Advice on fine-tuning diet and exercise

W

WSHRocks

New member
Hello, I'm a new member of this forum, but I've been lurking for a while. I'd like to know what things I might be able to do to continue my weight loss as it seems to be that I've hit a wall.

I'm a 5'10 20 year old male, ~175 pounds and I've lost much weight since 2006, where I weighed ~225 at my heaviest just by the change of diet after high school (I stopped eating lunches in the cafeteria there). Essentially, I was down to the 190s before I started college, and I dropped to 180-185 as a weight without fluctuations just by eating a little healthier. Since the beginning of this summer, I went from 185 to 175, back up to 180 (vacation, oops), down to 174~175 most recently.

It has been almost a month since vacation, but in the past two weeks or so I've seen no change in my weight and my most "demanding" areas of weight loss are my chest, abs, and lower back. I know that spot reduction isn't possible, but I just use these areas as benchmarks for my progress. I'd like to get it to the point where I have a more normal looking chest (it's still somewhat pseudogynecomastic), my stomach is more shapely (I am beginning to see development of ab muscles from my weight regimen, but under a layer of fat), and I don't have any "overflow" when I put my gym shorts on.

My exercise and weight regimen consist of 1hr bike cardio (interval 2 minutes low res, 3 minutes high res), and ~45 minutes (most of it is resting in between sets) in which I work 3-4 different major muscle groups (abs + x + y), doing both activities back to back three days a week (tues, thurs, sun).

As for my diet, I usually eat 300-400 calories for breakfast + 1-a-day mens multivitamin supplement; the breakfast is usually 2 cups of organic raisin bran and maybe 1 cup of milk (sorry, I "guesstimate") or 1 whole grain wheat bagel with minimal cream cheese spread (my family has the regular philadelphia, but i'd rather get the reduced fat). I used to have a bowl of oatmeal with walnuts, raisins, and honey, but I've not had time to make it in the mornings lately. For lunch on most days, I work and therefore bring an ethnic cuisine or kashi TV dinner (around 300 calories). Dinner is a wildcard, but it usually the largest meal of the day, although I really like the European method. It is anything from a Kashi pizza, which I have maybe once a week, to spaghetti with turkey meat and whole grain pasta, strips of steak with rolls or apple sauce, hot dogs with baked beans, ham omelette, etc. I'd like to get some good ideas on dinner, because I find myself being unable to find some solid choices that I can prepare easily. Also, when I have work I usually have a cliff bar as a snack, and at home I might have a snack of peanut butter crackers or an organic whole wheat poptart, or maybe just peanut butter straight out of the jar :banghead:.

Any suggestions on some easily prepared bagged lunches for work, too? I hate to think of all the sodium that I digest from TV dinners.

Thanks,

WSH
 
First of all welcome to posting and out of lurking. :)

Next ... hmmmmm .... :) I see quite a few things that might keep you in a "stall" as far as weight loss.

First thing is FOOD:
IF your food listing and calorie counts are accurate, then you're not eating nearly enough for the amount of exercise you're doing. OTOH, if you're only "guesstimating" your food, then it's possible that you're eating a lot more than you think you are. Either one will lead to stalling, especially when you're super close to your goal or already at a healthy weight and at the point of needing to trim down and build muscle. When you get to that stage any "guesses" can really screw you up.

Also it looks to me like your diet is pretty carb heavy and pretty low on proteins. If you're wanting to lean out and really look lean and fit, you have to trim back the carbs and add more protein. Things like Raisin Bran are not a great fit for that kind of plan - lots of sugar, even if it is the organic kind.

So the first thing you need to do is get a handle on EXACTLY what you're eating and how much. I'm figuring that you could eat around 1800 calories to lose .. and you need to make sure your carbs/proteins/fats are nicely balanced - I'd suggest around 40/30/30, but you could tweak that some and still be good.

Next is EXERCISE:
I personally think an hour of cardio is excessive. If you're doing your cardio effectively, you can cut that back to 30 mins and be good. If you're in shape enough to do intervals, then do them as intensely as you can and be done with 30 mins of it. That's really all you need.

