Supra, I've hit the bottom with my diet/body condition, so tomorrow I'm going to start again. I plan on hitting the gym with set exercises this week and with my notebook I'm going to find what my 8-10 rep max is, so when I start back into the full swing after Xmas, I know what weight to start at and work my way up.
Diet wise, I'm cutting out soda all together and drinking water and green tea. Food i'm going to be eating oatmeal or eggs for breakfast, and salads and some kind of protein for dinner and lunch. Snacks I may have some kind of low fat fruit or nuts.
It's going to suck but I'm about 240 pounds right now and my goal is to be around 175-180. I don't have a set time frame as I don't want to be hugely disappointed, so I'm hoping for 1-2 pounds of fat per week. If you want I can PM or post my workouts and give you an idea of what I'm doing.
Just thought I'd throw this out there so you know you're not alone.
That diet is right on the money. You'll shed pounds in no time.
Don't lift if you want to shed pounds, make sure you are active and always moving in your workouts, make them face paced. It doesn't have to be running, but as long as you are doing a fast paced workout it'll help. I highly recommend doing some p90X workouts if you can get your hands on them, it will give you a good idea of type of workouts you should be doing.
It also depends on how you prepare the food.
Boil your eggs, just eat the whites, throw out the middle. Forget the dressing on your salad, if you need to, put a small amount of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Believe it or not extra virgin olive oil helps your body take in more nutrition from each vegetable you eat with it (of course, in moderation). If you are going to have nuts, I recommend almonds, they taste good and they are good for you.
Also, make sure when you purchase your Whole Wheat bread its actually WHOLE WHEAT. Look at the ingredients, many products fool consumers into buying what they believe is whole wheat when really its not. If it says "wheat flour" as the first ingredient, then it says "water" or "sugar" or anything else other than a whole grain material -- you are buying the wrong stuff. The oats, grains, whatever you are getting should be at the beginning of the list. If its at the end, they are literally ripping you off by cheating out on the ingredients that they are advertising to you! Be careful, I am actually pretty fond of a particular brand but I can't remember the name right now, I'll have to get back on that.
Veggies -- Broccoli, Spinach, Eggplant, Collard Greens, Cabbage, Celery, Kale
Fruit -- All types of melon, Berries, Oranges, Peaches (throw some of those FRESH fruits in some low-fat yogurt)
Protein -- Hard Boiled Eggs (just whites), Beans (NOT CANNED -- these are high in sodium -- red kidney, lentil, garbanzo), straight up Protein Shakes, Almonds, Tuna (NOT IN OIL, MUST BE WATER, *White Albacore*), Shell Fish
Carbs -- Whole Wheat/Grain Bread/Bagels/Pasta, Potatoes (Baked or Boiled, not chips or fries), Oatmeal, Beans... VERY important that you consume SLOW burning carbs, especially if you eat before bed time if you are going to do that, make sure you eat something that is gonna take a while to digest.
Fat -- You still need to consume fat, its just about taking in the right types of it. Almonds, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Flax Seeds, sometimes even a little bit of Chocolate is good.
That's about all I can think of. If there is one more thing you need to know about losing weight and eating healthy, make sure you watch how much sodium you take in -- this might be more important than the amount of fat you consume. Make sure when you buy these products, get the ones with the least amount of sodium. The reasons I said to get Water based Tuna rather than Oil, as well as dried beans instead of canned is because it will limit your sodium intake (unfortunately, you'll have to hold off on that giardiniera, one of my favorites but I rarely eat it anymore for that reason alone). Control that and you'll be golden.
Remember, its not about limiting your carbs and protein or whatever bull shit the media says, as long as you eat the RIGHT foods your body will digest it properly and use that energy to burn fat -- the point is, don't think of a diet as eating less, think of it as eating right. You'll see more success if you are doing it the right way and enjoying yourself. Some people eat more than others because their body needs the nutrition, its fine if you eat a lot but just eat the right foods and burn the energy by working out and staying active (this doesn't necessarily mean you have to work out more than you usually do, as long as you burn the energy you consume). Don't think of it as "oh if I eat less I will lose more weight" -- this isn't healthy and if you try and cheat it most-likely you'll fall back into the same bad decisions you made before. As long as you eat healthy, you will be healthy, and if your healthy your body will start to change. You'll be fine. Hope this helps.
