Halfway Did It The First Time; Time to Start Again!

[BDS]

Hellllllllo All,

Nice to meet all of you. A little bit of an introduction for myself. I'm 6'5, 332 pounds. I have a very athletic build (from sports my entire life). I was a star football player in HS/college, but once I left the game my weight skyrocketed. I was about 305 lbs during college, and most of my weight came from muscle, although I did have a "little" baggage to be carried. Well, once I left the game of football, I tried to continue working out/dieting, but that quickly faded in time. I ballooned up to about 395 lbs around last January whenever I decided enough was enough, it was time to get in shape again! I ended up losing 60 pounds in about 6 months time, until I got a new job.

With this new job, I work late hours (around 11pm - 12pm the next day) and my eating habits are HORRIBLE. Fortunately, with this job I never sit still, I lift heavy things all the time, and I'm constantly running from the time I start to the time I finish.

While on the job, I'm constantly drinking soda (not diet) and snacking on chips, lunch cakes, etc. Whenever I'm getting off of work, I typically have time to stop to get fast food from McDonalds or some other burger joint before I head back home to sleep. Once I wake, I typically have dinner (which is usually not the healthiest) right before I head to work.

Now the reason why I come to this forum is because I need a little bit of help. I've tried cutting out the sugary, fattening foods while I'm at work, and started drinking water and it KILLS my energy. I don't move as fast, I'm not as awake, etc etc etc. I'm burning off as much as I eat, despite eating the high calorie foods (which is why I've kept off all of my weight since joining this new job).

I would like to lose another 60 pounds, which I know I can with this new job, but my only reason for not trying to diet is because I know my energy levels will plummet and I won't be able to perform as efficiently.

Can anyone help?

 

[Ando3242]

I think I can offer a bit of help. First off you say you wake up to have dinner. Consider this your breakfast even if it is not the typical time for people to eat breakfast. Remember that "breakfast, lunch, and dinner" are fairly arbitrary human constructs. Start you day with typical healthy breakfast food.

While at work switch to healthy snacks or meals. Replace some of the soda you drink with water. Try to get up to 8 cups a day. If you need the caffeine switch to diet soda but drink your water for hydration especially if you are doing some physical labor. Prepare stuff beforehand to bring with you like turkey sandwich, yogurt, apples, or vegetables.

As for the McDonald's on the way home that's a killer. Do you typically go to bed soon after work or are you up for a few more hours? If you just go to bed you might cut this meal entirely. Eating a huge fatty meal right before going to sleep isn't a good idea.

Now the energy level. Keep tabs on how you feel energy wise throughout the day. Usually eating sugary junk foods does give you a temporary boost of energy but it will only plummet from there. Once you become accustomed to eating healthy you will feel much better and your energy level should remain high.

As far as portion control, there's plenty of info on the web about how much you should be eating depending on your weight height and activity level. Keep tabs on how many calories you are eating per day. Be very mindful as we often lie to ourselves or drastically underestimate how much we are truly eating.

Then finally exercise. Having a physically demanding job sure does help for burning calories so that is good. The only problem usually with this is its not a constant cardio workout. Try to set aside 30 minutes a day to do some brisk walking/ jogging before work. As you gradually improve increase your intensity. This will also help with your energy level.

Hopefully if you follow these guidelines you will see the weight melt off of you and your energy level should be much higher than before.

 

[Cantona]

Of course you have no energy. You can't go from a hyperbole of fattening sugary snacks and drinks to having an apple and some water and expect everything to be OK.

Slow steps are going to be much better. Cut down the amount you have a bit at a time, switch to diet drinks, cut down the snacks you are having. Switch the amount you have having to nuts/fruits/dried fruits etc. Then eventually you can cut out the rubbish.

Try eating slow release foods before work. I have porridge and banana for breakfast (porridge releases energy slowly, banana fairly quickly),7-9am depending on what days, and now I don't need anything until lunch time (1-2pm).

For slow energy release you need to eat foods with a low GI. GI meaning glycaemic index. Such as: Apples, oranges, pears, beans, peas, lentils, porridge, bran cereal or peanuts are just some I know of the top of my head. These are the types of foods maybe you should eat BEFORE work.

And then AT work you could try eating food with a HIGH GI so that you can get instant energy. Just go on google and see what food is high or low in GI and you can still be healthy and try and keep those energy levels up.

Your body is used to being a certain way, you can't change over night and expect your body to adapt. It's quite likely that your body has some form of dependence from the sugar.