Weight Loss/Gain Tips? (in Off-topic)

Alright C-Mas week I had to replace the batteries in the garage remote, consequently the same batteries work for my digital scale. My wife went to buy the battery for me while I worked on a different project, she could only find a two pack. I think it was on purpose becuase she hinted at the scale a few times. As a good hubby I complied and changed out the battery in the scale. Being inquisitive I stepped on the scale which of course started an argument.

I did not agree with what it told me (222lbs), I of course thought maybe something has gotten out of whack with it or made it stick. So I did what most men do, I picked it up shook it a few times to rid it of any misc particles and set it down. I stepped on it again and the same number showed up again to my chargrin.

Hell no something is wrong with this thing! I said. I went and got some cleaning equipment and a 5lb bag of sugar and went to work. After cleaning it to my satisfaction I placed the bag of sugar on it and it 5.1lbs(gotta count the weight of the bag as well). Alright it's good to go! I stepped on and yeah you guessed it STILL 222lbs. Grumble grumble..........

So started my strict diet and workout routine. Tae Bo Early morning and right after work, walking about 10 Miles a day(sometimes 12) Mon-Sat. Oatmeal for breakfast, lunch and dinner(mega nutrient/vitamin taken with of course.), fruit and protient shakes for my snacks and mega nutrient shake with fruit 1 hour 15 minutes before sleep and Fruit Fast on the weekends. Each eating time is roughly 260 calories this is to retrain my motabolism.

Since Jan 1 I have lost 28lbs(and haven't felt this good in a long long time.), I am shooting for my BMI of 165lbs. After this I will be looking to to beef up to 215lbs again. Any tips I could get from you guys for workouts and eating would be greatly appreciated!(Thanks in advance!)

Smaller potions.

Avoid alcohol.

Do a bunch of cardio.

Eat healthy foods.

Join a club for a sport you enjoy doing. For me, it's basketball :)

Every day eat a little bit less than you think you should, so you keep hungry a tiny bit every day. This will eventually make your body burn more calories than your intake and make you weigh less but still be in shape.

Eat a lot of vegetables.

Cut back on the carbs, but don't forgo them entirely.

Cut out all empty calories, remember that 3500 calories = 1 lb, and start jogging. A lot.

Move more. Eat less.

STOP EATING SO MUCH!

Overeating was my big problem. But I was never too much overweight, just a bit out of shape.

This I agree with. Just substitute green vegetables in for the majority of your portions and you'll be surprised what that can do for you.

Few tips-

-Slightly smaller plate.

-Join a gym. Start gradually on cardio - DONT do what every guy i see who is slightly out of shape does and just train leg weights all the time as your strong on them. DO CARDIO - even if it starts off at walking. You will improve, try take yourself out of the 'comfort zone' each session.

Eat lots of veg, fish, chicken and a little of good carbs - no need to cut them out entirely.

Remember to rest yourself though - but not too much ;)

In the nicest possible way.
Everything Ranger said, except opposite.

At least that's my routine and I'm a very healthy 280lbs. I don't think I've been 222lbs since high school...

since January 1st .. this year? if so be careful as 28lbs lost in less than a month is crazy fast and sounds like crash dieting more than wieght loss.
I think everyone else has said anything i have to say apart from it takes 3-4 months for something to start becoming habit and the chance of keeping it part of your lifestyle - good luck Zen! and thanks for posting it was a nice read!

I'd recommend also lifting weights, it's amazing how much you can lose weight faster, when you're working your muscles too. Just make sure you know what you are doing, and you are doing the lifts correctly.

More protein for breakfast.
Less fruit.
More vegies.
More "good" fats.

Are you really exercising 3.5 hrs. a day? (45 minutes x 2, plus 2 hrs of walking)

165 lbs. is not a BMI, so I don't know what this goal means. If 165 lbs. is appropriate for your height, then 215 is decathlete/troll muscle mass.

Don't skip breakfast it helps keep your metabolism up all day.

Thanks everyone for the advice. No it is not a crash diet it is a proven technique that works quite well, the kicker to it is that you must must must have a mega nutrient with each meal as well as protein shakes and snacks in between each mean and something before bed or it would be a crash diet. The longest stretch of time you go without food is when you sleep. In effect you have 200-260 calories 6 times a day. This diet is quite safe as I have utilized it before to great effect more than once.

Now this is actually a 60lbs in 60 days diet. The first week you will always lose the most amount of weight and the last week you will lose the least. The hard part of the diet is no meats which is why you must supplement it with shakes. Everything must be carefully done but is actually quite simple. The worst part is fighting your cravings the first week is the hardest.

Now once the diet is done you have to ramp off of it you you will crash and gain the weight back very quickly and not the good kind. Now when I was in the Army I was able to do this easily as I had a lot of people helping me in the gym when I was on the gaining side of the program. I got to 215lbs and had 6% body fat, I was in a word ripped. I stayed the was for a few years but when I got out of the Army I dropped weight then gained fat :-/

I'm looking for a way to get the look back without having to go to a gym. A buddy of mine got a nasty staph infection on the back of his neck from one and the ordeal he went through permanently scarred me. In other words I just can't seem to make myself go to a gym no matter how much I want to workout. Income Tax time is coming and I do not mind buying a machine or two if necessary.

Once again thanks guys!

Oh as a side note it is the nature of my job I am constantly on the go, during a 10 hour shift I walk roughly 10-12 miles sometimes a bit more. I use a GPS Pedometer to track my progress because regular pedometers are so easy to fool and track motion and note a preset distance for that motion whereas the GPS version tracks distance. My Cardio is resistance banned Tae Bo (which is quite hard btw) the workouts are about 35 minutes each and I am burn out after each one. After I shower though it's all good I have all of my energy back a little sore for about an hour then it is all but imperceptible. All in all this is a great setup for what I am trying to achieve in my weight loss plan.

