have some questions / need help!

P

Patsy

New member
Quick background.
im 18 almost 19 on Feb. 10, im 6'0 and use to weigh 285, then i played football and i droped down to 245 during the season (summer kicked my butt). once football ended i went back up to 255 and stayed around in that range for a while. i decided that i wanted to lose more weight. my first goal is 225, then from their i would like to go for 200. I've started my diet on Jan 5th, i have been keeping track of my calories and i eat around 1,000 - 1,5000 a day. the first weeks went really well and i lost abut 15 pounds and im currently 240. i didn't do to much exercising. But the past week or so i haven't lost any weight. What should i change in order to start loosing again? i am going to start to workout but im not sure if i should lift weights or just stick to cardio? I am better at diets if i just quit cold turkey, i stoped drinking soda and i stick to water. i eat leancuisines about 2-3 a day. When i start working out should i increase my calorie intake? What should i change? Please ask any questions that you need me to clarify.
 
You want to lose weight? Stop the grains, cold turkey. Stop the processed food, cold turkey. Do not add any salt to your food, period.

Do those things, and you should have no trouble losing weight, even with zero exercise.
 
Ummm... I don't agree with the above post. There's no NEED to drop entire food groups or boycott certain foods (aside from empty calorie foods such as chips, cookies, etc.) in order to lose fat.

Maybe you're eating too few calories? You're body may have adapted somewhat to the current level of calories your eating. Calorie-wise, 2-3 Lean cuisine meals is probably what someone at my height and weight (and sex) could eat to stay at my minimum calorie needs for the day. I don't have a Lean Cuisine box to look at, but I'm guessing the nutritional facts would show around 300-450 calories per meal? These meals are fine, but be sure to get snacks in and proper meals in to meet your daily requirements (see the BMR calculator).

Seriously, use the fitness calculators on this site to determine your minimum calories each day and work from there. For being male, at 6', and 240lbs, you'd probably have no problem cutting calories to shed fat, but do not go to low.

You're so young, and male, so you'd have really no problem dropping pounds from simply limiting your calories. However, you'd tremendously enhance your weight loss efforts, if you add in some weight training.

Good luck!
 
Patsy said:
Quick background.
im 18 almost 19 on Feb. 10, im 6'0 and use to weigh 285, then i played football and i droped down to 245 during the season (summer kicked my butt). once football ended i went back up to 255 and stayed around in that range for a while. i decided that i wanted to lose more weight. my first goal is 225, then from their i would like to go for 200. I've started my diet on Jan 5th, i have been keeping track of my calories and i eat around 1,000 - 1,5000 a day. the first weeks went really well and i lost abut 15 pounds and im currently 240. i didn't do to much exercising. But the past week or so i haven't lost any weight. What should i change in order to start loosing again? i am going to start to workout but im not sure if i should lift weights or just stick to cardio? I am better at diets if i just quit cold turkey, i stoped drinking soda and i stick to water. i eat leancuisines about 2-3 a day. When i start working out should i increase my calorie intake? What should i change? Please ask any questions that you need me to clarify.
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Ok, looks like you just hit a bit of a wall. It happens to everyone. Here is my suggestions. First, start adding cardio, weights are fine but start with the cardio to get that heartrate up. You burn more calories which falls into the true basic of weight loss.

Calories in < Calories out = Weight loss

It's simplistic but true. Now, You dropped soda and sticking with water. That's good. The lean cuisines is good when you start out but you are going to have to learn to eat real, normal food if you want to keep it off.

I do think you might be eating to little calories overall, especially at your age. There is also the fact that you are 'crashing'. At your age and weight, you are cutting too much too fast. Instead, why not do this..add some cardio and add more calories. That sounds bad but you will burn extra calories with the cardio and it could kickstart your weight loss back.

Oh..and you don't have to drop everything to lose weight. you can lose weight on just fast food (see Subway) as long as burn more calories than you take in.
 
