critique my weight loss plan

Hooves

So I'm trying to lose weight as quickly as possible. my goal is to shed 20 lbs. I'm not so much looking to gain muscle as I am to lose the fat and get skinny.

Excercise routine

Consists of riding my bike everywhere(3-5 miles to work one way) and on days off going for 6 hour bike rides at a pretty agressive speed(enough to keep my hear rate up). I'm choosing to ride my bike because I hate running.

I also go on hour long hikes up a pretty steep mountain. I'm panting and sweating by the time I get to the top. I would like to do this every day but I doubt it'll happen like that so lets call it every other day.

I also have access to a squat rack so I can do squats and dead lifts. I usually do about three sets of 15 squats and same for the deadlift. I plan on doing this every other day. I hate lifting weights.

Diet plan

meat

skinless chicken
tuna
salmon

Grains, Beans, Nuts

lentils
black beans
trail mix(peaunuts, cashews and dried fruit)
all natural peanut butter
oat meal
whole wheat bread
whole wheat pita bread
whole grain pasta

Veggies

spinach
kale
asparagus
green beans
portabello mushrooms
carrots
broccoli
avocados

Dairy

eggs(to be eaten hardboiled)
non fat yogurt
rice milk(not actually dairy but whateva)

basically a typical daily meal plan would be:

Breakfast
oatmeal or a couple hard boiled eggs with yogurt(?)

lunch
peanut butter, tuna sandwhich, or pasta for lunch with a salad

trail mix as a midday snack

Dinner
boiled chicken, or grilled salmon or stir fried veggies

so whadya think? my diet right now sucks and I don't get out and do physical things near often as I should so I'm expecting to see some pretty drastic improvement. does it sound like a solid plan? I'm looking for critiques on all aspects of my regimen. I'd tried to keep it reasonable, something I could realistically stick to.

also whats a good substitute for margarine/butter that I can not only cook with but add to pasta or bread as flavoring?

Lail

Mix in a couple of snacks between meals (veggies or fruit) and you'll be golden. Don't drink soda or juice. Only drink water, coffee or tea.

If you exercise daily and eat well most of the time, it'll be pretty hard not to lose weight.

Erandus

Add in Tilapia as a meat option. Its very low calorie, low fat, and doesn't have the mercury concentrations tuna and salmon can be prone to.

As a grain option, see if you can find some quinoa (pronounced "kin-wah" if you have to ask someone for it). You'll certainly find it at someplace like a Whole Foods or any sort of organic grocery. Its described as an "unusually complete" protein, and is a great sub for things you would normally use rice for. It cooks exactly like rice does, but with less carbs and more proteins.

I'm totally on board with the veggie choices, especially the greens and the avocados. Excellent potassium and monounsaturated fat there.

Since you have both asparagus and eggs listed, you can have my favorite breakfast. Cut up 4-5 asparagus shoots into half inch pieces, sautee in a little bit of butter or olive oil, and then scramble 2 eggs in them. Use a tablespoon or so of milk to whisk your eggs. If you dig feta, (you should, its delicious and one of the healthiest cheeses) toss a tablespoon or two of crumbled feta in just as the eggs are nearly complete. Tabasco to finish, if you're so inclined.

When you go bread shopping, read the labels closely. "Whole grain" bread sounds great in theory, but you can end up with some really dense heavy breads that pack a surprising amount of calories. I buy Arnold's Soft Family whole wheat bread. It's 60 calories a slice, whereas some denser breads can run twice that. Decent fiber, no HFCS. I use it for toast. If I'm making a sandwich, it's all about the Sandich Thins. 100 calories for your sandwich's bookends cannot be beat.

If you actually eat dairy, I would suggest a half cup of 1% cottage cheese with breakfast. Awesome way to get a bunch of protein and calcium in the morning, and makes a great vehicle for blueberries which are just about the best thing you can make a habit of eating every day.

One glaring omission I can't stress enough is bananas. Seriously, er'ry day. Bananas.

You don't really need to be afraid of butter, you just need to use it in moderation. If you can find butter with olive oil, its great for small uses.

For your meal plan, you want to front load your calories at breakfast. My breakfast is goddamned huge. The scrambled egg/asparagus thing, the cottage cheese and blueberries, a slice of toast toast with 1/4th of a mashed avocado spread on it, sometimes a half cup of some kashi cereal or a couple slices of low sodium bacon. I get more calories from breakfast than any other meal, and it's protein heavy which helps curb hunger through the day. Don't short yourself at breakfast, really, especially if you plan on being so active.

