Effective Dieting??? HELP!!!!

[dmarie]

I need to give a little background before I ask my questions. I'm 20 and about 40lbs overweight. I've been slightly overweight my entire life and in high school it got worse. I had EXTREMELY large breasts until a few months ago (breast reduction surgery took me from a 38H to 38D), before the surgery it hurt to move, so working out felt like it was out of the question. I'm sure there were other things I could have done, but to be honest I was embarrassed to be in public, let alone moving around causing everyone to stare at my HUGE boobs. So now that that is under control I want to tell you what I've been doing for the last 3 weeks and see if anyone has any input to make the most out of my attempt to get "fit".

Yesterday's menu went as follows:
Breakfast- 1 cup of fiber yogurt (50 cals.), 2 tbsp Wheat Germ (50 cals.), and a banana.
Lunch- Spinach salad with onion, peppers, and low fat cheese. (I'm guessing the calorie count is around 150??? I should probably know this)
Dinner- Steamed broccoli, 1 serving Mahi Mahi (90 cals.)
Snacks- In the morning I eat YogaChips (dried apple chips) and in the afternoon I also eat some celery with pepper. With my snacks I also drink an Atkins protein shake. Without the protein shakes I don't feel like I am eating enough...but that could be because I'm used to more food.

Exercise:
EVERYDAY (ugh) 60 minutes on the elliptical on the HILLS program, and the machines to do upper body. I use a stability ball for crunches. 3 nights/week I go to a cardio class and on Fridays I've done a strength training class. I'm disinclined to do a lot more with legs other than the elliptical and my classes because I put on muscle VERY easily on my legs and while that's good its also a little scary.

I have lost 13lbs so far (NOT including the 7lbs that was removed during my surgery) but I know that will slow down and I don't want to waste my time with ineffective eating and workout habits. If anyone has any input (positive or negative) it would be greatly appreciated!

 

[nefertiti]

Hi there and welcome to EF! I hooked you up with a week of free plat so please use it to go through our archives among other added features. You came to the right place for this!

Now let's look at the diet -

There are some ladies here who will give you a meal by meal breakdown but overall I would say you are not getting NEARLY enough of the essentials. You need to add chicken breast to your lunch and some source of protien to your breakfast. Unless you are running a CKD diet, you need some complex carbs spaced throughout the day like yams, basmati rice, rolled oats. You need to add some good fats to your diet like all natural peanut butter, a whole egg, almonds, avocado, olive oil. You need more calories in general because starving your body might work at first, but eventually it sends your metabolism into shut down mode and it will cling to every calorie you injest.

Protien shakes are good, but I'd suggest you make your own rather than using premixed. I personally like ISOpure zero carb because I can doctor it up however I need to to get my percentages right.

Cardio is fine in the morning, but I think you are overdoing it a little. Adding more strngth training will also help you keep from getting bored, and you will find it addictive. It burns calories, and it also increases your resting metabolic rate with each pound of muscle you gain.

I lift four days a week and I am 120 lbs, so you shouldn't worry about getting huge. That is very very hard for a woman to do! Please check out all the stickies on top and soak up all the input you get here...these women know their stuff.

 

[needtogetaas]

Welcome to elite girl. You're going to love it here and we are soooo happy to have you. Some pro's will be by to help I am sure of it.

 

[abxavier]

Protein shakes are great, but that cannot be what replaces all of your protein intake. You NEED meat. Fish, turkey, chicken, steak, eggs, almonds (which are good for snacks). You need protein with almost every meal throughout the day, if not EVERY meal. Protein is gonna be the main concern here. And don't forget water intake. Water is VERY important, as well. Thandie is the goddess of diet, and I imagine she will be posting as soon as she gets the chance to. She's awesome. And there are plenty of ladies on here that can help you as far as strength training goes.
Welcome to EF.
P.S. Too much cardio can be very bad for you. 4-5 days a week for about 30mins would be good.

