Advice needed

looperman1000

I am trying desperately to lose weight. I have ate nothing all day, and now its 7pm!!! i was at the gym at lunch for a 50 min slog. i know its not wise skipping brekkie and lunch, but hey ho, ive done it. Will not do it tomorow.
Im a little hungry now. Any suggestions as to what i can have, that wont undo the gym work, etc. Ive been eating really badly for so long, now. Not too bad during the week, but pints,curries and pizza at the weekends!!
This is going to stop today. Im going to exercise Monday to Friday lunchtimes. I want to mainly lose weight. So again, what can i have now?
Any suggestions then for tomorrow's brekkie, lunch and dinner?
Would really appreciate any advice, sorry if it's a big ask!
im 31 and sitting in an office all day at a PC.
im only about 5'8 and currently 15'7 :-(

thanks in advance

EileenG

Eat stuff you like, but the best quality version you can find. Base your meals on eggs, oily fish, red meat, chicken, lots and lots and lots of green vegetables, some fruit, some wholegrains (porridge, not cheerios), some olive oil, some cheese. Cut way back on anything containing sugar, white flour, or refined food in general. Cut out anything at all with transfats.

That's pretty much it.

If you are working out at lunchtime, then carry food you can eat when you get time. Tuna and salad is fine, you can even buy bags of washed salad so you are not giving yourself extra work. Tubs of cottage cheese are available in any decent shop and they are filling and full of protein. Also, not smelly!

Skipping the odd meal is not a disaster as long as you don't use it as a springboard for uncontrolled eating the rest of the day. Make a point of carrying good quality food with you, even if it's just a bag of raw nuts, so that you do have food choices.

looperman1000

thanks v much for your input Eileen, really appreciate it.
Can you give me a small list of transfats please?
Cheers!

Intothesea

Hello there. Transfats are usually hydrogenated vegetable
fats, and will be marked on processed foods as 'partially
hydrogenated sunflower/etc. oil'. A good way to avoid
these disaster fats is to cut out as much processed food
as you can, as is visible in Eileen's outline. Good oils to go
for are ('cold pressed') olive, peanut, flax, or anything that's
unhydrogenated. Check everything out online and look for
good flags like 'monounsaturated' (sesame oil, peanut,
almond, avocados) or 'omega-3 fatty acids' (fish oils,
flaxseed oil, evening primrose, borage). Both have positive
effects on different cholesterol levels. Max levels allowed
per day: 2 tablespoons each.

Keep in mind that any fat heated beyond certain limits will
become damaged forming free radicals, that are thought to
cause cancer within the body. For this reason cut out all deep
-fried food, add good oils to salads (this will help your high
-density (good) cholesterol count and aid in the absorption
of nutrients from raw foods), and if frying, use a low-fat
margarine spray that contains no transfat or fat-substitutes
like coconut or palm oils, or better, some standard olive oil
(not virgin or extra-virgin as they fold with heat).

Healthful oils need to be stored in your fridge out of light,
replaced regularly and never re-used. Baking, grilling or
shallow-frying (which is usually at lower temperatures)
are good with olive oil. Good luck

looperman1000

thanks very much for that, Intothesea, its really appreciated.

If i did a lunchtime session at the gym, mainly cardio. 1-2pm. Is it best to eat before or after, and whats a good thing to eat?
Same question for playing an hour's astro football at 8-9pm once a week.

ninnyninball

Hi

The best thing you can do is eat a healthy breakfast ...porridge is great for filling you up and so good for you! for lunch try brown bread with ome made soup or salads. the worst thing you can do is starve yourself cos you metabolism slows way down and you wont lost a thing!! work outs are better done before dinner, when you eat after a work out its burned off quicker as your metabolism is racing from the work out! good luck... im trying hard to lose weight myself at the mo!!

looperman1000

thanks ninnyninball and good luck too

Khannie

ninnyninball wrote: »

the worst thing you can do is starve yourself cos you metabolism slows way down and you wont lost a thing!!

This is an important point and worth reiterating (also, welcome to boards.ie ninnyninball).

G'ems stickies really helped me a lot. Some decent stickies worth reading both here and on the fitness forum.

Porridge is absolutely WIN for breakfast. Comforting on your stomach and keeps you going for ages. I find it a bit boring myself. Used to add a blob of jam and take a tiny bit with each spoon (or flavoured it with some vanilla whey). Scrambler's a good one too. Keeps you going for a good while.

looperman1000

yeah i love porridge actually, i know it can be quite bland for people. vanilla whey sounds cool, can you buy that just in the supermarket? where would you find it, with the cooking stuff? and scrambler's is scrambled egg is it? sorry to sound naeive

ninnyninball

Thanks for the welcome !!

yeah i find porridge a blessing because its so low in cals...i make mine with water and then add a little milk in when its cooked....it can get a bit boring so i try mix it up. some mornings I will have a boiled egg with mccambridges brown bread...really tasty and very filling! Anyone any suggestions on healthy but filling dinners....I find dinner the toughest!

spaceylou

Porridge is great and you can add loads to it and keep it healthy.... some examples include:

1. Honey - naturally sweet so better than sugar
2. Grated Apple
3. Linseed - add when your cooking in - a good source of omega 3 for veggies and gives it a bit of a bite
4. chopped up dried fruit like apricots or sultanas....

