Thanks bro I appreciate it. Does 1600 calories and 170g/protein a day sound good? You might not of seen it, but besides tuna, chicken and protein shakes what are some good high protein foods, preferably cheap?
If you're going to go low carb, Try around 2000 calories, 160-170g protein, 130g fat, 30 carbs. You could go less than 30g carbs, but you should give yourself a buffer with 25g at least. These days, most **** has incidental carbs and they can add up throughout the day. Don't drive yourself crazy with that number though. If you're a little over, who cares? Keto will happen with 100g of carbs or less. The lower you're he quicker you get in it though. Best to get in it asap because you'll feel sluggish otherwise for a bit. 2000 calories, if you're lightly active, that will put you at about 1.7lbs of fat loss per week or so. Going above 2lbs is never really recommended for a number of reasons. If you're even more active than "lightly" you'll be hitting more than 1.7lbs at 2000 calories. I simply used a smaller activity multiplier just to give you a starting point. If after three weeks (serious, give it three straight weeks at 2000) you're NOT losing around 1.7-2lbs a week (weigh yourself frequently and make an end week average for most accurate results) then drop 100 calories. Rinse and repeat the following week if still not happy. But try 2000 first. Better to start higher and ease in, than too low and get crazy cravings that lead to binge eating. As far as protein goes... The three you mentioned are pretty cheap and effective. Other options include beef jerky, eggs, beef, pork, cheese. Essentially, you're going to be eating lots of various animal meat for low carb. In the past, when I had done low carb keto type diets I would make things like... Breakfast: Bacon and/or sausage, and eggs for breakfast. This was pretty standard. Lunch: Tuna w/mayo (those starkist pouches have some good flavors too. check label for carb count though), egg salad, hamburger (I liked making taco meat, again check carb count with the seasoning), chicken salad, etc... Maybe do a search for lettuce wraps? You could make meat and cheese sandwhiches with those. Dinner: Steak, beef, chicken, etc... Snacks: Sandwich meat rollups, Pepperoni and cheese sandwhich (two slices pepperoni, slice of cheese from a block), peanut butter (check carb count), jerky, sugar free jello and pudding (watch carb counts), etc... My advice would be to google 'keto diet /foods/meals/snacks' and search around. That'll help you more than I can. I'm sure I'm missing some ideas off the top of my head. I'm sure you'll find some good ideas and recipes. I saw a recipe for bacon tacos... looked ****ing awesome. Although I'm not low carb, I'm going to try it out soon. http://youonlyliveonce.com.au/bacon-tacos/. Another site I found recently looks promising, although I haven't fully explored it yet. It's called www.rippedrecipes.com. Play around there, I think I saw a few low carb choices. There's a slider search option that you can adjust to find foods. Slide carbs down and you'll search away. I know they have sweet low carb pizza. http://www.rippedrecipes.com/recipe/bacon-and-bison-low-carb-pizza-202.html I'll have to augment some of recipe (I don't have buffalo meat for example) and buy a small pizza pan, but thing looks ****ing sweet. If I enjoy it, I could make it a staple. I'm excited to try it. Good luck.
Thanks for all the help bro, going to sams (got paid today) and going to pile up the beef jerky (love that ****), chicken, tuna, lettuce, and veggies..... The problem I run into is feeding me and my wife and 4 year old son. It's tough to make 2 seperate meals....so I try to find something that fits my high protein/low calorie intake....but also please a kid (luckily he has a good pallet) and my wife (who hates chicken) OF COURSE RIGHT? lol I will have to check out those recipes and get creative, but like you said, I am worth it!
Here is another thread you should look at with regards to healthy food: http://www.thephins.com/forums/showthread.php?70932-Healthy-Diet-Foods-You-Enjoy Be careful of what you season or marinade the chicken in because that can add a lot of calories. If you like buffalo sauce you should buy some Franks Buffalo sauce. It has zero calories so you can load up on it.
After eating like a pig that last couple days at my parents and to celebrate my anniversary with my girlfriend, etc I am officially ready to start my diet. Official weight: 208.6 (This is probably inflated a bit due to a big meal, etc.) Goals: Calories: 1600-1700 Protein - 140g or Greater Fat - Less than 60g Carbs - Less than 130g I will primarily pay attention to my calories and protein intake so my fat and carb numbers may fluctuate a bit. I plan on recording that data every day though. In order to help myself stay on track I have planned a couple meals out for tomorrow: Breakfast: 3 eggs Protein shake Lunch: Tuna Salad 2 slices of bread Clif Builder bar Dinner: Hormel Italian style beef roast Au Jus 1 egg 2 slices of bread Overall that comes out to Calories: 1560 Protein: 171 Fat: 60g Carbs: 102
Good to see you back on the wagon. Can I make a suggestion? Try getting about 10g fat more. It's only 90 calories more. 140p, 70g fat, 130c. You could even lower carbs to around 110 or so grams to compensate if you really want to stick to 1600 calories per day. Hitting a healthy amount of fat is more important than carbs anyway. Again, don't kill yourself for being slightly under or over.
