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PA Weight Loss Challenge: Thread 2. Yep, we're still at it.

1235732

Posts

  • lonelyahavalonelyahava Call me Ahava ~~She/Her~~ Move to New ZealandRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    man, that sounds so fairly easy. I like fish, the boyfriend likes fish. we both like vegetables (although I am horribly addicted to carbs, and holy smokes do i have a sweet tooth).

    the biggest hurdle i see for me doing that is that fish is so crazy expensive down here (yes yes island nation, but no really most of the fish is exported). the cheap fish being salmon or some other local fish that I have no idea what it is or how to cook it.

    So you lost 45 lbs doing this diet, without any exercise.... hmm



    i might have to look into this, is there a website or something that you can point me to, Ross?

    My favorite way to cook salmon is to brush it with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, wrap it in foil, and grill/bake it. Cook it medium rare. It's so good.

    I usually leave off the salt and replace it with garlic powder. some dill, maybe a bit of lemon juice. and then wrap the foil pack up along with some asparagus, green beans, maybe a tomato wedge, and/or some zucchini and yellow squash, good to go.

    when dad was doing the Sugar Busters diet and we could have the fats but not the carbs, i would add in butter. because everything tastes better with butter. serve with some whole wheat couscous, dinner for a king right there.

    or a princess, like me.

    lonelyahava on
  • Shazkar ShadowstormShazkar Shadowstorm Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    who knew
    i made cauliflower "rice" with butter and cilantro (aka shredded cauliflower, microwaved, with butter and cilantro) as a side

    and it's actually pretty good ( i mean it obviously tastes like cauliflower, but still )

    ain't touched a grain since saturday WHO NEEDS EM

    Shazkar Shadowstorm on
    poo
  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Rorus Raz wrote: »
    Isn't this the 600 calorie diet, or did you switch to something more substantive?

    Yes and no.

    I've stopped counting the exact calories, but keeping my protein portion sizes between 5 and 8 ounces twice a day, so the outcome is more or less the same.

    I'm still eating all the fruit and green vegetables I want, so I'm rarely hungry.

    Atomika on
  • InkSplatInkSplat 100%ed Bad Rats. Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Got P90X today. Week and a half til I can start it, but I can already tell it is going to destroy me.

    I think I'm going to ignore the nutrition plan that comes with it though, as it is pretty carb-heavy and pretty lacking in fat, which I know from experience doesn't usually work very well for me.

    I'm going to try only getting major carbs after my workout--the plan is to get up early and workout around 6am, so I'll hit a shake of apple juice + vanilla protein powder directly afterwards. And maybe throw in a hit of complex carbs on days that I do resistance.

    Not totally sure though--anyone have any experience with low carb and weight training? I'm trying to figure out the best way to do it. I know quite a few people do actually do P90X on a Primal/Paleo sort of diet... but none of them seem to actually go into any detail on it.

    InkSplat on
    Origin for Dragon Age: Inquisition Shenanigans: Inksplat776
  • A duck!A duck! Moderator, ClubPA mod
    edited March 2011
    I did low carb/weight training for about 7 months straight. If you're starting from a high body fat % then you should be fine until you get into the mid teens. You may have energy problems during workouts, but that's nothing a boatload of willpower and stimulants won't get you through. Juice with protein powder after the workout is what I used to do (I drink milk now, but I'm bulking), and I would follow it up with some oats later (1/4 of Quaker with cinnamon and ginger to taste). It was impossible for me to make it taste that great without sugar, but it was palatable.

    A duck! on
  • lonelyahavalonelyahava Call me Ahava ~~She/Her~~ Move to New ZealandRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    ok, so how do I curb my sweet tooth?

    I have made it through ok the last few days with little grains as possible.

    but how do I get away from the sweet tooth? my god it's like killing me. being given a whole bag of valrhona chocolate doesn't help much either.

    lonelyahava on
  • A duck!A duck! Moderator, ClubPA mod
    edited March 2011
    For me it was kinda like when I cut down on salt; after two weeks it's hard to go back. It's easy to become desensitized to sugar, so once I cut it out for a while I found that when I did indulge in it I ate a lot less because it would just make me sick to my stomach and make my teeth hurt.

    As for making it a few weeks without sugary things, it starts in the grocery basket. Unfortunately for me every single fucking person at work has a candy dish, but my trick there is to look at the dish and then at the person who has it out. The correlation usually keeps me away from snacking.

    A duck! on
  • lonelyahavalonelyahava Call me Ahava ~~She/Her~~ Move to New ZealandRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    so it's pretty much a willpower thing like with the soda and such.

    I've managed to pretty much cut the soda out of my life, although I will splurge a bit and have like a 7-up or and L&P (ohgod so good) occasionally, but i've gotten myself to tea and water. sometimes I'll sweeten the tea or the water, sometimes I'll add lime juice, but most of the time it's just iced tea or cold water.

    just gotta be strong and ignore the cravings.

