After seeing pictures from my recent trip to Vegas...I realized how fat I have gotten and decided to start cutting. Here is my plan...any advice you could give would be apperciated. I'm 24, male, 245lbs at 5'10 with a good amount of muscle but a lot of fat that needs to be shed.

Exercise:
I plan to alternate running and going to the gym every other day. On running days I will also do 3 sets of 25 pushups and on gym days I will do 30minutes of the eliptical while reading a magazine and then lift weights for 30-45mins.

Supplements:
I started taking the ECA stack yesterday which I plan to take everyday expect for sat/sun once a day this week, and twice a day starting next. Without the ECA stack I would be a lot less motivated to work out and will most likely become lazy and stop exercising/eating right as I have done in the past.

Diet:
I bought three boxes of cereal and a half gallon of 1% milk to keep at my office. Frosted Shredded Wheat, Raisin Bran, and Whole Wheat Total w/ Strawberries. I also bring food from home daily which usually consists of pasta or rice with chicken and vegetables. Also I have a box of Zone Perfect Bars at my desk. I usually eat three times a day during my 9 hour work day, once at 8:30, again around noon, and then at 4:00. Then I have one more meal after I exercise around 7:00 or 8:00 which will either be cereal or a turkey breast sandwich fat free cheese, lettuce with no mayo.

Thoughts:
I realize that this is some what of a weird diet/exercise program, but it fits with my schedule and my habits well. The reason why I chose cereal as a main part of my diet is that its easy, inexpensive, convenient, and there are a lot of varieties. Plus it makes me drink milk which I normally don't do. Any thoughts?

First of all, read the lables on those cereal boxes. Most are loaded with refined sugar. Second of all, most fitness diets avoid lots of dairy. Dairy tends to have a lot of sugar too albiet a differnt kind.

This is probably better than what you were eating, so it's probably a good start.

I think you're better off going with steel cut oats our a whole grain cereal with no added sugar (or high fructose corn syrup) if you must do cereal.

I won't get into your cereal choices.... you obviously have a sweet tooth ;)

You do what you can with the time you have....cereal is going to work against you ( at least those ones will ) if it's the bulk of your diet.

Any opposition to brown rice, sweet potatos, oats or barely....Or at the very least buy bran flake cereal and add non-sugar coated raisins once the raisin bran is finished.

Personally I'd dump the ECA stack and just have 2 strong cups of coffee before the cardio or weights. There's no such thing as a quick fix....the stack won't give you the long-term result you are looking for and it's not recommended to take it long term anyway (dehydration can be a problem as well as it can contribute to heart conditions). Forget the fat-burners do the real work....eating more often is what fires up your metabolism not a bunch of pills. Your body will do this naturally why resort to something like the stack?

Lift the weights first....finish with the light cardio.

Pasta....whole wheat pasta (but there are better carb sources than pasta).

Dump the zone bars and eat more real food.

Figure out how much you are eating in a day and then post it so we can help you further....

Like do up a meal plan....you will have better success if you develop a plan...

use www.fitday.com or www.nutridiary.com to help you figure this out.

Protein carbs but you don't mention any fats....you can't completely blow away fats from your diet....fat is essential (monounsaturates first (ideally 50% of your total fats)...then split between polys and saturates. Don't let your dietary fats drop below 15% of your total diet.


at 5'10" 245....have you done much running before? You may just want to simply start walking and build up to running. Ease into this....don't come out of the gate running or you'll burn out and drop this like a bad habit.

my 0.02.

Limitation diets are hard to keep up.

Cereal isn't good for you.

There are lots of other great options out there I suggest you look in to...otherwise, just count calories and keep up consistency.

Those stickies on the top of this forum are really good. I started out here, and used them, and those stickies have proved rather useful:)

Thanks everyone for their help, especially Gordo. You guys are right, even though cereal isn't the best thing for me to be eating, its definetely a lot better than what I was eating, which was three large meals a day. Anyways...

Why is milk bad for you? I know there is some sugar in it but I would think that the protein would make it worth it, as well as other health benifits such as calcium. Should I switch to non-fat? 1% tastes better but I can do non-fat if needed.

Also what are the benifits of lifting weights and then doing cardio vs. doing cardio first?

