Hi everyone.

Im Stephen. Im 29 years old and Im fat. Morbidly Obese in fact.. Hopefully today is the day where this changes.

My weight has yo yod for years but im determined to get healthy. Im at an all time high at the moment at 155 kgs.. I know the impact this has on my health. I have joined the gym and intend to blog about my progress, routine.

Historically i have suffered from 2 problems.

1. I dont exercise enough. I have lost weight before , but it usually involved 3 months of intense, losing weight the putting it back on. I used to play rugby about 5 years ago, but since then I have just got bigger.

2. Food...In fairness i wasnt one for junk food, but i can eat alot and i did. I worked shifts so i would be eating at absurd hours.

so my plan...please feel free to comment, no need for mega rudeness though, being overweight doesnt do the confidence much good, even with a supportive girlfriend.

Weights 3 times a week.. alternating between upper and lower. 20 mins cardio after weights routine. 30-40 mins cardio 2 other times a week, with weekend off. (ill post amounts and reps later.)

According to a calorie calculator, at this weight i need to eat nearly 5000calories to stay at my current weight.(face palm) I intend to cut this to 2000.

so far day 1 of healthy eating is:

Breakfast
100g porridge oats with 100ml water/100 ml semi skimmed milk and a handful of raspberries, and a squirt of artificial sweetner

Protein shake after workout

Lunch

200g cooked rice, and 100g tinned tuna with a spoon of soy sauce.

Dinner tonight will be:

Bowl of thai curry...includes corn, peppers, turkey, and coconut milk...no carbs *want to eat with my gf, but she doesnt come home till later, so im thinking carbs in the evening aint great..

Need all the help i can get guys. Will answer any questions within reason.

Thanks

Stephen

Welcome. A few observations from your post

(1) Lifting weights three times a week sounds good. I'll leave discussion of what you should do there to the weight-lifting experts

(2) The cardio sounds good as well

(3) 5000 calories for maintenance sounds too much, although I don't have all your details - height, activity level and so on.

(4) The quantities you give for staple carbohydrates sound high. I am on 2000 calories/day and I have 50-60g of oats, and 60-70g of rice. No doubt you could aim for more than 2000 calories and have bigger portions, but even then I'd reduce these sizes a bit. You can always replace it with more vegetables/protein.

(5) Generally the food choices look good - plenty of vegetables and fruit. If I was going to nit-pick you shouldn't really say there are no carbs in your dinner as you have corn etc but it looks healthy.

I'd recommend working out your maintenance again and calculating the calories you need to achieve a solid weight loss. For sure you could be successful with more than 2000 calories, but that depends on your goals. If you are getting hungry boost the amount of protein you have imo.

Good luck

Hi there thanks for the reply...

,...apart from the fruit and veg, the oats and rice are the only staple carbs i have had today, and ill be honest im hungry already....

Im trying to increase my water intake to 2-3 l a day to stave off some hunger, but any suggestons, if im reducing the staple content what kind of protein i could replace it with...Im thinking tinned tuna???

Part of my problem is i hate dry foods, and i used to coat everything in sauce. Trying to give this vice up..lol condiments

Again thanks for the feed back dude...

One thing to note is that, especially to start, you can likely make really good progress eating more than 2k calories/day. I am a big supporter of finding an eating routine that is enjoyable and can be stuck with for the rest of one's life. Often when people who eat 234234234 calories cut down to something somewhat low (2k isn't super low but...I mean, it's slightly below maintenance for me even if I did nothing all day every day) they rely on an eating routine that may not really be all that enjoyable or sustainable long-term.

If starting with, let's say 2500 calories allows you to stick to it better, get used to a sustainable approach (which you can then whittle down further fairly easily), it is not a bad thing to consider.

My main point is that often it's easy to go "black or white" either eating all of the foods or none of the foods. When really want you want long-term is to eat a very consistent amount of the foods, .

Also, I have had good results when trying to eat reasonable calories making sure to eat a decent amount of vegetables and fruit - basically things that have volume and fiber and help fill me up. Rather than eating just calorie dense stuff (and trying to have that stuff be high in protein). That way I end up feeling way fuller throughout the day and do not get the SADs.

Hi man,

Thanks for the advice. In regards it being a permanent lifestyle thing, im with you. Im trying to eat the same dinners like id normally have (all home cooked), but try to be more careful, especially with portion control. I can eat a hell of a lot, and im trying to get adjusted to "normal sizes" Trying to find food to snack on is a tough one, as im not a huge veg&fruit fan...

Again thank you

One thing I like to do (and should do daily) is just make a big ass salad with bacon and/or chicken in it.

Lots of greens, bell peppers, onions, zucchini (which I don't love but goes well in a big salad), cucumber, tomato, etc. Then I use some sort of light dressing and sriracha sauce and maybe a piece of fruit. It will be like a huge plate and look impossible to eat. Once I'm done I'm generally more full than if I eat something like a burger + fries from 5guys (or whatever).

Also, you likely aren't a huge fruit/veggies fan b/c you're not used to eating them. They should be fine. I don't microwave frozen peas b/c they are some special treat. But it's a nice snack and a lot more "stuff" than pounding some cheese & cracks (which is something I also sometimes eat).

