Weight Loss and Fitness Advice

rwm24 · 28 Feb 2012 at 21:30

This is probably going to be a lengthy post so i'll try and break it down into sections to make it easier to answer.

Basically i've decided it's about time I lost a lot of weight and got healthier. I'm looking for some advice/tips because there appears to be a lot of knowledgeable people on here.

Let's start with a bit of background info:
22 years old
6'2
~18-19 stone

Goals:
Lose ~5 stone and just be generally healthier, no time frame and I want to keep the weight off. I'm not too concerned about muscle growth yet

What I can and can't do:
I had a motorbike accident just over 4 years ago, I broke my right thigh and crushed my right foot etc.

I have had 3 operations, my foot is still extremely stiff, my toes are sensitive and don't really move properly, my right thigh is considerably weaker than my left and it causes me a lot of pain just from sitting, I can't walk very far without being in a lot of pain in the bottom of my foot (~1 mile max, I haven't tried walking far for a long time), my right ankle swells up if I go on a night out and spend the night on my feet (this hasn't been too bad recently, it's been getting better)

I don't think I can jog, it felt extremely uncomfortable/unnatural last time I tried.

I can swim in some pools but I have eczema so it can make my skin really bad, i'd probably have to try many different pools to find one with minimal amounts of chlorine.

I have an exercise bike at home which I used to go on every other day for a few weeks but I think it was making my thigh pain worse however my thigh has been really sore recently and I haven't been on the bike for a while. I can cycle ~5km before the pain in my thigh is too much.

Food:
I am not allergic to anything or lactose intolerant.

Breakfast:
Normally have a bowl of cereal but I don't like sugary cereals so I normally go for something I think looks healthy, I quite like Weetabix with banana on top. If I don't have cereal i'll have toast with butter, jam, nutella, peanut butter etc. I'm not a fan of porridge

Anything I need to change here?

Lunch:
I work 5 days a week so I normally go out the office to grab and sandwich from the co-op or a little cafe. There are a number of food options near me but most of them are takeaway places.

Should I be avoiding bread? Is it worth cooking more in the evenings so I have enough to bring to work the following day?

Dinner:
I live with my girl friend and she cooks almost every night, she has also started exercising/eating healthier recently so almost every meal is some type of meat (sometimes with a jar of sauce) and standard vegetables.

What meats should I be eating? Any vegetables I should be focusing on or avoiding?

Deserts:
I'm a pudding man but I don't mind fruit. Is the fat free/weight watches stuff worth considering or should I just stick to yoghurt/fruits? If so what fruits should I be eating and which should I avoid?

Drinks:
I drink far too much diet coke/pepsi max etc, do I need to cut these out?

Workout:
I'm going to the gym for the first time tomorrow with 3 colleagues, one of them is an avid gym goer so he should be able to help me get started but what type of workouts go hand in hand with weight loss? Should I get a personal trainer to help me get started/advise me on a routine?

Will doing regular exercise be beneficial to my thigh/leg in the long run? It's hard to exercise when i'm in a lot of pain after short periods but if it gets better after preserving though the pain i'll just have to do that.

Alcohol:
Anything I should be avoiding or should I just drink in moderation?

I may think of more stuff to add but that I think that covers it, any advice is appreciated.

Thanks

Jimz · 28 Feb 2012 at 21:33

If it want to see quick weight loss I would maybe just try a 5 day Juice Fast, google/youtube it theres loads of information out there.

icecold · 28 Feb 2012 at 21:52

I don't really have time to post anything helpful at the moment, but I would always advise a balanced approach as opposed to something like a juice fast.

Maxeh · 28 Feb 2012 at 22:24

I've lost nearly 6 stone since September and my diet is as follows:

Breakfast - Porridge or a 2 egg omlette
Lunch - Home made lentil soup and 1 wholemeal pitta (I keep clear of white bread)
Snacks - 2 snack-o-jacks with 1 dairylea light triangle
Dinner - Varies a fair bit, just keep it simple and healthy.

