Looking for helpful advice

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Blonko

New member
Well i just wrote a big long explination on everything i eat and exercize and i wasnt logged in...... so this will be shorter :(

Getting right into it i guess. My BMI calls for 2200 calories a day with doing nothing at all. im 5"11 240 lbs male 36% body fat 31 years old. I've been 150 - 160 lbs my whole life. At 25 things changed weight jumped up prety fast. ive been 240 for about 3 years. and this is how i plan on changing it. hope im doing things right and my info is correct.

Exercise: I go to the gym every other day do full body workouts, head to toe. lifting weights. i do vigerous weight training not much time in between reps to keep my heart rate up. Ive talked to a personal trainer and they said dont waist your time on cardio.

Diet:

Breakfast - 2-3 eggs whole grain bread
- Lean turkey breast, tomato, and cheese on whole grain toast
- 2 cups of raisin bran, 1 cup 1% low fat milk

snack - Yogurt @ fruit (strawberries, blueberries, grapes ect...)
- Toast @ peanut butter
- 3 slices of turkey breast meat and fruit
- Mixed Nuts (.5 a cup)

Lunch - some left overs maybe (Pasta @ brocoli, Pasta and Ground beef)
- Lean turkey breast, tomato, and cheese on whole grain toast
- fruit or veggie's with home made dip low fat.

snack - Yogurt @ fruit (strawberries, blueberries, grapes ect...)
- Toast @ peanut butter
- 3 slices of turkey breast meat and fruit
- Mixed Nuts (.5 a cup)

Dinners - Pasta & brocoli, Pasta and Ground beef
- Steak & potato's
- Fish & rice
- Chicken & rice
- Roast pork & rice or potato

I drink about 8 - 14 cups of water a day and have a whey protein shake on days i go to the gym as my body needs more protein i can get close to 180g that way. and have a salad with every dinner meal. with homemade dressing low fat olive oil, viniger dressing. And NEVER Eat sweats... dont really like them :/ I do have a few chips sometimes and i do like a few beers here and there :(

I mesure everything and have a hard time eating what my BMI sudgests i eat.
(2400 calories, 180 - 200G protien, 300g carbs) if i dont eat that amount my body goes into starvation mode. and will store fat. but ive been getting close to what my body needs. By the way i use Cron-O-Meter to measure calories, protein and carbs. very good prog. anyway, after about 3 - 4 weeks going hard at the gym and eating better. I DO feel 100% better, and stronger, but fail to c any resaults and as i stepped on the scale today it read 2 lbs more.

I know about the lean muscle mass weighs more then fat ect ect..... but from what you read does it seem like i am doing things correctly and i Know my facts. And or any sudgestions would be greatly apreciated Thanks!
 
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Hi and welcome.

Right off the bat I thnk you have some bad information and some skewed ideas about how weight loss works. I'm going to tackle that first.

i do vigerous weight training not much time in between reps to keep my heart rate up
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This is not necessarily the most productive way to lift weights. If you're doing light weights and high/fast reps to keep your heart rate up, then all you're doing is cardio and endurance work, and not weight/strength training.

Ive talked to a personal trainer and they said dont waist your time on cardio.
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I'm assuming based on this that the "personal trainer" is actually a gym employee, right? 'Cause he's full of it and not giving you accurate information. Filling in around your weight training with cardio is not a waste of time. Cardio will help you burn extra calories, which will help with the weight loss.

i dont eat that amount my body goes into starvation mode. and will store fat.
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Complete and utter myth. I'm not sure where you heard this, but your body is not going to go into starvation mode (not that there really is such a thing) at 2000 calories or so.

So that said ... at your weight, around 2400 calories is a perfectly adequate amount of food for you. 180g of protein also sounds pretty good. I don't see ANY veggies in your meal plan though (ok a tomato here and there and maybe a salad with dinner). Your dinners are almost all carbs and no veg. I am also wondering if you're eating whole grains or simple carbs that will cause you to retain water and cause the scale to go up.

Are you logging your food and being very precise about amounts and measurements? Because honestly it sounds to me like you're eating more than you think you are ... and maybe putting on a little muscle due to the increase in protein.

My suggestion would be to register for a free account on or and starting to log your food. This will let you see how many calories you're eating and how your nutrition levels are breaking down. Once you know that, you'll be able to see more clearly where you can make adjustments, cut back, change your nutrition, etc.

Then I'd read the sticky posts on the exercise forum - especially one titled "The Conceptual Side of Weight Lifting" by Steve. It will give you a LOT of information on setting up a program and how you should look at weight training ... not in terms of "vigorous" or keeping your heart rate up, but in terms of continually challenging and working your muscles.
 