I can't believe I'm 245lbs by the way. I was only 225 a year ago when I graduated college and was actually in very good shape. I biked or walked to class 3 miles 4 days a week, rockclimbed on an indoor wall 3 times a week and ran my ass off as a valet parker on weekends. But ever since I graduated I've been sitting at my desk or in my car and going to the gym once a week at the most. I'm really looking forward to getting back into shape...and I'm really apperciative of all of the help on johnstonefitness.

its not that milk is bad per se...but milk-sugar certainly isn't a great carb (just like your cereal)...the carbs you're tending to eat are ones that cause a quick spike in blood sugar rather than more fiberous carbs like oats, brown rice, etc. that will burn slowly and keep your metabolism pumping longer. The protien in milk is what like 8grams per cup? Lets put it this way...1 cup of milk is about 90-100 calories and 8 grams of protien, one can of tuna is 150 calories and 30+ grams of protien (not to mention it has none of the sugars).

In my opinion you're really doing yourself a disservice eating only cereal. If you're willing to work hard in the gym, why not put equal effort in to working in the kitchen? hehe, you won't even sweat ;)

You say it fits in with your schedule, but there is a plethora of healthy meal choices out there that are easier to prepare than cereal even.

But you did not say how often you would be eating the cereal. Are you eating each brand once per day (eating cereal 3 times per day)? That's probably not optimal at all. But if you're having a bowl of Raisen Bran in the morning with f/f milk (once per day) that isn't terrible either (I do this often myself).

Plus if you are taking milk because you wanted calcium or vitamin D you'd be better off to supplement and concentrate on protein from better sources.

Not to say "don't have milk"....please due 1 glass per day....milk does the body good (as they say) just don't go overboard on milk because right now:

Number 1: your total caloric intake is what you should be focused on.... (how to create a small enough deficit in intake that you start losing weight but at not too great a rate that your body senses starvation and slows your metabolism down even further).

Number 2: would be what makes up those calories so that you're not deficient in micro (vits and minerals) and macro (prot, carbs, fats) nutrients.

Well if you blast out cardio first.....you won't have as much energy to give it your all hitting the irons. However it doesn't sound like taxing cardio so try it if that's what you'd like and see what works. The more muscle you can add to your frame the more effective your metabolism will be. To add muscle you have to break it down and casue micro-traumas in the fibers (stress) that means you have to work out hard.

Cereal isn't actually as inexpensive as you think either. Even if you buy it on sale, it's probably about the same price per pound as chicken breasts. If you want cheap healthy food try buying bulk grains and dried beans from the natural food store, and make a barley kidney bean stew.

Cereal is not the best thing for you, but I don't think it would necessarily harm your progress. If you love cereal, that's a good diet for you, but it could be better. Stick with it for now, but keep looking for ways to substitute the cereal for other foods (eggs and vegetables come to mind) to slowly improve your diet.

What's wrong with cereal?

Things like wheat, oats, barley, etc are excellent carbs.

Some of these, like pearl barley, have an especially low GI.

And they contain lots of fibre. Oat bran, in particular, contains a lot of soluble fibre, which is very good for you.

Surely the problem is really only highly processed "breakfast cereals" with unhealthy additives.

^ Yep.

I asked if he was eating it several times a day or just once. No response. Johnny are you out there!!?

But you did not say how often you would be eating the cereal. Are you eating each brand once per day (eating cereal 3 times per day)?

from now on, everytime you would normally eat cerial, eat a 4 oz chicken breast instead.
this will get you much better results.

plus, the chicken has some protein in it!! so now you dont have to drink milk. :nod:

I have been eating cereal several times a day, once around 8am...then a normal meal (such as whole wheat spagettii with a chopped spinich tomato sauce) around 11:00, and then another bowl of cereal around 3pm. Then another bowl after I work out around 6:30pm.

I guess my question would be....if I didn't eat the three bowls of cereal, I would probely be eating two additional servings of real food such as the spagettii. Which would be healthier and what else could I subsitute the cereal for?

^ Yep.

I asked if he was eating it several times a day or just once. No response. Johnny are you out there!!?

