Whatever it takes ill do it ! (Seekin some advices)

[Wildapple]

So here i am . . . 10 weeks after i started my weight(FAT)-loss program... !! I lost around 20 lbs and now im 181 lbs:cool3:. I feel so happy about myself and i can say that this was and it will continue to be the best period of my life (by far):azzangel::azzangel:, although its not easy.
Im still in the 1/3 of my goal . I lost 20 lbs and i want to lose another 15 . Next ill add some serious muscle on me and eventually ill be in my best physique ever. Thats my goal ! TO HAVE THE BEST BODY THAN I CAN HAVE !!!

The program i follow is pretty simple

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Meal 1: Oats with milk(0.1% fat) / nuts / flaxseed powder
Meal 2: Sandwitch with PeanutButter or with tuna or oatbix with muesli( 90% oats / nuts ... ) and milk(0.1%)
Lunch: whatever my moms cook :costumed5: :costumed5:.He cooks very healthy foods such as fish,chicken breasts , rice , beans etc.
Meal 4: Might be oats , or sandwitch or a shake (with bananas , flaxseed , milk).
Dinner : Usually whats left from lunch(smaller portion though) (<450 cals)

Daily Calories < 2000
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Exercise :

4-5 times a week...

-2 times HIIT (+ Ab and leg Workouts)
-3 times resistance traning

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The body i want to have its like this guy's.



For sure a little lighter :eating::eating: !!!

So as i said whatever it takes ill do it ! I said to my self ill never ever stop until i reach my goal . Im a little frastruated this period coz the scale showed that im 2 lbs heavier this week but i think its bcoz of water weight or because the days before i was forced to eat very late at night .

So the purpose of this post is if you can advice me on some things. If anyone had been in the same situation as me and can help please let me know !

(Soon ill post my before/after pics)

Thanks in Advance

 

[Typhon]

The body i want to have its like this guy's.

Just make sure you train your legs and don't wear Speedos

Your diet looks a little heavy on the cereal to me, why not try and add in some more protein at breakfast and meals 2 and 4?

 

[MASSwrestler]

Your on your way man keep it up.
If you want to lose weight you should eat less calories than you use. But if you want to gain muscle you want to eat more then you use. Thats the balance of things. If your trying to do both progress might go a little slower. But if its working keep it up. Rember cardio is always your best friend and always do it on an empty stomach if you can, it helps the transfer of fat to energy if you havent eaten too much before cardio.
Good luck!:angry:

 

[tic]

Don't let the scale's # discourage you. I can fluxiate 5 lbs in a day easy. Like you said, whatever it takes. Keep your eyes on the prize and remain focused and determined. If you are 2 lbs heavier, push yourself harder next time you do cardio or instead of eating some carbs, switch it to veggie but always keep the protein intake up.

Have you taken a diet break to help offset your metabolism?

 

[wesrman]

Just make sure you train your legs and don't wear Speedos

This made me LOL.

Good luck with this.

 

[Wildapple]

Just make sure you train your legs and don't wear Speedos

Your diet looks a little heavy on the cereal to me, why not try and add in some more protein at breakfast and meals 2 and 4?

Is indeed little heavy on cereal (sometimes i eat :eating::eating: up to 4 times/day!!) but its healthy and it seems that works . Do you have any ideas how to replace meals 2 / 4 .

Have you taken a diet break to help offset your metabolism?

Ill wait till next week and if i dont lose any weight ill take a break . 2-3 days high calories ! That helped me the in past month and it was again an advice from you !

- - - - - - >

The scale is a good measuring tool, however it does have its limit because you might be gaining muscle. What I also did was use a tape measure and measure my waistline. One time, for a period of 3 weeks, I didn't lose any weight and I got frustrated until I re-measured my waist and it had dropped a whole inch. A general rule of thumb is that 1 inch is about 3 lbs of fat. Well, that fat weight must have gone somewhere and quickly realized that it must have been muscle because my strength was going up.

In short, do a complete body measurement and if your weight is stuck; try re-measuring and see if you had gain some muscle mass. Oh, another thing that I did was re-energized my body once every 2-3 weeks. What I did was took 2, TWO WHOLE DAYS OFF. The first day, I jacked up my carbs and protein intake to major surplus. I still spread out my meal but ate a lot more so that it would not all convert to fat. The next rest day, I just increased my protein by a whole lot only. It was scary because the first time that I did this, I gained 10 lbs from the beginning of the day until the end. After a few bowel movements, I my gain became only 5 lbs.