    Is there anything you can suggest instead? Like when I was kicking smoking the first and second time, i would go for carrots or gum. would like cashews or almonds help?

    lonelyahava on
  • darklite_xdarklite_x I'm not an r-tard... Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I really wish I liked fish. Growing up in the midwest did nothing for my taste for seafood, which is a shame considering how healthy it is.

    I've got a sweet tooth myself, Ahava, which would usually see me eating a bag of M&Ms or a candy bar at night before bed. This obviously was not helping, but I've just got this mental thing where I feel like I need to be snacking on something in the evenings, so I recently switched to sunflower seeds. The salt isn't great, but I've never really cared about my sodium intake as much as calories or fat. Sunflower seeds have been great so far as they give me something I can snack on for a long time without really consuming too much, and the calories/fat content is very reasonable compared to most of the things I used to snack on.

    darklite_x on
    Steam ID: darklite_x Xbox Gamertag: Darklite 37 PSN:Rage_Kage_37 Battle.Net:darklite#2197
  • InkSplatInkSplat 100%ed Bad Rats. Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    A duck! wrote: »
    I did low carb/weight training for about 7 months straight. If you're starting from a high body fat % then you should be fine until you get into the mid teens. You may have energy problems during workouts, but that's nothing a boatload of willpower and stimulants won't get you through. Juice with protein powder after the workout is what I used to do (I drink milk now, but I'm bulking), and I would follow it up with some oats later (1/4 of Quaker with cinnamon and ginger to taste). It was impossible for me to make it taste that great without sugar, but it was palatable.

    Thanks.

    Yeah, pretty high BF% here, so I should be good. I was just worried how much glycogen I'd burn during the hour-long workouts compared to how much a single shake would replace.

    But I figure I can always add more if I find my muscles going into failure way sooner than they should.

    Planning to count protein and that's about it--making sure I get at least 250g per day, avoid carbs outside of post-workout, and then just let the fat/calorie count work itself out from there.

    InkSplat on
    Origin for Dragon Age: Inquisition Shenanigans: Inksplat776
  • retrovmretrovm Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    took a few days off from the gym, but been walking a TON recently. going to hit it again tomorrow. had my cousin in from the UK so i've been traipsing all around manhattan with him, which has been basically walking all day and all night. been dining out a lot as a result, but i've made wise choices with what i've ordered and been pretty a-ok.
    luckily i also have a job where i get to run around all night a couple times a week, but it's in food service so it's a great test of my willpower when it comes to nibbling on delicious fried foods. but also, since i work in food service, i never want to go near fried food/a deep frier ever the hell again. so it works out!

    don't know numbers, all i know is that i'm wearing pants i haven't worn in a long, long time. looking forward to hitting the weight machines again, i really like building my strength up; i've absolutely noticed a difference in my upper body strength since i started doing real pushups. yeesh those are hard!

    retrovm on
  • geckahngeckahn Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    InkSplat wrote: »
    A duck! wrote: »
    I did low carb/weight training for about 7 months straight. If you're starting from a high body fat % then you should be fine until you get into the mid teens. You may have energy problems during workouts, but that's nothing a boatload of willpower and stimulants won't get you through. Juice with protein powder after the workout is what I used to do (I drink milk now, but I'm bulking), and I would follow it up with some oats later (1/4 of Quaker with cinnamon and ginger to taste). It was impossible for me to make it taste that great without sugar, but it was palatable.

    Thanks.

    Yeah, pretty high BF% here, so I should be good. I was just worried how much glycogen I'd burn during the hour-long workouts compared to how much a single shake would replace.

    But I figure I can always add more if I find my muscles going into failure way sooner than they should.

    Planning to count protein and that's about it--making sure I get at least 250g per day, avoid carbs outside of post-workout, and then just let the fat/calorie count work itself out from there.

    You may want to alter your workouts to be more strength oriented (low reps, more sets, max weight), you'll definitely not have any glycogen problems doing that.

    geckahn on
  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    so it's pretty much a willpower thing like with the soda and such.

    I've managed to pretty much cut the soda out of my life, although I will splurge a bit and have like a 7-up or and L&P (ohgod so good) occasionally, but i've gotten myself to tea and water. sometimes I'll sweeten the tea or the water, sometimes I'll add lime juice, but most of the time it's just iced tea or cold water.

    just gotta be strong and ignore the cravings.

    Is there anything you can suggest instead? Like when I was kicking smoking the first and second time, i would go for carrots or gum. would like cashews or almonds help?

    The initial sugar cravings are pretty bad, but you'll get over them in 7-10 days as long as you don't relapse.

    In the meantime, try supplementing with your favorite fruits, sugar-free gum, or sugar-free candy. Just make sure those latter things don't use sorbitol as a sweetener, or you'll be farting from now 'til Christmas.

