Am I on the right track?

buckmastr

buckmastr

New member
Hi,

I am 22 years old, 5'10", 268lbs. Starting at the beginning of the year, my wife and I made a complete lifestyle change. I have cut out all the usual snacks (Doritos and all chips, cakes & cookies, Goldfish crackers, etc from my diet. I have also cut out all soda and cut the sugar content of my sweet tea by half, and I have been drinking a lot more water. I have reduced my caloric intake and my meals generally consist of:

Morning: Slimfast Ultra shake or Bran Flakes with 1% milk
Lunch: tuna or lean meat sandwich for lunch on whole grain bread w/ 2% Milk cheese - less calories than normal slices, light amount of light mayo/mustard, romane lettuce, tomato
Dinner: Large salad w/ broccoli, cauliflower, romaine lettuce, shredded cheese, salad onion, carrot, etc with red wine or balsamic vinaigrette.
Other Common Dinner: boneless skinless chicken and vegetable stir fry w/ no oil or butter.
Snacks @ Max of 1 a day: 10 oz jar of peaches, pears or mixed fruit in natural juice. No syrup.

I have also been at the gym every other day. My workout at the gym usually consists of:

30 Minutes of moderate to heavy lifting. When I used to play football I was benching around 275 and was in the gym consistently for two years. That was over 3 years ago since I lifted and although I still have a little muscle mass, I am weak and it is hidden by a (several) layer(s) of fat.
After lifting I spend about 30 minutes in the indoor track. This was always my weakness as I was asthmatic when I was younger, I got over my asthma and a few years later I was smoking (stupid? Yes I am aware so moving on). I have been doing what I can cardio wise and it is definitely wearing me out. I will run a lap on the track, then walk a lap, run, walk, run, walk. I do that for about 30 minutes. The track is not full size, maybe 1/8 mile or so. My primary goal is not gaining muscle, although I would very much like that also, it is losing weight as I am very much overweight.

It has been sixteen days since I started this regiment and I started at 273. This means I have lost 5 lbs in 16 days. I am happy about this but at my high weight and the fact that it has been years since I was really physically active and even longer since I ate healthy, I figured it would fall off at a somewhat quicker pace. Should I change my diet more? Should I change my exercise routine? Should I be running every day (although I don't have that kind of time)? Would quitting smoking and dipping at the same time I started this diet/exercise routine be adversely affecting the results? Any tips and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot! :grouphug:
 
Hey there. Just estimating, but I think for someone your size and height, you may not be eating enough calories. Keep in mind your body needs enough calories and water to metabolize fat. Good luck :)
 
I actually believe you are correct. I was doing some math earlier after looking up the calories of the vegetables I have been eating regularly and I came to the conclusion that on some days I have only been eating around 800-900 calories. This includes every single thing I have been eating on a salad, the seasoning in stir fry, the calories from V8 juice, tea, etc. I believe the last 16 days have been somewhat counter productive because of that. This is really hard for me to understand and adjust to because my caloric intake before I started this diet was high because of the junk food, not because I ate massive volumes. To get to 1400 calories, it seems that I am eating more than I was before hand even though it is much less calories and much more healthy. I suppose that's because I am actually eating a jar of peaches as a snack instead of an entire bag of Doritos and eating a single whole wheat tuna sandwich for lunch instead of a party pizza and fries. I should have noticed and planned this sooner as it seems the last 16 days did more harm than good.:banghead:
 
Just a quick update that will hopefully motivate some others. At around Christmas time I was close to 280lbs, and could barely run a lap or two around a standard athletics track. I have kept with my regular routine since the beginning of January and as of today I am less than 210lbs. This means I have lost nearly 70lbs in that time period. My diet hasn't been completely strict except for the fact that I don't smoke, don't drink sweet tea or soft drinks, I don't eat many snacks besides 40 calorie banana pops and a few pretzels, and I cut out all necessarily calories by buying lean meat and low calorie foods. Also since that time I have continued to lift weights and run 3 times a week. At this point I am able to run about 3 miles at a time and I feel better than ever. Some of the tips I learned on this website have been very beneficial to my lifestyle change so thanks for that. Good luck!
 
Absolutely you are on the right track. The diet routine you are applying is going to help you a lot. Thanks for sharing it with us i am too going to follow the same pattern.
 
Hi, I recommend you to vary your trainings. Go sometimes to long walks out to nature or to nearest park. The time flies faster when walking or jogging outside. My experience is that in the gym or in the indoor track time goes so slowly. Do at least once a week longer walk outside. Try to walk or bike one hour.


Increase length of your trainings if you notice that you managed your regular trainings easier than earlier. Your training should be a continuum to more extensive workouts.


If you want to burn fat, you must work with low intensity and with long duration.


You can avoid injuries by changing your workouts. Go sometimes to long walk, sometimes to bike You can also go to swim or aqua jog. This variability helps you to increase training amounts.


Comment about your weight training. Use small weight or no weight at all in your gym training. Do more reps and spend more times per move. For example, do one minute of sit ups. Next time try to increase the number of reps. Low intensity, but long duration is key element of weight control because fat metabolism is a slow chemical process.
 
Training is very important .Stick to 3-4 times a week and change it every 3 weeks...That will bring you results in the shortest amount of time . :D
 
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