Another Icrontian decides to lose some weight!
RyanFodder
Detroit, MI Icrontian
So, I meandered into this thread (http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91262) today, and it motivated me to start losing weight again! I've been stuck at this weight for about 5 years, and I can't wait to see what I look like at 165 lbs.
Vital stats:
I'm 6'0", and I currently weigh 188 lbs. (see attached picture)
I've been thinking about this on and off for some time now, and I have a lot of obstacles to overcome.
First off, I'm not a huge fan of cooking for myself. The time it takes generally annoys me. So I need some food plans that meet the following criteria:
1) I can buy 2 (3 would be better) weeks worth of food in one go.
2) Cooking should be 10 minutes or less.
3) Need a very quick breakfast - preferably something I can eat on the go
4) I'm highly addicted to caffeine - some method of getting caffeine that isn't mountain dew would be good
5) Need an easy lunch to bring to work - the food they have there is awful, with a possible exception of salads, there are generally no healthy foods.
Any suggestions for a meal plan?
The other real problem I have is that weight lifting BORES ME TO TEARS. The same with running. I enjoy physical activity, but mostly in the forms of sports or skiing where there is some interaction. Maybe tracking on here will motivate me to work out more. Or possibly working out with roommate.
So I'm looking for suggestions of activities that aren't boring that are easy to setup and are interesting.
My current plan is start identifying how much I'm eating currently, and adjust it to around 2000 calories. I've never counted calories before, even when I was previously losing weight. I was on more of the Prag plan:
I hope that having some attention to this will make me post about it and therefore stay with it long enough to make it stick
Vital stats:
I'm 6'0", and I currently weigh 188 lbs. (see attached picture)
I've been thinking about this on and off for some time now, and I have a lot of obstacles to overcome.
First off, I'm not a huge fan of cooking for myself. The time it takes generally annoys me. So I need some food plans that meet the following criteria:
1) I can buy 2 (3 would be better) weeks worth of food in one go.
2) Cooking should be 10 minutes or less.
3) Need a very quick breakfast - preferably something I can eat on the go
4) I'm highly addicted to caffeine - some method of getting caffeine that isn't mountain dew would be good
5) Need an easy lunch to bring to work - the food they have there is awful, with a possible exception of salads, there are generally no healthy foods.
Any suggestions for a meal plan?
The other real problem I have is that weight lifting BORES ME TO TEARS. The same with running. I enjoy physical activity, but mostly in the forms of sports or skiing where there is some interaction. Maybe tracking on here will motivate me to work out more. Or possibly working out with roommate.
So I'm looking for suggestions of activities that aren't boring that are easy to setup and are interesting.
My current plan is start identifying how much I'm eating currently, and adjust it to around 2000 calories. I've never counted calories before, even when I was previously losing weight. I was on more of the Prag plan:
pragtastic wrote:I approve of this plan.primesuspect wrote:I can just imagine Eli's response:
"Why plan? Just eat less and move more. What? Just do it. I dunno."
I hope that having some attention to this will make me post about it and therefore stay with it long enough to make it stick
0
Comments
unless you are Eli
When I cook, it honestly only takes 30 minutes at the most... I also often cook enough to have leftovers throughout the week. Eating only one serving of food will make a huge difference (so often we just eat too much).
Lately I have found that Costco has some quick things that are healthy to make. I purchased pre-cooked chicken meatballs, that are really good! Just warm them up in the microwave or pan and throw some rice in a rice cooker, maybe warm up some veggies, and you're good to go. There are so many things you can do with chicken. I also have thrown chicken breasts in the crock pot with tomatoes, water, spices, etc., and let it cook for a few hours, and then shredded it for tacos, salads, or whatever you want. Also a super easy option, and you can make a lot of it for quick meals.
If you are a fan of string cheese, I would recommend Sargento's light string cheese for snacks. It is a good source of protein, and very low in calories and fat. Also, get some hummus, apples, veggies, etc. for other snacks.
There's some food ideas for ya. Good luck!
Also check into the gym to see if they offer classes, like spinning, or even other people to play sports with. Many gyms will offer group classes and activities, and it is a great motivator to have other people working out with you.