I have cut down sugar massively and keep an eye on every calorie as I'm diabetic, learning about what's in food helps massively.

With regards to exericse, I have only just started jogging due to my ankle hurting under all the strain before, so just try and do walking for the time being.

If you can do cycling and maybe even the cross trainer that will help a lot, just if you start feeling pain stop or you will only hurt yourself more.

rwm24 · 22 Mar 2012 at 19:51

Thanks for the tips Maxeh.

Bit of a late follow up but i'm really enjoying the gym, going 3 times a week for ~1 hour at a time (normally a bit longer than an hour)

I've been eating much much better and I am definitely getting fitter, for example when I first joined (and on the exercise bike at home) I could only do 7 km, I built that up to 10km last week and I just did 11km on the bike at a higher level today and beat my time for doing 10km (and it was on a higher level)

I lost 5 pounds between 8/3/12 and 15/3/12 but this week I didn't lose any weight and i'm feeling kinda disheartened =/

Is it normal to not lose weight or do I need to be even stricter with my diet? I have definitely built muscle though.

I already ate brown bread and I have switched from white rice to brown rice and from normal potatoes to sweet potatoes.

wedgie · 22 Mar 2012 at 21:00

rwm24 said:
I lost 5 pounds between 8/3/12 and 15/3/12 but this week I didn't lose any weight and i'm feeling kinda disheartened =/

First couple weeks is mainly water weight so you should have lost again in week two if everything was in check. See if there's any loss next time, if there isn't then I'd take another look at your diet.

To your point about having built muscle, this requires a calorie surplus, which is obviously the exact opposite to the calorie defecit that you should be hitting on order to lose weight. When weights are added to a routine during cutting, it is by and large aimed at keeping the maximum amount of muscle possible while losing the fat.

Losing weight (fat) and adding weight (muscle) are two entirely seperate goals and should be treated as such, far too many people seem to think they're working towards both at the same time then wonder why they don't get either the way they expected.

Don't get disheartened, if you end a week without loss, take a look back at your diet first of all and make adjustments. Losing weight is very simple, calories in v calories out, it's how each person makes that equation work for themselves that can make dieting seem like an impossible task to some.

wedgie · 22 Mar 2012 at 21:19

Just had a proper look at your daily intake, I think you need to take another look at what you're taking in because these don't quite add up.

rwm24 said:
Breakfast:
Normally have a bowl of cereal but I don't like sugary cereals so I normally go for something I think looks healthy, I quite like Weetabix with banana on top. If I don't have cereal i'll have toast with butter, jam, nutella, peanut butter etc. I'm not a fan of porridge
So about 400-500 cal
Anything I need to change here?

Lunch:
I work 5 days a week so I normally go out the office to grab and sandwich from the co-op or a little cafe. There are a number of food options near me but most of them are takeaway places.
About 400-450 cal
Should I be avoiding bread? Is it worth cooking more in the evenings so I have enough to bring to work the following day?

Dinner:
I live with my girl friend and she cooks almost every night, she has also started exercising/eating healthier recently so almost every meal is some type of meat (sometimes with a jar of sauce) and standard vegetables.
Roughly 600 cal give or take
What meats should I be eating? Any vegetables I should be focusing on or avoiding?

Deserts:
I'm a pudding man but I don't mind fruit. Is the fat free/weight watches stuff worth considering or should I just stick to yoghurt/fruits? If so what fruits should I be eating and which should I avoid?
Yoghurt will be around 150 cal
Drinks:
I drink far too much diet coke/pepsi max etc, do I need to cut these out?
Loads of sugar and absolutely no nutritional value in these, but still only about 120-130 cal

Alcohol:
Anything I should be avoiding or should I just drink in moderation?
What do you class as moderation? All you need to consider is that you're adding more calories to the equation. If you can drink alcohol and still be in a calorie defecit then it is fine, obviously the more calories you take in from alcohol, the more you'll have to give up from somewhere else if you want to lose weight

Those are pretty generous estimates, before any drinks it's around 1700 cal and could easily be less per day. At 18-19 stone the weight should drop off you for a good while if you're hitting anywhere up to 2000 cal a day with absolutely no exercise. If those meals are accurate, I guess it comes down to exactly how many more calories are you taking in from either fizzy drinks or alcohol?

rwm24 · 22 Mar 2012 at 22:22

wedgie said:
Just had a proper look at your daily intake, I think you need to take another look at what you're taking in because these don't quite add up.

