Hello, I am new to this forum, I have been reading it for about four weeks. In that time frame, I have tried to learn as much as I can about becoming and staying healthy. I have also made many changes to my life including: quit smoking on Mon, cold turkey, will never go back. I am now doing 45 minutes of cardio every morning (except Fri, my day off), I lift 3 nights a week with a friend; different muscle groups, day on/day off split, and I have begun eating 5 (sometimes 6) meals a day (including breakfast, I pretty much always did that). In addition I have upped my water intake and I now take the stairs 8 flights to work each day (several times, as I have replaced smoke breaks with walk around the block and try to figure out how to debug software breaks :-). I feel great, and I don't think I will have any problem continuing this trend.

I plan to continue to learn, and make improvements. I thought I would ask for some advice. I am currently learning what foods I can and cannot eat, I have put alot of work into planning the past two days of my diet, and I hoped that some of the more experienced members could give me some feedback as to if I am on the right track or not.

My stats.

Male 26 (almost)
250 lbs
6'5"
20% - 24% BF (not so good w/ calipers it seems)

I use the following calculations.

250 x .66 = 165 ounces of water per day (1.2 gal).
250 x 10 = 2500 calories per day.

I want to lose between 1 and 2 (max) lbs per week, so that is a deficit of 750 cals per day: 1750 cals per day.

Those calories should consist of:

carbs: 175g
protein: 175g
fat: 38.6g

carbs should be from good sources such as whole wheat bread, oats, natural sugars (fruits), etc, not processed things like donuts :-).

Is my math above correct and sane? Please critique.

I have eaten in the last two days:

Yesterday:
4 oz chicken breast.
stemed broccoli
peas

2.7 x 3 oz Pork Tenderloin (bbq)
1 tbsp bbq sauce.
green beans
small salad (romaine lettuce only).
tbsp ranch.

Today:
6 oz T-bone steak
steamed asparagus
small salad (romaine, spinach, onion).
tbsp ranch.

Those of course are my main meals, I am not so much worried what I have for my other meals, however, I wonder if that is too much meat, I ate it mostly to get my protein up. I can assure you that I fit under my calorie intake, fat, protein and carb were almost dead on, so is there any problem with this?

Also, what constitutes a meal, what if (for example) I have breakfast lunch and dinner of about 400 calories, and I have 3 snacks of 150 cals, is this good for my 6 meals a day, or am I better off with: 1750 % 6 = 291.7 cals per meal?

Or do I just need to shut up and figure it out myself? :-)

Thanks for your time.

I too am on the quest..but have been at it for about 6 months, but just in the last month have begun the food/macro part of the equation - very important as when I started 7 months ago I was 245ish and have been stalled at 219-220 for the last 3 months.

I can offer one tip - grab some whey supplement to help with that protein intake. I use 100% whey, adding it to a shake or water. You might also try some Mahi Mahi Tuna, fresh - grill it (cracked pepper, 1 min per side). Stuff is packed with protein (about 90g per serving) and melts in your mouth!

Hope this helps a bit..

Hello, I am new to this forum, I have been reading it for about four weeks. In that time frame, I have tried to learn as much as I can about becoming and staying healthy. I have also made many changes to my life including: quit smoking on Mon, cold turkey, will never go back. I am now doing 45 minutes of cardio every morning (except Fri, my day off), I lift 3 nights a week with a friend; different muscle groups, day on/day off split, and I have begun eating 5 (sometimes 6) meals a day (including breakfast, I pretty much always did that). In addition I have upped my water intake and I now take the stairs 8 flights to work each day (several times, as I have replaced smoke breaks with walk around the block and try to figure out how to debug software breaks :-). I feel great, and I don't think I will have any problem continuing this trend.

I plan to continue to learn, and make improvements. I thought I would ask for some advice. I am currently learning what foods I can and cannot eat, I have put alot of work into planning the past two days of my diet, and I hoped that some of the more experienced members could give me some feedback as to if I am on the right track or not.


Or do I just need to shut up and figure it out myself? :-)

Thanks for your time.

Great Job quitting smoking, the best by far thing you could ever do to help you body. Now that you follow this forum you are on the right track.

You like everyone, have two ways to choose from

1: Count everything you consume, traverse, lift and breathe. Make modifications daily and weekly. If this is your route then study John's method, it is the goldstandard for a pure plan diet. Very effective and really helps maintain discipline.

or

2: Fat Loss = Calories Consumed - Calories Burned

In other words, burn what you eat. Everyone burns fat/cal. different, no two people are alike. Some can't gain a pound, others gain just by smelling a whif. Find out what you can eat and what you can't eat and still atchieve your goal.

Your diet looks pretty good, you should see some results. I formed my own plan (warning: not low carb) ooops!, the atkins diet is secretly bogus if you do any form of cardio....its all about LOW FAT. Protein does build muscle and is a vital part of fat loss!

I have bef/aft. pics on the media-page right now, check em out. Finally got a better server to post pics.

Here is a snippit of some of my options on a daily basis:

Breakfast options: Rasin Bran or Grape Nuts or Eggs (2) or Met-Rx meal replacement with fruit

Mid Morning: Yogurt or fruit or Powerbar

Lunch: Fat Free Hot dogs w/ wheat flour buns or boca burger or veggie sub w/ no cheese/dressing or turkey in any shape or form!

Afternoon: Huge glass of skim Milk, kind of like a shake, only 100 calories

Dinner: Any of the above if your not queazy after that, or steak, VEGGIES BRING EM' ON! rice, dinner is where you can go low carb!

