Looking for pointers on an already successful diet

dvdfan

Ok im off the beer for a couple of months and trying to get fit and lose some weight, the plan is to lose as much as i can over the next few months and then maintain the weight without putting any more on, then maybe another spell late next year for another couple of months and lose some more weight and at that point i should be at a reasonable wieght and just need to focus on maintaining it. I like a pint but mostly on the weekend so when i go back on the beer ill keep my healthy eating habits and also keep up the exercise.

Anyway im off it since the 1st of April and so far ive lost 10lbs, i was 15st 13lbs starting. I always find it easy to lose a stone in the first month but i expect it to slow down after that by about 50% so it should take me another 2 months to lose another stone. Id like to improve that to maybe 10lbs per month. The diet im on is kinda a wieght watchers spin off but i rarely vary from it.

Breakfast:
Cereal > Maybe Porridge, weetabix, rice crispies, shreddies (probably 50g as i dont find 25g so called servings filling and get hungry too soon after and find 50g about right) with low fat milk

Dinner > Almost always 1 medium Pork Chop (oven baked) with 3 mashed potatoes (drop of milk instead of butter) and either carrots/broccolli/cauliflower or beans or peas

Supper:
Cereal > Maybe Porridge, weetabix, rice crispies, shreddies (probably 50g as i dont find 25g so called servings filling and get hungry too soon after and find 50g about right) with low fat milk

The reason i eat cereal is again i find it filling, if i eat cracker bread with ham, tomatoes etc i just dont feel full and end up picking at other stuff

In between the only thing i usually eat if i get hungry is a banana or two not really into any other fruit

So my question is should i change anything, i find it a good diet because i lose weight and i dont get hungry in between so im not under pressure to pick and ruin the diet. Im afraid by reducing the meal sizes i might become hungry quicker and end up picking but is there anything i could substitute that will help me lose more weight. Im fine eating the same thing each day, i look forward to pork but im not really mad about any other meat, ill eat most of them but not every day, only fish i like is cod. If i substitute something id like it to be filling aswell though, i dont need fancy food or spices just something tasty and filling.

lastly i only drink water and milk with breakfast, never touch juices or fizzy drinks and drink alot of water each day

Im also doing threadmill 15mins, Bike 20 mins, Ski Machine 15 mins maybe 5 days a week, not doing weights as i dont think its something id keep up regularly so i dont think that would have much long term benefits if i was doing it once or twice a week but could be wrong.

jonnyfingers

Well there are a few things you might try.

The first is getting some more protein into your diet. I notice you said you have trouble feeling full quite often. Eating a food that's high in protein makes you feel full for longer. So for breakfast you could try having an egg, some chicken (you might not like chicken but it's a great source of protein), or have cereal with nuts added. Snacking on nuts is a great way to get rid of your hunger. For cereal porridge is also much better than, say, Rice Crispies, which have lots of refined sugar. The sugar will give you a quick hit of energy but after an hour or so that will be gone and your body will start looking for more food. Also when you're hungry it could be a sign that you're actually thirsty. Sounds crazy I know. You say you drink water throughout the day which is great, keep it up. The general rule is that your pee should be clear if you're hydrated enough. If it's not drink a bit more. Another bonus is that with enough water in your system your body will learn not to retain so much water so a lot of water weight will fall off you.

The second thing you could try is eating 5-6 small meals rather than 3 main meals. If you eat 3 main meals you will find you have slumps in between where you get hungry, so then you eat more at your next meal which gives you too big a boost then you get a slump again etc. Aiming to eat every 3 hours or so keeps your metabolism ticking away and keeps your energy levels fairly even. So you can have your breakfast as normal, then possibly a low-fat yoghurt or some nuts as a snack, for lunch try to have some protein again like a tuna salad or some chicken, for a 3 o'clock snack you could have some fruit. Then you have your dinner. Having a bit of fish a few nights of the week is great for you too. Full of protein and full of good fats.