Also, they have micronutrients. Which calorie dense stuff comes up relatively short in. Think of them (veggies, really) as relatively calorie-free nutrition.

Hi dude thanks again...

You mentioned the Salad word...man I hate salads more than getting beat by a flush...but i get your point about more veg. I like avocado , so maybe a tomato, avocado, mozzarella salad, although i hear avocados arent to good calorie wise!

Your taste buds can and will change. After a while things like kale can actually taste pleasant to you. However, in order to make this change I would advise eliminating all artificial sweetners and enjoying the sweetness of the berries instead.

Some on this board will disagree with my approach. They'll tell you that the artificial sweetners are a "small rock" and you should be concentrating on "big rocks" early on, and they'll say that if this helps you handle the taste of healthy foods then its ok. But I think changing your taste buds is the "big rock", and I think eliminating artificial sweetners is very good for that.

At the very least I'd try to use honey or a natural sweetner instead....cut out the chemical crap and start eating 100% real food.

Hi there, thanks for the reply.

Funny, I was thinking about this earlier. Was going to use honey, but it had far more calories than the sweetner...so dont know whats more important initially...natural vs calories etc

Thanks for posting

Avocado is delicious but it's pretty calorie dense (technically a fruit btw).

Going tomoato, avocado, mozzarella salad is kind of like trying to find calorie-dense stuff but then call it a salad so you think you're accomplishing something similar to what I proposed. While that sounds tasty it may not be super high in protein (but will have some) and you won't get tons of bang for your calorie buck, so to speak. It's still going to give you more bang than other things though...

So....I dno. If you eat that I still recommend a big leafy green based salad in addition at some point .

I mean, look, you are going to do whatever the F you want anyway but I think a lot of people miss out on the best part of veggies which is that they let you eat more. That's one of the main reasons I eat them.

I agree with Assani's point about changing taste buds. It's a totally reasonable goal to have. You can definitely learn to like or super enjoy things you previously "hated". This doesn't mean you will love everything you think you hate right now....but "not liking veggies/fruit" seems to me like more of a symptom of a really unbalanced nutritional plan vs. legitimate thing.

I mean, sure lots of people have weirder eating habits or likes/dislikes (my cousin's son orders beef & broccoli and doesn't eat the beef....yeah, I know) but it's a limiting belief to rule out the most nutritionally dense things simply b/c they taste so much different than artificial stuff you're used to right now.

Also, anyone else slightly worried due to post count and the starting every post with "thanks" and ending with "thanks" may be a sign OP is just taking a slow-roll approach to a long-term troll (e.g. tallow thread v2.0, "the slow burn")?

Hi dude,

the reason I say thanks is for the old fashioned reason of being appreciative...Sigh....Im here to lose weight, and am not into being a dick, but you know the old saying its nice to be nice, and people who take the time to post, I want to thank.

Yourself included.

On the veg point, I get it I need to eat more veg. I used to hate brussel sprouts but now i enjoy them...just need to find more.. I was thinking spinach??? mixing spinach with some yoghurt and salt and pepper..

Yeah, I'm the one being a dick. I'm just saying. Low post counts plus superfluous thanking.....sounds fishy, .

If you like brussel sprouts I have a hard time believing you legit hate other veggies. That's like one of the hardest to like (obv different for everyone).

Spinach and yogurt? Weird. I dno. If you like that and go greek yogurt it sounds pretty GOAT though. High protein and extra micronutrients? Yes please!

You can cook down spinach very easily and put it in a lot of dishes though. Soups, stews, on the side of any meat dish, rice/bean dishes, asian dishes, etc. etc.

I often will have salad that involves spinach leaves and romaine or red lettuce leaves.

What about peas, lima beans, carrots, zucchini, etc? If you can find a few veggies you don't mind eating raw it can be kinda nice to just have a big bag of those at some point of the day to munch on and takes zero prep.

Lol Its the middle eastern in me. (mums armenia/iranian)..will go to shop tomorrow to buy some spinach. , also will add broad beans, as i love broad beans!

I used to hate brussel sprouts, but for some reason love them!

What about dried fruits and nuts? i know the nuts are heavy on the cals but they help to stop the pecking?

+1

On the big, leafy green salad. A whole lot of spinach and greens is only like 50 calories and it fills you up. Add some grilled chicken or fish, some carrots and broccoli and a bit of vinaigrette... I've been having a big salad everyday like this for a week and I must say my hunger pangs, although present, are quite manageable.

Best of luck OP!

Thanks dude!...

Np. At this point I doubt anyone thinks you're a gimmick. Would be the most boring and pointless gimmick OAT.

Had to look up "broad" beans. Similar to a lima bean or plain green bean? I dno if I've ever had one.

Those are pretty easy to eat. I'd recommend no butter and just some salt on the top long-term. Obv butter or cheese sauce is way better but, I mean, then you've just wasted 50+ calories or whatever on meh. Maybe you aren't like ppl I meet here in the Midwest of USA#1 and dousing veggies in thick cheese sauce isn't your default move.

