Frustrated

ZGodzicki · April 2010

Hello, I am still fairly new to this, but I am starting to get frustrated already. I started my new lifestyle on Monday April 12th, and I am doing great so far (I feel I am doing great). The frustration is with eating and nutrition. I am a 6'4" male, and started at 272 pounds on the 12th. Previously, I was addicted to fast food, and soda pop like Pepsi & Coke. The turning point for me is I am getting married in December, and I am wanting to shed the pounds for the wedding, and just to get back into shape. I am sick of always being tired, and winded after next to nothing stuff. Also to motivate me, there is a biggest loser challenge at work, winner take all ($200+) which is extra motivation.

Before: I could consume 1000-2000+ calories a DAY in soda ALONE without blinking. Beakfast was NEVER a meal that I would have, turning to fast food for Lunch & Dinner. If it wasn't fast food, it would be something in a box easy to make at home, like valveeta shells & cheese. Sedentary lifestyle too.

Monday the 12th, I had my last hurrah in the morning with McDonalds on my way to work before weighing in. I had a large coke, a hashbrown, sausage McMuffin and Sausage biscuit with cheese. (Is it sad that I can still remember that?). After I got to work, and stepped on the scale, and saw I was at 272 (I used to hover at 250-260 within the past 3+ years), I just didn't like it, and with the help of a co-worker that sits next to me, I signed up here, and DRASTICALLY changed my whole lifestyle.

I gave up soda cold turkey, and have EXCLUSIVLY been drinking water since then. There are 2 times I have had something other than water since then. First was a small Minute Maid lemonaide juicebox (probably 12oz) with my dinner on Wednesday the 14th. The other time was this Wednesday when I grabbed the wrong cup at bowling and had a tiny sip of Coke (and I didn't care for it, just didn't taste good.) Oops, forgot that I had a glass of milk a few mornings with breakfast too.

QUESTION: Is it good to be drinking NOTHING but water all the time? Sometimes I will have a glass of milk in the morning with my breakfast if I have any in the fridge. Is there something else I should be drinking also? I average 8 cups of water each day, except for Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri while at work, I will drink a whole gallon daily (16 cups). Is that too much?

Next is the food part. With the fast food, my fruits & veggies consisted of the french fries, and tomato sauce on pizza's. NOW, I have fruit & veggies everyday at work as snacks. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, I will have a large navel oragne, medium-large golden delicious apple, and 2 or more stalks of celery (full stalks). For lunches, I have been eating Meijer Lean Entree's frozen meals. (There were next to the healthy choice ones, and bought the ones that were $1.50 a piece not noticing there were generic's. They are all pretty good, and under 300 calories each. For dinner almost every night, I have been having 2 Johnsonville Beddar with Cheddar brats each with a light hotdog bun, for a meal of 560 calories. Now that I have this on paper, I am thinking I should have some mixed veggies or something also with dinner.

Sodium intake is something I have been trying to reduce also, as I have been told reducing that will help with weightloss. In the beginning, I would be over by 1,000-2,000 mg a day, but now I am right around the 2500mg mark. I still have 1260 mg left for the day today, and dinner is the only meal left for me.

QUESTION: My goal set by MyFitnessPal with my specific info is 1860 calories a day, and I am having trouble figuring out how to get there in a good way. While one of my former fast food lunches could do that almost single handedly, now that I am eating better, it feels like I am eating a mountain of food, and not reaching what I should. What else can I eat during the day to up my (healthy) calorie intake?

Example of today so far: (This is EVERY day at work for me, Mon-Fri excluding Wednesday, I have that day off)

Breakfast: Centrum multivitamin
Fiber One raisin Bran clusters - 170 cal

Lunch: large navel orange - 100 cal
3 stalks of celery - 30 cal
lean entree cheese ravioli - 280 cal

Snacks: medium golden delicious apple - 80 cal
Orville Redenbachers smartpop - 100 cal

water: 12 glasses

Excersize: walked for 45 minutes on my lunch break. It was at least 2 miles, possibly 2.5, and I also take the stairs at work, up 6 floors (100 stairs). This (only the walking, I don't put the stairs in my diary) freed up 298 calories for the day.

QUESTION: I still have 1398 calories I can have for the day, but what the HECK am I supposed to eat? I also have 1260 mg of sodium left for the day I can have. My problem is that I work until 8pm, get home by 9pm or later, and by that point, it's too late to each. I USED to eat till I went to sleep, but I am MUCH better with that now.

