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Need some serious help.......

Spunger

Git yer dumb questions here
Feb 19, 2003
2,257
0
805
Hey guys,

I figured that it's time to share my story, and hopefully I can get some guidance on this and get some better results for both myself and my soon bride to be. I'll start with me and work my way to her problems.

Long story short.......I was very out of shape. I'm 5'11 and when I knew I was headed into trouble I saw the scale hit 250lbs. I knew I had to do something. So I got my diet under control, eating breakfast and lunch consistently and dropped 20lbs or so in 4-6 months. I then stopped loosing weight at that 230lbs mark. I then got dinner under control, and started being between 220lbs and 230. At Christmas time I was closer to 230, so we joined our local YMCA because it was easy to get to, and offered almost everything a regular gym added. At this point exercise was not in our routine of living. So we started at the end of January. I didn't loose as much weight on the scale as I though (currently at 210-212) depending on the day, but I did go down in waist size and overall everywhere. I cut down the junk food and soda intake and have for my last year. I have a can a day, sometimes nothing though. I think if I keep at pace come October when our wedding is due I'll have dropped another 10lbs no problem.

Now the girlfriend is having huge problems. She's eating right, having meals and snacks, nothing bad, drinks lots of water, and has only lost 10lbs. She's starting to get pissed because nothing is changing. She went to the doctor to see what was wrong but so far nothing they can find.

I know being a guy I loose it much easier, but it's hard to think it's at a 2x amount.

Our exercise routine, which has been very stable, Mon/Wed/Fri I play basketball for 2 hours or more each night. While I'm doing that she rides a stationary bike for 40-60 minutes at 70-80rpm. She wears a heart rate monitor and it's within her fat burning range. I also do the cycle, same time, but can maintain a 80-90rpm range and keep a constant 120-130 beats per min. I am 26, she is 25. On the other nights and weekends we do weights (arm, chest, legs) with free weights for 99% of it except legs where the machines seem to be easier. I'll go swimming on an odd-night, or go shoot around again. It is a chore going this often to the gym, and I feel like I have no life but I want to get back into shape, and I'm trying to help her get into shape too.

So..any ideas on what she could be doing wrong (or even myself?). I don't think we eat enough (we are both between 1400-1800 calories per day. I notice when I eat a lot of food I tend to drop a pound or 2 the next day. Even if it's fast food. We're starting to get discouraged though and I want to stop that form happening. I know lots of monkies on here have good knowledge on this stuff so I wanted to let loose and see what can happen.

All help is appreciated :)
 

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
Spike the metabolism. Have her get her HR into upper aerobic or even anaerobic range once a week (or more).

Also, what are the calories that she's taking in? If it's primarily carbs, that'll slow the metabolism. If it's a good balance, but she's starting meals with bread, THEN having protein and fats, switch it up so the carbs are last.
 

laura

DH_Laura
Jul 16, 2002
6,259
15
Glitter Gulch
So your girlfriend has lost 10 pounds in how many months?

How tall is she, what is her weight?

40-60 minutes of physical activity (cardio) 3 days a week isn't really enough to see significant weight loss. That's about at the maintenance phase for me.

Are you positive you are eating between 1400- and 1800 calories. 1400 is on the low end for you, but it won't kill your girlfriend to eat that little on a day where she is relatively sedentary. However, if you aren't really keeping up with what you eat, you could be going over and a miscalculation of 300-500 calories a day could have you gaining a pound a week if you aren't careful.

Is she a beefy girl? If she is, weight lifting/training could be packing on the muscle pounds for her. I recommend measuring along with weighing.

Here is what I would recommend for her. Find some activity that she is going to enjoy that will kick her ass. Heart rate monitors and stationary bikes are good for maintenance for sure but if she really wants to get into weight loss and see some results she is going to have to push it harder. You are losing faster because you are doing more. Basketball for two hours or more is a hell of a better workout than a stationary bike for 40 minutes. Tell her to try walk/running or take her up to the gym and sign her up for a spin class. If she ups her cardio she'll see better results. She might also find that if she ups her cardio and gets in better overall shape, she'll be less frustrated about not dropping pounds fast.

Or tell her to join Ridemonkey. I've been looking for a buddy to check in with for all this running I've been doing. I'll gladly lend encouragement.
 

Spunger

Git yer dumb questions here
Feb 19, 2003
2,257
0
805
BTW do you mind sharing what an 1800 calorie day looks like for you.
LOL I can try.........my diet is the same every day for breakfast and lunch, dinner's usually vary but not much.

