Help me get out of this rut.

[mrhoon]

260lbs, 21% bf

So this is where I'm at with just dieting. After getting back down to 260 from 275, I moved to new orleans and got fat(ter) again. I know I have lots of muscle under my "winter coat". But this seems to be my sticking point. 260. Well I just moved to Pittsburgh. I've been dieting since before I moved here. I got up to about 280 while going on multiple road trips to the NE looking for places to move to. Waffle house is no friend of the dieter. I have a park near my house to run in, though at my weight my knees protest quite a bit. There are stairs to run there as the option I will most likely use. Also lots of trails, so my dog won't get bored with me going up and down the stairs. I have an olympic bar and 300# to play with but no bench or rack to use with it. I can do deadlifts, squats, standing military press, and pullups. Since the weight is minimal I focus on slower reps. As soon as I get up I have a shake, ( I'll list foods a bit later.) and start working on my house, some stuff is more physically demanding than others. But usually I work pretty hard most of the day. I think I'm just looking for feedback, motivation, I need to take it to the next level, and this is my first step towards that.

Here are my stats.
April 30th -258lbs, 6'3", Skinfold test at illiatic crest -21%
Cold measurements, flexed
Upper arm-17 1/2"
lower arm-14 3/4"
Chest, at nipple-46 1/2"
Waist, at belly button-40"
Hips, across glutes-46"
Thigh-29"
Calf-19"

Meal 1, 8am
Trimspa, ephedra, asprin

protien powder
oats
fat free cottage cheese
strawberries
water-mix well
Cal. -280.5 Pro.-33.5 Carb.-30.5 Fat-3
coffee

Meal 2, 10 am
2 eggs
2 whites
4 pieces light toast
lo carb milk
fat free sugar free yogurt
Cal.-574 Pro.-57.5 Carb.-54 Fat-14

12 noon Trimspa, ephedrine, asprin

Meal 3, 1 pm
Same shake as before
Cal.-280.5 Pro.-33.5 Carb.-30.5 Fat-3

Meal 4, 4 pm
Trimspa, ephedrine, asprin
Pasta with meat sause
ff, sf, yogurt
Lo carb milk
Cal.-600 Pro.-63 Carb.-69 Fat-7

Meal 5, 7 pm
Chicken
Broccoli
Lo carb milk
ff, sf, yogurt
Cal.-360 Pro.-56 Carb.-21 Fat-4

Meal 6, 10 pm
Choc protien powder
ANPB
ff cottage cheese
Cal.-460 Pro.-54 Carb.-15 Fat-19

Totals for day-Cal.-2555 Pro.-297 Carb.-220 Fat-50

*Sometimes I'll sub a real food meal with a lowfat hamburger on light toast. Or lentils with stewed low fat pork, or turkey breast.


Should I start cardio before eating in the morning. I won't take feedback as criticism, just other points of view. I have a picture of me at 260, but it must be too big to post here. (The picture, not me.)
Thanks.

 

[KIAN]

Without accurate measurements of the amounts of foods you have listed, it is difficult to determine your actual nutritional intake but going off the fact that you are taking the Trimspa, Ephedrine, Aspirin combo 3 times per day would suggest that there is something wrong.

To lose significant amounts of body fat your level of cardio is going to have to be intense. Based on your current stats (poor knees) I would advise cycling 30-60 minutes first thing in the morning when you get up followed by a healthy breakfast. The cycling should be at high levels over intermittent bursts.

Do you currently know what your caloric intake is on a daily basis? If not .. why not? You need a reference point from where you can start to make changes to your nutritional intake and training program. If you don't have these figures then spend a week writing them down so that you will know what needs to be changed. The best outcome would be for you to achieve your goal without relying on the drug-combo you are currently using as it is really pushing your body to extremes.


__________________

KP -- Fitness Basics

 

[mrhoon]

Thanks Kian, I've posted my calories and ratios above. Maybe for any kind of activity that is too few cals for a day. Maybe meals should be closer in caloric size to each other. If I work out in the morning I can Jack up the cals with some maltodextrin in my shake.

By the way, cool websight.

 

[KIAN]

I am a bit confused about what you are trying to achieve.

I thought you were trying to lose body fat but now you are talking about increasing your calories. If you were to cut out Meal 6, you would drop a minimum of one pound within the first week.

I'll check back with this thread tomorrow to see what your goal actually is.


