How I Lost 13 lbs This Month

[LeafUF]

Haven't seen that, wonder what they define as a serving? Or if I have all my servings for the week on Friday night will that work?

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by LeafUF

Haven't seen that, wonder what they define as a serving? Or if I have all my servings for the week on Friday night will that work?

I believe that a serving of wine is 4 ounces. Don't know if it varies according to beverage.

[LeafUF]

Pretty sure you are right on the wine, think liquor is 1.5 oz and don't know about beer but 12 oz. would seem about right.

[wygator]

All things in moderation...supposedly, the alcohol is good for your circulatory system and resveratrol in the wine helps as well.

My "step" granddad made his own wine (including dandelion). Mom said it embarrassed her when she was younger because they'd be at the store and if dandelions were growing in the surrounding grass, he'd pick them.

He drank one glass a day his whole life. Lived into his '90's and was sharp as a tack until the end.

[neisgator]

Originally Posted by G8RBrave

About a month ago, I decided I was tired of carrying the spare tire around. I was 5'9 170 lbs, and was about 24% body fat. I didn't look fat, but my gut always bothered me and I carried fat around that just made me feel self conscious. This morning I weighed 157 and was 19% body fat.

Anyway, I decided to join a gym and work out there instead of trying to work out at home (where I'm inevitably distracted). Right now I am in a "cutting phase", where I am focused on burning fat. When I get done with that, I will move more to free weights and more calories.

So, basically I decided to make a lifestyle change both in my exercise habits and in my diet. Here's what I did.

Exercise:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday:

Warm Up - 5 minutes on treadmill. Fast walking/jogging
Weight Circuits - there are about 15 machines at my gym, of which I use about 9-10. After warm up, I wait about 1 minute then start the circuit, going between each machine with no rest. When I get done with the last machine, I wait 1 minute and do it all over again. I do this three times.
Cardio - 20 minutes of alternative between walking and sprints. I usually get about 1.5 miles in.

Tuesday, Thursday:

Cardio - 35-45 minutes of fast walking, jogging, and sprinting. I dont have a set plan here, I just sort of mix it up as I feel like it. Right now I'm getting about 3 - 3.5 miles in.

The good thing about the Weight Circuit training is that it helps me develop my muscles and at the same time keeps my heart rate in a cardiovascular zone, which helps burn the fat. I'm probably not bulking my muscles, but it appears I am not losing muscle either, which is always a fear when you're doing a lot of cardio. Basically, doing the circuits this way turns weight training into both strength training and cardio in one. Couple that with fairly intense cardio workouts afterward and on the other days, and it's a pretty good routine for burning fat.


Diet:

I decided to stay away from diets like South Beach or Atkins. I don't have any particular feelings about these types of diets, but I wanted to make a real lifestyle change and worried about being able to maintain a strict diet like those.

Instead, I decided to just use a common sense approach to eating. I do love my sodas, so I moved to Coke Zero only, and I limit myself to one per day of those. Other than that, it's water, water, water.

Breakfast:

I'm the type that has a hard time getting up in the morning, so my breakfast needs to be simple. I bought a big thing of EAS Whey Protein from Sam's and drink a 6 ounce shake on my way to work in the morning. Usually, I have a bowl of oatmeal when I get to work.

Lunch:

This is the one place I do stay pretty strict. I eat a salad every day for lunch. Publix has a great little salad kit with meat and dressing already in it. I don't use the dressing they give you, I buy Wish Bone fat free Italian (15 calories per serving). If I don't eat the Publix salad, I bring my own lettuce and add grilled chicken.

Dinner:

Usually for dinner I will have something with grilled chicken or fish. Grilled chicken wheat pitas (with the aforementioned fat free italian), lettuce, and fat free cheese is something I have gotten pretty accustomed to. I make sure that I get some sort of vegetable serving with dinner, and I also allow myself a carb (usually brown rice). Tilapia or Mahi is usually the fish of choice if that is what I am doing.

