For BG fitness fanatics, a question..

[Meat]

Well you also run like 50 miles a day, so you need all those calories to keep up.

I'm back fully on my diet & exercise routine. I'm about 225 right now, & 6'3. Looking to get to 200 by the summer. I have a large frame, so anything under that, and I think I'd look sickly. Maybe 190 tops. I go to the gym about 4 times a week with 40 mins cardio & 50 mins of weights each day. Looking to add a 5th day of just cardio in.

My diet consists of a breakfast bar or apple in the morning, Lean Cuisine for lunch and dinner along with a Wheybolic Extreme 60 protein drink after the gym. It's lower cal and more for recovery and building strength, working well so far.

I've just recently started going really hard at the gym again. I haven't lost too much, but have definitely toned up a bit. With going full force in the diet and eating about 1500 calories a day (I calorie count) I should notice an improvement soon.

I also allow myself 1 free day a week (usually the weekend) where I eat whatever I want, within reason of course. It is really tough living on Lean Cuisine. I'm still kind of hungry after, but it's very good for learning portion control.

that doesn't seem like hardly enough calories for someone that big

[Fistandantilus]

1500 is a tiny amount for a lazy person, I don't know how you get by working out 5 days a week on that diet @_@

Kudo's if you can do it though, I'm sure you can lose a ton of weight quickly like that. I am curious however if you are able to actually build any muscle with that kind of diet? I suppose it depends a lot on how much protein you are taking in (which I'm guessing is an alright amount if you're having a shake with dinner). I don't really understand how people workout often with less than 2500 calorie per day diet, I used to do that and it just made me real scrawny, now I'm probably up around 3k a day and am much happier with how much energy I have.

[Odesseiron]

1500 is a tiny amount for a lazy person, I don't know how you get by working out 5 days a week on that diet @_@

Kudo's if you can do it though, I'm sure you can lose a ton of weight quickly like that. I am curious however if you are able to actually build any muscle with that kind of diet? I suppose it depends a lot on how much protein you are taking in (which I'm guessing is an alright amount if you're having a shake with dinner). I don't really understand how people workout often with less than 2500 calorie per day diet, I used to do that and it just made me real scrawny, now I'm probably up around 3k a day and am much happier with how much energy I have.

Well I'm a pretty big guy. I don't mean fat, but I have a small beer belly to lose. Other than that though, if I really worked out, I could have the frame of a football player. I'm not trying to get huge, only toned with a bit of muscle. I don't drink the super heavy duty protein shakes that have 900 calories in a serving, the one I drink has about 280-300 or something. As far as the rest of my body goes, I have enough to work with in each area to build a bit. When I do lose the weight I want to lose, not much of that will go with it as I've done it before. I just got really lazy during my ffxi craze period a couple years back and fell really out of shape.

The 1500 calories isn't the most intake, but I can do it. It's really tough as I said, but a lot of it is more of a mental thing. I'll just drink a couple of cups of water with my lunch/dinner and add more veggies with nothing on them to help fill me up. It's always rough when first starting but you get used to it pretty quick.

[Fistandantilus]

Yeah, I think a lot of us had to do a hardcore diet after FFXI, I got super lazy as well. Problem was after that I went hardcore diet and got skinny but had no muscle, so now I'm trying to balance the two.

Are you taking any Vitamin supplements? With 1500 calories it must be pretty hard to get all your nutritional needs I imagine, unless you really know a lot about nutrition and what exactly you should be eating.

[Odesseiron]

I take a daily multivitamin, if that counts?

[Fistandantilus]

Yeah that's what I meant, just something to get essential vitamins. If you're eating only 1500 calories, especially if it's essentially the same meals each day, there's a good chance that your diet will be deficient in some areas if you aren't taking a vitamin.

[Atreides]

with 1500 you'll most certainly lose weight but you'll REALLY cut into your muscle stores. There really isn't much excuse for anyone to go under 1800, someone your size could probably lose weight easily on over 2k unless you have diabetes or something.

[Weiing]

Well you also run like 50 miles a day, so you need all those calories to keep up.

I'm back fully on my diet & exercise routine. I'm about 225 right now, & 6'3. Looking to get to 200 by the summer. I have a large frame, so anything under that, and I think I'd look sickly. Maybe 190 tops. I go to the gym about 4 times a week with 40 mins cardio & 50 mins of weights each day. Looking to add a 5th day of just cardio in.

My diet consists of a breakfast bar or apple in the morning, Lean Cuisine for lunch and dinner along with a Wheybolic Extreme 60 protein drink after the gym. It's lower cal and more for recovery and building strength, working well so far.

I've just recently started going really hard at the gym again. I haven't lost too much, but have definitely toned up a bit. With going full force in the diet and eating about 1500 calories a day (I calorie count) I should notice an improvement soon.

