Calling all gym/diet nuts

[Hosky]

Hi all

Im in need of some advice.

Prior to joining my current job, i needed to lose 3 stone of weight. I done this by taking PHD diet whey protein powder for breakfast, lunch and a decent dinner. So i was having one 'meal' a day. I went from 91kg down to 73.8 kg. But after i got into my job, i put all the weight back on. and am currently sitting on 85/86 kg.

Is taking protein/meal replacment shakes bad for you? all i done in the gym was cardio, never touched weights.

Is it right that doing the right weight training programme can burn the same/more than doing cardio?

SO i checked the internet and theres too many diffrent things, protien is good for you, its pointless its bad for you....

What are all of your thoughts and what do you do for diets?

Lee

[Chriscooke]

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[Evilchap]

Out of interest, what's your current diet?

Can you list everything you eat in a normal day here please?

I went from 108kg to 78kg over the course of around a year, and am keen not to regress, and also happy to share anything I may do differently which may be helpful

[Hosky]

When i lost all of my weight it went like this

Breakfast PHD diet whey shake

Mid morning PHD diet whey protein bar

Lunch PHD diet whey shake

Mid afternoon PHD diet whey protein bar

Dinner Helathy options, brown rice, chicken, pasta etc etc

Now my diet is basically non existant which i know is hugely bad,

Usually, ill skip breakfast, ill have maybe some chips/beans or a sandwich for lunch and tea is usually what ever i get from the shop.

I know my current diet is very bad and needs to change.

What was your diet to lose the weight evil chap?

[Hosky]

I was training in the gym most nights, walking on a treadmill, Max incline, holding onto the top of the treadnill, for an hour, used to burn 1000 calories apprantly.

[chrisyboi s14]

Liquid diets are shit.

It's easy to regulate your diet tracking macros, no need to do weights if that's not your thing.

Basically eat smart, you know what's good for you and what's not. The odd treat won't hurt progress.

I studied nutrition when I started nailing the gym, the fitness industry is full of shit and riddled with liars, that's why I wanted to learn the science behind it. Don't buy magazines like men's health etc and try workout or new fad diets off there.

If you're genuinely after like a little meal plan to follow message me, Iv done it for a fair few people at work and even my dad (54) and they've all done well.

I'm only at marham to so not to far from you and know Norwich abit.

Hope this helps.

[Hosky]

so when i lost my weight,

my BMR was 2100 cals, All my calories in the day came to about 1100, say 700 calories in the gym,... so is my calorie deficit too much?

[Evilchap]

Mostly I just ate less.

What is it you eat now was my question, not what did you do to lose it.

You'd be amazed with some careful eating how quickly it'll drop off.

I am very strict:

Breakfast: 1 packet breakfast biscuits at 0900
Lunch: 1 role or 2 slices bread, buttered with cooked meat. 1 Packet of mini cheddars or hula hoops. 3 segments of chocolate orange.
Dinner: Normal sized meal, be it curry, pasta or whatever.

I found as long as I keep portion control on my evening meal sensible I can drop weight quite easily, if I get greedy I stabilise.

Once used to this food I think it's enough, but I do get hungry at meal times - but this is nice, then I eat and am no longer hungry.

I never snack. My only failures to stick to this are the SXOC monthly pub meets, and also at a badminton match there's food, but on the flip side there's much exercise for 2+ hours, so I figure that cancels out.

I haven't been overly scientific about any of this though, it just works for me. I figured if I eat less, it'll help, so I tried it, and it works, so I kept at it.

[Hosky]

Nice mate!

i did comment saying what i eat now, and its basically full of crap.

[Evilchap]

Ahh yes, I see that now I have read it properly

I would suggest as somebody else mentioned, making a plan. Do a single weekly shop, it'll save you fortunes, and save you on impulse buying

It's a challenge to start for sure, as you'll feel hungry if you cut back, but you'll feel better for it in no time.

[mcleansc]

A healthy balanced diet cannot be replaced. It's a matter of researching relatively cheap and easy meals to prep, make and freeze. I tend to find if I have no food or nothing made that's when I'll eat crap food.

My meal example is:

Breaky: 50g porridge with 50g of frozen blueberries added, 300ml milk, 200ml milk and 25g whey isolate, 1/4 a pineapple.

Snack: 4 eggs cooked any way, monge tout and asparagus

Lunch: 1/2 sweet potato cut into wedges ovened, 200g chicken breast ovened, broccoli, a lot of broccoli.