Your weights - I'm not the expert here; there are a lot of people far more qualified than I am to give you detailed advice, but I'd say from my limited knowledge that you need to work more on full body exercises. Squats, lunges, presses (bench, military, etc.). And some body resistance stuff - pushups, pullups, chinups, stepups (with or w/out weights) - all of those things will really work your whole body and help immensely with the slim down and the building the muscle for that lean look.

Suggestions for meals:
As far as lunch, do you have a fridge or microwave available? If so, the possibilities are endless. Fix yourself burgers - either lean ground beef or turkey burgers - and then take them in to work the next day to reheat in the microwave. Eat them open faced on 1/2 a bun, topped with whatever veggies you want.

Make casserole type things at home - enchilada casseroles, lasagna (or veggie lasagna), chicken spaghetti, etc. - use whole grain pasta and corn tortillas and that kind of thing for your complex carbs. Then scoop out a serving to take to work with you and reheat in the microwave.

As far as sandwiches go, I'm a big fan of tuna for lunch - mix up my tuna salad ahead of time and keep it in a tupperware container. If you have a fridge you can use mayo in your mix, otherwise oils, mustards, Italian style dressings, remoulade sauce, etc. can all make a great tuna salad. Mix in some chopped veggies for some crunch (anythign from celery, to spinach, to chopped bell peppers, whatever floats your boat - heck my grandma used to put chopped apples in tuna salad). Then pack your bread separately (whole grain bread, or whole grain pitas) and make your sandwich at lunch time - to keep it from getting soggy. You can do the same thing with canned drained chicken breast as well.

Also peanut butter on whole grain is a favorite of mine. If I have the calories and feel like treating myself, I'll add in some fruit spread - not jam or jelly but some kind of whole fruit preserves. Definitely have a piece of fruit with this - an apple, or a pear or something like that.

Snacks: Ditch the clif bars, peanut butter crackers, pop tarts, and all that other processed garbage. If you want to really lean down, you cannot put that kind of processed food and sugar in your body. Your snacks should be things like an apple with peanut butter, almonds, cottage cheese with some fruit, chopped veg and hummus, anything with some protein and either fruit/veg or complex carbs.

Dinner: Dinner is the easiest one for me since you don't have to worry about having a fridge or cooking facilities available. This is another area where the casseroles above come into play. You can make a great casserole, loaded with protein and veg for dinner, then take the leftovers to work with you the next day. I always make a double portion of veggie lasagna and freeze half in individual portions ... then I can have lunch on it for several weeks. It's like making your own frozen meals ... so you can control exactly what goes into them.

If you have a grill, you can grill everything. Meat, veg, fruit ... I live on grilled food in the spring, summer, and fall. IN fact tonight was grilled pork loin chops, a "salsa" made of chopped pineapple and red peppers and onions with lime juice, and big thick strips of zucchini ... all cooked on the grill. Didn't have to touch a stove or oven tonight. :)

Another option is to buy whole chickens and roast them. Roasting a chicken is super easy (or cooking it whole on the grill) and you can eat off of a whole chicken for 2 or more days. It'll easily give you one dinner, 2 lunches, and some bits and pieces leftover to throw into some pasta or over some brown rice. (And if you're so inclined, you can make your own chicken stock with the carcass!)

I could go on for a while, but let me know more about how much you like to cook, what tools you have available, and what you like to eat and I can make some pretty specific suggestions if you like.

Ok, that's my novel for hte night. :) Hope it helps some.
 
Wow, thanks for the great post. I think that it's very helpful for me, because I didn't really pay attention to how many carbs I was ingesting. I realize that I should probably eat more vegetables and to go along with your suggestions. I like to cook when I have time and I always thought the idea of being a chef might be nice. I have most kitchenware that might be needed, including frying pans, saucepans, a casserole dish, baking sheets, etc. Also, I have a microwave and fridge/freezer at work.

