Diet Help Needed

[TheCowboy]

I will first discuss the embarrassing truth. I am fat and need to diet lol. I am 17 years old, just got done with my football career and I am left with this 6' 300 lb body. Now it's not all fat, I have big arms and huge calves from 4 years of lifting, but the gut and the love handles really bother me. Plus hopefully it will give me more energy going into college.

I want to shed body fat, but I am worried if I lose weight I will also lose some of my strength and muscle. I will be honest and come up front that I know nothing about dieting. I don't eat junk food, but I am the type of man that will eat a lot of whatever you put in front of me. My current diet consists of lots of red meat.

Exercising isn't an issue. I work out 3 times a week, a lot more focused on lifting though. The food part is an issue.

For breakfast it is always cereal. Oatmeal squares, cinnamon squares, ect. Lunch's main food is a sandwich (PB&J, Ham, Turkey, Salami), some fruit and maybe crackers. Dinner is a variety of foods that really isn't a consistent plan.

Is there a specific plan you guys have done in the past to lose weight, or are currently on? What is the best way to lose weight? Cheerios in the morning, with whey protein shake as the milk? Don't take shakes? no sandwich at lunch? No snacks? No soda, just water? What's your plan?

Thank you for your help!

[a_minimalist]

Cardio, Cardio, Cardio. Try not to eat any carbs past 3 or 4. Limit your red meat intake to once a week. You want to eat leaner meats with less fat. Chicken breast is ideal as well as fish. Eat a ton of veggies to fill you up. Eat nuts, for snacks. There are also really good nut butters to spread on a slice of healthy whole wheat bread as a snack.

They key to your success will be about moderation though. You need to watch your caloric intake.

[zrinkill]

Download this App



I have seen it work wonders on friends of mine ...... young and old.

Helps people regulate calorie intake.

[danielofthesaints]

Originally Posted by TheCowboy

I will first discuss the embarrassing truth. I am fat and need to diet lol. I am 17 years old, just got done with my football career and I am left with this 6' 300 lb body. Now it's not all fat, I have big arms and huge calves from 4 years of lifting, but the gut and the love handles really bother me. Plus hopefully it will give me more energy going into college.

I want to shed body fat, but I am worried if I lose weight I will also lose some of my strength and muscle. I will be honest and come up front that I know nothing about dieting. I don't eat junk food, but I am the type of man that will eat a lot of whatever you put in front of me. My current diet consists of lots of red meat.

Exercising isn't an issue. I work out 3 times a week, a lot more focused on lifting though. The food part is an issue.

[View Full Quote]For breakfast it is always cereal. Oatmeal squares, cinnamon squares, ect. Lunch's main food is a sandwich (PB&J, Ham, Turkey, Salami), some fruit and maybe crackers. Dinner is a variety of foods that really isn't a consistent plan.

Is there a specific plan you guys have done in the past to lose weight, or are currently on? What is the best way to lose weight? Cheerios in the morning, with whey protein shake as the milk? Don't take shakes? no sandwich at lunch? No snacks? No soda, just water? What's your plan?

Thank you for your help!

(I'm gonna try to put this into terms anyone can understand)

At 6 foot and 300 lbs., you can be completely still the whole day and still burn 2704 calories. This is known as your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which is the minimum metabolic rate of you in a state of rest, at an empty stomach, and unstressed. Now, let's say we consider your 3 workouts a week a somewhat active lifestyle. Then we can say BMR * ~1.45 = 3921 calories per day is your required caloric intake. For the sake of advice, we'll stick with 4,000 calories a day.

START COUNTING CALORIES! This will give you a good idea on how many you are eating currently. But more importantly, do not be hesitant to eat. Starving yourself is not the way to go about losing "good" weight. That could do more harm than anything.

I need to know a lot more information about your metabolism to give you in depth advice, but here is some pretty general advice:
- Do not eat to get full. I eat 6-7 meals a day, but other than breakfast, they are all fairly small in content and simple not including breakfast. Ex: Breakfast: Protein shake, 3 cups of raw oatmeal with blueberries, strawberries, and 2-3 eggs on the side, cup of OJ. Brunch: Apple and can of tuna. Lunch: Turkey Sandwich and handful of raw spinach, Next Meal: Banana and one spoonful of natural peanut butter, Dinner: Chicken Breast, 3 handfuls of spinach. You get the idea.

-Gradually decrease your calorie intake throughout the day but don't worry about eating a little more before or after a workout. You need to replenish the body of the nutrients it needs that you lost during exercise and provide nutrients to recover properly.

- Like minimalist said, cut down bread, pasta, pizza, cereal intake after 6 or 7. This does depend on when you workout throughout the day. If you get a morning workout, the statement above holds true, but if you workout at night, you can have carbs with your post-workout meal. What is most important from this statement is holding back from the late-night eating. (Good luck with that in college btw )

- Make a chart of your progress. Measure your weight twice a week, and find a way to measure your body fat % once a month.

- I've seen from your previous posts that you've played football and have lifted. Let's start speeding up the tempo to your workouts and keep that heart rate around 135 bpm. This is an optimal set point for fat burn at your age.

- Find motivation. If you have trouble being self-motivated to stick with your plan, find a workout buddy who has the same goals as you, and more than likely that will help you stick on your plan.

- Enjoy yourself every now and then with a burger and fries, or some pizza. Use the 2 steps forward, a small step back philosophy.

