I was conflicted on whether to post this in the female section or here, but I guess I'll post here because my primary focus now is fat loss.
Ok I just had a baby in July and am finally OK to workout any way I would like to. I gained 70 lbs throughout my pregnancy and currently weigh 230 standing 5'5 tall.
I'm going to be realistic and say that right now there's no way I am going to commit to a specific, restricting eating plan, but I will commit to eating healthy and exercising. Seriously. No ****.
I know I'm going to be repetitive here but I would really like some specific-to-me help. My questions are:
1) To begin getting these 70lbs off does 1800 calories a day max sound pretty good? The whole calorie intake amount kinda confuses me.
2) Any tips on what I can do exercise wise in addition to my eating to lose a steady 1 or 2 lbs a week? I'm terribly out of shape now. Right now I typically just take my baby for 20-30 min walks and sometimes I will dance for 20 minutes on top of that. I would like to work my way back into the gym and get a routine going there but for now I would like something where I can stick to dumbbells at home and outside exercise majority days of the week.
Here are my before and after the baby pictures:
My before is satisfactory and I want to at least get back there soon, however my main goal is a more learn and muscular physique .. but that's so far off that losing this damn fat is all I care about for now.
Can anyone help me out a bit? I'm so ready for some consistent loss whether its pounds or inches.
You're going to have to be restrictive in your eating or you can forget about ever getting the physique you desire. Pick up the weights, ignore cardio unless you have to do it to save time and start cutting caloric intake until you see some fat loss(ignore WEIGHT). The one thing that is important with your diet is caloric intake and making sure you're getting enough protein in to maintain the muscle mass that you have.
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Mar 13, 2009 11:33pm
you look like a little bitch to me.-tone4now's comment to me -
That's the look I was going for, talk about getting a feeling of accomplishment!
You're going to have to be restrictive in your eating or you can forget about ever getting the physique you desire. Pick up the weights, ignore cardio unless you have to do it to save time and start cutting caloric intake until you see some fat loss(ignore WEIGHT). The one thing that is important with your diet is caloric intake and making sure you're getting enough protein in to maintain the muscle mass that you have.
So you're saying I should just play around with a caloric intake until I see something working?
I'm just being realistic that right now I'm not going to eat chicken breast, oatmeal and green beans every day. I'm going to fail if I say I'm going to do that .. but that doesn't mean I'm going to be eating cheeseburgers, potato chips and snickers either. I just enjoy more of a variety of foods. Most recipes I fix are out of "Eating For Life"
You say I should only lift to lose fat, ok but for how long? And how should I split it?
So you're saying I should just play around with a caloric intake until I see something working?
I'm just being realistic that right now I'm not going to eat chicken breast, oatmeal and green beans every day. I'm going to fail if I say I'm going to do that .. but that doesn't mean I'm going to be eating cheeseburgers, potato chips and snickers either. I just enjoy more of a variety of foods. Most recipes I fix are out of "Eating For Life"
You say I should only lift to lose fat, ok but for how long? And how should I split it?
I'm not saying that you have to be super strict in what you eat but watch your caloric intake and get your protein in, if you can fit that ice cream sandwich(Choco Taco sounds good) into your daily deficit for fat loss have at it. Seeing as to how you have a baby you probably don't have all the time in the world to spend it working out so that's why I said skip the cardio, you can get near the same effect on body composition by cutting calories from your diet. As for a lifting split, anything should work as long as you train each and every muscle once per week. Just make it count, don't slack on it too much, the biggest thing is giving it time and being patient, the results will come eventually.
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Mar 13, 2009 11:33pm
you look like a little bitch to me.-tone4now's comment to me -
That's the look I was going for, talk about getting a feeling of accomplishment!
I'm not saying that you have to be super strict in what you eat but watch your caloric intake and get your protein in, if you can fit that ice cream sandwich(Choco Taco sounds good) into your daily deficit for fat loss have at it. Seeing as to how you have a baby you probably don't have all the time in the world to spend it working out so that's why I said skip the cardio, you can get near the same effect on body composition by cutting calories from your diet. As for a lifting split, anything should work as long as you train each and every muscle once per week. Just make it count, don't slack on it too much, the biggest thing is giving it time and being patient, the results will come eventually.
1) I agree with th3pwn3r except I would still do cardio for the heart and lungs benefits. It is not necessary to lose fat, but I would still do it. But yes, lift weights hard and heavy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sixtoo
I'm just being realistic that right now I'm not going to eat chicken breast, oatmeal and green beans every day.
