New member - new lifestyle

[JohnW]

Hi Folks!

Have been reading around this and other forums for a while now - and have taken the plunge to get my body into shape. As of 2 weeks ago I weighed in at 93.7kg @ 5'9" and am 30yrs old.

My diet basically consisted of large portions of carbs every day (pasta, rice and spuds), with some kind of meat product - generally not unhealthy, certainly no fast foods - I enjoy cooking and make most things from ingredients rather than ready meals or packet sauces. I also like beer - and was getting through perhaps 3 or 4 pints on a work night and maybe 8 on the weekends. I dont drink tea of coffee (or anything with caffiene) so basically its water all day every day.

Basically on the 13th that all stopped and all last week I pretty much crash dieted, missing breakfast, salad for dinner and lunch - perhaps taking on 800 calories or so a day - and no beer. By Friday I realised that wasnt going to work as a long term solution although I was down to 87.8kg - and noticably so - I can fit into a pair of 32" jeans now, whereas a week earlier it was a push getting into my 34".

So then I started poking around the interweb and found this site - among others.

To start a fresh this week - primary objective is to make it so my abs are visible (which is probably a very lofty goal given where I am right now!) - dont know what kind of timeline I should set for that goal really either?

This week I have started a daily diary of what I am eating/drinking. It seem to be a bit of a chore filling in the calories, carbs etc... Any comments on the diet as I start out would be greatly recieved

Date	Meal	Eaten	Content	calories	fat	carb	protein
20/04/09	1	missed	none				
20/04/09	2	missed	none				
20/04/09	3	12:00:00	Small salad, ½ tin tuna+mayo	322	15.3	8.5	34.9
20/04/09	4	15:45:00	Cheddar 50g	113	9.3	0.4	7
20/04/09	5	17:00:00	2 sesame rivita, 2tbsp low fat cottage cheese	192	2.2	12.2	28
20/04/09	6	20:00:00	Large salad, 6 shell on tiger prawns	143	6.4	3.6	17.3
20/04/09	Drink		2.25l water, 1l squash, 5x mug green tea				
							
21/04/09	1	08:00:00	Branflakes + semi milk				
21/04/09	2	missed	none				
21/04/09	3	12:00:00	Small salad, grilled chicken breast				
21/04/09	4	15:45:00	Small bag peanuts				
21/04/09	5	17:45:00	1 sesame rivita, 1tbsp low fat cottage cheese	96	1.1	6.1	14
21/04/09	6	21:00:00	300g Cod, stir fry onion/pepper/broccoli, hoisin sauce, 125g wholegrain rice				
21/04/09	Drink		3l water, 1l squash, 3x mug green tea				
							
22/04/09	1	09:00:00	2 sesame rivita, 2tbsp low fat cottage cheese	192	2.2	12.2	28
22/04/09	2	11:00:00	1 hard boiled egg				
22/04/09	3	13:30:00	Small Greek salad, 84g tuna				
22/04/09	4	missed	none				
22/04/09	5	18:15:00	1 tin sardines, 1 avocado, 1 hard boiled egg				
22/04/09	6	21:00:00	Large salad, 200g sirloin steak				
22/04/09	Drink		2.25l water, 1l squash, 3x mug green tea

What I am really struggling with is the physics moving my diet into the 6 meals a day reigeme - primarily being not hungry is my problem - but I dont think I am intaking enough protein either. I guess I have a typical issue where I work a substantial distance from work so I can take packed food in - or use the canteen for lunch - I could get away with a minifridge to keep things at work which could help out down the line. Work typically starts at 9 and finished around 6 Mon-Thur and 9-3 on Fri.

Hopefully I will get to my first gym session on Friday, I have a few in the local area so I am going to try and take a trip round the likely candidates tomorrow and see which one has the best free weights section before I join - the candidates are David Lloyd, Parkwood and Fitness connection (live in Hitchin, herts). Every where I look claims squats is the way forward so I can learn that.

On the cardio front - it bores me to tears currently doing a little bit of jogging with the missus, she is doing run for life. But after reading pretty extensively I get the impression cardio isnt necessarily the best route to the sea (or my goals) for fat reduction anyway!!

I found this forum after ordering some sample whey proteins from the website - great idea - didnt want to buy and eons supply of stuff I didnt like so I will try them out over the next few days!

Anyway this post is a bit of a hello to all and introduction - by posting it records my thoughts and I can look back at it for motivation and see where I came from etc.... I'm sure I will get some great advice too.

J.

[JohnW]

The other question I meant to ask is what is the recommended body fat o-meter people use?

J.

[LeMoore]

Hi John,

I too had a reflective moment a couple of months ago and have been on a lifestyle change ever since. Am so glad i dmade the decision to get back to my old self ands top being a lazt fat git.

