RWB - If you want something to chew on that will fill you up, but not add (many) calories, you can always try celery/veggies. Celery is especially good if you like the taste (I enjoy it).
I'm not going to enter to lose the 30 lbs (I could gain 30 and be in the middle of the "healthy weight" zone), but I'll be tracking my current crappy eating habits to hopefully change to something that's better for me.
RWB - If you want something to chew on that will fill you up, but not add (many) calories, you can always try celery/veggies. Celery is especially good if you like the taste (I enjoy it).
I'm not going to enter to lose the 30 lbs (I could gain 30 and be in the middle of the "healthy weight" zone), but I'll be tracking my current crappy eating habits to hopefully change to something that's better for me.
I'd LOVE to eat nothing but Caesar Salad... mmmmmmmmm I could eat it all day. But it's so expensive, and I don't think it's as healthy as I would need It's pretty much the only veggie I like that's not in soup form. I've tried carrots, celery is gross, apples(fruit I know) actually make me even more hungry... I think having ready to eat boiled egg whites is my best bet. Unless someone can come up with more. I'm gonna pass out in the next 30 minutes hopefully, but when I wake up I need to make a good grocery list. Any ideas would be great, mind you I have to do this on the cheap
I messed up yesterday. I ate out at a Mexican restaraunt. It really threw off my balance of calories from fat as opposed to protein - I only got 67g of protein in my diet yesterday. I'm shooting for >100g protein today and then I'm visiting the gym after work. The problem is, I brought the leftovers from the Mexican place for lunch today. :o
I weighed in this morning at 137.7lb and 11.5% body fat.
My goal is 150lb and 10.0% body fat. I am actually further from my goal weight, though my body fat percentage has gone down from the 18% it was when I did weigh 150 back in October. My total cholesterol level was 262 back then. I have not been back to the doctor to get retested, but I plan to go soon. If it doesn't drop, I'll probably be put on statins.
I know that I'm following this weight challenge in the opposite direction as the intent of the thread, but I have the same goal: healthy diet and lifestyle leading to a more healthy body.
You've got to plan you meals for the next day! Don't go at this ad-hoc. For most of us this type of eating/change in lifestyle is not second nature. If you don't figure out yesterday, what you PLAN to eat today, you will be much more likely to eat foods you are trying to avoid.
You've got to plan you meals for the next day! Don't go at this ad-hoc. For most of us this type of eating/change in lifestyle is not second nature. If you don't figure out yesterday, what you PLAN to eat today, you will be much more likely to eat foods you are trying to avoid.
I agree that planning is paramount. I find that I do the best when I prepare my next day's lunch before going to bed at night. It looks strange when I carry a grocery bag into work every day, but most of the volume is really the variety of plastic containers that it takes to carry everything.
So, I thought I'd post here with a bit of insight, maybe help a little bit. What you guys are doing is very admirable, and I think it's great you're taking the initiative.
In October, of 2005 I weighed 180 pounds with a body fat percentage of somewhere near 25%. I was unhappy, unfit, unmotivated. The trick to weight loss is breaking that cycle, and finding motivation. My motivation came when I was hospitalized with mono twice in one week, with outrageous an blood pressure and heart rate with a fever to boot. I realized, I need to begin taking control of my life, it was my motivation to stop things like that. My mono was primarily stress related, but my body was in such poor condition that I was unable to really fight back.
So, here's what I did. I know a lot more about fat loss now than I did back when I started, so a lot of what I did just happened to be the right thing.
Firstly:
Weight loss starts with the fork, not the treadmill. A pound of fat contains 3500 calories. If you cut out 500 calories a day from your BMR (Basal-Metabolic Rate) and your lifestyle (which you can find on Fitday), at the end of one week you will lose one pound. Exercise should supplement your diet, not be the brunt force of it. For me, I have to run about 35 minutes to burn 500 calories... Or I could just not eat that bowl of cereal before I go to bed.
