What am I doing wrong???

daenerysstormborn3

I have previously posted in the Health & Fitness forum about my quest to lose weight.

I am 15 stone and I joined the gym in August. I was there 7 weeks and noticed no change at all in my weight or the fit of my clothes so I decided to get one of the trainers there to do a program for me.

I started the program last Monday. The trainer told me I was doing too much cardio and no weights and that I wasn't eating enough.

I go to the gym 4-6 times a week (depending if I can go at the weekend as my boyfriend is setting up his own business at the moment and I help him out as much as I can, I also work full time) and I also walk my dog for an hour every evening.

My diet is clean and the trainer in the gym actually told me I am eating the right foods just not enough. This puzzled me but I just wanted to give his advice a proper go so that when I go back for my next weigh in (in 4 weeks time) that I can honestly say I took all of his advice and stuck to it.

Monday - Friday my diet looks like this:

Breakfast - porridge and honey

Pint glass of water

Breaktime - strawberry yoghurt

Pint glass of water

Lunch - Potato and spring onion soup and 2 small pieces of homemade brown bread with butter and a glass of mi wadi

Pint glass of water

Breaktime - banana

Dinner - chicken and garlic soup and 2 pieces of brown bread with butter

I don't eat white bread or white rice and I eat pasta and potatoes maybe 3-4 times a month. I drink lots of water and I drink only herbal teas. Some days I might have either plain rice cakes with my banana or a small bag of popcorn. My lunch varies between soup/salad/sandwich. The only sandwich I eat is chicken salad sandwich which is chicken, greens and onion. Soup can be anything from vegetable to thai chicken. Salad is usually a chicken caesar salad or just a plain chicken salad, both with loads of vegetables. My dinner is usually soup or a salad.

At the weekends my diet is a bit different. Breakfast is weetabix with a banana chopped up and some walnuts. Lunch is usually a hot sandwich/soup. Dinner a rice dish or meat, veg and potatoes. More often than not at the weekends I only eat my breakfast and my dinner as I don't have a lot of time.

I have cut all my portion sizes back as before I was terrible for loading up my plate. Since I started at the gym I have cut out junk and I haven't had a take away in 3 months.

I spend 2 hours in the gym 4-6 times a week and still I have seen no positive results. I push myself hard at the gym and I feel like I've done a tough workout when I'm there but I wonder should I be spending even more time there?

My friends and family have said that I've been working so hard at the gym and my diet but they can't see much difference.

I'm just wondering if anyone can make any suggestions about my diet.

The cost of the gym is a luxury for me and to continue paying for it when it is making no difference is something I cannot do.

pixiebean22

pixiebean22 wrote: »

I started the program last Monday. The trainer told me I was doing too much cardio and no weights and that I wasn't eating enough.

What a hero, so often you hear trainers giving the standard wrong lines, but this is fantastic.

You are eating next to no protein, and very limited fats.

Meals should be simple and satiating, check the nutrition101 sticky at the top of the page.

Breakfast - eggs with something
lunch - meat with veg
dinner - meat with veg

Meat is meat, go mad on it. It's got loads of things you need. Fish too.

Veg is brocolli, cauliflower, spinach, pak choi etc. Basically anything that's green and leafy will be of major assistance here. There's pretty much no need to count portion sizes of any of these, as they're filling, but with a low calorie density. Load the plate with them!

eating healthy isn't that difficult. Have a read of the sticky and then read the back of packets for a couple of weeks and you'll soon see for yourself what to avoid (rice cakes are essentially nutritionally devoid).

Talk to that trainer more, and follow his advice.

Hanley

Eat meat, nuts, seeds, vegatables, fruit, little starch and no sugar - that line is one of the few good things to come out of Crossfit.

You seem pretty serious about your training considering the steps you've gone to, so use this to get an idea how many kcals you should be consuming - http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

Join fitday.com and see how many kcals you're actually consuming.

Close the gap by eating what I said in the opening line. To lose weight each 15-20% under the formulas results. Give it 2 weeks, get 4-5x 45 to 90 minute training sessions in during the week, and if you calculate everything right, and stick to the numbers, there's no way you can go wrong.

daenerysstormborn3

Deleted User wrote: »

What a hero, so often you hear trainers giving the standard wrong lines, but this is fantastic.

You are eating next to no protein, and very limited fats.

Meals should be simple and satiating, check the nutrition101 sticky at the top of the page.

Breakfast - eggs with something
lunch - meat with veg
dinner - meat with veg

Meat is meat, go mad on it. It's got loads of things you need. Fish too.

Veg is brocolli, cauliflower, spinach, pak choi etc. Basically anything that's green and leafy will be of major assistance here. There's pretty much no need to count portion sizes of any of these, as they're filling, but with a low calorie density. Load the plate with them!

eating healthy isn't that difficult. Have a read of the sticky and then read the back of packets for a couple of weeks and you'll soon see for yourself what to avoid (rice cakes are essentially nutritionally devoid).

Talk to that trainer more, and follow his advice.

I'm allergic to eggs so they're out.

The only thing I can gather from your post is to stop eating rice cakes. I eat all the vegetables you have named in abundance when I have a salad which is usually once a day.

I eat chicken twice a day usually. What other source of protein could I have?

corkcomp

the diet looks a little sparse but I doubt you are in starvation mode like the trainer seems to be getting at. have you had a body fat test done? nothing wrong with cardio at all but you really need to push yourself hard or at least do different forms of cardio every day. You seem to be doing al the right things and unless your letting something out of your diet or eating huge portions im sure you will see results if you keep at it.

daenerysstormborn3

corkcomp wrote: »

the diet looks a little sparse but I doubt you are in starvation mode like the trainer seems to be getting at. have you had a body fat test done? nothing wrong with cardio at all but you really need to push yourself hard or at least do different forms of cardio every day. You seem to be doing al the right things and unless your letting something out of your diet or eating huge portions im sure you will see results if you keep at it.

