Weight Loss Thread

I'm trying to really put a focus on my eating habits, but I'm finding that I get a bit hungry in the afternoon while at work and I've been quite terrible at keeping snack foods away during that time. Does anyone have a good suggestion on something that gets you over that hump before you eat dinner? I usually hit the bouldering gym to do shoulder rehab, a bit of cardio and a little climbing currently, but not a super heavy workout. Some days I'll swap up and remove one and do a yoga class or core workout class at my gym, but I seem to really be plateaued around 170 but still have a LOT of belly and face/neck fat that can go.

At this point, should I be looking at trying to do a bit more with free weights? I'm rehabbing a rotator cuff injury, so I can't do a ton of weight right now. I'd call myself 75-80% right now, but some movements just kick my ass.

Gorehack_sl said:

This right here is pretty much me. Except I'm 374 and want to be 218.

I live a pretty sedentary live. Desk job 9-6 sometimes 7 and all of my walking is to and from the printer and outside to smoke.

Few weeks ago I bought a 20lb dumbbell and have been doing exercises with it at my desk throughout the day. Come in, bust out a set of 15 isolated curls, military press, wrist rolls, bent over one handed row, and over the head triceps lifts (have to do 2 handed, 1 handed with a 20lb I can do like once).

It sucked at first but now I find myself grabbing it and doing the routine automatically when I get a break in calls/walk-ins. I've started to feel better, my back hurts way less, my arms and shoulders are getting noticeably larger, and the old arm fat is shrinking. I haven't lost any scale weight, but I can tell I'm losing fat.

Really thinking about trying out that DDPYoga stuff from the thread in SS. Squeezing in time when I get home is tough, but 30 minutes is do-able.

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What about your diet? What are you doing to fix that?

Mageling_sl said:

I'm trying to really put a focus on my eating habits, but I'm finding that I get a bit hungry in the afternoon while at work and I've been quite terrible at keeping snack foods away during that time. Does anyone have a good suggestion on something that gets you over that hump before you eat dinner? I usually hit the bouldering gym to do shoulder rehab, a bit of cardio and a little climbing currently, but not a super heavy workout. Some days I'll swap up and remove one and do a yoga class or core workout class at my gym, but I seem to really be plateaued around 170 but still have a LOT of belly and face/neck fat that can go.

At this point, should I be looking at trying to do a bit more with free weights? I'm rehabbing a rotator cuff injury, so I can't do a ton of weight right now. I'd call myself 75-80% right now, but some movements just kick my ass.

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I bring a big bag of carrots in my lunch everday and I much on them daily from 1:00 to 5:00. After the first few I enter that "neverending chew" mode that happens with things like carrots and celery where you chew and chew and chew but just can't seem to swallow. It keeps me from getting super hungry. It also helps if you completely deprive yourself of junkfood by removing it from your work area.

As to your workout, it depends on what your ultimate goals are. If you just want to lose some fat and look lean/ripped, don't bother with free weights. Climbing gives a fantastic full body workout. Keep your diet in check and the fat will come off and your ripped climbing physique will appear. Getting lean all comes down to diet. You'll never lose that last bit of stomach fat unless you get really strict with what you're eating.

Mageling_sl said:

I'm trying to really put a focus on my eating habits, but I'm finding that I get a bit hungry in the afternoon while at work and I've been quite terrible at keeping snack foods away during that time. Does anyone have a good suggestion on something that gets you over that hump before you eat dinner? I usually hit the bouldering gym to do shoulder rehab, a bit of cardio and a little climbing currently, but not a super heavy workout. Some days I'll swap up and remove one and do a yoga class or core workout class at my gym, but I seem to really be plateaued around 170 but still have a LOT of belly and face/neck fat that can go.

At this point, should I be looking at trying to do a bit more with free weights? I'm rehabbing a rotator cuff injury, so I can't do a ton of weight right now. I'd call myself 75-80% right now, but some movements just kick my ass.

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You eat lunch right? I dunno, I'll usually have a banana before lunch and a protein shake after. But it fits my daily intake needs. You could always eat more in the afternoon and less for dinner to fit whatever your daily intake is. Whats your daily intake each day anyhow? How consistent are you with sticking to that number? Height/weight/age/activity level?