The third thing is trying to avoid eating right before going to bed. You should have a light supper about 2-3 hours before sleeping trying to avoid foods high in fat. If you eat after that you're basically going to bed with a lot of food in your system. You will expend very little energy during the night so your body will just store all the food as fat.

Lastly try to add some sort of weight training to your day. Even if it's just a few push ups and a few dumbbell exercises. The more muscle you have the more calories your body will burn just by being alive. If you think you couldn't fit that into your day you'd be surprised. Have a look at this exercise plan http://www.stewsmithptclub.com/45dayplan.pdf. I did it for the 45 days it suggests before going on holiday last year. Each day you only need 15-20 mins of exercise, a mixture of cardio and resistance exercises. It's extremely manageable and I dropped from 13.5 stone to 12.5 stone but actually lost a lot of body fat and gained muscle along the way. I'm not saying you should follow it but it might give you an idea of how you can incorporate resistance exercises into your day.

It's almost impossible to do all these things every day but you'd be surprised how much an effect doing a little bit of them will have. Hope some of that helps and keep up the good work.

menoscemo

So Basically you eat two bowls of cereal a day with pork chop and 3 mashed potatoes a day? Man that is a horrible diet, nutritionally empty and not enough for an 8 stone woman never mind a 15+ stone man.

You need to eat another main meal at least. You need more protein, an average man needs something like 150g of protein a day and you are getting about 25 from 1 pork chop. Why only one pork chop for dinner? Eat two pork chops and less mashed potato. The calories in one mashed potato are likely more than in the pork chop and it is the chop keeps you filled not the mashed potato. Don't be afraid to fry the chops either you need a certain amount of fat in your diet. Get rid of the cereals and get in eggs and lean bacon for breakfast or just stick to prridge. Get in lunch (something like a ham, tuna or chicken salad is ideal). You should make protein part of every meal especially if you are excercising. You cannot build muscle without protein and with your current diet you are likely in such a calorie and protein deficit that your body is eating away at muscle and not just fat.

dvdfan

Thanks for the detailed reply, some great stuff in there, didnt realise about the rice crispies, is there anything i should be looking at on the ingredients to see if the other cereals i eat are good or bad, they all seem similar enough in calories so i didnt think there was a difference.

The eating more times a day concerns me a bit, there is lulls in my day where i get hungry, i presume the idea is to still eat the same calories just have smaller meals like 25 g of serial and then a youghart and banana later instead of a 50g breakfast kind of thing? and instead of a Poker dinner just have a bit of pork with salad and maybe later have a portion of beans and 1 roast spud, do you mean like that?

Thanks for the info on the protein, is there anything other than chicken thats high in protein that might go well with salad and that kind of thing, is pork?

Lastly, what kind of nuts and do i just eat them on their own as a snack or mix with a salad. Also can i eat lots of bananas or just the odd one? i.e is there much calories in them

taram

Be very careful looking at calories to judge foods in your diet, you could eat a big bowl of marshmallows and it'd be lower in fat and calories than a bowl of porridge with fruit and milk, but one provides nothing nutrionally, the other provides slow releasing carbs, protein and plenty of vitamins.

I'd reccomend some more fruit and veg, all very good vitamin wise, fibre will fill you up, and you can pretty much stuff yourself with certain veg and only have a handful of calories, like see this page for how much you can eat for 200 calories http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-calories-look-like.htm

You say you eat beans, so why not have beans in the evening? Lovely boost to your protein and good for you. You could have them in currys/stir-fries/roasted with herbs the possibilities are vast.

Good luck!

dvdfan

Ok thanks for all this information really is some great stuff here, lots of stuff i hadnt considered although i want to be sure im reducing my calories or at least keeping the same but i obviously need to change the foods im eating as i didnt realise they were so lacking.

Again my main concern here is losing weight over the next few months, if i can do it by eathing more nutrionally great but if the consequences of not eating nutrionally is slowing down my weightloss more than it would on my current diet i think weighing 20-25lbs lighter in 2 months time is more beneficial that eithing well and being 15 or so pounds heavier. I can maybe pay more attention to nutritional eating after i lose the weight when ill be only needing to maintain weight rather than lose it. Anyway ill put together a plan of what im going to eat, again im not a fussy eater so ill try and stick the same thing each day so its easier to prepare and i know roughly my calorie intake.