Those are pretty generous estimates, before any drinks it's around 1700 cal and could easily be less per day. At 18-19 stone the weight should drop off you for a good while if you're hitting anywhere up to 2000 cal a day with absolutely no exercise. If those meals are accurate, I guess it comes down to exactly how many more calories are you taking in from either fizzy drinks or alcohol?

I was 19 stone 10 on 8/3/12, much heavier than I thought... which is why I am keen to keep losing weight. I have definitely built muscle though, my gf keeps stroking my arms.

Thinking about it I may just have to write this week off, I went out on Saturday night and had ~6 double jd and diet cokes which is about 675 calories, according to http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/tips-and-tools/drink-diary/

I also went out for a meal last night to celebrate late mother's day, I went for what I thought what be the healthy options however it could have easily been 1000 calories+, I can't tell.

I'm also going out for a meal tomorrow night for 4 year anniversary with my girlfriend and i'm going to London at the weekend.

I have switched to either 2 egg omlette (1 full egg and 1 egg white) with chicken and mushroom, 2 asda wheat biscuits with semi skimmed milk and ~1/2 banana or porridge with a little bit of honey for breakfast

Lunch is either left over dinner (smaller portion than dinner so ~400 calories based on your estimate?) or a "healthy" sandwich from a local cafe or the co-op (~200 calories?)

Dinner is about the same but eating more chicken, turkey, fish and sometimes quorn. Haven't had beef mince for a while.

Desserts I don't always have any more but sometimes just a piece of fruit or low fat/low calorie pudding (~150 calories?)

Regarding fizzy drinks, i've cut down to 2-3 cans a week and I only drink the diet stuff which has 0 calories anyway?

I'm going to buy a more accurate scale to use at home, i've previously been weighing myself after working out on Thursdays.

wedgie · 22 Mar 2012 at 23:21

rwm24 said:
I was 19 stone 10 on 8/3/12, much heavier than I thought... which is why I am keen to keep losing weight. I have definitely built muscle though, my gf keeps stroking my arms.

Thinking about it I may just have to write this week off, I went out on Saturday night and had ~6 double jd and diet cokes which is about 675 calories, according to http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/tips-and-tools/drink-diary/

I also went out for a meal last night to celebrate late mother's day, I went for what I thought what be the healthy options however it could have easily been 1000 calories+, I can't tell.

I'm also going out for a meal tomorrow night for 4 year anniversary with my girlfriend and i'm going to London at the weekend.

I have switched to either 2 egg omlette (1 full egg and 1 egg white) with chicken and mushroom, 2 asda wheat biscuits with semi skimmed milk and ~1/2 banana or porridge with a little bit of honey for breakfast

Lunch is either left over dinner (smaller portion than dinner so ~400 calories based on your estimate?) or a "healthy" sandwich from a local cafe or the co-op (~200 calories?)

Dinner is about the same but eating more chicken, turkey, fish and sometimes quorn. Haven't had beef mince for a while.

Desserts I don't always have any more but sometimes just a piece of fruit or low fat/low calorie pudding (~150 calories?)

Regarding fizzy drinks, i've cut down to 2-3 cans a week and I only drink the diet stuff which has 0 calories anyway?

I'm going to buy a more accurate scale to use at home, i've previously been weighing myself after working out on Thursdays.

I think there's a plecebo effect at work re the gained muscle, but if it's getting you more attention from the gf then that's no bad thing

.

By the sounds of it you should be able to manage this easily by paying just a little more attention to your diet, there's no single thing that's adding an extortionate amount of calories which is a good start.

