In deseprate need of help.

[kimlo]

Thank you again Caroline for answering my questions in such details.

I currently use loseit and have been for about 5 days so I'm tracking all my calories and exercise I assume that's pretty similar to MFP.

I also got my HRM in the mail today so can't wait to see how that goes during my exercise session.

Caroline I have another question, this week my diet has went like this.

Day 1: Met my budget(1500)
Day 2: 500 under (exercise)
Day 3: 500 over
Day 4: 500 under (exercise)
Day 5: 200 over
Day 6: On budget
Day 7: On track to hit budget(today)

You can see I have two days block where my average is on budget but under/over individually. Over a 48hr period the body would still remember my deficit, correct? Just not over 3,4 or 5 days, etc?

I've done 3 days of exercise this week(1 hour sessions), does this look like a good week?

I weight in tomorrow morning and will update how my week went on the scales.

Another question, when I exercise is it better to stay in the fat burning zone so I burn 85% of calories as fat or exercise more intensely for a 50-50 ratio? Just seems counter intuitive that working harder = worse.

As of tomorrow, this will be the longest I have ever stuck to a diet. Usually when I get a bad result on the scales I stop dieting and think it's all too hard but even after a poor loss last week I'm still as motivated as ever.

I hope I can do this for the long run and that little switch in my brain doesn't decide to flick off on me and kill my motivation. Lifestyle change is what I want to make.

Sorry admins, I wasn't sure what was going on! (Yay no more having to post approve)

 

[Legomom]

Fat burning is great (obviously as it burns fat lol) but strength training is important too. Lean muscle burns calories so if you increase your lean muscle you'll actually have a far better metabolism? Also it's important for avoiding the dreaded sag!!! Toning as you go will give you a much better end result. And it's FAB because you'll notice your body changing much quicker which really motivates you to keep going.

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[Caz]

You actually have 2 under days and 1 over. I can't really tell you what that'll do to your losses or body because it's individual. There's no magic number, it all depends on your metabolism etc. 500 under is quite a lot to be under. If you think about it on day 1 you hit 1500, then dropped 500, then went up 1000, then dropped 1000, the went up 700 then down 200. That's BIG changes each day, why are your intakes so erratic? Considering that you're already under the recommended amount for men by 300 calories a day, I really would recommend that you make sure that you have your full 1500 a day. 1000 is less than recommended for a woman let alone a man.

I'm with legomum, you need to make sure you're doing strength training and not just cardio. Building more muscle increases your metabolism so it'll actually really do you favours. And when you've got a lot to lose, it'll help keep you more toned and less saggy! Which is why if you're not eating enough calories and you lose muscle, you'll have a decreased metabolism and have quite a saggy flabby look to you.

 

[kimlo]

I've had a really up and down week so some days I haven't been able to eat enough and then some days I've had too much to eat. Not a planned thing just the way it panned out.

I dread going to gym I'm doing all my excercise on a treadmill at home, maybe I should go to gym to do weights.

Is it a good idea to have a weekly plan like this,
Day 1 - Cardio
Day 2 - Weights
Day 3 - Cardio
Day 4 - Weights
Day 5 - Cardio
Day 6 - Weights
Day 7 - Rest
Or is it better to have a plan like this
Day 1 - Weights/Cardio
Day 2 - Rest
Day 3 - Weights/Cardio
Day 4 - Rest
Day 5 - Cardio Weights
Day 6 - Cardio
Day 7 - Rest.

And is it better to do weights then cardio or cardio then weights or does it make no difference which order?

And when you say weights, as in train like I want to get muscly? Which I do and have in the past but I've always thought I would rather wait until I get to around 230 pounds(drop 50-60 first) then start weights.

Without sounding like I'm talking myself up I'm naturally a strong, muscly person. My arms and legs are very solid and muscly, not floppy at all despite my weight. So I actually do not want to lose muscle mass, I don't just want to get to a healthy weight, I want to get to a healthy weight but be strong and fit as well. So if I'm sticking to 1500-1800 calories a day and doing just cardio am I still going to lose muscle mass regardless if I don't in-cooperate some weight training in my regime?