Anyway, some things i would recommend that have helped me so far..

Bodyminder - best thing ever! google it. keeping a diary really helps motivation.
Keep it simple - The key is consistency, not the latest new finding on how eating MDF burns fat stores.
Train on your own - much better focus. Chat to your mates outside the gym, not inside
If cardio bores you, try something like intervals or tabata.. or try the skipping rope where you can learn some skills to keep it interesting. how anyone runs on a treadmill for 30 mins is beyond me.

And finally...a quote i saw..

"As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble."

— Ralph Waldo Emerson


Good luck man

[JohnW]

Thanks for the advice guys, im all set now to get started on Monday - probably start with the 5x5 beginners training detailed on stronglifts

J.

[Was_once_fat_dave]

goodcall john, loads on here have or are doing the SL5x5.

to log your food have a look at Food Focus - Permanent Weight Loss

well done on making a start, the best decsion you'll ever make.

[JohnW]

That food focus thing is great! Easy to use and quick...

J.

[JohnW]

Just an update

So I have logged a couple of weeks of food into the foodfocus website and have completed my first week (week 2 starts today) of the SL5x5 plan. Found the weights pretty easy to cope with to the point for almost all of them I could do it as 1x25 rather than 5x5. Starting light doesnt sound like a bad thing helps with form and break my body in gently.

Them reverse crunches really kill though!!

Still need to get myself a body fat-o-meter but I am still going down in weight 86.4kg this morning which is now over a stone gone - people are starting to notice and comment and now I have to wear a belt to stop my trousers falling down.


(it wont let me post a direct link to the image)

Still struggling a bit with this 6 meal a day buisness but getting better and assuming the food focus thing is working its numbers right I have a calorie deficit of just under 1000 per day - however I dont feel hungry at any point during the day, and if I do I have things like almonds and low fat cheese to munch on.

I would appreciate some feedback on the recommended amount of g of fat to be taking on - I still think I am having too much, although the only 'fat' I cook with is extra virgin olive oil - all other sources are coming from the foods I eat. I try and mix it up but generally I eat from the following groups and I try and avoid rice, potato and pasta

rump steak
chicken
tinned tuna
salmon
turkey
pork loin

spinach
salad veg
onion
sweet pepper
tomato
brocolli

low fat cheddar
low fat cottage cheese
seasame ryvita
almond
flaxseed
0.1% fat milk

berries (rasp and black)

Thanks,

J.

[LeMoore]

The amount of fat you have depends on how many carbs you are taking in. more carbs, less fat. Less carbs, more fat. I have about 100g a day but i dont eat grain so take in very little carbs.

Well done on the progress mate.

Why no eggs in the diet?

It looks like you are hardly taking in carbs so normal fat cheese is fine, and you can cook with some butter too. it really is about numbers so unless you are counting its hard to know what to tell you

[JohnW]

Forgot eggs - get through maybe 6 a week, I also have prawns.

It terms of portions for my proteins I shoot for 200-300g depending on if its lunch or dinner and what it is, and a little bit of veg - perhaps 2 mug fulls. Anyway I'll stick to what I am doing for a bit longer - doesnt seem like I am doing anything drastically wrong.

Thx LionHair for sorting out my picture!!

J.

[JohnW]

Well its been an on and off few months with no reply from me, I had a few weeks on holiday and a couple of weeks away on business, fortunately all with gyms - but the diet hasn't been brilliant.

However in the last couple of weeks being home I seem to have plateaued, I'm now sitting at 82kg with 15-16% BF - now while I can see where my abs are supposed to be, I am really struggling to get over the edge, my weight has been reasonably constant for 2 weeks with my BF falling and rising but no longer moving.

My diet is pretty good (I think), carbs are limited - I stopped trying to get 6 meals in a day and just when I am hungry, todays (workout day) intake is as follows

0800
2 poached eggs
2 bacon rashers
1 quality sausage
------------------
1230
1 scotch egg
150g cottage cheese
------------------
1500
1pkt kp dry roasted peanuts
------------------
1730
100grm Wensleydale
2slices honey roast ham
------------------
2130
1tin drained tuna in olive oil
100grm Double Gloucester
1 spring onion
1 bell pepper
6 cherry tomato

My exercise was 20min fast walking, and 1h20m of weights. I exercise between 3 and 4 times a week and the diet is pretty similar all week - Fridays and Saturdays I go for a few beers, and maybe a curry which is my only real departure.

Just looking for a bit of advice to get the fat moving and the muscle building again - I dont really want to give up the weekend beverages, but I am not sure thats really the problem.

Any input gratefully received.

J.