At 10 am er'ry day, I have a banana.

For lunch, leftovers from last night's dinner.

Some sort of snack around 3pm. Cheese & crackers, peanutbutter crackers, carrot sticks, an apple.. any one of those is a good snack.

For dinner, eat light. The ingredients you've got listed are a great foundation for a lot of dinners. Don't be afraid to pan sear your chicken diced small in some olive oil. It goes great in pastas and such that way.

You want to taper your calories off through the day, you're treating your body like a car. Fill the tank in the morning, top it off here and there through the day, but don't go to bed on a full tank. Going to sleep with a lot of food on your stomach doesn't give your body anything to do with it but store it.

Portion control is important, especially for your dinner. Try to finish eating dinner a little bit hungry.

Weigh yourself at least every couple days or every day. If I hadn't been seeing the immediate positive feedback for the first 5-10 pounds, I would have given up. You will not see a difference (depending on your current weight) until you lose at least 15 pounds, so the first couple weeks are the easiest time to feel disheartened.

For the most part, you're following the exact diet plan that I am. I did just 30 minutes of cardio 3-4 times a week with it. In 14 months I went from 280 pounds to where I am now at 175. If you stick to what you have planned, you pretty much cannot help but lose weight.

If you have a significant amount of weight to lose, you need to do more weightlifting than just squats. You will end up with some significant "sag" effect, and be very badly filled out if you don't. If you're losing a lot of weight, you will anyway and you need to compensate as much as possible. This is a mistake I made. :P

urahonky

Hmm. This thread is intriguing because when I finish classes Nov. 18th I am going to go on a diet plan until I lose about 15 pounds by new year's. And hopefully continue with it until I drop below 220. I'm sitting at 250 and I hate it to death, and what the OP says and Erandus has written is something I really like. I'll have to do it.

So what I'm saying is, thanks guys. :P

the wook

Hooves wrote: »

also whats a good substitute for margarine/butter that I can not only cook with but add to pasta or bread as flavoring?

butter is actually pretty good, so long as you don't overdo it. should be perfectly healthy on whole grain bread / pasta

the wook

Hooves wrote: »

Excercise routine

Consists of riding my bike everywhere(3-5 miles to work one way) and on days off going for 6 hour bike rides at a pretty agressive speed(enough to keep my hear rate up). I'm choosing to ride my bike because I hate running.

I also go on hour long hikes up a pretty steep mountain. I'm panting and sweating by the time I get to the top. I would like to do this every day but I doubt it'll happen like that so lets call it every other day.

I also have access to a squat rack so I can do squats and dead lifts. I usually do about three sets of 15 squats and same for the deadlift. I plan on doing this every other day. I hate lifting weights.

Don't know how I missed this part.

Between hiking, biking, and squats / deadlifts, you're either going to have one hell of a pair of legs by the time you're done, or they're going to fall off.

what weight are you going to be squatting / deadlifting? For maximal weight loss, you're going to want to work at heavier weights. 3 sets of 5 of squats at a weight that makes it difficult will do a whole lot more for you than 3 sets of 15 at a lighter weight. between CNS adaptations, boosts in metabolic rate, and increases in anabolic hormones, it makes no sense not to squat heavy.

winter_combat_knight

On the right track Hooves. You'll definately reach your goal with your diet alone. Good mix of excercise too.

Since February, i've lost 17kg (37.4 lbs if the conversion is correct)

EDIT: from 95 kg (210lbs) down to 76kg (170lbs)

Just to give you an ida of what i've done (my plan isnt a professional one, and isnt the strictest either - i sneak in some cake and chocolate once a week. haha)

Plus excercise 5 times a week - usually excercise bike 40 mins, free weights and walking the dog
____________________

Morning

4 egg whites (removing the yolk) and one full egg (with the yolk) mixed with peas and a little bit of chicken or good quality ham - mix it up and fry it over the stove in a pan
= barley any fat and a good amount of protien

Lunch

Chicken and/or tuna with a load of veggies (green beans, peas, carrots etc)

Mid-day

Lots of Tuna and salad

Dinner

All out beef/chicken/turkey etc and a crap load of veggies.
Sometimes i spoil myself and have a curry with rice, but i'll have less rice and fill up on veggies and meat.

