Hi,

My boyfriend has been dieting for about 2 weeks (trying for a lot longer but only just started on the plans that we found on your amazing website :bow: ). He currently weighs 325 pounds and is looking to loose the weight initially and then cut. His diet is as follows:

7.00am: 2 x crispbread/1 x brown bread with cheese or ham or turkey
9.30am: 1 chicken breast with 4 small slices of boiled potato
1.00pm: 1 chicken breast with salad
3.30pm: 1 crispbread/1 x brown bread with cheese or ham or turkey
7.00pm: lean pork steak/chicken breast/lean lamb medalion with vegetables and 4 slices of potato (boiled)
9.30pm: 1 x chocolate biscuit and 1 cup of tea with semi skimmed milk and 2 teaspoons of sugar

He is also doing between 15-20 mins on a punchbag and another 5 mins on a speedball per day.

Neither of us can understand why he is not losing loads of weight but he has stubbornly stuck at this weight for 2 weeks now and it is, obviously, getting him really down.

I know that the people on this site have an awful lot of knowledge and please could someone help us.

Hopefully we can start putting some before and after pics in soon :nod: .

Thank you.

Sarah

He should be eating at least 2800 cals per day to make sure he doesn't lose weight TOO fast. I made that mistake and have horrible stretch marks. Make sure he doesn't do the same.

Replace the sugar with sweetner and find an alternative to the chocolate biscuit. Also find an alternative to having chicken breast 3 times per day. That will get too boring to bear. But how is it cooked? Fried? Roasted? Does it include the skin?

You have only mentioned one drink in your diet - I'd assume that your boyfriend is drinking more than a cup of tea per day, but what is he drinking? Most people know that sugary drinks like Coke are really bad for losing weight, but did you know that orange juice contains a load of calories too? It is very good for you, but watch the cals.

I weigh about 190lb at the moment (although I'm losing it) and I can find my weight fluctuating from day to day by as much as 5lb!! This is water retention which is affected by a load of things including the amount of water I drink. The more water I drink, the less I retain.

Ultimately, the only weigh to know if he's eating the right amount is to MEASURE THEM. It seems like an awful lot of meat to me, but can you post back with measurements and estimates of the number of calories per meal?

Al

Basically, it seems to me that your boyfriend isn't eating enough. YOU NEED TO EAT IN ORDER TO LOSE WEIGHT!!!

Also he should get into some serious, muscle building activity (weights) and cardio (at least 30 minutes. 45 would be better. No more than that though).

I will post some more detailes later - right now I don't have the time.

Please make sure you read the stickies at the top of newbie forum.

Good luck!

Gila.

Welcome to JSF.

7.00am: 2 x crispbread/1 x brown bread with cheese or ham or turkey
What is crispbread? What kind of ham/turkey? Replace with tuna or something less processed (if you're eating pre-packaged deli meat), or have eggs/egg whites.

9.30am: 1 chicken breast with 4 small slices of boiled potato
That's better!

1.00pm: 1 chicken breast with salad
Also okay.

3.30pm: 1 crispbread/1 x brown bread with cheese or ham or turkey
See comments on meal 1

7.00pm: lean pork steak/chicken breast/lean lamb medalion with vegetables and 4 slices of potato (boiled)
Not bad (lamb is surprisingly tasty, I just recently found out)

9.30pm: 1 x chocolate biscuit and 1 cup of tea with semi skimmed milk and 2 teaspoons of sugar
Chocolate biscut? What's that?

Does not look like he's eating enough for his size. He's a big guy and needs more calories I THINK.

He is also doing between 15-20 mins on a punchbag and another 5 mins on a speedball per day.
Weightlifting? He needs to start doing this.

I would also suggest the two of you take walks together in the morning or at night. You don't have to go super fast, but keep the pace above average. Go for about 40-45 minutes. It'll give you time to talk about your day too, so it has more than health benefits. :)

Neither of us can understand why he is not losing loads of weight but he has stubbornly stuck at this weight for 2 weeks now and it is, obviously, getting him really down.
No need to be down now that you're here at JSF. We'll help figure it out.

Thank you for that 1FastGTX, sorry about the lack of information. Basically, crispbreads are like a thin wheat cracker with about 17 cals each and 3g of carbs. The turkey and ham are cuts straight from fresh cooked meat (you never know what is in the processsed foods). The chicken breast is grilled and has no skin or fat. Chocolate biscuits are like low fat cookies made of oats with a very thin layer of milk chocolate on the top. They are about 87 cals each with 0.5g fat.

He is doing some light weights with high reps as some of the posts on the site suggested that was the best way to burn fat but do you think it is trial and error?

Also I forgot to mention that he is drinking only about 1.5 litres of spring water per day. We both know that is not enough but he is working on that.

We have worked out that the amount of calories per day is not much more than 750 after calculating it today for the first time and we were very surprised! What should he be eating more of to make up the calories?

Thank you all for your help and suggestions. :cool:

Thank you for that 1FastGTX, sorry about the lack of information.
NP, that's why we're here. :tucool:

Basically, crispbreads are like a thin wheat cracker with about 17 cals each and 3g of carbs.
Pretty minimal, does not sound too harmful to me.

