Becoming "The Situation"

[liebherrman]

Above is the best advice for you dude, you've got it 90% right, you need to focus on your diet plan more. Don't leave stuff to chance like thinking about what you are going to have for lunch 10 mins before lunch, planning and preparation is key to everything with weight loss. Do not allow yourself to start counting "collateral" calories into your intake... KNOW what you are eating PRECISELY before you eat it.

Figure out a balanced diet plan using this resource, little things like mayo on bread, not eating white bread and sugarry carbs, far too much of your diet above is highly processed foodstuffs, you need to eat the most unrefined foods you can, fresh fibrous veg, lean meat, lower salt, good fats (olive oil) wholegrain carbs (if you have to) brown rice, cut out soda's, cut down on beers make your body work to extract the best nutrician from what you are eating.

There is a wealth of information on this forum, everything you could want to know in order to lose weight properly and efficiently. If you are unsure search/ask. Websites like fitday enable you to accuratly count calories and macros so there is no excuse!!

Good luck man

[cawiau]

Fellow Ma$$hole subbing to keep up to date on your progress. I started in a very similar situation to you so I will share some of the tips I have from the first month of my routine.

1. Identify some clear cut goals. From your profile I am seeing this "I want to LOSE 150 lb". Good start! Have this as your long term goal. You should be able to lose 2lb. a week, so that is a 75 week goal. A bit long to keep in perspective. Set yourself a shorter term goal for something like spring break or so. That way you can feel great at hitting your short term goal instead of having to wait all the way until a year and a half to meet a goal.

2. The gym: You are going about this the right way. Increasing your weightlifting and increasing your cardio each session. As fat guys we can make even small changes and see huge results! Just MOVING at all is a great way to get started. Keep it up in there, looking good!

3. Your diet will determine your success. It sucks, but if you bust ass in the gym and go home and eat a pizza, you will not get the results you want. Sounds like so far you are making some good changes, start small. I used a fitday.com account and logged everything I ate for a week. Took me about 2 weeks to stop lying to the food log. When you start accounting for EVERY SINGLE THING that you eat, you will start making changes.

Simple stuff like mustard instead of mayo, diet soda instead of regular, crystal light instead of juice, all these small changes will add up.

You need to start weighing/measuring your food. As fat guys we see a 10 oz. piece of meat and think "Nice little 2oz snack". You will be very very surprised at what constitutes an actual serving size. Reign in your 'might be 500 cals' and 'about a cup' and turn them into exact numbers. Of course you live in the real world and cannot be exact with everything, but you do have a luxury which is not open to many people: you can plan your meals ahead of time. With the school cafeteria you can get the menus, check out whats being served and go into the cafeteria knowing what you are going to eat. Put it in your food log before you go and stick to your decisions. This makes a huge difference. When you plan before you eat you can make some better choices, rather than having to guesstimate in the moment and rue it later on.

4. You will experience setbacks. Last week I pounded 3 cupcakes before I even knew it. That sucked, but I logged it, took responsibility and moved on. The difference between you and a perma-fatty is that you are working on changing, you control your body and you will keep going. We cannot all be perfect all the time, you will slip up but just put it in the past and move forward.

5. A friend of mine is an RD at Framingham. Keep up the progress, or we'll come find you. Nah, j/k.... or am I!!!!

Good luck, keep up the good work and if you have any questions post em up!

-Drew

great post *repped*

[TVRYAN]

Kind of lower cal today, but I was so busy doing stuff my eating schedule was a little weird.
I'm home for the weekend, so my diet should be a lot better for myself, I can weigh out portions better. School food is crap.
I worked out early, so my breakfast was my pre-workout meal as well.