Is it the best for me if I start NOW and keep doing it all the way through my weight loss so I have the best possible body/fitness by the time I've reached my goal?

I do have a gym membership but I never go, I guess I have to change that. I use to live 2 minutes from gym but now I'm 25 mins away so I get lazy and decide not to go. Bad habit I know, I have to change that and at least do my weights at gym.

If I go to gym I will start taking protien shakes with me and drink one before and after gym, that will assist with my muscle building and also boost my calories. If I do a half hour weights session something like this, what sort of calories would I be burning? Just so I know how much extra I should eat.

Workout 1 - Biceps 3 x 12, Chest 3x 8-12, Triceps 3 x 12, Back 3 x 12.

Workout 2 - Shoulder 3 x 12, Hamstrings 3 x 12, Quadriceps 3 x 12, Calfs 3 x 12

And basically alternate between those 2 each week so one week I'm doing W1 twice and the second week I'm doing W2 twice?

I think that covers all the muscle groups and gives me at least 3-4 days rest between the same muscle groups for recovery.

Lastly on calories, I am trying to stick to 1500 calories until I lose 30 pounds, I started at 297(135kg) so when I get to 264(120kg) I will boost to 1800 calories a day.

Is that a bad thing? Should I REALLY be sticking to at least 1800 a day regardless? Will I lose muscle mass if I'm going below that?

Thanks again.

 

[Caz]

I've had a really up and down week so some days I haven't been able to eat enough and then some days I've had too much to eat. Not a planned thing just the way it panned out.

On the days your struggle to eat the calories, you can boost them up with things like fruit juice, nuts etc. I really would make sure you're not regularly going down to 1000, that really is low for a man.

I dread going to gym I'm doing all my excercise on a treadmill at home, maybe I should go to gym to do weights.

And is it better to do weights then cardio or cardio then weights or does it make no difference which order?

What you do really is up to you and what you're used to. Personally, I probably wouldn't recommend 6 days in a row with one rest day. Even my hardcore super fit gym freak friend doesn't do that. He does Mon-Fri in the gym, weekends off. Or I know people who have Thurs and Sun as their rest days, so it's 3 days on, 1 day off. Personally, I can't even do that, 3-4 times a weeks is about my limit, but that's me. You have to find what works for you, no-one here can say do exactly this and that'll bring you the best results because you're you. But personally I would say don't do too much too fast if before you did nothing, build it all up.

I would say you really do need to do weights though. It's not about making yourself all built and muscley, lots of people do them without the intention of getting the bodybuilder look and never do get that. It's just about building up muscles and toning your body. Increased muscle means increased metabolism which is obviously good. I would just say that make sure you've eaten before your workouts, don't just think oh I'll not eat til later and then it'll have more reserved fat to burn off, again it doesn't work that way, you'll just be more prone to muscle loss. I always try and eat a couple of hours before I go to the gym and then a couple of hours after with some protein-y. It doesn't have to be anything massive, an egg white omelette or something would do just fine.

Personally, I'd say do weights and then cardio. If you go all out on a serious cardio workout, you deplete your glycogen stores and your protein synthesis (ability to build or repair muscle) is lowered and so your weight workout won't be so effective. Weights don't use up your glycogen stores or lower your protein synthesis like cardio does so if you do it before cardio, it won't have an impact on the cardio so much but it does the other way around. If that makes sense! The problem you could have though is that if you go all out on weights get heavy, exhausted legs and then try to run, it's not much fun! So I'd recommend seperating them out, which if you're doing things regularly is a good idea. Obviously if you go to the gym once a week, you have to combine them. It would mean you could do cardio at home say 3 times a week and strength 2 times a week. So maybe have Monday, Thurs and Sat as cardio days, Tuesdays and Fridays as your strength days and Weds and Sundays as rest days? Just a suggestion, need to find what works for you really.

