under my guided 224 to 336g of carbs daily.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Are you a marathon runner?

Resi12

Deleted User wrote: »

What calorie count are you aiming for a day?

What split in terms of macro-nutrients?

If you are going low carb, you need to up your fats, what kind of level of the days calories are you aiming for from fat?

Personally I am on a keto diet at the moment, and am aiming for ~ 1900kcals a day, with a 55,5,40 split between fat, carbs and protein.

Carbs from brown bread = carbs from white bread
Fruits high in fructose = carbs

You need to figure out a way to work out your food. For me I think of it like a budget.

I have to eat ~1900kcals, which must consist of foods that match the ratios I have above, I plan meals for a day or two in advance. It is difficult at the start to get into the habit, and be carefully measuring everything, but it won't take too long for it to become second nature.

1,000 to 1,500 I think is fine and is roughly what I have been at now since I started. I think that's fine so it's surprising for people to say I should eat more..

Why do people keep mentioning low carb? I'm no going or on that diet at all, I am simply trying to lose weight by lowering my intake on junk and increasing nutrition. I'm not trying to cut out one thing or any of that. Personally I think I would lose interest on diets like that.

See that's not me at all/doesn't appeal to me. I don't want my diet to become that big, I just want to clean it up a bit.

Deleted User wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Are you a marathon runner?

I KNEW THAT WAS TOO MUCH! Thank God I wasn't aiming to reach it and have never anyway! Stupid website! :mad:

How much should I be aiming for, 80-100 max?

Resi12

Resi12 wrote: »

I am still worried I am eating too many carbs

Resi12 wrote: »

Crazy from carbs!

Resi12 wrote: »

I'm not even on a low carb diet so I have no idea where you got thay from.

THAT'S where they got it from. Your whole thread is called carbs.

Eat more veg and protein and no more waffles and you'll be doing better

1,000 to 1,500 kcals is very low imo.

Do you know your maintenance intake? If you're aiming to kill yourself, eating way below maintenance is a good way of doing it, if you're aiming to get trim, take 500kcals off maintenance a day as a general rule.

Resi12

Resi12 wrote: »

How much should I be aiming for, 80-100 max?

Depends on about 30 different questions.

What are your goals?
What is your current weight?
Height?
Body Fat %?
Activity level?
Dedication?
What is your ideal weight?
Ideal Bodyfat %?
Do you have time to make X meals from scratch a week?
Do you eat out?
Do you do any resistance training?
Do you do any HITT?
Do you do a lot of steady state cardio? (brisk walks etc)

etc etc etc

For the most part, people eat far too many unnecessary carbs. But by how much, and when, and how is different for everyone.

EDIT: Also, if you are serious about losing weight / "toning" up (sic) then this is a must read
http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/training-articles/this-is-silly-an-outlook-on-training-part-1/

Lifting weights will make the process exponentially faster btw.

Ice.

Deleted User wrote: »

Resi12 wrote: »

Saying that though I was always under my guided 224 to 336g of carbs daily.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Are you a marathon runner?

You wouldn't be much of a marathoner on that many carbs. I usually consume a minimum of 800g of carbs per day and I don't do a massive amount of exercise either nor am I overweight.

Ice.

Ice. wrote: »

You wouldn't be much of a marathoner on that many carbs. I usually consume a minimum of 800g of carbs per day and I don't do a massive amount of exercise either nor am I overweight.

Carbohydrates: 1 gram = 4 calories

so 3,200 kcals before you have any fat and protein?

Ice.

Deleted User wrote: »

Carbohydrates: 1 gram = 4 calories

so 3,200 kcals before you have any fat and protein?

All natural foods contain carbs, fats and proteins, so yes I easily eat that many calories per day.

Ice.

Ice. wrote: »

All natural foods contain carbs, fats and proteins, so yes I easily eat that many calories per day.

Firstly how can you be eating 3.2k Kcals from carbs alone and not be either
1 - Way overeating on kcals when considering your calories from fats and proteins?
2 - Way undereating protein and/or fats?