I love the stuff but like anything you really have to vary it or you'll be bored silly after a few weeks - hope this a help.

Oh and after a session at the gym (or in my case a run) I find an apple straight away (like before I even have a shower) stops my blood sugars dipping too low and I'm less likely to over eat when I do get something.

Khannie

looperman1000 wrote: »

where would you find it, with the cooking stuff?

Ah, typically you'd buy it online or in a health store (online is best). Check the supplements sticky in the fitness forum.

looperman1000 wrote: »

and scrambler's is scrambled egg is it? sorry to sound naeive

Sorry, my fault. Yeah, scrambled eggs. I write things like they sound in my head so that should have said "scrambler is" instead of "scrambler's".

El_Dangeroso

Just a caveat.. NEVER cook with flax oil.. it oxidizes with very little heat..

Best thing you can fry with is Ghee (clarified butter).. preferably organic.. you can buy it from Indian or Pakistani food stores...

EileenG

Coconut oil is also great for cooking. It can tolerate high temperatures (good vegetable oils can't) and is good for you.

cozmik

EileenG wrote: »

Coconut oil is also great for cooking. It can tolerate high temperatures (good vegetable oils can't) and is good for you.

Coconut Oil is is NOT good for you! it's loaded with saturated fat. :mad:

For high temps Macadamia nut oil is an excellent choice.The smoke point is around 400 degrees and the oil is mostly monounsaturated fat.

Now THAT is a healthy oil for cooking.

EileenG

cozmik wrote: »

Coconut Oil is is NOT good for you! it's loaded with saturated fat. :mad:
.

Saturated fats are not bad for you. Transfats are bad for you, and for years, researchers have been lumping sat fats and trans fats in together when they were doing studies. In every study carried out on humans where the type of fat eaten was compared with outcome, the group eating the saturated fats had the highest cholesterol levels but were least likely to die or have a heart attack. The polyunsaturated group had the lowest cholesterol levels, but a much higher mortality rate.

cozmik

And some people argue that for every study, there's another that says the opposite. Have you actually read any of these studies for yourself (the actual contents) or are you just regurgitating someone elses interpertation of the data from a non-scientific article?

corkcomp

EileenG wrote: »

Saturated fats are not bad for you. Transfats are bad for you, and for years, researchers have been lumping sat fats and trans fats in together when they were doing studies. In every study carried out on humans where the type of fat eaten was compared with outcome, the group eating the saturated fats had the highest cholesterol levels but were least likely to die or have a heart attack. The polyunsaturated group had the lowest cholesterol levels, but a much higher mortality rate.

this is a whole new debate, saying the group eating the most saturated fats had a higher cholesterol level makes sense, but arguing that this doesnt lead to problems is wrong IMO

El_Dangeroso

cozmik wrote: »

Coconut Oil is is NOT good for you! it's loaded with saturated fat. :mad:

For high temps Macadamia nut oil is an excellent choice.The smoke point is around 400 degrees and the oil is mostly monounsaturated fat.

Now THAT is a healthy oil for cooking.

I believe that saturated fat doesn't contribute to atherosclerosis (plaque on arteries) as the science is very flimsy and all epidemiological (doesn't account for other variables in peoples diet such as refined carbohydrate)

But even if you believe animal fat causes heart disease, coconut oil actively lowers cholesterol.

cozmik

speaking of other variables...

[emphasis mine]

There is strong evidence that the high consumption of animal fats increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease

Many scientists have therefore been surprised that the nomadic Masai of Kenya and Tanzania are seldom afflicted by the disease, despite having a diet that is rich in animal fats and deficient in carbohydrates.

...

their results show that the Masai not only have a diet richer in animal fat than that of the other subjects, but also run the lowest cardiovascular risk, which is to say that they have the lowest body weights, waist-measurements and blood pressure, combined with a healthy blood lipid profile.

What sets the Masai lifestyle apart is also a very high degree of physical activity. The Masai studied expended 2,500 kilocalories a day more than the basic requirement, compared with 1,500 kilocalories a day for the farmers and 891 kilocalories a day for the urbanites. According to the team, most Westerners would have to walk roughly 20 km a day to achieve the Masai level of energy expenditure.

The scientists believe that the Masai are protected by their high physical activity rather than by some unknown genetic factor.

“This is the first time that cardiovascular risk factors have been fully studied in the Masai,” says Dr Mbalilaki. “Bearing in mind the vast amount of walking they do, it no longer seems strange that the Masai have low waist-measurements and good blood lipid profiles, despite the levels of animal fat in their food.”
This fact, which has been known to scientists for 40 years, has raised speculations that the Masai are genetically protected from cardiovascular disease. Now, a unique study by Dr Julia Mbalilaki in association with colleagues from Norway and Tanzania, suggests that the reason is more likely to be the Masai’s active lifestyle.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080718075357.htm

I guess as long as you get in that 20km walk a day then saturated fat is really nothing to worry about! lol

El_Dangeroso

What is this strong evidence you speak of? Explain to me the mechanism that leads animal fat to cause heart disease?

How did the scientists come to the conclusion that the activity protected them from the effects of saturated fat not the fact that they ate very little carbohydrate? Adherance to scientific dogma is how.

The study states:
"[the] potentially atherogenic diet among the Masai was not reflected in serum lipids and was offset probably by very high energy expenditure levels and low body weight"

Probably? I need more from science than guesses thanks very much.