Snacks:

Mid morning and mid afternoon I have a snack. Usually I have a Zone bar (protein bar) for one snack and a serving or two of unsalted peanuts for the others. At night after dinner, I do allow myself the one "bad" thing of the day - a 100 calorie pack of graham crackers or cookies. I have another whey shake after workouts.

On the weekends, I do allow myself a nice steak or some other type of red meat, but generally I do stay away from them. If I have ground beef, I make sure it is lean.

Overall, I find that I eat around 1300-1500 calories per day, which is enough to keep my workouts intense, but not too much so as to pack on any more weight. I have focused on limiting carbs (and making sure those I do have are brown/wheat carbs) and increasing my protein intake. I like to get around 125g of protein per day. The shakes really help with this.

So far this has been very successful for me, but may not work for everyone. I know there are quite a few in the pub that are interested in diet and exercise, so I thought I would share something of a success story. I've still got a long way to go to get my six pack abs but I'm working on it.

Hope this helps someone out there.

You couldn't have been very big at 5'9" 170...I am 5'9 175...

I started working out(Treadmill at home) 4 days a week..(Tues/Thurs/Sat/Sun)...I have been doing it for about 9 months.

I basically do your Tues/Thursday routine all 4 days..(3.25 miles on a 4 degree incline) for about 45 minutes...I started at 188..now 175...Lost weight everywhere but my gut...

Frustrating...and not to get to gross...but...I think it is because I am so damn irregular...

Eating decent..not as strict as you are...probably part of my problem...All I drink is water..

[chrisleakfan4life]

Question for anybody on here

I'm thinking about mixing my diet up a little bit

I'm thinking about getting a lot of protein in, like the original poster was saying he was getting in over 100 grams.

So im thinking about doing something like

Breakfast: Protein Shake and a protein bar

Lunch: Chicken or Salad or both

Dinner: Chicken or Salad or Both

and than when i work out, having more protein(either a bar or a shake).

Is this a bad idea? I could also throw in soup too or a turkey sandwich on 45 calorie(per slice) wheat bread.

I'm not an athlete, nor am i a body builder so i wonder if too much protein is over doing it.

I obviously don't want to go over board on calories(which protein shakes and protein bars have a lot of) and i don't want to cut out too many Carbs either.

and i hate to drag this a long but how do you guys feel about Vitamin Water Zero vs regular water? Vitamin Zero has no calories and it taste good(i cannot stand drinking water very much, i could drink maybe 24-30 ounces a day but i get sick of it quick).

Any input or meal ideas are appreciated, i like the original posters diet plan so i may also try to follow something similar.

[LeafUF]

Bodybuilder or not you want to build muscle and if you want to lose weight you should lift weights. That said I would eat .75-1 gram of protein per pound of LBM. To do that you would basically need to know exactly how much of your 205 is fat. You want to be 185 so even if your LBM is only 155 using 185 is still a good start.

So eat anywhere from 140-185 grams of protein a day. Problem for you is that if you are gonna increase protein without increasing calories is you gotta reduce something and carbs have gotta go in that case since you dont want to give up good fats.

Anyway, just know that a gram of protein is 4 calories so however many you are eating multiply by 4 and you will know how many other calories you can eat of other nutrients.

AS for your diet, what you describe is actually pretty low in carbs and calories. Salads unless you add croutons, bad dressing and nuts are next to nothing. And lean chicken wont set you back too many calories either.

For protein shake I recommend either Optimum Nutrition 100% whey as a low cal low carb high protein shake. They have some tasty ones, only problem is they wont fill you up. Can try Casein protein which is filling, its a little more expensive and I personally think its gross.

Sandwiches are great in my opinion just get some good deli meat. Soup is tricky, read the labels and you should be ok as long as you are not sodium sensitive.

Good luck, eat lots of veggies and fruit.