Every day I have a cliff bar for breakfast

Lunch consists of 2 slices of Orowheat LITE bread, I think each slice is 60 calories. These are smaller slices then the regular slices of bread. I also have 1 slice of Lite sargento swiss cheese (or trader joes brand) and it's (guessing since it's not in front of me) between 80-120 calories, with next to nothing in fats and the rest of that junk. I have just a tiny bit of mustard and lite/fat free may on my sandwhich. I eat exactly 5 slices of ham each day (costco brand). I eat a 100 calorie pack of chips (already packaged) and depending on the day and how hungry I am I'll throw in a Light & fit yougurt (fat free as well) which I think is 80 calories with 3 scoops of granola in it. I haven't had yougurt this week........but that's my normal lunch. I should take a picture one day, it's sad how little a guy can eat :(

Dinner's are decent I guess. A lot of it is trader joe's food, but we keep to the serving size as we bought a kitchen scale just for this. It can range from turkey burgers (with small buns) and tator tots with a salad, to steak, or chicken breasts with brown rice and veggies (usually zuchini/squash) and/or salads. If I had her post on here she'd tell you I ration her food out for her before hand. She gets what I put on her plate, which isn't much at all.

I sometimes will have a soda at night, but I have no more at home, so it's just been water. She'll drink a diet soda at dinner. I use to drink a tall glass of milk each night but have just done with water in the last 2-3 weeks.

I know she eats various things for lunch........but breakfast she says oatmeal is what she eats. I'll find out more about her lunches though. I walk home for lunch, so it's easy to keep it consistant. Maybe I need to make her be consistant some how.

I'll have to post more about the exercise routine, which may help all in it's on at lunch time (12:00 pm).

Thanks though guys for the help, I'll try and give you guys everything you ask for information wise. We still have some time before we get married but it's good to be in the routine of exercise now, it's just picking it up a little bit more I guess :)
 

laura

DH_Laura
Jul 16, 2002
6,259
15
Glitter Gulch
Gah! you've added up those calories I am supposing? That is not a lot of food. If you are going to restrict calories I have a suggestion. Eat whole foods. Try to get rid of granola, lunch meat, tater tots, cliff bars, weird lite breads, chips etc. replace those with veggie side dishes, whole gran breads and pastas, fruit (whole fruits, not juices or smoothies) etc. Almost once a week I roast a whole chicken and use it for sandwiches. It is amazing the difference it makes in how satisfied you are afterwards (and none of those creepy nitrates).

You should not feel like you are hungry ever really. Especially with your activity level, you should eat if you feel hungry. You can lose weight just fine and eat until you are full.

I found the more I introduced fats like butter and olive oil back into my diet, the less hungry I was, I got fuller quicker and I didn't crave weird things like sweets and chips.

PS if you kept your diet the same as it is now, and took that one soda a day away you would lose something like 10 pounds by the end of the year. To put it into perspective for you.
 

laura

DH_Laura
Jul 16, 2002
6,259
15
Glitter Gulch
Oh and what's up with you rationing your girlfriend's food? Is she asking you to do this. Is she really comitted to losing weight or are you the driving force behind this?
 

Spunger

Git yer dumb questions here
Feb 19, 2003
2,257
0
805
Oh and what's up with you rationing your girlfriend's food? Is she asking you to do this. Is she really committed to losing weight or are you the driving force behind this?
Well I know she has had a hard time with weight. She has been able to loose it doing a program like weight watchers but once off of it gained it all back. I know weight watchers was a lot of "points" based off of the food nutrition. So I figured if I "ration" her food off, it's like using points for her. I don't think either one of use ever feels hungry as long as we eat when we do. We eat dinner early as we go to the gym after dinner, so we're eating at like 5:30 to 6 each night, and go to the gym from 7:00 to close most nights (which is 9:30).

It's funny........in a way. I've never been the one who wanted to loose weight. I thought at 230lbs I was fine. Then I dropped down to 210 (as of this morning) and I'm like.........I have a wedding to be in, my own, and want to look as good as I can. I know from the women's perspective they are the ones who want to look the best, so I joined with her, to support her working out and where I can work out with her. She's been great with it because she'll do her thing when I do mine (basketball nights) and then she'll come down and shoot the ball around with me for 20-30 minutes. She hasn't seen as much weight drop off of her as I have myself, but I keep preaching that stick with it and it should come off, it's not like it'll happen over night.

