1000 - 1400 cal deficit is too much. Your body will store fat at that level. Try for 300-500 cal deficit.
Diet and Exercise
- Thread starter Cyclonick182
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I think the big thing with breakfast is eating protein, which your body digests much more slowly than carbs. This means that eating 2 eggs and some lowfat/fat free cottage cheese in the morning will make you feel full much longer than a piece of toast and a banana.
What you need to do is figure out how many calories you need to eat in an average day just based on your height, weight and average activity.
free calorie calculator It looks like this site gives you a guideline.
Once you have your base number, then decrease the calories you eat or burn off per day by the amount of weight you want to lose per week. Minus 500 calories/day = 1lb/week loss; minus 1000 calories/day = 2lb/week loss.
Whatever you do, don't go below 1200-1500 calories/day, especially because you're male. When you don't intake enough calories, your body goes into "starvation" mode and holds on to the little amount you do eat even harder, making it more difficult to lose weight. It's actually good to have a day or two where you eat a little more than normal - just don't do it every day.
A 1-2lb loss/week is what's considered a healthy loss. Anything more than that, it tends to come back on once you go back to your regular eating habits.
To get started, I'd buy a little notebook and write down absolutely everything you eat for a week. That will give you an idea of what your intake is like and where you can improve on eating fruits/vegs/whole grains and where you can cut back on sugar/trans fats and refined flours.
Grilled chicken and fish are always good low-fat options for meals. As are steamed veggies. The hub and I get the boxes of Green Giant frozen veggies (usually two servings in a box) and eat those. For quick meals I like basic sandwiches on whole grain bread (2-3 slices of deli meat, 1 slice cheese, 1t mustard) with a side of Flat Earth chips. Even 1-2 servings/week of pork and beef are fine as long as you're keeping your portion sizes in check.
That's another good tip - learn what correct portion sizes are. A single portion of meat (3-4oz) is about the size of a deck of cards. 1c of vegetables is about the size of your fist.
I do anywhere from 30-90 minutes of some sort of cardio almost every day of the week - usually walking with the kids in the stroller or running (though I had to take this week off due to strep throat and messed up knees). I need to work on my strength training, that's where I really slack off.
I'm working on losing the baby weight I gained with kid #2 and am down 25lbs since the beginning of the year. I have about 20-25 more to go to get down to my "ideal" weight, but only about 10 to get back to where I was before I got pg.
free calorie calculator It looks like this site gives you a guideline.
Once you have your base number, then decrease the calories you eat or burn off per day by the amount of weight you want to lose per week. Minus 500 calories/day = 1lb/week loss; minus 1000 calories/day = 2lb/week loss.
Whatever you do, don't go below 1200-1500 calories/day, especially because you're male. When you don't intake enough calories, your body goes into "starvation" mode and holds on to the little amount you do eat even harder, making it more difficult to lose weight. It's actually good to have a day or two where you eat a little more than normal - just don't do it every day.
A 1-2lb loss/week is what's considered a healthy loss. Anything more than that, it tends to come back on once you go back to your regular eating habits.
To get started, I'd buy a little notebook and write down absolutely everything you eat for a week. That will give you an idea of what your intake is like and where you can improve on eating fruits/vegs/whole grains and where you can cut back on sugar/trans fats and refined flours.
Grilled chicken and fish are always good low-fat options for meals. As are steamed veggies. The hub and I get the boxes of Green Giant frozen veggies (usually two servings in a box) and eat those. For quick meals I like basic sandwiches on whole grain bread (2-3 slices of deli meat, 1 slice cheese, 1t mustard) with a side of Flat Earth chips. Even 1-2 servings/week of pork and beef are fine as long as you're keeping your portion sizes in check.
That's another good tip - learn what correct portion sizes are. A single portion of meat (3-4oz) is about the size of a deck of cards. 1c of vegetables is about the size of your fist.
I do anywhere from 30-90 minutes of some sort of cardio almost every day of the week - usually walking with the kids in the stroller or running (though I had to take this week off due to strep throat and messed up knees). I need to work on my strength training, that's where I really slack off.
I'm working on losing the baby weight I gained with kid #2 and am down 25lbs since the beginning of the year. I have about 20-25 more to go to get down to my "ideal" weight, but only about 10 to get back to where I was before I got pg.
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I realize you were looking for food suggestions. I recommend eating fish, specific those with Omega 3s like Salmon. Only season them with moderate salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Once you throw too many seasonings on there, you take away the health benefits.
On the fruits side, blueberrys are an amazing nutrient source.
My wife is a pescatarian meaning the only meat she eats is fish, so we eat a lot of vegetarian meals. I really love pasta, but I over eat it, and it has a ton of carbs. What I do instead, is buy a Spaghetti Squash. You cut it in half, take out the seeds, and put it face down in about 1/2 inch of water in a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. When it's done, you take a fork, and the insides get all stringy like pasta. You put it on a plate, throw whatever spaghetti sauce you like on it, and it tastes almost the same as spaghetti with pasta but has about 10 times less carbs, and you're eating more vegetables!
On the fruits side, blueberrys are an amazing nutrient source.