In the first 5 days of doing this, I dropped 7.6 pounds. I was at 272 the morning of the 12th, and was at 264.8 by Friday afternoon on the 16th. Next monday, I was down another 0.4 to 264.4, but last night (Thursday the 22nd), I was up to 265.8, up 1.5 pounds in the same time I lost 7.6 pounds. Is a plateu like this expected, and if I continue the way I have been, should I expect it to start dropping again? My weekly goal is burning 1780 calories a week with excersize, and so far, I am at 2925 for the week.

Sorry for the long-winded post, but this is just something that I am trying to wrap my brain around to get a better understanding of what I should be doing, and eating, so that I can stay on the correct path.

Kudos to anyone who reads the whole post. :-)

courtney_love2001 · April 2010

I was like you and drank many calorie-laden drinks per day, and one day I went cold-turkey. I think water is best for hydration, and I don't like to waste calories on drinks--I would rather eat those calories. However, a glass of milk is okay, and an occasional non-water is fine in moderation.

As far as foods go, since you are just starting out you are probably struggling with the idea of a "diet." I was the same way, and it took me awhile to figure out what I could eat. For you, I would first suggest eating a more substantial breakfast. I eat a sandwich thin/2% cheese slice, whole scrambled egg/3 egg whites for 300 calories most mornings. Or cereal and a banana. I'm a big fan of english muffins and peanut butter.

The sodium in the frozen meals are gonna getcha--if there's any way you could make your own meals and freeze them it would be better. I like to cook up some chicken and pasta, put in loads of veg, and add some pasta sauce from a jar or homemade. I eat a sandwich for lunch everyday, so you could always do that!

Dinner-add more veg, and you will get sick of your dogs eventually and venture out into other territory. I would suggest a serving of protein (chicken breast, fish filet), a carb (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, roll), and of course lots of veg! Add tons of spices, a little olive oil/ butter, and you're good to go!

Your snacks look good. You could even add in a reduced fat cheese stick or some greek yogurt to up your numbers. They both go well with fruit!

You will figure things out...all you need is time. You're on the right track, and congrats on quitting the Cokes!

AllisonMS · April 2010

I, for one, found your post fascinating. Thank you for opening up your food-life to us.

And bravo to you for making these good, healthy changes.

From what I know -- no expert by any means, but I've been on here since January every day -- you've got a loooong way to go to having too much water, so there's no need to worry about that. Skim or 1% milk and cereal you might add in to your mornings -- you can do a nice big bowl of cereal or oatmeal for less than 300 calories. But don't worry about not drinking other things.

Being a big guy, it doesn't seem like you're eating enough different foods -- fruits, veggies, eggs, proteins, whole wheat bread. Expand your varieties. I'm no poster-child for healthy eating (I have Hershey's kisses everyday and tonight, some wine), but I do eat a variety of food, and lots of salads with protein. Friend me if you like.

The other thought I had is.....what about starting to cook for yourself? big salads, brown rice, lean meats and fish, stir fries are all very easy, very healthy ways to bulk up on food and healthy calories. Egg whites, too, are another way to go.

And, if you're getting married, your wife-to-be will be THRILLED if you can teach yourself to cook healthy meals. Trust me on that one.

Finally, give yourself a big huge massive pat on the back for giving up all the soda and fast food. What a healthy change for your entire life!

atcmomof4 · April 2010

First of all ~ congrats to you for choosing to make a change in your lifestyle. It isn't always easy, but the rewards will be well worth it. My husband and I both tried "body for life" last winter and it worked well for both of us. You would definately be eating healthy and often ~ which I love! Personally, regarding drinking only water, I don't think there is anything wrong with it, but that is just my opinion. You can find the "body for life" info online or at your library. Again, just my opinion. Good luck to you in your journey!

angelajeanne23 · April 2010

In my opinion you need more veggies and protein! Protein helps you to build muscle and muscle helps to burn fat. Try turkey (low in calories) and salmon (or other meaty fish). Also, adding some whole grains is a great healthy thing to do. I like whole grain pasta with dinner and to keep the calories down I put spray butter and hot sauce on it! I know it sounds weird but I think it's delicious! Most nights I have some whole grain pasta, a protein like fish, turkey, or chicken, and vegetables.

The other thing you need to do is make sure you eat a lot of the calories you have available every day after you put your exercise in. You don't want your body to start either a) using your muscles for nutrition or b) going into starvation mode and storing fat and calories so you won't starve (or so your body thinks).

Good luck!

needamulligan · April 2010

I think that a relatively large weight loss is expected in the first week (water weight). I don't think you've reached a plateau but your weight loss is leveling out to what may be a more realistic number. 2 lbs a week is, generally, recommended. Look at the bright side! You are weeks ahead!