Your BMR is 2575 -

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Multiply that figure by one of these -

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

•If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2

•If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375

•If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55

•If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725

•If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

As you can see, even if you were to do zero exercise, 3093 calories per day and you would neither lose weight nor gain weight.

A defecit of around 200-300 calories per day is normally recommended for slow and steady weight loss, which is why I say even if you were to eat 2000 calories per day with no exercise the weight would fly off for quite some time.

Exercise is not the key, diet is, that's as true now as it will be when you reach 12 stone. Exercise is important though, for general health and fitness, and also when the calorie budget starts to get tighter as you lose weight, burning some calories will allow you to eat a little more than if you did absolutely no exercise.

For weighing, pick a day of the week, first thing in the morning, and do it at the same time every week. Don't worry about the accuracy, even if scales are a lb or two out, they will show a week to week trend which is what's important, and once you get in a roll there's no better motivator.

Not much else I can say, other than with the right mindset and a bit of determination, you will reach your goals. So what if it's going to take a while, look at this way, you'll soon be 6 months down the line and you can either be still wanting to lose weight, or well on your way to where you want to be. It's a no brainer really, good luck

rwm24 · 28 May 2012 at 18:56

wedgie said:
I think there's a plecebo effect at work re the gained muscle, but if it's getting you more attention from the gf then that's no bad thing .

It definitely wasn't a placebo effect, there are multiple sources that say it's possible for beginners to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. It stopped a long time ago but it was fun while it lasted

3 month update (it is actually 3 months to the day, I didn't realise that until I started writing)

My original weight on the gym scales was 19 stone 10, I am now ~17 stone 7. I switched from weighing myself after the gym on Thursdays to weighing myself first thing in the morning on Wednesday's on new bathroom scales so I know it's not a 100% accurate figure but i'm not too fussed.

My normal routine:
10 minutes on rowing machine
5 - 10 minutes on cross trainer (this one hurts my left knee)
~8-10 minutes on exercise bike (I go as fast as I can for a minute then relax for a minute, then go as fast as I can for a minute and so on)
~3 minutes on the treadmill (I've recently started jogging (~9.7km/hour) on the treadmill, I can only manage ~3 mins until my legs give up (normally calf's))
10-15 minutes on a rope pulling machine or various other machines around the gym.

I then come home and use dumbells for ~10 minutes or until my arms can't take any more, if i'm up to it. I recently increased the weight again, I now need to buy more weights to put on them.

Gym is going really well but recently i've been having trouble going 3 times a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday). On Tuesday I can do my full routine and I push myself further every time, Thursdays I do everything but never beat my old times etc as i'm still tired from Tuesday. On Saturdays i'm often still tired from the previous sessions - should I cut back to 2 times a week or just re-motivate myself some how and force myself to go 3 times a week?

I've also stopped having sandwiches for lunch, I have salad's instead (sometimes with a bit of couscous/potato salad/coleslaw to make it interesting)

wedgie · 28 May 2012 at 19:09

Always good to see people getting the results that are so readily attainable to anyone willing to put in the effort.

Congrats, keep it up

.

BunnyKillBot · 28 May 2012 at 19:56

wedgie said:
Losing weight (fat) and adding weight (muscle) are two entirely seperate goals and should be treated as such, far too many people seem to think they're working towards both at the same time then wonder why they don't get either the way they expected.

That goes against everything my internet research tells me. The entire strong lifts program is structured around doing exactly that.

Morba · 28 May 2012 at 20:24

Find a non council pool, likely to be less chlorinated from my experience, and get swimming

wedgie · 28 May 2012 at 20:24

BunnyKillBot said:
That goes against everything my internet research tells me. The entire strong lifts program is structured around doing exactly that.

And you intend to do this how long beyond newbie gains? What are your goals, to add a negligable amount of muscle, or to make a serious change to your body composition/appearance?

Good luck with that yeah

.

icecold · 28 May 2012 at 20:31

BunnyKillBot said:
That goes against everything my internet research tells me. The entire strong lifts program is structured around doing exactly that.

