Okay, So a while back I put this together for another forum I posted on and I figured I would put it up for yall. So here it goes: very in depth weight loss guide.
Good luck! Oh, and if you have any recommendations or find inconsistencies or mis-information, let me know! I'll research then edit to make this as accurate and complete as possible.
Being a guy all of my nutritional experience is catered toward males... but I don't see why that wouldn't work. I lost 7 lbs in august while putting on a bunch of muscle weight, though not sure how much; this diet is built for optimal muscle repair.
Note: This information has come from a collection of magazines including Men's Health, Flex, Reps, and (in my opinion) one of the most important and complete guide to diet and body health, the "Muscle Chow Diet" by Gregg Avedon, as well as my own personal experience and schooling (yeah I'm a bio major).
First we need to make a few assessments. What are your goals? Write them down, keep them on your wall. Write it on your forearm and trace over it after you shower so you'll always see it. The point it, make goals and put them in a place you'll see.
Ask your friends to help you stay motivated. Maybe they'd like to join you!
Now lets face it. Prolly around 95% of people who go on a diet stop for the reason that they don't see results. They're just simple not ready for a diet, and that's OK. So the question is, how do you get ready? You don't just show up on the day of a marathon to run it (I hope not) you'll fall out and possibly hurt yourself. So this is the best way I've found (and it has actually been recommended to me during my research by other people, which I think is cool to hear about it from several primary sources).
Decide what the worst item in your diet is. Say it's pizza, and you eat 4 slices per week. Cut it down to two. After a week or two cut it down to 1, then move on to another item. After a few months of this you will already be eating a fairly good diet, and you'll be ready to start on this diet program.
9 meals per day. Yeah, I <3 eating. It works like this.
You have your breakfast lunch and dinner with meals containing as little fat as possible and 30-40 grams of carbs, 30-40 grams of protein. These will end up being about 250-280 calorie meals. 3 hours after your meal you eat a snack. 2 hours after your snack you eat another snack. 2 hours after that another meal, rinse and repeat all the way until bed time.
Now all of my snacks are either: bananas, carrots, apples, or grapes, but that's only because those are my 4 favorite fruits/vegetables. Any fruit/vegetable would suffice. Keep the portions small-- you're looking for about 100-150 cal. That would be like one banana, one apple, a small bag (half a sandwich-bag size) of grapes, or these awesome li'l baggies of baby carrots they sell at the store.
Now if you've ever wondered where exactly the calories in vegetables and fruits come from, here's your answer: Carbs and Sugar. I was surprised too (I thought they were just magical, or were powered by fusion or somethin).
HOWEVER:
The sugars in fruit will not cause your insulin/Glycemic Index to spike as processed sugar would (when your insulin lvls(GI) spikes it causes your body to increase fat production, which is why this is bad.)
There are two things I always have in stock in my home. My protein powder, and a can of Rich Chocolate Ovaltine. Ovaltine has a great nutritional profile. 2 servings (8 tablespoons) of this ovaltine contains 36 grams of carbs along with nearly 80% the daily value of quite a few vitamins and minerals. I mix that with my chocolate protein powder and I end up with a shake in the range of 38g carbohydrates, 38g protein, 4g fat. It unfortunately has fairly high sugar content, however if you're not drinking more than one per day you should be alright. I will eat this as my breakfast if I'm going to the gym in the morning.
Otherwise I'll either eat oatmeal (3/4 cup of oatmeal +2 scoops vanilla protein powder = 32g carbs, 36g protein, 2g fat). In case you weren't aware, the carbs in oatmeal are very complex, and as such take a long time for the body to burn. Thus you will feel full, longer, as well as have sustained energy lvls throughout the day.
Then there is always the classic eggs and toast. 6 egg whites (take the yoke out) and 2 slices of whole grain, lower sugar toast. Not sure the nutritional profile on this, but eggs are almost pure protein. Make sure to take the yoke out as it is very high in LDLs (Low Density Lipoproteins) which cause arthero-sclerosis, high blood-pressure and high cholesterol (if eaten to excess... I take them out because I only want to put the most healthy things into my body).
