That is both harsh and fair lol

Breakfast: Porridge and mixed berries

60gramms oats: 225 cals
300ml semi skimmed milk: 147cals
100g mixed berries: 54

426cals for breakfast

Lunch: Chicken salad

Feta 40g: 114 cals
Salad leaves 70g : 44 cals
Beetroot 130g: 56 cals
Chicken breast 144g: 236 cals
1 tea spoon mustard: 11 cals
2 tea spoons of olive oil: 123 cals:

Total for Lunch 530

Dinner Chicken Curry

1 chicken breasts 127g: 250cals
100g sauteed red peppers: 145 cals
1/4 onion: 15cals
100ml coconut milk:189 cals

Dinner Total: 599cals

Day total: 1555

First weigh in from diet. Before 163kgs (first post said 163.3, but withings for some reason can't remember the point 3 or I added it when I got off the scale in some sort of sub concious weight flagellation.)

Anyway new weight as of this morning is 160.3
Loss of 2.7kgs.

So...feelings.

First thoughts were I am pleasantly pleased. On the other hand I know this loss is probably due to lost water weight. Furthermore I know this is only week 1 step 1, and I won't continue to lose at this rate and will hit various plateaus along the way.

However saying all that. A good start......but just a start!

Also in regards to pics, I think monthly comparisons are probably best. It would be nice at the end (a long time away) to have a photographic record....again one step at a time !

Good work for the first week, keep it up man. You have a great attitude about this, good luck going forward. Definitely do the monthly pics, you'll be pissed you didnt.

Thanks mate! I will try!!! Just have to take 1 step at a time, and not get ahead of myself...now we are in week 2, just another 66 or so to go!

Love it. 2.7kg you'll never get back! Must be a good feeling to think that with some good work, that you'll never be that weight ever again.

I hope so snitch. I really do mate...I have yoyod before, but I just want to get to a good healthy weight then eat at maintenance...

I printed out a grid with each square representing a 1,000 calorie deficit. I literally color in a square or fraction of one, (or draw a new fraction of a square if I overate) every day. It's nice to have something without the water weight noise, and I kind of believe that foofy crap about how physically coloring in progress, actually helps. Having to draw more squares seems to have short-circuited the 'the whole day is blown, so might as well eat some more' problem.

Boboufl11's log might be an interesting read for you. Cliffs: lost 100# in 7.5 months, has kept it off for 4.5 years since. Lots of bumps along the way. Not a terribly noisy log like YTF or other frequent posters.

Hey thanks for the advice. Will def have a look at the blog, the more help I can get the better. I think the colouring idea for me is now kind of automatic with mfp.. It is def rewarding to see if I have hit my deficit goal, and if not by how much..

To be honest though the reason I started the log, was not just for the advice but more importantly the accountability. Also it's kind of therapeutic to write the problems your facing down for some reason.

Hey guys sorry for the late post. Yesterday was an interesting day for the diet as it might show some of the problems I will continue to have in the future.

My step dad phoned me and asked me if I wanted to play in a cash game he organised and of course I said yes. This meant that I couldn't have the dinner I had planned and would have to buy something else.....

So I had my normal breakfast of porridge, and instead of eating my salad for lunch as I would normally have , I decided to eat that for dinner, and then to get something at the canteen where I work on a Friday.

I decided to go for the usual options of chips, sausages, pizza, and that kind of thing and likewise I didn't choose a salad, as I was going to be having one for dinner tonight. Instead I went for this :

[IMG][/IMG]

Basically it's a Frikadelle (like a burger patty but with some bread thrown in to buff it out), but it's a glorified large meat ball. I chose not to have it with potatoes, as I was worried that it would take me way off target, and I also declined the creamy pepper sauce it went with it. Funnily it didn't actually taste too bad!

Anyway this is what I guessed when it came to the calories, please let me know if I'm way off!

MFP said a 250g Frikadelle is 390 calories. I added 60 calories for a 3/4 cup of the vegetables. It looks like it was oven roasted, but still felt greasy so I added 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil at 360 cals to mfp just in case I undervalued the meal.

The total for lunch came to 810 cals... Does that sound right?


Anyway the rest of the meals were the same as before:

Breakfast: Porridge and mixed berries

60gramms oats: 225 cals
300ml semi skimmed milk: 147cals
100g mixed berries: 54

426cals for breakfast

Lunch: Chicken salad

Feta 40g: 114 cals
Salad leaves 70g : 44 cals
Beetroot 130g: 56 cals
Chicken breast 144g: 236 cals
1 tea spoon mustard: 11 cals
2 tea spoons of olive oil: 123 cals:

Total for dinner 530cals

This gave me a total cal count for the day of 1829....

Do you think my choice was ok, or should I have gone for something more healthy? Have to say, when I was playing poker all the other guys ordered pizza, and I ate my salad... That was tough!

Thanks for the help guys!

Grats on the solid start. You seem like you're being very diligent. Same here. I weigh in daily though versus weekly. I like the "instant" feedback even though it's a little noisy. After a great day food/exercise-wise, sometimes the damn weight just goes up, but over time, the results come if you're doing the right things.

