Thread: diet

Originally Posted by Ranma

hey guys, i have been working very hard at losing weight in the past 3 weeks and i have come very far. I have seem to come to a road block however, and fortunately i know exactly why.

besides weight lifting 2x per week, and doing cardio 4-5x per week, i havent paid TOO MUCH attention to my diet. i have kept some common guide lines, (ex. eating healthy foods in 5 meals per day), and i feel great because i have worked so hard to keep junk food out of my diet.

can anyone help me with my diet? i think i want to go low carb.. it seems to be the most logical way to lose weight.

thanks.

-Pk

There's your answer right there. What has happened is that you cut out the junk food and you created a calorie defecit most likely, combined with your phsyical activities. First, did you lose a lot of weight fast, or has it been pretty moderate pace. i.e. 1 to 1.5 a week. This is normal and I suspect you might have lost a bunch of weight within the first week. This is also normal and it's most water. Now that you have stalled this is a good time to evaluate your diet and find out how many cals. you eat a day and once you find this you know your BMR, basal metabolic rate, and this is the amount of calories you need to maintain weight.
I would not suggest low carb, because carbs. are very beneficial. They give energy much quicker than other foods and they also have a protein sparing effect. While you may want to eat less carbs in meals other than your pre, and post workout meals, I wouldn't suggest completey eliminating them. But you are going to have to get rid of somethings to once again create a calorie deficit.
Post up your diet and your age, height, weight and Body Fat% if you know it.
As far as activities, Did you just recently add in cardio or have you been doing it for a while.? 4-5 days a weeks for someone who has only been trying to lose weight, is a bit excessive to start out, IMO.

Originally Posted by ReelBigFish

There's your answer right there. What has happened is that you cut out the junk food and you created a calorie defecit most likely, combined with your phsyical activities. First, did you lose a lot of weight fast, or has it been pretty moderate pace. i.e. 1 to 1.5 a week. This is normal and I suspect you might have lost a bunch of weight within the first week. This is also normal and it's most water. Now that you have stalled this is a good time to evaluate your diet and find out how many cals. you eat a day and once you find this you know your BMR, basal metabolic rate, and this is the amount of calories you need to maintain weight.
I would not suggest low carb, because carbs. are very beneficial. They give energy much quicker than other foods and they also have a protein sparing effect. While you may want to eat less carbs in meals other than your pre, and post workout meals, I wouldn't suggest completey eliminating them. But you are going to have to get rid of somethings to once again create a calorie deficit.
Post up your diet and your age, height, weight and Body Fat% if you know it.
As far as activities, Did you just recently add in cardio or have you been doing it for a while.? 4-5 days a weeks for someone who has only been trying to lose weight, is a bit excessive to start out, IMO.

well first it was like 10 lbs in 3 weeks.

okay im 6' 2'' 220 lbs, 16 years old. bf is somewhere around 23-24% i just reciently in the past 3 weeks started doing tae bo, and i stopped eating junk food.

my diet up until now has been as follows:

meal one: bowl of raisin bran
meal two: turkey sandwhich, bowl of vegis
meal three: bowl of rice, piece of fruit
meal four: chicken teriaki sandwhich from subway
meal five: piece of fruit before bed

i know this is nothing like the diets i see some people on, but this was just after eliminating junk food/ fast food from my life and it was working very well until now.

where should i go from here?

From what i see, you are not geting enough protein and healthy fats. You need 1 to 1.5g. protein per lb. Before bed you need some good fats and slow digesting protein. The most popular is prolly cott. cheese and either some type of oil or natty pb. There is more I'd like to say but I have to leave for work. When I get back I'll be glad to help you out more and add to what everyone else has to say.

Originally Posted by Ranma

well first it was like 10 lbs in 3 weeks.

okay im 6' 2'' 220 lbs, 16 years old. bf is somewhere around 23-24% i just reciently in the past 3 weeks started doing tae bo, and i stopped eating junk food.

my diet up until now has been as follows:

meal one: bowl of raisin bran (Need some protein here. Some egg whites, chicken, tuna, whatever. Personally I wouldn't eat Raisin Bran. It's rather calorie dense and it's pretty much simple carbs and a good bit of sugar. I would go for oatmeal(old fashioned oats, not the instant and presweetened stuff, Get some splenda and some cinnamon or if you don't want to use an artifical sweetener, some honey is a lower GI choice but just remember not to go over board)
meal two: turkey sandwhich, bowl of vegis ( this isn't too bad. Try to find some whole wheat bread. Look for some made with Stone Ground Flour, no High Fructose Corn syrup. What kind of veggies?
meal three: bowl of rice, piece of fruit This is all carbs and no protein and fat. Lose the fruit, add in some chicken or lean beef and some healthy fats. Olive Oil is a great choice, some veggies here too, but make sure they are things like broccoli, cauliflower, stuff that's high in fiber.
meal four: chicken teriaki sandwhich from subway. I would lose the sub and go for something closer to what i suggested in meal 3.
meal five: piece of fruit before bed Before bed you need some slow digesting protein and fats. As I said, cottage cheese and some natural peanut butter or some type of oil.

i know this is nothing like the diets i see some people on, but this was just after eliminating junk food/ fast food from my life and it was working very well until now.

where should i go from here?

Bro, it all really depends on how serious you want to get about losing the weight. The best thing to do is to start counting your daily cals. right now and if you still don't lose any weight within a week. Then add up your total cals. from each day, and divide by 7 and you'll know about how many cals. you need per day. Then from there some simple guidelines that most follow:

1 to 1.5g. of protein per LBM (your body weight minus your fat) Your LBM is about 170. 220 * .23(bf%) + 50.6 then subract 50.6 from 220 = 169.4

Get around 25 to 30% of cals from fat. Since you're trying to lose weight and you're cutting cals, keeping that fats a little higher and filling your self up on non calories dense foods, complex carbs, such as broccoli and such.

Then fill the rest of your cals. in with carbs, more protein or fats. Everyone is different and everyone's body responds differently to different amount of each nutrient.

Also you need to get some Essential Fatty Acids. There are 3 efa's. Omega 3,6 and 9's. The body doesn't make 3 and 6 and we get these from our foods. The problem is that most people get way too many 6's and hardly any 3's. To suppplement Omega 3's you can get Fish Oil caps, Flax seed or Flax oil are probably 2 of the best and most commonly used. Some fish, such as salmon and tuna( as in tuna steaks, not the canned, chunk light stuff).

Oh and as far as cardio, I would but it down to 3 times a week for now. Do it for 30-35 mins at 65-75% max heart rate. From there, once you stall in your weight loss again or simply it is just coming too easy for you,(since your body will adapt to what you're doing and to get the same results you have to do it longer, which is why I suggest you cut it back for now.) you can then go up to 40 mins then 45. Once you get to 45 mins a session, then I would think about adding in another day, becuase I feel that 45mins is about as long as anyone should spend doing cardio in one session, becuase levels of cortisol can start to rise due to the excess stress on the body, which is not good, especially for fat loss.