    Also, there's a great line of products for just this problem, but I don't know how available they are in New Zealand. It's called Walden Farms, and I don't know how they make their stuff, but I'm willing to think it's just magic.

    Atomika on
  • ChillyWillyChillyWilly Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Also, there's a great line of products for just this problem, but I don't know how available they are in New Zealand. It's called Walden Farms, and I don't know how they make their stuff, but I'm willing to think it's just magic.

    Ok, so I just looked at some of the products on this website and WTF, man. How are they making this stuff? Do they have a health sorcerer on their staff?

    ChillyWilly on
    PAFC Top 10 Finisher in Seasons 1 and 3. 2nd in Seasons 4 and 5. Final 4 in Season 6.
  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Also, there's a great line of products for just this problem, but I don't know how available they are in New Zealand. It's called Walden Farms, and I don't know how they make their stuff, but I'm willing to think it's just magic.

    Ok, so I just looked at some of the products on this website and WTF, man. How are they making this stuff? Do they have a health sorcerer on their staff?

    That's my running theory.



    Granted, some of it isn't so good, like the peanut butter and caramel topping, both of which have the consistency of runny scrambled eggs. But the chocolate sauce and marshmallow whip are actually really, really tasty. The salad dressings are . . . okay. They'll do.

    Atomika on
  • lazegamerlazegamer The magnanimous cyberspaceRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Also, there's a great line of products for just this problem, but I don't know how available they are in New Zealand. It's called Walden Farms, and I don't know how they make their stuff, but I'm willing to think it's just magic.

    Ok, so I just looked at some of the products on this website and WTF, man. How are they making this stuff? Do they have a health sorcerer on their staff?

    This reminds me of the Famine character from Good Omens. His food line consisted of items:
    indistinguishable from any other [food] except for [...] the nutritional content, which was roughly equivalent to that of a Sony Walkman. It didn't matter how much you ate, you lost weight.

    lazegamer on
    I would download a car.
  • ChillyWillyChillyWilly Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Also, there's a great line of products for just this problem, but I don't know how available they are in New Zealand. It's called Walden Farms, and I don't know how they make their stuff, but I'm willing to think it's just magic.

    Ok, so I just looked at some of the products on this website and WTF, man. How are they making this stuff? Do they have a health sorcerer on their staff?

    That's my running theory.



    Granted, some of it isn't so good, like the peanut butter and caramel topping, both of which have the consistency of runny scrambled eggs. But the chocolate sauce and marshmallow whip are actually really, really tasty. The salad dressings are . . . okay. They'll do.

    I can deal with odd consistencies and textures as long as the flavor is passable. I may have to check some of this stuff out.

    ChillyWilly on
    PAFC Top 10 Finisher in Seasons 1 and 3. 2nd in Seasons 4 and 5. Final 4 in Season 6.
  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I can deal with odd consistencies and textures as long as the flavor is passable. I may have to check some of this stuff out.

    Check your more upscale grocers. I get mine from a chain called Sprouts, which only carries local produce and organic meats, and they by far have the best selection of Walden Farms' products. I've also seen their stuff at Whole Foods and Central Market, but I can't say how great the selection is. The Wal-Mart near me also carries a limited selection of their stuff, but only because it's one of those upscale Wal-Marts found only in upper-middle class neighborhoods, with a sushi bar and an artisan bakery. The Wal-Mart on the other side of town does not, but they will change your oil and tires.

    Atomika on
  • Irond WillIrond Will WARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!! Cambridge. MAModerator mod
    edited March 2011
    Also, there's a great line of products for just this problem, but I don't know how available they are in New Zealand. It's called Walden Farms, and I don't know how they make their stuff, but I'm willing to think it's just magic.

    Ok, so I just looked at some of the products on this website and WTF, man. How are they making this stuff? Do they have a health sorcerer on their staff?

    be aware that they're probably abusing the FDA regs on product labeling by positing an unrealistically small serving size and then using the requirement that "less than one gram" of protein, fat, or carbs can be listed as "zero" and less than 5 calories can be listed as zero. you can tell that they kind of arbitrarily change serving size from 2 tbs to 1 tbs depending on the product.

    regardless, it's some low-calorie stuff that might help to scratch an itch when you're dieting. that fiber gel/ paste is pretty amazing stuff. i just bristle when it's clear that companies are employing trickery. european labels i believe force products to list nutritional information for 100g as well as more realistic serving sizes.

    Irond Will on
    Wqdwp8l.png
  • ChillyWillyChillyWilly Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I can deal with odd consistencies and textures as long as the flavor is passable. I may have to check some of this stuff out.

    Check your more upscale grocers. I get mine from a chain called Sprouts, which only carries local produce and organic meats, and they by far have the best selection of Walden Farms' products. I've also seen their stuff at Whole Foods and Central Market, but I can't say how great the selection is. The Wal-Mart near me also carries a limited selection of their stuff, but only because it's one of those upscale Wal-Marts found only in upper-middle class neighborhoods, with a sushi bar and an artisan bakery. The Wal-Mart on the other side of town does not, but they will change your oil and tires.

