Little bit of help needed...or guidance.

Mr Dillinger

Hi all,
I'm a male in my late thirties and overweight. A few years ago I joined Motivation and had some success with it. Over about 7 or 8 months, I lost 35 kg, got down to 100 kg. I'm 6 ft tall so I could have lost a bit more but was happy enough with that. Nice to be able to buy regular clothes again and fell better about myself.

Over the last few years, what I had lost, I have put back on and a bit more. I decided recently that I'd had enough and it was time to get the weight down again. So a few weeks ago, I ditched the coca cola habit, the trips to the takeaway and the chocolate bars. Motivation were all about very little carbs and lots of protein, so I take it, that's the way to go again.

Daily routine.consists of the following;
730 - protein shake with skimmed milk
1030 - 2 pieces of grilled bacon and boiled egg

1330 - brown bread sandwich,no butter, chicken, lettuce, little grated cheese and some ballymaloe relish.

1830 -. Grilled chicken or steak, green salad or stir fry veg.

Plenty of water, maybe one or two cups of coffee every day. Don't drink much booze, maybe one night a month. Don't smoke. Getting in about an hours walking every second night, swimming at the weekend. Currently 143 kg. started about 3 weeks ago at 147.5

Any pointers or guidance would be very much appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Huggles

Wow well done and very good going.

My only advice is don't be afraid to have a treat every so often, your eating plan looks very intense to me, are you eating enough? I certainly couldn't keep it up long term. Also, set yourself some mini goals, make the first goal 140kg and aim for that. For me its all the little victories that add up to one massive goal that keeps me going.

Best of luck, keep going.

Mr Dillinger

Thanks for the reply Huggles,
little milestones are important. Regarding treats,too much crap got me here in the first place so Im just trying to stay away from that altogether.

Thanks again

Mr D.

Konata

Mr Dillinger wrote: »

Thanks for the reply Huggles,
little milestones are important. Regarding treats,too much crap got me here in the first place so Im just trying to stay away from that altogether.

Thanks again

Mr D.

The thing is though, if you deprive yourself of all the things you usually like to eat, the desire and cravings will just build up and you'll probably end up binging or falling off the wagon for a few days - which would be worse than a little bit of chocolate (or whatever you fancy) worked into your daily calories 2 or 3 times a week.

Now, you may have steel willpower but most people don't so it's just something to be aware of. If you find yourself really craving something, work a small portion of it into your daily calories. If you're afraid of eating too much, plan your exact portion, divide it out and then put away the rest. Don't leave the rest of the chocolate bar or pizza or whatever just sitting out - package it away and you're less likely to go back for more.

Anyway, that's digressing from your original question. I agree with Huggles - are you sure you're eating enough? According to this calculator, in order to maintain your current weight (activity level set at lowest btw), you'd need to eat 3217 calories a day. With a 20% deficit to see a weight loss of about 1.5lbs per week, you'd need to eat 2573 calories every day. It's important to not go too much below that every day or it'll start to affect your body - tiredness etc. Obviously, as you lose weight you'll have to eat less but starting out eating too little can be detrimental.

Again, you might be okay as I can't tell your portion sizes from what you've written but just at first glance it looks like you can probably safely eat a bit more.

Best of luck anyway! The foods you're eating look pretty good, just make sure they're in the right quantites

Mr Dillinger

Hey again,

Havent posted in a while so thought i'd check in. Thanks for the pointers above, im managing to stay on track. Today I was down to 136Kg, so its coming off slowly but surely.

I've had the odd treat and even the odd night out. I've added 2 weetabixto the breakfast as I think I wasnt eating enough in the morning. 135 is the next target, 5 Kg at a time is a good target to aim for.

again thanks for reading.

Mr D.

doctorwhogirl

Great to hear you're eating more, looked like very little food to me. You don't mention much in the way of fats in your food listed above so make sure you're getting healthy fats like oils and nuts in (along with the eggs you're having). Fats keep you fuller for longer and are generally delicious. They'll also get your cals up a bit if needed.

Dtp79

Mr Dillinger wrote: »

Hey again,

Havent posted in a while so thought i'd check in. Thanks for the pointers above, im managing to stay on track. Today I was down to 136Kg, so its coming off slowly but surely.

I've had the odd treat and even the odd night out. I've added 2 weetabixto the breakfast as I think I wasnt eating enough in the morning. 135 is the next target, 5 Kg at a time is a good target to aim for.

again thanks for reading.

Mr D.

