For BG fitness fanatics, a question..

[richardd]

So I has a question. After going to the gym for a few weeks now, I feel improved. I feel I have more energy during the day, I feel stronger and feel like I have more stamina, but I haven't yet seen the kind of results I'd like to see in terms of losing weight. Understandably, I've been doing this for only a short time and I'm not really discouraged. I've altered some eating habits, like whole wheat bread, instead of white and more fresh foods instead of frozen/pancakes or junk morning foods. My question really revolves around, what is a properly proportioned, small portion of food? I think for the most part, while I don't eat really unhealthy I may be eating too much. Now I've tried to cut down on how much I eat but I really still don't know if I'm eating proper proportions of food. Obviously everyone is different and has different eating habits for different purposes. But for general weight loss and healthy living, what really is a proper proportion?

its completely dependent on the person.

i weigh 230 lbs at 6'2 now. i need a ton of calories and protien to KEEP UP my weight, let alone gain. i take in about 30-35 grams of lean protien every 3-4 hours, but if i take whey, ill be ready for another sitting of food in about 2 hours or under. but this is all from eyeballing it, which i shouldnt do. and it sounds like you're on your way to getting your results, but how much of those carbs are you eating? do you eat oatmeal as well? and fresh pancakes arent going to make any more of a difference than frozen pancakes unless you're making them with wheat or chick peas or something lol. there's nothing wrong with frozen stuff. i buy frozen spinach in bulk. as long as i get my vitamins and nutrition from it, i can care less about buying it fresh. canned spinach/and other things are a different story.

edit: just realized you meant you didnt eat pancakes anymore as junk foods lol. pancakes CAN be healthy. hell. a HAMBURGER can be healthy lol. its all on how you make it. just read what atrei' posted for the other guy. make sure you are burning off more cals than you take in, and you'll be fine. keeping an active lifestyle is the best decision anyone can ever make.

[Weiing]

@Knightfell

Focus mainly on your diet, as it seems you have sort of... Just keep a rough 80/20 principle of at least 80% fresh, whole foods and 20% "fun" foods like chocolate or sometimes a "cheat" meal or a "reward" dessert. It keeps you sane when you are changing your diet and trying to lose weight. At your weight, diet will be more than enough for the meantime, really.

As for your workout plan...
Just walking is enough at your stage to help lose weight. Perhaps walk/jog and then you can progress to walk/run and walk/sprint HIIT as you get more fit. You DON'T need to do AT LEAST an hour of "workout". 20-45 minutes is more than enough.
Crunches are also unnecessary...and useless. Try doing something like planks instead.
Here are some nice guides I like:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/prison-workout/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/bodyw...ry-prevention/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/prima...t-plan-basics/

Also, being a big Marks Daily Apple fan, I have his free exercise ebook. It basically includes everything that the links I gave has, however in the ebook he delineates a more specific workout plan, mainly using your body weight. If you are interested, I can email it to you--or anyone else who may want it.

As for supplements - You should take a multi-vitamin as a precautionary measure just in case you aren't getting enough of certain vitamins. However, I have read recently about how multi-vitamins are not as great as people spout them out to be. I'm not sure...but I still take a multivitamin everyday. Also, fish oil is good... As for CLA, I don't know if it actually works or not... but I have been taking it since I started losing weight (and am now maintaining). I've tried stopping taking CLA, but it messed up my menstrual cycle or something, because I couldn't get my period until I went back on CLA. I may have screwed myself up, I don't know. You really don't need to take any other supplements really...unless you want to take some protein powder just to get protein easier. Otherwise--- DIET DIET DIET!

[richardd]

yeah, doesnt your body limit the amount of vitamins you can take in at a time anyways? and multivitamins surpass that? i need to read up on it, but i still take mine lol. nothing wrong with playing it safe!

[Weiing]

@ Shinzon

Quickly: http://www.webmd.com/diet/control-portion-size

Also, I usually follow what the packaging of things say to know how many calories I'll be eating. Scales and measuring cups are godsends.

I'm glad you're not discouraged! As, seeing results at first takes longer. However, once you start seeing results, you won't stop seeing them! But I think much of it has to do with your frame of mind as to what "results" means to you. To me, an outsider looking at your changes, I can see that you are already benefiting and getting results changing your dietary habits and workout habits: more energy, strength, stamina, etc.

Just keep at it! It took me about 2-3 months before I really SAW results and felt like I was getting results, even though the scale kept going down. Additionally, it's harder for the actual person to see results because they see themselves everyday, so their perception of their body image may lag behind actual body changes. If someone else, who hasn't seen you in a few weeks, saw you...they probably can see that something has changed.

[*Shinzon*]

@Rich whats a good recommendation for a general purpose, good multivitamin. I don't eat a lot of greens, I hate salads and I'm not big on fruits either so I could really probably use one.

[Weiing]

any multivitamin.... Not centrum or one-a-day. I hear those are pretty poor quality.