So........we are feeding off of each other as the "driving" force. I am realistic in my goals, as I think she is as well. She'd like to loose 65lbs, but that won't happen in 6 months. But 20-25 might. Same with myself. I'd like to be somewhere between 185-200. I'm not that far away, and I have the time to do it.

We were never really active before this, so these last few months have gotten us into the routine of going to the gym which is a hard step all in itself. We just need to figure out what to do to get the body burning fat better. We can both ride the bike for an hour no problems. Things like the treadmill are hard. Maybe things need to be switched up though I dunno.

Thanks for all the help Laura, just wanted to hit that out there :)
 

Spunger

Git yer dumb questions here
Feb 19, 2003
2,257
0
805
You should not feel like you are hungry ever really. Especially with your activity level, you should eat if you feel hungry. You can lose weight just fine and eat until you are full.

PS if you kept your diet the same as it is now, and took that one soda a day away you would lose something like 10 pounds by the end of the year. To put it into perspective for you.
When I seem to eat more, combined with the exercise I seem to loose more weight. If I have what we call a "fatty" weekend or couple days I loose the most weight. So sometimes I am wondering if I am not eating enough to start with. I still give myself my treats, because what good is life if you can't have ice cream or something every so often.

I am thinking for the next 4 weeks to try that, cut out the soda which is all sugar anyways, and see what happens with keeping things the same. I use to live off of soda, now it's not that big of a deal.
 

laura

DH_Laura
Jul 16, 2002
6,259
15
Glitter Gulch
Well again, I would need to know more about your girlfriend's size to say what she realistically look at losing at a healthy pace. But if she really hit it hard and seriously watched what she ate, she could lose 2 pounds a week up to the wedding at a "healthy" pace. HOWEVER, every time I have lost weight that rapidly, I have gained it back just as fast. Losing weight that fast isn't really maintainable, and it is hard to get adjusted to "normal" eating after restricting calories like that. Honestly, it's not good for you. Losing a pound a week is a good goal. It is easily achievable too, if you are conscientious about exercise and food.

My biggest advice would be to up the exercise man. Make time for it. THe more you do it, the better you feel and the more food you can eat without gaining any weight. It's a win win. Make it fun and mix it up. You are lucky, the weather is getting nice now. I would make a pact with your wife to try new **** this summer. Backpacking, swimming, whatever would be new and fun.

I lost over 80 pounds about 6 years ago, and have kind of struggled to figure out what works for me as far as staying in shape and not falling into old habits so I totally feel for you both. It just takes major lifestyle changes, and I know everyone says that but it is totally true. You have to stay positive because even if you aren't seeing weight loss you are getting in shape and you are healthier.

Anyway, enough of this rambling. You can totally do it.
 

DRB

unemployed bum
Oct 24, 2002
15,242
0
Watchin' you. Writing it all down.
First and foremost its awesome you are taking care of yourselves. My advice is not near as good as laura's (and good stuff is just repeats of what she said already) but might provide some insight.

I think points, rationing and anything found from these diet mills is a bunch of crap and to be ignored at every turn. The advice laura has given is worth tons more than anything those companies have ever provided.

Sounds like y'all are slaves to the scale. Good. I weight myself everyday and will for the rest of my life.

I found that when I plateau'd at some weight, there was two ways to get started again. First eat less and cut the calories. The second is exercise harder. Remember part of getting in shape is using less energy to accomplish some task. So the better shape y'all get in the less energy it takes to complete your exercise routines. Increasing the difficulty of the routine brings about more energy use. It doesn't sound like the intensity of her work out as increased.

Changing your exercise routine up is a good way of accomplishing an increase but eventually you have to just go harder or longer to make things happen. That's where the devil of the cardio machines lay and I think is what is stumping your girlfriend. Basketball is the big activity in yours. You are putting out maximum effort. As your fitness improves your max output improves. I bet you come off the court as tired today as you did when you first started but you are moving faster up and down the court now. As such you continue to improve.

With the cardio machines, especially when used with the infamous "fat burning" heartrate, a person can plateau and hardly even notice. Put the heart rate monitor in her pocket and turn up the difficulty to the point that she can barely, or not, make the full time limit. Have her do that for awhile as opposed to the other. Maybe a week or two of that and see what happens. Don't be worried if her weight goes up a touch because she'll be building muscle quicker along with dumping fat. In the long term the weight will fall again. The other benefit is that I think she will become more in tune with her exertion levels.