On Monday I ended up with 62g of fat and on Tuesday I ended with 67g of fat. I'll definitely try to get some more fat in my diet though; honestly I haven't really been paying attention to fat (or carbs), I usually just pay attention to Calories and Protein.
Monday: Calories: 1650 Protein: 185g Carbs: 107g Fat: 62g Notes: Had some trouble with hunger even though I ate 185g of protein. I pushed through though. Tuesday: Calories: 1547 Protein: 109g Carbs: 139g Fat: 67g Notes: Dealt with hunger a lot better today. I know I was low on protein, but I was really tired and went to sleep at 10pm (I usually go to bed around 1am); so essentially I cut out one meal/snack. Weight: I weighed myself this morning and I weighed 204.8.
I did quit. I am sorry. I feel like I let you and myself down. Dental school has been a ***** and a half to adjust to. I start school at 8am and don't get done until around 5pm. Then you add all the studying I have to do each day and it was brutal. To make matters worse, I wasn't doing so great in my classes (I was routinely in the bottom 10% of my class for every exam). Towards the end of the semester I seemed to figure out how to study and what I needed to do to do well in my classes. I got so consumed in my school work that my weight and health got pushed to the back burner. Anyways towards the end of the semester I seemed to find my scholastic groove. Now that I have another week on break I am going to try to jump start my diet by counting calories and exercising again. I'll weigh in tomorrow and get going then. When school gets in session I am going to try to go to the gym for an hour 5 days a week. My roommates are pretty big lifters so they should help keep me motivated. Thank you so much for the help and support along the way Clark Kent. I appreciate it much more than you know!
It happens UCF, for example I stopped lifting weights this last semester. Kept bike commuting, but things did not get out of hand, gained 5 pds or so, maybe 7 by the time the holidays are over. Add in a cold/flu and have not been doing a lot but started back up today.
I guess great minds think alike. I love my safety net here on thephins! We got this. Dedication over time = success.
Weight will fluctuate. Only suggestion would be to either consume nuts or baked chips while studying. Those 3.50 bags of doritos are just killers!
My biggest "problems" were not bringing lunch to school which usually resulted in me eating at Chick-fil-a or Wendys a couple times per week and then not really having time to cook dinner so I would routinely make heat up pizza and then over-eat because my inner Italian loves pizza of all shapes and sizes lol. Something that has really helped me out with my food consumption and snacking overall has been Adderall, which I was recently prescribed. It cuts down on the snacking and hunger in general because it is an appetite suppressant.
I bought something amazing... Bodymedia fit. It's an armband that calculates how many calories you burn per day. It's been rated 90 percent accurate by individual studies. The only burn it seems to **** up are things like elliptical. Your feet aren't making contact and you're swing your arms wildly. I don't do that **** anyway so.... I can't believe how many calories I burn per day. I thought the number was much much lower. I've been eating way to little. During the three weeks ive done a diet break to unregulated hormones. I start cutting again in 1 week (this Thursday). I'll be cutting at 2600 calories to start. I might actually increase it if I'm losing too much. I'm aiming for 1.2-1.5 lbs a week now. I got mine for 119 andb3 months free subscription. I think you can get them in eBay for cheaper if it interests you... Anyway, UFC. Don't be worried about quitting/what I think. That said, instead of dieting, maybe just focus on lifting. Eat like you normally would and just lift for 3 months. You'll see very little changes on the scale but you'll change body comp ( fat to muscle ratio). Might be better that way. Or not. Just throwing it out there.
Your eating that many calories and cutting?!?! That is insane!!! I've been limiting myself to 1700 calories of less since Monday. Haven't really had a chance to make it to the gym and I have been low on my protein a couple times, but I am keeping my calories low. Also been weighing myself each morning. Kind of got in a routine of it, so it makes you want to be honest to yourself the rest of the day. Here is to hoping I can loose some fat and retain muscle just by eating right. I plan on going to the gym and lifting in about 2 weeks or so when all the New Years resolutioners stop going.