Breakfast/pre-workout
Bowl of oatmeal (about 1.25 servings)
about 2 tablespoons maple syrup ( I'm not enough of a man yet to eat oatmeal plain)
5 egg whites

Post Workout
2 Scoops ON Whey
9 Gummy bears (this was the bottom of the bag)

Lunch
Cup or so of fresh broccoli
sandwich on whole wheat bread consisting of turkey, roast beef, lettuce, and tomato

Dinner
8 3/8 ounces top round steak
90 grams baked potato
about 1.5 cups frozen broccoli

Snacks throughout day
Protein Bar
Wendy's large chili (I know, but I figured the macros were some of the best you could get for a fast food item. Lotsa sodium though. )
Low Carb Monster
Medium Banana

2432 Calories
275 Carbs
48 Fat
238 Protein

You all would be glad to hear that when I went to happy hour with my parents, all I drank was water. Didn't eat anything at the bar though, all crap.

[TVRYAN]

I have a problem of eating snacks before bed, but if you work it into you cal count does it really matter? I sleep a little better having food in my stomach. I had 2 string cheeses and a bag of TJ's Handful of Roasted Almonds bringing count to:
2802 cals
284 carb
76 fat
261 pro

[TVRYAN]

I lost 1.5 pounds in 13 days. I know that's not that great, but I think it's ok considering my bingey weekend I had before I was like "I gotta log my diet as well". I estimate a good 1.25 was lost this week alone which is right in the 1-2 pound/wk range.

I know I should have said this earlier, but I'm also on this medication for mental illness and one of the potential effects is "weight gain". I started taking it in the end of 06 and gained 100ish pounds in 3 years. So I don't know if my meds will make it a lot harder for me to lose? I should be able to by tuning my diet though and consistently working out.

When I calculate my calorie intake, what how should I determine it. I use this online calculator. And I use the caloe count for Sedentary, cause I figure that would be the safest route, and I subtract 500-1000 cals from that maintenance.
This puts me at a range of 2400-2900. Should I keep this, or should I change the settings on the calculator site to light active 1-3 time/wk which would be 29-3400, or mod active 3-5 times/wk which would be 3400-3900? I think even though I guess I could be moderately active now hitting the gym 4 days/wk I should go the higher route, but on paper that seems like so many calories.

[drewott]

Grats on the weight loss! If you are still working and have gone down in weight, you are going in the right direction!

Figuring out your daily caloric amount can be difficult. I would stick to around 2300 to 2700 per day. Start out with 2700 and work on getting it down to 2300. Gradual changes will work well for this.

Stop drinking those monsters, with your workouts and healthier eating you will find yourself full of energy.

As far as side effects to medicine, many antidepressants have a weight gain side effect. I am not certain whether this is a psychological or physiological reason but I would venture a guess that you just have more hunger. Will take some more willpower but if you control your diet you should not be greatly impacted by the meds. I take prozac with no ill effects.

Keep up the good work!

-Drew

[nyg66]

Congrats on the loss. The hardwork is paying off.

[postflopaction]

good job man

would you consider swapping those string cheese before bed for some fruit?

like bananna or apples?

[TVRYAN]

good job man

would you consider swapping those string cheese before bed for some fruit?

like bananna or apples?

I suppose I could. That probably wouldn't be too hard at school either because I can probably grab a piece of fruit or 2 on my way out of meals.

[Talawandaballa]

I'm all for what you are doing.. And definitely impressed you are out there making the attempt. I know it's not easy doing something new that you aren't used too.. But at the same time, if you are really serious about this, you should step the time in the gym. Spend more time in the gym, fire threw more sets, and go at least 6 days a week.. The gym should become your second home...

If you are serious about being lean and jacked go for it, don't make any excuses..

[postflopaction]

I suppose I could. That probably wouldn't be too hard at school either because I can probably grab a piece of fruit or 2 on my way out of meals.

cheese is slow when it comes to the digestive process (I know there good)

cleaning up the diet just a little will yield even better results.

just a suggestion bro, eat what you want

cheese can take between four and five hours to digest, so not the greatest thing to eat before bed.

[TVRYAN]

I wasn't expecting to do cardio today since it's the weekend. But I kinda wanted to get a small session in. We went to my parent's timeshare and used their fitness facilities. There was only one good machine, an elliptical machine. The other elliptical was busted, and all they had were bikes. I HATE bikes. The seats are so uncomfortable, fortunately the elliptical was open.