Second:
What you should be eating is also important. For various people, their BMR will be higher, but there are some basic rules that will help you lose weight quickly, and not sacrifice your overall musculature in the process. There are some simple changes you can make that will help:
- If you drink whole milk, switch to 2% or skim, skim is the best because it contains no fat.
- Switch from white breads to whole wheat/grains. White bread is totally useless for your body
- Don't eat processed foods. It gets harder and harder every day to do that, but the amount of sodium and trans fats will kill your weight loss goals.
- Drop pop, it's probably the worst thing you could indulge in. If you can't stand doing that, drop to diet at the very least. I lost 15 pounds alone off of it.
- Stop eating fried foods. This is real tough to stay away from, but fried food is awful, it has little to no value besides the fat in it.
- Try sticking to more raw foods, instead of picking up salted nuts, try unsalted.
- Ditch fruit drinks, they're a lot of excess sugar.
- NO MAYONNAISE.
- No French fries, they fall under fried food, most people do realize it.
Third:
Lots of little things throughout the day will help your exercise goals, they keep you mentally focused and optimistic, and in the long run they do quite a bit. I live on the third floor here at MSU, and instead of taking the elevator I take the stairs, every day, no exceptions. I bike to class instead of taking the bus. If you have the opportunity to do something like walking do it. It really does add up over time.
Fourth:
Earlier I said exercise really is a supplement to whatever you do, this is true. If you're overweight I suggest starting out on cardio first unless you're interesting at building muscle simultaneously--which I'll talk about in a bit. The most important thing with cardio is find something that you enjoy. If you don't like running, you're just not going to do it. You should look forward to your exercises, put them at a consistent time so you can't skimp out on them. For me, it was bike riding, tennis, and eventually running when I was able to do it. You may not see results as fast as you would if you jogged 12 miles every day, but running can be very hard on your joints, and you won't enjoy yourself.
A few tips on that note:
- Do your exercises in the morning, before you eat. After you sleep, the glycogen stored in your muscles is depleted, your body turns to fat for energy sources and this has been a proven way to make your cardio more effective. If you can't do this though, don't sweat it, it's more important that you just get some form of exercise.
Keeping going:
So you're three weeks into your diet, and you can't take it anymore, all that damned health food, grilled chicken, fruits, vegetables! Well, there is actually a benefit to cheating on your diet, and it's a thing in body building called caloric cycling. People's BMR tend to plateau, especially when they are cut drastically. On one day ever few weeks, if you actually eat a surplus of calories--meaning have something you like--it can actually help your weight loss goals greatly. The most important thing is to not go crazy on what you eat, which leads to my next point.
So you caved, you cheated, what now? Well, you can't expel from your body what you put into it, the trick is not doing it again. A lot of people will eat something bad and go, "To Hell with it," and they just pig out. That's how a lot of people fall off the train. Accept your losses, accept you're going to make mistakes, and just move on.
Weight training:
Over the last six months or so I've become quite interested in weight training. My weight dropped from 180 to 140 and went from 25% body fat to 4% body fat, but I still looked doughy and scrawny. Well, something I wish I'd known is it's easier to build and work with muscle when you actually have some. At 140 pounds I was basically skin and bones. I enjoy weight training because I get a lot of personal and mental benefits from it, so if any of you are considering weight training here's my advice:
Work on your big compound lifts: Bench press, dead lift, squats. The will give you a lot of muscle and also shred fat off your body. There is a program called Rippetoe's that a lot of people subscribe to, for small people and big people to help them get into serious shape. Basically it's this:
Week 1:
M: Workout A
W: Workout B
F: Workout A
Week 2:
M: Workout B
W: Workout A
F: Workout B
Workout A:
Squat (Three sets of five reps)
Dead Lift (Three sets of five reps)
Bench Press (Three sets of five reps)
Dips (Two sets of eight) *Optional*
Workout B:
Squat (Three sets of five reps)
Pendlay/Barbell Rows (Three sets of five reps)
Standing Military Press (Three sets of five reps)
Dips (Two sets of eight) *Optional*
The key is high protein intake. The workouts when you start will take you 20-40 minutes to do, as you increase they'll take you somewhere between 40-50 minutes to complete. You will need your days off to rest, trust me. One of the big things about weight lifting is understanding over training, and how rest is a key. Your diet needs to be high in protein, something like 20% fat, 40% carbs, 40% protein, in terms of your caloric intake. You should increase your weight by 2.5% a week.
