Diet tips.
Hey all. I have now been enrolled in the navy, and I have recieved a military exercise program. However, they don't have any tips for dieting, and I'm quite lost myself... I am about 1.80 cm(5"9) tall and weigh around 105 kg (232 pounds), which is a bit too much, in my opinion. I have therefore decided to loose some weight. I recon that by excersising I will lose some, but I would like to have a diet to help me lose even more. I guess I have a basic ide of what is healthy, and what is not, but I need some good tips on what to avoid and what to eat... Any help is appreciated, but as a student I'm on quite a limited budget, so I would like to keep it a little cheap too.. Thanks in advance!
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Exercise will help you lose weight, but dieting is where you do real damage. A pound of fat is 3000 calories, so if you eat 400 calories less each day you can lose about a pound of fat a week. However, this is not always sure fire and depends on what you eat in particular. You want to lose fat, not muscle. Losing the latter will hurt your performance in your military exercise program.
Being on a limited budget is no problem, it's actually cheaper to eat healthy. $35 USD supplies me with a seven-day-weeks worth of food, upwards of 4500 calories a day if I really want it.
Go to this site:
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
And find out your BMR. Your Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories (Give or take a bit depending on the individual) that your body can operate on without losing weight or gaining weight. I would suggest that for two weeks you eat at about that number (Maybe 100 calories higher, no more). This will take discipline and consistency. If you don't begin to lose weight, eat 300 calories below your BMR each day and you will lose weight. Go to fitday.com and track how much you are eating in a day, count everything carefully.
In terms of what you are eating, lean cuts of protein, beef, and whole eggs will serve you best. You want to shoot for about a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight you way (So for you, about 230-240 grams, this will also help alleviate fatigue and promote muscle growth). Since you are still doing a lot of physical activity, I wouldn't advocate no carbs since your body needs them, try for about 200-300 grams of carbs that come entirely from wheat sources. Wheat pasta, wheat bread, etc. Fruits like bananas, grapes, and blueberries are also very good--as are all fruits and vegetables. In terms of fats, it's up to you, about 100 grams should suffice. There are good fats, fish oil, cottage cheese, natural peanut butter, are all great sources of BCAAs and Omega-3s and 9s that will repair your muscles and stop muscle soreness.
A typical day of eating for me looks like:
8:00 AM - Three whole eggs
10:30 AM - Balance Gold protein bar
12:30 PM - Wheat bread, 2 tbsp peanut butter, yogurt, banana
4:30 PM - 1.5 cups whole wheat crackers, one whole Idaho potato, one cup oatmeal (raw) with milk, one glass orange juice
5:30 - 7:00 (Workout)
7:30 Post-workout protein shake mixed with milk, chicken breast on whole wheat bun, 1.5 cups wheat pasta
9:30 Chicken breast, 1.5 cups wheat pasta
12:30 1/2 cup cottage cheese, casein protein shake
*Edit*
Also, things to stay away from: Sugar, ice cream, junk food, fried foods, pop (soda), beer (due to useless calories), and candy.
Drink lots and lots of water. If you drink milk, drink 2% or skim.
don't ever talk to me again.
Salute!
I thought Nomad had some good remarks. I won't give too much in the way of specifics but will provide some principles. I managed to pass all my physical fitness tests (two or three or more per year) for 21 years and didn't get in trouble for weight, so I think I know something of which I speak:
* lots of water - helps regulate the appetite
* moderation - don't cut out anything completely - just makes you want it more
* whole grains preferred over white - fills you up sooner with MUCH more nutrition
* still enjoy the sausage, creams, and butter - but take it easy, cut back
* avoid late night eating
* enjoy the beer for heaven's sake! just drink moderately
* don't do anything drastic - that approach NEVER works long term (if it did, new wonder diets wouldn't keep reappearing every year)
* eat regular, balanced meals on fairly regular schedule, if you can
* dinner (evening meal) generally should not be the largest meal of the day
* eat foods that are high nutrition and relatively lower in fats. accomplishes two things - better nutrition usually lowers desire for increased quantity, and better nutrition foods are often more filling. examples - oats, beans, whole grains, whole potatoes
* less fried food and more baked, roasted, and grilled. By the way, vegetables roasted with a little olive oil brushed on are very good.
* displace some of your starch and fat with more vegetables and fruits
Make your changes step by step. Don't make too many changes too fast. You've got to make it lifestyle or it will not last. Don't be afraid to eat the sweet or fatty foods - again, the principle of moderation - take it easy. Avoid anything that is considered a special or fashionable diet. Those things are fads and never make it long term.
Interval training is the best for fat loss and this has been confirmed by numerous sources. You burn fewer calories during the actual cardio but the metabolic boost keeps you burning calories for hours after you stop. With traditional jogging the burn stops as soon as your feet do.
