Dieting: Am I doing it right?

Nameless_87 · 20 May 2013 at 20:27

Hi,

First post for me in the sports arena.

So a little about me... I'm 25 and as far as I can remember I have always been obese for most my life (compared to other people my age when growing up).

I finally decided to do something about it, start eating healthy and exercising regularly (the fact that I have a desk job doesn't help... means I'm sitting down for 10-12 hours a day!).

I started this diet on 8th of April and it's been 6 weeks now.

My initial weight was 295 lbs.
My current weight after 6 weeks is 273 lbs.

Food
Breakfast
30g Cereal of choice from Jordan's, Quaker Cruesli, All Bran, or similar (all without milk as I don't like it and doesn't quite agree with me if I take it)
3 crackers of Devon's Branettes or Nairn's Oat Crackers together with 15g of Philadelphia Ham Spreadable Cheese. (These I only take when I do weight training)

Morning Snack
1 Banana OR 1 mixed fruit salad including 1/2 banana, strawberries and peaches.

Lunch
150g chicken breast cooked with different sauces/spices everyday. (tandoori, curry, lemon & paprika, peanut butter are the ones I use most).
30-40g couscous (the ones with flavour or plain. A sachet lasts for 3 portions).
Boiled Mixed Veg (peas, carrots, corn) OR some lettuce chopped into pieces.
20-30g Pickled Gherkins.
Once a week I substitute the chicken for tuna (Rio Mare 104g tuna drained).

Afternoon Snack
30g Mixed Nuts (mostly cashews) OR 3 crackers of Devon's Branettes or Nairn's Oat Crackers.

Dinner
Same as lunch but chicken will have different sauce/spices.

The only time I take something other than chicken is on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday
Lunch - Soup with 20g wholegrain rice.
Dinner - 2 home-made beef burgers (90% pure beef mince 10% fat) 100g each on 2 small buns with a slice of cheese and some gherkins.

Sunday
Lunch - Varies every Sunday, usually a 200g Rib Eye Steak or 200g Pork meat (without fat).
Dinner - 1 wholewheat wrap with tuna, tomatoes, lettuce, gherkins.

For food I calculated (using myfitnesspal) a total of 1400-1600 calories per day with this diet.

Exercise
I exercise mostly at home for weight training (I have dumbbells) and use the streets for cardio (although I do have a treadmill but I hate the thing as 1 hour on it seem 10).

Weight Training
I do the weight training every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the morning after I wake up. I started with small weights as it's been years since I trained.
Basically, first 2 weeks was just 1kg on each dumbbell, the next 3 weeks was 2.5kg on each dumbell, and since last week I increased it to 3.5kg on each dumbbell. (Need to buy more weights if I don't go to a personal trainer/gym)

I start with 5 minutes of fast walking/jogging (6-8km/h) before starting the weight training as a warm up.

Monday - 3 sets 12 reps
Dumbell Squats
Dumbell Floor Press
Lying Dumbbell Extension
Sit Ups
Dumbell Wide Row
Standing Dumbell Curl

Wednesday - 3 sets 12 reps
Dumbbell Step Up
Dumbbell Calf Raise
Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlift
Seated Dumbbell Press
Dumbbell Shrug
Dumbbell Side Bends (don't like them that much, need to change with something else targeting the same muscles)

Friday - 3 sets 12 reps
Dumbbell Lunge
Dumbbell Floor Press
Lying Dumbbell Extension
Lying Floor Leg Raise
Dumbell Wide Row
Standing Hammer Curl

Cardio
Monday - Thursday 60 mins fast walking during break at work after lunch.
Trying to increase this on Tuesday and Thursday. I will try to do an extra 60 mins in the morning before work since I don't have weight training during these 2 days.

Saturday and Sunday is for rest.

Recap
So my typical day would be:
6.30 - Wake up
6.45 - 5 mins treadmill followed by 30 mins weight training OR 60 mins fast walking depending on the day
7.30 - Breakfast
10.00 - Morning Snack
12.30 - Lunch
13.00 - 60 mins fast walking
16.00 - Afternoon Snack
19.00 - Dinner
23.30 - Sleep

This diet seems to work for me as I can see the results in the weight loss which is reflected on clothes.

So according to the experts, is this diet any good from a healthy lifestyle perspective?
What should I change? What should I keep the same? What should I improve?

I am also thinking of going to a personal trainer in about a months time as he would have better tools and really guide me to get the best from my diet and exercise. I like the 1-on-1 training most.
What would be the going rate for this? And do you think it's a good idea from which I can benefit?

Sorry for the long post! I appreciate any advice

Thanks

LiE · 20 May 2013 at 20:44

Any reason you're not a member of a gym?

mrthingyx · 20 May 2013 at 20:52

Hmmm... This is the second time that dumbbell routine has been mentioned in a week... It is not good.

Your diet also has a huge amount of carbs in it and not much fat, so swap all those crackers and cous cous for eggs on brown toast, etc. Also do you need all the Jordans for your breakfast?

Nameless_87 · 20 May 2013 at 20:53

LiE said:
Any reason you're not a member of a gym?