Really though, I'd recommend at the very least you just get out and do something 2-3 times a week on non-consecutive days, be it running, swimming, or tennis.
Personal points:
This is how much your diet and exercise can change your body, in both pictures I weigh 140. The first is in August, the second is in December, the difference is I started lifting weights five days a week. I'm flexing in both pictures (Which is sad). One thing you'll notice is I didn't gain weight, and that's because of my failure to pay attention to my diet. I wasn't eating enough/getting enough protein to make any gains. My goal is to try and be 155-160 by summer, up from 140.
Excellent job Nomad! I can see the difference, even in that short amount of time. I know what it's like, after a few weeks, you can really notice and FEEL a difference. You feel better about yourself and more confident. Once again... Great job!
Quick Q about the boiled eggs, is it ok to peel them before sticking them in the fridge, or do I leave them with the crust or whatever and peel them just before I eat?
OK, well maybe they'll be easier to peel when they are not practically frozen :P I cooked them before going to bed, and tossed in a bunch of ice to the water so they cool quicker, supposed to help according to this site.
They did come out very good actually, had two before coming to work today. Unfortunately, I way overslept and didn't get to go to the grocery store yet.
I dont know what these crazy "pounds" things are you are all talking about, but I'm on a crazy, life-changing effort at the moment (I turn 33 in a month) and Ive lost 5 kilograms since New Years Day, with a goal to lose 8 more.
I walk about 20 kilometers a day and have severely regulated what and how much I eat.
It was crazy hard at first... craving fried food all the time, begrudging exercise time instead of work etc etc.
Good luck everyone!
I found this article, I kinda already knew this but it gave me some ideas. I think one thing I'd like to try is buying some tofu or something crazy like that. I don't care about taste as much as I do having my belly feel nice http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sportsnutrition/a/123004a.htm
I'm also gonna pick up some soy milk and high fiber cereal. Along with some stuff I used to drink which has all kinds of veggies and fruits, but includes spirulina. It's a green drink, but tastes pretty damned good. $10 though for like 1 quart. I think it's Odawa or something.
So just doing nothing I burn 2012 cal/day. Looking at that, exercise during the day really helps keep the pounds off. I'm only 500 under that. I'll bet most days I'm consume about 3000 cals. and I know I don't do enough activity to burn an extra 1000 cals.
I got 3538.8 (but the site Nomad linked to gave 2880-something), so I effectively burn a pound a day if I do nothing. But I am curious about how accurate it is on lean guys like me. I mean I don't work out anymore and just going to the gym for one day I can max out more than other guys my size who have been working out. My muscle mass would normally increase burn rate and while I am fat I also have plenty of muscle. Oddly, FitDay shows me as burning 4436+/- calories daily.
Here are a couple of good links. Body fat is difficult to get an estimate on, but it can help pinpoint your BMR more. Use this site to find your body fat and then plug it in with this site for a better BMR count.
Right now I weight 161ish. I want to loose 10 to 15 pounds. But what I'm really interested in is loosing inches. I'd like to pack some more muscle on. Right now my power clean is 120 (pathetic) bench is 110 (pathetic) and I squat 220 (pathetic). I'm two weeks into my weight training class at school so hopefully at the end of the semester I'll be cut. I want to get something like the body of a swimmer. Not huge like a meathead, but toned and defined.
Right now I weight 161ish. I want to loose 10 to 15 pounds. But what I'm really interested in is loosing inches. I'd like to pack some more muscle on. Right now my power cling is 120 (pathetic) bench is 110 (pathetic) and I squat 220 (pathetic). I'm two weeks into my weight training class at school so hopefully at the end of the semester I'll be cut. I want to get something like the body of a swimmer. Not huge like a meathead, but toned and defined.