Have you been to a PT to get rehab exercises for the rotator cuff? I would start there if you haven't. I went to a PT for an issue I was having with my hip. He gave me some exercises, but wasn't really that great as far as interacting with me, so I only went twice, but continued doing the exercises until things improved. Kind of odd...he would give me exercises, and then walk off and dick around with his PC and even started working with another patient/client. Bizarre, and didn't work for me so i stopped going.

If you can't go heavy upper body, you could always do legs/core.

McCheese_sl said:

It also helps if you completely deprive yourself of junkfood by removing it from your work area.

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I was bringing in carrots for a while. I'll definitely be picking up some more this week.

McCheese_sl said:

As to your workout, it depends on what your ultimate goals are.

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My goals are to get down to the best power/weight ratio possible. I'd like to be in the 140-145 range and have a focus on lean strength for bouldering/top roping. Bulk is bad, and I generally carried myself around that 140-150 range while going through college and had a fair bit of padding everywhere.

Knowing that I need to be very good about food will help encourage me. I think the downtime from when I couldn't climb was kicking my ass and I was snacking a lot more because I wasn't getting the endorphines from working out like I had been previously.

matsb84_sl said:

You eat lunch right? I dunno, I'll usually have a banana before lunch and a protein shake after. But it fits my daily intake needs. You could always eat more in the afternoon and less for dinner to fit whatever your daily intake is. Whats your daily intake each day anyhow? How consistent are you with sticking to that number? Height/weight/age/activity level?

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I'm 5'9", currently plateaued around 170, 32 y/o, desk job and I'm in the gym 4-5 days a week for PT/climbing/yoga/cardio (not all in the same day)

I have some whey protein mix, but I've been wary about having that afternoon since I'll occasionally have a shake in the AM with some 2% milk if I forget my greek yogurt. As far as the regular meals, I'm quite consistent. It makes things much easier to shop at the grocery store and I have a fridge at work that I keep lunch fixings in.

Normal diet for my day:
Breakfast:
- Greek Yogurt
- Micronutrient juice (Odwalla/Bolthouse Farms/Etc) - Leftover habit from chemo, maybe too much sugar early in the day?
- 1 serving non-salted dry roasted peanuts

Morning Snack:
- 1x Apple/Orange/Pear/etc
- 1x Light string cheese

Lunch:
- Flat-out wrap with spinach, low sodium deli meat, small amount of hard cheese & honey mustard
- 1 serving of juice with chia seeds mixed in

Afternoon Snack:
- 1 Serving non-salted dry roasted peanuts (or)
- 1x Protein shake

Dinner:
- Large salad (50/50 spinich/romaine mix) with a small amount of grated cheese, grilled/sliced chicken breast & very small amount of lowfat dressing, cherry tomatoes.

I'm usually quite good about this, but like I said, I've been bad about snacking in the afternoons even while I've started climbing again.

matsb84_sl said:

Have you been to a PT to get rehab exercises for the rotator cuff? I would start there if you haven't. I went to a PT for an issue I was having with my hip. He gave me some exercises, but wasn't really that great as far as interacting with me, so I only went twice, but continued doing the exercises until things improved. Kind of odd...he would give me exercises, and then walk off and dick around with his PC and even started working with another patient/client. Bizarre, and didn't work for me so i stopped going.

If you can't go heavy upper body, you could always do legs/core.

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I have a full PT routine that I go through each day that I'm at the gym. Based on how I feel afterward, I'll do a bit of very light climbing, focusing mostly on footwork so I'm not locking that shoulder joint yet.

Gorehack_sl said:

my arms and shoulders are getting noticeably larger, and the old arm fat is shrinking. I haven't lost any scale weight, but I can tell I'm losing fat.

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I'm not trying to be an asshole, but given how massively overweight you are, there is no way in hell that your body composition has changed so much that you're noticing more definition or less arm fat if you haven't actually lost any scale weight. The likelihood of you putting on more than a pound or two of muscle, if that, is pretty much zero, which would mean you also haven't lost any fat.

Again, not trying to be an asshole, but you need to be realistic about things to avoid being disappointed. At your weight, you need a complete lifestyle change, to maintain it for years, and to be prepared for it to take months to see noticeable change.