If possible, use large omega-3 fortified eggs.
Whole grain toast is good as it has a strong nutritional profile (compared to other breads). Still, make sure not to over do it. You can use fruit preserves on the toast. the thicker and more fruit in the jelly-type, the lower the amount of processing and thus healthier. Look at the back of a jar of smuckers jelly vs a jar of smuckers whole fruit preserves... you may never eat preserves again
I also use butter-flavored cooking spray (get the 0 cal stuff). If you'd rather have butter flavored toast, that's far better than real butter.
As for lunch I'm a fan of low-sodium soups since they're easy to make the night before then just warm 'em up at work. Any dinner item can be used at work if you have time to prepare it though.
Remember: Turkey and Chicken are naturally incredibly lean meats. I never have a problem finding 98%+ lean turkey or chicken at the store. If you have a need to eat beef go for sirloin cuts as they usually have little fat. Then trim off the fat you can see. Same with strip-type cuts.
For ground beef I only eat 96%+ but I have recently found a place that has 98%. Little bit more expensive, but it may take a little more if I want to see the 22nd century.
To go along with dinner I'll also eat some vegetables to help me feel more full without adding too many calories, and it will also add carbs to the meal to give me energy.
Go for low sodium items if at all possible.
There are 4 layers in your skin. Your dermis, the very bottom layer (under this is muscle). Then the layer of fat, above that is a layer of water than above that is your epidermis (containing hair follicles and your more durable cells).
Sodium will cause sub-cutaneous water retention, that is, that layer of water will hold more water. You can hold a lot of water in your body this way... so keep it in mind.
Make sure you take a multi-vitamen. Consider it your safety blanket just in case you don't get all your vitamins and minerals from your meals throughout the day.
There's a book of recepes' by Men's Health called the "Total Fitness Guide 2008" which has a lot of recipes for healthy foods.
SO, why the switch from 3 meals to 9?
With 3 meals per day you will have high productivity in the morning, low right before lunch, high after then low right before you go home. Plus with eating large meals it can make you sleepy. Plus your insulin levels will rise and fall causing uneven metabolism.
9 Meals will stabilize your metabolism at a high rate since it's constantly processing food. Your productivity won't drop nearly as low since there are seldom any "low" spots, and you won't get sleepy because you're not eating huge meals.
On this diet I always feel full, and when I don't-- guess what? It's because it's time to eat!
I couldn't decide on a super-man or Barbie lunch box, so I just went with a blue one, but either way I'd recommend getting a lunch box to carry your food with you in. Extra points if you make your own (and PLEASE, save the trees-- don't use paper lunch bags. In 2 months you'll be saving money with a $10 thermos lunchbox anyway).
Don't forget to work out with this diet or you'll bloat from all the protein. More muscle = more calorie consumption, plus when you work out muscles you will get "afterburn" during the muscle's primary repair time (the first few hours after working out) where you'll have very elevated metabolism. Don't forget to drink a protein shake and get some carbs (trust me, I've nearly passed out from neglecting this when I really get goin in the gym).
If you're a women and don't want to get all muscular (more power to you if you do!) then just do high reps, low weight. 12-15 reps, 4 sets, relatively low weight. Your muscles will get very tight without getting too much bigger.
Drink lots of water. I drink between 128oz and 256oz per day. But again, I don't drink anything but water and that is including my protein shakes. And I live in TX-- it was 105 2 weeks ago hehe.
Which brings up another good point. Don't forget what you drink is also part of your calorie intake! A large Coke at mcdonalds has 450 calories! A bic mac has 650, and a lg fry has 950! So, a large number 1 has 2050 calories. That's how many calories I eat in about 10 hours. (this diet is about 2500-3000 cal/day) Ask again why America is obese
And I think that's about all I got. Let me know if you have any more questions!
