Back to the drawing board

celestial

Mate, give up the diet drinks now - coke, 7Up etc. You really are shooting yourself in the foot here. You started this log nearly a month ago and at 240 or so lbs the weight should be falling off you with the improvements in diet. Do a little research on insulin/sugar etc. What happens is that when you consume sugar (and your body treats sugar and artificial sugar the same - regardless of what it says on the can or how it tastes) fat burning is suppressed - so with all your efforts you are making it hard for your body to actually use fat for fuel, which is obviously what you want.

I'd hate to see your efforts bringing limited results for the sake of a can of nutritionally useless soft drink! Try it for 2 weeks at least.

Hanley

celestial wrote: »

Mate, give up the diet drinks now - coke, 7Up etc. You really are shooting yourself in the foot here. You started this log nearly a month ago and at 240 or so lbs the weight should be falling off you with the improvements in diet. Do a little research on insulin/sugar etc. What happens is that when you consume sugar (and your body treats sugar and artificial sugar the same - regardless of what it says on the can or how it tastes) fat burning is suppressed - so with all your efforts you are making it hard for your body to actually use fat for fuel, which is obviously what you want.

I'd hate to see your efforts bringing limited results for the sake of a can of nutritionally useless soft drink! Try it for 2 weeks at least.

I sincerly doubt diet drinks are the reason. I've been drinking at least 1l of diet coke almost every day during my cut and I've lost weight. Blaming diet drinks is the soft option.

keane2097

Hanley wrote: »

I sincerly doubt diet drinks are the reason. I've been drinking at least 1l of diet coke almost every day during my cut and I've lost weight. Blaming diet drinks is the soft option.

They're certainly counter-productive - trying to say they don't hurt the process is patently a softer option than admitting to the damage they do tbh.

jayoo

Sometimes You just cant beat a fizzy drink.

I always buy the dissolvable vit c tablets from tescos or aldi, very cheap, and taste nice and fizzy yum.

Sugar free juice like miwadi and fizzy water is another nice option, tastes goooooooooooooooooooooooood:D

G-Money

I'll cut out the diet drinks as well for a while. I weighed myself this morning, 244.6 lbs which is down 2 lbs from last night. Not really sure what's going on there. I should probably wait until next week.

Yeah my portion sizes have been a bit big the first few weeks I have to admit. Too much rice etc. Anyway i've cut back on those since Monday so my rice portions are now 50-60 grams which is what they should be.

G-Money

jayoo wrote: »

Sometimes You just cant beat a fizzy drink.

I always buy the dissolvable vit c tablets from tescos or aldi, very cheap, and taste nice and fizzy yum.

Sugar free juice like miwadi and fizzy water is another nice option, tastes goooooooooooooooooooooooood:D

I'm a bit clueless about this, but would sugar free Miwadi and sparkling water be any better than a diet drink like diet 7up or diet coke?

jaggiebunnet

grandmaster wrote: »

I'm a bit clueless about this, but would sugar free Miwadi and sparkling water be any better than a diet drink like diet 7up or diet coke?

What's wrong with water? seriously, as a guy who used to drink 2 litres of Irn Bru every day at least I can safely say that all I drink is water, coffee and milk now and I feel much better for it. doesn't mean you can't have it in the odd occasion, but for general daily drinking - water is king!

And your teeth will thank you for it too, mines do, the ones i have left that is

but yeah sparkling water is ok too - although strictly from a dental perspective the bubbles are bad for your enamel.

celestial

Hanley wrote: »

I sincerly doubt diet drinks are the reason. I've been drinking at least 1l of diet coke almost every day during my cut and I've lost weight. Blaming diet drinks is the soft option.

They're a bigger reason than you think. If you're walking around with elevated blood sugar then you're not helping yourself. They can also stimulate cravings leading you to eat more than you otherwise would. It's not like it's 'the reason' - it has a knock on effect. I'd find it hard to take anyone seriously if they tell me they really are making a renewed effort to lose weight but are still drinking soft drinks every day.

1L a day man?! Why?!