Is it the best for me if I start NOW and keep doing it all the way through my weight loss so I have the best possible body/fitness by the time I've reached my goal?

Pretty much, yeah. If you start now, you'll be building muscle now as you're losing fat. You'll look more toned and healthy. And you'll have a higher metabolism and so you'll find the weight loss better.

I do have a gym membership but I never go, I guess I have to change that. I use to live 2 minutes from gym but now I'm 25 mins away so I get lazy and decide not to go. Bad habit I know, I have to change that and at least do my weights at gym.

Might as well use it if you already have it!

If I go to gym I will start taking protien shakes with me and drink one before and after gym, that will assist with my muscle building and also boost my calories. If I do a half hour weights session something like this, what sort of calories would I be burning? Just so I know how much extra I should eat.

No one can tell you that, at all. It would be an absolute guess. It depends on so many things like you height, weight, amount of muscle you already have, number of reps, type of weights, amount of weight, the intensity... it's just too variable to guess. If you really want to know the numbers then the only way is o get a heart rate monitor, one that has a chest strap. Tesco sells them for £20.

Lastly on calories, I am trying to stick to 1500 calories until I lose 30 pounds, I started at 297(135kg) so when I get to 264(120kg) I will boost to 1800 calories a day.

Is that a bad thing? Should I REALLY be sticking to at least 1800 a day regardless? Will I lose muscle mass if I'm going below that?

Can't really say to be honest, there isn't a magic number at all. What is right for me won't be right for someone else. It depends on your lifestyle as well as your general body make up like metabolism. But think of it this way, if you carry on at 1500 and hit a plateau, which happens quite often, where have you got to go from there? You really can't go down any further. The recommended amount for women is 1200 and I have 1350 so that when that happens, I can go down to boost it up a bit. Personally, I'd stick with one calorie amount, not change part way through unless it's because you need to because it's not working for you. Don't pick a lower number just because you want to get there faster, at the end of the day your health and well being is far more important than how long it takes you to lose the weight. You didn't put it all on overnight, neither did I, so we can't expect to lose it overnight either. You'll have to, as we all will, accept the fact that losing weight is a long and tedious journey sometimes but that it's worth it. Often the shortcuts that we take to try and speed things up don't end up helping but end up jeopardising everything we've worked so hard for.

So my advice, whether you choose to take it or not would be to up to 1800 calories, buy a heart rate monitor, use myfitnesspal.com to monitor your exercise calories and intake (don't just guess!), to incorporate strength training into your weekly regime and to make sure you have rest days!

I've gotta run, late for school so it's been a bit rushed. Hope it makes sense and helps!

 

[kimlo]

Yes it all does make sense and I thank you so much for putting in so much effort into your information filled reply.

It's extremely helpful for someone like me at the begining of my journey to be getting support(like this forum) and advice on what I can do to improve.

I will try to in-cooperate some weight training into my regime even though I dread the thought of going to gym otherwise I will buy a set for home and do it at home which I feel I'm much more likely to do.

UPDATE ON PROGRESS!

Weighed in today and after last weeks loss of .6KG/1.3lb this week I lost 1.7KG/3.7LB which is triple last weeks loss.

I'm so damn happy, that also caps my first 4 weeks since I started which is the longest I've ever stuck to a diet and I still feel like I can go for many months more!

After one month WEIGHT LOSS = 7.3KG/16.1lbs!
I'm extremely proud of myself and I Want to keep going until I reach 100lbs!

I have dropped my BMI from 42.6 to 40.4!
I can't wait till I'm no longer "obese", that will be an awesome day.

 

[kimlo]

I want to ask for some advice.

What's the best way to recover from a bad day?
What do people here do to help them get on track after a bad day?