You need to focus on two things: Eating better with more protein, and working on your form. Before you do either though, you need to decide: Do you want to gain muscle or do you want to lose fat? Both cannot happen at the same time except for the small duration of about a month when people are beginning.
Your power clean is good if you're doing it correctly, most people can do only about half their weight when starting. Your clean should not be over your bench weight. One thing you need to be particular about is in your down motion your butt basically touches your ankles. It's called ATG (Ass-to-Grass) and while you'll be doing less weight, you'll get much more out of it.
Squats are similar in this respect, when you go down in a squat, you should be going down to the point that you would if you didn't have weight on your shoulders. If you can't you're using too much weight. A lot of people do quarter squats and think they are really doing a squat. Everyone likes to think they are hitting parallel. Here's a diagram that might better display it:
Due to people's hip flexibility, going below parallel is not always possible. However, it is not dangerous to your knees to do so. Many people say it is, but it's not true. The point is you should be getting as much depth out of your squats as possible, your feet should remain fully flat on the floor--no lift at all--and your eyes should be looking just a little below straight ahead. This ensures you're lower back isn't rounded off, presenting injury possibility.
Numbers change with each form really, my best quarter squat when I weighed ten pounds lighter was 400 pounds, parallel is somewhere in the high 200, but ATG is roughly my body weight. Piling more weight on quarter squats though isn't as effective as ATG squats.
Worry about numbers less and form more, it will help in the long run. Your squat should progress at about 5-15 pounds a week depending on how often you do it a week.
I HEAR THAT! Who would guess that sitting at a keyboard all day does that to yo, eh? I can't get out of the 165-170 range to save my life... I swam for months, lifted, can't figure it out. Maybe we need to say 'everybody meet at 175' or something?
I HEAR THAT! Who would guess that sitting at a keyboard all day does that to yo, eh? I can't get out of the 165-170 range to save my life... I swam for months, lifted, can't figure it out. Maybe we need to say 'everybody meet at 175' or something?
HAH! I was 175 about a month ago and I looked like a fat bastard. Now I'm 160 just by curbing my eating habbits. Those fifteen pounds made me look so much better. Now if I could just loose another 10 pounds and/or 3 inches on the waist I'd be a happy camper. Amazing how much trimming off 500 or so calories a day does. And when it warms up around here I plan to start running, or at least walking to get further into shape
I HEAR THAT! Who would guess that sitting at a keyboard all day does that to yo, eh? I can't get out of the 165-170 range to save my life... I swam for months, lifted, can't figure it out. Maybe we need to say 'everybody meet at 175' or something?
Send me a PM about your workout plan and eating habits and I could give you a good estimate. I sat around at 138 for about six months before figuring things out.
Send me a PM about your workout plan and eating habits and I could give you a good estimate. I sat around at 138 for about six months before figuring things out.
Sure, I meant getting to 175 with muscle though...
I don't mind sharing here - Basically, I eat very healthy and feel good, just want some more muscle so I don't look like such a computer nerd... I'm not really in a exercise plan yet, it's one of my resolutions. I go with my wife to the gym every so often, but at once a week, I'm sure it doesn't do anything. I do go through every machine at the gym, get every muscle group by doing the 18-20 second rep thing...just keep going in slow motion until fatigued...seems to work, kinda... I think that's the idea behond those bowflex things, and they seem ok...
I'm nervous about creatine or anything like that, I don't want to turn into a sausage, as some of my friends have done... I've got a friend who threw javelin in a few Olympics and does training now, he says you don't need it.
Ultimately, I'm sure the lack of a regular exercise schedule is the problem, I just need to do it.
Comments
I'm not going to enter to lose the 30 lbs (I could gain 30 and be in the middle of the "healthy weight" zone), but I'll be tracking my current crappy eating habits to hopefully change to something that's better for me.
sooo:
http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=shwaip
I'd LOVE to eat nothing but Caesar Salad... mmmmmmmmm I could eat it all day. But it's so expensive, and I don't think it's as healthy as I would need
I weighed in this morning at 137.7lb and 11.5% body fat.