Mageling_sl said:

diet/pt stuffs

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Based on the info you gave;
You have a BMR of 1783.8.
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = 1783.8 x 1.55 = 2764.89

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-ca...dict-equation/

So, you should be eating appx 2700-2800 cals a day to maintain weight. Obviously, that number wont be 100% spot on, so you may need to tinker. Since you're trying to lose weight, knock 4-500 cals off from that. But, based on the diet you posted, I don't see you getting that much, which may be the problem. Not much protein either..deliberate? Do you know what the total intake of what you're eating is? C/F/P?

I'm sure someone smarter then me can chime in, but if you're under eating by quite a bit, I would suggest eating at maintenance for a week or two, and then starting your cut again.

Mageling_sl said:

I'm trying to really put a focus on my eating habits, but I'm finding that I get a bit hungry in the afternoon while at work and I've been quite terrible at keeping snack foods away during that time. Does anyone have a good suggestion on something that gets you over that hump before you eat dinner?

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I find that lemon juice suppresses my hunger. I make my own sugar free lemonade. I always bring a thermos of fresh squeezed lemon juice and ice, then mix it with water and splenda right before I drink it. This and a handful of blueberries (or whatever berries) are my afternoon snack.

Mageling_sl said:

My goals are to get down to the best power/weight ratio possible. I'd like to be in the 140-145 range and have a focus on lean strength for bouldering/top roping. Bulk is bad, and I generally carried myself around that 140-150 range while going through college and had a fair bit of padding everywhere.

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Just going by your diet, with the exception of your dinner it doesnt look very nutritious to me. The juice is really just sugar, taking all the fiber out of the fruit and drinking it. Then more fruit, peanuts which are eh, and string cheese. You need some good protein and fat in there. Can you do eggs for breakfast to go with the yogurt? Or some steel cut or rolled oats with a scoop of whey in them maybe. I would start there and kill all the juice from your day. Then write it all down and see what your calories and macros are on fitday.com or similar. You dont want to under eat too much and you want enough protein in your diet.

You might be really under eating and it's slowed your metabolism down. As far as strength, Starting Strength program is a no brainer to get stronger.

Dashel_sl said:

You might be really under eating and it's slowed your metabolism down. As far as strength, Starting Strength program is a no brainer to get stronger.

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It's been a struggle to get back onto eating a lot every day. After 4 months on chemo and radiation my desire to eat still hasn't come back, and I'm feeling forced when I eat proper meals. I could probably swing a much larger breakfast, but it would have to be something I can make the evening before or that I can piece together from cold supplies since we don't have a proper kitchen at my office, and I'm in the process of moving over the next month, so most of my kitchen supplies are in limbo/storage until the house I'm renting opens up.

Edit: I'll definitely give the steel cut oats a go with a scoop of my whey mix in there tomorrow and for the next week or two to see how I do in the morning.

When i started doing my insanity workout, it was odd how I had to eat way more than I normally would, just to have the energy to do the workout. From what others have said I'll try to recommend a few things:

Keep fruits and veggies (raw) on hand at all times; I found even when I wasn't hungry I would reach for them, and that not only helped me keep the amount of calories I needed on track, but it almost meant I wasn't eating bigger meals later. (Several small bits per day.)

Don't get steel cut oats, or rolled. There is a specific oat bran that is neither of those; looks like fish flakes. (I know that isn't particularly appetizing.)

It has the least amount of carbs of all the oats, but still has the rest of the stuff you want. I will often cook some of that for a small snack, but i try to have some of it everyday. If I don't think I can work it in, I can add a scoop of it to greek yogurt, and it works just as well. It actually tastes quite good even raw (though I once tried to eat a spoonful of it just to get it down, and it was like the saltine challenge, I don't recommend that!) so I wouldn't worry that you won't want to eat it.

If you are a fan of things like cottage cheese, and yogurt it'll be easier on you.

I always took proteins and veggies/fruits to work, and just kept that around. I would slice meats really thin and cook them, and they were easily munchable at work, on something like a salad or just by itself. I can also give you a recipe for a chinese white sauce, that is quite low cal but makes everything tastes amazing.

I don't really know what your goals are (To just be healthier?) but when I made the goal to get healthier, it had a lot to do with making snacking on healthy foods a mindless thing almost. It's interesting, because they say, don't eat mindlessly, but for me that worked. I'll nibble on carrots, then later when I had the time for an actual meal I'd still eat appropriately, but I'd be far more likely to grab a scoop of cottage cheese + lean meats instead of something like pizza.