Secondly, would you recommend such a diet as a suggestion for the OP? If not, why are you posting here?

Ice.

Deleted User wrote: »

Firstly how can you be eating 3.2k Kcals from carbs alone and not be either
1 - Way overeating on kcals when considering your calories from fats and proteins?
2 - Way undereating protein and/or fats?

I eat that many kcals because I don't restrict my calories. If you eat enough calories you will get enough carbs, fats and proteins.

Deleted User wrote: »

Secondly, would you recommend such a diet as a suggestion for the OP?

I'd recommend such a diet for everybody

Deleted User wrote: »

If not, why are you posting here?

To offer an opinion. Thats still allowed isn't it?

So an unrestricted calorie diet is your recommendation for someone who is obviously trying to lose weight?

Stop trolling

Ice.

Deleted User wrote: »

So an unrestricted calorie diet is your recommendation for someone who is obviously trying to lose weight?

Depends what you mean by unrestricted diet?

What I mean when I say no restrictions on calorie intake is... Fruits and vegetables with the addition of some nuts and seeds. That's it.

I lost my excess weight this way and I no longer have a weight problem.

Deleted User wrote: »

Stop trolling

So it's trolling now if you don't understand what some else is saying?

there is no way the OP could lose weight by eating 3.2k kcals a day from any source.

Ice.

Deleted User wrote: »

there is no way the OP could lose weight by eating 3.2k kcals a day from any source.

I did.

The OP eats so little now that I'm surprised they can function properly at all TBH.

The Big Red Button

Ice. wrote: »

What I mean when I say no restrictions on calorie intake is... Fruits and vegetables with the addition of some nuts and seeds. That's it.

I'm curious. You must be eating some massive quantities of fruit, veg, nuts and seeds to make up 3,200+ calories including a "minimum" of 800g carbs each day! What would a typical day's diet be for you, to make up all of this?

Ice.

chatterpillar wrote: »

I'm curious. You must be eating some massive quantities of fruit, veg, nuts and seeds to make up 3,200+ calories including a "minimum" of 800g carbs each day! What would a typical day's diet be for you, to make up all of this?

Well, yesterday for instance, I had..
20 Bananas and 500g of dates split between breakfast and lunch. For dinner I had a big salad consisting of a head of romaine lettuce, 1 sweet pepper, a cucumber and a brazil nut. I also made a dressing for the salad out of a cup of freshly squeezed OJ and some of the dates I had. Blended them up.

According to cronometer all that weighed in at 3796kcals. Carbs made up 972.2g.

you did in your ****e

and if you are eating like that, good luck to you.

Nowhere near enough protein or fat.
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/5128/carbs.png

No satiation, no enjoyment, sounds like torture tbh.

Ice.

Deleted User wrote: »

you did in your ****e

and if you are eating like that, good luck to you.

I did and I need no luck.

Deleted User wrote: »

Nowhere near enough protein or fat.
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/5128/carbs.png

No satiation, no enjoyment, sounds like torture tbh.

I keep both protein and fat to 10% or less of total calories consumed. I assure you I am fully satiated and quite enjoy my food. I am never tempted to eat stuff I don't want to and unlike a lot of other people I don't need any cheat days to stay on track.

Why do you keep protein or fat to a minimum?

What are you trying to do to yourself?

Ice.

Deleted User wrote: »

Why do you keep protein or fat to a minimum?

Because I don't need any more than 10% of total calories of each.

Deleted User wrote: »

What are you trying to do to yourself?

Maintain my good health.

EileenG

Ice, can I suggest that you keep detailed food records of all you eat, and your general health? If you can maintain this long term, you are likely to overturn conventional nutritional wisdom.

Ice.

EileenG wrote: »

Ice, can I suggest that you keep detailed food records of all you eat, and your general health? If you can maintain this long term, you are likely to overturn conventional nutritional wisdom.

I've been eating this way for a number of years now. I use cronometer to make sure I'm eating enough and also to track my nutrient intake etc. But diet is just one part of the overall picture. Sure it's a big part but so is making sure you get enough sleep, do some exercise and make sure you're hydrated properly. It's all linked. Most people make the mistake of focusing on just one part of the jigsaw at the expense of the bigger picture.

