Frode's diary

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Frodix

New member
Hey guys! I just joined this forum, and I must say it's amazing in every way. If I ever manage to lose my extra kilos, I will definitely stick around to help others :)

Well, let me tell you a little bit about myself; I'm a 16 year old male, about 1,78m tall, and I weigh 83-84 kgs (I weighed 83.1 after breakfast today).
My BMI is somewhere around 26-27, and finally, after a very lazy childhood, I've decided to do something about this.

I decided to "count calories" as a plan, in addition to doing cardio/aerobic training whenever I can.
I started this about one week ago, and I've been writing down everything I eat, and every workout, in a notebook. I feel like it's working - One week ago, my weight was 83.8, and today it's 83.1, plus I feel like I have more room in my clothes than ever. This could just be my imagination, though, so I figured I'd post my "diary" here and hope for a confirmation that my program is indeed working.

I have full focus on calories, and not so much about healthy/unhealthy foods other than amount of calories.

Here we go:

Day 1 - 25th, May 2011 Wednesday
Time 13.00 - Breakfast ca 300 kcal
-4 "fullwheat" crackers - 50 kcal each
-1 glass of juice (2 dl) - 100 kcal
Time 17.00 - 50 kcal
- Handful of Cheese Doodles
Time 18.15 - 800-1200 kcal
- Dinner (Chicken and White rice)
- A few strawberries for desert
Time 00.00 - 100-150 kcal
- Apple

Total for Wednesday = Ca 1500 (plus/minus) kcal in
Workouts Wednesday - Treadmill and exercise bike - about
500 kcal out



Day 2 - 26th, May 2011 Thursday
08.00 - Breakfast 300-400 calories
- Two slices of medium dark bread with cheese 200-300 calories
- A glass of milk - 100 calories
12.50 - Lunch 150-200 calories
- One slice of medium dark bread with apple
16.20 - Dinner 1000+ calories
- Baconburger meat (x2), a small potato and some vegetables
20.40 - 100-150 calories
- Slice of bread with raspberry jam
Total for Thursday - 1550-1750 kcal in
Workouts Thursday - None (My tummy was really upset today, so no workouts)

Day 3 - 27th, May 2011 Friday
11.00 - Breaktfast 200-300 calories
- Two slices of bread with raspberry jam
- Glass of water (no kcal)
14.00 - "minilunch" 100-150 kcal
- A banana
15.50 - After-workout "snack" 200 kcal
-"Kvikk Lunsj" chocolate 100 kcal
- Glass of milk 100 kcal
16.25 - two strawberries 20-50 kcal
19.00 - Dinner (around) 1000 kcal
- Fish"cakes" and a potato
- Strawberries for desert
21.40 - 40 kcal (chocolate after workout)
Total for Friday: 1560-1740 kcal in
Workouts Friday - around 14.00 Treadmill and exercise bike - About
550 kcal out
Around 21.00 - Half-hour jog with friend

Day 4 - 28th, May 2011 Saturday
10.30 - Breakfast 200-250 kcal
- Bread with cheese
- Water (no kcal)
12.20 After-jog-refill 100 kcal
- Glass of milk
14.00 "Lunch" 70 kcal
- Bread
17.20 - Dinner 800-1000 kcal
- Light bread with cheese and meat
20.00 (?) - 100-150 kcal
- Small smoothie drink
23.00 - 200-250 kcal
- Slice of pizza
- Handful of cheese doodles
00.00 - Two slices of bread 200-250 kcal
Total for Saturday - 172-2070
Workouts Saturday - 12.00 - 20 minute jog with friend

Day 5 - 29th, May 2011 Sunday
10.10 - Breakfast 200-250 kcal
- Two slices of bread
12.30 - "Lunch" 100-125 kcal
- Slice of bread
14.20 - 50 kcal
- Handful of cheese doodles
17-17.30 - Dinner 1000 kcal
- Eggomelet with meat
21.40 - 100-150
- Slice of bread with blueberry
Total for Sunday: 1450-1575
Workouts Sunday: 30 minute bikeride, 20 minute jog with friend

Day 6 - 30th, May 2011 Monday
11.00 - Breakfast 200-250 kcal
- Two slices of bread with blueberry
13.30 - "Lunch" 100-125 kcal
- Slice of bread with blueberry
15.50 - 30(?) kcal
- Chewing gum and two strawberries
16.30-16.45 - Dinner 1000-1200 kcal
- Spaghetti "mix"
- Little bit of icecream for desert
21.40 - 220-270 kcal
- Two strawberries
- Two slices of bread with cheese
Total for Monday - 1550-1875
Workouts Monday - Treadmill and exercise bike (14.30-15.30) about
400 kcal out (treadmill = 300 Bike = 100)
20 minute jog with friend

