Motivated to lose weight... need feedback, please!

DJ Vindicator

DJ Vindicator

New member
Hi! I'm brand new to this forum, and I was wondering if I could get some feedback. I've always been around 180-190 lbs. since I was a teenager, I'm 26 now, and the weight has remained about the same - fluctuating with the seasons and holidays, lol. I'm tired of the way I look and feel, so I'm very motivated to lose some weight, so I started a new diet and exercise routine four days ago. I used to smoke cigarettes, but I quit, and strangely enough - have no cravings... the only thing I crave is junk food, haha!

But, anyway, I'm keeping track of my calorie intake on an Excel spreadsheet. Here is my progress, thus far, in an image format:



So, the protein shake I'm using is CytoSport Muscle Milk Light. I hard-boil the eggs and eat them with a little Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. With the salad, I use Balsamic vinegar for dressing. And, I just eat the tuna out of the can mixed with either Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, or Sweet Chili Sauce, or wasabi and soy sauce..... Yeah, the cookies were the fault of my willpower the first day - haha!

I take a One-A-Day Men's Health Formula multivitamin with breakfast, then later on in the day I'll take a 1000mg Flaxseed Oil supplement. And, I drink ALOT of water!

There's a wildlife park literally across the street from me with paved paths that I've been using to walk/jog/sprint (different intervals). I've started out with two miles everyday...

So, am I doing this right? I feel fantastic so far!!! I don't really have a problem with hunger pangs - just in the morning when I wake up. I really would like some advice on this as I don't want to damage my body!

Thanks so much!!!

:seeya:
 
You've got the general idea, but eat more! :) It seems that you're eating 1200 calories or less per day, and at your age and weight, you can eat quite a bit more and still lose. I'd say try 1800 cals to start with. And more veggies, I think ... more than just salad anyway. Try to get some mixed colors in there and maybe a little more healthy fat - olive oil, avocado, that kind of thing.
 
Dangerous? Probably not. Unhealthy? I'd say yes.

Your body NEEDS NUTRIENTS. You can't just stop eating ... I mean yeah, you'll lose weight that way, but eventually you're going to make yourself sick.

Eat more and be healthy about losing weight. This isn't a race. :)
 
Even the average male needs like 2500 calories a day. So yeah, you need more.

I'd say you should eat about 2000.
 
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Wow.. that diet is fine if 1200 is the right number for an individual.. I would imagine they based the diet on a female who needs to lose a few pounds..(say ten or 15 or so) the target magazine audience...but if you are more active, or bigger it is not enough.

You are both more active.. and bigger...than the female they designed the diet for.. you need more cals than you are getting now.

I agree about more veggies.. salad is fine if you love it, but it can get very "diet-y" really quickly.. try steamed greens or Cauliflower (man I love that stuff..) eat it raw, steamed, stir fried... or things like Zucchini (Courgettes) Squash, Eggplant, Mushrooms, pumpkin, Tomatoes.. all excellent cooked and feel more "substantial" than salad.. but if you are happy with salad keep to it :) I personally love salad.. but I know my man gets sick of it.

Simple way of cooking them is to slice Zucchini, Eggplant, and pumpkin or squash, add whole mushrooms, halved or quartered (depending on size) tomatoes.. put them into a non stick roasting pan.. or one lined with Silicone baking paper... then spray with a little spray oil and sprinkle with Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Chilli Flakes, Herbs like Fresh Rosemary or Thyme and then chuck it in a medium oven for about 30 mins! SENSATIONAL!!!


WEll done for starting your lifestyle change anyway :D
 
Ok, so I found this website...



I did the little calculator thing, and this is what I got:



Okay, so... I'm going to continue with my goal of 1200 calories a day for another week and a half. It may sound wierd, but I've never felt better! By the end of that time, I should be able to exercise a little longer/harder, and I'll gradually increase my caloric intake to about 1800/day. How's that sound to y'all?

And, thank you all for your support!!! It means alot to me!!!
 
Kori said:
Wow.. that diet is fine if 1200 is the right number for an individual.. I would imagine they based the diet on a female who needs to lose a few pounds..(say ten or 15 or so) the target magazine audience...but if you are more active, or bigger it is not enough.

You are both more active.. and bigger...than the female they designed the diet for.. you need more cals than you are getting now.

I agree about more veggies.. salad is fine if you love it, but it can get very "diet-y" really quickly.. try steamed greens or Cauliflower (man I love that stuff..) eat it raw, steamed, stir fried... or things like Zucchini (Courgettes) Squash, Eggplant, Mushrooms, pumpkin, Tomatoes.. all excellent cooked and feel more "substantial" than salad.. but if you are happy with salad keep to it :) I personally love salad.. but I know my man gets sick of it.

Simple way of cooking them is to slice Zucchini, Eggplant, and pumpkin or squash, add whole mushrooms, halved or quartered (depending on size) tomatoes.. put them into a non stick roasting pan.. or one lined with Silicone baking paper... then spray with a little spray oil and sprinkle with Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Chilli Flakes, Herbs like Fresh Rosemary or Thyme and then chuck it in a medium oven for about 30 mins! SENSATIONAL!!!


WEll done for starting your lifestyle change anyway :D
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for your input!!!