So, you are going to ask, why did I do this? My body was getting worn down and I was stagnant on the weight lifting part. After that rest / consumptation, my body looked bigger and my arms gained 1/4 inch. Then, when I returned back to the gym, I was lifting a lot heavier. In term of weight loss, it was counter-productive but the muscle and strength gain wayyyy outweight that minor setback for me. Like another cliche (and i am full of them), "Sometimes you have to take a step back before you and move forward."

Thanks Again
Wildapple

 

[batstiva]

Sounds like you are off to a great start!!!!
One thing I found helpful when I was losing weight this summer (down 50+lbs.) was to allow myself one splurge day a week. Eat whatever, literally, I wanted to that day, but then be strict on the calories the other six. Worked well for me, and eventually i found that even my splurge days were getting lighter and lighter. Coming up on 5 months at or slightly below my goal weight.

Finally got called back to work from layoff, so will be able to hit the gym starting in the next week or two. Woot!! Looking forward to getting back to it.

 

[stingo]

Eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese are all good sources of protein and healthy fats - the last three are pretty easy preparation-wise too.

 

[Wildapple]

Sounds like you are off to a great start!!!!
One thing I found helpful when I was losing weight this summer (down 50+lbs.) .

Well great for you loosing those 50+ lbs! You must feel very proud for yourself !

allow myself one splurge day a week. Eat whatever, literally, I wanted to that day, but then be strict on the calories the other six. Worked well for me, and eventually i found that even my splurge days were getting lighter and lighter. Coming up on 5 months at or slightly below my goal weight.

You mean that, if i have a splurge day is better than not having one ? Becuase i dont need any motivation or smth ... i am five days a week on a strict program. The other two days of the week i stay in the army:costumed6: (Compulsory Army:costumed6::costumed6: for two YEARS!!) and that slows up my progress but its ok:cool3::cool3:.And another thing , what exericeses did you do to lose those 50+ lbs ???

Thanks in Advance
Wildapple

 

[Wildapple]

Eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese are all good sources of protein and healthy fats - the last three are pretty easy preparation-wise too.

But i suppose i should take the light or no fat right?? (Isnt the fat in cheese and yogurt saturated|? ).

 

[tic]

Ahh, I am glad you remember me, Wildapple. If you are re-energizing aka carb loading back up, avoid as much FAT as possible. I read somewhere, lots carbs + fat = ingredient for the body to retain more fat. If you do take a diet break, lots of carbs + protein.

Good luck man, and 20 lbs is awesome thus far. Now that you are more consistent, the weight loss may happen in burst as well, btw. You might not notice as much weight loss for like a week and then BAMmm 2 lbs in a 30 hour period.

 

[Wildapple]

Ahh, I am glad you remember me, Wildapple. If you are re-energizing aka carb loading back up, avoid as much FAT as possible. I read somewhere, lots carbs + fat = ingredient for the body to retain more fat. If you do take a diet break, lots of carbs + protein.

Good luck man, and 20 lbs is awesome thus far. Now that you are more consistent, the weight loss may happen in burst as well, btw. You might not notice as much weight loss for like a week and then BAMmm 2 lbs in a 30 hour period.

Thanks for the advices tic . You are right ... "weight loss may happen in burst as well" ... so ill wait and see next monday (1 week period since last time), if i lose any weight or not , and whatever the result is , ill take a 'one weeeeeek break ' without overdoing it though. Then ill start again . My goal now is to be very lean for summer . Here in Cyprus we wear shorts in May so this is my date .

:jump1: :cool3: :jump1: !!!! LEAN I N M A Y !!!! :jump1: :cool3: :jump1:

Thanks again tic
Wildapple

 

[stingo]

But i suppose i should take the light or no fat right?? (Isnt the fat in cheese and yogurt saturated|? ).

Depends on how your macros (carbs, proteins, fats) look. You need moderate amounts of fat in your diet, and the above, along with fatty fish like salmon, or nuts/nut butters are great sources for it IN MODERATION.