I think he did a body fat test but he didn't show me the results. I had just been weighed for the first time in about 2 years (I normally measure myself by how my clothes feels) and he said he didn't want to bog me down with numbers and charts and for me to get preoccupied worrying about these.

Before I got the program I was doing 2 hours of cardio, 40 minutes on the treadmill running at level 7 (I am asthmatic and this was as high as I could go), 30 mins on the bike and then the rest of the time split between the cross trainer and the summit trainer. On my program my trainer has advised I do no less than 30 minutes of cardio so I do around 45 minutes - 1 hour depending on how much time the rest of my workout takes me - I'm still a bit slow trying to figure out the different weight machines etc. I also have shin splints due to a change in footwear so I haven't been able to do my usual burst on the treadmill. I also need to save up money to buy new trainers before I can get back on the treadmill as it is just far too painful.

pixiebean22

pixiebean22 wrote: »

I'm allergic to eggs so they're out.

The only thing I can gather from your post is to stop eating rice cakes. I eat all the vegetables you have named in abundance when I have a salad which is usually once a day.

I eat chicken twice a day usually. What other source of protein could I have?

turkey, fish, beef, pork, cheese, milk, nuts.

You want to have at least 1g of protein per kg you weigh per day.

Newaglish

pixiebean22 wrote: »

I'm allergic to eggs so they're out.

The only thing I can gather from your post is to stop eating rice cakes. I eat all the vegetables you have named in abundance when I have a salad which is usually once a day.

I eat chicken twice a day usually. What other source of protein could I have?

What's the story with all the soup? Is it homemade soup, packet soup or canteen soup?

If you're counting the chicken that's in the soup as once of your portions of protein, you're probably over-estimating. Any chicken soup I've had has been pretty sparsely populated with actual chicken.

Still though, if you're running a calorie deficit then no matter what you're eating you should theoretically lose weight. Have you tried keeping track of your calorie intake? There's plenty of websites that make that quite easy and some apps if you have a smartphone.

How often do you drink alcohol?

daenerysstormborn3

Deleted User wrote: »

turkey, fish, beef, pork, cheese, milk, nuts.

You want to have at least 1g of protein per kg you weigh per day.

Thanks for that, will have a look at how to get them into my diet.

Newaglish wrote: »

What's the story with all the soup? Is it homemade soup, packet soup or canteen soup?

If you're counting the chicken that's in the soup as once of your portions of protein, you're probably over-estimating. Any chicken soup I've had has been pretty sparsely populated with actual chicken.

Still though, if you're running a calorie deficit then no matter what you're eating you should theoretically lose weight. Have you tried keeping track of your calorie intake? There's plenty of websites that make that quite easy and some apps if you have a smartphone.

How often do you drink alcohol?

Is soup bad for you? It's homemade soup. I put in 1-2 fillets of chicken so maybe I'm wrong but i would count that as a portion of chicken

I haven't been keeping track of my calorie intake as i find it quite hard to measure things because I make nearly everything I eat myself. How are you supposed to know/measure how many calories is in a bowl of homemade soup loaded with veg and chicken etc.?

I drink alcohol once a month, sometimes twice and usually only have 4-5 drinks, usually spirits. I don't drink beer or wine.

corkcomp

while protein is very important, my honest opinion in this case is that drastically increasing your protein intake wont mean you start shedding pounds automatically, protein uses more calories to digest and is good at keeping you feel full etc but there is no other magic to it tbh.

Based on what you said, the alcohol and soup are defo not a problem, a chicken fillet in as good in homemade soup as eaten whole so no worries there.

daenerysstormborn3

corkcomp wrote: »

while protein is very important, my honest opinion in this case is that drastically increasing your protein intake wont mean you start shedding pounds automatically, protein uses more calories to digest and is good at keeping you feel full etc but there is no other magic to it tbh.

Based on what you said, the alcohol and soup are defo not a problem, a chicken fillet in as good in homemade soup as eaten whole so no worries there.

The low alcohol intake is just a happy accident. As I said in my OP my boyfriend is setting up his own business so aside from not having the time to go out drinking, we also don't have the money. Before I would have quite happily gone out 2-3 times a month but it's just pure coincidence that my lack of time/money has coincided with my joining the gym and changing my diet.

Hedman

pixiebean22 wrote: »

I haven't been keeping track of my calorie intake as i find it quite hard to measure things because I make nearly everything I eat myself. How are you supposed to know/measure how many calories is in a bowl of homemade soup loaded with veg and chicken etc.?

Weigh all the ingredients and, as Hanley said earlier, enter them on http://www.fitday.com/ to find out the kcals. Make sure you don't leave out things like oils or creams etc. Do this with everything you eat for 2 weeks or so and you'll get a better idea of where you are.

Newaglish

pixiebean22 wrote: »

Is soup bad for you? It's homemade soup. I put in 1-2 fillets of chicken so maybe I'm wrong but i would count that as a portion of chicken

No that's grand actually - just checking as I know a few of the secretaries in my office are on this bizarre soup diet but all the soup they eat is from a packet. A knorr quicksoup just-add-water chicken soup wouldn't count as a portion of chicken, for example!