[chrisleakfan4life]

Originally Posted by LeafUF

Bodybuilder or not you want to build muscle and if you want to lose weight you should lift weights. That said I would eat .75-1 gram of protein per pound of LBM. To do that you would basically need to know exactly how much of your 205 is fat. You want to be 185 so even if your LBM is only 155 using 185 is still a good start.

So eat anywhere from 140-185 grams of protein a day. Problem for you is that if you are gonna increase protein without increasing calories is you gotta reduce something and carbs have gotta go in that case since you dont want to give up good fats.

Anyway, just know that a gram of protein is 4 calories so however many you are eating multiply by 4 and you will know how many other calories you can eat of other nutrients.

AS for your diet, what you describe is actually pretty low in carbs and calories. Salads unless you add croutons, bad dressing and nuts are next to nothing. And lean chicken wont set you back too many calories either.

For protein shake I recommend either Optimum Nutrition 100% whey as a low cal low carb high protein shake. They have some tasty ones, only problem is they wont fill you up. Can try Casein protein which is filling, its a little more expensive and I personally think its gross.

Sandwiches are great in my opinion just get some good deli meat. Soup is tricky, read the labels and you should be ok as long as you are not sodium sensitive.

Good luck, eat lots of veggies and fruit.

Thanks

185 is my first goal. but i want to eventually get to 155 like PIMking

I have(and have been drinking) EAS Whey Protein for my protein shakes.

[LeafUF]

You could go straight for 155 then if you want, at least as it concerns protein. Try eating 115 -155 grams, that would give you plenty of room to get in carbs and protein under your calorie limit and even a beer or glass of wine if you so choose.

For breakfast I would eat eggs with salsa, and oatmeal or toast or something depending on how you feel about those. I do 2:1 ratio of egg whites to whole eggs. Throw the salsa on top and its damn good.

[G8RBrave]

Originally Posted by neisgator

You couldn't have been very big at 5'9" 170...I am 5'9 175...

I started working out(Treadmill at home) 4 days a week..(Tues/Thurs/Sat/Sun)...I have been doing it for about 9 months.

I basically do your Tues/Thursday routine all 4 days..(3.25 miles on a 4 degree incline) for about 45 minutes...I started at 188..now 175...Lost weight everywhere but my gut...

Frustrating...and not to get to gross...but...I think it is because I am so damn irregular...

Eating decent..not as strict as you are...probably part of my problem...All I drink is water..

I wasn't very big. But if your goal is to get your abs showing then you've got to lean up. I was 170 but was 24% body fat. That's the key number. My lean body weight (meaning what I would be at 0% body fat) is about 120. That basically means I'm not naturally muscular. I'm 13% body fat and 143 lbs right now and I still have a little gut. I have an incredibly frustrating build.

When I hit 10% body fat I plan to start a bulking phase, so I will probably get back up to 160 or so soon enough. I think 155-165 is my ideal weight range but I dont want to be there at 20% body fat, I want to be there at 12% or less.

[G8RBrave]

Just for the sake of some other opinions on Whey - I drink EAS Myoplex Whey. They sell it at Sam's for $27 for a 5 lb bag. Lasts me a while and tastes good.

I'd love to get up every morning and cook breakfast but I just never seem to find the time. Protein shakes work really well for that.

I'd also recommend a snack between your meals to keep the metabolism moving. I usually have a handful or two of unsalted peanuts or a protein bar between meals.

[deebo65]

I'm kinda pissy about this subject at the current moment. This time last year I was about 255 (I'm 6'5") and was pretty lean. I was already lifting weights regularly but I had kinda stepped it up a bit. By January I had gained about 8-10lbs but it was muscle. I fit in the same clothes, and some were even looser fitting and I could tell the size difference in the mirror and in pictures. All week this week I weighed in at 270!!!! And I can tell in the mirror that the only place that is bigger is my belly... Damnit man! I was shooting to be back down in the 250's come football season for when I came to tailgate. It isn't a huge difference but it is more a mental thing. My diet is the same as it has been for the last two years or so. I eat very little bad carbs and mostly meat and veggies, and I eat 5-6 meals a day. But for some reason recently I have just been so friggin hungry all the time. I gotta step up the cardio and tighten up my diet (and cut out the booze) or the next month or so and get this mush off me. It isn't much but it is frustrating me. grrrrrrr... update you after kickoff