Day 7 - 31th, May 2011 Tuesday
11.30 - Breakfast 200-250 kcal
- Two slices of bread with strawberry
13.10 - "Lunch" 100-125 kcal
- One banana
17.30-18.00 - 100 kcal
- Glass of milk
15.30 - "hungry" 100 kcal
- Slice of light bread
15.55 - Chewing Gum 20 kcal
18.15 - Dinner 1000-1200 kcal
- "Big Mac" menu from McDonalds
23-23.20 - 200-250 kcal
- Two slices of bread with raspberry
Total for Tuesday - 1620-1895
Workouts Tuesday - 45 min bikeride

For dinners I almost always just "assume" 1000 kcal, it's probably less than that most of the time.

There you have my first week. As you can see, I do eat a few unhealthy foods, maybe a little too much. I kind of have to work with unhealthy dinners as I'm living with my family.

Anyway, I'd appreciate your input.

Thanks

Frode
 
Last edited:
Hi, and welcome to the forum :) (from a fellow calorie counter)

Is there any way of guessing your calories more accurately- say, by looking at the food or asking whoever prepares the meals (I presume one of your parents?) to describe what they've made and how? Assuming is probably a bad idea- you could be eating far too much or far too little, which is bad for your health or weight loss or potentially both.

Also, have you thought about a calorie counting program? I use one (I use cron-o-meter, other free ones include fitday and myfitnesspal) and it's really useful. (Check out my diary if you'd like, to see the kind of information I get- easily- just from entering my food)

At your age, you should really care a lot more about nutrition. You're probably still growing, and I can say with certainty that your brain and bones are still developing (this process stops at about 25). You need nutritious food in order to aid that development and prevent long term health consequences.
 
Today, around 12.30, after breakfast, my weight is 82.2 kg. That's one whole kilo just since two days ago... I fear I might be losing some musclemass instead of fat, since Ive lost so much so fast, and I don't really feel a difference.
 
amy1985 said:
Hi, and welcome to the forum :) (from a fellow calorie counter)

Is there any way of guessing your calories more accurately- say, by looking at the food or asking whoever prepares the meals (I presume one of your parents?) to describe what they've made and how? Assuming is probably a bad idea- you could be eating far too much or far too little, which is bad for your health or weight loss or potentially both.

Also, have you thought about a calorie counting program? I use one (I use cron-o-meter, other free ones include fitday and myfitnesspal) and it's really useful. (Check out my diary if you'd like, to see the kind of information I get- easily- just from entering my food)

At your age, you should really care a lot more about nutrition. You're probably still growing, and I can say with certainty that your brain and bones are still developing (this process stops at about 25). You need nutritious food in order to aid that development and prevent long term health consequences.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your advices! I appreciate it a lot, and I will most definitely make some changes, based on your advices. :)
 
Trusylver said:
good effort with the exercise :)
Click to expand...

Thanks :) I actually feel a little bad for not exercising enough. I don't really think my bikerides are very effective. A 15 min jog would probably do more good than the 45 min bikeride I usually take, but I just can't bring myself to jog alone.

My friend said he'd help me lose weight (He recently lost quite a bit of weight himself), so he's trying to make time for a 20 minute jog every day. He's very busy, though, and I end up having a very lazy day if he's not available and the gym is closed.

I'm purchasing a better membership for the gym next month, so I can exercise when it's closed (keycard), and I've ordered a Polar FT40 exercise watch to help me track my progress.

I am going to reach my goal. I have failed before, but this time I'm determined to keep it up!
 
Don't feel too bad about the exercise- anything is better than nothing, and you need to do what you can manage (if you try to work too hard or too much and give up because it's too much- or worse, get injured- you'll be worse off than slowly plodding away at it, if that makes sense).

Do you have an idea of the nutrition you should be aiming for? Would you like some help with that? (My ideas are very basic- I just look at NHS guidelines for diet- but I can give you a starting point if you want)
 
amy1985 said:
Don't feel too bad about the exercise- anything is better than nothing, and you need to do what you can manage (if you try to work too hard or too much and give up because it's too much- or worse, get injured- you'll be worse off than slowly plodding away at it, if that makes sense).

Do you have an idea of the nutrition you should be aiming for? Would you like some help with that? (My ideas are very basic- I just look at NHS guidelines for diet- but I can give you a starting point if you want)
Click to expand...

That would be awesome. Thank you.
 