To be honest, it's mostly the time.

All gym's open up at around 9 am and I am already at work at that hour. Then in the evening, with overtime and it being usually 7-8 pm I don't really want to go to the gym at that time since I would only have a couple of hours of free time before sleeping.

Although if I go to a personal trainer I would go at around 7-8pm as well.

But out of the two options I think I would prefer the personal trainer option as it's 1-on-1 mostly in his own gym.

Nameless_87 · 20 May 2013 at 21:02

mrthingyx said:
Hmmm... This is the second time that dumbbell routine has been mentioned in a week... It is not good.

Your diet also has a huge amount of carbs in it and not much fat, so swap all those crackers and cous cous for eggs on brown toast, etc. Also do you need all the Jordans for your breakfast?

Can you be more elaborate and say why it's not good please? (Bear in mind that my point for now is fat burning and not muscle building. Well some muscle building is nice, but mainly fat burning.)

Regarding cereal... it's because I don't know what to take except it for breakfast mainly. What would you suggest? (Considering I would have just worked out when eating the breakfast)

I find couscous fills the plate a bit while taking an egg would not? And I kind of stay away from bread apart from Saturday. Is this bad?

Could I maybe swap the couscous with wholewheat noodles (50g) or wholegrain rice (30g)? Or still a lot of carbs?

Regarding the amount of carbs, it is around 125-150g daily (according to myfitnesspal). Is this a huge amount?

Thanks

mrthingyx · 20 May 2013 at 21:36

My problem with that routine is that it doesn't really do anything... There is no overall focus and the collection of exercises is almost random.

What weights do you have? Because the chances are we can come up with something a lot more effective than that.

Regarding diet, three scrambled eggs on whole meal toast for breakfast; handful of nuts as a snack; chicken salad with avocado for lunch followed by something meaty with (oh, crikey - I am going to post it) courgette noodles.

I am not saying cut out carbs altogether, but just use them as a fuel for your exercise, rather than something to keep you going. I had a coach who said that carbs should be earned by hard exercise... Do the same.

Finally, your cereal is probably full of sugar: ditch it.

Nameless_87 · 20 May 2013 at 21:57

mrthingyx said:
My problem with that routine is that it doesn't really do anything... There is no overall focus and the collection of exercises is almost random.

What weights do you have? Because the chances are we can come up with something a lot more effective than that.

Regarding diet, three scrambled eggs on whole meal toast for breakfast; handful of nuts as a snack; chicken salad with avocado for lunch followed by something meaty with (oh, crikey - I am going to post it) courgette noodles.

I am not saying cut out carbs altogether, but just use them as a fuel for your exercise, rather than something to keep you going. I had a coach who said that carbs should be earned by hard exercise... Do the same.

Finally, your cereal is probably full of sugar: ditch it.

The only weights I have are dumbbells and a treadmill for cardio.

This is what I don't understand though.

If I take 3 scrambled eggs and 2 pieces of wholemeal toast, calorie intake would be around 500 with around 30g carbs and 8g sugar, while the cereal and oat crackers will be around 250 calories, 32g carbs and 10g sugar.

Maybe I am missing something, but the cereal + cracker option seems to be better looking at the values? Can you explain why the egg + toast breakfast would be better?

Cheers

Vonhelmet · 20 May 2013 at 22:27

At risk of wading into a thread with the macros and weights fanatics... You've been losing nearly 4lb a week, so you're clearly doing something right. Don't be too disheartened if people want to improve on that, though.

mrthingyx · 20 May 2013 at 22:34

Nameless_87 said:
The only weights I have are dumbbells and a treadmill for cardio.

This is what I don't understand though.

If I take 3 scrambled eggs and 2 pieces of wholemeal toast, calorie intake would be around 500 with around 30g carbs and 8g sugar, while the cereal and oat crackers will be around 250 calories, 32g carbs and 10g sugar.

Maybe I am missing something, but the cereal + cracker option seems to be better looking at the values? Can you explain why the egg + toast breakfast would be better?

Cheers

Who said anything about two pieces of toast?

And how heavy are your Dumbells?

Vonhelmet said:
At risk of wading into a thread with the macros and weights fanatics... You've been losing nearly 4lb a week, so you're clearly doing something right. Don't be too disheartened if people want to improve on that, though.

This. I a for whatever works. As VHS points out, you could do even better by arranging sme things differently, but if you're losing...?

BigPecsPeter · 20 May 2013 at 22:39

Dude...

You've lost over 1.5kg body weight per week. You're doing nothing particularly wrong.

And really, why shouldn't he eat loads of carbs if that's what he likes eating? High carbs low fat, high fat low carbs, whatever - as long as protein intake is adequate, it all works.

You're doing well. Come back when you STALL. Judging by your immense size, that's not going to happen for a LONG LONG time.

Nameless_87 · 20 May 2013 at 22:40

Not heavy... 3.5 kg plus the bar... Would need to buy more weights to increase which is no problem if needs be.

So to recap about what you two guys said...

Ill try to remove the cereal and use eggs and toast instead.
And for lunch and dinner with chicken don't use couscous/rice/noodles, correct?
What should i use instead?