My goal is 150lb and 10.0% body fat. I am actually further from my goal weight, though my body fat percentage has gone down from the 18% it was when I did weigh 150 back in October. My total cholesterol level was 262 back then. I have not been back to the doctor to get retested, but I plan to go soon. If it doesn't drop, I'll probably be put on statins.
I know that I'm following this weight challenge in the opposite direction as the intent of the thread, but I have the same goal: healthy diet and lifestyle leading to a more healthy body.
lowfat cottage cheese
beef jerky
broccoli
yogurt
Sorry man, not doing it on purpose, really haven't had time. I will get it done before the weekend is out.
This is SUPER IMPORTANT
You've got to plan you meals for the next day! Don't go at this ad-hoc. For most of us this type of eating/change in lifestyle is not second nature. If you don't figure out yesterday, what you PLAN to eat today, you will be much more likely to eat foods you are trying to avoid.
I agree that planning is paramount. I find that I do the best when I prepare my next day's lunch before going to bed at night. It looks strange when I carry a grocery bag into work every day, but most of the volume is really the variety of plastic containers that it takes to carry everything.
In October, of 2005 I weighed 180 pounds with a body fat percentage of somewhere near 25%. I was unhappy, unfit, unmotivated. The trick to weight loss is breaking that cycle, and finding motivation. My motivation came when I was hospitalized with mono twice in one week, with outrageous an blood pressure and heart rate with a fever to boot. I realized, I need to begin taking control of my life, it was my motivation to stop things like that. My mono was primarily stress related, but my body was in such poor condition that I was unable to really fight back.
So, here's what I did. I know a lot more about fat loss now than I did back when I started, so a lot of what I did just happened to be the right thing.
Firstly:
Weight loss starts with the fork, not the treadmill. A pound of fat contains 3500 calories. If you cut out 500 calories a day from your BMR (Basal-Metabolic Rate) and your lifestyle (which you can find on Fitday), at the end of one week you will lose one pound. Exercise should supplement your diet, not be the brunt force of it. For me, I have to run about 35 minutes to burn 500 calories... Or I could just not eat that bowl of cereal before I go to bed.
Second:
What you should be eating is also important. For various people, their BMR will be higher, but there are some basic rules that will help you lose weight quickly, and not sacrifice your overall musculature in the process. There are some simple changes you can make that will help:
- If you drink whole milk, switch to 2% or skim, skim is the best because it contains no fat.
- Switch from white breads to whole wheat/grains. White bread is totally useless for your body
- Don't eat processed foods. It gets harder and harder every day to do that, but the amount of sodium and trans fats will kill your weight loss goals.
- Drop pop, it's probably the worst thing you could indulge in. If you can't stand doing that, drop to diet at the very least. I lost 15 pounds alone off of it.
- Stop eating fried foods. This is real tough to stay away from, but fried food is awful, it has little to no value besides the fat in it.
- Try sticking to more raw foods, instead of picking up salted nuts, try unsalted.
- Ditch fruit drinks, they're a lot of excess sugar.
- NO MAYONNAISE.
- No French fries, they fall under fried food, most people do realize it.
Third:
Lots of little things throughout the day will help your exercise goals, they keep you mentally focused and optimistic, and in the long run they do quite a bit. I live on the third floor here at MSU, and instead of taking the elevator I take the stairs, every day, no exceptions. I bike to class instead of taking the bus. If you have the opportunity to do something like walking do it. It really does add up over time.
Fourth:
Earlier I said exercise really is a supplement to whatever you do, this is true. If you're overweight I suggest starting out on cardio first unless you're interesting at building muscle simultaneously--which I'll talk about in a bit. The most important thing with cardio is find something that you enjoy. If you don't like running, you're just not going to do it. You should look forward to your exercises, put them at a consistent time so you can't skimp out on them. For me, it was bike riding, tennis, and eventually running when I was able to do it. You may not see results as fast as you would if you jogged 12 miles every day, but running can be very hard on your joints, and you won't enjoy yourself.