The guidelines I work on are as follows:

Keep your food as fresh as possible. I'm not an absolutist about this- processed food isn't going to kill you and isn't even necessarily bad for you (and a little bit is fine), but generally the less processed the food, the less "crap" it has in it and the better it is for you (making your own spaghetti sauce rather than using the jarred stuff, for example). Fresh food also tends to be lower calorie. The more processed a food is though (things like chips, sweets, etc), the less it resembles "food"- I try to think of highly processed foods as "crap", and so something I shouldn't have very much of.

Have variety in your diet- eating different things means you benefit from different groups of vitamins and minerals. So while apples are good, sometimes change them and have pears, or bananas, or kiwi fruit, for example.

Have at least 5 80g serves of fruit and/ or vegetables a day- preferably vegetables, and preferably as fresh as possible (frozen is fine. Dried is ok but only once per day, and remember that dried fruit is a lot more calorie dense than fresh- and a serve of dried is 30g). Fruit and vegetables are nutrient rich and low in calories, so you can almost go nuts (some are high-ish calorie and you shouldn't take as many of them as you want- they're still good, and you should still eat them, but not lots of them. Bananas and avacados are the worst offenders here). I snack almost exclusively on fruit and vegetables. I try to make fruit and vegetables at least 40% and preferably half of what I eat, and have fruit and vegetables almost every time I eat anything.

Remember for the purposes of nutrition, potato is a starch (like bread, rice, or pasta), rather than a vegetable.

Try to get 3 serves of dairy a day (milk, cheese, yoghurt)- some of these are high calorie, so watch out for them. I personally have low fat dairy (saves on calories) but a lot of people can't stomach that (I prefer low fat dairy, so I'm lucky). A serve is 250ml milk or 30g cheese or 200ml yoghurt.

Make sure you get plenty of protein. This isn't just through meat (I personally try to limit my meat to one serve of 100g a day, a little more for fish, and a little less for red and processed meats- such as lamb, beef, ham and bacon). Beans and legumes (baked beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc) are a good source of protein (as are nuts, but they're quite high calorie), and some dairy (e.g. cottage cheese) is really helpful as well.

Drink plenty of water. You can flavour it if you want (tea, coffee, ice tea, squash), but watch the calorie content (I make a wicked ice tea which is 5 calories for 200ml).

Limit the sugar you add to things, it's high calorie and has little nutritional value. Also limit salt addition- while it's calorie free, high sodium intake can lead to health problems)

Limit the fats you add to things (butter, oil, margarine). While they're not bad (some are worse than others- look for monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats rather than saturated fats), they're quite high calorie. Don't cut them out completely, some fat is essential to good health (but not as much as is typically eaten in a Western diet). I use one cal cooking spray when I can for frying (the product here is called Frylight), olive oil when I can't use spray (olive oil is a good source of monounsaturated fat), and limit the spreads (butter/ margarine) I have to almost none (and I use Flora when I do use spreads, which is mostly polyunsaturated fat).

Starches (bread, pasta, rice, potato, etc) are important in the diet- a lot of nutritional guidelines say they should be the basis of your diet. While I do eat them, I try to moderate them because they can be quite high calorie. For this one I'm a bit less sure. You need to do what works for you- I eat porridge for breakfast every day because I find it filling, but I don't eat regular bread at all anymore because I don't find it filling.

Find combinations of healthy food that you like and can enjoy eating into the long term. Don't make yourself suffer for a diet (although if you have a food group you "won't eat", particularly fruit or vegetables, I encourage you to perservere and/ or try it again, because they're so important for your nutrition. Especially fruit and vegetables)

Hope this gives you something to work with :)
 
... Oops. That ended up being quite a bit longer than I thought it was going to be.

These are guides. The closer you can eat to some of these things (particulary more fruit/ vegetables) etc, the better, but don't beat yourself up if you're not perfect. Every change you can make to eat healthier is an improvement (so while drinks like Pepsi are nutritionally void and are a waste of calories in my humble opinion, drinking 9 cans a day :eek: is better than drinking 10. Or drinking diet is better than drinking full sugar), and you need to take things gradually. No one can realistically go from being a burger and beer guzzling glutton to a health freak (not saying you're the former or I'm the latter) overnight.

And treat yourself once in awhile. We're only human. I have very small amounts of chocolate in my diet most days- it keeps my cravings away. I also make low calorie versions of food I really like, like pizza.

Try your best, but be gentle on yourself. You've got to get yourself through and there's no point beating yourself up about it, feeling like you'll never get anywhere, then giving up.
 
amy1985 said:
... Oops. That ended up being quite a bit longer than I thought it was going to be.