It's quite hard to tell why you haven't lost weight because it seems reasonable but tracking your calories will highlight the problem pretty quickly. It's a bit of a pain but you only need to do it for a week or two and you'll see what your kcals and fats/proteins/carbs ratio is too.

daenerysstormborn3

Newaglish wrote: »

No that's grand actually - just checking as I know a few of the secretaries in my office are on this bizarre soup diet but all the soup they eat is from a packet. A knorr quicksoup just-add-water chicken soup wouldn't count as a portion of chicken, for example!

It's quite hard to tell why you haven't lost weight because it seems reasonable but tracking your calories will highlight the problem pretty quickly. It's a bit of a pain but you only need to do it for a week or two and you'll see what your kcals and fats/proteins/carbs ratio is too.

That stuff is disgusting anyway! It's actually easier for me to make a big container of soup every couple of days because all the ingredients can be bought at the local shop instead of having to go all of the way into town.

Yeah, I'm going to just try to weigh everything and keeping a note of everything and then see where I'm at.

Thanks for all of the advice.

Kimia

Hi OP. Fair play to you for doing all that in the gym, that's great will power. I would suggest cutting down on cardio and upping free weights.

As regards food, your diet looks very high in bread and carbs. You have an average of 4 slices of brown bread a day which is a lot. I would replace the bread with salad dressed with oil. I would also have the soup as a starter instead of the main meal.

I would snack on high fat stuff like nuts and cheese. Best of luck!

Susie_Q

Aye, no reason why you need 4 slices of bread a day. If you really want to lose weight, ditch the bread entirely. You'll be amazed at the difference it can make.

daenerysstormborn3

Kimia wrote: »

Hi OP. Fair play to you for doing all that in the gym, that's great will power. I would suggest cutting down on cardio and upping free weights.

As regards food, your diet looks very high in bread and carbs. You have an average of 4 slices of brown bread a day which is a lot. I would replace the bread with salad dressed with oil. I would also have the soup as a starter instead of the main meal.

I would snack on high fat stuff like nuts and cheese. Best of luck!

Susie_Q wrote: »

Aye, no reason why you need 4 slices of bread a day. If you really want to lose weight, ditch the bread entirely. You'll be amazed at the difference it can make.

I'm trying to stick strictly to the program the trainer in the gym gave me so that when the time comes for my weigh in then I know that I did exactly as he said and the results were x, y and z. If it doesn't work he said he will change it for me again.

The reason for all the bread (and soup) is because it's just so easy to make. I haven't had a lot of time the last couple of weekends to get to the supermarket to stock up on salad ingredients etc. but I always have flour etc. in the press so it's just been convenient really. I'm going to try to cut it down this weekend though.

Thanks

MrFrisp

I have 2 different pieces that I found on the net here...


"So what happens when we chose to cardio ourselves to death for 1 hour or more a day while cutting our food intake in half? Well let's compare it to the campfire scenario. What happens to the flames of the campfire when you take half the wood out and point a strong gust of wind at the campfire? That's right you got it. Without fuel to sustain the fire, and a strong wind blowing on the flames, the fire will burn out. Bye, fat burn, hello slow metabolism.
Excessive cardio, like a hurricane wind, blows out the fat burning flame because it because the body's hormones to "bottom out" and metabolism goes south. This response is even more severe if you "go on a diet" and the same time. Some exercise (air) is necessary to burn fat, and weight training with accessory cardio accomplishes this. Most people fail because they focus on burning calories. Who cares about burning calories? We want to burn fat'not calories."


With the piece below here,,it's by "James Duigan".....I have his book...Makes for fab reading,,and everything makes so much sense..

It's working for Us here...


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2039574/Rosie-Huntington-Whiteleys-personal-trainer-lose-weight-fast-NO-diet.html




.

boomtown84

Fab reading that is not!

MrFrisp

boomtown84 wrote: »

Fab reading that is not!

James Duigan's book is fab.....And it works....

I won't name it here,as I don't want to be advertising it for free.

The piece on the link above is only extracts from it..

And by the way I mean "Fab",,is that it works.




.

metamorphosis

I am sorry bu as an endurance athlete, I can pretty much put that to pot. If one + hour is excessive cardio leading to huge cortisol overload release, then give me a gun and shoot me!!

Good example of little knowledge been a bad and very mis informing thing.

corkcomp

metamorphosis wrote: »

I am sorry bu as an endurance athlete, I can pretty much put that to pot. If one + hour is excessive cardio leading to huge cortisol overload release, then give me a gun and shoot me!!

Good example of little knowledge been a bad and very mis informing thing.

well said

Dannyboy83

.

daenerysstormborn3

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

You're on the right track so far, but you're diet is atrocious for losing weight. (not your fault, but now you can fix it)

If you want to lose weight, you need to keep insulin as flat as possible.
Insulin prevents fat burning.
Every time you eat carbs, you spike your insulin and stop fat burning.

This will give you the general jist:
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_nutrition/carbohydrate_tolerance_frontline_fat_loss



Too much cardio = no such thing really as long as your diet is appropriate
No weights = this is bad. Fix this.

If you want to get the weight off quickly, then
A) 45mins AM cardio every morning on an empty stomach, including weekends.
45mins weight training, 4 days per week
C) 45mins PM cardio, after weights, 4 days per week

At 15 stone, most of the weight will fcuking fall off you, provided your diet is correct.



This is plenty.
The reason you haven't lost weight is not because of your lack of exercise, it's because your diet is designed for keeping fat, not losing it.


Clean but devoid of protein & healthy fat & overloaded with carbs.
It's a wonder you haven't gained fat on that diet.