El_Dangeroso

Oh Ice, I've really come to enjoy your hilarious posts. I think I might have some kind of internet-based Stockholm syndrome.

How come no one else has figured this out, why isn't everyone else just eating 30 bananas a day? It's so simple! Why doesn't everyone do it? Is it the meat and dairy industry I wonder, they're so clever, getting every single healthy population on the planet to eat some animal foods. How do they do it? My guess is hypnosis.

Ice.

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Oh Ice, I've really come to enjoy your hilarious posts.

And I yours.

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I think I might have some kind of internet-based Stockholm syndrome.

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

How come no one else has figured this out, why isn't everyone else just eating 30 bananas a day? It's so simple! Why doesn't everyone do it? Is it the meat and dairy industry I wonder, they're so clever, getting every single healthy population on the planet to eat some animal foods. How do they do it? My guess is hypnosis.

Lol. You sound like you are having caffeine withdrawals! On second thoughts this image came to mind...

El_Dangeroso

Ice. wrote: »

Lol. You sound like you are having caffeine withdrawals! On second thoughts this image came to mind...

Man, I really miss being a zealot. You don't have to face anything that doesn't fit with your world view.

BTW, I'm intolerant to caffeine.

Ice.

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Man, I really miss being a zealot. You don't have to face anything that doesn't fit with your world view.

Resi12

Ahhh right..

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I kinda got all anxious from this thread and beat myself up and fell off the wagon so to speak. I thought I was doing things right but apparently not?

Starting tomorrow I'm getting back into the swing of things, can people please tell me tips? I'm new to all this, my old diet is disgusting and full of carbs and junk. I try so hard to get protein and cut down on carbs but besides eggs and fish I am kinda stumped how to get it in there which is what this thread was about in the first place. As for carbs.. growing up they were a staple and only now do I realise how bad they are, so what is the best replacement? I know I should have some still.

I'm sick of being so big, I want to be happy again and I haven't been in a fcuking long time. I went shopping in Zara recently and I literally had to ask for the biggest size in everything, which they didn't have thus killing my perfect outfit someone skinny could have worn! Sorry for the attitude, I just binged and feel like sh!te over it.. Tomorrow's a new day though and with that I hope to really get back into the swing of it all, Jillian Michaels 20 minute kicking my ass video and 7km fast walk inclusive.

sorry for the formatting of this, but something I sent to someone recently, might help you.

A lot of general diety information for you to peruse.

First things first, losing weight is a very straightforward mathematical computation.
IF Calories in < Calories Out => Weight goes down

That’s it, if you want to lose weight, just eat less than you do. It’s really that simple on the “base” level.
But most people are beyond brutal at figuring out what they’re eating, and what portions they are eating. I use an app on my phone called mynetdiary that records everything I eat, I mean everything, if I have a handful of nuts; they go in the app, if I have a glass of orange juice; they go in the app. There’s a free version that I use and its more than fine. There’s an online resource that is similar at www.fitday.com, its free, and Use it. Be brutally honest for at least 3 weeks, see what you’re putting into your body. Weigh everything, don’t take shortcuts, it took a long time to put weight on, it will take a long time to take the weight off.

Don’t be drastic, you will fail.

Trying to eat 800 Kcals when your body needs 2200 per day to survive is a bad idea. All your body tries its hardest to do is stay alive, if you are undereating, it will store all energy as fat, and you will be incredibly tired all the time. If however, you maintain a healthy calorie deficit of 400-600 kcals a day, whilst doing resistance training, your body will be forced to expend calories on growth and repair instead of production of fat stores.

Find your maintenance calories. This is what your body requires to maintain the weight it is now. Take 500 kcals away from it, and this is your budget for calories for the day. Ignore what you imagine you burn off from walking, from cycling and from lifting weights, you will overestimate them, no doubt about it. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm will tell you what you should be aiming for.