I also allow myself 1 free day a week (usually the weekend) where I eat whatever I want, within reason of course. It is really tough living on Lean Cuisine. I'm still kind of hungry after, but it's very good for learning portion control.

Hmm. How recently did you start hitting the gym hard? Yeah. 1500 calories on average with your height/weight is a cause for concern. I think you should really refigure out your RMR and then subtract up to 500 calories from that. You may notice that you have 'toned' up, but that is most likely from newbie gains as you just recently started hitting the gym seriously. After that, you may see it taper off or even plateau completely.

Also, yes...Lean Cuisine is most likely not the best option for when you are trying to lose weight. It's not about 'losing weight', it's about eating healthier in a -sustainable- manner. I don't think people can live off Lean Cuisine forever. Plus, not to mention how processed and crappy it is. I'm sure you can get the same caloric number and BETTER nutritional value if you have whole foods, such as a salad or some nice meat and sauteed veggies. What is your dinner like, by the way? And how are your macronutrients (fat/protein/carbs) looking?

You seem to be going to the gym a lot and hitting it pretty hard...40 min cardio + 50 weight lifting? That's a lot of time spent at the gym, when you can do something just as effective and more time efficient (15-20 minute hard cardio and 30-50 minute lifting). But if you are willing to take up 90-ish minutes at the gym per day, that's your call. Also, don't forget about your resting days, as that is the most important thing!!! How is your workout week split? Such as for me, MWF is lifting (30-50 min depending on what workout phase I'm in) and TuTh is HIIT/sprinting (never more than 25 minutes, with 5 minute warm-up and 5 minute cool-down at the gym...or up to 45 minutes when I'm walking/jogging outside to a park and then I spend 5 minutes total doing sprints in the field). This makes me think you can definitely eat about 2000+ calories a day and still lose.

I'm glad you are starting up again! It's a great start! But I'm just worried about you being able to maintain your current regimen. Losing weight shouldn't mean temporary drastic change...it should be sustainable and long-term change. Keep it up

[Fistandantilus]

Losing weight shouldn't mean temporary drastic change...it should be sustainable and long-term change. Keep it up

I agree with what Weiing said for the most part, but I want to quote this part again because I think it's extremely important and often ignored. Getting in shape isn't about starving yourself for a month to get to your goal weight and then assuming things at that point will work themselves out. Like I said, after quitting XI I started working out a lot and did something similar to you, where I ate very little and worked out a ton, and like it was said earlier it really eats into your muscle stores. I was real fast and looked good with clothes on, but underneath I had almost no muscle and still looked a little flabby.

It is said way too much and sounds cliche, but that is because it's true. Being fit and in good shape is a lifestyle, not something you work on for a few months and then ignore. You'll quickly put that weight back on and be even more discouraged than before. I'd really like to see you find some meals with more nutrition in them, Lean Cuisine is nice for calorie counting but you're a man, you shouldn't be doing that. Women can calorie count and stay skinny on ridiculous 1000 calorie diets, but for a man you need a good 2k+, if you're trying to add some muscle then I'd say closer to 3k. However the number isn't as important as what kind of calories those are, a healthy 3000 calorie diet that has a lot of fruits, vegetables, and other nutritional and organic food is going to help you get in great shape much more than a 1500 calorie diet that has a bunch of empty carbs and other unhealthy shit in it.

The other thing to remember is once you start working out heavily, eating a lot helps in every way. You will get more energy so you will be able to do more strenuous workouts (meaning more calories burned, more muscle built up, and therefore a higher overall metabolism), and you will feel more energetic 24/7. I don't know about you but when I was calorie counting a lot I lost some weight but my muscles diminished and my overall energy during the day wasn't nearly as high as it is now.

The media seems to make people think that eating less leads to being more healthy, but this is mostly aimed at obese people who don't work out and eat a 4000 calorie diet. For people who workout food is healthy, don't be afraid to eat! As you build muscle you'll start to notice that you have much more energy and that instead of eating for flavor, you'll want to eat because you have some exercise coming up and want to have plenty of energy so you can go out and kick some ass.


Feel free to correct me if any of that is wrong, I wrote a lot more than I meant to lol.

[Weiing]

It is said way too much and sounds cliche, but that is because it's true. Being fit and in good shape is a lifestyle, not something you work on for a few months and then ignore. You'll quickly put that weight back on and be even more discouraged than before. I'd really like to see you find some meals with more nutrition in them, Lean Cuisine is nice for calorie counting but you're a man, you shouldn't be doing that. Women can calorie count and stay skinny on ridiculous 1000 calorie diets, but for a man you need a good 2k+, if you're trying to add some muscle then I'd say closer to 3k. However the number isn't as important as what kind of calories those are, a healthy 3000 calorie diet that has a lot of fruits, vegetables, and other nutritional and organic food is going to help you get in great shape much more than a 1500 calorie diet that has a bunch of empty carbs and other unhealthy shit in it.