Forget about the past now tho, just concentrate on the future.
With the right diet, the weight will fall off you.
Check out Olya Haidner for inspiration:
http://www.simplyshredded.com/fit-mom-cover-model-fitness-athlete-olya-haidner-talks-with-simplyshredded-com.html



Is he/she fat?



If you want to lose fat - then you're gonna have to totally change your diet.
It's 100% Carbs.




FACEPALM!
I can't believe the gym instructor told you this is ok!
Christ! What a moron!




Forget about the cost of the gym! Working your ass off for no results is much more soul destroying!!

As I said, forget about the past, just focus on the future now.


Here is an example of what your diet should look like:

Friday to Wednesday (Protein + Fat)
MEAL #1
2 whole (OMEGA-3) Eggs + 1 scoop of Low carb protein powder in water
Fibre Supplement

MEAL #2
6oz turkey mince with 1oz cashew nuts, or almonds, or walnuts (vary the nuts, but almonds are best for your skin)

MEAL #3
1 scoop of Low carb protein powder in water with 1 tablespoon all natural peanut butter (Whole Earth Organic Peanut butter from Tesco is perfect)

MEAL #4
5oz salmon, swordfish, or RED MEAT with a green salad (no tomatoes, red peppers, or carrots) with 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil or Macadamia Nut Oil and vinegar

MEAL #5
Same as Meal#1 or 300g Low Fat Cottage Cheese (tesco)
Calcium Supplement


If you are hungry, then you can add as much brocolli or green beans to any of the meals you like.



THURSDAYS (Protein Only - no fat or cabs)

MEAL #1
2 scoops of Low carb protein powder in water
Fibre Supplement

MEAL #2
6oz turkey mince + brocolli

MEAL #3
2 scoop of Low carb protein powder in water

MEAL #4
5oz Smoked Haddock Fillets (oven baked) [Buy in Aldi]

MEAL #5
Same as Meal#1 or 300g Low Fat Cottage Cheese (tesco)
Calcium Supplement

==


There you go.

So Friday to Wednesday - six days per week, you eat protein + fat
Thursday - you eat protein only (this is called 'depletion')

==

Two final notes:
Every Friday night, you MUST swap Meal#5 for whatever you want.
It could be a big mac meal, it could be dinner with your partner, it could be a big bag of crisps. Whatever the hell you want basically, within reason.

Every Saturday night, drink 1 large glass of dry white wine before bed. Jacob's creek is ideal.

You must weigh yourself one day per week only.
That is every Sunday morning - after your cardio and shower.


=

Hope this helps.
Feel free to pm me if you would like more reading info.

While I appreciate the obvious effort you have put into your post I would just like to point out a few things.

As stated before I am allergic to eggs.

I also am allergic to red meat. I live on a serious budget as regards time and money so swordfish is out I'm afraid. I do include other fish (mainly salmon and tuna), the daily diet I posted is just an example, sometimes it differs and I have a salmon/tuna salad.

Also, I do not have the time to eat the 5 meals that you have specified per day. I work 9 -5.30 and I go straight to the gym from work, I do not get home until 8.30. I don't have the time or resources in work to prepare those kind of meals and I work in a very small town so I wouldn't even be able to go out and buy the majority of those things for lunch.

As stated before I don't drink wine. I am allergic to it, it causes me to wheeze and my throat to swell and that will certainly not help my gym activities.

I do not have enough time to go to the gym in the morning and the evening. As stated before my boyfriend has just opened his own business and any spare time i have is devoted to helping him. I also have a very energetic 2 year old great dane to walk for an hour every day.

And no, the gym trainer who provided me with my program is not fat.

Dannyboy83

.

Kadongy

Just a small thing: Some yoghurts can contain a surprisingly high amount of fat, as well as high sugar. Some are mixed with cream, and this is not always indicated outside of the ingredients. For example, I've seen "Greek youghurt", which isn't really Greek yoghurt at all, but just normal yoghurt with heavy cream in it.

daenerysstormborn3

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

No problem, just substitute whey protein or lean meat.

Just use fatty fish instead, e.g. Salmon

Who doesn't? Are you going to let that stop you?

Eating as I've listed is cheaper than what you think.
€35 per week max I would say.

I agree it's more expensive to eat healthy than to eat junk.
You save thousands in the long run on hospital bills tho, plus lead a much happier life.

Salmon is perfect
Tuna in oil is perfect.

The diet plan I've posted is a guide.
It's up to you to make the substitutions that suit you.
You are the one who wants to lose the weight after all, right?

You are supposed to eat in work. (do you not get lunch breaks?)

The reason I listed 5 meals, is because you listed 5 meals in your sample diet.
Now you're confusing me

TBH tho, I manage to fit in 7 meals per day and I'm going from 7am to 10pm every weekday. I guess if you want it bad enough, you'll find time.

You don't prepare them in work.
You prepare them at home, in advance.
You can cook nearly everything on a Sunday evening and refrigerate it.

you wouldn't do that anyway
A. too expensive
b. filled with salt and sugar

That's fine, the wine is there simply to act as a diuretic before you're weigh in. Water retention is a side effect of rapid fat loss, particularly in females (due to oestrogen).
A large shot of vodka will suffice.

You have further options here if alcohol is a no go:
http://www.leangains.com/2010/01/how-to-deal-with-water-retention-part_28.html

You don't need to go to the gym in the morning.
Get up early like the rest of us and take your dog for a brisk walk, 45mins

Walking that great dane is your cardio.

Sorry but I can't help with the boyfriend.
I guess you should focus on how happy he will be when he sees your results.

If you are happy with the way you are, then maybe you should just cancel the gym membership?

