Advice on my current program

[sonti]

Hi,
After realizing that I was starting to get quite unhealthy and chubby, I started exercising and eating a bit carefully. Instead of following any diet, I just read the labels before I buy anything and watch the amount of carbohydrates/protein/fat i take every day.

I want to share what I'm doing here and hope that you guys can give me some advice in case I'm doing something wrong.

About me.
I'm 26 years old, male. 178cm height. I was 108kg at April and now the scale shows 102kg(august).

What I do.
Everyday (not weekends) I get up 1 hour earlier than usual and go jogging for about 30mins on empty stomach. Because I'm doing it everyday I do it on low-tempo with few breaks by walking so that I don't feel it on my knees during the day.

Everyday before starting to make dinner I start exercising with hand-weights for about 30-40 minutes. Few 3x10 exercises (biceps, chest, triceps) with 20 crunches after each session (total: about 60 crunches). I do it on low intensity so that I don't get sore muscles the next day. It is not for bodybuilding anyway but to feed the muscles so that I don't lose muscle while burning fat.

What I usually eat.
I try to eat 4-6 times a day so that my stomach always have something to work on (as far as i know it takes 3hours to digest a meal). I try to eat every 3 hours with lots of fruits in between if I feel hungry. Here is a list of what I usually eat a day.

Meal1 8am - Breakfast: 4 slices of WASA crackerbread with cold chickenbreast/melted cheese/cheese and milk

1 or 2 fruits in between if I feel hungry.

Meal 2 11am-12pm - Lunch: Mini yogurt with a bit of muesli (mostly grain) on. 1 or 2 fruits)

Meal 3 - 3pm - 4-6 slices of WASA crackerbread with chickenbreast/cheese/melted cheese

Meal 4 - 6pm - Dinner: 1 small cup of rice (basmati), about 200grams of chickenbreast/salmon/white fish fillet/pieces, salad (corn, cucumber, salad, few teaspoon's of olive oil) - or a big tunsalad with few crackerbread pieces.

Meal 5 - 9pm - Mostly fruit. Or healthy snacks (crackerbread types), carrot.

Most of the food I eat especially dairy products are "light" on fat.
The reason I'm asking for advice is that last few weeks I've stopped losing weight and got stuck on 102kg even 103 from time to time. Is there something I'm doing wrong? or eating something wrong? My only concern here is my usual dinner dish which almost always have a small cup of rice and 200grams of chicken or fish and salad. I don't think there is anything wrong with eating rice everyday but I just wanted to make sure. Or maybe the way I exercise doesn't increase my metabolism enough to burn more calories.



Please note that this is not a diet, just what I usually eat on daily basis. What I eat may vary a little but I always make sure that its low on fat. Any advice or feedback is appreciated. Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[d_byrne23@hotma]

Im glad you seem to be so driven. My advice from my recent success would be your run. I used to run a slow 30 min jog as well and at first it worked for a short bit, then my weight loss stopped. Now I have changed that 30min jog into a totally different run using the Fartlek system. Basically it combines jogging with more faster paced runs and mixing up the two. Since switching my weight loss has already started, I went from 225lbs down to 213 now my goals are to get down to 185 again and resume my athletics. Good luck

 

[sonti]

Thanks for the advice. I should probably try this Fartlek system too then. Seems doable but my only concern is that if I start feeling sore in my legs from running everyday, it might affect my motivation. but I'll try and find a faster paced tempo that suits me.

I'm also going to start calculating how much calories (kcal) I take everyday and I should probably find out how much kcal I burn daily as well.

 

[d_byrne23@hotma]

Ya I would say even if you are worried about the leg pain, you dont have to necessarily do the fartlek system, but perhaps just go at your normal pace, then continue to s;pw;y increase the tempo. I just found that I related to your post so much. I started a jogging routine and had quick results, and then nothing and it really de-motivated me quite bad. Best of luck!

 

[ansonteo]

Hi Sonti,

Based your age, height, weight and activity level, your Daily Calorie Need is about 2,750kcal/day.

Are you drinking enought water? Not enough water intake will lead to water retention and no weight loss. You need to drink at least half of your weight (pounds) in ounces. Your weight is 102 kg or 224 pounds, so you need to drink 112 ounces. 1 glass of water equals 8 ounces, so you have to drink 14 glasses of water a day.

 

[sonti]

I love water and drink all the time except at work I forget about it most of the time. But I will start bringing a bottle of water and refill it all the time, starting from Monday

Thanks for the great tips guys. With these I think I'll start breaking my "stuck on 102kg" line.

 

[Steve]

I just read the labels before I buy anything and watch the amount of carbohydrates/protein/fat i take every day.

You realize you have to pay attention to calories too, right?

I mean, in a way if you're making sure you take in particular amounts of each macronutrient, calories will control themselves. But I still felt it worth noting.