 

[batstiva]

What I did was cut my cals down to around 1600 or so, cut out pretty much all junk food, and walked. A lot. Approx. 100 miles or more per month. Started off slow, only a couple of miles per day, and worked my way up to this month I am up to 175 miles. Most on fairly level, hard surface road. But two days a week I go uphill on the mountain behind my house. Nice workout that. I do about 6 to 8, sometimes as much as 12 miles with about a 1400 ft. gain in elevation. I also biked 50 or so miles a week back when the weather was warm. Started something new this week. Start out the first mile at my normal walking speed (approx. 4-4.5mph) Then I run until I feel like I might die (lol) then back it off to a walk again until my breathing, etc. is back to normal, then do it again. A runner I am not, but I can already tell it's a better workout than walking alone.

As far as splurge days, I'm not saying that's what is best for you. But for me, starting out, I found it a nice reward for a weeks hard work. Eventually, I got to where I just didn't want to give up gains (or losses) so they just kind of faded away. In the beginning, I just found that to be a good way of not feeling like I was depriving myself. More like a once a week reward.:eating::eating:

 

[BikeSwimLaugh]

Cardio is always your best friend and always do it on an empty stomach if you can, it helps the transfer of fat to energy if you havent eaten too much before cardio.
Good luck!:angry:

The myth of doing cardio on an empty stomach has long-since been dispelled and proven a very poor approach. Actual clinical studies have proven that doing cardio on an empty stomach offered no additional benefits and in fact inhibited getting the most out of your workout in terms of both performance and total calories burned. Ever heard the term "Fat burns in a carbohydrate flame"?

Cardio, weight-training....it's all beneficial and part of a solid weight-loss program, but more then anything it realy comes down to diet. Food is food; nutrients hit your stomach acids and the body goes to work. Carbs are rapidly and efficiently broken down into glucose....4 calories per gram. Fats are more so slowly broken down but at 9 calories per gram also makes for good fuel and you definitely want to get your EFA's in (Essential Fatty Acids)...which have been proven to help with weight loss: fat-free diets are a fad of the past. As for protein, offering only 4 calories per gram...it's a very poor choice for fuel and when diets push protein, it's little more then suggesting that people consume a substance that offers the least amount of energy as compared to carbs or fats. Still, if you eat 5,000 calories of protein you body can and will convert the protein into fat-storage....and if you eat just 1,500 calories of carbs/fat...you'll lose weight. Way too much hype and misinformation on macro's. It's really not as much what you eat but how much you eat that tells the tale of the tape. Magic ratios, special fat-burning combinations, splurge & starve cycles....ughhhh!!!!!!!

To the OP; glad you've made progress...best decision in your life! Keep up the good work and stay the course. Don't be discouraged if things should slow down...you've had a LOT of rapid results. Think of your journey like a jet plane...if you're way up high you can almost do a nose-dive and plummet downward at a crazy rate...but as the ground approaches you'll start to taper-off and almost be level as you land. Sure enough, your progress will naturally slow and like all of us you'll battle bouts of what seems like zero-progress. Newsflash: the body doesn't want to starve to death and it has ways to coping with what it perceives as starvation....only you and your brain know it's an intentional weight-loss....the rest of your body is freakin' out and to be quite honest & open with you...not all of us have genetics that are comfortable bringing us to the point of being ripped, cut and lean. So the goal is to be the best you can..and you're well on your way!

 

[Wildapple]

What I did was cut my cals down to around 1600 or so, cut out pretty much all junk food, and walked. A lot. Approx. 100 miles or more per month. Started off slow, only a couple of miles per day, and worked my way up to this month I am up to 175 miles. Most on fairly level, hard surface road. But two days a week I go uphill on the mountain behind my house. Nice workout that. I do about 6 to 8, sometimes as much as 12 miles with about a 1400 ft. gain in elevation. I also biked 50 or so miles a week back when the weather was warm. Started something new this week. Start out the first mile at my normal walking speed (approx. 4-4.5mph) Then I run until I feel like I might die (lol) then back it off to a walk again until my breathing, etc. is back to normal, then do it again. A runner I am not, but I can already tell it's a better workout than walking alone.

As far as splurge days, I'm not saying that's what is best for you. But for me, starting out, I found it a nice reward for a weeks hard work. Eventually, I got to where I just didn't want to give up gains (or losses) so they just kind of faded away. In the beginning, I just found that to be a good way of not feeling like I was depriving myself. More like a once a week reward.:eating::eating:

Impressive ... but i dont think i can ( or i like) to do this . Its too much for me , and it might be not necessary.

 

[Wildapple]

The myth of doing cardio on an empty stomach has long-since been dispelled and proven a very poor approach. Actual clinical studies have proven that doing cardio on an empty stomach offered no additional benefits and in fact inhibited getting the most out of your workout in terms of both performance and total calories burned. Ever heard the term "Fat burns in a carbohydrate flame"?