I get the feeling that you didn't agree with anything I said, which is fine, but........You said you wanted to lose weight, but then it was - I can't do this, I won't do this, I can't do that.

Don't take this as me telling you what to do, that is not the case.
I'm merely offering you experienced advice.

If what you are doing now is working, then perhaps stick to that?
Or else cancel the gym membership?

Sorry, but if getting in shape was easy, then we'd all be walking around with 6packs.
It takes hard work and sacrifice. There is no other way to do it.

You seem to have inferred a certain tone from what I've typed I was merely outlining my own personal circumstances so as to gain some alternative suggestions from you.

I get one lunch break but I eat one meal on my lunch break.

Fair play to you that you can fit in 7 meals between 7am and 10pm.


The 5 meals that I listed are simple things that can be eaten very quickly. A banana can be scoffed while on the move (which is generally what I have to do).

Yes, I know I prepare the meals at home. I was referring to having to re-heat anything.

You said to do a 45min cardio every morning, I assumed you meant at the gym. I know walking my dog is my cardio

The rest of your post has me confused.
I don't understand what you are trying to imply with the comment about my boyfriend? Nor the comment about "if I'm happy the way I am", clearly I am not and that is why I have joined a gym and made guided changes to my diet.

When did I make throwaway comments such as "I can't do this, I won't do this, I can't do that" without providing an understandable and reasonable explanation which for some reason you seem to have taken issue with?

I'm really confused by this comment "If what you are doing now is working, then perhaps stick to that? Or else cancel the gym membership?" - if what I am doing was working then why would I be asking for tips?

Yes, I know getting in shape takes hard work and sacrifice, again That is why I spend 2 hours at the gym and do an extra hour of cardio every day. When did I say I thought it would be easy and where in my posts did I imply that I didn't expect it to be such hard work??

Thanks for your advice all the same.

daenerysstormborn3

Kadongy wrote: »

Just a small thing: Some yoghurts can contain a surprisingly high amount of fat, as well as high sugar. Some are mixed with cream, and this is not always indicated outside of the ingredients. For example, I've seen "Greek youghurt", which isn't really Greek yoghurt at all, but just normal yoghurt with heavy cream in it.

I eat the Glenisk yoghurts, low fat and organic (according to the packaging) so I'm assuming they're a little better for me than lets say, petit filous anyway :P Thanks

pixiebean22

pixiebean22 wrote: »

I eat the Glenisk yoghurts, low fat and organic (according to the packaging) so I'm assuming they're a little better for me than lets say, petit filous anyway :P Thanks

don't assume, read and learn. You only need to take 5/6 pieces of information off a packet to know exactly what's in it, and if it's appropriate to eat.

SteelyDanJalapeno

OP,

The last few posts are making out that weightloss is some long forgotten secret, at the end of the day a diet clean of sugar and wheat mainly will have you lose weight. Your diet does look pretty good already, as some posters have pointed out you might be eating some of the wrong things to maintain weightloss i.e. that banana will give you a sugar spike and should probably be cut out. But definitely sign up to fitday.com log your food intake for the next few days aim for about 90 - 100g of Protein per day, based on your current weight, whatever other intake thats left should be mainly fats and some carbs ideally from green veg.

On the Gym, Burn those muscles! Can you Squat? Push up? Lunge? lift dumbbells? start with at least some of these, push your muscles to near pain, weight training wont be the same as cardio, your not looking to do 100 dumb bell curls at a light weight, its much more affective to increase the weight to where your arm cant lift any longer than 10 repetitions without a rest, try repeat this 3 times, same goes for most other basic weight training. Note this is only a rough guideline, if you have a PT you should already know this.

Good luck OP

daenerysstormborn3

Deleted User wrote: »

don't assume, read and learn. You only need to take 5/6 pieces of information off a packet to know exactly what's in it, and if it's appropriate to eat.

Sorry, I didn't word my post very well, I meant I have read the packaging and it all looks good to me so I assume it's better than a petit filous as i would imagine they are not as nutritious.

TiltedBrain wrote: »

OP,

The last few posts are making out that weightloss is some long forgotten secret, at the end of the day a diet clean of sugar and wheat mainly will have you lose weight. Your diet does look pretty good already, as some posters have pointed out you might be eating some of the wrong things to maintain weightloss i.e. that banana will give you a sugar spike and should probably be cut out. But definitely sign up to fitday.com log your food intake for the next few days aim for about 90 - 100g of Protein per day, based on your current weight, whatever other intake thats left should be mainly fats and some carbs ideally from green veg.

On the Gym, Burn those muscles! Can you Squat? Push up? Lunge? lift dumbbells? start with at least some of these, push your muscles to near pain, weight training wont e the same as cardio, your not looking to do 100 dumb bell curls at a light weight, its much more affective to increase the weight to where your arm cant lift any longer than 10 repetitions without a rest, try repeat this 3 times, same goes for most other basic weight training. Note this is only a rough guideline, if you have a PT you should already know this.

Good luck OP

I'm lifting 4kg weights at the moment, hoping to move up to 6kg on Monday as I feel I'm ready. Any of the weight machines I use at the gym I lift 20-30kg depending on whether it's my legs or my arms. I don't have great upper body strength (but I'm working on that) whereas my legs are very strong from when i used to cycle everywhere when I lived in Dublin. Yeah, I do 4 sets of 12 reps and it was a struggle to complete the reps when I started my program (last week) but this week, especially today I feel like I was able to complete it without a struggle so I'm going to up the weight on Monday.

A PT? I assume you mean personal trainer, nope, don't have one, way too expensive! Just relying on a few moments here and there with whatever trainer in the gym is free and hoping they know their stuff.

