PLEASE Help me Lose Weight! I am so fricken Fat - Serious Advice Please.

[SirMack]

Hi guys,

I'm 5'10" 258 lbs very broad body build. I NEED TO lose weight, as I basically have no clothes to wear anymore, I don't fit in anything I own, besides a few pair of jeans.

Can someone, if its possible, please take the time to guide me through a good program of weight loss/getting in shape? Either a personal program, or perhaps to a detailed website that will guide me through every step I need to go? If I have something like that I swear I would follow it to the T if it'll work.

I drive about 3/4 gallon of water a day, for breakfast/lunch I usually eat 2 cups of wheaties or Raisen Bran. For Dinner its typically 2 cups of rice, 2 cups of corn or peas, and 1 portion of either beef, or pork. The only thing that changes really is that some evenings I eat a Plain Wendy's burger + Baked potato. I never drink soda, and I rarely eat sweets. My eating schedule rarely changes except maybe a small salad w/light french dressing here and there.

I started off at 235 lbs about 5 months ago. I worked out for 2 1/2 months, then quit until now. I will be hitting the gym again, 3 times a week, doing 1 hour of cardio, and 35 min of muscle training to tone.

Is there anything you guys can suggest to help me lose weight? Not talking about DRUGS, but natural/lifestyle changes. Please help me. Its so depressing, and frustrating that I eat less, & drink more water and I am gaining more and more weight. I use to wear size 34 pants, and now I need 40-42.

This is a serious plea for help to anyone who is willing or able to provide some assitance. Tell me what to eat, what not to eat, and what work outs to do. I'll print it up, and follow it to a T and let you know how it works out for me.

I thank you guys in advance.

 

[Spectre]

I understand your frustrations. I am by NO means a diet expert, but I can give you a few things to search on and consider.

Your diet looks like mostly carbs and fat, not much protien in there. Do a search on the CKD diet and ketosis (atkins for some). ALA seems to drive you into a deeper state of ketosis and stay away from the Xadrine like stuff until you are near your goal and need a little push. Your not going to make much gains in the weightroom during ketosis but you will drop fat. Divide up your meals to at least six times a day, I didn't start to loose weight until I ate more. Check out the crumcake diet when you you get closer to your goals. Oh, and get your fat ass back in the gym.

Good luck

 

[SirMack]

I was told that I should drink about 2 gallons of water a day, would this help?

Also, I understand I should eat 6 meals a day. How 'big' should they be? or should I say how small??? Also, are there any webpages out there that have step by step on what EXACTLY I need to do to lose weight?

My biggest problem is I don't know what foods I should eat, and what foods have protein, or fat, or carbs, or anything like that. Is there a site that has every food and what they mainly consist of? I think if I was able to identify what foods were which, and then clean up my diet, while drinking tons of water, and doign 1 hour of cardio per day, I would do pretty well.

I humbly ask for more help. I can't stand me being so fat. I was at 230 lbs for years, then all of a sudden I jumped up to 258 lbs, what could have caused it? Considering my eating habits havn't even changed, heck, I eat less now.

Thanks!

 

[USMC War Dog]

Foods

CARBS: VEGETABLES, BREADS, PASTAS, RICE, FRUIT, BEANS
PROTEIN: ANIMAL PRODUCTS (MEAT, MILK, EGGS), BEANS
FAT: ANIMAL PRODUCTS, OILS

www.netrition.com

Look at the food nutrient link. You can find how much carbs/protein/lipids is in a certain food. Also, look at nutrition facts to find out. Most products have it labelled. Packaged meat usually does not. I recommend looking into a CKD. I'll give a link that I found.

CKD

I hope this helps you out. If you can easily deal without sugar, like sweets/sodas and other sources of carbs, this diet won't be too hard. Good thing is that you're encouraged to load carbs over a two day period. Good carbs though, complex carbohydrates.

 

[PwB]

I can set up a keto diet for you if you are really willing to follow it, b/c u have a lot of fat to lose u can go on a more extreme calorie defecit and lose mostly fat. A keto diet would be best for this purpose and is something you should seriously consider.

 

[Spectre]

Water is good, 2 gallons is plenty.

Use a keto (ketosis) / Atkins style diet. It's right here in a search, you can go to the local store (GNC or whatever) and buy a book. It's easy to get started and in the mean time you can learn more about good eating habits.

Make sure you add fish and flax oil to that keto diet, it really helps.

 

[SirMack]

I can set up a keto diet for you if you are really willing to follow it, b/c u have a lot of fat to lose u can go on a more extreme calorie defecit and lose mostly fat. A keto diet would be best for this purpose and is something you should seriously consider.