Good and bad news fellas. The Bad: Gained back all the weight I lost over summer. I feel sad, ashamed, and awful for saying that but I wanted to get it off my chest. It was probably due to the stress and time constraints associated with school. I felt like I never had time to go to the gym or cook my own meals. I ate unhealthy at home and out. I would eat even when I wasn't hungry; I would use it as an excuse to stop studying for a while. Pretty messed up that my brain just wanted a break from studying, so I would trick myself into thinking I needed to eat in order to stop studying. The Good: I started my first week of eating healthy. I still have a hard time making it to the gym and was only able to go there 2 times this week. That being said, I have counted my calories closely and only ate when I was truly hungry (I helped distinguish this by drinking a ton of water and waiting for stomach hunger pains instead of relying on my mind). I wasn't so concerned with my protein intake as I should have been so I am sure the some of the weight I lost was muscle, but at this point I just wanted to lose a good amount of weight so that it would help motivate me to continue eating less and healthier. I went from 223.2 to 218 in one week. That is a loss of 5.2 pounds. I know that is more than you are supposed to lose in a week, but now that I have lost that much I am using it as motivation to continue losing weight and eating healthy. It also helps that I broke up with my GF and want to get fit to get a sexy *** girl. 04/01/13: 223.2 lbs 04/08/13: 218.0 lbs (I'll try to do a weekly update) Love you all, UCF FINatic
Water will only help a little with weight loss but it will keep you good and full because of its high density. Carry a bottle and an apple/granola bar for when your brain says youre hungry. BTW, girls are a great motivation for wanting to look good. Every time I see a hot one at the gym I push myself just a little harder lol
Definitely agree with both points. I actually got a girls number on Thursday lol. She's pretty hot and successful, but there is some underlying crazy that scares me haha.
Thats why you pick her up at her place and drop her back at her place...so she doesnt know YOUR address.
Quick question: Does anyone know how sodium plays a role in weight loss? - I know the basics that more sodium, means your body will retain more water thus increasing your water weight. That being said, how does it effect your "long-term" weekly weight loss? The reason I am asking is because I weighed in on Monday at 218 and I stepped on the scale this morning and weighed 218.2 and just now I weighed slightly over 219. Here is what I have eaten starting with Monday: Monday: 1694 calories and 5006 mg of salt Tuesday: 1550 calories and 3750 mg of salt Wednesday: (so far today) 863 calories and 2584 mg of salt I just find it disconcerting that I am cutting my calories and gaining weight :/ If I lose this so called water weight in a few days I will feel fine, I just want to catch this if it is a problem as soon as possible. Thanks all!
just weighed myself again, down to 215.6. It sure is funny how much your weight can vary within 24 hours.
Try weighing yourself after your bathroom... rituals. your water balance is best after sleep. Numbers will be most accurate. Sodium has will not skew fat loss but will change the numbers on the scale. Eat a bunch. Its an important electrolyte. Id recommend a low carb/keto diet this time around. You don't seem to gave the self control needed for a flexible diet. Give yourself 1 day a week to eat carbs. Keep digging man. Just remember this time around... If you kept going where you last quit, where would you be now? make this effort different than the last.
Yea, you really have no idea how disheartened, embarrassed, and disgusted I felt making my first post and admitting I gained everything back. The first year of dental school proved to be too much for me mentally and I guess I ate for comfort instead of substance. Tomorrow is another official weigh in for me and I'm sure I down another 2-3 pounds. I weigh myself religiously at night and in the mornings now, but only update me weight here and in myfitnesspal once a week so I only see weekly results. In total, I am down between 7 and 8 pounds in 14 days. Lost 5 the first week (by serious cutting my calories down); which I know is too much and I am sure I lost some muscle there. The second week around I lost between 2 and 3 pounds, I'll see officially tomorrow morning. I've increased my calories to a sustainable limit (1650), one that will allow me to eat 130+ grams of protein so I don't lose muscle. I try to eat 150+ grams of protein that day of and the day after lifting though. Additionally, this coming week is Finals week for me. 5 exams in 5 days. I plan on keeping my diet through it because of two reasons: 1.) I find it much easier to lose weight when I am on a roll and 2.) If I can keep a calorie deficiency through this week there is no excuse for always keeping one. Thank you so much for all the help along the way, Clark Kent! I really appreciate it!
WEEKLY UPDATE 04/01/13: 223.2 lbs 04/08/13: 218.0 lbs 04/15/13: 214.0 lbs TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: 9.2 lbs WEIGHT LOSS THIS WEEK: 4.0 lbs
And your trend is (9.2/223=4%) or down 4% in 2 weeks, if you look at your target weight and use a percentage it gives one a better feel for where you are in your goal. I personally use a spread sheet with data points and trend line on a chart.