Are you shooting for a particular amount or protein, carbs and fats? Is so, what?

I want to share what I'm doing here and hope that you guys can give me some advice in case I'm doing something wrong.

About me.
I'm 26 years old, male. 178cm height. I was 108kg at April and now the scale shows 102kg(august).

Good job.

What I do.
Everyday (not weekends) I get up 1 hour earlier than usual and go jogging for about 30mins on empty stomach. Because I'm doing it everyday I do it on low-tempo with few breaks by walking so that I don't feel it on my knees during the day.

Why do you do it on an empty stomach?

Everyday before starting to make dinner I start exercising with hand-weights for about 30-40 minutes. Few 3x10 exercises (biceps, chest, triceps) with 20 crunches after each session (total: about 60 crunches). I do it on low intensity so that I don't get sore muscles the next day. It is not for bodybuilding anyway but to feed the muscles so that I don't lose muscle while burning fat.

Hmmm, you seem to be a bit off here.

By bodybuilding I assume you mean muscle growth. Well, you aren't going to be building huge muscles while dieting. Hypertrophy (muscle growth) occurs in an overfed state. You need to supply your body with more energy (calories) than it needs to facilitate (fuel) the growth.

You're right...

While dieting it's important to supplement your diet with weight lifting (adequate protein too) so you preserve muscle. But going light isn't the way to go about it. You need to give your body a reason to hold on to the muscle it currently has. By going light, you are not giving it said reason.

You should also throw in some back work and leg work. Your routine seems pretty imbalanced.

What I usually eat.
I try to eat 4-6 times a day so that my stomach always have something to work on (as far as i know it takes 3hours to digest a meal).

No.

Rate of digestion depends on things such as size of the meal, content of the meal, etc.

There isn't a set time.

Most of the food I eat especially dairy products are "light" on fat.
The reason I'm asking for advice is that last few weeks I've stopped losing weight and got stuck on 102kg even 103 from time to time.

So since April you simply started exercising and 'cleaning up' your food intake. That's an excellent start. For most, it works for quite a while. Eventually though you have to take things to the next level. When do you have to? It's different for different people but a surefire sign is when what you're doing doesn't seem to work anymore.

When this is the case, it's time to start tracking your food more contentiously. Have you heard of If not, give it a visit. Sign up for a free account. And get yourself a cheap food scale.

 

[sonti]

You realize you have to pay attention to calories too, right?

In a way yes I do pay attention but I never aimed for a certain amount. Just figured it would be fine as long as I kept it low. But after joining this community and reading some other posts, I realized that the amount of calories I take are important as well. So I'm gonna start counting calories from now on.

Are you shooting for a particular amount or protein, carbs and fats? Is so, what?

Not really but I try to stick to foods that have high carbs, some protein and low fat. I don't try too hard but I guess my aim is 60-70% carbs, 10-20% protein and lowest amount of fat possible.

Why do you do it on an empty stomach?

No particular reason really. I just get up, stretch a little and go out running. Also I don't feel hungry right after waking up but after running my appetite seems much better.

By bodybuilding I assume you mean muscle growth. Well, you aren't going to be building huge muscles while dieting. Hypertrophy (muscle growth) occurs in an overfed state. You need to supply your body with more energy (calories) than it needs to facilitate (fuel) the growth.

While dieting it's important to supplement your diet with weight lifting (adequate protein too) so you preserve muscle. But going light isn't the way to go about it. You need to give your body a reason to hold on to the muscle it currently has. By going light, you are not giving it said reason.

You should also throw in some back work and leg work. Your routine seems pretty imbalanced.

Yes. I'm not trying to get huge muscles. I'm just lifting weights for the somewhat extra calorie burning and to preserve muscles. But now I realize I can increase the intensity a bit and add some more sessions for back and leg.

Rate of digestion depends on things such as size of the meal, content of the meal, etc.

There isn't a set time.

Yes. I found out about it thanks to these forums so I guess what i read before was just a theory but it seemed to suit me fine with my lunch break at work etc. But I might change it around once I calculate my daily calorie intake.

So since April you simply started exercising and 'cleaning up' your food intake. That's an excellent start. For most, it works for quite a while. Eventually though you have to take things to the next level. When do you have to? It's different for different people but a surefire sign is when what you're doing doesn't seem to work anymore.

When this is the case, it's time to start tracking your food more contentiously. Have you heard of FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal If not, give it a visit. Sign up for a free account. And get yourself a cheap food scale.

Thanks . I will change my program a bit more and see what happens starting from monday. And yeah, I really wanted to buy a food scale but the one I found was way too expensive and I couldn't find it anywhere else. But its on my list. I registered on FitDay as well and started adding my food list.

Thanks for the feedback. Great post. Any advice given here is something I can use so I'm really thankful.

 

[peter250]

Just wanted to say fair play to you. Your doing well.

Goodluck with the future.