Are there spin classes available? I hate them but again it pushes the participant to a max output and not some "fat burning" output. Really any sort of class, step, power yoga, kick boxing whatever helps with this. You go faster / harder in a group.

Remember with this increase in activity levels it might be necessary to change the diet accordingly. I think that your calorie levels are too low and might be holding you back from seeing bigger increases in your fitness and output. A pound a week is the standard you should be trying to achieve, just as laura stated. The beauty of working harder is being able to eat more.
 
As for your diets- The human body is more resilliant than you can imagine. It hates change. It will do crazy things to resist change. If you limit yourself to 1000 calories a day, your body becomes more efficient and only burns 1000 in a day. If you are eating over 4000 calories a day your body becomes less efficient and burns 4000 calories a day(not an exact number basis but you get the idea) The trick is to eat 6-7 small meals consisting of whole organic foods throughout the day. Anything you eat will be maintinance calories. Your metabolism will adjust to your caloric intake. You want to cut out any processed food and reduce your sugar and sodium intake to almost nothing if you can. Drink at least 1 gal of water a day. If you have the dedication drink only water. You know that theres like 28 grams of straight sugar in a can of Coke, Right? As for working out and cardio-In order to have the most efficient cardio session, you need to do at least 30 mins but should be closer to an hour everyday. THE KEY IS TO DO IT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING. Wake up, dont shower, DO NOT EAT ANYTHING and go get in your fat burning range for at least a half hour. The both of you should do this together. Go speed walk to start and work your way to jogging. Doing anything on the street versus in a gym will pay many more dividends. More muscle groups are involved and your heartrate takes less time to get into range. Some may frown on this, but you can go to CVS and buy a Bronkodiolator called BRONKAID It contains 25mg of ephedrine HCL. Take three a day- take 1 every 6 hours your awake(DONT TAKE WITHIN 5 HOURS OF YOUR PLANNING ON SLEEPING) and get yourself some 200mg Caffine supplements also. Take 200mg with each Bronkaid. Greentea will also help this stack. Drink two hot Green Tea's with two bags-no sugar, black per day with the ehpedra and caffine and you will have fat melting off you both. If you have any questions shoot me a PM and will do my best to help you. Good luck and hope I helped.
 

laura

DH_Laura
Jul 16, 2002
6,259
15
Glitter Gulch
Some may frown on this, but you can go to CVS and buy a Bronkodiolator called BRONKAID It contains 25mg of ephedrine HCL. Take three a day- take 1 every 6 hours your awake(DONT TAKE WITHIN 5 HOURS OF YOUR PLANNING ON SLEEPING) and get yourself some 200mg Caffine supplements also. Take 200mg with each Bronkaid. Greentea will also help this stack. Drink two hot Green Tea's with two bags-no sugar, black per day with the ehpedra and caffine and you will have fat melting off you both. If you have any questions shoot me a PM and will do my best to help you. Good luck and hope I helped.

Well hell, if we are going this direction I lost a ton of weight when I stopped eating and started smoking cigarettes, try that. I also know for a fact that the fat will melt of if you start snorting meth, give that a go too. Ephedrine is gross ****. I didn't think that you could even get it anymore, since we are on the subject.


You have to find what works for you. The only formula you need to know is Calories in needs to be less than calories out. You have to figure out how you fit into that formula. Weird speed concoctions will help for sure, but you'll be on speed.
 
Well hell, if we are going this direction I lost a ton of weight when I stopped eating and started smoking cigarettes, try that. I also know for a fact that the fat will melt of if you start snorting meth, give that a go too. Ephedrine is gross ****. I didn't think that you could even get it anymore, since we are on the subject.


You have to find what works for you. The only formula you need to know is Calories in needs to be less than calories out. You have to figure out how you fit into that formula. Weird speed concoctions will help for sure, but you'll be on speed.
Guess I hit a nerve, huh? For some people it's kosher to take supplements and others it's not. Was just a suggestion. I think comparing legal supplements to illegal narcotics and and unhealthy lifestyle change like not eating and smoking is going a little too far. Its not a complete replacement to a healthy lifestyle, just a little help. Many people including myself have used this stack with great results. Yeah, yeah, heart disease, liver disfunction and so on and so on. But like John Mellancamp said-"Life goes on long after the joy of living is gone" Who wants to live to 90 in a wheelchair in a nursing home not being able to walk to the bathroom or take a shower, but still being able to draw a breath? Not me, Thank you. I'd rather have 50 good years than 50 and then 40 miserable ones.