This concerns me a bit. Not because you have to just eat chicken and oats and veggies, but because it is usually a bad sign when people start saying things like: "I want to lose fat, but I am not going to do xyz." When you start eliminating advice just because you don't want to do it, you aren't going to reach your goals.
I would read up on the training and nutrition articles on the main site for specific details on what to eat and how to workout:
This concerns me a bit. Not because you have to just eat chicken and oats and veggies, but because it is usually a bad sign when people start saying things like: "I want to lose fat, but I am not going to do xyz." When you start eliminating advice just because you don't want to do it, you aren't going to reach your goals.
It's not necessary to only be on specific eating plan to lose weight. I've done this before and I've had people recommend Keto, Velocity, chicken breast/green bean diet, etc and I know that's not some **** I'm looking to do so that's why I'm not looking for people to suggest something like that to me.
I never said I'm going to eat cheeseburgers or something because I don't wanna eat chicken breast every day. However my question as far as nutrition goes is what should my calorie intake be to get the ball rolling? 1500, 1800, what? I'm just confused on that part. I'll handle the rest as far as coming up with a plan of what I actually eat.
There are many different nutrition plans that can help you. While I don't agree with Velocity and Keto and things of that nature, they will work. As to how many calories you need, you need to determine your maintenance and then subtract 500 calories from that. You should start with your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and activity level, and then adjust your calories based on how much weight you are losing/maintaining/gaining.
There is nothing wrong with hamburgers by the way. Fast food burgers and sports bar burgers are no good, but it is perfectly fine to go to the store and get some 95/5 lean ground beef and make some burgers. You just have to account for all the things that make up the burger, including cheese, condiments, bun, side dishes, et cetera in your calories.
Again, my concern is that you're already eliminating options not because there is scientific evidence that they won't work, but because you don't want to do them. People say this all the time. They want to lose weight, but they don't want to count calories. Or they don't want to just eat clean food all the time. Or they don't want to lift weights. Or they don't want to do what their PTs want them to do. So you have to ask yourself, how committed to getting fit are you? If you want to get healthy, you are going to have to make sacrifices. What's more important: getting healthy, or eating non-"boring" food?
It's not necessary to only be on specific eating plan to lose weight. I've done this before and I've had people recommend Keto, Velocity, chicken breast/green bean diet, etc and I know that's not some **** I'm looking to do so that's why I'm not looking for people to suggest something like that to me.
I never said I'm going to eat cheeseburgers or something because I don't wanna eat chicken breast every day. However my question as far as nutrition goes is what should my calorie intake be to get the ball rolling? 1500, 1800, what? I'm just confused on that part. I'll handle the rest as far as coming up with a plan of what I actually eat.
I knew what you meant by what you said ^_^ As for caloric intake just start up higher and if you're not seeing results then lower 200 per day and wait a few weeks. If you're still not seeing results try cutting more calories. You want to start higher up in caloric intake and adjust until you see results. Try 2,000 per day for a couple weeks if you'd like. Just make sure you track your progress a few ways, a tape measure, body fat caliper, scale(not usually the best) and pictures or the mirror can all be very beneficial to tracking progress.
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Mar 13, 2009 11:33pm
you look like a little bitch to me.-tone4now's comment to me -
That's the look I was going for, talk about getting a feeling of accomplishment!
You still look thick in your before and if thats what you want, all you have to do is eat less food and do some cardio, don't get bogged down with specifics, find your calorie maintenance level and eat however much you feel comfortable with, if you feel like spending 10 extra bucks you should try out an e/c stack for a little bit
unlike others here who spend more time on these forums posting rather than doing the stuff themseleves, i practice what i preach, and ive lost a very nice amount of noticeable weight on the e/c stack
th3 is on the ball, just change your lifestyle and everything else will fall into place, I do agree with lifting to lose weight, I also enjoy cardio.
I too refuse to eat the chicken/green bean diet because I LOVE variety, so every week I pick out a meal or two that I really enjoy and make it over to something manageable with my calories.
BBQ chicken isn't bad, but I have an amazing new recipe that's lower calorie my house asks for multiple times a week, and as it turns out thats a chicken/vegetable day, but a damn delicious one at that.
That's what i'd advise, it's a lifestyle change to the max and if you can find things you enjoy eating it'll make it easy
__________________
"About halfway through the course of my pathetic life,
I woke up and found myself in a stupor in some dark place.