I love salads, too! The salad I got is prepackaged with carrots and purple cabbage, but I'm gonna add olives, tomatoes, and mushrooms soon I think, maybe some olive oil too with the Balsamic vinegar. I swear, I could drink that Balsamic vinegar straight, it's soooooo good to me! :)

I was thinking about adding a piece of fruit to my daily plan. Yea or nay?
 
hehehe.. you have great positive energy! I love that :D

I am sure a pc of fruit will do you the world of good :)

Keep up the great work and the happy positive energy!!!!!
 
DJ ... it's easy to find anything to support your position on the Internet. :) One thing I'd ask you to look at is the SOURCE of your material. You've linked 2 sites supporting a 1200 calorie diet, but they are DIET sites. There are no links to any medical support that everyone across the board should eat 1200 calories to lose weight. However if you go to some of the well known medical sites or the diet and fitness boards that are backed by medical sites or reference medical research, all of them say you should be eating more.

If you look at it logically, it's blatantly obvious that we're all different and we all need different amounts of nutrition based on our activity levels and our current weight. Someone who is working out hard simply isn't going to get enough nutrients on 1200 calories a day.

I dunno. You asked for advice - the advice you've been given across the board is that for YOUR height and weight and activity level, you need to be eating more.
 
KaraCooks said:
You've got the general idea, but eat more! :) It seems that you're eating 1200 calories or less per day, and at your age and weight, you can eat quite a bit more and still lose. I'd say try 1800 cals to start with. And more veggies, I think ... more than just salad anyway. Try to get some mixed colors in there and maybe a little more healthy fat - olive oil, avocado, that kind of thing.
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i agree with kara - also, you could probably get away with not counting fibrous veggies as cals at all, since they are necessary. Probably a buttload of greens like romaine or spinach. the egg whites and chicken/turkey breasts you could really eat a lot more of... good fats like fish oil, coconut oil, flax oil, evoo, and nuts will do u good.

i think steve had a sticky somewhere on here mentioning sometimes consuming low, low calories will make you shrink, but you will simply be a smaller version of your current self. so figure out how much you should be eating in relation to how much you work out and enjoy it!
 
KaraCooks said:
DJ ... it's easy to find anything to support your position on the Internet. :) One thing I'd ask you to look at is the SOURCE of your material. You've linked 2 sites supporting a 1200 calorie diet, but they are DIET sites. There are no links to any medical support that everyone across the board should eat 1200 calories to lose weight. However if you go to some of the well known medical sites or the diet and fitness boards that are backed by medical sites or reference medical research, all of them say you should be eating more.

If you look at it logically, it's blatantly obvious that we're all different and we all need different amounts of nutrition based on our activity levels and our current weight. Someone who is working out hard simply isn't going to get enough nutrients on 1200 calories a day.

I dunno. You asked for advice - the advice you've been given across the board is that for YOUR height and weight and activity level, you need to be eating more.
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to fight you... :(

I'm just trying to get away with eating the least amount of calories as possible. Could you please direct me to some medical or research sources? You guys win, I'll eat more, I get it.

I'll post my spreadsheet in another week or so...
 
I'm just trying to get away with eating the least amount of calories as possible.
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But why? :) And please note that I'm not trying to fight with you either. I'm hoping to help you understand a little more clearly.

Losing weight isn't just about "eating the least amount of calories possible". I mean, I guess you can make it about that, but is the only thing you're after the loss of weight - whether you're using fat or lean muscle or whatever? Or is your goal to lose fat and become healthy?

If you want to eat the bare minimum it takes to survive and shed pounds ... and you don't care that you're shedding lean muscle, then go for it. ;) But, muscle is metabolically active - so when you lose muscle, you lower your ability to burn calories, and it becomes a vicious cycle.

OTOH, when you eat a HEALTHY amount of food and you eat the right kind of food, you will lose fat and maintain or even gain (if you exercise) muscle. Gaining muscle is good because muscle burns calories which allows you to lose even more fat.

So ... it's all about HOW you want to lose weight and what you want to look like when you're done.

Start here ... with the Mayo Clinic ...
 
I will try to raise my intake to somewhere between 1800-2000 calories. Thanks Kara, and everyone else who has helped me!!!!! There's so much information and opinion out there, it's hard to get a firm grasp on this dieting thing - for me anyway. Thanks again! I'll post my spreadsheet at the end of today!

:D
 
OK... so I increased my caloric intake today. Check out today's progress:



I just bought 10 pounds of jasmine brown rice today and gave the white rice to my roommate. I'm Filipino, so I'm used to buying jasmine rice in like 25 or 50 pound bags, haha! :D

Wish I could buy more food, but I'm kinda broke now for the moment... :nopity:

Thanks again, y'all!!!
 
I know, right?!? I was shocked too! After I got back from workin' out, I prepared 1 cup of rice. I ate it not thinking it would be that many calories, and... booyah - I looked at the nutrition chart on the rice..... 150 calories per serving, a serving being 1/4 of a cup.... Must be more careful..... :D
 
well I don't know which formula you have used for calculation, but this is the right formula (recommended by Dieticians)
Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)
Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kilos) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age in years)

If you like 1200 cal diet, it's ok, but 1200 calories is just a name of a diet program so in my opinion the amount of calories human body must get, depends on above mentioned formula. (if formula tells you to get 3000 calories you must get at least 2000 when on diet not 1200....) I hope you understood what I meant.
 
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