I don't want to be a big man, just a big man.

Jaded

Good day H/A:
Looking for some help on some weight loss and toning, or maybe a finger point to a better thread.
I recently weighed in at 242, which ah 5'9" and not muscluar was way more then I was comfy with.
I made some diet changes and dropped to 232.
Now, I'm on day 17 of my 30 day challenge in WiiActive and am now down to 228.

What I need is some ideas for easy / healthy meals, and possibly some suggestions on how to get down to 205. What do I do when I hit my plateau to keep dropping weight?

I purchased a weight bench and weighs from a guy I work with (for 10 bucks... huzzah for people who buy shit and don't use it) which should help on my "rest days" on WiiActive.

The thing is, I am not looking to bulk up, I'm looking to, as Kevin Spacey says in American Beauty, look good naked.

My usual meal plan is something like:

Cereal and skim milk for breakfast
2 fruit to goes for a snack
Soup, or leftovers for lunch
Fiber bar and a banana or apple for a snack
Some kind of supper (practicing portion control here)
Fruit, or white corn chips for a snack

Top this with 1 - 2 liters of water a day (usually closer to 2) and maybe 1 cup (250ml's) of Diet Pepsi (maybe once every 3 days).

Thoughts, suggestions, critiques, meal planners? Anything is appeciated.

North

It sounds like you already made some excellent changes and are making amazing progress. You really should stick it out with what you are doing instead of mixing it up at least until you hit a plateau. You don't want to end up backsliding.

Thanatos

Start counting calories. Like, writing down exactly how many calories you're eating. Depending on the size of your lunch and dinner, I think you're probably not eating enough; assuming you're a dude in your 20s or early 30s, you want to be getting at least 1800 calories per day. Also, you may not be getting enough protein.

As for weight training, you're not going to accidentally turn into a bodybuilder; weightlifting will make you look better, make you feel better, make you healthier, and make it easier for you to lose fat. Be careful with the weightlifting, though, and make sure you're using proper form; ideally, you should try to recruit a friend to do it with you, who can spot you, keep an eye on your form, and keep you motivated (if you have to bail on someone to skip weightlifting, you're way less likely to skip, and way less likely to cheat while you're doing it if you have someone watching you).

PotatoNinja

Diet and (mild) exercise tends to be the best way to lose weight relatively safely. Note this doesn't mean vigorous exercise or weightlifting are bad (they're both great for you), but they also tend to correspond with significant jumps in appetite and if you're weightlifting, you'll probably want to considerably increase your protein intake to maximize results. Diet + jogging isn't magic, but its hard to beat.

Your diet looks great for weight loss but is probably low on protein. You might want to fit in a small protein shake in place of a snack or fruitbar or whatever. If you're looking to gain muscle, you'll want to significantly increase your protein intake. Specific recommendations will vary, but you probably want at least 50g of protein a day no matter what, and 100-200g+ a day (the general recommendation I hear most often is 1g per pound of muscle mass, or simply 1g per pound per day).

It sounds like your plan is already working, so I don't see much of a reason to reinvent it if you're happy with the results you're getting. Losing 1-2 pounds per week is a good goal, don't fret minor fluctuations, losing much more than 2 pounds per week can be difficult or dangerous (or both). Approximately 3,500 calories gets you a pound of fat, so 2 pounds of fat loss per week means you're averaging a 1,000 calorie deficit per day.

If you're interested in weightlifting (and I recommend it, it will make you look better and will increase your overall health and will help contribute to permanent weight loss, muscles burn calories), you're going to want to look into a solid gym membership (assuming the free weights you bought for $10 won't let you progress very far for lifting).

Basically, stick with your current plan and when you decide its time to start adding muscle (which could be now or later, gaining muscle while losing weight is possible but difficult), switch up your strategy. SE++ has a pretty useful "BIGMAN / weightlifting" thread you can check for good beginner's advice.

Jaded

Should be a little clearer I suppose on what I am doing.

My WiiActive suggests I burn anywhere between 170 and 215 calories per work out... I ended up doing 2 yesterday for a total of 405.5 calories projected.

I watch calories on the snacks, however I am not sure on how to count stuff like bananas, apples, what I make for supper ETC.

I will say I am fairly hungry during the day, I assume this was more to my body becoming acclimated to not eatting as much (junk) as I used to.

I used to power down a litre of pop a day min, have a rock star (or 2) and a chocolate bar or chips and food from the cafeteria here at work for breakfast and lunch.

I'm not looking to do benchpressing (yet) when I get my bench and weights, thinking more some bicep curls and tricep kick backs, nothing that would really require a spotter (at this point).

Would getting a heavy bag hung in the basement be a decent idea as well? I know I feel like I've been run through the grinder after doing the heavy bag on WiiActive, especially when it throws in kicks and knees.

PotatoNinja

Unless you're training to perform a specific type of activity, burning calories is burning calories. If you like running, run. If you like swimming, swim. If you like punching a big bag, punch a big bag. If you like doing jumping jacks, do jumping jacks. There are very few exercises that prevent you from controlling your level of effort, so a heavy bag isn't "better" or "worse" than just about anything else aside from what you put into it. If you enjoy the heavy bag, then its a great investment.

Kyougu

There's a weight loss thread in D&D with monthly weight ins and people who know way more about this stuff than I do.

Something that's helped me is setting small goals. Not just pertaining to losing weight, but also to excercise. And just keep at it. Good luck man, it can be done.

witch_ie

Counting calories is key. There a lots of online resources that can help you determine how many calories you should be eating to lose x number of pounds per week. To lose it and keep it off, you probably shouldn't try to lose more than 2 per week. It may come off faster than that at first but will ultimately slow down.

When I need to lose weight, I use the iPhone app LoseIt! It helps me easily track my progress (weight, excercise, and food) and tells me when I will be done based on my progress and target weight. It also can help you look up calories. For myself, when I am dieting, I don't eat anything unless I can figure out how many calories it is either through its packaging or looking it or its ingredients up online.

If you don't want to bulk up, then don't do excessive weightlifting. Light weights and cardiovascular exercise are great. As was said before, it doesn't really matter what you do to burn calories, just that you do it.