Haven't really set a goal 100% yet. I want to get down between 165 and 180 (depending upon how my body looks at each weight. so 223-180= 43 9.2/43 = 21.4% or 223-165= 58 9.2/58 = 15.8% That definitely puts things in prospective. Can't believe I am already 21.4% complete towards my upper limit. Pretty crazy when you put things in prospective like that!
Good luck with your goals. I actually started the year at 250lbs, and am currently sitting at 195lbs. It's all about just making the changes your new lifestyle rather than just a means to an end. Just keep those calories at a deficit and keep your protein up to around 1g per pound of lean body mass and you should lose at a good pace. Going to the gym 5 days a week helps too. I currently do a push/leg/pull lift rotation to maintain muscle mass, with HIIT (high intensity interval training) as cardio on most days. HIIT is definitely the best way to target fat, should look into it if you haven't. Again Goodluck
WEEKLY UPDATE 04/01/13: 223.2 lbs 04/08/13: 218.0 lbs 04/15/13: 214.0 lbs 04/22/13: 214.2 lbs TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: 9.0 lbs WEIGHT LOSS THIS WEEK: -0.2 lbs AVERAGE WEIGHT LOSS PER WEEK: (9.0/3)= 3 lbs Note: This week was an anomaly of sorts. I was doing great up until my exam friday. I was stressed out tired and had two exams. I forgot to pack a lunch and succumbed to eating chickfila on campus. Then later that night I went out with my classmates to celebrate finishing our first year. Gosh I had to have had 10 to 12 beers, got home late that night and drunk ate a ton in an effort to prevent myself from being hungover the next day. It didn't work, I was hungover as crap on Saturday. Then I went home to my parents to celebrate my dad's 51st birthday, unfortunately he asked for a big italian dinner with ravioli, meatballs, garlic bread, pork neck bones, sausage, the whole 9. Throw in some drinking on Saturday night and my calories went to **** in a couple days before the weight in. I thought for sure I gained like 3 pounds so I was surprised to see I pretty much maintained my weight. That being said, i got right back on track today. Had Tuna for lunch, and then Chipotle for dinner. I went to the gym and did squats, overhead press, and dead lifts (Dead lifts are by far my favorite lifting exercise). Feels great being back on track! That being said, I am nervous for this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; my friends and I have a 12 year tradition of getting together to watch the NFL draft eat crappy food, drink beer, and just be men. I'm sure I'll probably consume enough calories to support Uganda for a week during those three days, but it's worth it in my opinion. I might try to cut back on one day or even two, but I am still going to pig out probably. Those three days won't effect my longer term goal or long term success though.
Unless you have some crazy deadline to lose x amount of lbs, it's OK to be flexible with your diet. It's OK to go to events, eat with the boys, etc... Your diet doesn't have to control your life. I'm glad you understand you will go off your diet at times, for one reason or the next. When these things come up, enjoy them while they last (they shouldn't be every week, mind you), and continue the next day as if it never happened. Going to the gym on a regular routine is a great start. As long as you continue to do that, you're going to make some kind of progress. lifting + diet consistently without stress/guilt over a cheat day here or there + repetition of those two = profit. BTW, my cure all for not wanting to go to the gym (fatigue, laziness, etc...), is caffeine. Whenever I'm not motivated, I pop 400mg of caffeine pills. I get motivated in a ****ing hurry. Just a tip for when the diet starts causing sluggishness. I'm pretty stim intolerant, so 400mg is like crack to me.
Yeah, I realized that in the past when I had a bad day, I would get really down on myself and somehow psychologically that would lead to me wanting to continue eating bad the next day and the next. I discovered I need to "forgive" myself for certain events and keep pushing! I hate the idea of "cheat days", I've always thought that if I've worked so hard to lose this weight this week why would I want to blow it because of one day. If it wasn't for certain events like the NFL draft, my dad's birthday, or going out for some celebratory drinks I could probably go two months without a cheat day. I just got an Ipod shuffle and I am really excited to use it so I will probably be back at the gym tomorrow. I'll probably only do cardio since I lifted today though. Great call on the caffeine pill! Ironically, my roommate does the same exact thing lol.