Breakfast approx 12:30pm:
Usually i have a couple of pints of water first and wait until i feel a bit of hunger coming on usually within the hour, then ill have 25g of Porridge with low fat milk

2:00 1 x Banana & Low fat Yougart

2:30 Head to the Gym

5:00 2 pork chops, big portion of broccolli, carrots and cauliflower and 1 roast spud

8:00 Diced Chicken (1small breast) with salad
or 225g Beans with Rye Crispbread

10:30 1 Banana & some nuts

Bed around 1am

How does that sound, again it looks alot more than im eating so do you think i should scale back anywhere?

Lastly what type of nuts are tastiest and best? Are Bananas high in calories, can i add 2 instead of 1 if im feeling hugry

Thanks a million lads for taking the time to respond, didnt realise how badly i was doing

menoscemo

dvdfan wrote: »

Ok thanks for all this information really is some great stuff here, lots of stuff i hadnt considered although i want to be sure im reducing my calories or at least keeping the same but i obviously need to change the foods im eating as i didnt realise they were so lacking.

Again my main concern here is losing weight over the next few months, if i can do it by eathing more nutrionally great but if the consequences of not eating nutrionally is slowing down my weightloss more than it would on my current diet i think weighing 20-25lbs lighter in 2 months time is more beneficial that eithing well and being 15 or so pounds heavier. I can maybe pay more attention to nutritional eating after i lose the weight when ill be only needing to maintain weight rather than lose it. Anyway ill put together a plan of what im going to eat, again im not a fussy eater so ill try and stick the same thing each day so its easier to prepare and i know roughly my calorie intake.

Breakfast approx 12:30pm:
Usually i have a couple of pints of water first and wait until i feel a bit of hunger coming on usually within the hour, then ill have 25g of Porridge with low fat milk

2:00 1 x Banana & Low fat Yougart

2:30 Head to the Gym

5:00 2 pork chops, big portion of broccolli, carrots and cauliflower and 1 roast spud

8:00 Diced Chicken (1small breast) with salad
or 225g Beans with Rye Crispbread

10:30 1 Banana & some nuts

Bed around 1am

How does that sound, again it looks alot more than im eating so do you think i should scale back anywhere?

Lastly what type of nuts are tastiest and best? Are Bananas high in calories, can i add 2 instead of 1 if im feeling hugry

Thanks a million lads for taking the time to respond, didnt realise how badly i was doing

The diet you propose looks really good, and a huge improvement on what went before, I am sure if you stick to it you will lose the weight. I would be surprised if you didn't lose 1-2lbs a week. The diet you had before was nutritionally pretty empty as well as lacking in calories. It would work quickly at first (in terms of weight-loss) but your body would not accept it for a great length of time and would go into 'famine mode', which basically would force it into storing fat and burning muscle.

While you may initially lose less weight with your new diet, in the long term it will work much better and it is sustainable going forward.. you won't feel hungry. Remember high protein foods keep you full with very few calories and help you build muscle. 2 grilled chicken fillets is about 250kcal which it approx the same as two slices of bread or a packet of crisps but will keep you full for much longer. Stick to it and good luck.

dvdfan

Ok before i look any further on this, ive checked out some calorie counts.