Cardio - Elliptical
25 Minutes (I probably could've pounded out more, but there's a 20 minute policy if someone else is waiting. And who could blame them for wanting to use it, it was the only good machine. No one likes bikes.)
Level 7
1.75 miles
Calorie "Burn" of 400

Diet

Breakfast
2 xl eggs
1 medium egg
4 oz top round steak
1 slice TJ's Tuscan Pane bread
1.5 servings half and half

Lunch
2 slices Pepperidge Farm light style extra fiber bread
1 can tuna fish
1 tablespoon mayonnaise (it's less than I normally would've used. We had honey flavored mustard, but I thought that may end up being too weird)

Dinner
Cobb Salad from restaurant to go, no dressing
I calculated the calories from entering these items
7 oz chicken breast (yes I took it off the salad and weighed it)
1 large hard boiled egg
.38 avocado (there was about 1/4 and my dad cut up a little more for his salad, so I had an eighth more)
4 slices bacon
2 cups lettuce
4 cherry tomatos

Snacks throughout day
1.5 servings oatmeal
1 serving sugar free maple syrup
2 scoops ON whey
2 Scoops EAS Whey (ran out of ON)
1 cup 1% milk
medium apple
orange
4 trader joes entertainer crackers ( I probably should've avoided these, 140 cals of nothing good)
Monster Low Carb (I swear I'll try to get off the stuff as soon as my box of them run out)

Totals
2676 cals
192 carbs
92 fat
268 protein

I don't know how some of you manage to have a whey shake as a snack. I tried it, and just powder and water/milk just doesn't cut it. I NEED food to feel satisfied.

[trance__dreamer]

best of luck to you! don't ever give up. you've got this.

[TVRYAN]

I knew I should have weighed myself today as opposed to yesterday. The day before yesterday I had a high sodium fast food item, and a huge late dinner and weighed myself early the next day. I was 339.75. Today, the day I would normally weigh myself, I was 338. I like that a lot more then 339.75.
So at the beginning of the year I was just beyond 350. Now I'm 338. I like this.

My "stack" right now is optimen, green tea extract, fish oil, and whey. I've been reading all this positive stuff about creatine. Would I benefit from taking that as well? I think I'm doing fine with what I have right now.

[postflopaction]

I knew I should have weighed myself today as opposed to yesterday. The day before yesterday I had a high sodium fast food item, and a huge late dinner and weighed myself early the next day. I was 339.75. Today, the day I would normally weigh myself, I was 338. I like that a lot more then 339.75.
So at the beginning of the year I was just beyond 350. Now I'm 338. I like this.

My "stack" right now is optimen, green tea extract, fish oil, and whey. I've been reading all this positive stuff about creatine. Would I benefit from taking that as well? I think I'm doing fine with what I have right now.

we gonna clean up your diet soon, your gonna be 299 6-8 weeks

i would hold off on creatine for now, once we can find happy medium and clean up this diet, you should lose 5+pounds per week

keep it up man almost have a weeks history to go off of, good job

[TVRYAN]

we gonna clean up your diet soon, your gonna be 299 6-8 weeks

i would hold off on creatine for now, once we can find happy medium and clean up this diet, you should lose 5+pounds per week

keep it up man almost have a weeks history to go off of, good job

5+ pounds a week? That sounds super optimistic. I thought I was eating as clean as I could especially with being at school 4-5 days of the week and eating their food. I don't know how clean we'll be able to make it with school offerings, but I definitely appreciate all your help/suggestions.

[postflopaction]

5+ pounds a week? That sounds super optimistic. I thought I was eating as clean as I could especially with being at school 4-5 days of the week and eating their food. I don't know how clean we'll be able to make it with school offerings, but I definitely appreciate all your help/suggestions.

you can do it, just need get your clean diet up a little

[TVRYAN]

Time for a v-day log!

Cardio
Only "cardio" I got today was walking the dog.

Diet
Today we went out for a late lunch/early supper. I ate half when I was at the restaurant. I actually was able to weigh out the other half when I got home. So I just used the weights from when I got home for the lunch portions. The salmon filet from the restaurant was ginormous!

