Daymons Diary

Daymon74

Daymon74

New member
Q). How much weight do you want to lose?
A). About 110lbs

Q). What is the time frame for reaching your target weight?
A). December 2009 (about 1 year)

Q). How do you want to accomplish your goal (what methods do you want to use)?
A). 1800 calorie a day diet plus 30 to 45 minutes cardio every other day and strength training every other day. (likely to increase over time). Eat high amounts of good carbs (whole grain) and protein, plus foods high in dietary fiber. Low sugar, low salt, switch out bad fats for good polyunsaturated and mono unsaturated.

Q).Who or what can support you in reaching your goal?
A). Friends, family, my boys :) other users on this forum.

Q). How realistic is your goal?
A). As long as I stick with it, it's very attainable. My goal is for 12 months from now but it's very possible I could "get there" sooner.

Q). When will you start?
A). I already did :cool:

Ok, so all of that stuff above was a year ago. I hung in there and got down to 214 before I decided it was time to quit smoking. Then my weight got out of control again, and I'm right back to where I started. Nothing I can do but start over, and try again, but I will be using this journal a lot more than before. Round 2...ding ding ding.


Well, make that round three now :( I've gone all the way up to 266 lbs. That's about 20 pounds more than when I first started. Again, nothing to do now but keep going and do my best to stay motivated and focused. Wish me luck!! I'm going to need it.
 
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Awesome txturtlegirl!! We'll have to celebrate with before/after pics..w00t! LOL. Thanks for the welcome, and yup, we'll get there :D C'mon October!!!!
 
What made you choose 1300 calories? I have noticed that across this board, extremely low calories are the norm. It baffles me.
 
stroutman81 said:
What made you choose 1300 calories? I have noticed that across this board, extremely low calories are the norm. It baffles me.
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I don't think 1300 is extremely low - maybe a little depending on his start weight, but not extremely. You just have to remember, Stroutman, that most of us are trying to loose weight and tone, not just tone and gain muscle mass:)
 
These were the recommendations based on my BMI. I thought that to be odd too, but took a BMI test online and I forget what it said I needed to maintain my current weight, but needed 1,300 to lose. This was based on my "life style" because I have a "sit down" job. If I had a more active life style, the calories would have been higher. Honestly, I burn in the neighborhood of 700 cal on my bike, which wasn't factored in. It's possible a 2000 calorie diet would be more suiting. The "test" which I know is very broad and doesn't take in allot of factors is here....
 
txturtlegirl said:
I don't think 1300 is extremely low - maybe a little depending on his start weight, but not extremely. You just have to remember, Stroutman, that most of us are trying to loose weight and tone, not just tone and gain muscle mass:)
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Toning and gaining muscle is a physiological impossibility simultaneously, so I hope that is not what you are trying to do, haha. And I hope you weren't suggesting that I would make such a ludicrous claim. :)

You are right in that it is not extremely low, depending on his starting bodyweight of course. I consider a VLCD (very low calorie diet) as below 1000, many others say 800.

I have helped many obese individuals lose weight and I have NEVER suggested even a lighter woman to go below 1200. So 1300 for a man who needs to lose a considerable amount of weight, I think it is way too low of a starting point.

But what do I know. :confused:
 
Daymon74 said:
These were the recommendations based on my BMI. I thought that to be odd too, but took a BMI test online and I forget what it said I needed to maintain my current weight, but needed 1,300 to lose. This was based on my "life style" because I have a "sit down" job. If I had a more active life style, the calories would have been higher. Honestly, I burn in the neighborhood of 700 cal on my bike, which wasn't factored in. It's possible a 2000 calorie diet would be more suiting. The "test" which I know is very broad and doesn't take in allot of factors is here....
Click to expand...

Hmmm, try this calculator.

 
stroutman81 said:
Hmmm, try this calculator.
Click to expand...

This time I added in exercise 5 days a week and got a different result like I thought I might.

Maintenance: 3004 Calories/day
Fat Loss: 2403 Calories/day
Extreme Fat Loss: 1960 Calories/day

The only thing I question is this thing didn't ask how much exercise, for how long or what kind. If I did raise my caloric intake it probably wouldn't be for more than 1800 cal.
 
Hey man, I am just throwing out my advice, for what it is worth. You can take it or leave it.

The bigger you are, the larger your caloric requirement needs are.

I am 195 lbs. If I were to try and cut right now, as in lose some fat, I would consume about 3000 calories.