Where does this cardio hatred come from? Its everywhere these days, first everyone was like "do a bazillion hours worth of low intensity steady state cardio" and now everyone is like "cardio is TEH DEVOL!"

Cardio is actually very healthy, if you push yourself... so that you increase your bodys ability to use the oxygen in your lungs, your amount of red blood cells etc. And cardio uses energy... which equals more energy used! (yeah, I rock at math) also the better your cardio health is, the more energy you burn during cardio.. your hearts is healthier.. I mean.. whats not to like?

I think... we should start seeing resistance training and cardio as two different exercises for two different systems. Resistance training works, at its best, the non autonome muscles, joints, ligaments, bones and CNS. Cardio works your autonome muscle systems, your circulation, increases the amount of red blood cells and ofcourse also works the CNS. now.. both take energy to work out, both are important to both short and long term health and both are very useful for weight loss...
 
First of all thanks for the quick reply.

About the Vigerous weight training, I was more meaning for instance. do hamstrings for 10 - 12 reps, after 20 seconds move to say quads for 10 - 12 reps, then back to hamstrings. just not taking 2 min in between reps.

Kinda a long story about the personal trainers. i KNOW that cardio burns more calories while you are actually doing it but not much afterword. Where resistance training and building lean muscle will burn less calories while lifting but more when you sleep. i know cardio wouldnt hurt (obviously) but not 100% nessessary to do for losing weight. Same thing for crunches. your tummy wont get smaller by doing crunches. reasons being

1. with belly fat in the way you wont be actually working your stomach muscles very well
2. you will get enough work out on your abs with your other exercises.
3. yes your abs will get bigger as you work them so in thery wont that make your stomach stick out more? unless you have 12% body fat and trying to get serious washboard abs why waste your time? ( that is what i was told anyway)

About the calories and food.

I eat vegies in the salad every night. Cucumber, spinich, carots. ect. you should google Cron-O-Meter. Very good program for measuring calories protein and carbs. and everything else.

Im just seing if there is anything else that would help or sudgestions that would help in either weight loss or fat loss. and i do apreciate all the responces :) thanks.
 
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About the Vigerous weight training, I was more meaning for instance. do hamstrings for 10 - 12 reps, after 20 seconds move to say quads for 10 - 12 reps, then back to hamstrings. just not taking 2 min in between reps.
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Again, I suggest you read the sticky threads written by Steve in the Exercise area of the forum.

Good luck with your plan.
 
It looks to me like the reason you are not losing weight is that you are simply eating too much food.
 
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I think there might be a factor of human error in this. Are you completely honest about your meals? All of them? Every calorie? Not likely. We underestimate just how much we eat and what we eat. This is just how it is. That you say that is what you eat and what you do says there is something off in the facts.
 
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If what you described above is your regular diet, then yeah, you're eating a lot more than 2000 calories a day.
 
Lots of rice and potatoes I see.

White rice and potatoes are both less beneficial carbs. I am hoping it's brown rice.

Ground beef is not a favorite of mine as a rule, and it's fatty red meat. I would replace it with lean ground turkey.

Try skim milk instead of 2% if you are using anything but skim. Once you get used to skim milk everything else tastes like cream. Gives you all the good stuff in milk without all the fat.

Start looking at the labels and looking up the calorie counts of everything, much of it will surprise you. A big glass of orange juice for example is going to add 200 calories to your day.

Which brings me to drinks. People really lose track of their calories in drinks. I know I did. Soda's, trips to the coffee shop, things like that can be a big hit. I used to take in probably an extra 1500-2000 calories a day in coffee loaded with sugar and 2% milk without even having it dawn on me.

Oh and the beers, some beers are 250 calories a bottle. even the lightest beers are 60 calories a bottle. Have a couple of those every night and it's like drinking liquid bread.
 
I drink 1% low fat milk, and i do measure all my meals and know exactly how much calories i intake. some days i only take in even 1750 - 1900 calories. and yes i know that rice and potato's arent the best but my body does need carbs as well. on a regular week i get about 250 - 300 grams of carbs most are whole carbs. 150 - 180 grams of protein. and i get lean everything when it comes to meats. and low fat everything else when i can.

well inches dont lie i guess. losing inches off belly and hips, losing 1% body fat gaining 1% lean muscle is why im not really losing weight just yet. ill keep in touch and let you know of any changes in diet or exercise and resaults ofer the next few weeks. and you should take a look at Cron-O-Meter, as i said it tells you everything. and i DO put absolutly everything i eat and i measure everything so its as exact as possible. im not going at this 90% if i go at anything i go at it 110%, thats why im here seing what others have done and worked.

oh and i just read, ya i dont drink any coffee pops or anything at all in that nature, i dont eat any sweets either, never have. i do have 6 beers a week, light beers 100 calories each. thats about it.

and in case some of you are getting confused i dont eat everything you see in the breakfast lunch and dinner spots in 1 setting lol.... i dont see whats wrong with:

2 eggs and whole grain bread 2 slices for breakfast
yogurt and strawberies for a snack,
lean turkey breast sandwich with spinich and 1 slice of low fat cheese and 1 cup of milk 1%
mixed nuts .5 cup for snack
chicken with a very vegie salad and half a potato
yogurt or 2 for before bed snack.
 