____________________

KP -- Fitness Basics

 

[mrhoon]

I am trying to cut. I seem to remember looking at some sight in the past, that told me my base calories should be around 3000. With out working out. Just a base. So just dieting my cals can go to 2500, without starving. I am working hard on my house. i.e. tearing out flooring, disassembling steam radiators, and the piping for it, digging up the sewer main under my basement floor, etc. So with this work my base cals would go up making 2500 cals too few. I cannot cut out a meal, anywhere. If I needed to cut cals I could make the mid-day meals smaller. But again, going by how I feel, I think 2500 is too few cals for what I am doing right now, especially if I want to try to add some cardio in the a.m.
If my bf% is correct (21%), I am 205 lean mass plus fat. I would be happy at 225, around 10% bf. 35# is alot to loose. I don't know if I should diet that long and hope to keep all of my muscle. Or break it up and do a 1, or 2 week load/bulk to keep my body guessing. Maybe every 10 pounds fat loss? Thanks for the reply.

 

[Drmemory]

You didn't mention your age (unless I missed it).

Your food intake looks good quality wise, but quantity wise it may be high if you are really trying to lose weight.

Also the suggestion of cycling was great as it is easy on knees (just remember high RPM 66+ per min).

 

[mrhoon]

I am 30. I went running on the trails in the park this morning. It was great! My dog loved it too. I did some checking and the websight I looked at to determine my bmr before was Hydroxycut.com. I went to calculators, and typed in my stats. According to them, to lose weight, at moderate exercise, or in my case a physically demanding job, I need to take in 3283 cals. That is why I thought that my cals were to low. Also going by the way I felt, sluggish, weak, unmotivated. But after a day off and a huge bowl of pasta, shazaam! I'm like new! I also looked at another sight that explained how to figure my own bmr, using the Katch-McArdle Formula. Under these guidelines my BMR would be 2383. Just breathing. With activity, you add multipliers like, 1.37, or 1.55, or 1.72. Which jacks my cal intake up to 3264 to 4110. To lose weigh t I need to skim at least 500 cals from that, not more than 1000. So depending on my activitys for the day my 2500 would definately be on the low end.
Thanks for the intrest.

 

[KIAN]

weight 258
height 6-3
age 30

Resting Metabolic Rate 2404

The way your nutritional intake is set up with the goal in mind to lose bf is not achievable as basically what you are currently doing is bulking and cutting at the same time.

If your RMR is 2404 and you consume this amount of calories per day and engage in 60 minutes of weight lifting then you can expect to burn 554 calories which over the course of one week would see the reduction in a minimum of one pound in bf. If you increase your caloric intake over this level and perform the level of activity which you are currently doing then one will offset the other and leave you in a 'rut'. You have to put your body in a position where it is utilising existing energy reserves and not relying on secondary ones which you are adding on by the way of more meals.

Going back to my first posting ... using Trimspa, Ephedrine and Aspirin combo 3 times per day told me that something was wrong with your nutritional intake straight away as you said you were stuck. Plus you were also working out and performing cardio. Does it not seem likely that if you are doing all these things and still not losing weight that you are consuming more food (energy) than your body is expending? And you don't need all these BMR and calorie counters to arrive at the answer to that.

The two options you have are:

1 - Maintain your current diet and increase the level of activity. High cardio and lifting heavy to maintain mass.

2 - Reduce your diet by 500 calories (you chose the foods to lose) per day for one week and maintain your current level of activity.

Both of these options will produce results.


________________________

KP -- Fitness Basics

 

[mrhoon]

The first line of my original post stated that this is where I am at with JUST dieting. Listing the running and Lifting were options I currently have at my disposal. But I am not currently lifting. I did run this morning though. You also mention restin metabolic rate. I do not rest all day long. I work my ass off. I think maybe we are miscommunicating somewhere. After I wrote out my cals/day it seemed low to me, and I expressed as much, as a thought. Also considering the level of muscle exhaustion, and lethargy I often feel. I will ajust my morning meals, and lessen my afternoon meals so the total cals stay the same for now, but focus more on bigger meals early. That may solve my fatigue while working during the day. I will weigh myself tomorrow and see where I am at. It will be the end of my first 2 weeks back on an ECA stack, and now I am writing down everthing I eat. I started at 260, and just a few days ago I weighed in at 258, maybe just water but we'll see. I will make adjustments as needed as the weeks go by. But By writing this out I fell like it makes me accountable to others somehow. As doing it "for myself " has bot gotten me past this point before. Just trying something new.
Thanks again

 

[PatBateman3]

A LOT of studies show that combining lifting with cardio helps burn away fat at a faster pace.

Your diet actually looks pretty decent, I would hope that the pasta is whole wheat, otherwise you are screwing yourself. Also, make sure the toast is whole wheat. I'd drop the milk altogether.

Remember to never mix Carbs and Fats in the same meal. Always Protein and Carbs OR Protein and healthy fats (flax, efas, olive oil, etc)

Lastly, cardio will be the key to your success since you already have diet pretty down. I'd suggest buying a cheap Polar heart rate monitor so you can always know what your exertion levels are at to make sure that you are working hard enough.

GOOD LUCK!!