Do you just put it behind you, pretend it never happened and get on with your diet? Do you punish yourself my making yourself do some exercise(or extra) the next day? Do you reduce your calories the following day?

 

[Caz]

Personally, I don't do anything different. Punishing yourself is a dangerous track to get on. I think you're much better off picking yourself back up and dusting yourself off and carrying on as normal. I wouldn't reduce cals the next day personally, otherwise you're taking out calories from healthy food, and therefore all the vitamins and minerals etc., because the day before you had too many calories from, I would guess, unhealthy or high calorie food.

 

[Legomom]

Draw a line under it and carry on. It's done you can't change it an stressing only makes you struggle with the diet more!! I actually firmly believe that this is the key to 'making it' an not being yet another lose a stone gain a stone story!! If you fall off then get straight back on board!!! Drink loads of water to flush the rubbish thru (cause let's face it no one binges on green leafy veg!!) and stay away from the scales for at least 48hrs (I'm a terror for daily weighing but if I gain I feel awfull)

If there's several bad days then do all the above but also think about WHY they were bad? What triggered you to eat so badly? Were you just badly organised and eating for convenience? Were you having a bad week at work? Lack of sleep? Identifying what causes you to lapse back into bad habits is the best way to try an stop it happening!!

If you know you reach for the rubbish when your tired for example then stock up on healthyish ready food to try an limit the damage? If you make an easily freezable meal like chilli or curry then freeze extra's for those days when you can't be bothered to cook.

If it's depression or habit then just try an 'postpone' the moment you eat the bag if crisps or whatever? I find that if I force myself to log EVERYTHING before I eat it then a lot of the time I look at the cals etc then change my mind. That 30sec delay gives me time to think 'do I really need this or am I just following old bad habits?'

If it's social pressure to drink/eat then you have to get a bit sneaky I take my car so I won't be tempted to drink. I always eat before I leave. And I have practised saying 'I'm just not that hungry' so no one twigs that I'm actually avoiding the muffin, chips etc because of my diet!!!

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[kimlo]

That's some very useful advice.
A lot of friends always eat take away when we go out but these days I just say I ate before I came or I stop by a servo and buy a sandwhich(rather than KFC or Maccas) and so far so good.

I'm not restricting my diet so much anymore, I'm not stressing if I go over 1500, I'm now aiming for 1500-1800 a day. I don't care if I lose weight slowly, it's so much easier, healthier and better that way. I also find at 1800 calories it's a lot easier not to binge because that extra 300 cals is an extra sandwich to keep you from getting hungry.

 

[kimlo]

I boosted my calories up my calories this week to 1600 had one day where I hit 2000 but I otherwise average ~calories/per day for the week.

I lost 1.1KG/2.42LB's this week and that caps off week 5
Is it a healthy weight loss rate at 1kg a week at my weight?

 

[Legomom]

Seems healthy to me? Upping your cals is obviously working for you! I did the same at the start of my diet too MFP said to eat 1200 but I was on 1400 for quite some time and still lost. I've only brought it down now I'm close to goal. I think now I'm lighter my daily calorie needs are lower so I can't eat as much and still lose!!! But I think it's better to start higher as you have room to adjust down a little if your losses slow down!!

Well done!! Your doing really well!!

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[kimlo]

Thanks

I've upped to 1600 calories but I must admit on some days I really do struggle to reach 1600 calories.

I find on days I wake up really early it's hard for me to stick to 1600 calories and on days I wake up late it's far too easy to stick to even 1000 calories.

I'm' having way, way, way too much carbs but ever since I was a kid I've been extremely picky with my food.
I can only stomach a limited amount of foods, I just can't eat stuff like fish, broccolli, onion, etc. So I have struggled with getting a well balanced diet but I'm trying to eat more fruit and veges to balance things out. Things like carrots, apples, pairs, grapes, cherries, cauliflower, cabbage, etc.

In my situation should I seriously consider getting a multi-vitamins for men to have every day because my food range is somewhat limited?