    I don't have a Wal-Mart like that anywhere near me. I do have a Greenlife near where I work, though. I'll probably check them out on the way home.

    I'm a religious label reader, Will. If they're pulling any trickery with miniscule serving sizes to back their claims, I'll see it. :D

    ChillyWilly on
    PAFC Top 10 Finisher in Seasons 1 and 3. 2nd in Seasons 4 and 5. Final 4 in Season 6.
  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Irond Will wrote: »
    Also, there's a great line of products for just this problem, but I don't know how available they are in New Zealand. It's called Walden Farms, and I don't know how they make their stuff, but I'm willing to think it's just magic.

    Ok, so I just looked at some of the products on this website and WTF, man. How are they making this stuff? Do they have a health sorcerer on their staff?

    be aware that they're probably abusing the FDA regs on product labeling by positing an unrealistically small serving size and then using the requirement that "less than one gram" of protein, fat, or carbs can be listed as "zero" and less than 5 calories can be listed as zero. you can tell that they kind of arbitrarily change serving size from 2 tbs to 1 tbs depending on the product.

    regardless, it's some low-calorie stuff that might help to scratch an itch when you're dieting. that fiber gel/ paste is pretty amazing stuff. i just bristle when it's clear that companies are employing trickery. european labels i believe force products to list nutritional information for 100g as well as more realistic serving sizes.

    You're probably right on the money, but like you said, it doesn't really matter. Certainly not when you compare the nutritional info on comparable products.

    Do you like good French food? Because La Madaleine Restaurants sells their salad/sandwich dressing at grocery stores.


    Calories per tablespoon: 200.


    For comparison, a whole serving of fish has about 175.

    Atomika on
  • InkSplatInkSplat 100%ed Bad Rats. Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    geckahn wrote: »
    InkSplat wrote: »
    A duck! wrote: »
    I did low carb/weight training for about 7 months straight. If you're starting from a high body fat % then you should be fine until you get into the mid teens. You may have energy problems during workouts, but that's nothing a boatload of willpower and stimulants won't get you through. Juice with protein powder after the workout is what I used to do (I drink milk now, but I'm bulking), and I would follow it up with some oats later (1/4 of Quaker with cinnamon and ginger to taste). It was impossible for me to make it taste that great without sugar, but it was palatable.

    Thanks.

    Yeah, pretty high BF% here, so I should be good. I was just worried how much glycogen I'd burn during the hour-long workouts compared to how much a single shake would replace.

    But I figure I can always add more if I find my muscles going into failure way sooner than they should.

    Planning to count protein and that's about it--making sure I get at least 250g per day, avoid carbs outside of post-workout, and then just let the fat/calorie count work itself out from there.

    You may want to alter your workouts to be more strength oriented (low reps, more sets, max weight), you'll definitely not have any glycogen problems doing that.

    That's definitely my plan for the second and third months. The first month it recommends doing lower weights/higher reps as your body is getting used to everything, but I suppose I'll see how it feels.

    InkSplat on
    Origin for Dragon Age: Inquisition Shenanigans: Inksplat776
  • MonkeyfeetMonkeyfeet Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    So diet soda. The things that are bad about it are high acidity and causes cancer right?

    I'm asking because about once a week I break down on my giving up soda and grab one. And I think one a week isn't bad especially as a treat. But I do feel guilty about the calorie count so I just had the brilliant idea to replace that one soda a week with a diet soda. That should be pretty good right?

    Monkeyfeet on
    sig1.jpg
  • TevinTevin Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    So diet soda. The things that are bad about it are high acidity and causes cancer right?

    I'm asking because about once a week I break down on my giving up soda and grab one. And I think one a week isn't bad especially as a treat. But I do feel guilty about the calorie count so I just had the brilliant idea to replace that one soda a week with a diet soda. That should be pretty good right?

    One a week ain't gonna kill you.

    And, I bet, before too long the thought of all that sugary sweet will start to sound kind of gross. Or not. If you have a soda a week and you stay healthy the rest of the time, more power to you. Better than cutting it out completely and feeling like you need to "cheat" by horking down a whole gallon of Rocky Road.

    Tevin on
    None of us is as dumb as all of us.
  • DirtyDirtyVagrantDirtyDirtyVagrant Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Green beans!

    I bought some, and then I realized that I don't know how to cook them in a way that doesn't involve bacon fat and maple syrup. Help?

    DirtyDirtyVagrant on
  • Shazkar ShadowstormShazkar Shadowstorm Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    seltzer water is the shit

    like its awesome
    i drink so much of that

    tomorrow we have free lunch at work...

    but it might be pizza...

    hmmm

    bring salad anyway i guess

    Shazkar Shadowstorm on
    poo
  • MonkeyfeetMonkeyfeet Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Green beans!