- My staple foods are spinach, chicken breast, all types of fruits, broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, flax seed, non-fat greek yogurt, salmon, and wheat pasta. You can get most of those veggies in the frozen packages of mixed veggies. Throw that on the grill and bon appetite.

- Like many will say, cardio will be your right-hand man through all of this. Vary your cardio though. Don't just go run on the treadmill everytime for 20 minutes and that's that. Look into HIIT (High intensity interval training), use the elliptical at a slow to moderate pace for 1 hour, go swimming, play sports, etc.

- This might not come up, but I'll tell you anyway because I found myself in the situation. Don't be rude about not eating food someone is providing you because it doesn't fit with your diet. (Ex: My ex's mom would love to fill me up on delicious home-cooked meals. I follow a strict diet, but I didn't want to be rude by declining because it's too fatty or something.

- No more fast food. Say goodbye for now.

- This is going to be a gradual process if done correctly.


Let me know if you have any further questions about what I said. Feel free to send me a PM.

[Kristi]

My Fitness Pal is a great FREE app and website to easily track your food and your exercise. Their numbers are a little high on the cardio. I suggest getting a heart rate monitor that counts the calories you burn.

[Rack Bauer]

Originally Posted by Kristi

My Fitness Pal is a great FREE app and website to easily track your food and your exercise. Their numbers are a little high on the cardio. I suggest getting a heart rate monitor that counts the calories you burn.

THis is what I use and it helps a lot.

[davidyee]

...it is going to take a lot of focused work, but it may be well worth it.

There has been some good advice and try some of it to get your weight going down south.

Some personal advice.

1. It's not a diet, really it's a lifestyle. Your diet is your lifestyle so you have to decide who you want to be.

2. If a machine has touched it to process it try to limit that offering as a food choice in your lifestyle.

3. Educate yourself about your body and the human condition associated with the consumption of food. What you have explained in the OP is a serious trend happening in N. America and there is some incredible info coming out on the subject as the medical community is beginning to see much more of this phenomena up close in the clinics and the hospital beds. Amazing science here.

Lots of opportunity here so get informed and make the choice of whom you want to be. Just like your decision to go to college for an education and a career make your choice for lifestyle and the physical body you want to be.

Good luck.

[BringBackThatOleTimeBoys]

In June of 2005, finding out my blood pressure was 160/100 scared me into a gym. I stayed doing an hour of hard cardio 6 days weekly and went from 213 to 180 lbs in six months (charts say I should be 165 if I'm not a body builder) In other words, I went from mildly obese to a little overweight.

Did a lot of research and concluded 3 or 4 ailments is a failure of proper diet and exercise. I recommend one site to check out is www.realage.com....after you spend 10 minutes on the questionnaire, it will give tips on being healthier.

Don't underestimate the value of exercise. My experience is you will have to gradually get to the point you can do serious cardio. Losing weight was a lot easier at the start and a lot harder when I was close to my ideal weight - that 80/20 rule.....20% of the effort will lost 80% of your weight loss goal, but 80% of the effort to lose the last 20%.

Other thing is avoiding diet colas, sugary drinks, and calorie-dense foods.

[Sarge]

Count calories and exercise. It's that simple.

[trickblue]

Weren't you aiming to play college ball?

I would think you would need the bulk. If not, portion control is key as well as getting your heart rate up when exercising...

You have a lot of good advice in here...

[CliffnMesquite]

If it tastes good, don't eat it. That's all you need to know.

[Joe Rod]

Many great ways, but I would highly suggest one of the tracking mechansims mentioned above and/or a plan like weight watchers. Get something that helps teach you proper eating habits. Healthy should be a lifetime goal.

Find something to motivate you, think outside the box. I personally have found things like the attached to make things like running fun....

https://www.zombiesrungame.com/

[BIGDen]

There are lots of good bits of advice in this thread. To keep it simple, I would say keep exercising (not just cardio, lift as well) and cut down on carbs. Your overall caloric intake needs to decrease, but it's not always easy counting calories, so decrease the overall amount of food you take in, but really focus on decreasing the carbs (bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc). If you're consistent about exercising and adjust your diet a bit, you'll take off the pounds. Good luck!

[Stryker44]

There are alot of good decent people in this forum. I'm currently fighting a similar battle - though I'm 20 years older than you. What I'm finding to help me right now is keeping a journal with BOTH what I did to exercise and what exactly I ate that day along with the number of calories.

Personally doing this helps me limit the amount of binge/nervous eating I do. I do give myself one day a week right now to cheat...and its coinciding with Sundays during NFL season

Also if you drink alcohol/beer, try to cut back. I've found that that's a great way to add 2000 calories I don't need pretty quickly over a night.

Good luck. Oh, and for me, making a conscious effort to eat SLOWER and actually enjoy the food I eat has helped immensely as well. I have found that before I was just wolfing down food much the same way a dog does.

[a_minimalist]

Originally Posted by Joe Rod

Many great ways, but I would highly suggest one of the tracking mechansims mentioned above and/or a plan like weight watchers. Get something that helps teach you proper eating habits. Healthy should be a lifetime goal.

Find something to motivate you, think outside the box. I personally have found things like the attached to make things like running fun....

https://www.zombiesrungame.com/

IMO, that's the single most important advice you can give anyone. Too many people think about immediate results. The majority of someones concentration should be spent on maintaing healthy eating habits and a healthy lifestyle forever.