________________

Keep at it. Throw in some free weight dumbells and bench press if you can. You dont need to do a heavy weight, but just shock your body. free weights burn a lot of fat.

Niceguy Myeye

the wook wrote: »

Hooves wrote: »

also whats a good substitute for margarine/butter that I can not only cook with but add to pasta or bread as flavoring?

butter is actually pretty good, so long as you don't overdo it. should be perfectly healthy on whole grain bread / pasta

Olive oil will work depending on what your'e doing.

Elin

Hooves wrote: »

also whats a good substitute for margarine/butter that I can not only cook with but add to pasta or bread as flavoring?

Cook with olive oil, use some pesto on pasta/bread.

rabidrabbits

Everything looks good, except I would highly recommend throwing in *some* upper-body workouts for aesthetics at least. Like the wook said, you are going to have one hell of a pair of legs. I just worry that you'll start looking like a T-Rex if you keep up this routine for an extended period of time. If you hate weightlifting or have no access to a more complete gym, you should at least throw in some sit ups, push ups, and pull ups 2-3 times a week. They're not too bad (ok pull ups suck but they get better) and are great for building muscle and endurance in the arms, chest, back, and abs.

Horus

Don't go to strict on your died just have a 90/10 diet plan where 90% is your diet plan and 10% is junk food, maybe a slice of cake once a week. Avoiding the bad stuff can't lead down the road to future crash and burn or whats referred to yo-yo diet, there is nothing wrong having once in a while a small junk food meal in moderation. I usually eat small bag of fritos or bite size chocolate on Fridays to end the work week.

Also eat 6 times of day even if your not hungry, making you metabolism constantly work burns more.

I do recommend doing something upper body wise since bike is working out your legs.

Hope this helps

cmsamo

I've got numerous posts on this board regarding weight loss over the years.

About 10 weeks ago I was tipping the scales at 225 and my grandpa saw me and said "you need to lose about 20lbs!"

I was feeling like I needed to lose some weight, so I spoke to a friend of mine who has gone from 300 down to 175 over 5 years.

I'm sitting here now at 207, with a target of 185 before Christmas. It's been so simple to lose the weight that I almost in shock about it:

(1) ALWAYS eat breakfast, even if it's a cereal bar
(2) Have a snack mid morning (fruit, or a cracker, or a handful of nuts)
(3) A cup of soup from the cafeteria at work with a small piece of bread for lunch
(4) Mid afternoon snack (fruit or nuts again)
(5) A normal healthy evening meal (fish and vegetables, with some carbs)

I've replaced all soda and coffee/tea in my diet with herbal teas (right now I am drinking lemon and ginger tea). I've also stopped buying convenience foods such as pre-packed sandwiches etc.

Exercise wise - I play soccer for an hour on Tuesdays, half an hour on Thursdays, and sometimes play on Sunday mornings as well.

At the weekends I'll go out and have a few beers with the boys, and even sometimes get take-out food (this is my 10% junk allowance!). If I was more strict on myself, I'd have lost the weight even faster.


I think if you eat the foods you've outlined, and stay strict on the no snacking, added to the exercises you've written, you will do well... I recommend taking pictures of yourself every so often so you can see the progress you are making... It's hard to notice the weight loss when you see yourself in a mirror every single day.

Kyougu

Pretty much agree with everything that's been said here. Good plan, you should be able to lose the weight easily as long as you stick to it.

We also got a weight loss thread in D&D going, where a couple of us are documenting our weight each month and sharing tips. I always found it easier to lose weight when I'm being held accountable, even if it's by internet strangers.

RocketSauce

I cannot stress how important good sleep is in losing weight. Get at least 8 hours of quality sleep a night. Try going to sleep before 11, and you will be amazed.

Dropping Loads

Your food choices are all great, but be aware that you didn't list amounts. As you're working out so much the amount of food you need will change, as will your hunger, which can make it difficult to decide how much you should be eating to lose weight.

More meals that are smaller will give your body time for the "I'm not hungry anymore" message to reach your brain, and this will help you calibrate how much you should be eating as you continue your plan.

msh1283

If your current cycling routine only consists of 10 miles/day, don't try to jump right into six hour rides. As your rides get longer, you're going to learn a lot about your bike fit and find problems that you've never experienced before. You'll also need to plan for calorie/electrolyte/water intake. 6 hours at a decent speed is 100-120 miles. You're generally going to need 150-200 calories per hour during that and, depending on the weather, you'll probably go through 6-10 24 oz bottles. You can use a good electrolyte drink to make up some of those calories, but at some point, you're going to want some bars/gels/whatever.