A few tips on that note:
- Do your exercises in the morning, before you eat. After you sleep, the glycogen stored in your muscles is depleted, your body turns to fat for energy sources and this has been a proven way to make your cardio more effective. If you can't do this though, don't sweat it, it's more important that you just get some form of exercise.
Keeping going:
So you're three weeks into your diet, and you can't take it anymore, all that damned health food, grilled chicken, fruits, vegetables! Well, there is actually a benefit to cheating on your diet, and it's a thing in body building called caloric cycling. People's BMR tend to plateau, especially when they are cut drastically. On one day ever few weeks, if you actually eat a surplus of calories--meaning have something you like--it can actually help your weight loss goals greatly. The most important thing is to not go crazy on what you eat, which leads to my next point.
So you caved, you cheated, what now? Well, you can't expel from your body what you put into it, the trick is not doing it again. A lot of people will eat something bad and go, "To Hell with it," and they just pig out. That's how a lot of people fall off the train. Accept your losses, accept you're going to make mistakes, and just move on.
Weight training:
Over the last six months or so I've become quite interested in weight training. My weight dropped from 180 to 140 and went from 25% body fat to 4% body fat, but I still looked doughy and scrawny. Well, something I wish I'd known is it's easier to build and work with muscle when you actually have some. At 140 pounds I was basically skin and bones. I enjoy weight training because I get a lot of personal and mental benefits from it, so if any of you are considering weight training here's my advice:
Work on your big compound lifts: Bench press, dead lift, squats. The will give you a lot of muscle and also shred fat off your body. There is a program called Rippetoe's that a lot of people subscribe to, for small people and big people to help them get into serious shape. Basically it's this:
Week 1:
M: Workout A
W: Workout B
F: Workout A
Week 2:
M: Workout B
W: Workout A
F: Workout B
Workout A:
Squat (Three sets of five reps)
Dead Lift (Three sets of five reps)
Bench Press (Three sets of five reps)
Dips (Two sets of eight) *Optional*
Workout B:
Squat (Three sets of five reps)
Pendlay/Barbell Rows (Three sets of five reps)
Standing Military Press (Three sets of five reps)
Dips (Two sets of eight) *Optional*
The key is high protein intake. The workouts when you start will take you 20-40 minutes to do, as you increase they'll take you somewhere between 40-50 minutes to complete. You will need your days off to rest, trust me. One of the big things about weight lifting is understanding over training, and how rest is a key. Your diet needs to be high in protein, something like 20% fat, 40% carbs, 40% protein, in terms of your caloric intake. You should increase your weight by 2.5% a week.
Really though, I'd recommend at the very least you just get out and do something 2-3 times a week on non-consecutive days, be it running, swimming, or tennis.
Personal points:
This is how much your diet and exercise can change your body, in both pictures I weigh 140. The first is in August, the second is in December, the difference is I started lifting weights five days a week. I'm flexing in both pictures (Which is sad). One thing you'll notice is I didn't gain weight, and that's because of my failure to pay attention to my diet. I wasn't eating enough/getting enough protein to make any gains. My goal is to try and be 155-160 by summer, up from 140.
Also, here is my Fitday journal, I update my foods every weekday:
http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=Hallock
Like I said, it's really great to see you guys doing this, if there's any way I can help or any questions you want answered, just ask.
66 + (6.3 x 283 + (12.9 x 77) - (6.8 x 24) = 2820.5
But this site "BMR Calculator" gave me this = You have a BMR of 2643.79
Agreed, I don't peel them till I'm leaving in the morning for the gym, then I can munch while I drive to work..
They did come out very good actually, had two before coming to work today. Unfortunately, I way overslept and didn't get to go to the grocery store yet.
I walk about 20 kilometers a day and have severely regulated what and how much I eat.
It was crazy hard at first... craving fried food all the time, begrudging exercise time instead of work etc etc.
Good luck everyone!
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sportsnutrition/a/123004a.htm
I'm also gonna pick up some soy milk and high fiber cereal. Along with some stuff I used to drink which has all kinds of veggies and fruits, but includes spirulina. It's a green drink, but tastes pretty damned good. $10 though for like 1 quart. I think it's Odawa or something.
