Hello everyone, my name is Logan, and I have joined this message board in hopes of support and to answer some lingering questions I have regarding my weight loss tribulations. I have dieted quite a few times in the past, with success, but have always managed to put most of it back on. I will begin with a little background information on myself.
I am almost 26 years old, 6ft 1in and currently weigh 261 lbs. I am beginning my second week of my diet/lifestyle change and have lost 7lbs thus far (has always been easy the first couple weeks). My initial goal is 200 lbs, and we will see where it can go from there. For being a “bigger” guy, I am in pretty decent physical shape. I can walk miles at a time without getting tired and mix in jogging too with not much problems. I play sports quite often (but now is the off-season) and enjoy being physically active. My eating habits in the past and the inconsistency in physical activities has been my downfall. High cholesterol runs in my family, and I was borderline high-risk the last time I checked, so I have to keep that in mind. We are also expecting our first child in a few months, so that is my new motivation to start changing the way I eat and exercise for the rest of my life, so I can pass on the good health and food values to my young one(s). Now I will write a little bit about what I am currently doing to get back into shape / eat better.
I am currently shooting for an 1800 calorie diet (after researching and taking a few of those quizzes, etc). I believe my body is in the process of learning to accept less food again, as I am only eating until I am no longer hungry (but not full). I have been out walking 30-40 mins every evening for the last week (2+ miles each time). I would like to start up some circuit training workouts soon too, but always seem to burn myself out on that too quickly. Here is an example of what a current day’s food intake looks like (I have been writing in a food journal this entire past week):
7am Breakfast: Slim-Fast Optima shake (have drank these for many years, very accustomed to them)
10am Snack: 100 calorie packaged snack (crackers, chips, etc)
12pm Lunch: Big dinner plate sized salad (iceberg / spinach leaf mix, little cheese, light ranch, carrots, eggs, few bacon bits and croutons, and a piece of ham or turkey deli meat on top), half-cup cottage cheese, banana or apple, and some celery
3pm Snack:100 calorie packaged snack again
6 pm Dinner: Roasted chicken, frozen corn, and some form of potato
9 pm Snack: One more small 100-130 calorie snack food
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Water: I probably drink a gallon of water per day
Busy food: I chew a lot of Wrigley's ‘5’ gum and drink water when I am bored or start to feel hunger pangs
Sleep: Usually 7 hours, I am never tired and do not / can’t take naps
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As you can tell, I come from a carb/bread happy home. Is this bad per se? I have been within my 1800 calorie range the whole week. I know I don’t eat a wide array of vegetables (I wish I did) but there are only a few I can tolerate to eat.
Now for a couple questions:
If I shoot to eat 1800 calories per day but also burn off 300-400 calories from walking/jogging, do I have to eat those calories back to get to 1800 calories again? That has always confused me, but I want to make sure I do this right!
I take 3 multivitamins a day (Opti-mens by Optimum Nutrition) and 3 fish oil pills a day (I have been taking 2 of each for over a year, just now bumped to 3 per the label instructions). Is this all OK to take, and should there be anything else I should add?
As you see on my food intake, I eat every few hours as I start to feel a little bit of hunger arise (carbs). Are the little snack packs a bad thing? Should I not eat those snacks? I just don’t want to be starving in between meals, and feel that is a good way to tie me over a couple more hours.
Do I start doing circuit training workouts now too, with my walking/jogging, or get adjusted to this phase first and then transition into circuit training ?
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I am ready to hear and accept any tips, criticism, etc. that you can offer me to make this my last bout with weight loss EVER!
-Logan
I am almost 26 years old, 6ft 1in and currently weigh 261 lbs. I am beginning my second week of my diet/lifestyle change and have lost 7lbs thus far (has always been easy the first couple weeks). My initial goal is 200 lbs, and we will see where it can go from there. For being a “bigger” guy, I am in pretty decent physical shape. I can walk miles at a time without getting tired and mix in jogging too with not much problems. I play sports quite often (but now is the off-season) and enjoy being physically active. My eating habits in the past and the inconsistency in physical activities has been my downfall. High cholesterol runs in my family, and I was borderline high-risk the last time I checked, so I have to keep that in mind. We are also expecting our first child in a few months, so that is my new motivation to start changing the way I eat and exercise for the rest of my life, so I can pass on the good health and food values to my young one(s). Now I will write a little bit about what I am currently doing to get back into shape / eat better.
I am currently shooting for an 1800 calorie diet (after researching and taking a few of those quizzes, etc). I believe my body is in the process of learning to accept less food again, as I am only eating until I am no longer hungry (but not full). I have been out walking 30-40 mins every evening for the last week (2+ miles each time). I would like to start up some circuit training workouts soon too, but always seem to burn myself out on that too quickly. Here is an example of what a current day’s food intake looks like (I have been writing in a food journal this entire past week):
7am Breakfast: Slim-Fast Optima shake (have drank these for many years, very accustomed to them)
10am Snack: 100 calorie packaged snack (crackers, chips, etc)
12pm Lunch: Big dinner plate sized salad (iceberg / spinach leaf mix, little cheese, light ranch, carrots, eggs, few bacon bits and croutons, and a piece of ham or turkey deli meat on top), half-cup cottage cheese, banana or apple, and some celery
3pm Snack:100 calorie packaged snack again
6 pm Dinner: Roasted chicken, frozen corn, and some form of potato
9 pm Snack: One more small 100-130 calorie snack food
-------
Water: I probably drink a gallon of water per day
Busy food: I chew a lot of Wrigley's ‘5’ gum and drink water when I am bored or start to feel hunger pangs
Sleep: Usually 7 hours, I am never tired and do not / can’t take naps
-------
As you can tell, I come from a carb/bread happy home. Is this bad per se? I have been within my 1800 calorie range the whole week. I know I don’t eat a wide array of vegetables (I wish I did) but there are only a few I can tolerate to eat.
Now for a couple questions:
If I shoot to eat 1800 calories per day but also burn off 300-400 calories from walking/jogging, do I have to eat those calories back to get to 1800 calories again? That has always confused me, but I want to make sure I do this right!
I take 3 multivitamins a day (Opti-mens by Optimum Nutrition) and 3 fish oil pills a day (I have been taking 2 of each for over a year, just now bumped to 3 per the label instructions). Is this all OK to take, and should there be anything else I should add?
As you see on my food intake, I eat every few hours as I start to feel a little bit of hunger arise (carbs). Are the little snack packs a bad thing? Should I not eat those snacks? I just don’t want to be starving in between meals, and feel that is a good way to tie me over a couple more hours.
Do I start doing circuit training workouts now too, with my walking/jogging, or get adjusted to this phase first and then transition into circuit training ?
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I am ready to hear and accept any tips, criticism, etc. that you can offer me to make this my last bout with weight loss EVER!
-Logan
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