Also bear in mind that you are probably training a shade harder, more frequently, with greater consistency, and for a lot longer than the OP

the drifter

celestial wrote: »

They're a bigger reason than you think. If you're walking around with elevated blood sugar then you're not helping yourself. They can also stimulate cravings leading you to eat more than you otherwise would. It's not like it's 'the reason' - it has a knock on effect. I'd find it hard to take anyone seriously if they tell me they really are making a renewed effort to lose weight but are still drinking soft drinks every day.

1L a day man?! Why?!

Also bear in mind that you are probably training a shade harder, more frequently, with greater consistency, and for a lot longer than the OP

Hanley asked me to post this reply ive taken away his internet

I’m sorry but there’s no way I can accept that. Having lost 13kg over the course of 3 months while still managing to keep my strength and muscle mass up that diet drinks have impeded me. I lied by the way, it’s normally closer to 2L a day. If I drank the same quantity in normal coke I’ve absolutely no doubt in my mind that the diet would not have been as successful. You can’t argue with that??

I drink diet drinks because they taste nice, break up the monotony of the dieting and are like a little treat to myself. This whole blood sugar argument is one that sounds really nice on paper, but in my experience (and that of a few others who I know that have done the same) I’d question the real world impact of it. Like what’s the biggest problem with spiked insulin levels? They lead to fat storage yeah?? Well if you’re eating relatively low kcal portions as I am (and would imagine most ppl do when dieting correctly) then there’s not going to be a whole lot there to store as fat…

Like I said, I don’t buy it!!

G-Money

Day 24

Breakfast:
The homemade cereal again, 50-60 grams of organic oat flakes, 7 or 8 almonds, and hazel nuts (no walnuts left), tablespoon of gojiberries, organic low fat yoghurt.

Lunch:
50-60 grams (uncooked weight) of wholegrain/basmati rice, grilled chicken breast, some veg stirfried, added dried spices. Glass of water

Dinner:
50-60 grams (uncooked weight) of wholegrain/basmati rice, grilled chicken breast, lot of stir fried broccoli and carrots, dried spices, sweet chilli sauce. Glass of water.

Tea with protein flapjack bar


Workout/Exercise:

30 mins on cross trainer, level 35 resistance.


Today again I think was fairly good. Dinner was the same tonight as last night. I had a bit more basmati rice than wholegrain rice in the mix tonight. I cut out the diet drinks today to see how that goes. I know from my own experience, I can get away with drinking diet 7up and still lose weight. I lost 3 1/2 stone a few years ago and I'm pretty sure I drank diet 7up or diet coke the whole time. But I want to kick start my weight loss a bit more so I'll see if it helps.

Was fairly tired today again, had a bad nights sleep. I woke up just before 4am and was sort of dozing on and off until about 6.40am when it was time to get up. I'm not quite sure if I fell asleep or not. Bit of a headache today as a result although it's barely noticeable when I'm not thinking about it.

I don't think I dipped as much as I needed to yesterday when squatting but I certainly know all about it today. My quads are killing me so I'm guessing I did something right yesterday. I only did 30 mins cardio today as I wanted to get home for something at 5pm. I didn't do any weights either seeing I did Workout B of Starting Strength yesterday.

I quite like the Starting Strength programme, although squats are killer. I like the military press though.

celestial

the drifter wrote: »

Hanley asked me to post this reply ive taken away his internet

I’m sorry but there’s no way I can accept that. Having lost 13kg over the course of 3 months while still managing to keep my strength and muscle mass up that diet drinks have impeded me. I lied by the way, it’s normally closer to 2L a day. If I drank the same quantity in normal coke I’ve absolutely no doubt in my mind that the diet would not have been as successful. You can’t argue with that??

I drink diet drinks because they taste nice, break up the monotony of the dieting and are like a little treat to myself. This whole blood sugar argument is one that sounds really nice on paper, but in my experience (and that of a few others who I know that have done the same) I’d question the real world impact of it. Like what’s the biggest problem with spiked insulin levels? They lead to fat storage yeah?? Well if you’re eating relatively low kcal portions as I am (and would imagine most ppl do when dieting correctly) then there’s not going to be a whole lot there to store as fat…

Like I said, I don’t buy it!!

Were you drinking 2l of diet coke a day for 3 months? Or just during the last few weeks? If it's the former then we'd have more to worry about than fat loss.

I never said you wouldn't lose weight while drinking diet drinks. I said weight loss would be suppressed while insulin levels are raised. Diet drinks raise insulin levels. So your fat loss is not what it could be without drinking them.

