Progress update

L

LowCel

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Well thought I would give an update on my progress. Things have definately slowed down. Anyway, here it is.

12/1/05 - 220 pounds, 24% body fat
3/23/05 - 183 pounds, 18% body fat

The weight is still coming off just a lot slower than it did the first couple of months. I was stuck at 186 - 187 for about two weeks. I recently changed my routine and that has made a pretty big difference. I also changed my breakfast, quit eating cereal every morning. Here is my new eating schedule.

6:30 am - 1 ounce brown rice, 1 ounce plain oatmeal, 2 packets splenda, blue berries or black berries, ground cinnamon, flax oil

9:30 am - Nutrigrain cereal bar

noon - Brown rice or a bowl of soup

2:30 pm - Nutrigrain cereal bar

4:00 - 6:30 - Gym time

7:00 - Something decent for dinner, somewhat healthy. Half the time it is a 6" sub from Subway.

At the gym I have a pretty much new routine, I'm concentrating on weights a lot more now.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday- Crunches (3 sets of 15, 140 pounds), Lower back (3 sets 15, 180 pounds), Trunk twist things (3 sets 15, 90 pounds), Assisted Dips (3 sets 15, number 12 on machine), Assisted Pullups (3 sets 15, number 12 on machine), Curls, bench presses, fly's (2 sets of each, whatever weight I can do that day), 40 minutes cardio

Tuesday, Thursday - Calf raises (3 sets 20, 200 pounds), Leg presses (5 sets, 10 - 15 reps, 375 - 400 pounds), Leg lifts (3 sets 15, 120 pounds), Rear leg lift things (3 sets 12, 100 pounds), 40 minutes cardio

Saturday, Sunday - Primarily cardio.

Right now I am only getting to ride bikes about twice a week. The weather decides what days I ride, riding is the priority over all other exercise for me right now. However, some days I do hit the gym and do upper body after I ride.

First mountain bike race of the season is April 3.
 
First off, big congrats on losing so much weight so far. yes, it does get harder as you slim down, because there's less to lose. The final 10-20 lbs is usually cleared up by proper eating. You're in the last 10lbs of your goal, with 5% bf to lose...diet is going to be key here.

Much of your meal plan looks good. However, nutrigrain bars are not all that great. They have a lot of sugar calories, which come from High fructose corn syrup...quite possibly the WORST sugar every created by mankind. whenever you see HFCS listed in the top 5 ingredients, run away from the food like its' the plague.
Also, some of your portions seem a little on the small side, and low on the protein. I think you should eat a little more oatmeal in the morning (up to a half cup of oatmeal (dry, before cooking) to ensure you're getting enough complex carbs to kick off the day properly. If you replace the nutri-grain bars with protein shakes and a piece of fruit, you'd be doing yourself a world of good.

That's just my opinion though. Good luck.
 
Congrats! You've come a long way :)


The further away from your goal you are, the more lenient you can be on what you eat. Your in that "last 10 lbs" range. You should get better results if you clean up your diet as much as possible.
 
Thanks guys. Sometimes the nutrigrain bars are replaced with fruits. Granted, they should be replaced by fruits and vegetables each time I'm just having trouble making myself do it. I really don't have time to have protein shakes though.

Just for the heck of it could you clear up what is probably a misconception of mine? For some reason in my head it seems like protein shakes are more for people trying to gain weight since most of them seem to be pretty high in calories. Am I completely wrong on this?
 
Protein is necessary to help keep your muscles from catabolizing yourself. Its perfectly ok to use it when trying to lose weight.
 
Supposed to have one gram per pound per day right? Any recommendations on a good protein shake that is low in calories and tastes decent? Also, I doubt that it will come into play but I cannot have anything with caffeine.

Thanks again.
 
WOW, I just added up my total protein per day. I am only getting around 50 grams per day. I guess I do need to start having protein shakes.
 
I use ON Whey protein powder - one scoop is 110 calories. When looking for protein powder, just be sure it's only protein - there should be minimal carbs and fats (less than 3 grams).

And yes, 50 grams of protein per day is awful! You should be eating protein with EVERY meal: grilled chicken, lean lean beef, egg whites, cottage cheese, protein powders.
 
Thank you. I just called my local healthy life market and they have it. Price isn't too terrible, 2 pound for $12.99 and 5 pound for 26.99.
 
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Those are indeed good prices. GNC would charge you $15 a pound for most of their in-store brands.

When body builders go to a cutting phase to prepare for a competition, they eat 1g of carbs per pound of bodyweight a day, and jack up protein to make up for the lack of carb calories, and to ensure they aren't losing muscle mass.
Granted, you are not a body builder...but if anything, bodybuilders know how to get lean.

For the record, EAS whey protein is pretty decent. a serving is 20g of protein, 5g of carbs, and one of the better tasting blends out there.
 
Congrats, LowCel.

Just keep in mind that u cannot afford to lose any lean body mass. Cuz you're at 183 right now with 18% bf, which means that in order to reach 13% bf, you'll need to lose around 10 lbs of just fat, which will bring your weight to 173 lbs.

It's gonna be extremely hard from now on. Dun focus on weight too much, but on ur bf %.

That's my 2 cents. ;)
 
I dont drink any protein shakes is that bad? I have a lot of protien though in the mornings i eat 4-5 egg whites (4 if i burn them lol) and 1/2 cup of quaker oatmeal *not the package kind* then for dinner i eat chicken or fish SOMETIMES steak. *someone told me not to eat steak like every week even if i cut the fat parts off*??
Lunch i used to eat turkey sandwich but not anymore im stickin with a salad and a apple..usually fills me up
 
Thanks for the information everyone. I picked up a couple of two pound containers of ON 100% Whey Protein, one vanilla ice cream flavored and one cookies and cream flavored. I had one this evening after my workout, wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I was really suprised at how easy it was to make.

Also, kwanny thanks for the information on the weight vs body fat. That definately helps me out. I think I will take your advice once I get to 180, I really don't want to weigh more than that during race season. Once I am at 180 (3 more pounds) I will definately start worrying a lot more about bf%.
 
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Manderus said:
I dont drink any protein shakes is that bad? I have a lot of protien though in the mornings i eat 4-5 egg whites (4 if i burn them lol) and 1/2 cup of quaker oatmeal *not the package kind* then for dinner i eat chicken or fish SOMETIMES steak. *someone told me not to eat steak like every week even if i cut the fat parts off*??
Lunch i used to eat turkey sandwich but not anymore im stickin with a salad and a apple..usually fills me up
Click to expand...

4-5 egg whites...thats about 12-15g of protein.
lunch appears to be void of protein
Dinner...probably 25g of protein.

So yeah, you're not even hitting the USRDA for protein, which is much lower than an active person would need.

You need to add at least 2 more meals a day, add protein at lunch, and probably a protein shake as a snack at least once a day. The goal is 1g of protein per pound of body weight.
 
for lunch i have 2 slices of 100% whole wheat bread with turkey, lettuce and mustard and fruit and some jello *sugar free*
 
Well here is my updated meal plan now that I have started taking the protein shakes.

06:30 - 1 oz brown rice, 1 oz oatmeal, flax oil, blue berries, ground cinnamon, 2 packets splenda

09:30 - protein shake

12:00 - brown rice

14:00 - protein shake, some type of fruit

18:30 - varies, but typically something like a 6" roasted chicken sub from subway

20:00 - protein shake

22:00 - bed

Any comments / suggestions?
 
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