These are guides. The closer you can eat to some of these things (particulary more fruit/ vegetables) etc, the better, but don't beat yourself up if you're not perfect. Every change you can make to eat healthier is an improvement (so while drinks like Pepsi are nutritionally void and are a waste of calories in my humble opinion, drinking 9 cans a day :eek: is better than drinking 10. Or drinking diet is better than drinking full sugar), and you need to take things gradually. No one can realistically go from being a burger and beer guzzling glutton to a health freak (not saying you're the former or I'm the latter) overnight.

And treat yourself once in awhile. We're only human. I have very small amounts of chocolate in my diet most days- it keeps my cravings away. I also make low calorie versions of food I really like, like pizza.

Try your best, but be gentle on yourself. You've got to get yourself through and there's no point beating yourself up about it, feeling like you'll never get anywhere, then giving up.
Click to expand...


Thanks! I will take back my habit of drinking a glass of milk for breakfast. That's step one! :)

By the way; I find myself "craving" fruitjuice after workouts. Is drinking a glass of juice (about 100 kcal) acceptable after a workout? I've heard so many times that a glass of juice can "replace" one of the five-a-day fruits. Is this true?

Thanks again!
 
Are you sure a glass of juice is only 100 calories?

Yes- a glass of juice (in the UK) counts as one of five a day (nutritional requirements vary between countries- in Australia, where I'm from, juice is sometimes said to be nutritionally equivalent to Pepsi, ie, no value). It's not the worst thing you have, but you're probably better off with some water and a piece of fruit instead (as most juices get rid of most of the nutritional value of the fruit they're derived from). For my diet, I refuse to count juice as anything other than sugar water, but it's up to you.

Sugar after working out is a good idea, though.
 
Juice is generally high GI which is not good most of the time but after a workout (within 20 minutes) the body uses the high GI carbs to replenish muscle glycogen stores so if your going to have juice this is the best time to have it, but remember to also have a little bit of protein at the same time after your workout.
 
Today I go to bed feeling horrible. Somehow I ended up eating two dinners today, and I feel like I've reset everything and that I'm back at "ground-zero".

I had a pretty rough cardio workout today, though. 400 kcal on treadmill and 200 on an exercise bike, and one thing's for sure: Even if I'm not losing weight at all, atleast I'm getting in better shape! I can sustain a mildly high speed longer than ever before.

Anyway, I still feel really depressed today as my calorie intake probably exceeded 2000 by far. I really feel like this one bad day makes up for all the (semi)good 9 days and that I'm back at start.

-- I've been reading around on other weight loss diaries, and I've decided to do something similiar to what most people do. At the end of each day, I will write down how I feel, about the past day and my program, in general. --
 
Today I feel just as bad as yesterday, but I'm definitely not giving up!

It's Saturday, so I thought I'd treat myself with a little icecream. I regret that a little.

I've been for a little bikeride today, and I did a short session (15 mins) of situps and pushups (alternating).

This day's been a little lazier than usual, but atleast I did something, right? :)

By the way: Am I unable to create a signature (yet), or am I just very blind?
 
You can't create a signature until you have 10 posts, then it'll be under User CP.

Treats are inevitable in a diet. Don't feel too bad (even if it was an all-out binge, which it doesn't sound like, feeling guilty doesn't change anything). What I do is try to control the treats I have in my diet so I don't feel the need to binge. This isn't quite the same as real ice cream, but it's much better for the calorie count, if you can make it:
 
amy1985 said:
You can't create a signature until you have 10 posts, then it'll be under User CP.

Treats are inevitable in a diet. Don't feel too bad (even if it was an all-out binge, which it doesn't sound like, feeling guilty doesn't change anything). What I do is try to control the treats I have in my diet so I don't feel the need to binge. This isn't quite the same as real ice cream, but it's much better for the calorie count, if you can make it:
Click to expand...

Thanks :) I will try that recipe one day.
 
Today I'm feeling completely drained for energy, and I fear I'm about to get sick, so no workouts for me today.

I will try to stick more to my "diet" plan than usual to compensate for no workouts.

Tomorrow I'm going back to school after almost 2 weeks off, so days will be longer (this means higher metabolism, right?).

:)
 
Today at 12.00, after breakfast, my weight is 78,5kg. That's 4,3kg under my starting weight, so obviously my system is working.

However, I don't feel "thinner". These past few days I've been wondering if I'm actually gaining weight instead.

Which is deceiving me? The mirror or the scale?

:)
 
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