You may have lost 13kg, but could you have lost more without them? I totally accept that it's nice to have a treat while dieting, that's fair enough, but I'm just throwing it out there.

That's without even going into the issue of the potential stimulation of cravings for other calories as well as the fact that it's not ALL just about fat loss - it's about having a healthy diet too. Where do soft drinks feature in that? Not highly.

It's also worth remembering the 'it depends' factor. Is the OP a competitive bodybuilder like you Hanley, training what, up to 6 times a week? These things have to be taken in context too.























I clearly know you're not a bb-er but I just wanted to imagine your jaw dropping onto the keyboard when your read that.

G-Money

Day 25

Breakfast:
The homemade cereal again, 50-60 grams of organic oat flakes, 7 or 8 almonds, and hazel nuts (no walnuts left), tablespoon of gojiberries, low fat yoghurt.

Lunch:
50-60 grams (uncooked weight) of wholegrain/basmati rice, grilled chicken breast, some veg stirfried, added dried spices. Glass of water.

Dinner:
120 grams of wholegrain/basmati rice mixed, 6 Big Als Chicken Tenders/Dippers, half a jar of Uncle Bens Light Sweet n Sour Sauce. Glass of diet 7up

Tea with granola bar, protein flapjack.


Workout/Exercise:

30 mins cross trainer, started at level 35 resistance and moved it up to level 40 after about 15 or 16 minutes. Machine said I burnt 470 cals.

Squat - 3 sets, 5 reps, 12.5 kg goblet squat.

Deadlift - 3 sets, 5 reps, 25 kg

Dumbbell Bench Press - 3 sets, 5 reps, 12.5 kg dumbbell in each hand.


Today was good, although I had a bigger dinner tonight than usual. I sort of wanted a bit of treat. I also had diet 7up with dinner.

I was very close to not going to the gym today to do cardio but I made myself go anyway. I came home and did the starting strength programme but had to change from the front squat to goblet squat. The front squat was giving me issues with my right wrist so I stopped before I f****d it up.

G-Money

242.6 lbs there now today (Saturday), down from my original weight of 251 lbs. Although the week before I started this whole thing I was 255 lbs but I don't know how accurate that was.

So that's 8.4 lbs in about 3-4 weeks. I guess that's not too bad although I would like it to be more. Let's see if I can lose 5.6 lbs in the next 2 1/2 weeks.

jayoo

Thats great, well done:), and you have to realise that as each week passes your training is improving, your getting stronger,increasing muscle mass and getting fitter.

G-Money

Day 26

Breakfast:
Homemade cereal again. I had some berries with it again plus I got a fresh supply of walnuts etc too.

Lunch:
Small tin of John West Tuna in brine. Drained the brine from it. The can said it was 56 grams dry weight. Mixed it with some Heinz Light Salad cream and lettuce. Had a wholemeal pitta with wholegrain mustard along with it. Glass of diet 7up.

Protein flapjack

Dinner:
Chinese. Glass of diet 7up

Tea with granola bar.


Workout/Exercise:
None


Today was ok. I had a chinese for dinner which is my cheat meal for the week. The rest of today's food was grand enough I think. Nothing too bad. I'm off to buy some extra plates tomorrow morning. I think I can bump up the bench press a bit more than what I've been doing. Same for the deadlift and military press.

G-Money

Day 27

Breakfast:
Nothing

Lunch:
Baguette, bit of mayonnaise, chicken, bacon, sliced cheese, mixed veg, crisps. Coke zero

Protein Flapjack, granola bar.

Dinner:
Mixed wholegrain and basmati rice, Big Als Chicken Dippers, half jar of Uncle Bens Light Sweet n Sour, microchips. Glass of Coke zero.

Tea with granolar bar, and mixed nut bar.


Workout/Exercise:
None


My diet wasn't great today, no point pretending it was. F*** it anyway, back on the straight and narrow tomorrow. Didn't get to buy the extra plates today for my weights. That will have to keep for another while.

G-Money

Day 28

Breakfast:
Home made cereal again with berries, and low fat yoghurt.

Lunch:
Thick brown bread sandwich with english mustard, chicken, bacon, lettuce, grated cheese. Glass of water.

Dinner:
Grilled chicken breast, Big Als BBQ chicken grill (241 cals), big ton of veg stir fried in extra virgin olive oil, cashew nuts, spices, sweet chilli sauce. Glass of Coke zero

Tea with protein flapjack and granola bar.


Workout/Exercise:

Goblet Squat, 3 sets, 5 reps, 12.5 kg dumbbell.
Power Clean, 3 sets, 5 reps, 25 kg barbell.
Military Press, 3 sets, 5 reps, 22.5 kg barbell


Today was pretty good I think. I was so tired this morning when I woke up, I knew I wouldn't want to go to the gym today for cardio, so I just did weights when I got home from work.

cardio,shoot me

diets getting there, good work man!

G-Money

Cheers. It's getting there. Still not perfect, but it's getting there.

cardio,shoot me

many small stones make one big wall

G-Money

I reckon I will soon need to move to using the rack at the gym and doing squats the normal way. I don't have a rack here and the front squat is kind of uncomfortable and I think the dumbbell goblet squat will only be good up to about 25 or 30 kg. Having said that, I could fairly feel my quads burning today doing deep squats with a 12.5kg dumbbell in the goblet position.

G86

grandmaster wrote: »

I reckon I will soon need to move to using the rack at the gym and doing squats the normal way. I don't have a rack here and the front squat is kind of uncomfortable and I think the dumbbell goblet squat will only be good up to about 25 or 30 kg. Having said that, I could fairly feel my quads burning today doing deep squats with a 12.5kg dumbbell in the goblet position.

Aye but you know what, I reckon you won't feel as intimidated now as you did before 'cause you'll be more confident about your technique and that, you know?

Fair play

G-Money

Day 29

Breakfast:
Home made cereal again with berries, and low fat yoghurt.

Lunch:
Grilled chicken breast, mixed veg, cashew nuts stir fried in extra virgin olive oil, dried spices. Glass of diet coke.

Dinner:
Grilled chicken breast, Big Als BBQ chicken grill (241 cals), big ton of veg stir fried in extra virgin olive oil, cashew nuts, spices, sweet chilli sauce. Glass of Coke zero

Tea with protein flapjack and granola bar.


Workout/Exercise:

30 mins on cross trainer, level 40 resistance.


Today was fairly good. I made up extra food last night when cooking dinner and had the same thing for lunch today. Did the same thing this evening there and will have the leftovers tomorrow. I was tempted not to go to the gym today. Really tempted. It was approaching 4pm and I was like "ah, I'm a bit tired, I just want to go home." I knew though I'd feel better for going. Perhaps not physically, but at the very least mentally I would feel better for having actually done something. I just did cardio today seeing I did weights yesterday.

My new protein bars arrived from MyProtein today. I've only had the protein flapjack but it's almost identical to the one's I already have. Also got normal protein bars from them as well.

G-Money

Day 30

Breakfast:
Home made cereal again with berries, low fat organic yoghurt.

Lunch:
Brown bread sandwich with english mustard, plain chicken, bacon/sausage bits, lettuce, stuffing. Glass of diet coke.

Dinner:
Grilled chicken breast, wholemeal pitta with wholegrain mustard, slice of cheese, load of veg stir fried in extra virgin olive oil, cashew nuts, dried spices, sweet chilli sauce. Glass of coke zero.

Tea made with hot water.


Workout/Exercise:

3 sets, 5 reps, goblet squat - 15kg dumbbell

1 set, 5 reps, deadlift - 25kg barbell

3 sets, 5 reps, 15 kg dumbbell in each hand.


Today was ok. I forgot my lunch so I had to take something at work. I think I'm getting a cold or something as my throat is feeling well dodgy and I'm feeling a bit run down now. No granola bars or protein bars or snacks this evening. Some slightly unappealing news helped me lose my appetite, but nothing serious.

G-Money

Day 31

Breakfast:
Same as yesterday, home made cereal with berries, low fat yoghurt.

Lunch:
Grilled chicken breast, mixed veg, cashew nuts stir fried in extra virgin olive oil, dried spices. Glass of diet coke.