These are calorie dense. Nuts, especially. Go weigh out one serving of nuts (doesn't matter the serving). Now look at the calories in that serving. Look at what is in your hand. Cry a little bit.

Nuts can have their place but, man, so many calories.

Dried fruit is kind of the same. Go weigh out the equivalent calories of an apple in dried apples (or whatever). Cry a bit. Also, some dried fruit like dried bananas are basically candy (so delicious though lol).

Having said all that I def eat raisins, dried cranberries, and dried apricots sometimes as part of snacks. But I "treat" them in my mind closer to crackers than actual fruit.

Yugo just told you to weigh your nuts teehee.

I've been cutting recently too, so my recommendation is hot sauce and pickled peppers for your salads. Grill some onions with no oil if you'd like. Salads are really not that bad if you add in enough low calorie ingredients.

To be fair I have already cut out butter in my diet..started that last month.. Trying to use just a drop of olive oil when cooking...

The dried fruit makes me sad, as they are so easy and tasty to nibble on.

Todays my cardio day....will post later what ive done.. Also intend on walking to fruit and veg market before I hit the gym to see what goodies there are.

Funny you mention hot sauce...i love my heat, so I use a sambal (like hot sauce with the chilli bits in).. I mentioned above going to walk to the open air veg market today to see if there is anything i can hook up..

Going to buy some spinach today, and make my first salady thing in years

Hi Guys so far today has looked like this.

Porridge oats 70 grams
Water 7 ml
milk 70 ml
handful of raspberries and squirt of sweetner.

(I tried without sweetner bun man it tasted just bland, like licking a brick) Still dont know what the concensus is regarding low cal sweetner versus higher cal honey...

Brisk 20 minute walk to the food market.

Got myself some spinach
Olives and peppers (admittedly these were in olive oil)

Went to the gym to do some cardio
10 mins recumbant bike
10 mins cross trainer
10 mins normal bike

When I got home , i basically chopped the olives and peppers into chunks, added to spinach and poured a whole lot of plain yoghurt (low fat low cal) and mixed. Added some sambal olek (hot sauce with chilli bits) I now have a container of this in the fridge , which goes great as an acompanyment.

So basically im able to reduce my staple carb portion for lunch, as some said it was still to high.

So for lunch I had.

100g cooked rice
100g tuna
100g yogurt, chilli, olive pepper, spinach side.

Im goin to drink some more water as im still quite hungry, dont know if its worth while taking a protein shape on off days when im not lifting?

As always all suggestions welcome. Tonights dinner is a bowl of chilli. No rice or nachos with it unfortunately but hey ho!

I'd def go low cal (or no cal) sweetener vs. honey if the goal is to lose weight. But I also wouldn't use sweetener as a crutch and douse everything in a ton of it.

Btw, you can still eat dried fruit...I mean, just don't eat tons and tons and think you're not eating calories.

Are you tracking calories, btw? That will really help you get a feel for what things approximately are.

Peppers in olive oil? What's that? Just get regular raw peppers or get spicy peppers in...not oil.

That yogurt thing sounds notbad.jpg actually. Must be some sort of middle eastern cuisine secret thing or something as I would never have even considered that.

Yes, getting protein on off days is good too.

Kind of impressed with what you're eating (so far anyway). Most people who are like "I'm fat, going to diet and eat healthy" end up eating just smaller amounts of frozen pizza or whatever. That's what I did several years ago when I was semi clueless.

Hi man,..get your point with the sweetener...I dont actually have a sweet tooth, its just i need it with porridge..

I got the olives and peppers from a turkish stall at the local market... I know the olive oil adds calories, but they are like marinaded in garlic, herbs and chilli.. Basically 200g olives, 300gramms of peppers, with the spinach and yoghurt should do me the week, as a side..

I havent really tracked calories, although your right i should..Ill have to wait till the weekend though. Basically i cook all the diiners for the week fresh on sunday, then freeze them....so when i get home its like healthy take a way..put it in the microwave and thats it..

The side is just a few things i thought would taste good so i put them in a tub and mixed!

For me , quantity is my biggest vice. Takes a lot of will power not to eat the whole tub. Going to take your advice and have a protein shake though, to stave off a bit of hunger till dinner!

If you have a smart phone download an app to track your calories. I have myfitness pal. Just figure out your BMR based on your weight and activity level and set a daily calorie goal for weight loss. Plug in your food into the app and it will track your calories. Makes your life a bit easier.

You need more protein and less carbs imo. Less rice and oats. Others will say calories are calories and that is true. But I find that when I eat carbs I stay hungry no matter what. Eating higher protein helps me not feel as hungry. I am a relative noob tho. Check out the threads here and stuff online. Lyle MacDonald, etc.

Hi there. I get what your saing about carbs.. The irony is though i have reduced carb intake already...apart from 100g rice, 70 grams of oats, the rest is veggies and yoghurt and protein shakes and stews/curries for dinner... i dont know how else to cut that figure down..

I used to be a bread nut, especially white bread (devils spawn). On the app def going to start calory counting, but i mentioned in a last post, as i do all my cooking on the weekend, and freeze, its probably easier if i work it out then instead of retroactively.