Diet Help

[KarmaPolice]

So I've been really active lately and trying to get in shape. Mondays I play basketball, Tuesdays I do kick boxing, Weds basketball again, and thursdays some more kickboxing, and on fridays I plan to start some weight lifting. I don't seem to be losing much weight tho, and I guess its my diet. What am I eating thats really wrong?

My usual meals are:

Breakfest: Either a bowl of cereal and some juice or three over easy eggs with toast.

Lunch: A roast beef or ham sandwhich with cheese tomato and leatuce...sometimes with a salad with let, little cheese, tomatos, olives, and crutons..

Dinner: I guess the bad part....I eat pasta cause its cheap and tasty..I eat subway a lot...grill chicken most of the time. Sometimes a meetball sub. Just general food.

I have little snacks here and there but nothing that seems really bad for you. I drink water and gatorade for the majority of the day. No soda. I have a beer or some wine at night but not anything crazy.

I guess my diet has a lot of bread and its not THAT great but in the scheme of things I don't think it seems that bad.

are there any not insane diets that are realativly easy to stay on? My friend told me yesterday about this shangri La diet that seemed pretty strange, which included taking a spoon of oil before or after each meal.

 

[Wapp]

Are you doing any cardio work? Basketball isn't a very effective method to losing weight.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Originally posted by: Wapp
Are you doing any cardio work? Basketball isn't a very effective method to losing weight.

I dunno, We play full court for a long time and I am pretty dead by the end. I go running sometimes tho...

 

[ScottFern]

Basketball is a great sport for getting your heart rate up and definitely should help lose weight.

 

[rocadelpunk]

maybe you should take some suppliments?

Protein and glutamine...

I'm impressed that you can do all that stuff day in/day out. I just started doing an aerobic kickboxing class...it's a 50 min intense workout and it's just as hard as anything I ever did at saddlebrook tennis academy in florida...which was all day stuff. It takes me about 4 days to recover from each class...and I'm in average shape.


as for diet recommendations...

drink a lot of water (helps reduce snacking). Get your carbs in earlier in morning...whatever they may be (pasta, fruit, whole grains)

glutamine info

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: rocadelpunk
maybe you should take some suppliments?

Protein and glutamine...

I'm impressed that you can do all that stuff day in/day out. I just started doing an aerobic kickboxing class...it's a 50 min intense workout and it's just as hard as anything I ever did at saddlebrook tennis academy in florida...which was all day stuff. It takes me about 4 days to recover from each class...and I'm in average shape.


as for diet recommendations...

drink a lot of water (helps reduce snacking). Get your carbs in earlier in morning...whatever they may be (pasta, fruit, whole grains)

glutamine info

suppliments?

he isn't even weight training yet.

start lifting 3-4 times a week before or after your basketball/kickboxing. you will see a difference.

 

[dmw16]

I put myself on a strict diet and exercise plan i dropped about 100 pounds. Just saying that so you know Im not talking totally out of my ass with this advice.

First your meals...

Breakfast: Eggs are good, but the cereal and juice really aren't. That is just a ton of carbs. You need some carbs, but mostly protein in the morning. Carbs make you crash and snack before lunch. Make sure the toast is whole grain with NO high fructose corn syrup (read the labels).

Lunch: This is pretty ok. Again, whole grain bread

Dinner: Pasta should be whole wheat and should be consumed in moderation. Subway is all junk. Stay away from that. Lean protein and veggies are best. Grilled chicken and salad. Or fish and veggies. Whatever.

During the day: gatorade has a lot of calories. it was designed to help ATHLETES playing sports in the hot sun. Not the guy who plays basketball 3 times a week. I'd suggest water or if you need something with some flavor, diet soda. But generally i'd suggest at least 1L (64oz) of water a day on days you dont work out and twice that on days you do.

All that said, I'd suggest breaking your meals up. Here is a typical day for me.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast
Morning Snack: Carrots and peanut butter
Lunch: lean meat, salad
Afternoon Snack: string cheese, fruit, almonds (nuts are a good source of fiber and protein)
Dinner: lean meat, vegetable, whole wheat pasta (or brown rice)

On days I am lifting I will have a protein shake w/ amino acids before I left and a protein shake w/ no aminos after I lift.

ALSO...

Do any weight training prior to doing cardio. And dont just run like a mad man. Try to maintain your heart rate in a 65% zone. Or do interval training (most treadmills will have a setting for that).