I would try and push your calories up a little around the 2000 level, at 240lbs you can eat 2000-2500 and still lose weight at a good pace. Don't up your calories too much when you work out, that's a mistake a lot of people make and essentially negate the cardio session they just did. Eat more protein around your strength training workouts though. You should ideally be doing both cardio and weight training on alternate days with a day or two during the week off to rest, but if you had to pick just one I would do weight training, and let the deficit from your diet cover the weight loss portion. Weight training will help you retain muscle, but does not burn many calories in itself.
Try to limit yourself to 1 lean cuisine a day, I usually eat them myself too but they are kind of high in sodium (500-700mg for 300-400 calories of food) to have 2-3 a day. Don't get me wrong though it's definitely better than chips & soda for dinner haha.
 
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Thank you for all of the tips, its hard for me to grasp eating more, because eating is what got me this big.
 
Basically yea, anywhere from 2-4 a day, they range from 200-300 calories each. i also might throw in a banana or 2. But thats it, i like them because they are actually pretty tasty but portion controlled, and that was my biggest problem portion control.
 
Do some research into real food you can eat. Get some smaller plates (we eat on plates that tend to be way too large, thus making us feel cheated when it isn't full). You can make some wonderful meals and you get to control what is in them. Those Lean cuisines are fine but look at the sodium in them..you are going to be holding in some water with all that.
 
Well I thnk I see your problem. Lean Cuisines are not meant to be your ENTIRE diet. They're meant to be a PART of a healthy eating plan.

If all you're eating is Lean Cuisines, then you're not getting enough calories an you're not getting enough nutrients and you're probably getting a lot more sodium than you should.

Read the sticky posts on nutrition in the forum. There's a lot of good information there on how to eat balanced meals.
 
I just checked all the food i have been eating for the past month, and its all loaded with sodium... what is the downside of all of this sodium? and can someone shoot me a link to some better foods?
 
You need sodium, but the amount found in processed/packaged foods and US restaurants is kind of ridiculous. Too much will make you retain water, and increase your blood pressure which puts pressure on arteries. Anyways, everything in moderation. You may actually be retaining fluid right now if you're getting too much sodium, which can make it seem like you haven't lost any weight until you flush it out, so make sure you get enough water..

Check the stickied posts at the top of the nutritional forum, it has healthy food recommendations and how often you should eat them.
 
Ditto on the sodium- I didn’t even think about that. Reading back my previous post, it sounds like I’m advocating eating 3 Lean Cuisines a day. I’m really not because I would never do that myself- I was trying to make a point about the calories in these meals.

Diet frozen dinners definitely have their place in aiding weight loss though, so I’m not trying to knock them at all. These meals are great to use in a pinch, when you don't have time to prepare a meal (like bringing one to work for lunch), you're hungry and you're worried that you'll cave and eat off your diet if you don't get something to eat NOW. They are just a tool to aid you in weight loss while you're losing weight and learning how to eat appropriately. Eating them strictly as your only source of nutrition because they are portion controlled isn't your best option.

If this helps, aside from reading the nutrition stickies--which I, too, also recommend--think of surrounding yourself with whole foods. This means, natural foods. Some people hear "whole foods" and automatically think "organic". That is not what I'm talking about. While organic is great, tasty, and some say healthier, I'm not from the camp that firmly believes organic is the only healthy way to go. That being said, the one wonderful lesson I learned from the Atkins Diet book a long, long time ago was to "keep to the perimeter of the super market". If you think about it, the perimeter of the market is where your produce, meat, chicken, fish, and dairy are. However, I'd add to this logic to include the bread isle and frozen food section- you need your whole grains and wow, what I wouldn’t do to have my freezer stocked with frozen veggies to steam up really quick- seriously, less than 10 minutes and you’ve got veggies. And, it shouldn't need mentioning, but I will anyway, the only part of the perimeter that should NOT be included in this is the bakery ;-p

It is also worth a mention, that if portion control is your main problem, get yourself a food scale--digital will make it much easier--and weigh your food to get an idea of what a true portion is supposed to look like. I printed out a few pages from the USDA food pyramid guidelines because it shows ordinary objects as measuring tools to help (though these tools are a little outdated- hope you even know what a 35mm camera roll is LOL). I think portion control has been a big problem for most of us, so this may really help you figure it out. Another helpful guide that my doctor told me, divide your plate into quarters, have your protein be in one corner, your carb source in another. Fill the other half of the plate with veggies. You’ll be surprised how full you can get eating this way.