Since I've been doing insanity, I would suggest checking on the cookbook they have online, as it's pretty good for healthy foods, that you'll want to eat. (It's a free pdf.) It also I think, lets you calculate how many calories you want to eat (I think I'm supposed to be getting 2300 calories per day because of my activities, but that is A LOT of food, I have a really hard time meeting that, but I keep up with it.)

Not sure if this helps, it's just what I've found can get you eating the way you might want to. Also, biking. If you have a bike, and there are nice places, I cannot stress that activity enough. I live near beautiful redwood trails, and bike trails, so that's always a good way to have a pleasant time without realizing you're burning calories.

Mageling_sl said:

After 4 months on chemo and radiation my desire to eat still hasn't come back, and I'm feeling forced when I eat proper meals

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Ah sorry missed the chemo part. So is this juice some sort of prescribed supplement? I'd try to get more meals like your dinner which looks very good apart from the low fat dressing. I'd swap in some good fats in the form of olive oil and maybe a bit of vinegar or a low sugar full fat dressing you like, and some pine nuts maybe. Avocado is always good too.

As for being hungry I think thats a good thing from what little I'm reading of you. Or I guess I should say good if you eat some good whole foods. Avoid refined sugar and do that and you'll do well in terms of body comp I think. The strength thing is all about resistance training.

Eomer_sl said:

I'm not trying to be an asshole, but given how massively overweight you are, there is no way in hell that your body composition has changed so much that you're noticing more definition or less arm fat if you haven't actually lost any scale weight. The likelihood of you putting on more than a pound or two of muscle, if that, is pretty much zero, which would mean you also haven't lost any fat.

Again, not trying to be an asshole, but you need to be realistic about things to avoid being disappointed. At your weight, you need a complete lifestyle change, to maintain it for years, and to be prepared for it to take months to see noticeable change.

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I'm not talking about having diesel arms. Going from doing nothing for years to working muscles that don't get used HAS (understandable to be skeptic, you aren't here for me to show) made a difference. It's difficult to explain, but it has definitely increased my muscle strength and stamina. I'm an atypical fat guy in the sense that I have no ass. I carry my weight in my gut, upper legs, and some in my arms. Think more like Bruce Wilhelm body type, but with a Hank Hill ass and fat. My lower back pretty much goes in a straight line to the top of my legs. Like a conehead ass. Fuckin' sucks for sitting long periods of time, have to shift onto a butt cheek...all the males in my family are like that though.

Anyway, the food thing is a work in progress. At home I have cut out all bread, and pretty much eat meat and vegetables for dinner. Snack on a handful of almonds when I'm hungry (awesome fiber). At work is where I need to get my shit together. I eat what everyone else eats, and that's straight fast food garbage. I try to limit myself to under 500 calories for lunch but sometimes it's so god damn busy I just tell the lunch bitch for the day to get me whatever. Like I said, it's one of the major things that needs to change. Also the smoking part. It's one of my only vices and I happen to enjoy it, which sucks. Don't drink or anything else *shrug*

LadyVex_sl said:

Lots of stuff!

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If you can think of that type of oats, let me know? I'll scour Safeway on my way to work tomorrow while I pick up a few extra things. I like the idea of having some thin sliced meats to throw on your salad. I may switch from doing wraps to a larger salad with some good protein in it in comparison to what I'm doing currently (which is mainly just because it's easy).

My overall goal is to reach a healthy bouldering weight. For my size, 5'9" and a fairly small frame, I could easily be healthy ~135-140 and still be quite string. Through my first rounds of treatment I dropped down to 180ish from 220, and now I'm down another 10lbs from my regular workout schedule. I'm hoping that I can drop a fair bit more with a bigger change to my diet and (soon) being off of the gnarly bloating steroids from my treatment.

I'll definitely be checking out that online cookbook, and be trying some of it out once I get moved and all of my kitchen things out of storage. No bike currently, but depending on how the spring looks and if they toll the I-90 bridge here in Seattle, I may be doing the bike/bus thing soon instead of just doing 100 flights of stairs or a few miles on an elliptical at the gym on my cardio days.

Dashel_sl said:

Ah sorry missed the chemo part. So is this juice some sort of prescribed supplement? I'd try to get more meals like your dinner which looks very good apart from the low fat dressing. I'd swap in some good fats in the form of olive oil and maybe a bit of vinegar or a low sugar full fat dressing you like, and some pine nuts maybe. Avocado is always good too.