 

[torpid]

Is there some trick to cooking eggs quickly while getting ready for work? I eat hard boiled eggs on and off but they get kind of boring quickly. Maybe there's some sort of egg cooking microwave device I could get. Or is that just called a plate?

 

[dmw16]

they reheat pretty well. At least scrambled ones do. So typically I'll scramble a dozen at a time and eat them during the week.

or sometimes. i'll scramble them, put them inside a whole wheat tortilla w/ some cheese and salsa, wrap and freeze them. and just grab them in the morning. nuke then for 1-2 mine and you have a pretty tasty meal.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Originally posted by: dmw16
I put myself on a strict diet and exercise plan i dropped about 100 pounds. Just saying that so you know Im not talking totally out of my ass with this advice.

First your meals...

Breakfast: Eggs are good, but the cereal and juice really aren't. That is just a ton of carbs. You need some carbs, but mostly protein in the morning. Carbs make you crash and snack before lunch. Make sure the toast is whole grain with NO high fructose corn syrup (read the labels).

Lunch: This is pretty ok. Again, whole grain bread

Dinner: Pasta should be whole wheat and should be consumed in moderation. Subway is all junk. Stay away from that. Lean protein and veggies are best. Grilled chicken and salad. Or fish and veggies. Whatever.

During the day: gatorade has a lot of calories. it was designed to help ATHLETES playing sports in the hot sun. Not the guy who plays basketball 3 times a week. I'd suggest water or if you need something with some flavor, diet soda. But generally i'd suggest at least 1L (64oz) of water a day on days you dont work out and twice that on days you do.

All that said, I'd suggest breaking your meals up. Here is a typical day for me.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast
Morning Snack: Carrots and peanut butter
Lunch: lean meat, salad
Afternoon Snack: string cheese, fruit, almonds (nuts are a good source of fiber and protein)
Dinner: lean meat, vegetable, whole wheat pasta (or brown rice)

On days I am lifting I will have a protein shake w/ amino acids before I left and a protein shake w/ no aminos after I lift.

ALSO...

Do any weight training prior to doing cardio. And dont just run like a mad man. Try to maintain your heart rate in a 65% zone. Or do interval training (most treadmills will have a setting for that).

Thanks for the suggestions. I think the big thing is that to really eat healthy you need to cook yourself and I hate cooking for just myself. Eating out it seems like its really hard to get a good meal thats good for you besides a salad.

So weight lifting before cardio? I think my already horrible shot in basketball would get worse after lifting. My arms would be all weak and such.

 

[dullard]

Your diet itself seems fairly well balanced. You are missing some fruit/dairy, but it isn't too bad. What you must be doing is eating too much at each meal/snack. So, lets counteract that overeating.

1) Switch to the most fiberous ingredients that you can stand. Whole grain breads/pasta. Even Subway has some better selections of bread. Take that pure sugar cereal, and add in some high-fiber cereal. Clearly, the more fiber in the cereal the better, but ease it in so you don't get the runs right away. Same with the pasta, if you can stand it, get the wheat pasta instead. Fiber fills you fast (it expands inside of you) and keeps you full. That way, you eat less. Then the fiber pulls the stuff out of you before you can digest it, so you absorb less of what you eat. It is a win-win situation, and studies are showing it is the most effective long term diet.

2) Ruin your appetite. Have your snack 20 minutes before a meal. Make it a snack of mostly protein as it ruins your appetite the most. Although some fats and sugars can be good too. That is what the oil you mention is supposed to do. But protein works better.

3) You are focussing on the wrong thing with your skipping of soda. Sure, soda is just empty sugars, but have you looked at Gatorade and alcohol? Gatorade is about tripple the calories as soda. You could drop one Gatorade drink a day, add in two sodas and still come out well ahead. Gatorade is meant for marathon runners and other extreme atheltes. You aren't one of them. To bad it is so addictive.

4) Overall, make eating less pleasant. Smaller plates, bad music playing in the background, etc. That way, you still eat the foods you crave, but you'll eat less of it.

Combine all the above and without much change at all to your diet, you'll be just as happy, just as full, but you'll be eating significantly less.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I know gatorade isn't that low on calories but its deff not more then soda. I have a bottle right next to me...