Good luck! Oh, and if you have any recommendations or find inconsistencies or mis-information, let me know! I'll research then edit to make this as accurate and complete as possible.
Being a guy all of my nutritional experience is catered toward males... but I don't see why that wouldn't work. I lost 7 lbs in august while putting on a bunch of muscle weight, though not sure how much; this diet is built for optimal muscle repair.
Note: This information has come from a collection of magazines including Men's Health, Flex, Reps, and (in my opinion) one of the most important and complete guide to diet and body health, the "Muscle Chow Diet" by Gregg Avedon, as well as my own personal experience and schooling (yeah I'm a bio major).
First we need to make a few assessments. What are your goals? Write them down, keep them on your wall. Write it on your forearm and trace over it after you shower so you'll always see it. The point it, make goals and put them in a place you'll see.
Ask your friends to help you stay motivated. Maybe they'd like to join you!
Now lets face it. Prolly around 95% of people who go on a diet stop for the reason that they don't see results. They're just simple not ready for a diet, and that's OK. So the question is, how do you get ready? You don't just show up on the day of a marathon to run it (I hope not) you'll fall out and possibly hurt yourself. So this is the best way I've found (and it has actually been recommended to me during my research by other people, which I think is cool to hear about it from several primary sources).
Decide what the worst item in your diet is. Say it's pizza, and you eat 4 slices per week. Cut it down to two. After a week or two cut it down to 1, then move on to another item. After a few months of this you will already be eating a fairly good diet, and you'll be ready to start on this diet program.
9 meals per day. Yeah, I <3 eating. It works like this.
You have your breakfast lunch and dinner with meals containing as little fat as possible and 30-40 grams of carbs, 30-40 grams of protein. These will end up being about 250-280 calorie meals. 3 hours after your meal you eat a snack. 2 hours after your snack you eat another snack. 2 hours after that another meal, rinse and repeat all the way until bed time.
Now all of my snacks are either: bananas, carrots, apples, or grapes, but that's only because those are my 4 favorite fruits/vegetables. Any fruit/vegetable would suffice. Keep the portions small-- you're looking for about 100-150 cal. That would be like one banana, one apple, a small bag (half a sandwich-bag size) of grapes, or these awesome li'l baggies of baby carrots they sell at the store.
Now if you've ever wondered where exactly the calories in vegetables and fruits come from, here's your answer: Carbs and Sugar. I was surprised too (I thought they were just magical, or were powered by fusion or somethin).
HOWEVER:
The sugars in fruit will not cause your insulin/Glycemic Index to spike as processed sugar would (when your insulin lvls(GI) spikes it causes your body to increase fat production, which is why this is bad.)
There are two things I always have in stock in my home. My protein powder, and a can of Rich Chocolate Ovaltine. Ovaltine has a great nutritional profile. 2 servings (8 tablespoons) of this ovaltine contains 36 grams of carbs along with nearly 80% the daily value of quite a few vitamins and minerals. I mix that with my chocolate protein powder and I end up with a shake in the range of 38g carbohydrates, 38g protein, 4g fat. It unfortunately has fairly high sugar content, however if you're not drinking more than one per day you should be alright. I will eat this as my breakfast if I'm going to the gym in the morning.
Otherwise I'll either eat oatmeal (3/4 cup of oatmeal +2 scoops vanilla protein powder = 32g carbs, 36g protein, 2g fat). In case you weren't aware, the carbs in oatmeal are very complex, and as such take a long time for the body to burn. Thus you will feel full, longer, as well as have sustained energy lvls throughout the day.
Then there is always the classic eggs and toast. 6 egg whites (take the yoke out) and 2 slices of whole grain, lower sugar toast. Not sure the nutritional profile on this, but eggs are almost pure protein. Make sure to take the yoke out as it is very high in LDLs (Low Density Lipoproteins) which cause arthero-sclerosis, high blood-pressure and high cholesterol (if eaten to excess... I take them out because I only want to put the most healthy things into my body).
