Not even 1 pounds loss

[TheHolyOne]

I've been working out like a dog for about 2 1/2 weeks now. I go for a 20 min jog every morning and trust as a 300 pound man I'm struggling to do that but I fight on and finish.

I've been lifting weights for since as well. I just weighed myself again and I haven't lost one pound. I'm still sitting at 304 pounds. I figured I would of at leasy loss one pound by now. It's quite discouraging knowing it's all for nothing.

I would probably blame it on my diet but it's just so hard to change. I cut pop out two days ago and replaced about 2 litres of pop a day with water but I still have to try and get my food straight. It's hard.

[stargraphicas]

Hey man,
Just keep it at.  The worst thing you can do is give up.  Losing weight is definately a struggle.  I think we can all relate to that.  Its horrible to have gyne, but then to be overweight as well just adds to the burden.

Ive had gyno since I was 12.   I was in denial for a long time, thinking it was body fat that I could lose.  Ive been working out and lifting weights for about 4 years but never really understood how to do it.  Recently I got my personal trainer license (NASM.org, one of the harder agencies to go through).  Ive come a long way and built my body solid.  Its definately helped the gyno, but Im afraid I'll need surgery.  

On the plus side, the gyno forced me to get my CPT license.  Here is some advice I can give you:

The concept of losing weight is simple: the law of thermodynamics what you need to understand first.  Simply put, less calories in than calories out and you'll lose weight.  Eat less than you burn, and your body fat will come off.  

The first thing I would suggest is to count your calories daily.  Figure out how much you are eating.  If you arent losing weight, its probably because you are eating too much.  You might not think you are eating too much, but you can gain calories from unlikely sources.  A glass of juice is roughly 40 carbs.  Thats in the neighborhood of 160 calories.  Drink 3 of those a day, and you are eating an extra 500 calories that you dont need.

Understand that food is made up of three macronutrients: fat, carbs, and protein.  Thats it.  Fat is the densest at 9 calories, while carbs and proteins are both 4 calories.  I NEVER understood this and it finally clicked when I did.  

Write down EVERYTHING you eat and its caloric content.  Monitor yourself each week or two weeks.  You'll notice garbage calories in your day that you eat that can be easily cut out.  If you arent losing weight after a week or two, subtract 500 calories from your weekly average.  If you consume about 2500 calories a day, try to consume 2000 calories the following weeks.

The second thing I would suggest is spacing out 5-6 meals throughout the day.  This will keep your metabolism burning like a furnace.  Try to eat balanced meals of proteins, carbs, and fats.  Good sources are lean meats (chicken, fish, milk) veggies, whole wheat bread, beans, etc.  Try to avoid processed foods.

Lastly I would keep doing cardio.  Try to fit in some simple weights 3 times a week, but always do your cardio.  Dont listen to that mumbo jumbo about doing it on an empty stomach.  Most good trainers (not that Im terrific, but more experienced trainers than I am have all noted this) will not suggest their clients do so, although there is a widespread myth that its better for your body.  Cardio will burn the fat.  Of course, muscle on your body will also burn fat, so try to infuse some weight lifting in your workouts.

This of course is a simple overview designed to help you with that first step.  Its awesome that you are doing this for yourself.  Dont give up.  Even though I've never been overweight myself, Ive lived with a pretty bad case of this gyno for a long time.  I understand how it feels to be self conscious about your body.  The thing most people dont understand is that you can change your body and essentially change your entire life.  It may take 3 months, 6 months, or even a year, but your whole life will be different.  

I havent covered everything, but eventually I may add in a second post on more indepth training stuff.  I think alot of people are confused about how the body works (myself included, it took months of research and indepth reading of a 700 page book to get a small understanding!).  Email me at stargraphicas@yahoo.com if you have any further questions.

[GodWasAngry]

well it's gotta be because of your diet dude... tell us what you eat and we'll help you change it (i know my way around nutrition and im sure i can help you)

[tittyman111]

whole wheat breads...veggies.,..lean protein. it isnt hard, just expensive kinda. eat 6 small meals a day and include some meat and grains in each meal. no processed foods. man quit the exercise for a week or so if ur not seeing a change. diet is the key. when i cut out all processed and processed bullshit and mac and cheese and all that college bullshit, and starting eating like a mature adult, u would not believe the rapid weight change and body composistion that occured, and that was without excersize too!

[TheHolyOne]

Yea my diet is complete crap. I cut out Mcdonalds though which I would believe should help me a lot. I used to eat Mcdonalds probably 4-5 times a week. Double Mac with Bacon, medium fries and a mediume coke. Used to be my breakfast almost every day.

I work the night shift so I don't get up until about 2:00 in the afternoon and Mcd's is right across the street. So I'm sure you can see why Mcd's is for breakfast almost everyday of the week.

