Getting back on track

R

richardbaxter

New member
Hello all,

This is my first post after lurking for a while. I'm another fatso trying to lose the lard... 5'11 and 266lbs. I have a few questions which have probably been answered many times, but I have used the search function... so forgive me if this is boring for the regulars.

About 5 years ago I was 18st, and followed Chris Ryans SAS fitness guide for about 2 years and got down to about 14st, and was pretty fit. After having got married I've piled it all back on again and am now the heaviest I've ever been at 19st approx. I've just joined a gym and this time want it to be a lifestyle change thats permanent. So the questions:

1) I don't have the kind of excess cash I had before being married, and things are actually pretty tight financially. How can I eat healthily but also cheaply?

2) I've worked out that my ideal calorie intake should be about 2400/ day... the only trouble is, I feel this would leave me feeling very hungry.. any tips to prevent the constant hunger? My maintenance level is about 3000

3) After doing some lifting in the gym I was suprised that I could still lift fairly heavy weights quite easily... but now, at the end of the week I'm so sore its really painful, so I'll have to go easy to start off. Any tips to ease the pain in the meantime?

4) Interval training (not HIIT I've never been fit enough for that!) made up the bulk of my cardio on the SAS plan, is this still suitable, or could I do something better? My heart rate is getting up to about 170bpm even when I'm not going all out, so I guess that shows how unfit I am... but strangely I don't feel like I need to stop, and could pretty much keep going for ages.

I'm sure you've heard it all before, but any help is much appreciated. Thanks.
 
Also it would be nice to know how you work out lean body mass, so I can figure out how much protein I ought to be eating.
 
Hi Richard,

I've been meaning to answer you for a couple of days but just haven't really had the time.

I'm from London too and although I'm not expert, I've a lot about fitness and nutrition and hopefully I can help you a bit. The highest I got to was 17 st about 6 years ago and I've been on many diets and exercise regimes over the years.

I'll just answer your questions as you asked them

1. Eating healthily is pretty cheap compared to 'ordinary' eating. For starters whenever i want to lose weight I cut out all alcohol which can be a large expense.

Also, because you are eating less food your food bill should be smaller. instead of buying high calorie and expensive ready meals you'll probably buy a lot of fresh food and vegetables which are very good value. i never worry about buying organic foods as personally I can't see any benefit.

2. To orevent constant hunger I would recommend having many smaller meals, rather than just the trasitional 3. You say you want to have 2400 cals a day, well break that down into 6 meals of 400 calories, spread evenly throughout the day. This would mean you would never be more than about 4 hours away from a meal. Also, after a few days your stomach will shrink and get used to eating the amount you do. the first couple of days of a diet are always the hardest while this happens.

3. Well food is great fuel for the muscles so eat some protein. Creatine also has recoperative qualities. But I think you'll just have to ride it out. Be so carefull with weights because one injury can completly blow your training regime for weeks on end.

4. I can't help you on this one sorry.

Working out lean body mass you'd have to measure your body fat percentage using calipers.
 
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