dton

For the last 3 months I've been trying to lose weight. And from what I've been reading and then crosschecking it with my experiences, I think I've been a newbie about it.

I tracked my calorie intake on a given day and found that I was eating around 1200 calories. This from what I've been reading is way too low... especially for someone that's 6'5", 230lb like myself.

When realising this I guess it kind of explains why I've dropped from 260pounds to 230, and while Im a tad smaller around certain places, I remain in the same man boobs/big stomach look.

I gotta say I really am startin' to stress about this stuff... although my weight loss progress has been decent, I don't see the point if all it's going to achieve for me is just a smaller version of my current self. It's quite depressing to think that I could go thru all the hardwork and effort that I've currently been putting in, and not get close to my desired image.


I'm aware that 3months is barely ****all time when it comes to weight loss, but still... meh.

I'm hoping to get to a diet where I can be losing 2.2lb (1kg) per week of actual fat. And hopefully see a much leaner version of myself by 1st of March, 2006.

Can anyone help me formulate a diet? Cheers.

A.FreeRadical

How old are you?

Depending on age, your maintenance should be somewhere between 3200 and 3700 calories per day. (The higher numbers are for a 20 year old and the lower numbers are for a 60 year old.) A lot depends on the type of work out do, your metabolic rate and how much exercise you get. This number is the number of calories that you can consume.

To lose a kilo, you need to consume somewhere between 2100 and 2600 calories per day.

Are you insulin resistant?
Have you read enough to know what "clean eating" means?
What type of workouts / cardio are you doing?

*

__________________


"Is it going to be the red pill or the blue pill, Neo? The red pill will answer the question 'What is the Matrix?'

Choose carefully. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."

Ron Paul for President, 2008

A.FreeRadical ...the Epicurean bodybuilder

Height: 5'9", Age: 62,
My last high on 2/1/2006 was 196 lbs.
My last low on 8/08/2006 was 167.5 lbs.

Cutting until I am lean
Starting weight: 190 lbs. bodyfat: 19.7%
November 27th: 183 lbs. bodyfat: 18.3% bodyfat
Goal Weight: 176 lbs with no more than 10% bodyfat

My recipe collection

dton

Im 20 years old. I've read about eating clean, and Im doing that.

I don't know if Im insulin resistant, nor how I find out.

This is the workout I complete 3 times a week:

10 minutes warmup on bike

leg curl 4-5 sets 8-10 reps
leg extensions 4-5 sets 8-10 reps

standing row 4-5 sets 8-10 reps
b/b upright shoulders 4-5 sets 8-10 reps
flat bench 4-5 sets 8-10 reps
d/b bicep curls 4-5 sets 8-10 reps
tricep kickbacks 4-5 sets 8-10 reps
cable crossovers 4-5 sets 8-10 reps

crunches 3 sets till failure

40 minutes cardio (basketball, raquet ball, squash)

A.FreeRadical

Are you lifting at home or in a gym? Do you have access to a squat rack, Olympic weights, spotters and any resistance machines? Would you be able to walk for 30-60 minutes on the days that you don't do basketball, raquetball or squash?

At 20 years old the formula says your calories consumed for maintenance ought to be 3700 calories per day. Based on that, you should be eating 2600 calories per day to lose a kilo per week. To track this, you will need something like www.fitday.com. Set up an account and put in what you think you should be eating on a typical day at 2600 calories. (At 1200 calories per day, you probably had the metabolism of slug.) Then let me know what your meals are in terms of foods, calories, protein, carbs and fats. We may adjust this, but first, I want to see what you think you should be doing. It will also tell me what clean foods you enjoy eating.

What time of the day are you lifting weights and doing cardio now? What supplementation are you currently doing? Have you discussed what you are doing with your doctor? Do you have any medical conditions that I might need to know about? (You can pm this info if you want.)

*

__________________


"Is it going to be the red pill or the blue pill, Neo? The red pill will answer the question 'What is the Matrix?'

Choose carefully. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."

Ron Paul for President, 2008

A.FreeRadical ...the Epicurean bodybuilder

Height: 5'9", Age: 62,
My last high on 2/1/2006 was 196 lbs.
My last low on 8/08/2006 was 167.5 lbs.

Cutting until I am lean
Starting weight: 190 lbs. bodyfat: 19.7%
November 27th: 183 lbs. bodyfat: 18.3% bodyfat
Goal Weight: 176 lbs with no more than 10% bodyfat

My recipe collection

A.FreeRadical

Ok, I got all of my answers in a p.m. I am bringing the conversation back to this thread because there are lots of others in the same boat that could use the help.