And re: the unplanned meal out - you made a smarter choice than you would have in the past. Sometimes you'll not have ideal options. Roll with it and don't let it knock you off your good, new behaviors. This is a new lifestyle - and it has to be robust to imperfect days/meals.

HI man, thanks for the support. Re the above, I'm trying to as you said make better choices...I'm still unsure if I'm good at eyeballing portion sizes though.

You are absolutely right that this process has to be robust, and today was a good test. (God dam it those sausages looked good) I know sooner or later I'm going to have a bad day, but as you said I just have to deal with it and not let me get off track.

Breakfast:

Banana 126grams: 110 cals

Breakfast total: 110cals

Lunch:

[IMG][/IMG]

Salmon 450g : 815cals
Peas 116g: 68cals
Spinach 150g: 42 cals
Butternut squash mash: 98cals

Lunch total:1023

Dinner:

[IMG][/IMG]

2 full corn bread slices: 234cals
Mozarella 100g: 157cals
Roast chicken pieces 150g: 195cals
Tomato: 30cals

Dinner Total: 616cals

Day total: 1749

Moments like this are when champions are made, well played sir.

Thanks man...it was brutal though....really brutal!

No breakfast this morning, slept in, so I thought I'd just wait till lunch. Wasn't really that hungry anyway.

At lunch time made myself a massive salad:

2 slices of nut brown loaf: 234cals
100g sweet chilli pre cooked chicken breast : 150 cals
100g mozzarella: 157cals
tomato: 16cals
1/4 avocado: 82 cals

Total for lunch: 640 cals

Dinner was my usual Sunday roast Chicken

130g corn on the cob: 133cals
Peas 224g : 196cals
Spinach 150g: 42cals
Homa made chicken gravy 60ml: 207cals
230g chciken breast: 377 cals
Total for dinner: 955

Total for day: 1595 ...(think this is questionable, I wouldn't be surprise if it was an extra 200, but still within range)

I have a question.....



Let's say I eat 1500 cals worth of food for the day, and I see some extra chicken from the roast. (Me this evening, but I resisted.) I know I have had enough for dinner, and I don't need to eat it, but it's tasty and I want it, and.....I'd still be under cal count..

Is it better to resist... because it's a good habit, eat when your hungry etc

or

eat it knowing, I'm ok for the day....

I would try to resist if you can. During my cut I would cheat once or twice a week with (too much) bourbon which often led to snacks I shouldn't eat. I would often log some of the snacks/bourbon on the next day in MFP, not so much to cheat my log to make it look like I didn't go over as much as I actually did, but so I saw it all day the next day when logging food and it would help force me to eat at more of a deficit the day after a cheat day.

From personal experience one or two days a week of going a bit over your deficit goal won't make or break the cut, but obviously the more you can eat at a deficit and build healthy habits the faster the cut will go. Now that I am at maintenance goals, and a bit bored with getting hammered on bourbon, I am a lot better at just eating at a bit of a deficit if I want some bourbon, only having 2 or 3 pours, and stopping when I hit my kcal goal for the day.

Hey man, thanks for the advice..Your probably right...The thing is though, I still would have been in under my cal count for the day...but best to set good habits and not be tempted down the line...

Still haven't taken a dram of whiskey even though that's what most people bought me for Christmas.. I'm not a collector but I have about 14 bottles at various stages of emptyness... Going to have a drink (singular) on the gf's birthday Monday week though. Might treat myself to a new bottle once I heat a big goal...say 25kgs...you recommend any non standard bourbon? I like depth in my alcohol and I'm not afraid of robust flavours.

Not really sure what you can/can't get over there. There aren't a lot of posters from overseas on the straight bourbon forums.

I recall you like cask strength so here are a few suggestions over 100 proof: Booker's (a Jim Beam brand) is fairly easy to find over here and about 128 proof with lots of character. Knob Creek Single Barrel 120 proof is another good one from the Jim Beam distillery. Stagg Jr and Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (these vary by batch but usually 130 - 140 proof) are both awesome but likely hard to find over there. Old Grand Dad 114 is an inexpensive (here at least) high proof bourbon with a lot of character, spice and heat.

I will do some research lol.. I think a bottle of cask strength bourbon would be a good reward! Thanks for the suggestions!

WB,

have you considered getting any reading material on the psychology of obesity and setting up a realistic diet plan? I haven't read it myself, but "the body fat solution" by tom venuto has been recommended by a number of knowledgeable regs/fitness pros. And echoing the need to give yourself some (note some) leeway, lyle mcdonald's "a guide to flexible dieting" is a very good (though dry) read.

I'm way more optimistic about you reaching your goals than most very obese who have posted here for reasons already outlined by many, best of luck. I still think both of those books would do you good.

i've been listening through body fat solution and can confirm its very good

Hi guys, will have a look online and see if I can get it for my kindle. Thanks for the advice. I will get back to you once I have read some.

It is available for kindle for 15 or 16 USD. I just added it to my wish list for when I have some time to read this spring/summer.