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The first thing that struck me was the amount of food and all
of the meat and potatoes. Not that there is anything wrong
with these foods, but there tends to be a lot more fat in meat
than we realize. I definitely agree with Kara, get some veggies
in your diet. I would also watch out for those chips
and those few beers here and there.
These just might be part of your problem.

Losing weight is not a mysterious thing. You have to eat
fewer calories than you take in. There are a lot of methods
out there both good and weird. I really recommend just
sticking to the basics. Make sure that you are REALLY paying
attention to your food intake. The weights are great,
but you need to be walking, running, or doing some kind
of aerobic building exercises.

As far as your personal trainer, I would ask if he (I am guessing
it is a he) is certified and through what organization. As a
personal trainer myself, I really do not understand how a
trainer could make such a statement. Make sure that your
"trainer" is certified. You also may want to ask this trainer
exactly what the reasoning was behind such a statement.
I would like to know. It is true that you can lose weight
without the cardio, but it offers a more balanced exercise
program. I guess I have rambled enough.

Just don't give up. It sounds like you are really ready to make
things happen. I think that you are on the right track and will
take off those pounds.

Bob
 
thanks for all the info. yes he is certified 100% he started there 4 years ago. he was 350 lbs. there r pics on the wall to prove it lol. anyway hes now 250 lbs. 13% body fat. did cardio crunches all that stuff for hours and hours he states. then he got a personal trainer and did 90% weights 10% light cardio. and eating right of course. ya ive cut down on the few beers to like 4 a week when i go out and play poker. and chips sadly are completely out :( in about 20 days im gonna go in for another assessment and i WILL let you all know what changes ive made if any to my body.

Lastly i make sure and write down ABSOLUTLY everything i eat and drink and when i eat them. carbs in the morning not so many at nights. and it averages about 1850 - 2400 a day calories. i think i should be eating little more on the days i go to the gym though. is that correct? and of course good food.

and the veggies i get plenty of as i put a ton of them in my salad, which i have almost every night.

i guess on the up note as of today, my arms and chest have gotten noticably (bigger, cut) and the wife and people around me are saying they can notice the "beer belly" going away. i will keep you posted with the updated routine ive used if your interested.

thanks for the replies again.... greatly apreciated
 
My weight loss routine is really simple

Limit calories intake
Walk everyday
Eat only healthy foods
Go to the gym when I feel the need

Result = healthy life and feeling good about myself
 
I don't understand where the problem is here. Is it that you are not losing scale weight? That is the last thing you need to rely on to judge fat loss. If you are lifting weights (which I see that you are) at least 3 days a week, and you are noticing your waist getting smaller, and your arms getting bigger.... I am assuming that you are also being able to move up the weight on your exercises?

You say you are getting anything from 1750 to 2200 calories on different days. Well, that is known as calorie cycling. If you are dropping the calories from carbohydrates, then you are performing calorie cycling with carb cycling. Those are some advanced methods for losing fat while at the same time building lean mass (muscle). Muscle weighs more than fat and grows much slower. So, if the scale is not moving, but you are losing the belly and gaining in the arms (with strength gains also) then the reason may be that you are losing a lot of fat (for a small amount of weight, and also building muscle slowly (also a small amount of weight) and the weight is a wash.

This is why measuring yourself in different places, and even taking body fat measurements and using that along with the scale weight makes more sense.

Are you including the calories from the beer in your numbers? Alcohol has 7 calories per gram with no nutritional benefit, so it can pack a punch, but it sounds like to me that you have things under control.


I personally would be going lower carb and higher fat, but that is a preference because they are both forms of energy, and you are making progress the way things are. I would not change anything at this point.

One thing I would suggest you do it take some pictures of yourself about once a week from the front , side and back with just a pair of shorts on. Don't flex anything, just be relaxed in all the photos. Save them on your computer so you can pull them up and compare them as you go. That is the best way to asses progress. Compare the first set of photos to the latest each time and you should find a lot of places that you see a positive differences!
 
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