If you tell me EXACTLY what to do I will follow it to the T. Just cutting back on the food, sugars, and soda while adding water doesn't seem to help.

Is the Keto Diet dangerous at all? As long as I will still have some energy I will go for it.

I am thikning 1-2 gallons of water a day + Multivitamins in the morning + Keto Diet.

I appreciate the help and can't wait to see the responses.

BTW, is CKD the same as a Keto diet or is it a different version?

 

[Haz]

A keto or cyclo keto diet will work, but I don't think its really needed in your case. A regular diet would be easier to follow, and you'll still see quick results. Here is what I would do If I were in your situation.

Calories are the most important thing. All diets work, because you are eating fewer calories then you are using up. So learn how to count calories; places like fitday.com will give you values for food.

Once you know how to count calories, figure out how many you are eating on average every day. That number is usually around your maintenance value. You need to eat at least 500 calories below maintenance. That should make you lose at least a pound a week. More if you are also exercising.

Also figure out how much protein, carbs and fat you are eating. An easy macronutrient ratio would be something along the lines of 50% of calories from carbs 30% protein and 20% fat. You can play around with these ratios, but keep protein at a minimum of 25-30%. That will help your body spare muscle. Some people prefer higher protein, like 50%, and much lower carbs, like 20%. Others like to keep protein, carbs and fat similiar (40/30/30). It doesn't matter that much, as long as your total calories are below maintenance.

Divide up your meals into 5-6 small ones spread out every three hours. This will help keep your metabolism high, and makes it easier to absorb all nutrients without storing fat.

Drink 1 gallon of water a day at least.

Good protein sources include: egg whites, lean cuts of beef (top round, skinless chicken breasts, tuna, salmon, whey

Carbs sources should be low GI (glycemic index). Here is a website that lists foods and their GI

http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm

Oatmeal, and 100% whole wheat breads and pastas are a good choice.

Eat plenty of veggies, for fiber and vitamins. Dark green ones are usually good, like brocolli, spinach, etc.

Fats will come from your meat sources, but you might want to add some flax oil, because it provides omega 3 fatty acids which are lacking in most diets.

A typical meal would go something like this.

A bowl of oatmeal, 1 large chicken breast, 1 cup of steamed brocolli.

Do your cardio and weights and you'll be set.

 

[mlomker]

This is all great advice. In spite of your consistent diet it is quite possible that your metabolism has slowed down. We all need to adjust our diet and activity levels as the years go by.

One of my favorite books is "Hot Point Fitness." Most of the guys on here would consider it pretty simplistic, but their are three legs to any plan: cardio, weight lifting, and diet. Trying to do one or two of the three will not get you where you want to go.

I've always considered an hour of cardio to be excessive. I've gone as far as 30 min. every day for a month but that is all.

It always takes more time than we'd like to reach our goals. Don't overdo it and burn yourself out. Even a modest routine could burn 1"/month from your waist.

 

[TheBigDog]

This is all great advice. In spite of your consistent diet it is quite possible that your metabolism has slowed down. We all need to adjust our diet and activity levels as the years go by.

One of my favorite books is "Hot Point Fitness." Most of the guys on here would consider it pretty simplistic, but their are three legs to any plan: cardio, weight lifting, and diet. Trying to do one or two of the three will not get you where you want to go.

I've always considered an hour of cardio to be excessive. I've gone as far as 30 min. every day for a month but that is all.

It always takes more time than we'd like to reach our goals. Don't overdo it and burn yourself out. Even a modest routine could burn 1"/month from your waist.

I agree w/ mlomker. When it comes to cardio, I would personally recommend 30 min top and 3-4 times a week. You said you do one hour of cardio, I am guessing that the intensity must not be too high. I would shorten it up to 30 min and increase the intensity slowly but enuf for you to breath harder and feel the workout. A good way to measure intensity of your workout is by taking your heart rate in 10 seconds and multiply it by 6. At this point of you life, i would recommend you to sustain a 60%-70% of your max. heart rate for AT LEAST 20 min.

Maximum Heart Rate = 220 - your age.

Also, you said you only do 35min lifting to tone the muscle. I would do a full hour session and work them harder. Let say if you were doing a set of 15 or 20 before, do a set of 10-15. and push your muscle harder. Rule of thumbs...if you feel just a little burn and still be able to finish your 15 rep on your last set of your exercise, u are probably not working it hard enuf. Remember, the muscle you build, the more calories it burns cuz' it takes more to maintain muscle than fat.

Between this exercise tips and the diet tips that others have already given you, you should be well on your way to a leaner and healthier body. Don't give up. Remember, if it takes you 3 months to put on the weight, don't expect to loose them all within 3 months. Keep your focus strong, train hard and eat healthy. YOU WILL GET THERE.