I got 3538.8 (but the site Nomad linked to gave 2880-something), so I effectively burn a pound a day if I do nothing. But I am curious about how accurate it is on lean guys like me. I mean I don't work out anymore and just going to the gym for one day I can max out more than other guys my size who have been working out. My muscle mass would normally increase burn rate and while I am fat I also have plenty of muscle. Oddly, FitDay shows me as burning 4436+/- calories daily.
Exactly!
Keep that in mind the next time temptation comes your way.
Right now I weight 161ish. I want to loose 10 to 15 pounds. But what I'm really interested in is loosing inches. I'd like to pack some more muscle on. Right now my power clean is 120 (pathetic) bench is 110 (pathetic) and I squat 220 (pathetic). I'm two weeks into my weight training class at school so hopefully at the end of the semester I'll be cut. I want to get something like the body of a swimmer. Not huge like a meathead, but toned and defined.
You need to focus on two things: Eating better with more protein, and working on your form. Before you do either though, you need to decide: Do you want to gain muscle or do you want to lose fat? Both cannot happen at the same time except for the small duration of about a month when people are beginning.
Your power clean is good if you're doing it correctly, most people can do only about half their weight when starting. Your clean should not be over your bench weight. One thing you need to be particular about is in your down motion your butt basically touches your ankles. It's called ATG (Ass-to-Grass) and while you'll be doing less weight, you'll get much more out of it.
Squats are similar in this respect, when you go down in a squat, you should be going down to the point that you would if you didn't have weight on your shoulders. If you can't you're using too much weight. A lot of people do quarter squats and think they are really doing a squat. Everyone likes to think they are hitting parallel. Here's a diagram that might better display it:
Due to people's hip flexibility, going below parallel is not always possible. However, it is not dangerous to your knees to do so. Many people say it is, but it's not true. The point is you should be getting as much depth out of your squats as possible, your feet should remain fully flat on the floor--no lift at all--and your eyes should be looking just a little below straight ahead. This ensures you're lower back isn't rounded off, presenting injury possibility.
Numbers change with each form really, my best quarter squat when I weighed ten pounds lighter was 400 pounds, parallel is somewhere in the high 200, but ATG is roughly my body weight. Piling more weight on quarter squats though isn't as effective as ATG squats.
Worry about numbers less and form more, it will help in the long run. Your squat should progress at about 5-15 pounds a week depending on how often you do it a week.
I HEAR THAT! Who would guess that sitting at a keyboard all day does that to yo, eh? I can't get out of the 165-170 range to save my life... I swam for months, lifted, can't figure it out. Maybe we need to say 'everybody meet at 175' or something?
HAH! I was 175 about a month ago and I looked like a fat bastard. Now I'm 160 just by curbing my eating habbits. Those fifteen pounds made me look so much better. Now if I could just loose another 10 pounds and/or 3 inches on the waist I'd be a happy camper. Amazing how much trimming off 500 or so calories a day does. And when it warms up around here I plan to start running, or at least walking to get further into shape
Send me a PM about your workout plan and eating habits and I could give you a good estimate. I sat around at 138 for about six months before figuring things out.
Sure, I meant getting to 175 with muscle though...
I don't mind sharing here - Basically, I eat very healthy and feel good, just want some more muscle so I don't look like such a computer nerd... I'm not really in a exercise plan yet, it's one of my resolutions. I go with my wife to the gym every so often, but at once a week, I'm sure it doesn't do anything. I do go through every machine at the gym, get every muscle group by doing the 18-20 second rep thing...just keep going in slow motion until fatigued...seems to work, kinda... I think that's the idea behond those bowflex things, and they seem ok...
I'm nervous about creatine or anything like that, I don't want to turn into a sausage, as some of my friends have done... I've got a friend who threw javelin in a few Olympics and does training now, he says you don't need it.
Ultimately, I'm sure the lack of a regular exercise schedule is the problem, I just need to do it.