Dinner:
Grilled chicken breast, wholemeal pitta with frenchs american style mustard, slice of cheese, veg stir fried in extra virgin olive oil, cashew nuts, dried spices, sweet chilli sauce. Glass of diet 7up

Tea made with hot water, mixed berry bar, mixed nut bar (224 cals in total)


Workout/Exercise:

30 mins crosstrainer, level 40 resistance.

20 mins brisk walk on the treadmill, number 3 gradient, built up to 6.1 speed after 4-5 minutes and stayed at that for the rest of the 20 mins.


Today has been alright. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were reasonable I think. I considered not actually eating dinner tonight in a bit to speed up my weight loss. I'm guessing I have lost fat but I looked at myself in the mirror and I haven't seen much change. I was tempted to skip the gym today, but it was a case of me trying to convince myself not to go. Before it had been a case of me trying to convince myself to go. But now I kind of decide I'm going and that's it. I was tempted to skip it but knew I'd feel bad if I didn't go and I'd just be sitting around doing nothing for the night otherwise.

G86

grandmaster wrote: »

Day 31




Today has been alright. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were reasonable I think. I considered not actually eating dinner tonight in a bit to speed up my weight loss. I'm guessing I have lost fat but I looked at myself in the mirror and I haven't seen much change. .

Don't lose heart, these things take time. Definitely don't start skipping meals! As for not seeing much change, I think everyones the same, it happens so gradually that you don't notice it yourself! But you'll start to notice your clothes get a bit looser, and you might get the odd comment asking if you've lost weight - and that's when you start to feel like you're getting somewhere, even if you can't see it yourself!

And anyone can see that your diets soooo much better that what it was ,well done!:)

G-Money

G86 wrote: »

Don't lose heart, these things take time. Definitely don't start skipping meals! As for not seeing much change, I think everyones the same, it happens so gradually that you don't notice it yourself! But you'll start to notice your clothes get a bit looser, and you might get the odd comment asking if you've lost weight - and that's when you start to feel like you're getting somewhere, even if you can't see it yourself!

And anyone can see that your diets soooo much better that what it was ,well done!:)

Thanking you young lady.

G-Money

Day 32

Breakfast:
Same as usual, homemade cereal, berries, nuts, low fat yoghurt.

Lunch:
Wholemeal baguette, english mustard, ham, bacon, grated cheese, lettuce. Glass of diet coke.

Dinner:
About 8 or 9 Big Al's chicken dippers, fairly big serving of Basmati/Wholegrain rice, sweet chilli sauce. Glass of Diet 7up.

Tea with protein bar (224 cals), mixed nut bar, chewy trail mix bar (224 cals total).


Workout/Exercise:
Nothing

I had a bit more to eat for dinner this evening than usual. Not that bothered as I've been doing well enough this week and I didn't eat anything too bad today. I had my lunch made but sort of wanted something different, hence the baguette. I might try and head to the gym tomorrow morning for some cardio and do weights when I get back here. I bought 40 kg of plates today so that should help with the deadlift. I might do the squats in the gym tomorrow, will see how it goes.

G-Money

Day 33

Breakfast:
Nothing

Lunch:
Grilled chicken breast, stir fried veg, cashew nuts, spices, sweet chilli sauce. It was my usual lunch that was left over from Friday. Glass of diet 7up

Dinner:
Pack of Erin low fat oriental egg fried rice (about 560 cals), two boxes of McCain Microchips. Glass of diet 7up.


Workout/Exercise:

Dumbbell Goblet Squat 3 sets, 5 reps, 15 kg dumbbell

Power Clean - 3 sets, 5 reps, 27.5 kg barbell (excluding barbell weight)

Military Press - 3 sets, 5 reps, 25 kg barbell (excluding barbell weight)


I'm posting this update today (it's actually for yesterday) as I didn't get a chance to do so yesterday. It was an ok day, foodwise it was grand. I had sort of toyed with the idea of going to the gym first thing but I decided to sleep in instead. I wasn't mad hungry yesterday and thought about not eating until dinner time, but I went ahead and had lunch. I ended up going out to the AH beers last night so I'd a skin full of drink and the hangover to prove it now.

G-Money

Day 34

Hangover so junk for most of the day.

Workout/Exercise:
Nothing

I was out last night at a boards beers and had a hangover today to prove it and food intake today was pretty bad as a result. Am not massively worried, it has to happen from time to time.