As for the calorie in/out thing, Like I said, your body will adjust to its caloric intake. You eat less, you burn less. You eat more, you burn more. Look it up. Your heart rate is the main ingredient in your fat burning recipie. Sorry to have offended you but there are other ways of doing things. Some like to have a little help if its available.
 

laura

DH_Laura
Jul 16, 2002
6,259
15
Glitter Gulch
Yeah, yeah, heart disease, liver disfunction and so on and so on. But like John Mellancamp said-"Life goes on long after the joy of living is gone" Who wants to live to 90 in a wheelchair in a nursing home not being able to walk to the bathroom or take a shower

What's a little heart disease at 50 if you look good in your 30's right?

I'm sure you've had great results with your stack, you are taking speed, you will lose weight. It's not a secret. What it is, is bull**** advice for maintainable weight loss (unless you plan on being on "supplements" for the rest of your life) and long term health which is exactly what I am promoting. Like I said, of course they will help, but you will still be on speed.

As well, I never connected calories in vs calories out to fat burning. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about long term weight loss and maintenance. Calories in calories out is the key to that. If I started eating 4000 calories today my body would never adjust to start burning that off. Anything over 2500 a day and I start gaining weight. Now if I was taking speed, my body might catch up.
 
What's a little heart disease at 50 if you look good in your 30's right?

I'm sure you've had great results with your stack, you are taking speed, you will lose weight. It's not a secret. What it is, is bull**** advice for maintainable weight loss (unless you plan on being on "supplements" for the rest of your life) and long term health which is exactly what I am promoting. Like I said, of course they will help, but you will still be on speed.

As well, I never connected calories in vs calories out to fat burning. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about long term weight loss and maintenance. Calories in calories out is the key to that. If I started eating 4000 calories today my body would never adjust to start burning that off. Anything over 2500 a day and I start gaining weight. Now if I was taking speed, my body might catch up.
SPEED? You're wound up like a top, huh? True, you may gain after 2500. So, you could maintain at 2500cals or you could maintain at 1000cals. Seems like everyone i have a discussion with here is locked into one point of view. You've NEVER used a fatburner? If not, kudos to you. There are people that don't quite classify what I had recommended as SPEED. He and his girlfriend may be two of those people. It's hard to have a two-way discussion on a one-way street so I'll just exit stage left. To the original poster, good luck with all your weight loss goals and if you have any questions you should look at bodybuilding.com. There are many people on that site that have your goals as a way of life, there will be many people with sound advice to help you. Good luck again.
 

DRB

unemployed bum
Oct 24, 2002
15,242
0
Watchin' you. Writing it all down.
I'm with laura. Fatburners are lame and don't teach you long term solutions/habits to losing and keeping weight off. I do agree that your body does adapt to your activity level and caloric intake so varying both is very important.
 

Lowlight7

Monkey
Apr 4, 2008
355
0
Virginia, USA
Tweeker? Should I ask, or am I an idiot for not picking up on it?
Amphetamine (speed) and methamphetamine are synthetic derivatives of ephedra. People who use amphetamines are known as tweakers.

Have you guys considered a more comprehensive workout program? One with specific exercises for each day vs. just "going to the gym"?
 

Sinister17

Chimp
Mar 17, 2008
46
0
PNW
Burpees...learn to love hating them.

Tabata Intervals...Google it.

HIIT...High Intensity Interval Training

Sprints...put this together with Tabata and you will hate me.

Drink 4-6 liters of water a day. When you feel like a snack at 9:30 a.m., drink water. Eliminate sodas, even diet.

Eliminate High Fructose Corn Syrup 100%

STOP eating bread! A lot of the 'Fat Free' yogurts have a crap-load of sugar...ditch that sh!t.

Laura was spot on regarding whole foods; although I disagree with what she said re: granola. It is a great source of complex carbs; I eat a 1/2-c every morning. YUM!
 

laura

DH_Laura
Jul 16, 2002
6,259
15
Glitter Gulch
Laura was spot on regarding whole foods; although I disagree with what she said re: granola. It is a great source of complex carbs; I eat a 1/2-c every morning. YUM!
The only reason I said cut out granola is that it is high in calories, and a lot of times sugar depending on what kind you are eating. A lot of people don't realize that 1/4 cup can have upwards of 200 calories in it so it is dangerous if you are dieting. I eat it like crazy, when I'm not trying to lose weight. However, just my 2 cents.
 