The diet that you proposed may seem like a lot to you, but it does not have enough calories or protein to keep your metabolism revved. I think you should go for at least 2400 calories per day. Your fitday proposal does show that you, indeed, do know what clean food is.

Here are some general rules for efficient weight loss and muscle gain/preservation:

Supplementation:
In addition to your mulit, you should be taking whey protein and possibly creatine. Whey for quick digestion after (or during) your workouts. Protein is muscle sparing. Creatine is a muscle volumizer. It helps by providing more strength. More strength means you can lift more. Here again, this can help build muscle and/or will aid in sparing muscle.

6 small meals per day. By doing this, you will burn several hundred extra calories per day. It will also help you maintain a level blood sugar level throughout the day. This will help with cravings and keep your metabolsim high.

Drink a least a gallon of water per day.

You should be eating at least 225 grams of protein per day. That is 900 calories. Tuna, salmon, lean beef, boneless/skinless chicken breast are good choices. You can supplement with whey protein for up to 100 grams, but the rest should come from real protein sources. That would be about 38% of total calories at 2400 calories per day.

At 2400 calories, your fat intake should be about 30%. That would be 80 grams of fat. Your proposal is ok, I would suggest that you use extra virgin olive oil for salads and cooking. Also, you can be some cans of nuts and make a mixture for snacks (almonds, walnuts and peanuts are good). This ought to get your healthy fats up to where they need to be for a high metabolism and production of testosterone.

That leaves 32% of total calories for carbs. Your choices were good ones. I like to bracket starchy carbs around my workouts (energy) and save fibrous veggies and salads for later in the day (fiber and vitamins).

Getting plenty of sleep is important for recovery and growth.

Doing exercise every day will assist you in your transformation.

How about trying again with fitday and see if you can get your typical day's diet up to 2400 calories and something close to 40%/30%/30%. p/c/f.

Diet is the most important thing for weight loss, but as you said, you don't want to end up having a mini-me body when you are done. We can get into exercise after the diet is in order.

*

__________________


"Is it going to be the red pill or the blue pill, Neo? The red pill will answer the question 'What is the Matrix?'

Choose carefully. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."

Ron Paul for President, 2008

A.FreeRadical ...the Epicurean bodybuilder

Height: 5'9", Age: 62,
My last high on 2/1/2006 was 196 lbs.
My last low on 8/08/2006 was 167.5 lbs.

Cutting until I am lean
Starting weight: 190 lbs. bodyfat: 19.7%
November 27th: 183 lbs. bodyfat: 18.3% bodyfat
Goal Weight: 176 lbs with no more than 10% bodyfat

My recipe collection

dton

I tried to work out another diet plan, here's what I came up with:

Meal One (8:00am)
1 Cup of Oatmeal (raw), 1 cup of NoFat milk, 4 egg whites, Multivitamin.

Meal Two (10:00am)
Protein Shake (1 serving of whey protein, 1 cup of NoFat milk).

Meal Three (1:00pm)
Two Large slices of Whole Wheat bread, 2 cans of Tuna (180g), tomatoes, 1 cup lettuce.

Meal Four (4:00pm)
Protein Shake (1 serving of Whey Protein, 1 cup of NoFat milk)

Meal Five (6:00pm)
Beef Steak (T-Bone, only lean eaten), 1.5 cups of Cottage Cheese, 1 cup lettuce, tomato, 2 cups Broccoli

Meal Six (8:00pm)
Banana

11:00pm = ZzzzzzZzzZZzzzZ

Total Calories: 2457
Total Protein: 247 (42%)
Total Carbohydrates: 213 (31%)
Total Fats: 72 (28%)
- Sat 14
- Poly 10
- Mono 14

===================================

What you'll reckon? Anything that I should change/add/remove... perhaps the timing of my nutrient intakes...?

My exercise will be as follows: before breakfast at 8am, I'll be doing cardio work for 40-50minutes.

On Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays between 10:30 and 11:00 I go to the gym for my workout that usually lasts for 2hrs.

Any thoughts on how I can improve it all is much appreciated. Thanks !

-dton

dton

my parents have raised concerns about too much protein being bad for ones health... anyone care to elaborate on that? :o

basically I guess a reasonable question would be this:

besides being good for losing fat, does a diet like this have any negative effects on the body that should be noted... or is it all good - everything the body needs ?

A.FreeRadical

It looks good, except:

Protein should be more evenly spaced ~ 40 grams x 6 meals.

Tuna should be chunk white. (Chunk white is safer. Albacore has higher mercury levels than most other fish.) Eating 2 cans per day would be a bit much. Chicken and other fish are good substitutes.

Cottage Cheese should be non fat or low fat.

You should have one or two more servings of green vegetables for fiber. green beans, asparagus and broccoli are good.