    I bought some, and then I realized that I don't know how to cook them in a way that doesn't involve bacon fat and maple syrup. Help?

    pretty sure you just boil some water and throw them in for a bit

    Monkeyfeet on
    sig1.jpg
  • mrt144mrt144 King of the Numbernames Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    you can do them with a shallow fry and then salt pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice and a dash of Cayenne pepper.

    Seriously though...maple syrup?

    mrt144 on
  • lonelyahavalonelyahava Call me Ahava ~~She/Her~~ Move to New ZealandRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Green beans!

    I bought some, and then I realized that I don't know how to cook them in a way that doesn't involve bacon fat and maple syrup. Help?


    Steam them.

    snap of the ends (duh), and hopefully you have a steamer. Mine looks like a little satellite dish that goes into the pot over the water. to the water i tend to add any combination or singular of the following

    lemon juice
    liquid smoke
    lemon rind
    crushed rosemary
    thyme
    sage

    on top of the beans i usually will put butter (again, we were on low sugar/low carbs/high fats), and then match whatever seasonings used. I don't use salt in my cooking, but I guess you could do salt.

    I have had the most success with steaming veggies with some liquid smoke in the water.

    let me tell you, broccoli steamed with liquid smoke, to die for.

    lonelyahava on
  • The Dude With HerpesThe Dude With Herpes Lehi, UTRegistered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Alrighty; I haven't participated in these threads but I've followed them now and then as I've been on my own weight loss/fitness quest the last year. I need some advice on my current situation from you good folks but I will throw up some history/info first. This'll be a pretty long post probably, I might break it out and move it to the H/A forum if folks think I should.

    I've had a lot of success. About two years ago I was at 270lbs and last Jan when I started getting my act together I was down to about 255. Most of that was due to becoming vegetarian and being a bit more active in my days raising a kid. I picked up P90X and started and by the time I finished the first round that april I was down to 230 and in a lot better shape, fitness wise. I started up again immediately after before getting halted in the summer due to some shit happening with my family that isn't really important right now. By the time I got cut off I was down to about 210-215 depending on the day I stood on the scales and was in pretty decent shape; for me.

    Fast forward to this Jan and I had gained back some weight and lost some fitness level. I was back up to about 230 and had gotten pretty lazy again as I never picked back up exercising after last summer. I was starting to feel like shit again and I knew it was due to inactivity and poor diet. I started back on P90X again in Jan and while I wasn't losing weight very fast I was feeling a billion times better. Then about a month ago my folks came into town and after doing a little research into diet (not diet in the shitty sense; nutrition) and some great days of skiing, I decided to cut out starches and carb out of my diet in a serious way. Now, being a vegetarian it can be tricky to find good proteins and fats without also getting starches and carbs. But I've managed it. It just involves a lot of nuts, eggs, cheese, and boca burgers. Which, while somewhat boring, is fine by me. I let myself have one or two "fun" meals a week or so where I still don't splurge on shitty food, but allow a bit more leeway in carbs and such so that my meal will be more of a treat. Starches can still go fuck themselves though. I love me some french fries like oh my god, but I've become convinced (possibly wrongly, I guess) they're the devil and will end me if don't just keep them out of my diet.

    Following this drastic change I lost about 10 points in just barely over a week. Now; I was doing more than normal activity, I was skiing several hours a day, several days a week, on top of still doing the resistance portions of my P90X program those weeks. But overall, I wouldn't say I was burning thirty five thousand extra calories in 1-2 weeks. Then, it just stopped. I'm now 210-215 depending on the day I step on the scale and haven't moved a bit in the past two weeks, weight wise.

    Now, I know how fat loss works. It's not targetable, you just lose fat overall as you go. While my weight isn't going anywhere my wife still comments every other day that I look skinnier than the day before. Personally? I don't see it. I feel like when my weight stopped on the scale, when I look in the mirror, physical change stopped too. I don't think I'm the sort to tend toward eating/weight disorders, and my wife is a psychologist with a PhD who would notice and point out it she thought I was going down that road fast. But I still am just not seeing any change. And not just visually.

    I was glancing through my P90X numbers for this round (I'm currently near the end of week 10) and noticed that they're not moving. Like...hardly at all. On some of the resistance workouts I've moved up reps, on a small handful I've moved up weights 5 pounds. But for the most part my weight training has been relatively static for the past two months. In some areas, like chest workouts such as (mainly) pushups, it's incredibly frustrating because as I lose more and more weight I would think my numbers should go up pretty quickly. Not having 60 extra pounds strapped on to me should let me do more, no? Well, those are static too. I'm very careful about form for all my workouts and know that I'm doing them properly and I push myself till damn near muscle failure when I do (not all the way, as that doesn't really work for the way P90X is setup). When I flex I can definitely see progress in tone but not really in bulk so much. Now, I don't want to be a huge guy, and I don't think anyone who knows me would call me scrawny or even close to it. I would like some more size though but I just can't seem to put on size. I just find it frustrating that my numbers aren't going anywhere even though I feel like I'm doing everything properly. My cardiovascular fitness on the other hand is doing wonderfully. Every time I do Plyo or go skiing or whatever I feel better than the last time, even if it was only a few days before. In that area I'm good and feel confident about.