I'm interested in knowing what kinds of vegetables and meats I could add to a casserole like the ones you are suggesting. When I go to the grocery store, I see tons of vegetables, but I can't think of any possibilities for making a dish with them, because I have no experience with cooking meals, but instead just desserts and other things involving complex recipes. I'd love any suggestions on recipes, because I have none, but I'm very "picky" on variety, because I hate repeating a meal too soon after I've had it. Just as a note, I highly dislike mushrooms, raw tomatoes, and asparagus, but I like just about everything else (these are the few things that always come to mind first). If you have more suggestions, I'd be glad to hear any and/or all of them, because I want to get more cooking experience anyway.
 
I'm very "picky" on variety, because I hate repeating a meal too soon after I've had it.
Click to expand...
I'm the same type of "picky". :) I like variety.

Ok, a few suggestions. I mentioned veggie lasagna above. There's a recipe for it on my food blog here: You can pretty much put any veggies you want in there.

Stir fry is one of my favorite things to make. In fact last night I did one with: onion, garlic, ginger, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, celery. I stir fry in very hot peanut oil and top with some soy sauce and sriracha hot sauce. Last night I sliced lean pork over the stir fry, but sometimes I throw in shrimp or slice a cooked chicken breast over instead. If you make enough of this, then you have leftovers to take for lunch the next day - and reheated stir fry is really good. It's also a good bunch of veggies for your daily allowance.

When I make my Tex-Mex enchilada casserole, I always whirl up chopped spinach with the enchilada sauce in the food processor. You can also add sauteed onion and zucchini and other veggies to the beans and chicken to give it a nutritional boost. That recipe is here:

Tonight's dinner is grilled chicken and squash. I'll brine some boneless chicken breasts and throw them on the grill, lightly basted with olive oil. Then I'll add some thick cut strips of zucchini and yellow summer squash (crookneck squash) and baste them lightly with oil and balsamic vinegar. Grill them until they're just tender and have the dark grill "stripes" on them. So yummy.

I also love to stuff summer veggies. There's a recipe for stuffed red bell peppers here: , but I've used the same filling in halved and hollowed out zucchini as well and it's really good.

And all of these, btw, make enough that you can take leftovers for lunch the next day.

That's off the top of my head - I"m know there's tons of other stuff I do on a regular basis as well, it's just not at my fingertips right now. :)
 
Wow, that stuff sounds really tasty. I'm going to have to try cooking them and see how I like them; I'll customize from then. What other things would you suggest for breakfast that I eat? Let's consider I eat a stir fry for dinner with a lot of vegetables and tuna salad for lunch, then what would be a rough idea for breakfast to round out the daily requirements? I love oatmeal with anything added to it as well as eggs...are these good? And are there any other suggestions for staple breakfast foods?

Thanks for everything so far,
WSH
 
Eggs are good. 2 or 3 eggs in the morning and a piece of whole grain toast is a solid breakfast. I usually wind up boiling a dozen eggs on Sundays and snacking on them throughout the week - so if you don't have timeto scramble or fry eggs in the morning, think about boiling some the night before. Make sure to have a piece of toast or a whole grain english muffin with them, and maybe even a piece of fruit to round things out.

If you have time you can make an omelet with a couple of eggs, some sauteed onion, spinach, tomatoes, whatever other veggies you want to put in there. Add a sprinkle of grated cheese (I love sharp cheddar, but parmesan works too) and you have a great breakfast.

I actually love oatmeal with cheese and salt and pepper (I'm not really big on sweet things for breakfast), but you can also make it with just about any fruit. I like the walnuts, raisins, and honey thing you mentioned above.

I am a big fan of yogurt and I probably eat it 4 out of 7 days. I get the Greek kind (it's thicker and more tart) w/out anything added. Then I add my own blueberries, honey, whatever fruit or sweetener I want. The Greek yogurt is also really high in protein - higher than the regular kind you can buy.

Also don't feel like you have to limit yourself to breakfast foods for breakfast. I've been known to eat a turkey sandwich, a peanut butter sandwich, a whole grain tortilla rolled around peanutbutter and a banana ... heck I've even had leftover veggie pizza for breakfast (homemade on whole grain crust). Just make sure that you get protein, complex carbs and some kind of fruit or veg in there in some combination.
 
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