You are showing 14 grams saturated fat. I don't know where this is coming from. The T-bone steak? You total fats are 78 grams, but the sat, poly and mono only add up to 34 grams. I don't see enough fats on your list. (Saturated fats should be no more than 10% of total calories for health reasons. The other fats, poly and mono are considered good fats. These come from fish oil, olive oil, flaxseed oil, nuts and fish.)

I will address your parent's concerns in another posts.

*

__________________


"Is it going to be the red pill or the blue pill, Neo? The red pill will answer the question 'What is the Matrix?'

Choose carefully. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."

Ron Paul for President, 2008

A.FreeRadical ...the Epicurean bodybuilder

Height: 5'9", Age: 62,
My last high on 2/1/2006 was 196 lbs.
My last low on 8/08/2006 was 167.5 lbs.

Cutting until I am lean
Starting weight: 190 lbs. bodyfat: 19.7%
November 27th: 183 lbs. bodyfat: 18.3% bodyfat
Goal Weight: 176 lbs with no more than 10% bodyfat

My recipe collection

A.FreeRadical

First of all, I am a parent and I would have no problem with my 17 year old eating this way. This is a very healthy diet. In fact, my son does eat something similar to this, he is 5' 10 and weights 175 lbs. He is built like a soccer player (which he is). He doesn't take protein shakes, but he does eat a good amount of lean beef, chicken and fish. He does not eat very much junk food like his friends do.

Studies generally show that average adults need about .6 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight for a healthy lifestyle. Athletes regularly take double or triple that amount because of the physical demands (breaking down and rebuilding up of tissue) with no harmful effect. In your case, we are recommending 1 x your bodyweight. Considering that you are doing cardio and lifting 6 hours per week (and you are a teenager), you do need more than the average amount of protein. Basically what we have here is a 40/30/30 p/c/f balanced diet with low saturated fats. This is a better diet than at least 90% of all Americans eat.

I have tried to find research on excessive protein intake and haven't found anything that suggests that 40% of total calories is excessive in healthy individuals. (This is why I asked you about your health.) You should be spacing your protein intake out over six meals per day. You don't need more than 50 grams of protein in any one meal.

If you parents insist on cutting out some of the protein, then cut out one or two of the protein shakes and eat a lot more fibrous vegetables. I don't think this would hurt your weight loss or hinder your efforts to preserve muscle. Your are not a bodybuilder. The main thing is we want to get your weight down and spare your muscle tissue while we are doing it. Your weight is the real health risk factor.

*

__________________


"Is it going to be the red pill or the blue pill, Neo? The red pill will answer the question 'What is the Matrix?'

Choose carefully. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."

Ron Paul for President, 2008

A.FreeRadical ...the Epicurean bodybuilder

Height: 5'9", Age: 62,
My last high on 2/1/2006 was 196 lbs.
My last low on 8/08/2006 was 167.5 lbs.

Cutting until I am lean
Starting weight: 190 lbs. bodyfat: 19.7%
November 27th: 183 lbs. bodyfat: 18.3% bodyfat
Goal Weight: 176 lbs with no more than 10% bodyfat