50 calories per serving
Serving size 8oz


Soo a soda can which has 110-160 calories is 12ozs
16 ozs of Gatorade is only 100

 

[Anghang]

Calorie Count is what i use

basically figure out your BMR and then count your calories

your calorie intake must be less than calories burned to lose weight

i'm down 8 lbs since counting my calories (started in august), i eat about 1600 calories a day with moderate exercise (40 minutes of walking/jogging about every other day)

when i say count your calories i mean log EVERYTHING...meals, snacks, drinks, etc

good luck

 

[Anghang]

btw, try sticking with egg whites if you can give up the taste of yolk...it'll cut down the calories of each egg plus less cholesterol overall

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: KarmaPolice
I know gatorade isn't that low on calories but its deff not more then soda. I have a bottle right next to me...

50 calories per serving
Serving size 8oz


Soo a soda can which has 110-160 calories is 12ozs
16 ozs of Gatorade is only 100

Did they recently change it? 310 calories, compared to lower 100s for soda.

 

[iamwiz82]

Perhaps your issue is portion control. A bowl of cereal could be 2-3 servings, depending on the bowl, plus milk. A foot long subway sub is a few servings, as well. Once you train your stomach (and mind, that's a tough one) that you don't need to eat so much, you will probably notice a difference. I did this because I just don't have the self control to eat a rabbit's diet. I love red meat, I love things that are unhealthy when not eaten in moderation, so I eat those things but in realistic servings. I don't need that 16oz porthouse anymore when a petite filet should fill me.

I am down 60lbs to 175lbs without any type of workout routine because I realized I just cannot eat that much.

 

[Megatomic]

Increase the weight training is my first tip. More muscle mass leads to an increased metabolic rate.

My second tip is to eat more, smaller meals per day. I eat 6 small meals every day. Digestion increases your metabolic rate and if you eat throughtout the day your metabolism stays revved.

My third tip is to eliminate white breads and pasta and switch to whole grain varieties. The glycemic impact and glycemic load of whole grain products is much lower and whole grains digest slower. This also leads to a faster overall metabolic rate.

My fourth tip is to do more cardio. Interval training for running and biking and circuit training for weight lifting will speed up your metabolism for days.

My last tip I just learned a couple of months ago. Do your weight training first and follow it up with cardio. Your metabolism will be faster for longer this way.

I've followed these tips myself and have dropped my weight by almost 120lbs. and my bodyfat percentage has dropped to about 8% in the last 2 years. I started at 274 and my lowest weight is 162. I bulked up to 169 this summer by choice, now I'm in a lean out mode. I hope to get really "shredded" by Christmas when we have family pictures done.

 

[JulesMaximus]

How long have you been exercising regularly and how overweight are you?

 

[Kabrinski]

During the day: gatorade has a lot of calories. it was designed to help ATHLETES playing sports in the hot sun. Not the guy who plays basketball 3 times a week. I'd suggest water or if you need something with some flavor, diet soda. But generally i'd suggest at least 1L (64oz) of water a day on days you dont work out and twice that on days you do.

Slight correction.
A liter is approximately 33.8 fluid ounces.

 

[Special K]

I don't feel like reposting the same stuff I say in every one of the 10 threads like this that get posted each week (do a search), so I'll just refer you to the board in my sig. There are a lot of knowledgeable members there who would be happy to help you with your goals.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: rocadelpunk
maybe you should take some suppliments?

Protein and glutamine...

I'm impressed that you can do all that stuff day in/day out. I just started doing an aerobic kickboxing class...it's a 50 min intense workout and it's just as hard as anything I ever did at saddlebrook tennis academy in florida...which was all day stuff. It takes me about 4 days to recover from each class...and I'm in average shape.


as for diet recommendations...

drink a lot of water (helps reduce snacking). Get your carbs in earlier in morning...whatever they may be (pasta, fruit, whole grains)

glutamine info

suppliments?

he isn't even weight training yet.

start lifting 3-4 times a week before or after your basketball/kickboxing. you will see a difference.

I lol'd about tennis camp. Try spring and summer football. 7 to 11am break break then 1pm to 5pm. This was in West Palm Beach Florida. Pretty asses out hot. On non-pad days it was still bad. Wrestling wasn't much better being inside with no a/c.

I like gluatamine, only I use it for lifting...

 

[alkemyst]

With activity, diets aren't so needed. What usually drives the diet craze is people wanting to eat and still do nothing. For some it's the way it is.

My body hovers around a certain weight if I don't train. i can cut back food majorly and there is no effect.

As soon as I am active my weight drops fast and hovers around a much lower wieght.

If I want to get down into the single digit BF%'s then I have to both overtrain a bit and cut down on food a lot.