The turkey and ham are cuts straight from fresh cooked meat (you never know what is in the processsed foods). The chicken breast is grilled and has no skin or fat.
That sound good then. Is he cutting it himself from like a baked turkey and/or ham? Or getting from a deli?

Chocolate biscuits are like low fat cookies made of oats with a very thin layer of milk chocolate on the top. They are about 87 cals each with 0.5g fat.
Doesn't sound too bad. But I think for the last meal of the day it's not the best idea. See if he can eat a meal with mostly protein and fat for the last meal of the day. Ideally a casien protein (such as cottage cheese) would be best for the last meal before bed. I am not a fan of high carbs before bed personally.

He is doing some light weights with high reps as some of the posts on the site suggested that was the best way to burn fat but do you think it is trial and error?
I don't think lightweight+high reps are ideal for fat burning at all. I think that it IS good if he is just starting out on weightlifting though, because it's important to get used to exercises, learn correct form, etc. However as he learns more and gets more experience, I think a heavier weight+low-to-moderate rep scheme would be much more ideal.

Also I forgot to mention that he is drinking only about 1.5 litres of spring water per day. We both know that is not enough but he is working on that.
Yeah he should try to drink plenty of water. To make things easier he can have Crystal Lite and Sugar-Free Kool Aid once in a while (it helps me). For example I just don't like drinking water when I eat meals, so I drink Crystal Lite or Sugar-Free Kool Aid when I eat food, but the rest of the day I sip on water.

We have worked out that the amount of calories per day is not much more than 750 after calculating it today for the first time and we were very surprised! What should he be eating more of to make up the calories?

Thank you all for your help and suggestions. :cool:
He should absolutely be eating more than 750 calories. I would suggest he eat more lean protein selections and probably more healthy fats (natural peanut butter, fish/fish oils, flax seed oils are MY favorites but there are many options).

Can he eat lean beef? I think it would do him well to swap one of those chicken meals for steak once in a while. One of my favorite and best meals (that I have every day) is a cheap cut of beef along with about a cup of good vegetables (green beans are my favorite but I try to vary it).

Might want to look into some kind of protein powder to bump his calories and protein for the day. I like Nitrean by At-Large Nutrition (they have a banner on the top of this website). There are many other choices though.

Another way to bump his total calories is to have him start utilizing a pre and post-workout (weights) shake or meal. At both times (before and after weightlifting) I take in protein and carbs in the form of a liquid meal (shake).

What your boyfriend needs to do is replace the fat with muscle. Lifting light weight with many reps will not stimulate muscles enough to build mass. He should be lifting more weight and decrease the reps, imo. Muscle burns more energy at rest than fat.

Seems like 1fastGTX covered everything I wanted to say and more! :claplow:
I'll just throw in a couple of useful websites:

A great site with a load of exercises
http://www.exrx.net/

BF% calculator - By far the most accurate I've seen on the net. Result best averaged with calipers' measurments
http://www.healthcentral.com/cooltools/nutrition/homebodyfattest.aspx

Counting calories
http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/mysparkcal.asp

Now I feel useful! :p

Seems like 1fastGTX covered everything I wanted to say and more! :claplow:
I'll just throw in a couple of useful websites:

A great site with a load of exercises
http://www.exrx.net/

BF% calculator - By far the most accurate I've seen on the net. Result best averaged with calipers' measurments
http://www.healthcentral.com/cooltools/nutrition/homebodyfattest.aspx

Counting calories
http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/mysparkcal.asp

Now I feel useful! :p
I can vouch for the bodyfat test. It's the same as the method I use from the book Fit or Fat by Covert Bailey. I've actually been doing the calculations by hand. The method is accurate in that over the years it's been very consistent. The value isn't as important as the consistency of the measure. That way I can tell if I'm making progress.
Good suggestion Gila Monster.

Again, 1FastGTX beat me to it. I second everything he said.

I lost well over 60 lbs. of fat, and the first 40 or so were with weights and dieting alone, no cardio.

Increasing lean muscle mass will not only make you feel better (and look better) but the more muscle mass you have the higher your standing metabolic rate is, meaning you will burn more calories just sitting around doing nothing.

The websites already posted are great sources. If he's more of a book kind of guy, I highly suggest picking up a copy of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. It's a great resource for bodybuilders and weight trainers, especially beginners, with a ton of info including explanations of every exercise and a variety of workout plans.

As far as diet goes, definitely up the calories. The two major things I did with my diet that helped me lose weight was to cut out all sources of calories without decent nutritional value (the "empty calories," such as soda, desserts, etc.) and to eat much more per day. I ended up eating easily twice as much as I had been, and I was amazed how much better I felt with a good constant supply of fuel.

Since you're looking for ways to up his calories in a healthy manner, why not replace some of those unnecessary sweets with whole fresh fruit? That was one of the first changes I made to my diet and the better quality sugar (compared to all that processed junk) and huge influx of vitamins really helped me to feel great!

And definitely drink more water. Aim for at least a gallon per day, especially at his size. It will make a huge difference in removing water weight, as well as just helping your body working at optimum levels.

just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone and I will be updating on his progress. There is so much useful information and I have taken all of it on board. The website about the body fat caluculations (thanks gila) was extremely informative and worked out about 37% body fat. so a long road ahead. I know a lot of us noobies probably ask the same questions so thanks for taking the time out to respond. :tu: