Can light daily exercise help me lose weight?

[Mar]

I'm about 5'10", 200 pounds and I figured it's time to take some inches off the waist. I play floor hockey once a week and snowboard twice a month but it isn't doing anything for me, I still get winded walking up the stairs.

I know all types of things that would help this but I really hate exercising and I'm aware that physical activity needs to be balanced with a healthy diet but I'm specifically looking for a couple of answers here to whether or not some easy things could help me.

I read online that a 15 minute jog every day can be quite helpful as long as you're not shovelling food into your face afterwards. I figured I can do 7 minutes down the road and 7 minutes back every day, so will this actually take an inch or two off the waist? What about 100 sit ups or push ups every day? What about using that stupid Wii Fit thing? Can any of these simple things take an inch or two off the waist? I'm not looking to get super fit, just want to fit into some pants. Two years ago I was 175.......now this and my hair is falling out, it's like my body is slowly committing suicide.

Part of the reason I'm asking this is from all those contraptions that claim 20 minutes a day will help you look like Joanne Mcleod. Seems phony.

[max_boost]

Hiit

Google it

/thread

[ReflexFX]

If you're really only willing to dedicate 15 mins of your day to slim down, then no. Just that alone shows your level of commitment to losing weight...

$0.02

[klumsy_tumbler]

Honestly, it would probably be good to sign up for some fitness classes or something... Something like that to get you in a gym (or arena, or pool, or whatever you choose) and get you familiar with the environment and appropriate exercises. It's also more motivating if you have scheduled classes to attend (no opportunity for "I'll do it later"...), plus you've paid for it :P

Once you can find something you actually have fun doing, then it wont be such a chore. Like ReflexFX said, only 15min/day really wont do much except slow down your current negative trend.

[chathamf]

I think the biggest thing realize here is that 20 minutes of light activity is better then none at all. If anything maybe it will just ne the beginning. 20 mins could turn into 30 and light activiry may turn into moderate or hard.

Its all about starting somewhere and if you really want to lose weight and be healthy you will enjoy it and want to do better. If you hate exercise a good diet can do wonders with no exercise at all. I assume you like to eat as well though so it comes down to what's worse dieting or exercise? I personally like exercise but find it hard to do on a regular basis so my approach is exercise when I can and eat decent when I can and it creates a happy medium.

Just start somewhere and you will feel better and all of a sudden you will strive to do what it takes to feel better and better.

[KRyn]

Don't waste your time with any physical activity. I would focus all of your efforts on your poor eating habits that have made you over weight. Once you understand and are able to control what and how much you are eating I would look into adding some other weight lose options.

[JRSC00LUDE]

Originally posted by Mar
Part of the reason I'm asking this is from all those contraptions that claim 20 minutes a day will help you look like Joanne Mcleod. Seems phony.

I have no idea why on earth you want to look like a 57 year old woman.....

What you need to do is change your attitude towards exercise because honestly, it's all downhill from here if you're over 30 and already naturally progressing towards being out of shape. You can buck up and get back into fit and healthy shape or you can prepare for an ever downward spiral of both. Seriously.

Exercise doesn't have to be a chore, you just have to find something you will enjoy doing. That may take some time but, once you do, it won't be hard to start making progress.

Good luck!

[sputnik]

Originally posted by KRyn
Don't waste your time with any physical activity. I would focus all of your efforts on your poor eating habits that have made you over weight. Once you understand and are able to control what and how much you are eating I would look into adding some other weight lose options.

+1

[Cos]

.

[ExtraSlow]

You'll probably need a combination of improved eating habits and excersise.

A few years ago, I was 240, and I've made what I would consider pretty small changes.
- Cut pop almost completely out of my life. Maybe a can a week now, used to be several a day.
- Eat a good breakfast - I do yogurt with almonds, pumpkin seeds and steel cut oats. Eat something that has protein and digests slowly.
- Cut snacking way back, especially in the evening. I used to have a "bedtime" snack every single night. Now I usualy have nothing, or at most a slice of cheese with a glass of milk.
- Eat vegetables, often and plenty. This fills you up and has vitamins and shit in it.

I do about the same excersise as before honestly. virtually no cardio still, lol. I should probably look into that.

Still drink, a lot. still go for wing nights pretty regularly. Not really depriving myself of anything.

Anyway, I'm 205 now, looking to get to around 195. If I got a bit more excersise in I'm sure that's attainable. My progress has been slow, but that's because of the lazy approach I've taken. Someone more motivated could get my results much quicker.

[Tik-Tok]

I can only speak of what works for me, and 2000 cal per day intake, plus doing 20 minutes twice a day of HIIT works great. The key is to have a TV in front of you to watch netflix or something so you won't get bored.

[Dumbass17]

Speaking of HIIT, anyone got any formulas that work good for them, in terms of minutes of high and minutes of low intensity etc?

Last week I began doing 30mins of elliptical in the morning before work, 3x/week. I just use the machines interval setting (steep incline w/ high resistance for high intensity & medium incline w/ low resistance for low intensity) The machine does 2 mins of high intenisty, 2 mins low, repeat. Then I do 20mins of abs.
Anyways, I am thinking of trying the treadmill tomorrow, but I have a bad ankle and it likes to act up with impact exercises but I'll give it a shot.
Any thoughts of another cardio exercise I could do, and no, I won't do the bike, they bore me.
I don't know where I am going with this.:zzz:

[88CRX]

Originally posted by KRyn
Don't waste your time with any physical activity. I would focus all of your efforts on your poor eating habits that have made you over weight. Once you understand and are able to control what and how much you are eating I would look into adding some other weight lose options.

This.

Specifically do this: http://forums.beyond.ca/st/325343/rapid-fat-loss/

Dropped nearly 40 pounds last year over the course of 6-7 months by eating super healthy. No added exercise or activities that I wasn’t doing previously either. The low carb, high protein diet isn’t easy but seriously it’s not that hard. All you do is stuff your face with chicken, fish and veggies and the pounds will drop off.

[Mibz]

Originally posted by KRyn
Don't waste your time with any physical activity. I would focus all of your efforts on your poor eating habits that have made you over weight. Once you understand and are able to control what and how much you are eating I would look into adding some other weight lose options. This right here. I lost ~35lb from changing my eating habits, despite sitting down for 16 hours a day.

Also, I promise you that 15-30 minutes of exercise a day is still EXTREMELY easy to ignore if your head's not in it. Until you're mentally ready to do something about being fat, you're going to continue to be fat. That means doing whatever it takes, not doing the bare minimum.

[Laoz]

Originally posted by KRyn
Don't waste your time with any physical activity. I would focus all of your efforts on your poor eating habits that have made you over weight. Once you understand and are able to control what and how much you are eating I would look into adding some other weight lose options.

Yea, its pretty much calories in and calories out, you'll probably want to start keeping track of that too and try to stay under your limit.

[Ca_Silvia13]

Mar i am in the exact same boat as you. By changing my diet ONLY i dropped 10 pounds in 3 weeks, im hoping 20 mins/day cardio can take another 10 off.

Alot of negative responses in regards to doing 10-15 mins a day which in my opinion is BS. 10-15 mins a day as long as you get your heart moving and break a sweat your doing something right that will take pounds off, as long as you're eating proper.

[88CRX]

Originally posted by Ca_Silvia13
Mar i am in the exact same boat as you. By changing my diet ONLY i dropped 10 pounds in 3 weeks, im hoping 20 mins/day cardio can take another 10 off.

Alot of negative responses in regards to doing 10-15 mins a day which in my opinion is BS. 10-15 mins a day as long as you get your heart moving and break a sweat your doing something right that will take pounds off, as long as you're eating proper.

I don't think anyone is saying not to exercise 10-15 minutes a day... but you're kidding yourself if you think a 10 minutes walk a day (while still eating normal or poorly) is going to make any sort of noticeable difference on the scale.

[shadowz]

Originally posted by Mibz
This right here. I lost ~35lb from changing my eating habits, despite sitting down for 16 hours a day.

Also, I promise you that 15-30 minutes of exercise a day is still EXTREMELY easy to ignore if your head's not in it. Until you're mentally ready to do something about being fat, you're going to continue to be fat. That means doing whatever it takes, not doing the bare minimum.

Honestly it was fun working with Mibz, he had strictly told me he did not want to do any exercise, easily took 5 years off his face. Get a structured meal plan, not a diet, diets tend to revert back to poor eating habits

[Ca_Silvia13]

Originally posted by 88CRX


I don't think anyone is saying not to exercise 10-15 minutes a day... but you're kidding yourself if you think a 10 minutes walk a day (while still eating normal or poorly) is going to make any sort of noticeable difference on the scale.

I agree a walk isn't going to do shit. Gotta get that heart beating!!

[Mar]

Diet seems to be the unanimous decision here, maybe I'll lay out what I've been eating and see if I'm doing it wrong. I didn't think it was too bad.

Sunday:
Breakfast: bowl of Alphabits with 1% organic milk. I used to drink skim but my girlfriend's a doctor and she was telling me skim milk is terrible for you. Your body needs the fat in order to digest the lactose so if you drink skim milk, you're just putting pure lactose in your body and you can't digest it properly.
lunch: grande, no-whip, cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks. Again, not skim milk. And a carrot muffin my girlfriend baked with cinnamon bun icing on top.
supper: My girlfriend made nachos with those blue tortilla chips, lots of cheese, chives, tomatoes, ground turkey and jalapenos. And spicy salsa, everything we eat is very spicy, we love our hot sauces. And I had a big glass of 1% organic milk.

Additionally, we usually have a 1 hour session of Dr. Mario every night so I ate a Crispy Crunch chocolate bar while we played around 9pm. And 1 or 2 Lindt chocolates from the candy dish on the table next to me. And a glass of pineapple juice.

Monday:
breakfast: bowl of Alphabits with 1% organic milk. Also a grande, no-whip, cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks.
lunch: left over crab, shrimp and pasta dish from Costco. It was Saturday night's supper. It was a tupperware container about the size of my fist but it was packed in there pretty tight so it filled a small plate when it came out.
supper: My girlfriend made some sort of goulash rice thing with green onions and tomatoes in it. And lots of hot sauce. I had half a bowl and a big glass of 1% organic milk. And just before eating that I had 2 more of the carrot muffins she baked, she had been complaining that I wasn't eating them and asked if it was because I didn't like them. You know how it is if she bakes something, you better eat it.
Dr. Mario session snack: Another 1 or 2 Lindt chocolates from the dish around 9pm.

Today:
breakfast: bowl of Alphabits with 1% organic milk
lunch: grande, no-whip, cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks. I might go put some peanut butter on bread if I get hungry in the next hour or so but that's the extent of my cooking abilities. And of course another glass of milk.


My current exercise consists of getting out of bed, sitting on the couch for 16 hours and going back to bed. I work from home on my computer so I barely move at all. And I have an insane amount of work to do, I couldn't possibly dedicate an hour a day to exercise. Some people might have noticed I disappeared from this site for the last 2 years, that's because I had too much work to look at forums. And I still do, I pretty much have to work every minute I'm awake to get this done in time for launch.

I hate cooking, so much so that I won't even heat up a can of ravioli, I just eat it straight out of a cold can. I'm too lazy for a microwave. So before my girlfriend cooked for me I was sometimes not eating anything, or if I got hungry I'd drink a can of Coke, that would fill me up. I was at 3 cans of Coke per day for about 7 years straight and I was 20 pounds lighter because I wasn't eating as much. Now I drink maybe 1 can per month and the food I mentioned above, I somehow gained weight.

My indulgences include:
- Bolsa (Vietnamese) maybe twice a month.
- I was previously spending $300 a month on sushi as well but now it's a once a month treat since I'm not in that part of the city any more. I freaking love sushi.
- Pizza 73 once or twice a month. I refuse to eat take out food, this is about as close as I'll get.
- beer one night a week with my hockey team.

One thing I don't eat is pork, my girlfriend has an extreme pork allergy and gets violently sick if she comes in contact with it. So no pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon, anything like that. That also includes popsicles and gummy candy, they have pork fat in them. So I can't have any type of pork at all in the house at any time.

[firebane]

LOL! You complain about needing to lose weight and post up THAT diet? Holy man.

Can't tell if trolling or serious now.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by 88CRX


This.

Specifically do this: http://forums.beyond.ca/st/325343/rapid-fat-loss/

Dropped nearly 40 pounds last year over the course of 6-7 months by eating super healthy. No added exercise or activities that I wasn’t doing previously either. The low carb, high protein diet isn’t easy but seriously it’s not that hard. All you do is stuff your face with chicken, fish and veggies and the pounds will drop off. lol I was 160 when I posted that and now I am at 130. :nut:

[Mar]

Originally posted by firebane
LOL! You complain about needing to lose weight and post up THAT diet? Holy man.

Can't tell if trolling or serious now.
I got better things to do than mess with people I don't know on the internet. I'm being serious, is it that bad? Maybe I found the root of the problem. What do you eat?

[Mibz]

Originally posted by Mar
I didn't think it was too bad. You're wrong.

Step 1, stop eating chocolate and baked goods. Stop drinking lattes and juice.

Step 2, man the fuck up and learn how to bake chicken and boil/steam vegetables. If you can't learn to heat up your own food then, I'm sorry, but you're going to be fat forever.

My lunch today was 1/2 a baked chicken breast in some non-dairy curry and 1/3 Cup of edamame. I'll have the same thing again in an hour. Dinner will probably be a full chicken breast baked in some sort of soup and whatever green veg I feel like at the time. If I get super hungry before bed then I'll have some nuts or veggies. I drink water and tea, sans sugar.

When I was expressly trying to lose weight, I'd -only- eat food similar to the above. Now that I'm a healthy weight I eat more normally, but my choices are still healthier than when I was fat.

Except, you know, for things like Super Bowl where I eat an entire pizza and some cheesy breadsticks and a hojillion chips in buh_buh's wifes extraordinary dip.

[ExtraSlow]

Yep, your food intake is the problem. I'll bet you feel hungry for a lot of the day too.

Hell, even if you like cereal for breakfast, swap in some shreddies or mini wheats or something. Those aren't great, but a million times better than alpha-bits.

snack while gaming, vegetables. Snap peas, baby carrots, celery. That shit just disspears when I'm watching TV, and it's healthy as fuck.

[Dumbass17]

This has GOT to be a joke?!
I'm sorry but your diet is appalling.

I am on a diet right now for Mexico in March/post Xmas weight gain, so this is a bit extreme for myself, but even normal eating, I eat the following breakfast probably 5-6 days/week and dinner doesn't change much.

Breakfast: 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1cup water, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 cup of black coffee

Am snack: 6 small strawberries

Lunch: 1.5cups raw broccoli, 1.5 boneless/skinless plain chicken breasts with some pepper & lemon juice to add some flavour :P

Pm snack: small handful of almonds (like 20) or a handful of raw veggies (sliced bell peppers, cucumber, celery, carrots)

Pre-work out snack: 1/2cup oats cooked in 1cup water

Gym: Finish workout and enjoy protein shake with water

Dinner: Pre-cooked turkey breast shavings - Lilydale or something) Handful of mixed veggies. 4 asparagus pieces w/ 1 sliced mushrooms fried in a bit of coconut oil.

Bed.

REPEAT
Notes:
- If you want, you can add a pinch of cocoa and a tsp of peanut butter to the breakfast meal. Makes it hella delicious!
- You can add hummus and use it as a dip to your veggies, just in moderation (no ranch)
- If you still crave milk in your coffee, try almond milk. It's a way better option and it's expiry date is ages away. The taste might show your senses at first, but I don't remember the last time I had real milk haha
- Craving a late night snack? Have a protein shake, or carrots, or celery or apple instead of a cookie/sweet. Carrots are very filling and the last thing you want to do past 8pm is consume sugar or something fatty

Lastly, is your girlfriend...uhm...unskinny?

[KRyn]

I will just leave THIS (http://iifym.com/category/faq/) here...

[reiRei]

O_O

might be worth it to invest in a service that does cooking for you, I know here in Kelowna we have an online service that I can order paleo meals from for the week that you just heat up and eat.

Link here: http://www.sabretoothpaleofood.com/

I'm not sure if there is something like that in Calgary, but with a city of that size, I can't imagine it's not in the realm of possibility.

For working out, HIIT is a great way to train, but if you're not really fit it can be dangerous and you could injure yourself.

If you find working out at a gym boring, maybe try to find a sport that interests you, if you keep physical activity fun than it doesn't seem like a boring run or lifting heavy things only to put them down again.

[89coupe]

Originally posted by Mar
I'm about 5'10", 200 pounds and I figured it's time to take some inches off the waist. I play floor hockey once a week and snowboard twice a month but it isn't doing anything for me, I still get winded walking up the stairs.

I know all types of things that would help this but I really hate exercising and I'm aware that physical activity needs to be balanced with a healthy diet but I'm specifically looking for a couple of answers here to whether or not some easy things could help me.

I read online that a 15 minute jog every day can be quite helpful as long as you're not shovelling food into your face afterwards. I figured I can do 7 minutes down the road and 7 minutes back every day, so will this actually take an inch or two off the waist? What about 100 sit ups or push ups every day? What about using that stupid Wii Fit thing? Can any of these simple things take an inch or two off the waist? I'm not looking to get super fit, just want to fit into some pants. Two years ago I was 175.......now this and my hair is falling out, it's like my body is slowly committing suicide.

Part of the reason I'm asking this is from all those contraptions that claim 20 minutes a day will help you look like Joanne Mcleod. Seems phony.

30min a day will melt that fat away, as long as you are eating healthy.

[Mar]

Originally posted by Mibz
You're wrong.

Step 1, stop eating chocolate and baked goods. Stop drinking lattes and juice.

Step 2, man the fuck up and learn how to bake chicken and boil/steam vegetables. If you can't learn to heat up your own food then, I'm sorry, but you're going to be fat forever.


Noted. So how bad is Starbucks, isn't it just steamed milk and some coffee? And what about juice, what's bad about juice, the fructose?

[chathamf]

Originally posted by Mar
Diet seems to be the unanimous decision here, maybe I'll lay out what I've been eating and see if I'm doing it wrong. I didn't think it was too bad.

Sunday:
Breakfast: bowl of Alphabits with 1% organic milk. I used to drink skim but my girlfriend's a doctor and she was telling me skim milk is terrible for you. Your body needs the fat in order to digest the lactose so if you drink skim milk, you're just putting pure lactose in your body and you can't digest it properly.
lunch: grande, no-whip, cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks. Again, not skim milk. And a carrot muffin my girlfriend baked with cinnamon bun icing on top.
supper: My girlfriend made nachos with those blue tortilla chips, lots of cheese, chives, tomatoes, ground turkey and jalapenos. And spicy salsa, everything we eat is very spicy, we love our hot sauces. And I had a big glass of 1% organic milk.

Additionally, we usually have a 1 hour session of Dr. Mario every night so I ate a Crispy Crunch chocolate bar while we played around 9pm. And 1 or 2 Lindt chocolates from the candy dish on the table next to me. And a glass of pineapple juice.

Monday:
breakfast: bowl of Alphabits with 1% organic milk. Also a grande, no-whip, cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks.
lunch: left over crab, shrimp and pasta dish from Costco. It was Saturday night's supper. It was a tupperware container about the size of my fist but it was packed in there pretty tight so it filled a small plate when it came out.
supper: My girlfriend made some sort of goulash rice thing with green onions and tomatoes in it. And lots of hot sauce. I had half a bowl and a big glass of 1% organic milk. And just before eating that I had 2 more of the carrot muffins she baked, she had been complaining that I wasn't eating them and asked if it was because I didn't like them. You know how it is if she bakes something, you better eat it.
Dr. Mario session snack: Another 1 or 2 Lindt chocolates from the dish around 9pm.

Today:
breakfast: bowl of Alphabits with 1% organic milk
lunch: grande, no-whip, cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks. I might go put some peanut butter on bread if I get hungry in the next hour or so but that's the extent of my cooking abilities. And of course another glass of milk.


My current exercise consists of getting out of bed, sitting on the couch for 16 hours and going back to bed. I work from home on my computer so I barely move at all. And I have an insane amount of work to do, I couldn't possibly dedicate an hour a day to exercise. Some people might have noticed I disappeared from this site for the last 2 years, that's because I had too much work to look at forums. And I still do, I pretty much have to work every minute I'm awake to get this done in time for launch.

I hate cooking, so much so that I won't even heat up a can of ravioli, I just eat it straight out of a cold can. I'm too lazy for a microwave. So before my girlfriend cooked for me I was sometimes not eating anything, or if I got hungry I'd drink a can of Coke, that would fill me up. I was at 3 cans of Coke per day for about 7 years straight and I was 20 pounds lighter because I wasn't eating as much. Now I drink maybe 1 can per month and the food I mentioned above, I somehow gained weight.

My indulgences include:
- Bolsa (Vietnamese) maybe twice a month.
- I was previously spending $300 a month on sushi as well but now it's a once a month treat since I'm not in that part of the city any more. I freaking love sushi.
- Pizza 73 once or twice a month. I refuse to eat take out food, this is about as close as I'll get.
- beer one night a week with my hockey team.

One thing I don't eat is pork, my girlfriend has an extreme pork allergy and gets violently sick if she comes in contact with it. So no pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon, anything like that. That also includes popsicles and gummy candy, they have pork fat in them. So I can't have any type of pork at all in the house at any time.

Holy shit man you are living one hell of an unhealthy life bud. What are you working at that takes every single hour of your awake life? You need to at least give yourself time to warm up your chef ravioli lol. I would seriously think about making some major changes, because I think this lifestyle (physically and mentally) is what leads to health problems early in life.

[btimbit]

Your diet isn't as bad as people are making it out to be, some people here sound like a bunch of middle aged divorced housewives.

Few simple minor tweaks I'd make to it without sacrificing quality of life and resorting to eating nothing but oats and spinach:

-Replace the alpha-bits with a healthier cereal.

-Drink regular coffee instead of that latte thing. Black or if you don't like black then minimal milk and sugar.

-Learn to cook. This is huge. Don't need to be an all star chef but get some basics down. Just googling something you might like and following step by step is extremely simple.

-Find a healthier snack. Nothing wrong with the occasional chocolate but grab some bell peppers and a low fat dip or something instead.

If you do that you won't be shedding the pounds like crazy but you'll definitely feel more energetic and a few pounds will start to disappear. I lost 10lbs over the course of last year just by giving up fast food and pop. If you're just looking to lose a few you don't need to go too drastic.

A life where you can only eat chicken and vegetables isn't a life worth living, unless you really need to drop serious weight.

[Disoblige]

Yeah, when I worked out routinely every day, I used to eat a lot of meat, salmon, chicken, and green veggies like spinach, broccoli, bok choy, etc. I was full, but left unsatisfied.

I love carbs too much :D

Mar needs to set his priorities. Right now if he's too lazy to even heat up a can of ravioli in the microwave, then he's doomed. 3 cans of coke for 7 years straight? Jesus... :banghead:

[GQBalla]

too lose weight, eat less calories then your body needs.

with your diet it isn't TOO bad but you're getting a surplus period.

IMO slowly cut things out.

you don't necessarily need exercise to lose weight. You can change the way your body looks just with diet itself.

Cut out the milk and cereal. Have you seen how many calories are in milk? let alone cereal.

Drink nothing but water. Black Coffee if you need it.

just from that you will see a difference.

[chathamf]

Originally posted by btimbit
Your diet isn't as bad as people are making it out to be, some people here sound like a bunch of middle aged divorced housewives.

Few simple minor tweaks I'd make to it without sacrificing quality of life and resorting to eating nothing but oats and spinach:

-Replace the alpha-bits with a healthier cereal.

-Drink regular coffee instead of that latte thing. Black or if you don't like black then minimal milk and sugar.

-Learn to cook. This is huge. Don't need to be an all star chef but get some basics down. Just googling something you might like and following step by step is extremely simple.

-Find a healthier snack. Nothing wrong with the occasional chocolate but grab some bell peppers and a low fat dip or something instead.

If you do that you won't be shedding the pounds like crazy but you'll definitely feel more energetic and a few pounds will start to disappear. I lost 10lbs over the course of last year just by giving up fast food and pop. If you're just looking to lose a few you don't need to go too drastic.

A life where you can only eat chicken and vegetables isn't a life worth living, unless you really need to drop serious weight.

Yea you know what your right. I actually wasn't so alarmed about the diet, more so just how having to devote 16 hours a day to your work from home job must be really hard on your physical and mental health. I've definitely have seen people with worse diets, and have ate worse myself at certain stages of my life.

There are many little adjustments there that could drop the pounds off with ease. As he said the cereal change and the Starbucks change alone could see you a difference.

[shadowz]

Calories are one thing, however what you had posted for all your meals has no balance, what I mean by now balance is that it seems as if your intake consists of carbs and fat, with VERY little protein, if you balance it out between your meals per say 40% carbs, 35% protein and 25% fat with say 2-2200 cals a day you would probably notice a significant drop in weight after a couple weeks.

I would say your weight gain is mainly attributed to bad portions (macros), if you give it an even balance throughout the entire day or even per meal this would be a lot better. Trust me it is very easy for anyone to take in a boat load of carbs and fat. But having a solid balance between the three while staying within a certain caloric range will be a strong benefit

[max_boost]

Originally posted by Disoblige
Yeah, when I worked out routinely every day, I used to eat a lot of meat, salmon, chicken, and green veggies like spinach, broccoli, bok choy, etc. I was full, but left unsatisfied.

Yea I hated that feeling.

[sputnik]

You could probably lose 10 lbs just cutting a few things from your regular diet.

- Chocolate bars/balls. This one is a no brainer.

- Carrot muffins. Sure they SOUND healthy, but in reality they are probably 300-400 calories each and possibly higher depending on how big they are and how much frosting is on them.

- Alpha Bits. Change to Cheerios (plain or multigrain). Get something with at least 1-2g of dietary fibre per 100 calories.

- Juice. Most juice is just sugar and highly processed. If you want something sweet get some REAL apple juice/cider (should be cloudy and dark) and cut it with water.

- Switch from Starbucks lattes to drip coffee or Americanos. Going to tea would be even better.

You also might have to have a long talk with your wife about food as well. If she is a bit on the round side it might not be the best idea to eat what she is cooking for you. If she is going to cook for you, it is going to have to be a team effort.

Alton Brown (guy from Iron Chef/Good Eats) lost a bunch of weight recently. This is what he did.

uCrRJLXubMM

[suntan]

Listen to me.

Want to know why?

Because I went from 212lbs to 163lbs. 5"9', 15% BF (checked on West Rec's InBody machine).

Most of the later posts on here are just pure shit.

1) First off, we're going to assume that you burn about 2000 cals/day. I don't know how old you are so you should mention it because it does make a difference.

2) Let's assume you want to lose 1 lbs a week. That's around 3500 cals a week. Adjust as you see fit. So that's 500 cals a day you need to cut out.

3) Track your calories. Track your calories. Track your calories. Track your calories. Track your calories. I use MyFitnessPal.

4) Buy a scale. You drive a nice vehicle so therefore you should be able to afford a food scale. WEIGH your fucking food. Find out what a proper portion is. Pasta and rice will SHOCK YOU. Want to know what a serving of rice is? ONE FUCKING RICE PADDLE.

5) Eat what you want. Fuck this "alpha-bits suck" shit. The problem is that you eat too much. A reasonable portion is around 60 grams of cereal and one cup of milk. The organic shit doesn't do fuck all for weight. BUT YOU NEED TO EAT LESS!

6) Want to eat more? Exercise. You can eat back those calories. I recommend getting a HRM. But don't think you get a lot of cals from it. I run 5K in around 28 minutes and that gives me about 460 cals. Yippee.

[suntan]

Let's critique your diet:


Originally posted by Mar
Diet seems to be the unanimous decision here, maybe I'll lay out what I've been eating and see if I'm doing it wrong. I didn't think it was too bad.

Sunday:
[b]Breakfast: bowl of Alphabits with 1% organic milk. I used to drink skim but my girlfriend's a doctor and she was telling me skim milk is terrible for you. Your body needs the fat in order to digest the lactose so if you drink skim milk, you're just putting pure lactose in your body and you can't digest it properly.

120 grams = 480 cals
1.5 cups milk = 165 cals

= 645 cals for breakfast.


lunch: grande, no-whip, cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks. Again, not skim milk. And a carrot muffin my girlfriend baked with cinnamon bun icing on top.

HOLY FUCK.

260 cals for latte
muffin = 550 cals (conservative)
icing (WTF????) = 150 cals

= 960 cals for lunch (HOLY FUCK)



supper: My girlfriend made nachos with those blue tortilla chips, lots of cheese, chives, tomatoes, ground turkey and jalapenos. And spicy salsa, everything we eat is very spicy, we love our hot sauces. And I had a big glass of 1% organic milk.

HEART ATTACK LOOMING.

200 grams chips = 1040 cals. (The blue colour doesn't make it healthier!)
100 grams cheese = 400 cals.
60 grams ground turkey = 400 cals.

1840 cals for dinner (OMG).

Christ almighty I'll just stop there.

3445 cals for your three meals. I'm not even including your choco snacks.

EAT LESS!

BUT KNOW WHAT? YOU CAN EAT ALL THAT AND STILL LOSE WEIGHT!

Breakfast:

55 grams Alpha-bits = 220 cals.
1 cup 1% milk = 110 cals.

330 cals for breakfast.

Lunch:

Tall Nonfat NO WHIP Dolce Latte = 160 cals
Starbcks Carrot cake muffin = 370 cals

530 cals for lunch.

BUT MAYBE EAT SOMETHING WITH MORE NUTRITION!

Dinner:

50 grams tortilla chips = 260 cals
30 grams cheese = 120 cals
30 grams turkey = 200 cals

580 cals for dinner.

1440 cals for the whole day.

[msommers]

Lot of information has been covered already so I'll add something: Get yourself a good blender to make smoothies for breakfast. There is nothing easier than opening the fridge, throwing a bunch of shit in the blender and having a solid breakfast ready in seconds. I'm useless in the morning so it really helps. I throw a bunch of kale in there, plus whatever berries you like (in moderation). Kale tastes much better than spinach I find. Use water instead of juice. Well I use a bit of OJ for taste.

Your diet just sucks man. Bring almonds and carrot sticks to snack on. Mini-cucumbers are good too. Start drinking more water, cut up pieces of lemon in your water bottle.

Cut alcohol back majorly if you drink, however a glass of wine with dinner isn't going to kill you. I would cut beer though.

Dark chocolate such as one square a day is not bad either, get something with at minimum 70% cocoa. It'll probably taste like shit at first but even some 70% tastes kinda sweet to me. Don't chew it, let it melt. Makes it last longer.

The one thing that you notice once you start eating healthy is how fucking sweet everything else is. I had a juice box the other day for the first time in years and felt my face pucker lol.

Brewed black coffee is great for a pick me up but if it's too much, use a TINY bit of honey. Ironic I'm giving that advice since I'm on the Save-The-Bees crusade.

Hot sauce becomes your friend.

You're a grown up aren't you? How do you not know how to cook for yourself?!

Another tip, make meals in large sizes and then portion out lunches for the rest of the week, or even do the freezer thing depending on how much you've made.

[Mibz]

The problem with saying "Eat what you want, just eat less" is that healthy portions of unhealthy foods are ridiculously small. Nutritionally, yeah, you'll be fine, but you'll also be REALLY FUCKING HUNGRY all the time and it becomes very easy to just eat more of what you've already stocked your pantry with.

Like suntan said, tracking your food is one of the single biggest things you can do to help the mental game. It's so much easier to not eat something when you look at the back and see "30 carb per tiny ass serving". Looking at fast food nutritional calculators will blow your mind.


Originally posted by msommers
Hot sauce becomes your friend.

Another tip, make meals in large sizes and then portion out lunches for the rest of the week, or even do the freezer thing depending on how much you've made. These were both very true when I was dieting. Cooking once a week removed the excuse of "Oh, I've had a tiring day, I don't want to cook. MIGHT AS WELL ORDER A PIZZA"

[88CRX]

Originally posted by Mibz
Step 2, man the fuck up and learn how to bake chicken and boil/steam vegetables. If you can't learn to heat up your own food then, I'm sorry, but you're going to be fat forever.

You can probably lose weight by simply eating chicken and veggies for lunch every day. I know I can maintain my weight loss by just eating healthy breakfasts and lunches during the week. I try to keep dinner healthier (mostly by cooking it myself at home and not eating out) but the weekends usually end up a write off.

No chocolate, sugar, pop, beer, nachos, etc. And limit bread, rice, pasta and you'll be golden. Supplement that with some exercise and you will lose weight.

Give it the rapid fat loss a try for 2-3 weeks, follow it exactly and you will gain the motivation to continue on with eating healthier.

[suntan]

Originally posted by Mibz
The problem with saying "Eat what you want, just eat less" is that healthy portions of unhealthy foods are ridiculously small. Nutritionally, yeah, you'll be fine, but you'll also be REALLY FUCKING HUNGRY all the time and it becomes very easy to just eat more of what you've already stocked your pantry with.Anything carby is calorically dense.

Nuts are overrated. 100 grams of almonds is 576 cals! I eat macadamias for a snack sometimes. I count out five! It's around 15 grams.

[shakalaka]

Reading this thread made me download that 'Lose It' app. Let's see how that works. I am at 215 and would like to be around 190 while retaining the muscle I have and decreasing the fat. My life long dilemma. :(

[max_boost]

Abs for 2014. You can do it. :thumbsup:

[A790]

Originally posted by shakalaka
Reading this thread made me download that 'Lose It' app. Let's see how that works. I am at 215 and would like to be around 190 while retaining the muscle I have and decreasing the fat. My life long dilemma. :(

Taken from my FB note:

Hot damn, it's time to lay down the law for another year. This time, it's a cut that I'll be focusing on. I'm going to post my blueprint- feel free to copy it if you want :)

Throughout the year, without fail, a few people get on that topic of "weight loss". Well, to hell with weight loss, I say! Weight isn't your enemy, is it? Gentlemen, if you were 230 lbs, 10% body fat, and a 34" waist, is your weight still a problem for you? Ladies, if you were 200 lbs, 16% body fat, with a 26" waist, is your weight still a problem for you? Only the daft would say "yes". Don't be daft.

By virtue of the act of losing fat, you will also lose weight. It is inevitable. Unless you are overweight and your body is undergoing a recomposition (the generally-temporary byproduct of eating better and becoming more active), as you lose fat you will also lose weight.

For me, the focus has never been about my weight. I've been hovering between 220 and 230 for the last couple of years and I've decided that it'd be nice to be a little leaner for my upcoming wedding in May. I've spent the last 3 months focusing on building a strong muscular foundation so that when I inevitable shed some muscle tissue I will be able to maintain most of my strength.

Wheee... here we go.

FIRST, WHAT THE HELL IS LEANGAINS?

Long story short: LeanGains is a method of timing calorie/carb intake with intermittent fasting. My "eating window" is an 8 hour window, typically from 12 - 8. From 8:01 until 11:59 I do not eat anything containing calories.

Some people reading this may go "that's SO unhealthy for you". Nope, it isn't. Sorry. Practical example: I've been doing this (intermittent fasting) for the last two years. In the last two years I've been feeling great, my bloodwork overall as improved (lower cholesterol, etc.), and my lifts have been improving. Plus, I've put on a bunch of muscle. If you want an example that's a little more scientific and peer reviewed, I encourage you to Google it :)

Understand that your ancestors evolved in an environment where it was not uncommon to go 24-36 hours without food. Developing a consistent supply of food is a relatively recent change in an evolutionary scale.

So, the 16 hours per day where I don't take in food won't kill me. In fact, there are a whole bunch of things that take place during that time that are actually hugely beneficial with respect to fat loss, hence why I'm doing it (again, Google it). Also, I haven't been hungry in the morning in nearly two years. It's great :)

WHAT'S THE CUT LOOK LIKE?

To keep this section simple I'm going to focus on the following numbers:

BMR (Basal Metabolic rate - calories consumed per day, every day, if I simply laid in bed and did nothing else)
TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure - a more accurate reflection of caloric intake needed to maintain weight based on my lifestyle)
TDC (Training Day Calories - how many calories I budget for on a training day)
RDC (Rest Day Calories - how many calories I budget for on a rest day)

On rest days I will eat my BMR - 30%, <70g of carbs, >75 but

On training days I will eat my BMR + 10%, <400g of carbs but >300g, <60g of fat but >40g.

BMR - 2,220 calories
TDEE - 3,052 calories (based on hitting the gym 3x per week).

CALORIE/PROTEIN/CARB/FAT BREAKDOWN

TDC = 3,100 calories, 203g protein, 477g carbs, 71g fat (appx)

RDC = 2,130 calories, 203g protein, 83g carbs, 110g fat (appx)

EXPECTED RESULTS

Based on a net dificit of 3,800 calories per week I expect to lose 1.15lbs per week, of which .90lbs or so should be fat.

This should result in a total of approximately 18lbs lost in 4 months, of which 14.4lbs is fat and 3.6lbs is lean mass/muscle.

I will post my starting weight on January 1.

CLOSING COMMENTS

LeanGains makes it easy to follow a dietary program that isn't too restrictive. I won't need to make too many changes to my diet, and I'll still be able to enjoy Big Macs and whatnot every now and then.

See you on the other (leaner) side!

[A790]

I lost 7 lbs in January, strength remained unchanged. Still repping bench for 250 (x8), etc.

[scboss]

Invest all your time into nutrition and planning out your meals

For me the biggest thing that separates plateaus from results are

1. Nutrition
2. Sleep
3. Exercise

SCHEDULE your cardio into your day and SCHEDULE your meal prep. That way it gets done.

One bad meal is not gonna make you fat and one good meal is not gonna make you thin. A diet wont do shit. Preparation and consistency is gonna get you where you need to be

[shakalaka]

Originally posted by A790

Snip

Lol...my head is bloody spinning reading all that shit.

What does your diet look like? Are you able to post details? Like what you eat, at what times, in what quantity etc.

Perhaps that would make it easier for me to try and follow something. I do know that to look leaner (cut fat/no necessarily lose weight), I need more protein and less carb/fat. I try to eat 'healthy' like Subway, but I know even that isn't ideal with the carbs and all.

Then apps like 'Lose it', say how much calorie deficit you need but don't take into account the quality of the food. How did you track all this? Manage it with work? Get used to it? etc....

Thanks!

[The BMW Guy]

^ I can't imagine not eating breakfast, but to each their own.

In regards to Mar, at least you are taking the first step to getting healthier. Now instead of playing Dr. Mario for an hour, why not use that hour to plan out and make your meals or do some excercise before bed? Also, it should be noted that you shouldn't eat or drink sugary, high-carb food right before bed since your body will just store it instead of using it.

I just switched up my diet and lost about 16lbs (167lbs to 151lbs). Cut out pop, desserts, treats and no carbs at dinner (upped my protein and veggie intake instead). This was about 2-3 months ago. You WILL be hungry with the lower carb intake, but just drink more water or eat more healthier stuff instead. You will slowly see progress.

[firebane]

Originally posted by suntan
Anything carby is calorically dense.

Nuts are overrated. 100 grams of almonds is 576 cals! I eat macadamias for a snack sometimes. I count out five! It's around 15 grams.

BBQ Roasted Edamame Beans...

40g =
170 calories
21g carbs
10g protein

[Dumbass17]

and PLEASE don't be like a coworker of mine. She will go to one yoga session..and then drive to DQ for a blizzard because 'she deserves it'.

Reading this thread actually makes me congratulate myself. Haha, the better you eat, the better you look and feel :clap:

[mazdavirgin]

Originally posted by A790
Gentlemen, if you were 230 lbs, 10% body fat, and a 34&quot; waist, is your weight still a problem for you?

Well you are probably not natural at that point in time unless you are ... Considering thats ~210lbs of lean body mass.

[geoffreyjames]

Originally posted by Mar
Additionally, we usually have a 1 hour session of Dr. Mario every night ...

...And I have an insane amount of work to do, I couldn't possibly dedicate an hour a day to exercise.

Priorities...

[Disoblige]

Originally posted by Dumbass17
and PLEASE don't be like a coworker of mine. She will go to one yoga session..and then drive to DQ for a blizzard because 'she deserves it'.

Reading this thread actually makes me congratulate myself. Haha, the better you eat, the better you look and feel :clap:
How hot is she though? :rofl:

[Mar]

Originally posted by max_boost
Abs for 2014. You can do it. :thumbsup:

Get me back above a 90% user rating again and I'll show you abs!*

Lots of good information in here, I like the baby steps approaches people are mentioning, I know if I replace all my meals It'll happen pretty dramatically. I'm going to take some of the advice, cutting out Starbucks will be hard but I'll give it a trial run. I've had a latte every day for the last 4 years. I'll try greener or oranger snacks and better moderation.

For lunch today I had 4 slices of bread with peanut butter on them and a glass of water (before reading this).

I'm 32 years old.

My girlfriend is quite healthy (someone asked).


Originally posted by geoffreyjames


Priorities...
I see your point but it's some of the only time I get to sit down and spend time with her. That's what she likes to do. If I were to replace it with exercise I'd see her even less.



* No I won't.

[suntan]

32? Fuck man your flab will melt off. Fuck me I'm 40 so the BMR's starting to go down.

[suntan]

Originally posted by firebane


BBQ Roasted Edamame Beans...

40g =
170 calories
21g carbs
10g protein They're neither nuts nor carby :)

[A790]

Originally posted by shakalaka


Lol...my head is bloody spinning reading all that shit.

What does your diet look like? Are you able to post details? Like what you eat, at what times, in what quantity etc.

Perhaps that would make it easier for me to try and follow something. I do know that to look leaner (cut fat/no necessarily lose weight), I need more protein and less carb/fat. I try to eat 'healthy' like Subway, but I know even that isn't ideal with the carbs and all.

Then apps like 'Lose it', say how much calorie deficit you need but don't take into account the quality of the food. How did you track all this? Manage it with work? Get used to it? etc....

Thanks!
Lunch today:

2 x 7 oz chicken breast w/ pita bread, caesar salad, tomato. About 80g protein, 30g carbs, 8g fat.

Dinner:

1 x 12 oz talapia w/ 1 cup broccoli (cooked in 1 tbsp olive oil w/ garlic), 0.3 cup brown rice. About 72g protein, 38g carbs, 19g fat.

Generally on my low-carb days it's lean protein + vegetable, cooked in olive oil.

On higher carb days it's the same formula but with some rice/spaghetti squash/etc. added to the mix :)



Originally posted by mazdavirgin


Well you are probably not natural at that point in time unless you are ... Considering thats ~210lbs of lean body mass.
Very likely, but also not my point.

The point is that most people have an issue with FAT, not necessarily with WEIGHT. They aren't always the same thing.

[suntan]

Originally posted by Mar


Get me back above a 90% user rating again and I'll show you abs!*

Lots of good information in here, I like the baby steps approaches people are mentioning, I know if I replace all my meals It'll happen pretty dramatically. I'm going to take some of the advice, cutting out Starbucks will be hard but I'll give it a trial run. I've had a latte every day for the last 4 years. I'll try greener or oranger snacks and better moderation.

For lunch today I had 4 slices of bread with peanut butter on them and a glass of water (before reading this).

I'm 32 years old.

My girlfriend is quite healthy (someone asked).


I see your point but it's some of the only time I get to sit down and spend time with her. That's what she likes to do. If I were to replace it with exercise I'd see her even less.



* No I won't. You can still have latte, just get 1% tall!

Watch out for peanut butter, it's a killer for calories!

For fuck's sake eat some veggies at lunch! Carrots, tomatoes, snap peas, cauliflower, broccoli. It's VERY HARD to eat even 100 cals of veggies in one sitting!

[Mar]

Originally posted by suntan
You can still have latte, just get 1% tall!

Watch out for peanut butter, it's a killer for calories!

For fuck's sake eat some veggies at lunch! Carrots, tomatoes, snap peas, cauliflower, broccoli. It's VERY HARD to eat even 100 cals of veggies in one sitting!
Right, you did say I could have a tall, thanks for reminding me. Keep the suggestions coming. And A790 is right, I am more interested in fat loss than weight loss. And I'm just going for an inch or two for now, we'll see how that goes.

[reiRei]

Originally posted by Mar



I see your point but it's some of the only time I get to sit down and spend time with her. That's what she likes to do. If I were to replace it with exercise I'd see her even less.



* No I won't.

If your girlfriend is on the healthier side, maybe replace 1hr of dr. mario with other activities? (unless dr. mario is a euphemism for something else...)

There's lots of physical activities that you could do together that isn't sitting on the couch and playing video games, for example, you could go skating, play badminton, go for a run together.

[Cos]

.

[Unknown303]

Fuck coffee with crap in it. Learn to enjoy black coffee, green tea, rooibos tea etc. Virtually no calories consumed from it then.

And listen to everyone telling you to track calories. Sure it's informative but for me the fact that I'm tracking everything just naturally makes me eat less. and since you know you're going to be entering it into a program of some sort makes you reach for the things that are healthier.

[Redlined_8000]

Mar you have some good info going so far on this thread, so the biggest factor is to apply yourself and be consistent. I know you dont know how to cook and you hate cooking but you need to change that. Get an interest going for food and nutrition and learn it slowly. It can be a big learning curve for some people, but just be consistent and the results will come. Anything is possible if you want it enough :thumbsup:

[scboss]

Originally posted by Unknown303
Fuck coffee with crap in it. Learn to enjoy black coffee, green tea, rooibos tea etc. Virtually no calories consumed from it then.



This is a must.

Also if your not sure what your food is made up of get myfitnesspal so you can check. I recommend it to all my clients. You would be surprised on what you think is healthy and what your putting in your body

There are no gimmicks
3500 calories = 1 lb of fat

Just some examples
Subway 12' tuna w/cheese no sauces or veg is 1060 calories
vs
Big mac meal w/diet coke is 930 calories

My favourite though are salads at restaurants
Joeys market salad 870 calories
Boston pizza chicken pecan salad no dressing or toast 800 calories

I could have made those salads at home with way more volume for 400-600 calories

[Mar]

Wow I didn't expect this to go 4 pages.

Counting calories seems like a great idea but I didn't quite follow how to track it. Is there a calorie per gram listing on pretty much every package? And then just weigh it with a scale from Staples?
And then can I just ignore any vegetable caloric intake and eat as much of that as I want?

[Unknown303]

Sparkpeople.com is a decent site for tracking. Good mobile apps as well. And track everything. If you eat or drink it you track it.

[jwslam]

Originally posted by Mar
My current exercise consists of getting out of bed, sitting on the couch for 16 hours and going back to bed. I work from home on my computer so I barely move at all. And I have an insane amount of work to do, I couldn't possibly dedicate an hour a day to exercise. Some people might have noticed I disappeared from this site for the last 2 years, that's because I had too much work to look at forums. And I still do, I pretty much have to work every minute I'm awake to get this done in time for launch.
Turn that couch into a stationary bike :thumbsup:

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by jwslam

Turn that couch into a stationary bike :thumbsup:

:werd: or DIY treadmill desk, which also becomes treadmill gaming desk :thumbsup: :

http://gamentrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/treadmill-desk.jpg

http://chasingtheblackwood.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/treadmilldeskphaseiib.jpg

[Lex350]

Originally posted by n1zm0


:werd: or DIY treadmill desk, which also becomes treadmill gaming desk :thumbsup: :

http://gamentrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/treadmill-desk.jpg

http://chasingtheblackwood.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/treadmilldeskphaseiib.jpg


We sell those at work. Currently one of our sales guys has one at his desk. (we rotate it though the office). On an average day of walking on it he burns between 650 and 700 calories. They are a little bit nicer than the ones in these pictures. :)

[ExtraSlow]

Even a simple standing desk is a lot better for you than sitting all day. Can be hard on your joints, so buy anti-fatigue matting.

[shakalaka]

Originally posted by Mar
Wow I didn't expect this to go 4 pages.

Counting calories seems like a great idea but I didn't quite follow how to track it. Is there a calorie per gram listing on pretty much every package? And then just weigh it with a scale from Staples?
And then can I just ignore any vegetable caloric intake and eat as much of that as I want?

I downloaded this app called Lose It!. There is another one called myfitnesspal which is supposed to do the same thing.

The only problem I find with these apps is if I go out and eat somewhere that isn't in there database. Then I am just blind guessing the calories. Like yesterday I took the gf out to an Italian restaurant and had some thin crust authentic Italian pizza and some other small stuff, but had no idea how to put in the calories. So I just made a complete blind guess on the higher side and entered 1200 calories.

I was still 600 calories under my yesterday's budget though.

[Dumbass17]

Originally posted by Disoblige

How hot is she though? :rofl:
she's a swamp donkey

[A790]

Originally posted by shakalaka


I downloaded this app called Lose It!. There is another one called myfitnesspal which is supposed to do the same thing.

The only problem I find with these apps is if I go out and eat somewhere that isn't in there database. Then I am just blind guessing the calories. Like yesterday I took the gf out to an Italian restaurant and had some thin crust authentic Italian pizza and some other small stuff, but had no idea how to put in the calories. So I just made a complete blind guess on the higher side and entered 1200 calories.

I was still 600 calories under my yesterday's budget though.

For perspective, a slice of Pizza Hut meatlovers pizza is around 750 calories. 950 calories with stuffed crust.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by A790


For perspective, a slice of Pizza Hut meatlovers pizza is around 750 calories. 950 calories with stuffed crust.

Not exactly thin crust though, lol. Panago thin-crust multi-grain is around 200 cal for a medium slice of normal pizza (no weird heavy toppings)

[Dumbass17]

For everyone who is trying to drink black coffee. My roommate introduced me to this stuff. I keep a jar at home and a jar at work. I don't add anything, just straight up.
Give it a go! 5 cals/cup
Nescafe Hazelnut
http://products.nestle.ca/media/38980/Nescafe_Rich_Hazelnut_Jan2012.jpg

[shadowz]

Mar, I use the app myfitnesspal, such a life saver, so many people have created entires already that you can search or use, also you can use their barcode scanner as well. This can track your macros as well calories

[C_Dave45]

*edit* ^^ x2

I find MyFitnessPal a better calorie tracker. Their database is huge, with almost a million members continually adding to it. I went to Buffalo Wild Wings . It even had almost every single menu item in it. Also lets you add your own meals or recipes. I've connected with a couple of friends who also use it and we can watch each others diet and workout diary.

I started dieting/ working out again back on Dec 10. I had ballooned up to 228.
MFP is excellent at tracking my calories and workouts. Im down 16 lbs with another 34 to go.

I'm on a daily goal of 1,940 calories and working out 3 to 4 times a week, burning between 400-700 calories each session depending on what I'm working that day. (30 mins cardio, 45 mins weights or 55 mins P90X)

[shakalaka]

Originally posted by A790


For perspective, a slice of Pizza Hut meatlovers pizza is around 750 calories. 950 calories with stuffed crust.


This pizza was nothing like Pizza Hut though. Think of Famoso thin crust pizza's that fold in your hands, with some cheese, onions, red peppers and chicken. I would say 250 calories a slice at best! I have 3 slices left over which is going to be my lunch today. But I am already starving as I never have breakfast. :(


Originally posted by C_Dave45
*edit* ^^ x2

I find MyFitnessPal a better calorie tracker. Their database is huge, with almost a million members continually adding to it. I went to Buffalo Wild Wings . It even had almost every single menu item in it. Also lets you add your own meals or recipes. I've connected with a couple of friends who also use it and we can watch each others diet and workout diary.

I started dieting/ working out again back on Dec 10. I had ballooned up to 228.
MFP is excellent at tracking my calories and workouts. Im down 16 lbs with another 34 to go.

I'm on a daily goal of 1,940 calories and working out 3 to 4 times a week, burning between 400-700 calories each session depending on what I'm working that day. (30 mins cardio, 45 mins weights or 55 mins P90X)

I had MFP before and never really used it that much. Someone mentioned Lose It in this thread earlier, so I figured I will give that a go. Both of them are essentially the same thing, it's just a matter of sticking to it. My calorie allowance is 2158 if I want to lose 1.5lbs a week. That I am happy with. My only concern is that I don't want to end up losing my muscle that i've gained over the years. Just the fat. I think I need to regulate higher protein in my diet and less carb and fat for that to happen. I still use the calorie counter the same way, will just be eating more protein.

[Redlined_8000]

Originally posted by C_Dave45
*edit* ^^ x2

I find MyFitnessPal a better calorie tracker. Their database is huge, with almost a million members continually adding to it. I went to Buffalo Wild Wings . It even had almost every single menu item in it. Also lets you add your own meals or recipes. I've connected with a couple of friends who also use it and we can watch each others diet and workout diary.