Cardio, weight-training....it's all beneficial and part of a solid weight-loss program, but more then anything it realy comes down to diet. Food is food; nutrients hit your stomach acids and the body goes to work. Carbs are rapidly and efficiently broken down into glucose....4 calories per gram. Fats are more so slowly broken down but at 9 calories per gram also makes for good fuel and you definitely want to get your EFA's in (Essential Fatty Acids)...which have been proven to help with weight loss: fat-free diets are a fad of the past. As for protein, offering only 4 calories per gram...it's a very poor choice for fuel and when diets push protein, it's little more then suggesting that people consume a substance that offers the least amount of energy as compared to carbs or fats. Still, if you eat 5,000 calories of protein you body can and will convert the protein into fat-storage....and if you eat just 1,500 calories of carbs/fat...you'll lose weight. Way too much hype and misinformation on macro's. It's really not as much what you eat but how much you eat that tells the tale of the tape. Magic ratios, special fat-burning combinations, splurge & starve cycles....ughhhh!!!!!!!

To the OP; glad you've made progress...best decision in your life! Keep up the good work and stay the course. Don't be discouraged if things should slow down...you've had a LOT of rapid results. Think of your journey like a jet plane...if you're way up high you can almost do a nose-dive and plummet downward at a crazy rate...but as the ground approaches you'll start to taper-off and almost be level as you land. Sure enough, your progress will naturally slow and like all of us you'll battle bouts of what seems like zero-progress. Newsflash: the body doesn't want to starve to death and it has ways to coping with what it perceives as starvation....only you and your brain know it's an intentional weight-loss....the rest of your body is freakin' out and to be quite honest & open with you...not all of us have genetics that are comfortable bringing us to the point of being ripped, cut and lean. So the goal is to be the best you can..and you're well on your way!

You are right . DIET is the key for everything . So i suppose i ll change my diet a bit ... Ill change my meals in order to consume more protein !

Thanks
Wildapple

 

[Mel Def]

Food is food; nutrients hit your stomach acids and the body goes to work. Carbs are rapidly and efficiently broken down into glucose....4 calories per gram. Fats are more so slowly broken down but at 9 calories per gram also makes for good fuel and you definitely want to get your EFA's in (Essential Fatty Acids)...which have been proven to help with weight loss: fat-free diets are a fad of the past. As for protein, offering only 4 calories per gram...it's a very poor choice for fuel and when diets push protein, it's little more then suggesting that people consume a substance that offers the least amount of energy as compared to carbs or fats. Still, if you eat 5,000 calories of protein you body can and will convert the protein into fat-storage....and if you eat just 1,500 calories of carbs/fat...you'll lose weight. Way too much hype and misinformation on macro's. It's really not as much what you eat but how much you eat that tells the tale of the tape. Magic ratios, special fat-burning combinations, splurge & starve cycles....ughhhh!!!!!!!

I agree with the calorie deficit being key but disagree that what you eat is not important. Phtyonutrients, fiber, protien, carbs... those are all important if you are interested in fat loss as opposed to wieght loss alone. Balance your diet and not only will you lose the weight you want but it will be a sustainable loss. Eating high protien has made a big difference in the muscle I have built. That isn't everyone's objective but macros are certainly not to be dismissed. My 2 cents...

 

[Wildapple]

I agree with the calorie deficit being key but disagree that what you eat is not important. Phtyonutrients, fiber, protien, carbs... those are all important if you are interested in fat loss as opposed to wieght loss alone. Balance your diet and not only will you lose the weight you want but it will be a sustainable loss. Eating high protien has made a big difference in the muscle I have built. That isn't everyone's objective but macros are certainly not to be dismissed. My 2 cents...

So ... you say to increase my protein intake too. But i cant find easy (+high protein ) foods to eat :food::food: . Thats why i eat oats 2-3 times a day . Coz its easy and healthy :action::action:

Wildapple

 

[firefreak]

So ... you say to increase my protein intake too. But i cant find easy (+high protein ) foods to eat :food::food: . Thats why i eat oats 2-3 times a day . Coz its easy and healthy :action::action:

Wildapple

whole eggs? egg whites? chicken? tuna? red meat? salmon? milk? cottage cheese? greek or organic yogurts? all are easy to come by and easy to eat.

beef jerky? salty yes but low in fat and high in protein.