If you can stay motivated, a buddy of mine managed complete P90X with great results. He even managed to do it while working his hospital residency.

I would also suggest P90X. I'm on my 22nd day of P90X right now. Its pretty tough but I am noticing some change.

All the moves can be modified.
Some of them are pretty goofy looking but since you can do it at home it doesn't matter.
6 workouts a week with 1 optional rest day.

There are 12 optional rest days so you only have to work out 78 days.

In a way it is see I cannot achieve my healthy BMI unless I am 165lbs for my height.

P90X is a bit extreme for me right now. I know several people that have done it and came out much better for it but with the diet I am on I could not sustain it while I ramp off of it. Now once I am off the diet then yeah I can do P90X or even Insanity(both very nasty workouts). This however will take a few weeks and I would need something in between to level me out. Also a good diet plan for the necessary intake for the muscle mass building would be great!(remember before I had a lot of help and this was a long time ago)

115 pounds lost, around 80 to go (270 this evening)

1) mental transformation

2) breakfast

3) be grateful for the health and body you've got, respect for my body comes from that gratefulness

I always do this after each workout to maximize my muscle gains and speed my recovery time: I eat at 40-50 grams of high quality protein from fish and/or milk products, sometimes eggs, and eat a couple fruits within 45 minutes of finishing my workout. From what I've read, during this 45 minute window of time, your body will make quick use of every nutrient that you take in, so that you'll recover faster. This way, you can still have a low calorie diet, but still gain lean muscle mass and retain your energy levels, throughout the day, without running out and crashing! The way I've been doing my diet is very similar to yours, Zenai, but I eat 300-400 calories every 3 hours. I guess that's why you lost your weight so much faster, lol. I eat as much as 500-600 calories after a workout, though. Recently, I've increased my daily intake of calories by around 300-400, and my weight has stayed EXACTLY the same for about 2 months, now. Now, I am on my own muscle building stage of my diet, so I'm eating more protein! I found out a good way to increase your gains, even more, from each workout: Load up on protein 2-3 hours before a workout. I eat around 50 grams of protein, usually cottage cheese, if I have it. Cottage cheese is good because it digests so slowly so that your sure to have a more steady level of protein in your blood, for a longer time, than if you ate other more fast acting proteins.

To sum it up, be sure to load up on proteins 3 hours before, and within 45 minutes after each workout. Also, get ALL of your carbs from fruits and vegetables! Eat as much of those as you like!
I read that whole fruits and vegetables, though they have calories to count, don't make nearly as much fat as other things, like breads, candy, and other sweet things that aren't fruits and vegetables. It has to do with the other nutrients in the fruits and vegetables that help your body deal with those calories in a different way!

That's all the input I have, for now! I hope you return to peak fitness, soon!

Thanks to Gun I got a lot of good reading in and did a bit of research and found this to be quite helpful in my fat weight loss and muscle weight gain.

Reference Here: http://sd-dickens.hubpages.com/hub/Why-Body-Fat-Percentage-is-More-Important-Than-Body-Weight

Thanks Joel so far a few of my friends have decided to help me out and a diet similar to yours was a part of the discussion. High protein meals like grilled boneless skinless chicken breast, unbreaded baked fish, and fresh steamed veggies with fruit snacks including raw avacado in 6-7 mini meals each day with a good weight lifting routine to be put in place that will complement the Tae Bo. Weightlifting at night and Tae Bo Heavy Cardio in the morning to tone me out. When I have all of the details I will post them and my results here. ;-D

Ok after 4 weeks, as of this morning, I have lost a total of 32 lbs and have not felt this good in a long time! My one month weigh in will be on Wednesday I can't wait to see how I end up at the end of 60 Days since so much has already happened, arms and chest have gotten bigger, tummy smaller, back has gotten more defined, 60% of the chub is got......loving it!

Excellent work, congrats!

Excellent job, Zenai! Congratulations! You know your doing it right when you keep your muscle mass, or even increase it!
Btw, I know when I'm getting fat if my back starts to look ugly, lol, so a back improvement definitely means you've lost a significant amount of fat!

Alright 1 Month Report: From Jan 1 - Feb 1 a total of 35lbs have been lost!

I've done well enough that even my wife wants to start working out again ;-)

Unfortunately her knee is prohibiting her from doing the same workouts I am so as a good hubby I hit up craigslist and found an Ab Doer Twist. No excuses now dear ;-P

Week 5 Update: Start - 190lbs Finish 183 1/2 = 6 1/2 lbs lost.

This is working just as I need it to since a lot of my old clothes fit now! /me cuddles his old comfy clothes

it still scares me the ammount you are losing so quickly lol but im glad its all going as planned ... still cant fit in my old jeans (and some of my newer ones :S)

Week 6 Update:

Start - 183
Finish - 180

3lbs Lost

Week 7 Update:

Start - 180
Finish - 178

2lbs Lost

So only 5lbs lost in two weeks but I have definitely lost inches, gained definition and most importantly my tummy is disappearing!

All in All even if I do not hit the BMI Goal I started out with I am quite satisfied with the results I have gained. I am now ramping off of my strict diet. Last week it was only dinner now it is Lunch and dinner. Sensible meals of course nothing out of proportion or over the top, just good wholesome meals :-)

Sweets are still pretty much out of the picture. I have had a few French Truffles (78% or higher Cocoa content) and for B-Days (Daughter and a Life Long Friend) I have had a small slice of cake but nothing to call out the Diet Police for and Binge Intervention.......lol Been a long road so far but I think I am up to this task, who knows I may yet still lose another 10 pounds by March 1st!

way to go Zenai and novice..

You both have done awesome :)!