I will sign up with one of those calorie tracker sites, I suppose it's handy to see your overall intake of protein v fat v carbs etc. for the day.

Thanks

pixiebean22

pixiebean22 wrote: »

Sorry, I didn't word my post very well, I meant I have read the packaging and it all looks good to me so I assume it's better than a petit filous as i would imagine they are not as nutritious.

Just on this, an abundance of "low fat" yoghurt and other low fat foods are sugar laden.

Sugar is an absolutely killer when it comes to trying to keep eating habits in check, keep energy levels in check, and keeping fat burning alive and well. Avoid the **** out of Sugar tbh, especially when you can replace it easy enough with some good fats.

Full fat natural yoghurt is probably more use to someone trying to keep the scales heading downwards than "low fat" yoghurt

re: weight lifting, I don't think there's much point in aiming for a high rep programme, using a lower rep, bigger weight (while ensuring perfect form) will be better for you. Keep between 5 to 8 reps on all exercises, and lift as much as you can while keeping the form exactly right.

daenerysstormborn3

Deleted User wrote: »

Just on this, an abundance of "low fat" yoghurt and other low fat foods are sugar laden.

Sugar is an absolutely killer when it comes to trying to keep eating habits in check, keep energy levels in check, and keeping fat burning alive and well. Avoid the **** out of Sugar tbh, especially when you can replace it easy enough with some good fats.

Full fat natural yoghurt is probably more use to someone trying to keep the scales heading downwards than "low fat" yoghurt

re: weight lifting, I don't think there's much point in aiming for a high rep programme, using a lower rep, bigger weight (while ensuring perfect form) will be better for you. Keep between 5 to 8 reps on all exercises, and lift as much as you can while keeping the form exactly right.

Okay, on the Glenisk yoghurts per 125g pot you've got 111cal, 6g protein, 17.3g carbs (15g of which is sugar), 2g fat - good or bad?

The other yoghurts I eat are Glenilen Farm yoghurts (not often, as they are quite expensive), per 100g pot you've got 87cal, 3.2g protein, 12.9 carbs (12.9g is sugar), fat 2.5g - good or bad?

I suppose if I cut out my banana and replace it with something a bit more balanced, the yoghurt is my only source of sugar?

Okay so lower the reps but increase the weight?

Gummy Panda

pixiebean22 wrote: »

Okay, on the Glenisk yoghurts per 125g pot you've got 111cal, 6g protein, 17.3g carbs (15g of which is sugar), 2g fat - good or bad?

Bad to be honest. Try Lidl for their greek yoghurt tubs. Cheap and good iirc.

There is some good simple advise in this thread and I'd advise you to follow it and not get too bogged down in eating 5-7 meals a day in some complex meal plan.

Just focus on the basics, have fun in the gym and just enjoy what you're doing.

pixiebean22

pixiebean22 wrote: »

Okay, on the Glenisk yoghurts per 125g pot you've got 111cal, 6g protein, 17.3g carbs (15g of which is sugar), 2g fat - good or bad?

The other yoghurts I eat are Glenilen Farm yoghurts (not often, as they are quite expensive), per 100g pot you've got 87cal, 3.2g protein, 12.9 carbs (12.9g is sugar), fat 2.5g - good or bad?

I suppose if I cut out my banana and replace it with something a bit more balanced, the yoghurt is my only source of sugar?

Okay so lower the reps but increase the weight?

They're both pretty heavy on the sugar side of the carbs: protein: fats ratio. I'd avoid both to be honest, but the first seems to be least bad.

And yes, a good mix of "lifting heavy" and cardio (whatever you enjoy doing that requires movement) is ideal for shifting a bit of excess.

There's an awful lot of information in this thread, probably far too much to be honest. I'll condense it somewhat, and as you get the hang of things, you can work on some aspects in a more indepth sense.

1 - eat less calories than you expend. Use a calorie tracker like www.fitday.com to see how much you are eating. Find your Maintenance Calories here http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm and take 300-500 away from it and aim for that per day.
2 - Try get most of your calories from proteins and healthy fats
3 - Exercise more to ensure that your body focuses on preserving muscles and not fat stores as you start to restrict calorie intake. Lifting heavy things (with perfect form - takes practise and supervision) and mixing this with cardio exercise is ideal for the purpose.

4 - and most important, be disciplined, but be fair. If you have a slice of cake at a nephew's birthday party, don't sweat it, but don't let it become a regular thing.

5 - Enjoy losing weight. You will start to feel like a different person within 6 weeks. It's exhilerating and addictive to feel yourself becoming more like the picture you have of yourself in your head. Always focus on your goals, plot your path, and get there!

Good luck

daenerysstormborn3

Deleted User wrote: »

They're both pretty heavy on the sugar side of the carbs: protein: fats ratio. I'd avoid both to be honest, but the first seems to be least bad.

And yes, a good mix of "lifting heavy" and cardio (whatever you enjoy doing that requires movement) is ideal for shifting a bit of excess.

There's an awful lot of information in this thread, probably far too much to be honest. I'll condense it somewhat, and as you get the hang of things, you can work on some aspects in a more indepth sense.

1 - eat less calories than you expend. Use a calorie tracker like www.fitday.com to see how much you are eating. Find your Maintenance Calories here http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm and take 300-500 away from it and aim for that per day.
2 - Try get most of your calories from proteins and healthy fats
3 - Exercise more to ensure that your body focuses on preserving muscles and not fat stores as you start to restrict calorie intake. Lifting heavy things (with perfect form - takes practise and supervision) and mixing this with cardio exercise is ideal for the purpose.