Breakfast - Protein Power house 82 grams!
3 extra large eggs
3 egg whites (had extra because dad made mom eggs bennedict, so I volunteered to eat the whites)
4.75 oz top round steak
1 stop and shop light multi-grain english muffin

Lunch - Another protein powerhouse at 73 grams
18 steamed clams (yes I used drawn butter for dipping so I included 1 tablespoon butter in on tracker)
house salad - only had to worry about the ounce or so of croutons, the rest was pure veg
1 tablespoon creamy garlic dressing (I did the quick dip of fork into dressing then used it on salad. Barely used any out of the cup that came out.)
4.63 oz salmon
145 grams baked potato

Dinner
4.63 oz salmon
145 grams baked potato

Snacks
small pear
2 string cheese
2 Monster Lo-carb
Smoothie consisting of:
2 scoops EAS
200 gram frozen strawberries
1 small banana
1 cup 2% milk (mom has all these cartons from the school she works at)

Totals
2728 calories
206 Carbs
97 Fat
261 Protein

I believe I ate the best I possibly could considering we went out for a big lunch/supper and think I did a decent job.

[TVRYAN]

I just had a really clean lunch.
12 ounces chicken breast and a cup of frozen broccoli.
It was only 415 calories, but it feels like I just ate a meal worth 1200 calories. Awesome.

[MJFan1]

I just had a really clean lunch.
12 ounces chicken breast and a cup of frozen broccoli.
It was only 415 calories, but it feels like I just ate a meal worth 1200 calories. Awesome.

That's great, chicken breast is awesome.

[postflopaction]

I just had a really clean lunch.
12 ounces chicken breast and a cup of frozen broccoli.
It was only 415 calories, but it feels like I just ate a meal worth 1200 calories. Awesome.

very good

[drewott]

Good work. As you clean up your diet you will find yourself able to eat more good food and feel full. Keep it up.

-Drew

[cawiau]

good job bro
And clean food fills you up more as you stated

[TVRYAN]

School was not in session today, so I was home for most of the day. Cardio again was walking the dog for about 45 minutes with about 30 minutes of that actual walking and 15 minutes of the dog sniffing things. Breakfast was ok, lunch was the best meal by far, dinner... was a bit dirty... but I measured everything out and stayed in my calorie range, so I guess that's a plus. The main reason I ate it was because I was at my grandfathers house and he doesn't have much other options to eat. He doesn't eat much himself and rarely goes shopping. Also the meal was one of my favorites, and I thought having one meal of the week to have what I love wouldn't be so bad as long as I didn't go overboard and pig out. While at school I plan to power through some extra cardio sessions to "make up". Starting tomorrow is back to school and eating their food.

Diet
Breakfast
sandwich consisting of:
2 extra large eggs
1.5 oz top round steak
0.5 oz american cheese
stop and shop light multigrain english muffin

Lunch
12 oz chicken breast
1 cup frozen broccoli

Dinner (ugh, all the fat)
5 bbq ribs
2 cups caesar salad
8 grilled asparagus spears

Snacks throughout day
4 string cheese
4 slices canadian bacon
1 large apple
1 package TJ's Handful of Almonds
2 Low Carb Monsters (I'll try and quit cold turkey after my next 3 or 4 are gone. Bought an 8 pack recently)
2 Nature Valley Oats and Honey Bars

Totals
2899 calories
162 carbs
154 fat (definitely higher than I would like)
234 protein

[TVRYAN]

This week is a little weird seeing as I didn't have class on Monday, and I'll probably be going home Thursday night for the weekend. The main reason I stayed at school through Friday was because that was when I had my Bolex camera reservation for Fri-Mon and had to pick it up around 12:30, so I was able to get an extra lifting day in. This week I'm going to lift Tuesday and Thursday, and try to get a cardio session in Tues-Thurs with 2 on Wednesday.

I know my diet left a lot to be desired yesterday, especially with my cheat meal of the week, so I did a little longer cardio session today than usual. So far today I did a treadmill cardio session lasting 43 minutes, avg 2.5 speed, with incline varying from 12-15, calorie burn of 825.

I know this is a bit of a stupid question, but I'll ask anyway. Since I have quite a bit of weight to lose, would I benefit more from doing straight up cardio. Or should I keep my couple of weight sessions a week in? I feel like I should know this answer, but I would like to get other people's opinions.