I started dieting/ working out again back on Dec 10. I had ballooned up to 228.
MFP is excellent at tracking my calories and workouts. Im down 16 lbs with another 34 to go.

I'm on a daily goal of 1,940 calories and working out 3 to 4 times a week, burning between 400-700 calories each session depending on what I'm working that day. (30 mins cardio, 45 mins weights or 55 mins P90X)

Holy shit I never realized that 1 boneless wing at Buffalo Wild Wings is 100cals! lol I usually eat 20-30 wings when I go there. 2000-3000cals....

[suntan]

Originally posted by A790


For perspective, a slice of Pizza Hut meatlovers pizza is around 750 calories. 950 calories with stuffed crust. Uh, what? No.

BTW, when you come over to clean my carpets, you're lifting the furniture :)

[suntan]

Originally posted by shakalaka



This pizza was nothing like Pizza Hut though. Think of Famoso thin crust pizza's that fold in your hands, with some cheese, onions, red peppers and chicken. I would say 250 calories a slice at best! I have 3 slices left over which is going to be my lunch today. But I am already starving as I never have breakfast. :( Thin crust pizza of that sort is usually around 700 cals.

[suntan]

Originally posted by Mar
Wow I didn't expect this to go 4 pages.

Counting calories seems like a great idea but I didn't quite follow how to track it. Is there a calorie per gram listing on pretty much every package? And then just weigh it with a scale from Staples?
And then can I just ignore any vegetable caloric intake and eat as much of that as I want? Many foods have calories counts by weight or volume.

For fresh foods, you can use the USDA database, which often also contains cooked food calorie values (e.g. cooked chicken).

http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list

Buy this scale:

http://www.amazon.ca/OXO-Good-Grips-Food-Scale/dp/B000WJMTNA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391622172&sr=8-1&keywords=oxo+food+scale

http://i.c-b.co/is/image/Crate/FoodScaleWPullOutDisplyLLF8/%24web_zoom%24%26/1308302308/oxo-food-scale-with-pullout-display.jpg

It's available at Bed Bath and Beyond.

[Themarkuss]

one can of ravioli has 77 calories.. mix that with veggies, drink nothing but water, cut the sugar and you should lose weight.

fasting works wonders too, have a 8 hour window in the day to eat and don't eat 3 hours before bed. once I wake up I down a big glass of water with multi-vitamins.

[Tik-Tok]

That's a pricey scale. I think I bought ours at superstore for $20.

[suntan]

I thought everyone at Beyond was a baller :D

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by suntan
I thought everyone at Beyond was a baller :D

Lol. Really though I bought ours for cleaning easy. Ones like yours build up food gunk easily between the plate and base.

[suntan]

Actually the plate comes off for easy cleaning.

I like it because I also use it to cook with. Also it remembers your last weight for about 20 minutes, so what I like to do is weigh out something like ribs, and put the bones back onto the plate to get the amount of meat I actually ate.

[A790]

Originally posted by suntan
Uh, what? No.

BTW, when you come over to clean my carpets, you're lifting the furniture :)
Yea my bad, it's 340 calories with stuffed crust. I was referencing my nutrition chart (which is personalized for how much of something I generally eat lol).

I don't clean carpets anymore though :P

[Dumbass17]

Originally posted by Redlined_8000


Holy shit I never realized that 1 boneless wing at Buffalo Wild Wings is 100cals! lol I usually eat 20-30 wings when I go there. 2000-3000cals....

WHAT?! You're an animal.
I go there for boneless wings once in awhile and I can't put away more than 15-20 and that has me stuffed to the point of sickness the next day haha

[BrknFngrs]

Are the apps like My Fitness Pal useful for someone looking to gain weight at all (tracking macros, etc)?

It seems a lot of these apps are pretty focused on loss only.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by Themarkuss
one can of ravioli has 77 calories.. mix that with veggies, drink nothing but water, cut the sugar and you should lose weight.

fasting works wonders too, have a 8 hour window in the day to eat and don't eat 3 hours before bed. once I wake up I down a big glass of water with multi-vitamins.

Huh?? What can of ravioli has 77 calories?? Are you talking Chef Boyarde type stuff? Any that I see has between 300-400 per can. Not to mention its nothing but carbs...not what you want when trying to lose fat.

Also "fasting" is the LAST thing you want to do when trying to lose weight. Just as skipping breakfast is a bad idea. You trick your body into thinking its starving, so instead of converting the calories into energy, it stores fat. Worst advice to give to someone wanting to lose weight.
At LEAST 3 meals a day, with breakfast being the most important. Drop your carb intake, as well as pop and booze. And forget those double-doubles...270 calories for a large!!!

[suntan]

Originally posted by BrknFngrs
Are the apps like My Fitness Pal useful for someone looking to gain weight at all (tracking macros, etc)?

It seems a lot of these apps are pretty focused on loss only. Yes. They even have a gaining weight forum, although bodybuilding.com forums have way less idiots on them.

[Lex350]

Originally posted by C_Dave45


Huh?? What can of ravioli has 77 calories?? Are you talking Chef Boyarde type stuff? Any that I see has between 300-400 per can. Not to mention its nothing but carbs...not what you want when trying to lose fat.

Also &quot;fasting&quot; is the LAST thing you want to do when trying to lose weight. Just as skipping breakfast is a bad idea. You trick your body into thinking its starving, so instead of converting the calories into energy, it stores fat. Worst advice to give to someone wanting to lose weight.
At LEAST 3 meals a day, with breakfast being the most important. Drop your carb intake, as well as pop and booze. And forget those double-doubles...270 calories for a large!!!


This....if anything, eat more times per day with smaller servings and always with a bit of protein.

[A790]

Originally posted by C_Dave45
Also &quot;fasting&quot; is the LAST thing you want to do when trying to lose weight. Just as skipping breakfast is a bad idea. You trick your body into thinking its starving, so instead of converting the calories into energy, it stores fat. Worst advice to give to someone wanting to lose weight.
At LEAST 3 meals a day...
No.

Just no. For so many reasons.

I fast 16 hours per day. I lost 7 lbs in January. Strength stayed the same. Bodyfat went from 16% to 14.8%, weight went from 231 to 224.

Read leangains.com for more information, but long story short is that your body doesn't go into starvation mode for short fasts. Skipping breakfast isn't that big of a deal so long as you get your calories in at some point in the day.

I'm walking, breathing, living proof that it works. And as anyone who has met me can tell you, I'm not a small guy and I'm not a fat one either...

Oh, and I've been following IF (intermittent fasting) for the better part of two and a half years now.

EDIT: to prove my point I can upload a vid of me squatting 325 x 2 that was taken yesterday at the gym.

I don't know many people that can rep 325 (I was pyramiding to 8) on any diet, and I have no issues doing it on my IF diet... :)

[suntan]

Starvation mode is a myth.

There actually is some scientific evidence that 36 hour fasting boosts metabolism.

http://examine.com/faq/do-i-need-to-eat-six-times-a-day-to-keep-my-metabolism-high.html

[Disoblige]

Yep, I've not eaten breakfast for a long time, probably for around 9 years now. The only time I eat breakfast is when I know I have to run or do some kind of sports/work out in the morning to have energy.

I just don't feel hungry in the morning and usually just eat something small around lunch. Still bench 125% of my body weight, play sports competitively, don't look fat, etc.

There have been plenty of days where I don't eat until 8 pm (not that it's particularly a good thing).

[max_boost]

Originally posted by A790

Bodyfat went from 16% to 14.8%, weight went from 231 to 224.

EDIT: to prove my point I can upload a vid of me squatting 325 x 2 that was taken yesterday at the gym.

I don't know many people that can rep 325 (I was pyramiding to 8) on any diet, and I have no issues doing it on my IF diet... :) That's only 1.5x your body weight. You need to squat more lol