    So I've been thinking about my diet lately and how it might relate. I have been advised in the past, who knows if correctly, that if I'm stuck at a wall and am doing everything I should be doing physically, it could be that I'm simply not eating enough. Since my change in diet last month I've tracked, not religiously, my intakes and am looking at about 2000 calories a day, in, on the dot, damn near every day. It varies between 1800-2000 but usually is right at 2000. Now, for someone my height, weight, build, activity, I should be burning about 2000-2500 a day just existing and with my workouts I should be burning on average 3000 calories a day give or take. Most of my calories are coming from proteins and fats, with the only carbs I typically get coming from fruits and vegetables. Virtually none from grains/starches. My typical day is about a cup of eggs (2 real, 1/2 cup whites), 2 veggie sausages, 1oz cheese, banana for breakfast. A nut/fruit bar (Trio bars, whole nuts, dried fruit, with seeds) as a mid day snack. A post workout recovery drink. Dinner is usually comprised of two boca burgers and two slices of cheese (or another protein equivalent) and a few cups of veggies; typically broccoli and cauliflower and a cup of V8. My dinners are the only real variation I have in my diet, I'll sometime switch it out for a salad with shredded cheese, tomatoes, fake chicken and either ranch or vinaigrette. I don't have a lunch really and my dinner is kind of in the middle of where lunch/dinner would be so sometimes I have a snack afterwards; but I don't go to bed till around 2am most days and I try not to eat after 10-11. The snack is typically nuts. Sometimes a string cheese or two. So on my average day I am running at about a 1000 calorie deficit give or take. Which puts me where I felt like I wanted to be to lose 2-3 pounds a week which is typically what is advised to be a healthy, sustainable, weight loss.

    But it isn't happening. Now, the whole "might not be getting enough food" doesn't seem to fit for me because 2000 calories a day isn't even remotely starving myself. If anything I feel like I could cut out even more; though I don't know where I would. I'd have to lose a lot of the fats and just move to mostly veggies and straight protein; but as a vegetarian it's hard to get good proteins without fats that aren't just straight soy products; that's another topic entirely. And I don't really have a lot of desire to do that and here's why.

    I feel great. Most days I have little to no energy level issues; particularly after cutting out carbs and starches. I have consistent energy from waking up to going to sleep. I feel great during my workouts and very rarely get burned out during or after them. The days I know I'll be doing extended physical activities like skiing (and hopefully soon biking and hiking) I'll get extra carbs, usually through a power bar or something like that, but those aren't in my typical days diet. I very rarely get a "too full" feeling after meals, and when I do it's usually when we go out to eat; but even then I've been a lot better lately than I ever was before and it's becoming a rarity too. I vary rarely feel hungry because I've paid a lot of attention to my energy levels in the past and how it relates to what I'm eating and when so I will preemptively eat something when I know I'd otherwise be dipping, but just enough to get me to where I'm going and typically in very controlled portions.

    When I first started my weight loss/fitness stuff last year my main goal was not feeling like shit and not dying when I was 50. Well, I feel like I'm in a good place there. Extended physical activity not only doesn't kill me anymore, I desire it. I would like to be more like 190 with my height and build, but at 210, I don't look like a fat slob anymore and look like a normal human being that is in decent shape. I'm not sure what my actual body fat is because I only have a shitty scale that is wildly all over the place every damn time I step on the scale to the point I just pretty much ignore it now.

    However, I don't want to get complacent, and while I feel like I've mostly achieved the primary goals I had set out for myself last year, I don't want to give myself a free pass to slack off because that is what started my road to shit-dom after I got out of the military many moons ago. So my new goals is getting off these last 20ish "vanity" pounds and getting in better and better shape (which should be helped immensely with the summer so near and so many things to do outdoors in Utah); the latter of which is more of a life-time goal and not a short term goal. The pounds, I'd like off ASAP. :lol:

    So. Long winded but that's more or less where I'm at today and how I got there in the last year-ish.

    For the tl;dr folks, my primary questions/issues are thus:
    1) With my current diet, which I'm comfortable with, why would I be having issues with not losing fat while at the same time not having any meaningful muscle growth via resistance training.
    2) Is there any good ways to tweak my diet to improve my results. Ideally I don't want to drop calories down drastically without being able to maintain my current good energy levels.
    3) Is there any way to tweak my workouts to spur muscle growth? I know you all can't see me work out to see what I'm doing wrong, if anything, but many many people build muscle; I shouldn't be hitting this brick wall. Things like pushups particularly should be progressing well but are at a standstill.