...and what else could I subsitute the cereal for?
+ skinnless chicken breasts
+ tuna
+ lean beef
+ lean pork tenderloin
+ steak
+ flaxseed oil
+ natural peanutbutter
+ oatmeal
+ green beans
+ olive oil
+ sweetpotatos/yams
+ broccoli
+ cottage cheese
+ eggs

how many more do you want?
go research, read the stickied posts at the top of the newb forum, and get off the cereal crap.
:gl:

+ skinnless chicken breasts
+ tuna
+ lean beef
+ lean pork tenderloin
+ steak
+ flaxseed oil
+ natural peanutbutter
+ oatmeal
+ green beans
+ olive oil
+ sweetpotatos/yams
+ broccoli
+ cottage cheese
+ eggs

how many more do you want?
go research, read the stickied posts at the top of the newb forum, and get off the cerial crap.
:gl:

:tucool:

Thanks for the ideas. I think I will start substituting most of the cereal by preparing more meals in advance for the week and adding the sweet potato/yam idea.

Also i'm going to start cutting my servings in half for my main meal and eating it as two seperate meals instead. I posted the recipe for my whole wheat spagetti w/ spinich/tomato/mushroom/garlic sauce on the site, and would apperciate any feedback on if that would be a good meal or not.

I tried oatmeal but its impossible to wash off my bowl at work....I hate the way peanut butter tastes on whole wheat and I know I shouldn't eat white bread. And I don't enjoy eating straight protein whether its tuna, chicken or steak.

I'm planning on trying brown rice again, but I remember that I really didn't like it....if I just eat less white rice (like half a cup instead of 2 cups) but pair it heatlhy entrees such as vegetables and a little bit of lean meat would that be okay?

You also need a lot more veg. Most of your diet should consist of veg as far as I'm concerned as it's so important. Cereal isn't worth your effort unless it's something like Wheatabix, Oatmeal, or hell, even Bran flakes (which I actually love).

If you're eating 4 times a day, try and squeeze another meal in there somewhere to bump it up to 5, eating takes minutes. I'm not going to count the calories for you (since I don't even count calories myself) but a good idea would be to have a good cereal in the morning, with a protein source (eggs), bring some boiled eggs, steamed green veg, and pre-cooked chicken breasts to work with you, along with some Green tea, and you can even try sandwiches such as chicken on whole wheat bread. It's so easy there's no need for "cereal diets", they're silly and you won't last long, you need real food that you can live from and not look like a fool eating.

I'm planning on trying brown rice again, but I remember that I really didn't like it....if I just eat less white rice (like half a cup instead of 2 cups) but pair it heatlhy entrees such as vegetables and a little bit of lean meat would that be okay?

White rice is fine. Bastmati is probably a bit healthier (less processes, lower GI), but the only real 'issue' with white rice is the processing. Sick with long grain and the GI is med-low, even for regular white. Sill IMO better than nearly all cereal.

Bastmati is probably a bit healthier

I picked up a brown basmati the other day the has the most amazing taste and flavour. My new favorite brown rice. The kids think I'm cooking tacos when it warms up in the microwave (not sure why it reminds them of tacos, but it does sort of have that smell).
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The idea is that whole grain products tend to keep you blood sugar more stable throughout the day. Keeping insulin releases more consistent is the idea behind why slower burning carbs are more ideal.

At the end of the day though it's mostly about energy balance. How much your burned versus how much you took in. However, the timing of what you eat and when has been demonstrated by many to prove a critical factor as well. Experiment and see what works for you.

I'm planning on trying brown rice again, but I remember that I really didn't like it....if I just eat less white rice (like half a cup instead of 2 cups) but pair it heatlhy entrees such as vegetables and a little bit of lean meat would that be okay?

The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids.

Barley is really nice. Or try quinoa, buckwheat. I'm also really fond of a rice blend with brown rice, wild rice, black japonica. Tastes even better with walnuts.

Above quote from World's Healthiest Foods (http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php). Check out the great recipes.

The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids.

Barley is really nice. Or try quinoa, buckwheat. I'm also really fond of a rice blend with brown rice, wild rice, black japonica. Tastes even better with walnuts.

Above quote from World's Healthiest Foods (http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php). Check out the great recipes.
Great post, very interesting. Thanks! :tucool:

WOW! That site really is informative, thanks for the link. I'd encourge everyone to check it out.

Above quote from World's Healthiest Foods (http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php). Check out the great recipes.[/QUOTE]