If you are still having problems losing weight (and not trying to drop down below a healthy weight) on that diet it's probably the sugars and enriched food sources.

Switch cereal to oatmeal (whole oats is the best, but even quick oatmeal is better than cereal), lose the fruit juice if more than a single serving (4-8 oz). If using deli meats and white breads switch to real meats (the kind you buy an have to cook first) and a whole grain bread (white wheat is new and actually a good bread).

Pasta is bad in general mostly because people eat about 4+ servings of it at a setting. Try whole-grain pasta and measure your portions until you know what's the right serving size. Meatballs can be made with 93-99% lean beef, buffalo or 93-99% turkey. I prefer turkey meatballs actually. I keep my beer consumption to the weekends now. I will have 12 during a typical weekend. Each holiday day figure another 6 of them.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Wapp
Are you doing any cardio work? Basketball isn't a very effective method to losing weight.

I don't know any dudes that play full court 1+ times a week that are fat. Playing light half court or a shooting game (horse and the like) is not really basketball.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
With activity, diets aren't so needed. What usually drives the diet craze is people wanting to eat and still do nothing. For some it's the way it is.

My body hovers around a certain weight if I don't train. i can cut back food majorly and there is no effect.

As soon as I am active my weight drops fast and hovers around a much lower wieght.

If I want to get down into the single digit BF%'s then I have to both overtrain a bit and cut down on food a lot.

If you are still having problems losing weight (and not trying to drop down below a healthy weight) on that diet it's probably the sugars and enriched food sources.

Switch cereal to oatmeal (whole oats is the best, but even quick oatmeal is better than cereal), lose the fruit juice if more than a single serving (4-8 oz). If using deli meats and white breads switch to real meats (the kind you buy an have to cook first) and a whole grain bread (white wheat is new and actually a good bread).

Pasta is bad in general mostly because people eat about 4+ servings of it at a setting. Try whole-grain pasta and measure your portions until you know what's the right serving size. Meatballs can be made with 93-99% lean beef, buffalo or 93-99% turkey. I prefer turkey meatballs actually. I keep my beer consumption to the weekends now. I will have 12 during a typical weekend. Each holiday day figure another 6 of them.

I disagree with saying diets aren't needed. I worked out 5-6 days a week (3 days lifting, 3 days running) and stayed at approximately the same weight for years.

For the past couple months I've followed a very strict diet and dropped about 20 lbs (of mostly fat) which makes me look more defined, so I would say that diet is more important than just training.

You can run for an hour and burn 600 calories or just not drink a soda and have some smaller portions for the same caloric deficit. Both will net about 1 lb lost per week. Of course, I'd recommend doing both for maximum results.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: torpid
Is there some trick to cooking eggs quickly while getting ready for work? I eat hard boiled eggs on and off but they get kind of boring quickly. Maybe there's some sort of egg cooking microwave device I could get. Or is that just called a plate?

I can cook an omelette using egg beaters (fairly healthy overall) in about 4 minutes or so, it doesn't take that long, especially if you crank the heat up at first and then turn it down after it's heated up.

Also, I have a recommendation for the bread. I personally can't stand most wheat breads... I find them extremely crumby and coarse. I've been recently using Sara Lee's Soft and Smooth wheat bread, which was one of the best breads I found while at Wal-Mart. The thing is, the bread offers good nutrition (I believe it was the lowest calories that I found while there, I did find some Light Wheat Bread at Wegmans that was healthier, but it was so coarse) and has the feeling of white bread .

Also, are you stretching out enough before these aerobic kickboxing classes? I know when I used to do karate, if I didn't stretch out enough beforehand, I felt it afterward .

I'm curious why people mention pastas so often... aren't they still poor because of the high carb count as I've always been under the impression that carbs amount to energy later on. Although I'm no expert, so I'm not sure how long it really takes for carbs to be "usable."

My meals at this point consist of tuna fish sammiches and usually half an hour later or so I'll make a salad or eat some fruit (strawberries, blueberries, grapes or something). The sandwiches are usually made from the bread I mentioned, fat free cheese, very low fat mayo (not even using a full serving of it either) and lettuce. My salads do include the "luxuries" like croutons and bacon bits, but I also made sure to check these for overall nutrition. Although I might be putting too many croutons on . I also chose some of the lowest fat dressing you can find. Wishbone makes a fairly low-fat dressing around 1.5%-3% per serving (1.5% being Italian and 3% being Ranch).