Try a 1:1 ratio and add intervals as your cardiovascular system improves. Sprint for a full minute, fast as you can, you should be out of breath and heaving when you finish. Walk or jog to recover for a minute, then sprint again. Repeat the process as many times as you can. If you need more rest thats okay, scale back the rest periods as you get into better shape.
Listen to nomad's nutrition advice, its all spot on.
I do cardio, weight lifting, and I also do lots of stretching because I like to be as limber as possible.
Basically I came up with a simple solution to lose weight and gain muscle. Eat less and exercise more.
About stretching. My gym teacher says that it's all a lot of bullsh**, and streching doesn't help, and I've heard more people say so. I find streching to be kinda painful, and I very easily cramp when streching, especially legs... What's your opininon on this?
About fruit. I eat a lot of fruit, especially apples, kiwi, bananas, peaches and grapes. However, I've heard that a lot of fruit, especially grapes, contain a lot of sugar, and are actually bad for you. Myth or reality?
Also, an instructor at my gym recommended me to exercise in the morning, before eating anything. It seems logical to think that one burns more body fat if not eating, but I thought it sounds very hard. I Imagine you could fatigue very easily this way..
And last: Tea, coffee and cocoa. Good or bad? Cocoa is made out of cocoa beans, which are said to be good for you, but also contain som fat, or so I've heard. Tea, without the sugar, is basically nothing but dried fruit, so it's all good, right? Rumor has it though, that dried fruits are really bad...
Thanks for all the tips so far guys!
There is no magic formula here. Principles: more healthy food, less fat and concentrated calories, exercise, water....moderation.
Which is better, one hour jogging, or one hour swimming?
Does sauna have any effect on fat burning?
How long should I wait to eat before/after training?
Fasted cardio isn't necessarily a bad thing. After sleep glycogen from your muscles is depleted due to the sleep cycle, some consider this and ideal time to run since the body typically turns to fat for energy. With running though, it's more important that you are doing it, and listening to your body.
Depending on your physical condition, swimming may be easier for your joints but I'm an advocate of running, especially since you need to get used to it. Sauna has no effect on your body except ridding yourself of water weight.
I eat directly before and after I work out, it's up to you.
I don't think this is true. I ran a seven mile course flat out in 53 minutes last year on Memorial Day weekend without prior running experience or training. An adept should be able to complete four miles in an hour with little to no training.
For now though, you should start off smaller and move towards your goals.
To your fruit question, again, moderation. Better to get sugar from apples and grapes than candy bars but too much of anything is bad.
Working out prior to eating can be good but it depends what you're doing. I wouldn't recommend weight training on an empty stomach, you're gonna need to glucose to move the weight. On the other hand cardio on an empty stomach after you slept all night is a good thing. You're glucose levels are already depleted because you haven't ate in 8+ hrs so your body is going to be forced to use more fat for energy.
Better for what? For flat cardio swimming is better, its a lot harder than jogging. Sauna's won't do anything but make you sweat. If you're trying to burn fat and you plan to do it with cardio I would run in the morning when you get up before you eat. You have about a one hour window after a workout, cardio or weightlifting, in which your body is going to be predisposed to shipping what you eat to your muscles for repair and energy reserves over fat. I'd toss some creatine and a protein shake in during that window.
Nomad hit a bunch of these before I got to his post but I already typed it so you can read it twice!
The best advice I can give you, is to get a 18-24 gear race bicycle, and start peddling....
Change what you are drinking, Coca-Cola etc.
Load non-sweat drinks and get going.
Bicycle race
Jethro Tull - Fat Man
And whatever you do, never get married if you can't maintain the exercise.
After awhile when you lose weight and feel great, you can't stop,
The problem is that more crazy Norwegian girls would find you more actrative.
So they would like to spoil it all, for you ....
Good luck, you will need it.
I know it to well .........
/ Esso in the east ....
When it comes to the women, I KNOW!
I've given up on soft drinks as well and I associate that with my loss in weight so far as well becuase I did that before I began working out along with changes in diet. But as I've read it the high fructose corn syrup has been shown to be related to obesity.
I've only been working out for something like 2 months now but I feel I could do better so thanks to a friend he pointed me to a workout he did and is liking from Mens Fitness, it's a year long plan I intent to start in two days due to the workout I did today I need to give my body a rest I over exerted myself.
http://www.mensfitness.com/year_long/phase_table/
I gotta say though, it's pretty exciting seeing all of us here at S-M getting fit, whether I like some of you or not it's a great thing to see and get great advice on these forums for techies
like our Dean of Students make us run 6 km at 5:45 in the morning (a dispciplinary consequence)...this last week has been terrible for me especially...:(...but i think i have benefited from it...