Sinister17

Chimp
Mar 17, 2008
46
0
PNW
The only reason I said cut out granola is that it is high in calories, and a lot of times sugar depending on what kind you are eating. A lot of people don't realize that 1/4 cup can have upwards of 200 calories in it so it is dangerous if you are dieting. I eat it like crazy, when I'm not trying to lose weight. However, just my 2 cents.
Very good point. It is amazing how little you really need. A 1/2-c, with milk, gets me from 0600 to 1100, no problem. I think we are saying the same thing.

But, I have to say again...burpees, learn to love hating them.
 

bitingback

Turbo Monkey
here's my .02 from experience

I lost 70 lbs in 2 years. i've worked with a nutritionist years before in my never ending battle with weight AND with a trainer in the 2 years that i lost the weight. the trainer was great for motivation and keeping my body challenged differently so i wouldn't hit any plateau. DEFINITELY have to eat 6 small meals a day versus 3 larger ones. my small meals would consist of things like small bowl of Total, a banana with PB on toast, salads, yogurt with kashi cereal, etc. I found that for two weeks i would measure everything i ate so that i could know exactly what a single portion was and could figure out the calories based on that. eventually you just know what the right size portion is. i worked out 5-7 days a week. 2 of those days were weight training, full body. the other days were at minimum an hour of cardio. towards the end of my weight loss i found it easier to do 2 half hour cardio sessions than one long hour. the benefit of doing it that way if time affords it to you is that for every time you work out you continue to burn calories from the work out an hour after you're done. so by splitting it up you actually make the work out less painful (mentally speaking) and you give your body 2x the post workout burn. granola has a LOT of fat in it...you may want to rethink that. kashi makes some really good cereals with protein in them that i use as a crunch additive for my yogurts. you will find that some days you won't lose weight on the scale. but the true test of what's going on is your measurements and clothing size. towards the end of my weight loss i weighed MORE than i did in my 20's yet i was wearing 2 sizes smaller then i did back then. but i was toned and felt better than ever.

if you are working out hard and regularly...you MUST make sure you are taking in enough calories. it's a FACT that if you take in less calories than your body requires...it will resist losing weight. Your body begins to store fat and hold onto calories because it goes into survival mode...or so it thinks. if you feed your body at regular intervals but with small meals...you keep your body from going into that "starvation" mode.

i read lots of labels though i am not a complete whole food consumer. i make sure anything with milk is lo fat, breads are whole wheat and i eat healthy fats like almonds. and occassionally i eat brownies or something bad because without that balance you will end up just binging completely.

keep track of calories you're consuming with alcohol. even on my best weeks if i had a weekend of total splurge with drinking...i paid for it by not losing any weight the next week.

something to remember in your weight loss success. I know you have a goal to reach for your wedding. GREAT motivation. however you can be your worse enemy if you start beating yourself up because you didn't get where you wanted when you wanted. it's GOT to be about the bigger picture. i spent 2 years losing that weight and in one divorce that lasted 2 years...i gained 30 lbs back. i gained it because i allowed the stress of it all to keep me from going to the gym and i just didn't care about what i ate. now i am trying again and i have found that the second time around is a lot harder mentally. but i know i did it once so i'm confident i can do it again.

one added note...to keep my motivation up i used to draw a slash on the calendar...one directional slash was if i ate well and another opposite slash was if i worked out. eventually even when you have days that you didn't do either...seeing a month of most days being marked was positive reinforcement. i also started carrying a picture of myself in the various stages of my weight loss so i could see where i came from and how well i was doing.
 

jacksonpt

Turbo Monkey
Jul 22, 2002
6,791
59
Vestal, NY
Sounds like you're not eating enough, but it's hard to say for sure without really knowing your day-to-day lifestyle.