    Having said that, some ground rules for me: I'm a Mormon so things like tea/coffee are off the table. I don't really want to have a debate about it, it's just what it is. On top of that, just from my own personal standards, anything that has caffeine in it is off the table. I know there's a lot of debate over the benefits/drawbacks of it in the health world, but without going into detail, we'll just leave it as not an option for me. As I mentioned, I'm a vegetarian. I'm not a vegan, so I'm fine with dairy/egg products, but adding in meat/fish isn't an option. Also I'm 30, will be 31 this summer. While a lot of folks around me my age bitch about getting old, I give that attitude the finger and say that I'm gonna go a different route and not just accept going downhill.

    Soooo yeah, this post might be a bit much to just drop in here like this; and if it would be better I could just take it to H/A, but when I read about everyones successes and the knowledge you folks have I thought this was a good place to just jump in.

    The Dude With Herpes on
    Steam: Galedrid - XBL: Galedrid - PSN: Galedrid
    Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
    Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand

  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Green beans:

    - trim ends
    - place in boiling water for 5 minutes
    - pull and immediately blanch them in ice water for 30 seconds
    - put on cookie sheet with paper towels to dry
    - wrap 3-5 sections with pork bacon or turkey bacon (to be healthy) and pin with toothpick
    - repeat until all beans are bundled
    - brush with olive oil or cooking spray
    - dust with fresh cracked pepper
    - bake at 375 in oven until GBD, so, like, 20-30 minutes


    Perfect beans. When you're not dieting, in the South they also brush on a brown sugar/ketchup/molasses mixture before baking. It tastes amazing, but also gives you instant diabetes. So your call.

    Atomika on
  • lonelyahavalonelyahava Call me Ahava ~~She/Her~~ Move to New ZealandRegistered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I'm not challenging you on your faith here, but a simple question: is it tea in general or caffeinated tea? could you do decaf or herbal teas like chamomile? Again, this is just curiosity on my part.

    lonelyahava on
  • The Dude With HerpesThe Dude With Herpes Lehi, UTRegistered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I'm not challenging you on your faith here, but a simple question: is it tea in general or caffeinated tea? could you do decaf or herbal teas like chamomile? Again, this is just curiosity on my part.

    Well, I'm a convert and I used to drink tea all the time, so personally I just stay away from them because it was hard to give up in the first place for me.

    As far as the fine details go, there's a lot of debate on the subject among members of the church. Some swear off any type of tea, while others will drink herbal teas and sometimes even green tea. No one drinks instant/brewed teas or black teas though. I think that's just generally accepted as a flat no.

    I used to drink green tea after I joined the church but it bugged my wife and it really wasn't worth it to me so I stopped.

    I guess in the end I don't know a lot about the range of teas out there; if there are some that are really good for some things I guess I can look into it and see how I feel about it. It may be ok; may not.

    The Dude With Herpes on
    Steam: Galedrid - XBL: Galedrid - PSN: Galedrid
    Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
    Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand

  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Took it easy this week on the workouts. I ran a 16:30 2 mile on monday and a 55 minute 6 mile on tuesday.

    Shins were killin me. But I put my best times up ever, so I deserve a bit of a rest!

    jungleroomx on
  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    1) With my current diet, which I'm comfortable with, why would I be having issues with not losing fat while at the same time not having any meaningful muscle growth via resistance training.
    Honestly, I have no idea. You will get diminishing returns when exercising as you get in better shape, but if you're not in at least pretty good shape you should be seeing pretty consistent results. How long have you stalled?
    2) Is there any good ways to tweak my diet to improve my results. Ideally I don't want to drop calories down drastically without being able to maintain my current good energy levels.
    Don't drop calories, just change the source. As for muscle growth, gets lots and lots of protein.
    3) Is there any way to tweak my workouts to spur muscle growth? I know you all can't see me work out to see what I'm doing wrong, if anything, but many many people build muscle; I shouldn't be hitting this brick wall. Things like pushups particularly should be progressing well but are at a standstill.
    Are you doing bench presses, squats and deadlifts? Those are the big 3 lifts that will help you to gain muscle. Push ups and sit ups simply aren't enough.

    Zombiemambo on
    JKKaAGp.png
  • A duck!A duck! Moderator, ClubPA mod
    edited April 2011
    TDWH, was just going through your post and wanted to say that if you see a change in "tone" it means you're losing fat and/or gaining muscle. So you're meeting your goals in some way.

    I'm not sure what your protein intake is, but if you want to see strength gains you're going to seriously have to consider whey protein, if you're not already taking it. Getting enough protein for muscle gains on a calorie-controlled vegetarian diet is going to be nearly impossible without supplementation. You will need to take in 150-200 grams per day (closer to 200), and I've never found a source of vegetables that'll give enough protein without adding too many carbs to keep you below a calorie restriction. Soybeans are about the best source I know of, and that would leave you with 5 cups of beans and nothing else in your diet. Even then, they lack BCAAs, which whey has in spades.