Most importantly, get some really good quality shorts and a saddle that works for you. There's nothing worse than being 60 miles from home with an uncomfortable groin.

geckahn

RocketSauce wrote: »

I cannot stress how important good sleep is in losing weight. Get at least 8 hours of quality sleep a night. Try going to sleep before 11, and you will be amazed.

This is very true. Clinical trials back it up.

I'd advise you to ditch the wheat and go low carb, because you will get far better results, but that's your choice, and not one that it seems you'd like to go with.

urahonky

On the subject of sleep, is it bad to get more than 8 hours. I intend to sleep a lot while on my winter break (one more quarter of college and I'm done!!!) and I'm known to get around 10 hours of sleep if I've got nothing to do that day. Is this detrimental to my ability to lose weight?

e: I don't mean to hijack the thread. If it's a problem I can (and will) make a thread about it.

Hooves

wow thanks for all the positive responses!It's good to hear I'm doing it right. Now I'm startin to feel pretty excited about all this.

I'll go check out the d&d thread and chart my progress there.

msh1283 wrote: »

If your current cycling routine only consists of 10 miles/day, don't try to jump right into six hour rides. As your rides get longer, you're going to learn a lot about your bike fit and find problems that you've never experienced before. You'll also need to plan for calorie/electrolyte/water intake. 6 hours at a decent speed is 100-120 miles. You're generally going to need 150-200 calories per hour during that and, depending on the weather, you'll probably go through 6-10 24 oz bottles. You can use a good electrolyte drink to make up some of those calories, but at some point, you're going to want some bars/gels/whatever.

Most importantly, get some really good quality shorts and a saddle that works for you. There's nothing worse than being 60 miles from home with an uncomfortable groin.

I actually have been going for six hour rides currently I just don't do it regularly. I have pretty good stamina. I actually plan to start doing uphill since I feel like I need more of a challenge. obviously I wouldn't be going uphill for six hours though. about one hour on a steep mountian pass is enough to exhaust me.

actually just got my bike tuned up today; new brake pads, new chains and most important a new saddle. this thing is the cushiest thing I've ever put between my legs. no more walking bow legged for a few hours after a long ride.

Hooves

that's pretty funny whats been pointed out about my work out routine. I hadn't even considered that most of what I'm working is my legs. I think the t-rex analogy says it best. I can use the squat bar for curls and I'll see about getting a bench for the bench press.

question:

how well do squats work your abs? is it pretty miniscule? does changing your posture help any?

the wook

Hooves wrote: »

that's pretty funny whats been pointed out about my work out routine. I hadn't even considered that most of what I'm working is my legs. I think the t-rex analogy says it best. I can use the squat bar for curls and I'll see about getting a bench for the bench press.

question:

how well do squats work your abs? is it pretty miniscule? does changing your posture help any?

heavy squats work EVERYTHING. as for actually causing hypertrophy in the abdominal wall, there are better exercises than squats, but if you're looking for a strong, solid core that will promote proper posture, squats and deadlifts are the way to go

hadoken

You need to do more weight and less reps as previously recommended.

All you need to be and feel more awesome than ever is Squats, Deadlifts and Benchpress. You should have the resources to do these. Start slow and dont get overconfident, technique is the most important thing that will ensure your safety. Go to your local gym for advice on other excercises.

I recommend also doing: pullups snatches cleans push ups.

Well done mate, as long as you feel good all is well .

edit-

The wook, what excercise is better than squats ? Serious question. I believe squats cure cancer, your claim needs backing up! <3

the wook

hadoken wrote: »

You need to do more weight and less reps as previously recommended.

All you need to be and feel more awesome than ever is Squats, Deadlifts and Benchpress. You should have the resources to do these. Start slow and dont get overconfident, technique is the most important thing that will ensure your safety. Go to your local gym for advice on other excercises.

I recommend also doing: pullups snatches cleans push ups.

Well done mate, as long as you feel good all is well .

edit-

The wook, what excercise is better than squats ? Serious question. I believe squats cure cancer, your claim needs backing up! <3

for hypertrophy in the abdominal wall?

i could list a dozen, but let's just stick with weighted crunches and hanging leg raises