Find low fat foods that actually taste good, then work your daily diet around them. Remember, don't starve yourself, it will catch up eventually. Just eat light and often, keep feeding the fire.

Eat alot of carbs early in the day like before 3pm or noon, your body will have enough time to burn most of them. Exercise is your friend, never your enemy. You can make up for alot of mistakes by squeezing in a second light workout before bed if it doesn't keep you up. Everyone gets in trouble eating at work. Cakes, fast food (completely swear off now!), cookies........this is where you'll need to fight the urge and stick to your plan. Bring your lunch or suggest ideas where to go to lunch and get something within' the boundaries laid before you.

Sleep alot........good job on upping your water consumption, always a plus.

Lifting is great, always helps to have someone who will lift with you. Building muscle and losing fat is really hard next to impossible. One or the other, either cut carbs or eat carbs. Your pretty tall so a few weeks of cutting should build the bridge for muscle growth, gotta lose the bulk before you add the bulk.

Hopefully some of this makes sense, if not someone else will ramble on and hopefully add something to this great forum. Good Luck!

Congratulations on your new lifestyle changes! Quitting smoking is a two thumbs up from me. That's really awesome how you incorporate a walk around the block instead of taking a smoke break! :tu:

What you eat looks pretty balanced between your fat/carbs/protein. If you think you're eating too much meat, try having a whey protein shake before or after you exercise/lift. I always try to focus my main consumption of protein around my lifting to help energize my muscles :D

Make your food everyday different. Over time, you will learn about all kinds of things you can eat and not eat, and things you can mix together in a meal. I just learned tofu is a great source of protein with low fat and carbs, so now I can make tofu soup for a change.

This forum is a great place to get ideas, comments...so keep us posted on your progress!

250 x 10 = 2500 calories per day.

I want to lose between 1 and 2 (max) lbs per week, so that is a deficit of 750 cals per day: 1750 cals per day.

Here's a problem I see... the body weight x 10 formula is typically used to calculate the amount of calories you should be eating to lose weight. Therefore, you want to eat 2500 calories a day, don't subtract 750 on top of that.

Definitely looks way too low on the calories to me. As posted above, a good starting point for your weight (this is a basic guideline to get you started) is roughly 2500-3000. It's far better to start a little higher, then monitor your results for a week or two and make changes, then to start too low and stall out your metabolism. If you absolutely have to go with the very low end of calories, I'd highly suggest throwing in a moderately high calorie day every 4th day or so.

For your weight under 2000 calories is drastic. My wife is 143 at 5'9 and takes in 1600-1800 a day.

Here's a problem I see... the body weight x 10 formula is typically used to calculate the amount of calories you should be eating to lose weight. Therefore, you want to eat 2500 calories a day, don't subtract 750 on top of that. Exactly.

btimby, to figure out your cals for cutting, I'd suggest you either: find your BMR and figure out your maintenance calorie level (with activity level included), then reduce that number by no more than 20%; or, simply eat 12x your bodyweight in calories, to start. (I know it sounds like a lot of cals, but I think anything <2500 is too low for someone your size, at least to start with, without higher-than-necessary loss of LBM. I'm 190 and am cutting on 2400 cals/day.) Try either method for a month, and adjust the numbers as needed/as the lbs melt off.

:gl:

Thanks alot for the replies, I guess I messed up the calorie count, I am glad I asked! I will re-work this. This means I get ice cream for every meal right?

I will order some whey protein, and incorporate that as well. I found this elsewhere online:

Cut - 10-13 cals per lb of bodyweight
Maintain: 13-15 cals per lb of bodyweight
Bulk: 15-18 cals per lb of bodyweight

So I guess I will use this as my guide.

BTW, I meant to congrats for quitting smoking, and for starting your healthy lifestyle. You won't regret it!

BTW, I meant to congrats for quitting smoking, and for starting your healthy lifestyle. You won't regret it!
Yeah, congrats from me too. Giving up smoking and eating healthy are MAJOR changes, be proud of yourself for that for a while, even if it takes some time to get settled into the excercise part. :tucool:

Thanks guys, I did not mention the excercise, but for the last two weeks I have been:

45 mins cardio every morning except Fri (so I can get to work early and get out of work early).

My cardio is one of the following:

hit/kick punching bag (big bag and speed bag).
rollerblading (my favorite).
mountain biking (for example when I went away for the weekend, I rode for like 15 miles on a country road, that was over an hour and a half that day! It was a hard frickin' ride too!).
brisk walk (weeeaaaak, but easy w/o equipment).

My hrm is on it's way, so I can tell what heartrate these activities put at, but I am sure any of them is good.

I have also been lifting 3 nights a week for about 60 mins each. I have already experienced what other forum members call "newbie gains" in that for example I have increased my bench press by 50% in that time frame.

Also, my g/f says I look "tighter" which I think is the case too, maybe it is time for another picture (yes, I went and bought a camera and tripod two weeks ago as well).

Anyway, the forums and John's site are an invaluable resource, and I am glad I found them, one of the guys at work sent me this URL:

http://www.johnstonefitness.com/php/123.php

and it blew my mind!

I am not a stranger to working out, as I did bulking in high school, because at that time, I was ~6'3" 130 lbs! I got tired of getting my ass kicked, so I put on like 100 lbs from eating more, and lifting, and grew 2 inches one summer. Of course, I am a big geek, and I have let myself go since then, I guess I have been bulking my intellect! :-).