Snack: 150g natural yogurt, banana slices added and 50g whey isolate with 400ml water (normally my post workout meal)

Dinner: Tuna salad with 1/4 table spoon of mayo

Snack: 3 eggs boiled with no yolks.

That's around 2,650 calories.

I eat my carbs in the morning, pre and post workout. Cut out bread, even brown bread. I try to stay away from white rices and pastas, going for wholegrain or quinoa.

I also don't buy sweets or crisps or fizzy juice as if I have them in the flat I'll definitely eat them.

Gym wise I train 5 times a week, mostly weights, mostly squats and deadlifts, I'm very biased when it comes to gym type stuff as the fitness I need for my job isn't running at a set pace on a set incline for a set period of time, it's heavy and explosive work which I find weightlifting helps, try 100 reps @100kg under 10 mins on deadlifts and you'll be absolutely blowing out yer arse!

Most importantly it's about sustainability. Tweak your current diet until you find something you're happy with and can do for a long time, not some crash diet or fad. Same for training. Keep it enjoyable and not a chore. I've trained solidly and dieted appropriately for 3 years and went from 12 and half stone to over 16 with a sligtly higher fat percentage than when I started, I started slow and learnt as I went!

[Evilchap]

Blimey you eat a lot of eggs!

[R3K1355]

Yea sticking to a decent regimented eating routine is the best way to go, you don't need to go overboard to drop weight.

It's the snacking and the booze that does it for me, just can't reel it in

[mcleansc]

Blimey you eat a lot of eggs!

Yeah man, the protein shake in the morning used to be 4 eggs as well ha! People say it's bad for you etc, cholesterol and crap but I get a relatively vigorous medical every year and I'm perfectly healthy!

[JulesS14200]

Damn, Where you sponsored by PHD!? Go lift some weights and eat in a calorie deficit.

[Evilchap]

Damn, Where you sponsored by PHD!? Go lift some weights and eat in a calorie deficit.

Or just eat in a calorie deficit, this will do it - in particular if you are already doing what sounds like plenty of exercise

[Quail]

First thing to do is keep a food diary. Sounds gimmicky, but makes you accountable and is surprisingly encouraging.

Don't sweat it about missing breakfast if that works for you; it's really not a big deal (physiologically we aren't built to consume 3 meals a day - it's a social construct).

In it's purest form, weight loss is calories in vs calories out. The reason you lost the weight with your protein shakes is because they're low in calories, so you were burning more calories than you were taking in. You would have seen the same effect if you'd replaced the shakes with any other very low calorie meal/drink (salad, fruit, etc). Saying that, Protein Shakes aren't real food, and as such shouldn't be considered a healthy/sustainable meal replacement. They're a supplement (ie, they should supplement your diet).

There is no golden diet rule, other than do what works for you, and eat in a calorie deficit.

Some people eat one massive meal a day, some people eat nine tiny meals. Some people don't eat any carbs, some people balance their carbs, fats and protein. There really is no rule that says one is better than the other. The common theme across them all is the fact that dieters eat less calories than they consume.

When I need to cut back weight, all I do is:

- Swap breakfast for a nice coffee
- Have a small/light lunch (meat with a low(ish) carb side)
- Eat a normal balanced dinner (meat, rice, veg, etc)

Staying hydrated through the day, the odd coffee, and a snack at 3pm keeps any cravings at bay.

I struggle with sticking to a strict regime, so I always allow myself to cheat on the weekends (basically, I eat whatever I want, Friday PM to Sunday PM) - yes, this slows progress down, but it allows me to stick to the plan, ensuring long-term sustainability until I hit whatever goal I've decided upon (going cold turkey leads to yo-yo dieting).

Exercise speeds up the process considerably.

[mcleansc]

First thing to do is keep a food diary. Sounds gimmicky, but makes you accountable and is surprisingly encouraging.[/B]

This. I found it immensely useful, myfitness has a handy one, all you do is scan the barcode and it finds the food and normally portions for you. Scales as well, so you can properly weigh how much you're eating.

[R3K1355]

First thing to do is keep a food diary. Sounds gimmicky, but makes you accountable and is surprisingly encouraging.

There are a few decent apps out there that can help with that too, it'll also make you think abit more about calories in things which can help choosing what to eat.

When you start writing it all down and adding it all up you can quite easily see where you could trim a few calories in your diet.

[Evilchap]

Indeed...

I added it up, my breakfast + lunch intake usually is 800-900 calories.

Whether I succeed in going up or down in weight tends to depend entirely on dinner, and how much exercise happens, as my other intake is pretty fixed This keeps it simple, once I have done the working out what's what once, I dont need to think about it too much again