4 - and most important, be disciplined, but be fair. If you have a slice of cake at a nephew's birthday party, don't sweat it, but don't let it become a regular thing.

5 - Enjoy losing weight. You will start to feel like a different person within 6 weeks. It's exhilerating and addictive to feel yourself becoming more like the picture you have of yourself in your head. Always focus on your goals, plot your path, and get there!

Good luck

Thanks for that, makes sense.

That calculator gives me 2,534 cals for maintenance, 2,027 cals for weight loss, 1,672 cals for extreme weight loss, I assume I want to be erring on the side of extreme weight loss for what I want now (which is to lose 2-3 stone).

pixiebean22

pixiebean22 wrote: »

Thanks for that, makes sense.

That calculator gives me 2,534 cals for maintenance, 2,027 cals for weight loss, 1,672 cals for extreme weight loss, I assume I want to be erring on the side of extreme weight loss for what I want now (which is to lose 2-3 stone).

absolutely not. Extreme weight loss is a terrible description.

Aim for 2k calories. Recalibrate every couple of months.

Slow and steady means a manageable diet, no mood swings and consistent progress. Extreme diets are a surefire way of making you hate the process, feel inadequate, and get really annoyed when the results fluctuate from week to week. Not to mention being insane for most people to attempt without proper medical supervision.

daenerysstormborn3

Deleted User wrote: »

absolutely not. Extreme weight loss is a terrible description.

Aim for 2k calories. Recalibrate every couple of months.

Slow and steady means a manageable diet, no mood swings and consistent progress. Extreme diets are a surefire way of making you hate the process, feel inadequate, and get really annoyed when the results fluctuate from week to week. Not to mention being insane for most people to attempt without proper medical supervision.

Ah okay, glad i asked:) thanks

Dannyboy83

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Dannyboy83

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cofy

OP what has worked for best for me is looking at what I am eating and the time I am eating it. I know you have already looked at this. I get up at 7am get children ready for school, I am weak when it comes to high calorie foods so I eat them in the morning, lunch not so high calorie and after 6pm only raw vegies and fruit (after 6pm is strict). I notice that you work out in the morning so this may work for you too.

Dannyboy83

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Orla K

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

Start with 2000 calories per day.
You can calculate it here:
http://www.swole.me/



Gonna try to make this brief and easy to understand

FAT LOSS
=========
There are two prequisites for fat loss.
(Judging by a lot of the information on this forum, it is a long forgotten secret)

1.The first prequisite is Calorie Balance.
2.The second prequisite is Homoronal environment.

1. Calorie Balance:
In order to lose weight, you must consume less calories than you expend.

You BMR is 2,534 (seems very high for a woman but anyway)
To lose weight you have to eat less than this figure per day.

Here comes the maths:
There are 3,500 calories in a pound.
A calorie defect of 500 per day = 1lb per week.
A 45min cardio session will burn 500 calories = 1lb per week
4 x 45min cardio sessions, after weights, will burn pure fat.

So if you eat 2000 calories per day, do 45mins morning cardio (walking the dog), 45mins weights 4 times per week and a 45min cardio session after the weights 4 times per week.

You should be expecting to lose 3lbs of fat per week (minimum)

I'm oversimplifying this, but you get the jist


2. Hormonal environment
Most important are Insulin and Glucagon.
To burn fat, you want minimal insulin and maximal Glucagon.
This is easy to attain

No carbs = no insulin
Eating protein = increases Glucagon & Growth Hormone

Every time you eat carbs, your insulin levels surge.
Insulin is a storage hormone.
It sends a message to brain which says - "turn off fat burning lads, we just got a new supply of food, we need to store it. Don't burn any of our reserve fuel (bodyfat), let's use the carbs instead!"


Don't forget that Irish people today, are survivors.
Survival of the fittest, from the various famines.
Sh*tty genetics for staying lean, great for surviving a famine tho!
(everyone who had good genetics for staying lean either died or emigrated)

So you body is highly efficient at storing fat.
Then you go and eat Carbs and Fat together in the same meal.

Insulin levels surge.
Fat gets rammed into your fat cells.
You get fatter.

BUT, if you eat protein and fat together when insulin levels are flat, there is no storage hormone (insulin) to store the fat.
The body is incredibly inefficient at storing fat - without - insulin!





Second most important are Testosterone and Oestrogen.
Fat Loss for women is much harder for women than for men.
Why?
Men have lots of testosterone (burns fat, adds muscle).
Women have very little, but have mainly oestrogen which (keeps fat for fertility)

Men eat saturated fat (eggs, beef) and they create testosterone.
Women cannot do this to any significant degree.
Instead, women have to lift weights & follow a high protein/low carb diet.

If you are scared about gaining muscle from lifting weights - after reading the above - you should understand that it's virtually impossible for a woman to naturally add significant amounts of muscle.

I know you mean well but with your posts but, you seem to be over complicating things. It's not going to help the op, I feel stressed reading your posts, I don't know how I'd feel about it if I was the op.



As for the op, look at what your eating I would agree with cutting back on the carbs and avoiding too much sugar. This will mean you need to eat more protein and good fats, concintrate on what you can eat rather than on what you can, I always find it easier when I do this. At the start record what you eat on one of the calorie counting websites.

As for your workout, I don't think you need to do any more or less at this point, get your eating better and then concintrate on what your spending your time doing. You seem to have alot going on in your life at the moment and while you have to change certain things don't get bogged down my them, it'll only stress you out and that won't help with weight loss.