A 500kcal deficit a day is 3.5k deficit a week, that is roughly 1lb of weight lost a week. If you do not train, you will lose muscle as well as fat. If you train, you will maintain muscle, and accelerate fat loss.

Girls are afraid of lifting weights because they think they will get muscle and look like men. They won’t. Your body does not produce testosterone, you don’t react to weight lifting as men do. Women body builders take testosterone in order to bulk up. As an aside, ask anyone who’s ever tried to put on weight how they managed it, to put on muscle, you have to eat like a small army and lift the heaviest things you can as often as you can. It is incredibly difficult to put on muscle, and almost impossible on a calorie deficit. You won’t see major strength gains unless you are on a calorie surplus, but maintaining muscle while on a “cut” is exactly all you need to be doing, and all that most girls want to do.

From today, eat “clean”, clean means that you don’t eat anything you haven’t made yourself. Throw out any bread, biscuits, crackers etc. Use the food pyramid I sent you yesterday.http://www.nymedicalnutrition.com/images/revisedfoodpyramid_big.jpg Meals should be simple, and satiating. Protein with every meal is essential. Protein and fat will fill you up and reduce your appetite as they regulate the blood sugar levels and insulin production in your body. The first 5/6 days that you stop eating 200g of carbohydrates a day, and let your body get back in control of its energy patterns are tough. I got run down, and had no energy at all. This is normal, and lasts 2/3 days, do not cave in at this stage.

Start to understand the composition of what you are eating, fitday and any proper decent dietary counter app will be crazy beneficial for this. You want to get most of your calories from proteins and good fats, and very few if any calories from carbohydrate. Your body only needs carbohydrate to replace the glycogen in your muscles after training, that is it. So take that to heart, only eat any meals that have a decent portion of carbohydrate directly after training. There is no need to have carbs at all otherwise.

Resistance training is essential, there is no point in doing slow walks, brisk walks, a jog etc, these only tire muscle and slow growth and repair. You need to be lifting weights, and not for a long time, but do heavy enough weights that you are struggling with the exercises. Training that takes longer than 70minutes is bad for fat loss, you want to absolutely push yourself as hard as you possibly can for a short time, this will cause your body to react by trying to make you stronger, and focusing on muscle repair. There are several essential exercises that I do, that I would recommend you do, but you should not try them unless you have someone to watch you and guide you through them. They are the Squat, the Bench Press, the Deadlift, the Inverted Row, the Overhead Press. That’s 5 exercises that you can use to exercise your whole body. The important part with each of them is form. In order of importance for your body to succeed, consider this
Form >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Weight >>>>>> Reps.

If you are squatting with perfect form, and are squatting the heaviest weight that you can manage 2 reps on, that is far far far far far better for you than doing a half arsed set of 4 with a heavier weight and not completing the full range of motion. Watch the how to’s on youtube, practise them with a broomstick, and then when you’re at the gym, ask someone to make sure you’re doing them properly. Start with an empty bar for every exercise. You will struggle because they are difficult lifts, but you want them to be difficult. After you master the form, you’ll want to be lifting a tiny incremental increase with every gym session, this will prevent your body settling and neglecting repairing muscle. A lot of these exercises can be done with kettlebells, but you will find that you will reach a point where you stall with the kettlebells, because you can’t go from a 30kg bell to a 35kg bell, but if you’d been using a bar, you could’ve gone 30 – 31 – 32.5 – 34 – 35 over a few sessions instead. Stalling for a length of time means your body goes back into the mode of conserving energy, you don’t want this.

You need to start using your head about how you eat, you have a budget of each macro-nutrient that you can consume a day, so plan how you’re going to do this while getting enough calories. Look at what you have been eating on the WW diet and see how this doesn’t fit into what I’ve said above, think about this, “Why would WW want to make anyone not fat? They are returning customers, if they succeed, they don’t come back, and WW loses money”. What kind of business plan tries to get rid of customers?

It's not exactly correct, there's a few things that are "what I think and not what I can prove", but the overall message is simple

To lose weight
Eat less, do more

To lose fat
Eat less carbs, do more heavy lifting, and don’t waste time

musicfood

Resi12 wrote: »

Ahhh right..