As for being hungry I think thats a good thing from what little I'm reading of you. Or I guess I should say good if you eat some good whole foods. Avoid refined sugar and do that and you'll do well in terms of body comp I think. The strength thing is all about resistance training.

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Yeah, the micronutrient juice is something that I've been drinking since early on in my treatment since it's easy for the body to digest. I think I'm hitting the point where I'm not as sick anymore (I got the all clear a week ago) since I've been out of chemo for two weeks now. Hopefully it means I can move toward a bit better diet and I'll get my appetite back soon. I'll definitely shift the fats from my salads a bit. I have a great recipe for a honey mustard dressing that uses olive oil as a thinner, and I can throw some avocado in there as well.

I'll probably just use the whey protein as a means to at least bump up my protein intake through the week until I feel like I can eat larger more solid meals. Do you have any suggestions for healthy high-calorie foods? I'm leaning toward doing some organic peanut butter and half an apple as a snack in the afternoon to get a bit of protein and some healthy fat in my diet while still allowing me to have some of the sweets that I seem to still crave.

I've completely cut out fizzy drinks over the last 6 months, and my next step is to try to rid myself of caffeine as a whole, but that's a beast I plan on wrangling after I get back to 90%+.

You all have been really encouraging. I have a whole shopping list ready for my way to work to rid myself of anything that I'd normally reach for while waiting for servers to spin up or between calls. Thanks so much! (I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions)

These are the oats I buy:



I buy them from safeway, and I believe they're in the baking aisle, not cereal. (Although if you can't find them there, check the other obviously.)

You can even make pretty awesome pancakes out of them, using egg whites, and vanilla greek yogurt. It's 1 1/2 T of oat bran and yogurt, and one egg. (This is for one, so if it's a breakfast thing, obviously add to it.) A small bit of oil in the pan, then wipe the excess off. (In a non stick pan.)

The bonus to this is that you can add things that make you *think* sweet, and fattening, via cinnamon, or cloves etc, without actually adding to it. You can even add cocoa powder + splenda for a chocolate fix.

Mageling_sl said:

Do you have any suggestions for healthy high-calorie foods? I'm leaning toward doing some organic peanut butter and half an apple as a snack in the afternoon to get a bit of protein and some healthy fat in my diet while still allowing me to have some of the sweets that I seem to still crave.

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Yeah I used to do natural peanut butter with apples all the time. I dont know about organic but just make sure the ingredients are "peanuts, salt". And that's it. You'll have to mix it up, the oil rises to the top but it's really good. If you dont tolerate peanut butter well try almond butter.

The other thing is full fat milk with a scoop of whey. I hear people mention almond milk or coconut milk. I'm not too familiar with those though.

Mageling_sl said:

Yeah, the micronutrient juice is something that I've been drinking since early on in my treatment since it's easy for the body to digest.

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Is this like a real juice they sell, or are you just talking about like orange juice? I googled it and couldnt find something that fits that description.

Or are you making stuff like this?

http://www.theburlapbag.com/2012/05/micronutrients/

LadyVex_sl said:

These are the oats I buy:

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Awesome! Knowing I can pick them up at Safeway is even better. I'll have to pick some up on the way home tonight.

Dashel_sl said:

Yeah I used to do natural peanut butter with apples all the time. I dont know about organic but just make sure the ingredients are "peanuts, salt". And that's it. You'll have to mix it up, the oil rises to the top but it's really good. If you dont tolerate peanut butter well try almond butter.

The other thing is full fat milk with a scoop of whey. I hear people mention almond milk or coconut milk. I'm not too familiar with those though.

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I'd be fine with full fat milk & whey as a way to get some extra calories and protein. That's a good idea since I've usually just made it with water.

arkktheseaotter_sl said:

Or are you making stuff like this?

http://www.theburlapbag.com/2012/05/micronutrients/

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I'm making my own juice, but if I forget, the Naked Green Monster (I think that's the name) juice was an alternative that my oncologist recommended. I usually do Kale/Spinich as the greens, some carrot, at least one apple, and whatever else I can find around that's easy/in season.

Eating lean meat, fruit, vegetables, a slice of cheese, one greek yogurt every day, and losing a lot of weight. Trying to stick to superfoods (Black beans, spinach, sweet potatoes, and mangos) and it's crazy how cheap they are (except black beans, might swap to pinto soon).