Mashed Potato approx 100g http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070829101703AA3ahvU

So i presume a baked potato would be similar

Pork Chop in tomato & pepper sauce i bought was 225 calories per 100g, each one is approx 140g so approx 300g per chop

1 Banana approx 100 calories http://www.blurtit.com/q157088.html

1 strawberry low fat youghart 70 calories according to the one i bought

I buy the broccolli/carrotts/cauliflower portions from supervalu which is 35calories per 100g, there 400g packs and i eat half each time so thats 70 calories

30g of porridge oatflakes 110 calories
Low fat Milk 45calories per 100ml, at a guess i use 200? so thats 90 calaries

28g of nuts approx 160 calories so i guess id eat 1/3 of that a day so approx 50 calories
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/calorie_counter/nuts_seeds.htm

Breast of chicken 340 calories (does this seem high?) in place of a chop occassionaly
Chicken Fillet for a salad 160 calories
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/calorie_counter/chicken_meat.htm

100g rice crispies 380 calories + approx 120 calories for milk since its a bigger portion = 500 calories

Ok so with that info ill compare before and after:

Before:
100g rice crispies with milk 500 calories
Pork with 3 mashed and portion of veg 300+300+70=670
100g rice crispies 500 calories
2 Bananas 200 calories

Total of 1870 calories

After:

Breakie: Porridge with low fat milk 200 calories

2:00 1 x Banana & Low fat Yougart 100+70=170

2:30 Head to the Gym

5:00 2 pork chops, big portion of broccolli, carrots and cauliflower and 1 roast spud 600+100+70=770

8:00 Diced Chicken (1small breast) with salad (30 calories) 160+30=190
or 225g Beans with 2 Rye Crispbread 200+80=280

10:30 1 Banana & some nuts 100+50

Total = 1480(1570) calories

Wow seems like im eating alot more, and more often yet using alot less calories, Thanks guys this is great, so i lost 10lbs so far and im 15st3lbs now, is 1480 calories pretty ok for that, enough to lose weight if im also doing the gym 5 days a week?

menoscemo

dvdfan wrote: »

Ok before i look any further on this, ive checked out some calorie counts.

Mashed Potato approx 100g http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070829101703AA3ahvU

So i presume a baked potato would be similar

Pork Chop in tomato & pepper sauce i bought was 225 calories per 100g, each one is approx 140g so approx 300g per chop

1 Banana approx 100 calories http://www.blurtit.com/q157088.html

1 strawberry low fat youghart 70 calories according to the one i bought

I buy the broccolli/carrotts/cauliflower portions from supervalu which is 35calories per 100g, there 400g packs and i eat half each time so thats 70 calories

30g of porridge oatflakes 110 calories
Low fat Milk 45calories per 100ml, at a guess i use 200? so thats 90 calaries

28g of nuts approx 160 calories so i guess id eat 1/3 of that a day so approx 50 calories
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/calorie_counter/nuts_seeds.htm

Breast of chicken 340 calories (does this seem high?) in place of a chop occassionaly
Chicken Fillet for a salad 160 calories
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/calorie_counter/chicken_meat.htm

100g rice crispies 380 calories + approx 120 calories for milk since its a bigger portion = 500 calories

Ok so with that info ill compare before and after:

Before:
100g rice crispies with milk 500 calories
Pork with 3 mashed and portion of veg 300+300+70=670
100g rice crispies 500 calories
2 Bananas 200 calories

Total of 1870 calories

After:

Breakie: Porridge with low fat milk 200 calories

2:00 1 x Banana & Low fat Yougart 100+70=170

2:30 Head to the Gym

5:00 2 pork chops, big portion of broccolli, carrots and cauliflower and 1 roast spud 600+100+70=770

8:00 Diced Chicken (1small breast) with salad (30 calories) 160+30=190
or 225g Beans with 2 Rye Crispbread 200+80=280

10:30 1 Banana & some nuts 100+50

Total = 1480(1570) calories

Wow seems like im eating alot more, and more often yet using alot less calories, Thanks guys this is great, so i lost 10lbs so far and im 15st3lbs now, is 1480 calories pretty ok for that, enough to lose weight if im also doing the gym 5 days a week?

The Pork chop is only so high because of the sauce, It would be similar to chicken without the sauce (buy plain and do your own sauce-would also be much cheaper), also baked potato would be less than mashed potato as mashed has butter and milk.

That just goes to show how much calories are wasted in eating nutritionally empty, non filling foods like rice crispies (also known as empty calories).