Spend 20 minutes or so reading this: Fat Loss Bible. Also, take the 5 minutes and figure out your Basal Metabolic Rate and your Active/Daily Metabolic Rate. That's the only real way to figure out how many calories you should be eating.
 

antm

Chimp
Jul 15, 2004
85
0
miami, fl
I havent read through all the replies, so if I am repeating something someone already recomended, I apologize in advance. It seems to me like you are not eating enough meals. Try eating 5-6 small meals throughout the day. Follow a good ratio selection (carbs/protein/fats) and taper the carbs as the day goes on (i.e. less carbs at last meal of the day). Try to do cardio in the morning, first thing upon waking up on an empty stomach. And to stoke the furnace, throw in a evening cardio session as well. And lastly, be patient. The human body adapts to what you throw at it, so be creative and change it up every so often. Hope that helps.
 

antm

Chimp
Jul 15, 2004
85
0
miami, fl
Burpees...learn to love hating them.

Tabata Intervals...Google it.

HIIT...High Intensity Interval Training

Sprints...put this together with Tabata and you will hate me.

Drink 4-6 liters of water a day. When you feel like a snack at 9:30 a.m., drink water. Eliminate sodas, even diet.

Eliminate High Fructose Corn Syrup 100%

STOP eating bread! A lot of the 'Fat Free' yogurts have a crap-load of sugar...ditch that sh!t.

Laura was spot on regarding whole foods; although I disagree with what she said re: granola. It is a great source of complex carbs; I eat a 1/2-c every morning. YUM!
this is very good advice. HIIT is brutal if done correctly. But, oh so effective.
 

Sinister17

Chimp
Mar 17, 2008
46
0
PNW
this is very good advice. HIIT is brutal if done correctly. But, oh so effective.
It helps to repeat this phrase, in between intervals: "Pain is weakness leaving the body...Pain is weakness leaving the body...Pain is weakness leaving the body." :biggrin:
 

ultraNoob

Yoshinoya Destroyer
Jan 20, 2007
4,504
1
Hills of Paradise
Burpees...learn to love hating them.

Sprints...put this together with Tabata and you will hate me.
don't need burpees or sprint+tabata's to hate you... ;)


I cancled my gym membership and just rode my bike with people 2x faster and more fit than me. I used to be 250 18months ago. Now i'm 196.
 

Kntr

Turbo Monkey
Jan 25, 2003
7,526
21
Montana
At my heaviest I was 218. I dropped 50 lbs down to 168 in 60 days one summer. I ate right, drank lots of water, and rode my bike everywhere. This was about 9 years ago. Now I weight about 175 and struggle with my weight all the time. Here are a few things that have worked for me.

-no fast food-go to Subway
-no soda, energy drinks once in awhile
-exercise first thing in the morning for 1-2 hours
-no cookies or chips
-Kellogs Special K with granola for breakfast
-5-6 meals a day
-lots of fruit and raw veges
-Turkey burger or Bocca burgers
-yogurt for snacks
-baked fish or chicken for dinner
-Health Ones, Smart Ones, or Lean Cuisine for lunches
-lots of fiber
-apples, oranges, bananas, grapes
-lots of water
-handful of raw almonds for snacks

Good luck
 

urbaindk

The Real Dr. Science
Jul 12, 2004
4,819
0
Sleepy Hollar
My story:

My wife and I have been doing the Weightwatcher's Core plan since February. I've lost 20 lbs and she's lost about 15. Our goal is to each drop 25 and go from there. Basically the Core Plan is all you care to eat of whole foods, fruits, veg, and a few other things. You only count points for fatty stuff not on the list. You get 5 free points per day + you earn points for exercise. 5 points amounts to a pretty big bowl of ice cream. It's pretty simple to follow and there is lots of free info online so you don't have to pay.

Here's a quick list of allowed foods just to give you an idea:
Vegetables and fruits
Soups (non-creamy)
Whole Wheat Pasta, Brown Rice, Potatoes and Grains
High Fiber and other cereals without added sugar
Lean Meats, poultry, fish and eggs
Fat-Free Milk Products
Healthy Oils (< 3 tsp / day)
Condiments
Coffee, Tea and sugar-free beverages

I agree with some of the other posters. When I work out with machines in the gym and try the "fatburn" or even "cardio" settings I might was well be sitting around playing cards or picking my nose for all the exercise I get. The default 80&#37; max heart rate for cardio really doesn't feel like I'm doing much. I go ahead and bump it up so I'm between 85 to 90%. I feel like this more simulates the feeling I get on a long climb on the XC bike, in other words, real lung busting exercise.