Anyway, long story short, it is integral to your weight loss and sustainability efforts for you to learn the proper way to shop for, prepare and eat healthy foods. Don't sell yourself short by sticking to only one type of food (frozen diet meals). If you ate apples all day as your only calorie intake, you'd be loaded on fiber, carbs, and some vitamins, but what other nutrition would you be getting? This is where variety and moderation comes into play.
 
This my first time trying to diet, ever. i just figured low calories and im in the clear. I want to thank everyone for opening my eyes and giving me information i need to better my diet.
 
Patsy ... I agree with what Liza wrote above.

One of the changes I made that has made the most difference in my healthy and weight is cutting out processed foods. I don't eat pre-prepared meals at all (except on rare occasions). If it comes in a package, I really take a hard look at the ingredients. The only things I buy packaged are things like oats, pasta, and beans. Everything else I make myself. It doesn't really take that much time to whip up a quick meal and when I fix things myself I know EXACTLY what is going into what I eat.
 
Check out the DASH diet. This nutrition program was originally begun as a research study on diet and blood pressure it is also very close to the USDA food pyramid guidelines.

Whole food nutrition is a concept that promotes eating foods that are minimally processed. Lean Cuisine is not in this category. If you are on your own and don't cook a lot but, are participating in sports it is essential that you consume a well balanced diet that supplies the nutrients and calories needed to support work outs, practice, and games. Use your library to find books on sports nutrition and food preparation. Good luck.

PS: Sorry but the very sport of football requires high carbohydrates in the form of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Otherwise you will be unable to perform at high levels day after day.
 
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cbsfitness said:
Check out the DASH diet. This nutrition program was originally begun as a research study on diet and blood pressure it is also very close to the USDA food pyramid guidelines.
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I haven't tried the DASH diet before, but I've tried the Mrs. Dash diet. It was pretty simple. I just sprinkled Mrs. Dash seasoning on all my food and it made everything taste so bad that I didn't want to eat it. The weight just flew off.
 
ChefChiTown said:
I haven't tried the DASH diet before, but I've tried the Mrs. Dash diet. It was pretty simple. I just sprinkled Mrs. Dash seasoning on all my food and it made everything taste so bad that I didn't want to eat it. The weight just flew off.
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ROFL - I tried the DASH diet for a bit. And then I got sick, and my labs came back saying that I was low on sodium. ... Mrs. Dash is not really a salt replacement. Although for fake flavoring, Molly McButter isn't bad...
 
cbsfitness said:
PS: Sorry but the very sport of football requires high carbohydrates in the form of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Otherwise you will be unable to perform at high levels day after day.
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No, it doesn't. A body can be properly fueled to play professional football without ever eating a single grain.

People used to chase down and kill large game, day after day, long before grains were introduced into the human diet.

The harsh reality is that if one is overweight, one is also very likely, indeed most likely, to be insulin resistant - the two things go hand in hand. Eating grains and other simple carbs while being insulin resistant is a recipe for staying fat and also staying in a state of energy starvation even while overeating. It's a double whammy - you don't feel satisfied two hours after eating, and you don't lose weight, in fact you gain.
 
RE: Need help

Hi,
I am from singapore. Nice to meet you here.:coolgleamA:I personally think :exercise wont solve the whole problem, I was overweight before and I lost 40 blb due to good nutrition. Press on.:seeya:
 
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