My recipe collection

RaSP

Ecellent posts Rad!! Thanks for keeping it out in thte open

*R*

__________________
~~~Dumb Animal~~~

I am Thee oMega.. GameDayDog is Thee Alpha.. But GameDayDog Hasn't been here for a year...

6'4" @ 214. Finally got back to 500lb deadlift.

dton

Modified my previous diet to include some more veggies, some better fats, and a little less protein.

Meal One (8:00am)
1 Cup of Oatmeal (raw), 1 cup of NoFat milk, 4 egg whites, Multivitamin.

Meal Two (10:00am)
Protein Shake (1 serving of whey protein, 1 cup of NoFat milk).

Meal Three (1:00pm)
Two Large slices of Whole Wheat bread, 1 can of Tuna (95g), tomatoes, 1 cup lettuce.

Meal Four (4:00pm)
Protein Shake (1 serving of Whey Protein, 1 cup of NoFat milk)

Meal Five (6:00pm)
Baked Salmon (200grams), 1 cup of Cottage Cheese, 1 cup lettuce, tomato, 2 cups Broccoli, 1 cup of Green Beans, 5 spears of Asparagus, 2 tbsp of Xtra Virgin Olive Oil.

Meal Six (8:00pm)
Banana, .5cup of cottage cheese.


Total Calories: 2381
Total Protein: 207 (36%)
Total Carbohydrates: 218 (32%)
Total Fats: 81 (32%)
- Sat 14
- Poly 11
- Mono 31



----

By the way, I couldnt find no fat cottage cheese in fitday.com, but I'll be purchasing that.

Comments ?

A.FreeRadical

Most excellent! Job well done!

I think Friendship brand of no fat cottage cheese is pretty good. If you can't get anything that tastes decent in no fat, try the low fat cottage cheese. Sorry, for calling you a teenager in one of those posts. I realized afterwards that you said you were a 20 year old.

Ok young man, I think we are ready for the exercise portion of your program. I am going to go back and review what we have so far and see what I need to know about you are doing now.

*

__________________


"Is it going to be the red pill or the blue pill, Neo? The red pill will answer the question 'What is the Matrix?'

Choose carefully. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."

Ron Paul for President, 2008

A.FreeRadical ...the Epicurean bodybuilder

Height: 5'9", Age: 62,
My last high on 2/1/2006 was 196 lbs.
My last low on 8/08/2006 was 167.5 lbs.

Cutting until I am lean
Starting weight: 190 lbs. bodyfat: 19.7%
November 27th: 183 lbs. bodyfat: 18.3% bodyfat
Goal Weight: 176 lbs with no more than 10% bodyfat

My recipe collection

A.FreeRadical

You are working out for 2 hours per session, 3 times per week in a gym with buddies (potential spotters). You plan on jogging 4 to 5 days per week jogging 40 minutes each time.

Your current routine is:

10 minutes warmup on bike

leg curl 4-5 sets 8-10 reps
leg extensions 4-5 sets 8-10 reps

standing row 4-5 sets 8-10 reps
b/b upright shoulders 4-5 sets 8-10 reps
flat bench 4-5 sets 8-10 reps
d/b bicep curls 4-5 sets 8-10 reps
tricep kickbacks 4-5 sets 8-10 reps
cable crossovers 4-5 sets 8-10 reps

crunches 3 sets till failure

40 minutes cardio (basketball, raquet ball, squash)

Am I missing anything? I think you said your gym has a squat rack. Does you gym have a pullup bar and a dip station?

How long have you been working out? Are you in shape enough to start doing squats and deadlifts? I think you said you previously did squats, right?

*

__________________


"Is it going to be the red pill or the blue pill, Neo? The red pill will answer the question 'What is the Matrix?'

Choose carefully. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."

Ron Paul for President, 2008

A.FreeRadical ...the Epicurean bodybuilder

Height: 5'9", Age: 62,
My last high on 2/1/2006 was 196 lbs.
My last low on 8/08/2006 was 167.5 lbs.

Cutting until I am lean
Starting weight: 190 lbs. bodyfat: 19.7%
November 27th: 183 lbs. bodyfat: 18.3% bodyfat
Goal Weight: 176 lbs with no more than 10% bodyfat

My recipe collection

dton

Yes, we have a squat rack, and I have done them before. They were in my last routine, and I was doing 2x15 @ 110kg (225lb? :o?). Through all my weight over the years it appears my legs are pretty strong considering my lifestyle in recent years (I wasn't always as fat and heavy as I currently am... when I moved from highschool to university and started my computing degree I kinda let myself go).

I've been attending the gym for 3 months now, however only 2 months have been religious... in those two months I've only missed maybe 5 sessions due to work and an exam at uni.

We do have a pullup bar... and if a dip station is what I think it is (two handles where you grab them and lower yourself down and push yourself back up again with use of arms only), then yes, we have one of these too.

A.FreeRadical

Sounds good. Yes that is a dip station. (Mine has a weight stack and a belt so you can do extra weight, but there are other ways to skin that cat if you don't have that type.)

My suggestion is for you to go to a 3 (or 4 day, if you have the time) day split. I am thinking something like 1.) Legs, 2.) Chest & triceps and 3.) Back & biceps. This way, you get to work a muscle group once per week with a week to recover. It also allows you to concentrate much more deeply on each of those muscle groups in less time than you are doing now, (working the whole body 3 times per week). Workouts should be intense and efficient, but no more than an hour (90 minutes tops).

I could be mistaken, but I have the impression that you want to do a little more than just be "average" weight. If so, let me know, I have some ideas on how you might do that with just a little extra effort.

*

__________________


"Is it going to be the red pill or the blue pill, Neo? The red pill will answer the question 'What is the Matrix?'

Choose carefully. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."

Ron Paul for President, 2008

A.FreeRadical ...the Epicurean bodybuilder

Height: 5'9", Age: 62,
My last high on 2/1/2006 was 196 lbs.
My last low on 8/08/2006 was 167.5 lbs.

Cutting until I am lean
Starting weight: 190 lbs. bodyfat: 19.7%
November 27th: 183 lbs. bodyfat: 18.3% bodyfat
Goal Weight: 176 lbs with no more than 10% bodyfat

My recipe collection