One last comment: You are really lucky to have a partner in this. I can't even begin to say how much it has helped me to have my wife's support. The "we're in this together" thing really helps on tough days when you feel like you could eat a chocolate covered horse. :)
 

Jettj45

Monkey
Oct 20, 2005
670
3
Butthole of NC
I didn't read through all the posts so I am sorry if I repeat anything that has been said. Something you may not know, eating less is not always good.
- You should be eating 5-6 meals a day with 2-4 hours inbetween each, it's easy even with busy work days, just takes preperation. Your metabolism needs to keep working, doing this will speed it up, granted you are eating correctly.
- Cliff bars for breakfast, not good(too much sugar). Try switching it over to a cup of oatmeal (plain) and acouple egg whites. I like to hard boil like 20 eggs so I dont have to worry about it for a week.
- Working out in the morning before you eat is 300&#37; more efficient in fat burning because your body is in a fasting state.
- You need to take any pop completely out of your diet, sugars turn to fat, fat is bad lol. And no diet pop is no better.
- Drink 90-120oz of water a day, i actually only drink water. This help increase your metabolic rate.
- 40/40/20 diet It is a very good and healthy way for a diet but its not really a diet per say more of how you should always eat.
- Stay away from any fat burning supplements, they are unnecessary and unhealthy.
- Obviously you like biking hence a member here so im guessing cardio is not an issue in the summer.
- Cheese is bad, I know it tastes good but trust me I completely took it out of my diet. Cloggs up your digestive process, its high in colestrol and fat.
- Switching up workouts is a must, your body will get use to what you do and results will start to stagnant.
- Ideally you should workout everyday...since when did being active become a chore lol.
- Rye and Pumpernickel are the best breads.
- Awesome rule of thumb is NO processed foods.
- Chicken and fish are the best sources of protein.
- Eating before you goto bed is a hung no-no, if your hungry drink a bunch of water.
- When you first start working out weight loss will be fast then slow down, this is due it excess water weight you burn off.
- Loosing weight is simple you burn more calories than you put inside you.
- The best fat burning cardio is a interval workout it is scientifically proven that a 30min interval workout will increase your VO2max and fat burn more than a 90min cardio workout.
- You mentioned you swim. Sidenote for that, swimming can be the best workout becaue you're using everything. However, it makes you want to eat more because your usually swimming in colder water so your body temperature goes down a bit giving you a bigger appetite. But seriously nothing beats swimming, i swam in HS and went to states every year so I was decent. But I would eat around 8000 calories everyday. I never gained weight because our pratices were so intense.
- Didn't mean to sound contradictory saying interval training and swimming are the best workouts but interval training can be applied to anything.

But I was use to eating a crap load and i did not want to swim in college at all. So naturally w/o that swimming everyday and kinda keeping my crazy calorie high diet I eventually started to gain some weight. Only like 20 lbs until I told myself i dont think so. I definitely enjoy learning about nutrition and staying in shape so that helps plus I have DH racing as a motivator to stay in shape. But I have kept my body fat right around 9% and next gained any unwanted weight, currently 6ft @ 175lbs. I think personally getting rid of snack foods like chips, cookies, pretzels, ice cream etc was hardest for me b/c i use to have a sweet tooth for that stuff. But I honestly don't miss any of it.

Example of what I eat in a day:

5:30am (breakfast) 1 cup oatmeal made w/ water and 2 hardboiled egg whites.
9:00am (breakfast#2) Whey Protein shake w/ spoonful of good fat (flaxseed oil).
12:00pm (lunch) Big azz Salad w/ grilled chicken, cucumbers, grapes, baby tomatoes, organic balsamic vinagrette dressing.
3:00pm (lunch #2) Can of tuna and a fruit or veg.
6:00pm (dinner) Grilled chicken breast and 1-2 veg.
9:00pm (snack) I like to snack on cucumbers, celery or carrots.

To save time ill grill like 8 chicken breasts in a night, cut them up and keep them in the refrigerator for when i need them in the week, same with hard boiled eggs.


I also take Shaklee Multi vitamins and there Calcium vitamins.

Something a lot of ppl dont know is a lot of the multi vitamins on the market don't do anything for you because they can't disolve fast enough. Test them by putting one in a glass of water for 30min. If its not fully dissolved by then, find a new one. Shaklee's disolve in about 7min that's why I use them.




Hopefully any of my information is of help to you, let me know if you want clarification or depth on anything. I didn't post anything about workout examples b/c they are way too long and it's like 4am. Basically weight lifting and cardio go hand in hand both of you should be doing them, just not the same things.