My wife is a pescatarian meaning the only meat she eats is fish, so we eat a lot of vegetarian meals. I really love pasta, but I over eat it, and it has a ton of carbs. What I do instead, is buy a Spaghetti Squash. You cut it in half, take out the seeds, and put it face down in about 1/2 inch of water in a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. When it's done, you take a fork, and the insides get all stringy like pasta. You put it on a plate, throw whatever spaghetti sauce you like on it, and it tastes almost the same as spaghetti with pasta but has about 10 times less carbs, and you're eating more vegetables!
Im not finding myself hungry even at that mark. Does it do that as a natural responce or would it be a factor of being hungry?
Exercise 60 minutes a day... Man would that be nice. I shoot for that maybe twice a week if I'm lucky.
Eating more smaller meals can help a lot too. If youre hungry, eat, just make it something reasonably healthy. Do not starve yourself all day and then eat a large dinner.
Eating more smaller meals can help a lot too. If youre hungry, eat, just make it something reasonably healthy. Do not starve yourself all day and then eat a large dinner.
One last thing on the whole process. Healthy weight loss, is a gradual process. If you lose 1-2 lbs a week, then you're on track. If you're realy overweight you'd be able to lose more at first, but pipe dreams of losing 10-20 lbs in a month is something that will not be prolonged. Also, weight train as well. Convert some of that fat into muscle.
Also, eat small meals more frequently. The most important thing is to keep the metabolism cranked up all the time. If you eat too little your body will try and preserve its fat to keep itself alive.
Something that does help is to eat breakfast, have your largest meal of the day as lunch, and eat a light dinner. Eat healthy snacks throughout the day.
Also, if you workout before breakfast, you will burn more triglycerides as you're burning the excess fat from the day before...
If you aren't getting hungry, then your metabolism might be really slow. You need to find ways to speed it up; exercising helps...
If you guys think you are fat I don't know what you would call me but... I have been on a diet since April 12th and have lost 30 lbs. The website I use is called myfitnesspal.com .You put in your stats and how much weight you want to lose and it will tell you how many calories your body burns and how many you should eat to attain your goals. It will also tell you how many calories you burn while exercising and if you choose you can eat those calories and still be on a sensible 2 or 3 pound loss structure.
The site readjusts your calories as you lose. You log all of your food and exercise as you go. I am on the internet all of the time thanks to CF so another site to hit is no big deal. I want to lose 30 more by the end of July.
The site readjusts your calories as you lose. You log all of your food and exercise as you go. I am on the internet all of the time thanks to CF so another site to hit is no big deal. I want to lose 30 more by the end of July.
1-2 a week is all I really want. I used to be the delusional dieter and attempt to go days without eatting anything in hopes of like 5+ a week, but that was never realistic. I do strength train daily along with my cardio but Im not sure if its a good way to build muscle(Mentioned my routine in the OP).
I've read a lot of different theories on the 3 meals vs. 5/6 smaller meals a day. Here's my take: 1800 calories is 1800 calories, whether it comes in 3 meals or 5 meals, it really doesn't matter. Building some muscle mass (weight training) will do a lot more for your metabolism than just eating small meals more frequently.
The benefit that I do see from eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day is that you're much less likely to be really hungry when lunch or dinner comes around, meaning you'll be less likely to overeat. If you eat lunch at 12, then get hungry around 3, but know that you won't be eating again until 6, you will be very likely to eat anything and everything in sight when you get home.
When buying fish, check the label to see if it's farmed or fresh-caught. You want to limit the amount of farmed fish you eat because it *can* potentially have higher levels of mercury in it. I also think the fresh-caught tastes better, personally.
With exercise, you don't have to designate an entire 60-minute chunk of time to working out. If it fits better in your schedule, split it up into segments - do 20 min in the morning, 20 at lunch and 20 at night. You still get the same benefits as if you did it all at once.
ETA: and check your fluid intake. Often if you think you're hungry, you're actually thirsty. Drink a glass of water and wait about 20 minutes. If you still feel hungry, then have a small snack. If you don't, you were probably just thirsty.
With exercise, you don't have to designate an entire 60-minute chunk of time to working out. If it fits better in your schedule, split it up into segments - do 20 min in the morning, 20 at lunch and 20 at night. You still get the same benefits as if you did it all at once.
ETA: and check your fluid intake. Often if you think you're hungry, you're actually thirsty. Drink a glass of water and wait about 20 minutes. If you still feel hungry, then have a small snack. If you don't, you were probably just thirsty.
Ive been doing a 60 minute block after work(Its convienient since I work at a fitness club, so its right there for me to do.) Ive also been taking the phone out to the treadmill during the day some days and just walking for a little extra calorie burn.
If that's what works best, then awesome. On my days when I run, I'll do a 30 minute run in the morning before work, take the dog out on a 20 minute walk over my lunch hour (my work is 5 minutes from home) and then go on another 20-45 minute walk with the kids after work.
When you're on the treadmill, do you have it on a slight incline? That helps burn more calories, too.
This actually isn't a bad idea. I really prescribe to the ideas put out in the book Body for Life, which is a great book on how to change your lifestyle as opposed to dieting. They suggest having a free day.
If you don't have the incline of between 1.0-2.0 then it's actually too easy. This is often why people can run faster on the treadmill than they can outside. I know all sorts of people that would do just a 5k that would do all of the training in the treadmill (but not at any kind of an incline). They all hit the wall at about mile 2 or 2.5...
I'm going to show some self control and do that for myself I think. Worse come to worse I can always go back to the normal routine if it seems to be screwin me up.