I'm not sure how I ended up there; I guess I had taken a few wrong turns."
that's what i'd advise, it's a lifestyle change to the max and if you can find things you enjoy eating it'll make it easy
yessss!!!
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Short-Term Goals:
- Fit into a dress by Christmas, ffs!!!!!
- Take the Personal Training final exam & practical by the end of Nov. (Did courses from Sept '08 --> Sept '09.) Finish studying my ass off 1st, though. =P (...in between teaching all of these "Trancerobics" classes. xD)
- Make it to 150 lbs lost! =O (300'ish --> LEAN 150/17.5%; am currently lean'ish ~175/~25%, approx?)
I knew what you meant by what you said ^_^ As for caloric intake just start up higher and if you're not seeing results then lower 200 per day and wait a few weeks. If you're still not seeing results try cutting more calories. You want to start higher up in caloric intake and adjust until you see results. Try 2,000 per day for a couple weeks if you'd like. Just make sure you track your progress a few ways, a tape measure, body fat caliper, scale(not usually the best) and pictures or the mirror can all be very beneficial to tracking progress.
Yup that's the problem. I've calculated my BMR, but read conflicting things on what my actual intake should be. I think I will start on the higher end and see how I do. I'll try 1800 for now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexs
You still look thick in your before and if thats what you want, all you have to do is eat less food and do some cardio, don't get bogged down with specifics, find your calorie maintenance level and eat however much you feel comfortable with, if you feel like spending 10 extra bucks you should try out an e/c stack for a little bit
unlike others here who spend more time on these forums posting rather than doing the stuff themseleves, i practice what i preach, and ive lost a very nice amount of noticeable weight on the e/c stack
I was getting chubby before I had the baby (I was hella lovin the club scene), but my before pics are better than where I am now. They are not my main goal, but a nice "short term" goal to look at for now then I'll worry about the rest once I get there.
I've never had to lose this much weight before so yeah I'm concerned what I need to be doing for exercise and how to get my body back into it. I'm thinking of sticking with the walking, adding weights and someday, when I'm ready, a couple of days of HIIT.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amandarose531
th3 is on the ball, just change your lifestyle and everything else will fall into place, I do agree with lifting to lose weight, I also enjoy cardio.
I too refuse to eat the chicken/green bean diet because I LOVE variety, so every week I pick out a meal or two that I really enjoy and make it over to something manageable with my calories.
BBQ chicken isn't bad, but I have an amazing new recipe that's lower calorie my house asks for multiple times a week, and as it turns out thats a chicken/vegetable day, but a damn delicious one at that.
That's what i'd advise, it's a lifestyle change to the max and if you can find things you enjoy eating it'll make it easy
Great advice. And very in line with what I mean and have been thinking of for myself. This is just day one.
So you have selected chicken and green beans days of the week, eh? LOL I'm just curious .. how does that work out? Like what's a week look like in your house hold?
That may actually be a great idea. I can hella deal with that.
Drastic changes require drastic measures. It's good that you're being realistic, but it sounds like you're giving up before you even started.
You don't have to eat oats and chicken breasts everyday to lose weight, just eat less. And first of all you have to find out how many calories you're putting into your body everyday. It's a huge pain in the ass if you like a big variety of foods but it's very necessary.
If your maintenance is 2500 calories per day and you're eating 2500 you're not going to lose weight. And if you're eating more than 2500 you're going to gain weight. So you just simply have to eat less.
Yup that's the problem. I've calculated my BMR, but read conflicting things on what my actual intake should be. I think I will start on the higher end and see how I do. I'll try 1800 for now.
I was getting chubby before I had the baby (I was hella lovin the club scene), but my before pics are better than where I am now. They are not my main goal, but a nice "short term" goal to look at for now then I'll worry about the rest once I get there.
I've never had to lose this much weight before so yeah I'm concerned what I need to be doing for exercise and how to get my body back into it. I'm thinking of sticking with the walking, adding weights and someday, when I'm ready, a couple of days of HIIT.
Great advice. And very in line with what I mean and have been thinking of for myself. This is just day one.
So you have selected chicken and green beans days of the week, eh? LOL I'm just curious .. how does that work out? Like what's a week look like in your house hold?
That may actually be a great idea. I can hella deal with that.
I agree with pretty much what everyone else said. Also to keep track of calories, you can use dailyburn.com.
I've used several calorie tracking websites and this by far is the easiest. Fitday takes forever to load for some reason.