 

[dmarie]

Thanks for all of your help. I have decreased the cardio and added protein to every meal. Boiled egg with no yolk and an "alternative bagel" for breakfast, grilled chicken salad for lunch (no dressing), and 6 ounce steak for dinner with steamed veggies and almonds. I found the Isopure no carb protein powder at my health food store and it's decent so I used that as my mid-morning meal. I guess I'm getting it together...maybe. I do have a question regarding sodium...how much? I've been avoiding salt of any kind and just assuming what is in my food is adequate, but I'm not sure. Is there a specific number to shoot for or just keep under? Again, thanks! I came up with my plan in the beginning with the "help" of a trainer at my gym...after reading everything I'm doubting the advice. I was also recommended Anavar...that seems WAYYYYYY off base...without this site I would've spent hundreds of dollars on a steroid that would do nothing but probably hinder my progress...THANK YOU!!!

 

[Tami Bellon]

Sodium is not a bad thing unless you have high blood pressure. If not, it's really not all that necessary to watch, but if you're going to salt, keep it moderate. As with anything - too much is not a good thing.

Are you only eating 3x a day?

 

[chazk]

3 weeks ? give it time.
many of the girls you see that have great bodys have been working out and eating healthy for years if not decades in alot of cases.

Rome was not built in a day.

The changes are slow, 3 weeks is not very long . Its not about dieting to lose weight you gained Its really about a lifestyle change
key word "life" you need to live it ,sleep it breath is .

Avoiding that blooming onion on saturday night, not drinking friday night becuase you have to be at the gym saturday morning plus 5 drinks at night 200 calories is 1000 calories and can ruin you goals, eating only one piece of cake at the birthday party
i am sure you see the big picture, now when you live it its not hard at all you just become that person and eventually wont even like the taste of soda or sweets and find yourself on the treadmill becuase its just part of your life and what you do.

loosing 13 lbs is a great accomplishment. now you said you dont want it to slow down? It will slow down as the body gets lower in bodyfat it tries to hold onto some fat. But dont look at that , look at the fact your working out building muscle shape and getting better and better as the months go on even if the results on the outside slow down. You will still keep losing, Dont expect to be a miss gym hardbody diva in a few months no other way around it then putting in your time.

 

[chazk]

Sodium is not a bad thing unless you have high blood pressure. If not, it's really not all that necessary to watch, but if you're going to salt, keep it moderate. As with anything - too much is not a good thing.

Are you only eating 3x a day?

sodium is one of the basic electrolites ( minerals that balance water in the body )otassium is the other big one.

Sodium regulates the water cells outside the muscle, potassium regulates the water inside the muscle cells

Sodium is not bad as tbellon says in normal intake amounts, but in todays society most foods are enchanced with salts and flavors.so dont be scared of salts just dont add a it to foods that taste good with out them.
If you use salt alot of people go with nautral seasalt .

Seasalt contains trace amounts of minerals that can be hard to get in a persons diet , table salt is pure sodium chloride with out the other minerals . Seasalt taste better and is better for you

 

[dmarie]

I've been eating more than just the three meals but it's hard to call the additional food meals (i.e. a bag of dried apples while I'm sitting in class). What I've been told up until this point is eat as little food as possible and exercise as much as you can. Clearly thats not correct and it's taking real effort to change that. I don't have high blood pressure so I guess I'll quit stressing about salt and get some sea salt.

 

[myway]

I've been eating more than just the three meals but it's hard to call the additional food meals (i.e. a bag of dried apples while I'm sitting in class). What I've been told up until this point is eat as little food as possible and exercise as much as you can. Clearly thats not correct and it's taking real effort to change that. I don't have high blood pressure so I guess I'll quit stressing about salt and get some sea salt.

If you are hving a hard time breaking the no-food diet, it could be slowing your progress by making your body release fat slowly because of starvation mode.
Take fresh veggies with you. Take small portions of nuts. I even eat cold chicken breast(no microwave on the ambulance). I think cold chicken is yummy with mustard or peppers. The idea is small portions every couple of hours. It will keep your metabolism awake and BURNING fat while building lean muscle from your workouts. Many of my friends think I have an eating disorder because they eat 3 HUGE meals and they say I just snack all day. Actually, I am eating the same/maybe more calories in a day as they are, I just eat more often then they eat. They also complain because they can't lose weight. I wish they would just give this way of eating a try. I hope you do.