WEEKLY UPDATE 04/01/13: 223.2 lbs 04/08/13: 218.0 lbs 04/15/13: 214.0 lbs 04/22/13: 214.2 lbs 04/29/13: 214.8 lbs TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: 8.4 lbs WEIGHT LOSS THIS WEEK: -0.6 lbs AVERAGE WEIGHT LOSS PER WEEK: (8.4/4)= 2.1 lbs After eating junk food and drinking copious amounts of beer Thursday through Sunday I am surprised to see that I only gained 0.6 lbs; I was expecting to gain a lot more. I didn't bother counting calories a single day between Thursday and Sunday. Today I got right back into my routine of counting calories. I have continued to stay active. I ran and biked on Saturday, played racquetball on Sunday, and am going to lift and play racquetball again today. Let's go!!!
Already down to 213.4. I lifted today (squats, dead lifts, and overhead press) and have been continuing to do at least one activity for about an hour a day. I've been able to keep my calories down too. Just wanted to post that I expect to see big results this week; not sure why just a hunch though.
Went to the gym yesterday and just felt like a beast. I think I finally built up my stabilizer muscles so everything is getting much easier. I did my highest squat (145) and bench press (95) and easily felt like I could have done a lot more. I understand those values are low but I did 6 reps for 6 sets and blew through them like they were nothing. I wanted to add some more weight but my roommate convinced me to stay at that weight so I could up it next time we go to the gym and continue my progress. I am pretty stoked because for a while I would be all wobbly just doing squats of 115 and bench presses of 75. I guess it also took me some time to get the correct form and muscle memory down. I still need to work on pull ups. I can't even do one but I am working at it.
You'll get there, man. Just stay dedicated and you'll see growth! I started hitting the weights again two weeks ago after nearly a year and a half off. I could do about 10 reps of 135 on my bench but MAN it sucks to have to play catch up! Everything is at about 55-60% of what I use to regularly lift.
WEEKLY UPDATE 04/01/13: 223.2 lbs 04/08/13: 218.0 lbs 04/15/13: 214.0 lbs 04/22/13: 214.2 lbs 04/29/13: 214.8 lbs 05/06/13: 212.0 lbs TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: 11.2 lbs WEIGHT LOSS THIS WEEK: 2.8 lbs AVERAGE WEIGHT LOSS PER WEEK: (11.2/5)= 2.24 lbs I don't really notice much fat loss anywhere, but I do notice more definition of my muscles from my sternum and up. I've been regularly going to the gym 3 times a week to lift weights. I usually do one day on and then one day off in terms of the gym. Yesterday I did: Squats: 155 lbs (6 sets of 6) Overhead Press: 65 lbs (6 sets of 6) Deadlifts: 205 lbs (2 sets of this, but 4 reps of smaller weight to build up to this) 20 minutes of cardio (burning 200 calories)
WEEKLY UPDATE 04/01/13: 223.2 lbs 04/08/13: 218.0 lbs 04/15/13: 214.0 lbs 04/22/13: 214.2 lbs 04/29/13: 214.8 lbs 05/06/13: 212.0 lbs 05/13/13: 213.6 lbs TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: 9.6 lbs WEIGHT LOSS THIS WEEK: -1.6 lbs AVERAGE WEIGHT LOSS PER WEEK: (9.6/6)= 1.6 lbs I can see a difference in my body. I am more defined from lifting, and look a little thinner in my upper body (sternum up) from doing cardio, but my freaking weight is going up. Full disclosure, I went out with my classmates on Friday to celebrate finishing an exam and had a good amount of beer (and drunk food), but other than that i have been pretty vigilant. Last week, I weighed 212, and the last couple days I keep weighing around 213 and 215. It's kind of mindboggling how I can be gaining weight, when I am sure throughout the course of the week I have eaten at a calorie deficit. My caloric intake each day has been around 1650 a day (minus Friday which I had a maximum of around 2,500 calories). Could I be doing something wrong? I mean I can see the results in the mirror, but seeing my weight go up on the scale is pretty demoralizing. On a positive note, I am completely hooked on weight lifting. I've been regularly going to the gym 3-4 times a week to lift weights. I usually do one day on and then one day off in terms of the gym. I've upped all my lifting to the following: Squats: 185 lbs (5 sets of 5) Overhead Press: 70 lbs (5 sets of 5) Deadlifts: 190 lbs (2 sets of 5) Bench: 100 lbs (5 sets of 5) Pull Down Machine: 115 lbs (5 sets of 5) 20-40 minutes of cardio (burning 200-400 calories) I do squats, overhead press, deadlifts, and cardio one day and then squats, bench, pull down machine, and cardio after an off day.
I conceptually understand that, but I would think I would stay around the same weight, not gain weight. To me it doesn't really comprehend that I could be taking in less calories and be gaining weight thought (i.e. Body Builders eat a ton of calories to put on muscle/weight so how can I so readily gain weight while eating at a calorie deficit?)