1480 calories is still incredibly low for a man your size, check out this site for a calcultation on calories you need to lose weight: http://www.globalrph.com/diet_calc.cgi
according to this, a 6ft tall 15stone man with a moderate activity level (5 days gym fits into this) needs 3136.5kcal per day to maintain your current weight. To lose weight, you should be consuming 2600kcals a day or less (you would lose about a pound a week at 2600kcal/day) and your minimum recommended calorie consumption is 2091 a day (anything less and your body will be in 'famine mode').
3500kcals is approx 1lb so eating 500kcals a day less than 3136 (2636kcal) you will lose about a pound a week. at around 2100kcals/day you will therefore lose 2 lbs a week at your current activity level. Bear in mind that as your weight drops so will the required calories so keep checking up the dieting calculator as your weight changes.

In conclusion, you should eat a little more of the 'good foods' you have listed above.

jonnyfingers

dvdfan wrote: »

Wow seems like im eating alot more, and more often yet using alot less calories, Thanks guys this is great, so i lost 10lbs so far and im 15st3lbs now, is 1480 calories pretty ok for that, enough to lose weight if im also doing the gym 5 days a week?

Weight loss is very simple if you look at the calculations. Take your Calories Eaten minus Calories Burned (Calories burned is your Basal Metabolic Rate [BMR] added to calories burned through exercise). Iif you get a minus number you lose weight. If you get a plus number you gain weight. Doing it is the hard part!

To lose one pound you have to be minus 3,500 calories. Your BMR is about 3000 calories. You estimate 1480 calories eaten during the day. In reality it will be much higher due to larger portion sizes eaten than the ones in your calculation, snacks that you have during the day that you may not have considered and any sauce or dressings that go with meals. So lets for arguments sake say that you eat 2,500 calories during the day. You will burn 3,500 just by being alive so you get a minus of 1,000 for the day. Do that 3.5 times and that's a pound you've just lost. So in a week you would loose 2 pounds. Adding exercise will speed up your weight loss but losing 1-2 pounds a week is a healthy way to go and it can be done without too much effort.

As you lose weight however your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) will decrease so if you eat the same amount of calories and keep the same level of exercise you will eventually hit a plateau and stop losing weight. You can then either eat the same diet and do the same level of exercise and maintain your weight or decide to lose some more weight and change something. To do that you'll have to either eat less, increase your BMR or exercise more. Building muscle is the main way of increasing your BMR so another reason you should incorporate resistance exercises into your gym workouts. Increasing exercise can be hard but can be sneaked in such as cycling to work, walking to the local shop or with the dog if you have one etc. After that it's just a matter of figuring out what weight you'd like to get to and evening out the calorie equation to get to it. If you eat more then you will have to exercise more. However remember it's much easier not eat a 100 calorie biscuit than to run a mile to burn it off!

The most important thing is to be realistic about what you want to achieve. Don't get too hung up on losing a lot of weight. I used to be like that, avoiding all foods that were "bad" for me, counting calories, giving up beer for months on end and exercising even though I didn't want to. If found I didn't enjoy life that much. But then I decided that I like fast food and chocolate and beer and watching a bit of TV! So now I eat and train to be healthy and don't deny myself the occasional treat. I'm not at my ideal weight, hovering around the 13 stone mark, and I could stand to lose a few more pounds. But I do triathlons, I can swim long distances, cycle for hours and run over 10 miles without dying! My heart and lungs are in pretty good shape and I don't look ridiculous in those holiday photos! All the while I enjoy the occasional trip to the chipper, the odd bar of Dairy Milk and a few beers at the weekend. I make small changes often and lose maybe a pound every few weeks and that's enough for me. But that's my balance between being healthy and enjoying myself.

Make sure when setting your goal weight you consider what balance is acceptable to you.

One last thing for some handy resistance exercises you can do with no equipment and for a pretty decent meal plan have a look at this. http://www.menshealth.com/bellyoff/program.php. Once you get past all the flashy graphics on the website there is actually some very good information on it. Hope it helps.