You'll definitely have to play around with your caloric intake because everyone is different for different reasons.
I'm the same height as you and I started out with 1600-1700 and did well with that, then I went up to 1800 and it's been kind of stalling, not gaining but not losing either, so I'm going down to 1500.
Drastic changes require drastic measures. It's good that you're being realistic, but it sounds like you're giving up before you even started.
You don't have to eat oats and chicken breasts everyday to lose weight, just eat less. And first of all you have to find out how many calories you're putting into your body everyday. It's a huge pain in the ass if you like a big variety of foods but it's very necessary.
If your maintenance is 2500 calories per day and you're eating 2500 you're not going to lose weight. And if you're eating more than 2500 you're going to gain weight. So you just simply have to eat less.
When did I ever say I want a drastic change? A couple of you are acting like I came in here asking to lose all of the weight by November but I want to make my daily stop at Taco Bell and not count calories while I do it.
It's not a race for me, it's something I want to do gradually and will be able to realistically stick with for years. That's why I'm not looking for someone to suggest some fad or competition diet that'll supposedly cut me up in a jiff. If that offends you and makes you feel like I'm giving up because that's not how you would want to do things for yourself then that sucks for you and you don't have to give me any advice if you feel like it will be a waste.
Some others here seem to have actually read my first post, understand where I am coming from and have given me good advice
Quote:
Originally Posted by MadeUnderground
I agree with pretty much what everyone else said. Also to keep track of calories, you can use dailyburn.com.
I've used several calorie tracking websites and this by far is the easiest. Fitday takes forever to load for some reason.
You'll definitely have to play around with your caloric intake because everyone is different for different reasons.
I'm the same height as you and I started out with 1600-1700 and did well with that, then I went up to 1800 and it's been kind of stalling, not gaining but not losing either, so I'm going down to 1500.
Just keep track and make adjustments accordingly.
You're right it is pretty frustrating but I'm thinking I will have to play around with it as well because like you said, it seems to be different for everyone.
Any successful weight loss whether it be a LOT or as you would say gradually.... requires drastic changes. And when I say drastic I mean you actually have to alter what you're doing quite a bit.
Something as simple as what I recommended, "eat less" is a drastic change if you're currently eating a lot. You read my first sentence and started getting all defensive. I did give you advice, and I gave you advice that was tailored to what you were requesting.
You don't have to eat oats, chicken, and all that healthy stuff.... eat whatever you eat now but just eat at a caloric deficit. So there's some compromise there, but trust me if you're not eating super healthy..... eating at a caloric deficit is going to be hard (hence my use of the word "drastic").
Great advice. And very in line with what I mean and have been thinking of for myself. This is just day one.
So you have selected chicken and green beans days of the week, eh? LOL I'm just curious .. how does that work out? Like what's a week look like in your house hold?
That may actually be a great idea. I can hella deal with that.
Ha, well i've been pretty sick and I didn't see the follow up on this thread but to answer your question, because I work days I like to plan out what i'm making for the week in advance so it's a rotation of ~10 meals or so:
Sunday: Fend for yourself, I was still sick
Monday: Italian BBQ Chicken, Steamed Broccoli and Roasted Onion Sweet Potatos
Tuesday: Orange Teriyaki Pork Chop over WW Noodles with Steamed Broccoli
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Latin Chicken with Rice.
Thursday: Homemade Chicken Breast Pot Pie and Green Beans.
Friday: Mrs. Dash Day - Seasoned Chicken Sandwiches.
Saturday: Usually a reward for a good week, tacos, burgers, lasagna - not modified of course.
I really like Allrecipes.com they have nutrition info for most everything, it's usually close or in ballpark range, but since I modify everything I usually end up figuring it out myself.
My strategy is to just do what I was taught growing up, only better. My grandmother cooked primarily and as it turns out we had meat, vegetable, starch consistently the only thing I had wrong then was portion control, and of course it's easy to eat more when you can adjust the calories. I'm constantly in search of different types of meals to makeover/recreate so if you find a goody PM me.
For me and my lifestyle the best way for me to reach my goals is to be serious, get my vegetables, cardboard, and egg whites in during the day, and come home to enjoy a delicious sensible meal.
__________________
"About halfway through the course of my pathetic life,
I woke up and found myself in a stupor in some dark place.
I'm not sure how I ended up there; I guess I had taken a few wrong turns."
Last edited by Amandarose531; 09-07-2009 at 06:26 PM.
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