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I kinda got all anxious from this thread and beat myself up and fell off the wagon so to speak. I thought I was doing things right but apparently not?

Starting tomorrow I'm getting back into the swing of things, can people please tell me tips? I'm new to all this, my old diet is disgusting and full of carbs and junk. I try so hard to get protein and cut down on carbs but besides eggs and fish I am kinda stumped how to get it in there which is what this thread was about in the first place. As for carbs.. growing up they were a staple and only now do I realise how bad they are, so what is the best replacement? I know I should have some still.

I'm sick of being so big, I want to be happy again and I haven't been in a fcuking long time. I went shopping in Zara recently and I literally had to ask for the biggest size in everything, which they didn't have thus killing my perfect outfit someone skinny could have worn! Sorry for the attitude, I just binged and feel like sh!te over it..

Hi Resi,
Some parts of your post jumped out at me - it's clear that you really want to change for the sake of your overall health and wellbeing. Perhaps this is what you should focus on. In my experience, drastically cutting down on junky carbs and processed food, and replacing them with natural (and MUCH tastier) natural food is the way to go. This way, you'll immediately FEEL a lot better, which will enable you to continue with a healthy eating plan, and pretty quickly you'll LOOK a lot better too. And the happy circle continues!

The thing is though, you have to be honest about what will actually work for you. Sure, people here (rightly) say: eat eggs every morning! But if you're more likely to rush and eat on the go, have some apples (or whatever handy fruit you like) and a few slices of cheese, handful of nuts, or whatever, in the kitchen that you can just grab as you leave.

Be realistic about what your weaknesses are. Do you crave chocolate in work in the afternoon? Or are you so wrecked in the evening that a big carby dinner is just what you want, followed by a snack later on perhaps? If you know that you're always going to eat something junky and calorific at a certain time (nothing wrong with that at first, if everything else is OK), then just try to compensate for that later - cook a smaller dinner, or do a bit of exercise maybe.

There's a lot more I could say http://b-static.net/vbulletin/images/smilies/wink.gif but, in my own experience, you've got to really figure out what your body needs and craves. This can be disconcerting at first, as you might discover you love oily salmon and broccoli with lots of supposedly 'bad' real butter and a fair bit of salt, but keep with it; it's a lot better for you than unsatisfying 'low-fat' pre-packaged and processed muck.

Good luck!

ETA: hope I don't come across as condescending or anything; I used to be overweight and it took a few years to figure out what to do, so just want to help others too

Resi12

Thank you! That article is great, so basically I am going to join a gym. I wasn't doing much weight lifting and though maybe I didn't need too but it's obvious I do.

I think they have a trainer/nutritionist there as well so I may see their services just so I can go about things right.

@musicfood, thanks a million. I do have cravings but I guess I just have to ween them off for now and replace them with something better. Not condescending at all, don't worry!

dellas1979

Hi resi, the only thinkgthats been working for me is weight lifting and eating low carb and have lost almost a stone in about 4-5 weeks. I wont lie, it has been difficult, and nearly one day a week I will fall off the wagon (drinks/dinner out etc had a chicken kebab the other day, and loved it rather than wolfing it down because why not) but I allow myself that day, and if I can, Ill go for a healthier option (think steak but without the creamy sauce, but with maybe a couple of chips).

I completely changed the way I eat. But my motivation was that I was hungry all the time and didnt feel well. Every morning for the last 4-5 weeks I have gotton my arse out of bed and made my breakfast. Go to the gym. Drink lots of water. Ive never eaten so much veg and fruit (mainly raw carrotts, apples, strawberries-I ate a whole punnet today!). I still occasionally eat brown bread and brown rice.

I found that the hardest part was organising myself - I have to decide/plan today what I am going to have for dinner tomorrow, you know? A lot of cooking involved, but you get used to it.

I liken it to stopping smoking - you get to a place in your head/life where you just want to stop. So either you are not in that place yet (but want to be), or your organisation is wrong.