Quick questions on diet. What would I eat for breakfast? Eggs I understand but I cook my eggs with butter and from what I've heard butter is a no-no. I don't like yogurts adn that sort of stuff. Can I eat chicken for breakfast? lol

I've heard that a diet to lose weight should focus mostly on protein because I'm looking to build muscle too and carbs from fruit and whole wheat bread only. My current diet I'll admit conists of probably 90% carbs. Every meal I eat has some form of carb from pasta to hamburger bun. The 3 meals I eat a day all have carbs, large amounts too.

Anyways what I gather from stargraphicas post is that I should consume less in a day and break my meals down to 5 times a day instead of 3. How much would you eat each time though? It's things like these that I don't understand. I pretty much grew up with a deadbeat father who laid on the couch all day while my mother was out working 12 hour shifts. Because of this I never ate properly and really balooned at the age of 12 when I ate Mcdonalds every day.

By the way I'm not overly obese because I am 6'4 and do have quite a bit of muscle but I am still probably 80 pounds more then I should be. And since about the age of 12 I don't know what it's like to be fit. Actually I've always been overweight and have never been fit but like I said before I balooned at 11-12 and the gyne started to really show at the same time.

I'll push through the pain of working out and change my diet. I have to. Like stargraphicas said in 6 months or more I'll be a changed man and have a better life. And have a longer life to live too.

stargraphicas, two quick questions. I'm doing my cardio before I goto bed every morning after work. Should I change the time of my workouts or does it not matter as long as I get the workout in?

Second question. For breakfast what type of milk would you suggest in cereal and what form od cereal would you suggest?

Thanks for helping out guys.

[tittyman111]

ok this is not hard to understand...u know what healthy is. if ur not sure if somethign is healthy then it isnt.
if ur trying to loose weight and shape up with some muscle these are the only foods u should be eating. no excuses. u either want it or u dont. there is always time and the ability to make it work. its all on you though. its all about how bad u want it, and i wanted it bad so this was my diet.

Breakfast=1 serving of whey protein, mixed with milk, and 1 cup of oats (old fashioned) mixed into a blender. drink it.

snack= fat free milk, multi vitamin, 3 egg whites in a whole wheat tortilla (make sure its only whole wheat, not enriched wheat flour)


lunch=can of tuna with one serving of brown rice


snack= protein shake like i mentioned for breakfast, u can either increase or decrease the serving of oats depending on how ur looking.


dinner=steak -or- chicken no fukin sauce or anything...use olive oil and some seasoning. some steamed broccolli or salad with NO dressing. Use plain ass vinegar instead. serve chicken or steak or fish with brown rice.


before bed=large glass of milk or protein shake (no oats) depending on how hungry u are. no carbs.


drink water with all meals. no bull. if ur serious about changing ur life. then be serious and just follow this. obviously u can substitue things here and there...but u know what is good food and what isnt.

other good carbs to eat -sweet potatoes, whole wheat bread or bagels, oats (not sugary packaged kind), cream of wheat. If your serious about your diet u will not eat anything that has sugar in it. have ONE cheat meal a week, but keep portion size moderate.  

sorry i sound like an ass, but eating healthy isnt hard. and excuses make fukin up a cop out. do it right and youll start seeing serious results in 2 weeks.

[stargraphicas]

Hey man,
good to see this thread is lively.  I kind of agree with one of the posters...Definately dont make up excuses.  Personally I dont really care if you do or not, but once you make up an excuse in your mind (ie family history, etc) you'll fall back on this.  Whatever happened in the past is the past, this is your future and you have complete control over it.

Now that thats out of the way, you sound very serious about what you are doing, which is great.  As for your first question, you should not be eating butter AT ALL.  Not on bread, not on rice, not on anything.  Butter contains a load of calories that your body simply doesnt need.  Stay away from any spreads (other than the occasional olive oil).

For breakfast you should eat a good bowl of cereal.  I like the granola based cereals.  Dont kid yourself and get something processed and sugary.  There are plenty of healthy cereals that taste great.  I personally eat a brand carried at a store called Trader Joes by Nob Hill.
Dont worry too much about the carb content of your cereal.  Your body needs these types of carbs and the best time to eat them is the morning.  Sometimes I like to switch it up and eat eggs but heres how I eat them.  I get nonstick spray (like Pam), throw in about 4 egg whites and one whole egg.  I used to eat plain egg whites, but some guys just cant get used to eating white eggs and I understand that.  The yolk will help and wont throw too much saturated fat into your body.

I agree with another poster, a protein shake in the morning is great for your body.  Though you are trying to lose weight, you also want your body to build muscle, which will inturn burn calories and help you lose fat.

I would stick with 1% or 2% milk.  The carbs and protein content in milk is pretty consistent, and the fat content is really negligible once you consider the taste of non fat milk (white water) versus the 1 or 2%.  

At this point any type of cardio you get in is going to be good for your body.  Once you start getting closer to a lean body type switching your cardio up will allow you to burn off the last bits of stubborn body fat.

I agree with the other posters, drink tons of water.  I try to fit in a gallon a day.  Except for coffee (which you should drink black with a tbsp or two of non fat creamer) you shouldnt be drinking anything else.  Not even juice.