[richardd]

there's lots out there really. but i use this. its basic and gets the job done for me at least lol
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/men.html

the really expensive ones you see are for people who eat like absolute shit. as long as you're maintaining a good diet, (like you are) you'll be just fine with this.

and you should eat more greens anyway lol. spinach is like a natural steroid. its soooo fucking good for you. and i heard its good for sex too lol

before i turned into a gym nerd, i used to follow this rule when i was more of a band wagoner lol
http://slideshow.ivillage.com/health...eel_great.html

but i cant really eat half those things unless its put in a blender now. like yogurt... ugh one of the most disgusting things i'll ever eat just plain raw, but put it in with some blueberries and carrots and a scoop of fruit punch whey and a ton of ice cubes, and it tastes pretty fucking good lol. jamba juice aint got shit on me baby

[Omnipotent]

http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/09...60_215X215.jpg

I go through 2-3 a day since I like most others find it hard to squeeze in eating 7-8x aday. These are DELICIOUS, cheap as hell, and pack a good amount of carbs and protein. They do throw in some sugar, but this is what I have been doing and it works well.

[Knightfell]

Thanks for the input, as asked here is a sample meal plan.

Breakfast: Banana x2
Lunch : Pork, Rice, Beans
Snack: Salad or some fruits
Dinner: Chicken, Potato, Vege's

The hardest part for me so far is getting myself to actually eat the smaller, more frequent meals. I do "cheat" every so often with crap food (To keep my sanity) but when I do it's with moderation.

Basically switch out all the bad calories for more wholesome stuff.

I used to drink a 2ltr of soda a day, now maybe I'll have a couple of cups over the course of the week. I'd like to get myself down to zero since it's just empty calories.

As for food intake Portins tend to be the size of my fist, give or take.

[tyven]

DIET COKE NIGGA

[Atreides]

just switching out your calories for healthy stuff isn't enough. You can still get fat off of chicken and vegetables. You need to make sure you're eating less calories than you burn, otherwise it doesn't matter what you eat (for weight loss anyway). That sample meal plan doesn't really mean much unless we know portions

edit: oh you said fist size... still, you should figure out how many calories are in that

also 2 bananas for breakfast is kinda meh. Breakfast is your most important meal of the day, being the first time your body gets calories after not eating for 8+ hours, and a meal consisting entirely of carbs isn't such a great idea. 1 banana is fine, but throw in some eggs/egg whites, whole wheat toast/oats, peanut butter, cheese, etc.

[Weiing]

@Atreides - Agreed. No such thing as "bad/good" calories. It's more of "more/less" calories. Also, it's still unclear how much rice is in his serving for lunch or how much potato for dinner.

[Alduere]

Where do you guys buy all your protein/fat burners/etc? I've searched google but it comes up with a bazzillion pages that look a bit shady.

Ald

[Meat]

Please tell me you aren't trying to say that Lactic Threshold training regimens are bogus. Not everyone is a bodybuilder.

and if you're not you don't need bogus ass circuit training, hell you don't need a gym at all. all your goals can be accomplished in the park and the kitchen.

[Meat]

Where do you guys buy all your protein/fat burners/etc? I've searched google but it comes up with a bazzillion pages that look a bit shady.

Ald

bodybuilding.com for the protein
as for the fat burner, i take an eca stack which techinally isnt legal but can get easily bought, i get mine at www.fixfitness.com

[richardd]

bodybuilding.com for the protein
as for the fat burner, i take an eca stack which techinally isnt legal but can get easily bought, i get mine at www.fixfitness.com

whoa whoa whoaaaaaa, this shit looks mad legit! i better do some research!

edit: ugh, i see it was banned due to people dieing from heart attack though lol.

[Meat]

my friend sent me a pic of this lady at his gym today, he says it takes her 20mins to walk to the gym but 4 days a week she's there without fail.

http://i33.tinypic.com/2e5tmjt.jpg

[*Shinzon*]

whoa whoa whoaaaaaa, this shit looks mad legit! i better do some research!

edit: ugh, i see it was banned due to people dieing from heart attack though lol.

Back to the multivitamin thing, I know Wei said any will due, cept centrum, but what then are the differences in most multivitamins and why did you recommend the one you did? Does it depend largely on what or rather how you eat? Just so I'm an informed consumer when I go buy one lol.

[Zoolander]

my friend sent me a pic of this lady at his gym today, he says it takes her 20mins to walk to the gym but 4 days a week she's there without fail.

Thats awesome, there were some old people at the place I worked out at over the summer in Sarasota. Some old dudes, even in their 70s, were strong as fuck. Mad props to the old people still in there keeping themselves strong. Of course some people were just doing rehab, but I could definitely tell who knew whats up.

Edit: Oh yea and today in the grocery store I saw the most intimidating human being I've ever seen in my life. He was, no joke, 7ft 3in, and was ripped. Not just big, but fucking jacked like Arnold back in the day/guys in 300, except increase the size to someone with a 7ft 3in frame. I was actually intimidated being near him for some reason (no one really ever scares me, if he had been fat I wouldn't of thought twice about him), dude could literally kill me with his bare hands in a second.

[Atreides]

Back to the multivitamin thing, I know Wei said any will due, cept centrum, but what then are the differences in most multivitamins and why did you recommend the one you did? Does it depend largely on what or rather how you eat? Just so I'm an informed consumer when I go buy one lol.

pretty much anything is fine as long as it doesnt have iron in it