Thanks

Nameless_87 · 20 May 2013 at 22:42

BigPecsPeter said:
Dude...

You've lost over 1.5kg body weight per week. You're doing nothing particularly wrong.

And really, why shouldn't he eat loads of carbs if that's what he likes eating? High carbs low fat, high fat low carbs, whatever - as long as protein intake is adequate, it all works.

You're doing well. Come back when you STALL. Judging by your immense size, that's not going to happen for a LONG LONG time.

Did not see this while i posted the other thing... Fair enough on the food part...

But still need some good weight training if the above program is not good?

BigPecsPeter · 20 May 2013 at 22:43

Nameless_87 said:
Not heavy... 3.5 kg plus the bar... Would need to buy more weights to increase which is no problem if needs be.

So to recap about what you two guys said...

Ill try to remove the cereal and use eggs and toast instead.
And for lunch and dinner with chicken don't use couscous/rice/noodles, correct?
What should i use instead?

Thanks

No...

Read the posts for goodness sake. You are NOT doing anything WRONG. You are losing weight at an excellent rate. If you like your diet as it is, then keep it, until the point that it NEEDS adjusting. That is, when weight loss really slows down.

mrthingyx · 20 May 2013 at 23:15

Nameless_87 said:
Not heavy... 3.5 kg plus the bar... Would need to buy more weights to increase which is no problem if needs be.

So to recap about what you two guys said...

Ill try to remove the cereal and use eggs and toast instead.
And for lunch and dinner with chicken don't use couscous/rice/noodles, correct?
What should i use instead?

Thanks

Hmmm... IPad swapped in VHS for VH. I suppose I can see why.

Regardingthe dumb bells, they aren't really goings do much at that weight other than keep you moving. Not a bad thing, but not really helping much, either... Saying that, do you feel bushed after a workout? Or just meh?

Chances are you may do better on just the fast walk, depending...

icecold · 20 May 2013 at 23:25

As I said in the other thread where that DB routine was posted:

There is no such thing as a DB routine for fat loss. You can have different emphases, but the only thing that is "for fat loss" is diet manipulation.

Nameless_87 · 21 May 2013 at 07:57

Thanks for all the advice!

On the food part I'm pretty much set... will keep doing what I've been doing with maybe minor changes to change it up a bit.

On the weight training part...

Should I change the workout?
Should I increase weights?
Or should I join a gym/personal trainer and let them guide me?

And one last thing... can anyone recommend a good weighing scale which also calculates body fat percentage perhaps?

Cheers

Glaucus · 21 May 2013 at 08:09

More importantly than anything else IMO, is how do you feel on this eating plan?
Is it something you can remin on for ever, only a handful of people can make a diet work, the rest of us have to realise that the way we eat has to be changed permanently and that a diet is doomed to failure as the mindset is I can keep it up for x-months then go back to normal, for most this is not the case.
If you are feeling good on it then keep doing as you are, if you don't feel good on it, you need to modify it to suit YOU. This maybe lots of small meals a day or a couple of big meals a day.
Then there's options like high protien/high fat - low/no refined carbs options and anything in between.

The chances are you have dieted before and seen trends, but might be avoiding such trends as you see it as unhealthy when it probably isn't or could be tweaked.

platypus · 21 May 2013 at 08:12

I honestly read the title as "Dating..." and wondered why it was in SA.

Jeci · 21 May 2013 at 08:18

As others have mentioned - it's all about how sustainable this all is...

Before you start fine tuning things such as moving the breakfast from cereal and some fruit'n'nut bars to say a couple of poached eggs on a slice of brown bread, you need to be comfortable with what you're doing and ensuring that it's going to last.

I HATE these diets that certainly do allow you to loose weight rapidly, but it can only last for a couple of weeks/months before you relapse and end up at square one.

It's all little steps.

This is the nutrition plan I follow, it's focussed around an afternoon workout, but obviously you can just use it for inspiration:

Nameless_87 · 21 May 2013 at 08:23

Glaucus said:
More importantly than anything else IMO, is how do you feel on this eating plan?
Is it something you can remin on for ever, only a handful of people can make a diet work, the rest of us have to realise that the way we eat has to be changed permanently and that a diet is doomed to failure as the mindset is I can keep it up for x-months then go back to normal, for most this is not the case.
If you are feeling good on it then keep doing as you are, if you don't feel good on it, you need to modify it to suit YOU. This maybe lots of small meals a day or a couple of big meals a day.
Then there's options like high protien/high fat - low/no refined carbs options and anything in between.

The chances are you have dieted before and seen trends, but might be avoiding such trends as you see it as unhealthy when it probably isn't or could be tweaked.

I've tried other diets before yes... did not stick with them.
This is the first I've done it for this long, and tbh I am liking it... I am not even seeing it as diet cause the food I'm cooking always tastes good. And I'm losing weight which obviously keeps me motivated.

Maybe in about a month I can add a cheat meal like a pizza every two weeks or something like it? I don't quite understand how it works though. Can it have positive effects meaning you will lose more weight/burn more fat in the next few days after the cheat meal?