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by deebo65

I'm kinda pissy about this subject at the current moment. This time last year I was about 255 (I'm 6'5") and was pretty lean. I was already lifting weights regularly but I had kinda stepped it up a bit. By January I had gained about 8-10lbs but it was muscle. I fit in the same clothes, and some were even looser fitting and I could tell the size difference in the mirror and in pictures. All week this week I weighed in at 270!!!! And I can tell in the mirror that the only place that is bigger is my belly... Damnit man! I was shooting to be back down in the 250's come football season for when I came to tailgate. It isn't a huge difference but it is more a mental thing. My diet is the same as it has been for the last two years or so. I eat very little bad carbs and mostly meat and veggies, and I eat 5-6 meals a day. But for some reason recently I have just been so friggin hungry all the time. I gotta step up the cardio and tighten up my diet (and cut out the booze) or the next month or so and get this mush off me. It isn't much but it is frustrating me. grrrrrrr... update you after kickoff

You ought to try experimenting with eating fewer meals per day. That'll lop a lot of calories off and you should see some dramatic weight loss.

*runs away*

[G8RBrave]

I'm not big on 5-6 "meals" a day. I just think that eating a small snack in between meals will keep your metabolism going and, perhaps more importantly, keep you from gorging yourself when it's time to eat a real meal.

[deebo65]

Well, they really aren't "meals". I guess I shoulda said I eat 5-6 times a day. I eat breakfast 3 hrs later a snack 3hrs later another snack 2 hrs later another snack then dinner before 8pm. I don't eat after 8pm. I lost a lot of weight sticking to that and maintained the proper weight by sticking to it. I just gotta tighten up guess...

[neisgator]

I need to not put anything in my mouth after 6:30..

[deebo65]

Is that what your old lady tells you neis?









***ducks and run's away*** no offense, I keed I keed

[neisgator]

That's what she said...

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by deebo65

Well, they really aren't "meals". I guess I shoulda said I eat 5-6 times a day. I eat breakfast 3 hrs later a snack 3hrs later another snack 2 hrs later another snack then dinner before 8pm. I don't eat after 8pm. I lost a lot of weight sticking to that and maintained the proper weight by sticking to it. I just gotta tighten up guess...

Well, you can eat as often as you like. But since it's all about calories, then it stands to reason that the more often you eat, the greater the likelihood that you're going to exceed your caloric needs. If you're trying to lose weight by eating more often, you almost have to eat like a hummingbird each time out. I'd rather eat two or three times a day and eat big.

The need to eat frequently to maintain metabolism is pretty much a myth. And two recent studies showed that less frequent meals are better than more frequent meals for losing weight.

On average, the French eat 2.5 times a day.

[kkg8r]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

For that matter, food isn't that bad for you in moderation. But then I think you just implied that.

Interestingly, one fairly recent study recommends 2-4 servings of alcohol a day for men and 1-2 for women for health benefits.

Alcohol is my achilles heel. I just really can't seem to kick the wine habit. My new "diet" plan is to have 3 MGD 64s per night instead of 3 glasses of wine.

I just picked up spinning and think it's pretty good. I get out of class expecting to have immediately lost 5 pounds. I play tennis once a week and was run/walking before I began the spin class. Weight is coming off, but very very slow and that is really due to the alcohol - take my calories over my budget.

IMy yoga studio closed, so I need to find something else to build muscle. My power yoga class was very good at using my body weight as weights.

Any thoughts on an easy full body weight routine that I can do 2x per week? How about the spinning? Do you think that cranking up the resistance and pedaling gives me a good leg workout?