You've been reading in the wrong places then.

michaelp · 28 May 2012 at 22:56

Maxeh said:
I've lost nearly 6 stone since September and my diet is as follows:

Breakfast - Porridge or a 2 egg omlette
Lunch - Home made lentil soup and 1 wholemeal pitta (I keep clear of white bread)
Snacks - 2 snack-o-jacks with 1 dairylea light triangle
Dinner - Varies a fair bit, just keep it simple and healthy.

I have cut down sugar massively and keep an eye on every calorie as I'm diabetic, learning about what's in food helps massively.

With regards to exericse, I have only just started jogging due to my ankle hurting under all the strain before, so just try and do walking for the time being.

If you can do cycling and maybe even the cross trainer that will help a lot, just if you start feeling pain stop or you will only hurt yourself more.

I think i would die with such little food

rwm24 · 14 Jul 2012 at 10:44

I lost ~5 pounds in a week last weigh in (Wednesday 4th -> Wednesday 11th)

Am I losing weight too fast? I only went to the gym once that week after having ~1 month off due to sickness. While I was ill I still lost ~1 pound a week.

Down to 16 stone 6 now... 3 stone 4 pounds gone

I weighed ~16 stone 4 1/2 years ago shortly after a motorbike accident.

rwm24 · 16 Sep 2012 at 20:00

I'm still hanging around 16 stone, I dropped to 15 stone 9 for a day then went back up to 15 stone 13.8 then 16 stone.

I'm having too many delicious set backs. Birthdays, celebrations, meals out, treating myself because work is really stressful and I really don't want to cook etc etc

I had to cut back on the gym for a bit as I did some serious damage to my right shoulder muscle, trapped a nerve and had to have a day off work because I basically couldn't move without being in severe pain.

I also won't be able to go to the gym for a week - 10 days as I got a tattoo on my calf yesterday and don't want to ruin that.

As i'm finding it quite difficult to drop much lower than 16 stone/15 stone 13 i'm going to have to stop treating myself completely if I want to reach my wight loss goal of 5 stone, which is still a long way off. I don't really want to cut out all the bad food because I still enjoy it, i've always been a foodie...which is why I got this big in the first place.

6 foot 2, 16 stone, big build - Although my BMI is still ~28 is that overweight to most people or fairly normal these days or will I need to take pictures for people to judge that?

mrthingyx · 17 Sep 2012 at 05:35

rwm24 said:
I'm still hanging around 16 stone, I dropped to 15 stone 9 for a day then went back up to 15 stone 13.8 then 16 stone.

I'm having too many delicious set backs. Birthdays, celebrations, meals out, treating myself because work is really stressful and I really don't want to cook etc etc

I had to cut back on the gym for a bit as I did some serious damage to my right shoulder muscle, trapped a nerve and had to have a day off work because I basically couldn't move without being in severe pain.

I also won't be able to go to the gym for a week - 10 days as I got a tattoo on my calf yesterday and don't want to ruin that.

As i'm finding it quite difficult to drop much lower than 16 stone/15 stone 13 i'm going to have to stop treating myself completely if I want to reach my wight loss goal of 5 stone, which is still a long way off. I don't really want to cut out all the bad food because I still enjoy it, i've always been a foodie...which is why I got this big in the first place.

6 foot 2, 16 stone, big build - Although my BMI is still ~28 is that overweight to most people or fairly normal these days or will I need to take pictures for people to judge that?

You seem to have a good grip on what has gone wrong, so my response is to ask what you're going to do to fix it?

I tore a tendon in my shoulder in April, so had to have most of May off through recovery. However, it was back on the proverbial bike for me after that as I missed the endorphins.

Keep going as the results will definitely be worth it. Remeber, this isn't a quick fix, but part of a lifestyle change to everything you are.

On a tactical note, your weight will have gone up 'significantly' due to the amount of **** you've eaten, specifically due to the water retained by all that yummy glucose. Ditch the ****, and get back on track.