[TVRYAN]

I know this is a bit of a stupid question, but I'll ask anyway. Since I have quite a bit of weight to lose, would I benefit more from doing straight up cardio. Or should I keep my couple of weight sessions a week in? I feel like I should know this answer, but I would like to get other people's opinions.

Upon more searching of forums, I'm keeping my lifting in.

[TVRYAN]

Today was a good day of diet, lifting, and cardio. I wasn't able to lift as many reps as usual on some exercises which kinda disappointed me, but I'm happy I did both lifting and cardio today.

Cardio (mentioned earlier but will repeat)
avg 2.5 speed
12-15 incline
43 minutes
825 calorie burn

Lifting

Squat
warmup of bar and then a set of 135
3x10x190
Gradually working my way up each lifting day, will do 195 next workout

Dumbbell Row
warmup set of 40 lbs
1x10x55
2x6x55

Dumbbell Bench Press
warmup of 40
2x8x55

dumbbell shoulder press - seated
warmup set of 25
1x10x40
2x7x40

Diet (I don't usually worry about macros, but I practically hit a 40/40/20 split today)
Breakfast
Protein Bar

Lunch
Sandwich consisting of:
Roast Beef
Turkey
Lettuce
Tomato

Cup of Broccoli

Dinner/pre lifting
6 oz pork loin
cup of tuna that was packed in water
green beans
broccoli

Post Workout
2 Scoops EAS
15 gummy bears

Snacks throughout day
3 cheese sticks
TJ's handful of almonds
1.5 serving oatmeal
1 serving Mrs. Buttersworth Sugarfree syrup
3 monster low carb (I have no more, will see how my energy levels are off them)
Nature Valley Oats 'N Honey bar

Totals
Cals Carb Fat Protein
2,588 247 74 241

[MJFan1]

Today was a good day of diet, lifting, and cardio. I wasn't able to lift as many reps as usual on some exercises which kinda disappointed me, but I'm happy I did both lifting and cardio today.

Cardio (mentioned earlier but will repeat)
avg 2.5 speed
12-15 incline
43 minutes
825 calorie burn

Lifting

Squat
warmup of bar and then a set of 135
3x10x190
Gradually working my way up each lifting day, will do 195 next workout

Dumbbell Row
warmup set of 40 lbs
1x10x55
2x6x55

Dumbbell Bench Press
warmup of 40
2x8x55

dumbbell shoulder press - seated
warmup set of 25
1x10x40
2x7x40

Diet (I don't usually worry about macros, but I practically hit a 40/40/20 split today)
Breakfast
Protein Bar

Lunch
Sandwich consisting of:
Roast Beef
Turkey
Lettuce
Tomato

Cup of Broccoli

Dinner/pre lifting
6 oz pork loin
cup of tuna that was packed in water
green beans
broccoli

Post Workout
2 Scoops EAS
15 gummy bears

Snacks throughout day
3 cheese sticks
TJ's handful of almonds
1.5 serving oatmeal
1 serving Mrs. Buttersworth Sugarfree syrup
3 monster low carb (I have no more, will see how my energy levels are off them)
Nature Valley Oats 'N Honey bar

Totals
Cals Carb Fat Protein
2,588 247 74 241

Damn, you burn over 800 in 40 minutes? I can only burn 300 in 30 minutes on the treadmill.

[cawiau]

OP, good work today

Damn, you burn over 800 in 40 minutes? I can only burn 300 in 30 minutes on the treadmill.

2 things about this :

1) If he is using the machine to calculate the total calories burned, they are usually way higher than the actual number.

2) He has over 200 lbs on you, so his heart has to work harder, more effort, more energy to do the same amount of work. I burned 892 calories in my last spinning class per my heart rate monitor compared to my friend that burned close to 1500 calories at 315 lbs.

[KowboysUp]

You're doing a good job man.

Just wanted to let you know I'm watching and to wish you well. It's good to see you reading up more on this forum, getting more educated, and tightening up your routine/diet.

I think you're well on your way to success, good luck!