If possible, use large omega-3 fortified eggs.
Whole grain toast is good as it has a strong nutritional profile (compared to other breads). Still, make sure not to over do it. You can use fruit preserves on the toast. the thicker and more fruit in the jelly-type, the lower the amount of processing and thus healthier. Look at the back of a jar of smuckers jelly vs a jar of smuckers whole fruit preserves... you may never eat preserves again
I also use butter-flavored cooking spray (get the 0 cal stuff). If you'd rather have butter flavored toast, that's far better than real butter.
As for lunch I'm a fan of low-sodium soups since they're easy to make the night before then just warm 'em up at work. Any dinner item can be used at work if you have time to prepare it though.
Remember: Turkey and Chicken are naturally incredibly lean meats. I never have a problem finding 98%+ lean turkey or chicken at the store. If you have a need to eat beef go for sirloin cuts as they usually have little fat. Then trim off the fat you can see. Same with strip-type cuts.
For ground beef I only eat 96%+ but I have recently found a place that has 98%. Little bit more expensive, but it may take a little more if I want to see the 22nd century.
To go along with dinner I'll also eat some vegetables to help me feel more full without adding too many calories, and it will also add carbs to the meal to give me energy.
Go for low sodium items if at all possible.
There are 4 layers in your skin. Your dermis, the very bottom layer (under this is muscle). Then the layer of fat, above that is a layer of water than above that is your epidermis (containing hair follicles and your more durable cells).
Sodium will cause sub-cutaneous water retention, that is, that layer of water will hold more water. You can hold a lot of water in your body this way... so keep it in mind.
Make sure you take a multi-vitamen. Consider it your safety blanket just in case you don't get all your vitamins and minerals from your meals throughout the day.
There's a book of recepes' by Men's Health called the "Total Fitness Guide 2008" which has a lot of recipes for healthy foods.
SO, why the switch from 3 meals to 9?
With 3 meals per day you will have high productivity in the morning, low right before lunch, high after then low right before you go home. Plus with eating large meals it can make you sleepy. Plus your insulin levels will rise and fall causing uneven metabolism.
9 Meals will stabilize your metabolism at a high rate since it's constantly processing food. Your productivity won't drop nearly as low since there are seldom any "low" spots, and you won't get sleepy because you're not eating huge meals.
On this diet I always feel full, and when I don't-- guess what? It's because it's time to eat!
I couldn't decide on a super-man or Barbie lunch box, so I just went with a blue one, but either way I'd recommend getting a lunch box to carry your food with you in. Extra points if you make your own
(and PLEASE, save the trees-- don't use paper lunch bags. In 2 months you'll be saving money with a $10 thermos lunchbox anyway).Don't forget to work out with this diet or you'll bloat from all the protein. More muscle = more calorie consumption, plus when you work out muscles you will get "afterburn" during the muscle's primary repair time (the first few hours after working out) where you'll have very elevated metabolism. Don't forget to drink a protein shake and get some carbs (trust me, I've nearly passed out from neglecting this when I really get goin in the gym).
If you're a women and don't want to get all muscular (more power to you if you do!) then just do high reps, low weight. 12-15 reps, 4 sets, relatively low weight. Your muscles will get very tight without getting too much bigger.
Drink lots of water. I drink between 128oz and 256oz per day. But again, I don't drink anything but water and that is including my protein shakes. And I live in TX-- it was 105 2 weeks ago hehe.
Which brings up another good point. Don't forget what you drink is also part of your calorie intake! A large Coke at mcdonalds has 450 calories! A bic mac has 650, and a lg fry has 950! So, a large number 1 has 2050 calories. That's how many calories I eat in about 10 hours. (this diet is about 2500-3000 cal/day) Ask again why America is obese
And I think that's about all I got. Let me know if you have any more questions!