The other thing to remember is once you start working out heavily, eating a lot helps in every way. You will get more energy so you will be able to do more strenuous workouts (meaning more calories burned, more muscle built up, and therefore a higher overall metabolism), and you will feel more energetic 24/7. I don't know about you but when I was calorie counting a lot I lost some weight but my muscles diminished and my overall energy during the day wasn't nearly as high as it is now.

I just want to echo this a billion times plus one.

But one thing: Lean Cuisine is never nice. Ok well, sometimes you're in a pinch and don't want to make a meal... that's understandable. But it seems to me that's part of your daily meal plan (I could be mistaken)... which means 1) it's also not good for your body because, as he said, it's really just empty calories/carbs(lots of carbs, most likely!) and 2) there's only so much Lean Cuisine varieties...then you just get sick of them.

Really, food shouldn't be averted. Your body needs nourishment to function, to replenish muscle tears.

A note for women: Please never go on a < 1000 calorie diet! It breaks my heart and makes me want to cry. Ok, that may not be a good reason for why you shouldn't go on a 1000 calorie diet but...still.

[Woozie]

Lean Cuisine is nice for calorie counting

This would be true if Lean Cuisine didn't under-report their calories. A piece of advice I give to people concerned about calories is to learn to cook (and measure/weight). And find time to cook somehow. Not all meals take hours to prepare. Even a busy person can eat healthily.

[Meat]

I'd venture to say healthy food is even quicker, i eat; eggs, oatmeal, fish fillets, ground turkey and grilled vegetables every day. none of which takes more than 8-10 mins to cook

[Mayareira]

Cook yourself, processed food(frozen, fast food, etc.) is terrible for your health and it is the primary cause of colon cancer.

[Fistandantilus]

I should have prefaced, I don't eat lean cuisine and have no idea how many calories are in each of them. I just made an educated guess about the nutritional value based on 1) it being called "Lean" cuisine, so I figured it had less calories than a typical frozen garbage meal. 2) Almost all meals like that are full of sodium, carbs, and a lot of fat. I'm going to make another assumption and say that the fats in lean cuisine also aren't the good type. YES THERE IS GOOD FAT. The chances of the good fat being in lean cuisine are pretty small, but I could be wrong.

I tend to go through phases with my food because I get tired of eating similar things constantly. Currently one of my favorite meals is an egg sandwich, it's really basic and takes me less than 10 minutes to prepare. Throw some eggs on the frying pan, add a pinch of salt and pepper for flavor, then I broil either a mini-bagel or a hogie roll in the oven (also called french rolls I think, but any bread is fine. Actually scratch that, make sure it is a healthy bread lol) you can add a piece of cheese if you want. My family loves cheese and has a ton of varieties, so I usually pick one of them and use half a slice. It's a really nice meal for mornings, it's basically a complete breakfast once you add in a drink of your choice. It's sort of like a healthy egg mcmuffin lol. Regular bagels work but I think there is too much bread and I'm really OCD, so anytime I make a sandwich the bread/eggs or meat ratio has to balance, in the morning I don't pay attention to calories at all because I know I'll be burning all of it off throughout the day. However I've always had a hard time eating in the morning, so I just eat as much as I can.

There's a ton of other really basic and easy to make foods that you can make in under 15 minutes that have good protein or other nutrients. Honestly I think you could take a lean cuisine out of your diet and double the caloric intake of it, but instead use those calories for healthy food (I'm not talking broccoli, I mean good delicious stuff like Chicken Breast or a nice sandwich with lettuce, tomato, any meat type, tasty grain bread etc). Even though this would give you more "calories" it would be x10 better for your body. You'd have more energy most likely, most of those frozen foods with high saturated fat content really weight me down, I don't know about you. You'll also lose more weight possibly, because instead of eating 400ish bad calories which do nothing but get stored as fat or burned off during the day, you'll be eating 800 calories of healthy food which will give you more fuel for your workouts.

Also I agree I hate when girls say they are on a ridiculous diet of like 1000 calories or something like that. 90% of the time they either have no ass, or can't handle that diet every day and binge every week or two and it does them no good at all, except that they have bad skin due to poor nutrition. Did I mention they have no ass?

[Headspace]

Sometimes I'll eat a hungry man frozen meal, especially on days I work to boost my calories, shit's ridiculous and pretty cheap.