    If you're stalling on lifts, I would suggest a switch to pure strength training or a mix of strength and volume for a while. One thing you have to keep in mind about your body is that it is lazy as shit. Unless you have good genes it doesn't WANT to build muscle, because more muscle than you need for your day to days is an evolutionary disadvantage in the long term. You have to keep loading it in different ways to force your body to continue to grow, so it helps to switch out some exercises for others or switch between strength and volume or change up your rest periods, etc. If you keep doing the same thing time after time your body will get efficient at doing it, and won't respond to the stimulus the way you want it to. You also, ironically, might be hurting your growth by pushing too hard. You may give 100% of what you have every time you go in, but that doesn't help if you're going in below your full potential. Backing off to big compounds and leaving some in the tank for a week or two is not a killer.

    As for fat, you might be surprised at how long it takes for it to be really noticeable. For a long time I was losing fat (but not really losing weight) and I couldn't see it whatsoever, until I put on bike shorts for the first time in months and realized my thighs were about 2/3rds the size they used to be. Sometimes you just have to keep your head down and keep at it, because 2000 calories should be low enough to see progress.

    When I went from 190 to...well, 190 again, but with different body comp, what I did to lose weight was stick to a 1500 to 1800 calorie restriction, with around half of that from protein. I did absolutely zero cardio other than walking a few miles to and from work and switched to a 5-day, 7 session lifting schedule (four mornings and three evenings). Half of that was strength oriented (low rep, high weight) and half was bodybuilding and muscular endurance oriented (high reps, lower weight, less rest). I'm not 100% sure what the P90X system is, but I'd suggest you try some concerted strength training for a while. Bodybuilding goes is faster the more weight you use, and you can get that by strength training. You might want to look into a system like 5/3/1, which I'll swear by.

    A duck! on
  • YallYall Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    seltzer water is the shit

    like its awesome
    i drink so much of that


    tomorrow we have free lunch at work...

    but it might be pizza...

    hmmm

    bring salad anyway i guess

    My wife gave up drinking wine for the last month. We're celebrating her 1 month of sobriety by going out drinking tonight, :P

    Anyway, what she has been drinking is seltzer with a lemon and a splash of some cranberry. Says it's been making her feel great and it's quite tasty too!

    Yall on
  • InkSplatInkSplat 100%ed Bad Rats. Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    The run up to P90X begins!

    Since I can't start it til the 11th, I'm using the 10 days beforehand to get my diet straight and get myself used to getting up at 6am every morning. Figure giving myself some adapt to 2 of the 3 changes is better than hitting my body/brain with all 3 of them at once anyway.

    Took my Day -10 pics today, and hopefully there'll be a tiny improvement between now and the 11th just from getting back on track food-wise. But I'm really looking forward to seeing what I can do with the actual program.

    The P90X forums are pretty damn impressive, since there are so many real people on there getting results. And the fact that people my size see a pretty huge transformation with just 2 rounds give me some hope, since I have just enough time for 2 rounds before my wedding in November.

    My goal, honestly, is that when we go on our honeymoon, I'll be comfortable taking my shirt off by the pool--that's honestly all I want. I don't need to be ripped or chiseled--I just want to not have boobs that rival my wife's, ya know? :P

    That and I'm looking forward to the functional strength increase. As it is, I can only do Neutral Grip pullups (and not even from a fully extended hanging position). I mean, I'm not weak, but at work, watching some of the warehouse guys lift tvs over their heads without thinking twice about it--that's something I seriously find myself envying.

    So, yeah, I figure I shouldn't be too disappointed in my results given that I'm not expecting a crazy hot beach body or anything like that. However, I will definitely be keeping the thread up to date so that it will hopefully help keep me honest. :P

    InkSplat on
    Origin for Dragon Age: Inquisition Shenanigans: Inksplat776
  • TaranisTaranis Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I measured myself again, and I'm now down to 18%. I'd still like to think that I can achieve my goal by June, but ultimately it's going to be determined by how fast I can put on muscle (I think).

    Does anyone know how fast I can reasonably expect to put on 10 lbs of muscle, while losing about 2lbs of body fat a week?

    Taranis on
    EH28YFo.jpg
  • iguanacusiguanacus Desert PlanetRegistered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Went low-carb (30 or under a day) on February 1st, weight was 208 lbs. Weight this morning was 170.1lbs. Been a bit of a hump trying to get under 170 the 2 weeks because of breaking diet a couple days in some bad ways (ate an entire medium pizza over lunch and dinner, had some pasta for dinner another night, some chicken fingers on another). No exercise, just diet alteration.

    iguanacus on
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