Thread: Here's what Im doing...what would you change?

Nobody has any suggestions? OR am I so far off it isnt worth commenting?

How many calories are you getting? Looks kind of low for someone who weighs 283 pounds.

Originally Posted by ihateschoolmt

How many calories are you getting? Looks kind of low for someone who weighs 283 pounds.

Im not real sure about the # of calories since I havent sat down and counted. I do know one thing though, I eat when Im hungry. Not alot, not all the time but if my break isnt till 9:30am and I get hungry at 8:30 I eat a little something. I dont let myself get "starved" just because its not "mealtime". If I had to guess, I would say 500-600cals for breakfast;5-600 at break; 800-1000 lunch; 200 pm snack; 800-1200 supper. So I am guessing between 2800-3200 calories. ?

Originally Posted by BiggerNstronger

Im not real sure about the # of calories since I havent sat down and counted. I do know one thing though, I eat when Im hungry. Not alot, not all the time but if my break isnt till 9:30am and I get hungry at 8:30 I eat a little something. I dont let myself get "starved" just because its not "mealtime". If I had to guess, I would say 500-600cals for breakfast;5-600 at break; 800-1000 lunch; 200 pm snack; 800-1200 supper. So I am guessing between 2800-3200 calories. ?

Meh, your lunch and dinner are just meat and veges. Theres no way those meal have 1000 calories in them. Unless your eating 2 pounds of steak.

Originally Posted by BiggerNstronger

First off I will say that I am in the midst of trying to lose around 30lbs.I am 6'1 and around mid November of last year I ballooned up to 303lbs of mostly blubber. I have been training heavy and doing cardio and not doing too bad. I got down to 289 and put on quite a bit of muscle. I got to where I could rep 315lbs 5 times on benchpress. I decided that unless I lose the fat first I wont be happy with how I look so I changed directions: no more powerlifter mentallity. I have lost 6lbs in two weeks doing this(283lbs yesterday):
Cardio at least 5times a week for 30-45minutes (rotating between stepper/treadmill...bike for warmup); lifting fairly heavy 4 times a week with push/pull split Mon/Wednesdays and a "fill in" workout on Fridays and legs on the weekend; my diet: Breakfast=protein drink/fruit/couple of bran muffins (homemade)
mid-morning snack=jerky/mixed nuts/fruit (some combo of these)
Lunch=varies, usually mixed veggies and a meat of some sort; sometimes a turkey sandwich or two
midafternoon/pre-workout= not much, another bran muffin or two and a half of a protein shake...other half of protein drink after workout.
Supper=meat/veggies or tunasalad...varies but has been healthy nonfatty lower carb foods.

I take multivitamins, flax oil, amino acids, glucosamine/condroiton, and EAS Betagen (creatine/glutamine/hmb mixed together). I drink at least a gallon of water a day. My goal is to get down to around 250 without losing alot muscle/strength and then I plan on packing on at least 15lbs of muscle. For my frame and structure I think a muscular 265 will be just fine...im the type that is always heavier than he looks. When I was 225lbs (YEARS ago) most people thought I was around 185. I think its going to work fine but any other suggestions or ideas would be appreciated.

Ok - So you want to lose about 40 pounds right? Well, if what you are currently doing it is working, and if your strength is not suffering, then just keep doing what you are doing!

At this point in time your BF% is pretty high (that is what I imagine 'lots of blubber' means), so your body is going to respond favourably and you will lose mostly fat what ever you do - as long as your protein intake is adequate for your size, and as long as you are getting your EFAs.

Assuming your BF% is probably upward of 25ish (?) - then you are probably looking at a lean mass of ~210 pounds, so I would say as long as you are getting about 260g of protein you should be right... In terms of EFA's - 6-10g of fish oils a day is ok - don't take flax it is completely wrong (you don't need to supplement the omega-6)...

I would not 'count calories' in the strict sense of the world - but just eat a clean diet REALLY high in fibre, with a focus on vegetables and lean proteins. Throw in some fruits, legumes & whole grains/brans and a few nuts (not a lot - very calorie dense).... you should be fine.

Originally Posted by Emma-Leigh

Ok - So you want to lose about 40 pounds right? Well, if what you are currently doing it is working, and if your strength is not suffering, then just keep doing what you are doing!

At this point in time your BF% is pretty high (that is what I imagine 'lots of blubber' means), so your body is going to respond favourably and you will lose mostly fat what ever you do - as long as your protein intake is adequate for your size, and as long as you are getting your EFAs.

Assuming your BF% is probably upward of 25ish (?) - then you are probably looking at a lean mass of ~210 pounds, so I would say as long as you are getting about 260g of protein you should be right... In terms of EFA's - 6-10g of fish oils a day is ok - don't take flax it is completely wrong (you don't need to supplement the omega-6)...

I would not 'count calories' in the strict sense of the world - but just eat a clean diet REALLY high in fibre, with a focus on vegetables and lean proteins. Throw in some fruits, legumes & whole grains/brans and a few nuts (not a lot - very calorie dense).... you should be fine.

Thanks alot E L. I have one question though, whats the deal with the Fish oil? To be honest the main reason I take the flax is that its "supposed" to help with joint maintenance (have shoulder and knee issues), but I would gladly add FISH oil instead if its supposed to be better.

Originally Posted by BiggerNstronger

Thanks alot E L. I have one question though, whats the deal with the Fish oil? To be honest the main reason I take the flax is that its "supposed" to help with joint maintenance (have shoulder and knee issues), but I would gladly add FISH oil instead if its supposed to be better.

Fish oil will help with your joint issues more so than flax. It will decrease the inflammation associated with your joints (and therefore decrease pain). It will also increase joint lubrication.

Your flax oil, if you are not careful, may tip the balance the other way.

See - Fish oil is a source of omega-3 fat (it provides a good combination of DHA and EPA). Flax oil gives you a mix of omega oils (it has some omega-3 and some omega 6).

In the body the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio is VERY important. More so than your total omega-3 intake. If this balance is too high (too much omega-6 so the ratio is high -eg: in some western diets it can be up to 25:1!!) then you can promote inflammation in your body (it has even been linked to things such as breast and colon cancer). However, if you push the balance back towards 1:1 then you can discourage inflammation and promote health.

Don't get me wrong - you do need omega-6 fats (esp. one in particular, which is essential) but you can usually meet your requirements just from eating a healthy diet.

Also - fish oils are great because the omega-3 fats are also necessary for a miriad of other functions in the body. They help with hormone production, nerve function, brain function, eye health (macula health in particular), your kidney function, your gastro-intestinal tract function, your muscle health, your bone health, your heart and blood vessels (decrease BP, decrease cholesterol, increase elasticity of your vessel walls), your respiratory function.... And they also promote healthy hair and skin (they make you perty! ).... They do this better than other sources of omega-3 because they give you the DHA and EPA which are important for a lot of these things... Under other circumstances, these are usually made in the body from the other omega-3 fats - but the conversion is very poor (esp in some people) - so you are better off getting the pure stuff.

Fish oils are also important to you because they help to decrease fat mass and increase fat oxidation - So they will help you lose fat (and retain lean muscle).....

Anyway - yeah, in summary: Fish oils are good and drop the flax...