[Fistandantilus]

I'd venture to say healthy food is even quicker, i eat; eggs, oatmeal, fish fillets, ground turkey and grilled vegetables every day. none of which takes more than 8-10 mins to cook

What do you use for grilling your veggies?

I've been really jealous of people who can grill for a while, I just have a basic oven, really sucks when trying to make chicken. Do you have like a George Foreman or something similar? If so do you think it is worth it? Fish Fillets sound good also, I think after reading that I'm going to have to go to costco this week lol... getting a bit tired of the current food.

[Meat]

http://cdn.overstock.com/images/products/P12285337.jpg
plain old cast iron stovetop grill and some pam these and pam. i'f i'm feeling adventurous i'll soak some skewers and make kabobs

[Tomk]

I think you should really refigure out your RMR and then subtract up to 500 calories from that. /snip

I have found soooo many different formulas and calculators for this. Giving me anywhere from close to 3000 calories down to 1700. What is the best way to figure this out?

I have been doing my weight*12. I took my initial weight and figured 2400 calories for maintenance. Then figured my goal weight calorie maintenance amount and subtracted it from the initial number. That gave me a daily deficit of 420 calories. I weigh myself weekly and subtract the deficit from my weekly weight*12. (I made a spreadsheet)

It has just been a couple of weeks but it seems to be ok as I have been losing around 2lbs each week. (4-5 days of exercise)

[richardd]

if i get lazy, i just go to publix and get a wrap.

i dont even go to subways really just because they dont have wheat wraps. if i need the carbs or im working out that day, than ill get the honey oat chicken breast(or turkey or roast beef) subs or something for my energy.

im starting to take protein drinks now because i want to do more of my upper body again more than once a week. i dont want to get any bigger than i already am, and look like a jersey shore fag. so right now i just need to tone up.

im back to my bench presses, but im only doing 245 lbs in sets of 7 x 3 with inclines starting from 210 and i been loving it. i can still feel the tears on my tri's and pectorals after im done because i take my sweet time and go slow when i push up. i just wish i could do it more often. i also need to get a decent blender so i can start making fruit smoothies for breakfast. omelettes are taking way too long for me to cook now since i been waking up like 30 min passed the snooze and oatmeal only taste good if i eat it in chunks so meh

[Weiing]

I have found soooo many different formulas and calculators for this. Giving me anywhere from close to 3000 calories down to 1700. What is the best way to figure this out?

I have been doing my weight*12. I took my initial weight and figured 2400 calories for maintenance. Then figured my goal weight calorie maintenance amount and subtracted it from the initial number. That gave me a daily deficit of 420 calories. I weigh myself weekly and subtract the deficit from my weekly weight*12. (I made a spreadsheet)

It has just been a couple of weeks but it seems to be ok as I have been losing around 2lbs each week. (4-5 days of exercise)

Ok let's see.. Yeah. As RMR/BMR calculators are usually just estimates, you will get varying numbers. Problem is, there are different formulae you can use to calculate BMR/RMR...and it's slightly different for males and females, which can make it even more complicated. First, BMR, for those who don't know, is the basal metabolic rate, which is the calorie intake you need just to sustain your body/organs if you were in a coma..per se. Resting metabolic rate, or RMR, considers the BMR in addition to the other things you may do while resting, such as get up, walk around a bit, etc. However, I should have also mentioned that after calculating your RMR/BMR, you should also factor your actual activity level, as that will impact your calorie intake, too.

A good online calculator is here: http://www.phord.com/cc/ If you click on the Advanced button, you can see calorie calculations for losing weight, maintaining weight, and gaining weight. It should be noted that these are all just estimates anyway...a good guideline. But at the same time, it's best to cycle/zig-zag your calorie intake so that your body doesn't get used to the same amount of calories a day. So say, one day you may have 1800 calories, the next you may have 2500, then the next you may have 2000, etc. It's about the average calorie intake (to get the deficit you want), not daily calorie intake. This helps prevent your body from becoming more efficient with your energy expenditure if it sees that you are always eating less than you are actually burning... so it helps reduce the likelihood of plateauing.

That being said, what is your height/weight and goal weight, if you don't mind me asking? I'm happy that you are doing this and that you are very organized about it! Keep it going YAY Any more questions?

And Richardddddd:
You should get a VitaMix! They are the best blenders! Only cost $400-600. You should buy me one, too.

And if you're having trouble with breakfast, have you ever thought of preparing breakfast foods some other time? Such as making a frittata, quiche, or something that can last a while like that during the day... Then you can slice a piece or, if you baked a quiche in cupcake holders, just grab 1-3 pieces of them and microwave it? You can also just eat leftovers...or have a salad. Oatmeal is meh...eggs are delicious! Or......you can just not hit the snooze button! OH great ideaaaa