So basicly concintrate on eating more protein and healthy fats, have fun(avoid stress), support your boyfriend and have fun helping starting up the new business. Read threads here as much as you can, you can learn alot from people here.

@Dannybhoy83

@Dannybhoy83, your posts are fantastic, and correct. But it's teaching Quantum Physics to a 1st year Science student.

OP needs general guidelines to learn and disciplines to engage, and will build block by block into eating correctly. Let her crawl before she can run!

daenerysstormborn3

Deleted User wrote: »

@Dannybhoy83, your posts are fantastic, and correct. But it's teaching Quantum Physics to a 1st year Science student.

OP needs general guidelines to learn and disciplines to engage, and will build block by block into eating correctly. Let her crawl before she can run!

Thank you. I'm not trying to sound defeatist but there's a big jump from cutting out junk food (which i have done) and eating cottage cheese and swordfish and drinking protein shakes.

Gummy Panda

pixiebean22 wrote: »

Deleted User wrote: »

@Dannybhoy83, your posts are fantastic, and correct. But it's teaching Quantum Physics to a 1st year Science student.

OP needs general guidelines to learn and disciplines to engage, and will build block by block into eating correctly. Let her crawl before she can run!

Thank you. I'm not trying to sound defeatist but there's a big jump from cutting out junk food (which i have done) and eating cottage cheese and swordfish and drinking protein shakes.

Best thing to do is get the basics right, keep a log and return after a few weeks. From there it can be tweaked more.

Dannyboy83

I've put a lot of effort into my answers, the OP hasn't even clicked thanks, not to mind respond to my posts.
I'll take that as a sign that she doesn't want to know!:rolleyes:
Good Luck anyway OP

@Dannybhoy83, your posts are fantastic, and correct. But it's teaching Quantum Physics to a 1st year Science student.

Cheers Emmet.
I don't agree with the complexity, but perhaps I've explained it poorly to be fair.
It's a little bit of effort at the start, granted. Then you can control your weight for life tho.
Human reproduction is much more complicated! LOL

Orla K wrote: »

I know you mean well but with your posts but, you seem to be over complicating things. It's not going to help the op, I feel stressed reading your posts, I don't know how I'd feel about it if I was the op.

I'm a moderator on a UK bodybuilding forum, people from all walks, male & female, young and old, are able to grasp this with relative ease on a daily basis.
It's not complicated - but perhaps you are intimidated by the terminology?

I've written this many times already, but I'll reiterate it:
If you have ask questions about anything I've written, please do not hesitate to ask me. I am more than happy to explain it.

TBH, I'm a little frustrated so I'm unlikely to visit this forum again, so just drop me a PM if you have a question.

Good luck folks

daenerysstormborn3

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

I've put a lot of effort into my answers, the OP hasn't even clicked thanks, not to mind respond to my posts.
I'll take that as a sign that she doesn't want to know!:rolleyes:
Good Luck anyway OP

Cheers Emmet.
I don't agree with the complexity, but perhaps I've explained it poorly to be fair.
It's a little bit of effort at the start, granted. Then you can control your weight for life tho.
Human reproduction is much more complicated! LOL

I'm a moderator on a UK bodybuilding forum, people from all walks, male & female, young and old, are able to grasp this with relative ease on a daily basis.
It's not complicated - but perhaps you are intimidated by the terminology?

I've written this many times already, but I'll reiterate it:
If you have ask questions about anything I've written, please do not hesitate to ask me. I am more than happy to explain it.

TBH, I'm a little frustrated so I'm unlikely to visit this forum again, so just drop me a PM if you have a question.

Good luck folks

Given the length of your posts and the amount of information in them I was waiting until I had some time to read them but to be honest an attitude comes across in all of your posts that I'm a bit confused by.

You don't seem to have read any of my earlier posts (or if you did you don't seem to have taken the details into account when posting yourself) and you seem to have picked things other people have posted and then directed your responses to me.

To be honest your posts have just confused me more than anything.

As I said before I appreciate the effort you've put into your posts but I'd say that's about all I'll take away from what you've posted. The other posters have been clear and concise with the information they have provided.

Animord

Hi Pixiebean

I think maybe some people are being almost too helpful here for you... it's a bit of a nightmare to try and take in all that information - here's what worked for me (helped me lose about 2.5 - 3 stone). To start with I just cut out everything that contains either grains or sugar.

It is easy to remember and leaves you with a diet that should be high in vegetables, some fruit, lots of meat and fish. You can refine things as you go along obviously and as you learn what works for you. Personally I am very against anything that is labelled low fat - fat is what makes you feel full and when it is taken out of a product it is usually replaced with sugar (and worse!).

Best of luck.

Dannyboy83

pixiebean22 wrote: »

Given the length of your posts and the amount of information in them I was waiting until I had some time to read them but to be honest an attitude comes across in all of your posts that I'm a bit confused by.

When people spend hours of their free time voluntarily writing information to help you, it's a good idea to Thank them.

I guess you can't spell gratitude, without atitude.

As I said before I appreciate the effort you've put into your posts ......

But not enough to actually press the Thanks button, right?

To be honest your posts have just confused me more than anything.

Well, I'm sorry to hear that. I've cleaned up the thread.

I do genuinely hope you will get the excess weight off tho.
Good luck in your goals.



p.s. Orla K - I've asked a mod to delete your quote of my post in #post 43, but if they don't get a chance, could you remove the quoted part yourself please? Thank you

Sasquatch76

You've deleted your advice Dannyboy?

Did you wonder if maybe other people might benefit from reading it in future? After working so hard on your responses, it frankly seems churlish and petty that you would remove them now because someone didn't press the "thank you" button.