If you want an ass kicking at home workout you should look into P90X. It's not for everybody. If you're looking to lose weight and gain some muscle, it's a great plan. However, if you want to "get huge" then you should look into strict weight training programs. There are tons of different workouts and they're all different throughout so you'll never get bored of doing the same things over and over.
Some friends of mine had incredible results with it so I figured why not give it a try. I didn't even follow it as strictly as it suggests, however I did change my diet entirely and my fast metabolism was a big help. I couldn't complete each exercise entirely for the first week or two because I was out of shape and also because they are very intense for beginners. After week 2 I noticed a huge improvement in my endurance and overall ability to do more pushups, pull ups, chin ups, and other exercises, not to mention I was lifting heavier weights and able to do more reps. I had to go one more notch in on my belt because my pants were fitting loose after only week 2.
Have you decided on a course of action yet?
"get deathly ill, stop eating".
So far, so good.
Doctors are small time.
Doesn't Meijer offer antibiotics for free? See if they're call a script in, if you know what you've got. Otherwise, yeah the 100% copay might be rough. :\
From my crude counting, I'm at about 1800-1900 calories a day as a guess.
I haven't seen any real weight loss, but I don't expect to lose a whole lot during the winter, even with skiing 2-3 times a week and dog walks. I was 1 lb lighter this week, however that is within normal fluctuation.
I'm going to have to disagree with you.
In the grand scheme of things calories are calories - you either use them or store them - ie, use them at different rates depending on the source. I've dropped about 3-400 calories from my normal diet, which isn't going to make a very quick difference, and I understand this.
What I'm NOT doing is using these calories, hence the low calorie target. Any ideas for this are appreciated.
Also, I MUST do nothing :P I AM looking for suggestions for food and exercise, though, kthx. I've lost 40 lbs before without counting calories on anything other than a macroscopic scale.
Weight tonight: 187
Then you have no real desire to lose weight and get in shape. Simple as that.
2) Tea - less caffeine, no crash.
PS: I was at least 185 when I started martial arts. In about a year or so of regular attendance (2x a week, usually) and just drinking less beer & soda, I was down to 159. Also, I don't feel like crap any more and I can wrist-lock Prag. Bonus.
oh wait, that's the coke diet not diet coke.
If I had to boil it down though, it would pretty much be the same as everyone else's advice: be smart about what you eat and put in an honest effort with a workout you can enjoy.
Please go on. I'm an engineer, energy in = energy out, how does this change?
Also; was referencing your tone. I don't like being told what I MUST do. I'm more than happy to do something interesting as exercise, but not interested in counting calories for a week. Also, also; I have consistently reduced my diet by 400 or so calories a day as I previously mentioned.
So I SUGGEST that you reconsider and count those calories, count the fat %, count the sugars. There is a difference between good calories and bad calories.
A greasy, fatty burger contains plenty of bad calories (and some good actually) as well as lots of fat. Big wedges of fat. Where as the equal amount of calories in a big chicken & salad bowl will have 20% of the fat (and only healthy fats), tons more proteins/nutrients.
Same calories but not lob sided into fats.
I SUGGEST you to listen to Thrax. He can go into much more detail and understands the nutrition to the highest detail.
Shorty, to address your comment in an honest way, I will outline the changes I've made in more detail.
Daily intake before:
1 pc of ~8oz breakfast pizza
1 coffee, 3-4 french vanilla creamers
1 typical cafe lunch;
~ 10 oz meat - typically breaded
~ 6 oz potatoes
~ 6 oz vegetables
1 roll or bread stick
20 oz mountain dew
Arby's beef and cheddar sandwich
small curly fries
Small soft drink
Past 2 weeks:
1 frozen bacon potato and egg biscuit (~300 calories)
1 coffee, limit 1 creamer
8 oz grilled chicken breast sandwich with onions and tomatoes
6 oz steamed veggies
1 coffee, limit 1 creamer
1/2 container of frozen pasta meal (~ 600 calories)
Also, I calculated out that last night I had consumed roughly 1000 calories of beer. Super Bowl is not good.
Again, my apologies for the snarky (no pun intended) response.