I would suggest researching bodybuilding.com for good meal plans and to learn more about nutrition.  Nutrition will be the bulk of your success.  Why sabotage your success?  Try to learn as much as you can about proper foods to eat.

Then I would clean out your entire house.  Find every scrap of garbage, candy, sugar, sweets, etc. and throw it out.  Why tempt yourself?  It will feel envigorating, trust me!  You can always email me if you have any further questions.  Stargraphicas@yahoo.com.

[markashleigh1979]

Hi Mate,
Congratulations on taking the first few steps towards a healthy life style.
I think once you sort your eating habits out, you will notice a dramatic difference.   .
I read that you cook eggs with Butter..lol, I am guessing you are an American   . I went for a full english (fry up ) at dinner in florida and i was amazed by the breakfast....it was sweet...lol. I think i had cinnamon fried bread that wanted to come back out the second it went in my mouth,...lol. If you like eggs and fried stuff like i do....just use a healthy sunflower oil to cook your eggs in or have them poached? I love poached eggs , with a bit of pepper and on two slices of toast....mmmmm.
You don't have to cut out all your favourite foods , but the way you prepare them needs to be looked at .
Good luck
Mark

[moobius]

boil some eggs, or make/buy some jerky.  these are easy and convenient to eat just about anywhere.

i wouldn't eat 5-6x a day. (i would suggest 3-4x/day) every time you eat you cause your insulin to rise... when your insulin levels are up, fatburning will be nonexistant.

i agree about writing down everything that goes in your mouth along with the nutritional breakdown. you have NO idea how many calories you are consuming and what the macronutrient breakdown is until you begin to do so.

cut out all junk food, sugar and cut back on your carb intake. focusing you diet around proteins/healthy fats (extra virgin olive oil, avacado, coconut, almond, etc) while maintaining a calorie deficit will probably give you the most dramatic results.

it's not going to be easy though, changing your diet is the hardest part. you're gonna have to stay disciplined about what you eat and how much if you want to see the changes you desire. it gets easier after the first few weeks though

[stargraphicas]

Insulin levels will only jump if you eat foods high in the glycemic index.  Things like processed foods, bread, etc.  Here is an awesome table of the GI levels of a ton of different foods:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/gifoods.htm

You can eat as many times as you want, but spreading out the calories over the day will allow your body to utilize them and store less as fat.  The GI index is terrrific to understand and how it relates to your body.

[Vanatu]

Ive had gyno since I was 12.   I was in denial for a long time, thinking it was body fat that I could lose

Yeah, I've been there...

[stargraphicas]

Yeah, the whole body fat issue is horrible.  I was a twig all through high school, and the reason was that I didnt eat fearing it would flare up the gyno.  I do think, however, that reducing your body fat will reduce the effects of the gyno.  The gland is still there, but eliminating alot of the body fat wont make it as noticable.  Im going to post a blog in the next few days that will detail my summer long cutting cycle.  It will explain what Ive been doing, what supplements Im taking, and hopefully will shed some light on what to do to reduce body fat and how it makes the gyno appear.  I think alot of guys have fat deposits on their chest that appear to be gyno but is really just fat.  I wouldnt even consider surgery unless A)you can fully feel lumps on your chest B)you can see your stomach muscles.    If you cant see your ab muscles, chances are losing body fat would help a great deal.  I'll post a link to a journal soon.

[moobius]

Insulin levels will only jump if you eat foods high in the glycemic index.  

i disagre. your insulin levels will rise no matter what you eat. they will rise much more substantially if you eat high GI carbs.

also, by eating more frequently you are not only blunting the body's use of fat for fuel but are also stimulating appetite and possibly reducing circulating levels of IGF-1

[TheHolyOne]

Thanks for more advice. I'vwe went ahead and cleaned out my cuboards and fridge. For the past week I haven't had one drink of Pepsi the only liquids entering my body have been water.

I've shaped my diet up. I eat chicken almost everyday and instead of 2 hamburgers on white bread I'll just eat chicken and mostly brocoli (I love brocoli ). For lunch my usual meal consists of a can of Tuna and a Whole Wheat Bun.

Breakfast is still causing me trouble but in due time I will fix that up. I have to look into some of the healthier cereal instead of the Fruit loops and Frosted Flakes.

I've lost 2 pounds. I understand the fat won't come off over night and I am happy with the progress I've made so far. I'll continue these eating habits.

I have however had one huge blemish on my diet so far. Last night I got drunk (13 Mike's hard Lemonade) and ate an entire Medium Pizza covered in Cheddar Cheese and Moz. I ate all 8 slices by myself. I'm going to have to work my ass off today to lose those extra calories in I took in.

[GodWasAngry]

Breakfast is still causing me trouble but in due time I will fix that up. I have to look into some of the healthier cereal instead of the Fruit loops and Frosted Flakes.

fiber cereals:
all bran flakes, fiber1..
tastes good, no sugar, low fat and low GI.