- Mar 26, 2005
- 4,094
- 123
- 106
So I been to those websites that teach you how to count calories and read food labels. But that stuff is useless to me! I don't eat canned/packaged food most of the time and I don't necessarily eat those foods they are talking about. How do I count how many calories I gained from those baked potatoes with sour cream I had yesterday night? Or those meatballs with salad mom made for me yesterday? I really have no idea and I could use some help.
Sometimes I will have 3 meatballs and sometimes it will be 4. Sometimes I will have 4 eggs and sometimes two. Sometimes I will have bread with those and sometimes I will not. Too many factors are involved and I cannot imagine counting that. Do you guys cut all your food intake to just those foods that can be easily managed and counted? I hope not, cause that would be very very sad and difficult to live with. There has got to be better ways cause I tried eating cottage cheese, meat, fish and salads in different combinations every day and I almost went nuts because my core foods are always large quantities or potatoes, pasta and rice, always with butter. Obviously I cut down on the butter and carbs after my triglycerides spiked to insane numbers but cutting carbs didn't work for more than a short while. I can go without them for a week or so, but eventually I end up eating them again because I get bored with just meat and veggies everyday. Plus, I am borderline vegetarian with how picky I am with my choices of meats and fish. Chicken is out of question since I was averse to it all my life.
And another question... How important is it to chug protein powder shakes every day? I am working out but far from the intensity of someone my age would be going at. I got pretty weak over the last years. (Struggle to do one full pullup.) My main goal right now is to lose weight. I am 31, 5'9" at 181lbs with a large belly, but overall not looking "fat". I went up from 155lbs to 170 and finally got to 180 eating chineese food, pizza and burgers at work.
Right now, I try to focus on cardio, pushups and pullups and ignore everything else because I am limited on time, and even if I wasn't I get very tired and annoyed very fast so I try to make the best of my 30min-40min workouts. I was having protein shakes at a certain point, but it didn't look like they did anything for me at all. Maybe because I wasn't having them consistently, or incorrectly? Or maybe because I simply wasnt working out much. Either way I am definitely doing my best to stick with the program now and so far I been going a solid two weeks alternating between cardio and bodyweight strength training every day. I already made some progress going from 10 knee pushups to a solid 5-7 "real" pushups. And from 1 pullup to two.
Would it be a good idea for me to forget protein completely at least until I see that I am able to keep motivated and working out for several months?
Oh and one more question... The target heart rate for someone my age during cardio is what.. 170-180bpm? I am having great difficulty staying there for the duration of 30-40 min or even for 10 min. I am at somewhere like 141bpm. Whenever I try to up the intensity I only last for 5 min at 176bpm or so, and pant like a dog with tongue out for the next 10 min. Is there a solution? I am somewhat limited in my cardio choices. Running makes my feet hurt like hell and I have to stop after 3-5 min of jogging. Jump rope kills my knees and feet in about the same amount of time. Biking fast enough to get the heart rate where it needs to be is not really an option where I live. What I do instead is interval training(pushups, pullups, lunges one after another) or just different movements in quick succession remotely resembling insanity. What do YOU do for your cardio?
Sometimes I will have 3 meatballs and sometimes it will be 4. Sometimes I will have 4 eggs and sometimes two. Sometimes I will have bread with those and sometimes I will not. Too many factors are involved and I cannot imagine counting that. Do you guys cut all your food intake to just those foods that can be easily managed and counted? I hope not, cause that would be very very sad and difficult to live with. There has got to be better ways cause I tried eating cottage cheese, meat, fish and salads in different combinations every day and I almost went nuts because my core foods are always large quantities or potatoes, pasta and rice, always with butter. Obviously I cut down on the butter and carbs after my triglycerides spiked to insane numbers but cutting carbs didn't work for more than a short while. I can go without them for a week or so, but eventually I end up eating them again because I get bored with just meat and veggies everyday. Plus, I am borderline vegetarian with how picky I am with my choices of meats and fish. Chicken is out of question since I was averse to it all my life.
And another question... How important is it to chug protein powder shakes every day? I am working out but far from the intensity of someone my age would be going at. I got pretty weak over the last years. (Struggle to do one full pullup.) My main goal right now is to lose weight. I am 31, 5'9" at 181lbs with a large belly, but overall not looking "fat". I went up from 155lbs to 170 and finally got to 180 eating chineese food, pizza and burgers at work.
Right now, I try to focus on cardio, pushups and pullups and ignore everything else because I am limited on time, and even if I wasn't I get very tired and annoyed very fast so I try to make the best of my 30min-40min workouts. I was having protein shakes at a certain point, but it didn't look like they did anything for me at all. Maybe because I wasn't having them consistently, or incorrectly? Or maybe because I simply wasnt working out much. Either way I am definitely doing my best to stick with the program now and so far I been going a solid two weeks alternating between cardio and bodyweight strength training every day. I already made some progress going from 10 knee pushups to a solid 5-7 "real" pushups. And from 1 pullup to two.
Would it be a good idea for me to forget protein completely at least until I see that I am able to keep motivated and working out for several months?
Oh and one more question... The target heart rate for someone my age during cardio is what.. 170-180bpm? I am having great difficulty staying there for the duration of 30-40 min or even for 10 min. I am at somewhere like 141bpm. Whenever I try to up the intensity I only last for 5 min at 176bpm or so, and pant like a dog with tongue out for the next 10 min. Is there a solution? I am somewhat limited in my cardio choices. Running makes my feet hurt like hell and I have to stop after 3-5 min of jogging. Jump rope kills my knees and feet in about the same amount of time. Biking fast enough to get the heart rate where it needs to be is not really an option where I live. What I do instead is interval training(pushups, pullups, lunges one after another) or just different movements in quick succession remotely resembling insanity. What do YOU do for your cardio?
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