OP have you ever considered adding in weight training? Cardio is all well and good, but when you finish your cardio session you stop burning calories. When you finish your weights session your body is burning calories for hours after

Mr Dillinger

Dtp79 wrote: »

OP have you ever considered adding in weight training? Cardio is all well and good, but when you finish your cardio session you stop burning calories. When you finish your weights session your body is burning calories for hours after

Hi Dtp79,

Thanks for reading, Hadnt considered weight training, my plan was to concentrate on getting the weight down by walking and swimming. I wouldnt know where to start with weights tbh. I'd be interested alright.

Mr D.

Dtp79

Mr Dillinger wrote: »

Hi Dtp79,

Thanks for reading, Hadnt considered weight training, my plan was to concentrate on getting the weight down by walking and swimming. I wouldnt know where to start with weights tbh. I'd be interested alright.

Mr D.

If your in any gym there will be instructors there to do out a plan that suits your needs and goals

looperman1000

+1 for the weight training for men and women looking to lose weight. It beats cardio hands down for me. Yes, burning calories long after cardio has stopped.
I would aim for weights 3 times a week, look at doing cardio a couple of times a week, and perhaps look at HIITs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training) for cardio, rather than LISS (Low intensity Steady State)

On nutrition side of things, id be mindful of blood sugar and insulin. You should get bread out of the diet totally, it really is no good.
Low fat milk, skimmed milk, again pushes insulin levels up. They take the fat out and replace with sugar. It's a no brainer. Use full fat milk instead.
Fry your foods in Kerrygold butter, or coconut oil, this will help get your healthy fats up. Plenty of greens, plenty of fibre.
Water intake, aim for 1 litre per 20kg bodyweight.
Supplements? Try and get fish/cod liver oil into your diet. Get a bodyfat test done to see what you are currently at.
If you are 20% bodyfat take 20g of fish oil daily for 2 weeks, then half it (10g) and continue to take daily.
Get a good portion of protein into your meals and it will keep you fuller for longer as someone pointed out earlier.
Snack on berries and nuts, in particular walnut, cashew or almond. Not salted or roasted peanuts, etc
Look for to try spices like cayenne pepper, chili powder, black pepper, on your foods. Green tea, dark chocolate over 75% if you have a sweet tooth. If you have a sweet tooth something that might help you, buy a small bottle of vanilla essence and sniff it anytime you have a craving! :-) try it. It works.

There's a small bit of advice from you my friend. Surround yourself with positive people and keep the momentum going, your doing great.
Seeing results spurs the momentum and hunger to win!

Transform

Mr Dillinger wrote: »

Hi all,
I'm a male in my late thirties and overweight. A few years ago I joined Motivation and had some success with it. Over about 7 or 8 months, I lost 35 kg, got down to 100 kg. I'm 6 ft tall so I could have lost a bit more but was happy enough with that. Nice to be able to buy regular clothes again and fell better about myself.

Over the last few years, what I had lost, I have put back on and a bit more. I decided recently that I'd had enough and it was time to get the weight down again. So a few weeks ago, I ditched the coca cola habit, the trips to the takeaway and the chocolate bars. Motivation were all about very little carbs and lots of protein, so I take it, that's the way to go again.

Daily routine.consists of the following;
730 - protein shake with skimmed milk
1030 - 2 pieces of grilled bacon and boiled egg

1330 - brown bread sandwich,no butter, chicken, lettuce, little grated cheese and some ballymaloe relish.

1830 -. Grilled chicken or steak, green salad or stir fry veg.

Plenty of water, maybe one or two cups of coffee every day. Don't drink much booze, maybe one night a month. Don't smoke. Getting in about an hours walking every second night, swimming at the weekend. Currently 143 kg. started about 3 weeks ago at 147.5

Any pointers or guidance would be very much appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Keep doing what you are currently doing for the following 6-12months until you hit about 100kg, THEN start getting more specific.

You don't need to do anything drastic at your current weight.

Mr Dillinger

Hi again guys.

Thanks to all who replied, advice and support is very much appreciated.

Was down to 129.5 kg yesterday, very pleased with the results. Keeping up the walking and healthy eating, very determined to keep on track.

thanks again all.

Mr D.

Mr Dillinger

Hey All,

Still keeping an eye on the Health and Fitness forum. Like reading the contributions and getting plenty of advice.

Im down to 115kg, still have a bit to go but its been pretty painless so far.

I dont feel right if I dont get out and do 1 hr or 1.5 hrs exercise a day. Its a completely new mindset for me.

Thanks to all for the contributions and encouragement.

All the best

Mr D.