We are all metabolically unique, I am well aware of this. However, there are some basic physiological and biological principles that remain constant for all populations.

Sure, taking in a 1300 calorie diet will certainly lead to fat loss for you. But how much muscle mass will you lose along the way, and more importantly, what kind of damage will you do to your metabolism?
 
You make a good point. I read an article on that site you sent and I am in the category for extreme fat loss because I weigh 245 and have a BMI above 30. Even at extreme fat loss it says to take in at least 1960. After what I've read, I agree with you 100%. I think I'll change that 1300 cal to somewhere between no less than 1960 and no more than 2000 just to be on the safe side.

I guess the 1300 was for if I was just going to sit around on my can and do nothing :rolleyes: Thanks for the heads up! :cool:
 
No problem. Remember, you are not committing yourself to a contract. Pick a healthy starting point and track your progress. If you are not losing, then you can reduce the calories. If you are losing too much, which is definitely a possibility, you know to up the calories. Know what I mean?

Starvation is not the answer though, that is all I know.
 
1300 seems really low to me, too, but many regular posters are aiming between 1200-1500 calories. I think that is probably fine, but I know going under 1200 for a long period of time can be bad, just because it is hard to find the nutrition your body needs at that point. I think everyone should make sure to take a multi vitamin with their meals, too, just to make sure ou basic needs get met when we restrict our diets.

That said, I think the exercise listed will do a lot of good things, when combined with a low calorie food plan.
 
Qjay said:
1300 seems really low to me, too, but many regular posters are aiming between 1200-1500 calories. I think that is probably fine, but I know going under 1200 for a long period of time can be bad, just because it is hard to find the nutrition your body needs at that point. I think everyone should make sure to take a multi vitamin with their meals, too, just to make sure ou basic needs get met when we restrict our diets.

That said, I think the exercise listed will do a lot of good things, when combined with a low calorie food plan.
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Multi vitamin is definitely a good piece of advice. I actually recommend fish oil capsules before a multi though. Both are good.

And you are very right, it seems like cutting calories by large amounts off of maintenance is a common occurrence on this forum.
 
Went to the store today to get the kind of foods I'll need for this. In all honesty, I don't think am am eating any less than before, and am even having a hard time today trying to get the last 900 cals that I need without eating something I had already eaten. I got alot of skinless chicken, turkey breast (whole) green leafy veggies, and a few fruits to snack on. Trying to keep everything all natural since I want the carbs, and I want the fat, but only the good kind which is found in natural foods. What's funny is, you could really eat a ton of this stuff before hitting 2,000 cals like I'm trying to do. A good example is what I had for dinner tonight, A large baked chicken breast, (only mrs. dash for seasoning) about 2 cups of broccoli, and an entire raw tomato with 4 tbs of low cal dressing (with no saturated or trans fat btw). This was a large plate of food but only had 506 cals for the entire meal. My total caloric intake today is only 1162 and I've had plenty to eat, It's just alot of the food I got is very low cal. An entire tomato (large) is less than 100 cal. Needless to say I'm pretty impressed, I just need to change what I'm eating.

About the fish oil, I read you can get the full benefits of omega-3's just by eating fatty fish like tuna or salmon 3 to 4 times a week, so that's what I'm trying to do.
 
OK, I dug out my weight bench and all my weights today, which was a workout all on it's own! I'll probably start strength training tomorrow and just do my stationary bike today. I'm looking forward to getting started. I've lost about 9lbs so far this first week, but I think it's just the initial "shock" to my system. Keeping may calories around 2000 so I'm not starving myself, though I'm anxious to start the weight training so I won't lose muscle along with the fat.....or at least keep muscle loss to a minimum.
 
Good for you for finding something that's going to work for you! That's the important part - something you can stick to for the next 800 years. Because I don't know about you, but I plan on living forever. Waaay too many people I have yet to torture to die soon. ;)
 
According to "conventional knowledge", if you can just get and STAY at a particular weight for a year, you'll find it easier to maintain that weight for many years to come. Maintenance is the toughest part of all of this, unfortunately.

Keep up the good work, Daymon. Do you know what kind of weight training you want to do? Are you going for bigger muscles, or more endurance, or a combination?
 
Back on the wagon

It's been awhile since I posted here. I fell off the wagon for a little bit but I'm up n' at it again. Good news I haven't gained any weight. I even lost a pound and am down to 234. Only 33 lbs to the hundreds.........man I forget what that's like.
 
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