ZGodzicki · April 2010

Thank you all for the wonderful advice!!

I should add that one of my other 'old' addictions is salty snacks. Chips, pretzels, tostido's & queso, mmmmmmmmm.

Now, I got 2 large bags of single serving snack packs from Meijer. I got the sun chips variety, and the baked lays variety. I have found that limiting what is in the bag GREATLY helps me to control portion size better. I could sit and eat a whole family size bag before without hesitation. Now, that has DRASTICALLY changed, and I think that is one of the big things that helps.

Courney, Thank you for the breakfast tips. I have to say that English Muffin's & peanut butter is one of my FAVORITE'S!! The before me would put cinnimon & sugar on them too, but I can cut that out without issue, and I will have to get a nice low-fat peanut butter.

Allison, thank you for the different varieties of things I should be adding to my diet. That is going to come in very handy.

Atc, thank you for the suggestion, I will have to look that up.

Angela, Thanks for the suggestion regarding eating AFTER excersize. Today, I ate my lunch while stuck on a call at work about 30 minutes before my big walk. I will have to try to incorporate a larger breakfast, and then lunch immediatly after the walk.

mulligan, thank you for the different perspective. That is a good point, that I am weeks ahead of my goal.

Thank you ALL for all of the positive feedback. While I am very pleased with as far as I have come in less than 2 weeks, I am not quite ready to pat myself on the back. Looking at your responses, I have quite a way to go, and when I sustain a better diet for 2 more weeks, then perhaps I will give myself that pat.

Now, the recurring thing I see over and over is more veggies. I have 2 bags of veggies in the freezer at work, mixed, and shoot... stir fry I think...? Meh, doesn't matter. I know the serving size on the mixed is 1 cup, and I made a batch with lunch yesterday, but I had to choke it down, they were HORRIBLE. Over cooked and dried out in the microwave at work. still ate them though. Now, what type of portion should I be having? Veggies used to be my nemisis, and they had no place in my life before, but I am starting to open up more. Is 1 cup with lunch and 1 cup with dinner plenty, or should I be having more than that? At first, I will start small, and work my way up to whatever size portion is good, just looking for guidance on that.

With the cooking thing, that is going to be another tough one for me. My problem is that I am living the bachelor life right now. Any leftovers that go into my fridge quickly turn into science experiments, and they start growing legs. I am going to have to find something that is easy to cook, and good after being re-heated in the microwave at work.

Come to think of it, the last time I went shopping, I bought REAL food for the first time in, well, I don't know HOW long... I packed it all away in my freezer, since my kitchen is torn apart right now, with repainting my whole house, and a plumbing problem with the kitchen sink. Plumbing issue is fixed, and the kitchen it like 1 giant tool box / workshop, but the sink and stove / oven are working, and good to go. I have chicken drum sticks (my fave), pork chops, and quite a few small steaks in there. Now just to figure out the best way to cool them after cooking, and actually REMEMBER to take them to work in the morning. LOL

Thank you ALL again, VERY MUCH!!!!
-Zach

ZGodzicki · April 2010

Sorry about the fact that every time I post, it seems to turn into a novel. LOL.

kwardklinck · April 2010

I find it easier to hit my calorie count for the day if I plan in the morning for the whole day. I log in all the food I plan to eat and all the exercise I plan to do. Then I balance my calories throughout the day so that I'm not way under or over by the end of it. All the fruit you're eating is good. I think maybe it's filling you up too much and you're not hungry for your carbs and proteins?

unknownndoll · April 2010

I didnt read ALL the posts, but i wanted to say I think taking one step at a time is great.... starting with calories and exercise... then pinpointing everything else and what works for you, your weight loss etc. Personally I have problems with carbs (addicting to me, eating too many and gaining etc). I focus on getting more proteins, veggies, fruits and limit my carbs to 1-2 a day. I will work on other things as I can.

Great job so far!!

sheltieroger · April 2010

Hey there! Congrats on making changes in your life! Here are a few quick thoughts

If you aren't into cooking much, you could buy a rotisserie chicken (the precooked ones in the grocery store) and eat it with some pre-made salad greens or carrots and dip (or peppers etc.) and whole grain bread. Then you could take leftovers to work as a sandwich or whatever...

Truthfully, a Mcdonalds egg MC muffin isn't that bad for you (fast food wise) if thats what you want occasionally for breakfast (the ham on it is a better choice than your old sausage pick).

As for your frozen veggies, you can almost eat 1-2 cups, depending on your calories available. If you have the calories you could put a little butter on them to make them palatable (seeing as you said you aren't really into veggies)

I think the important thing to remember is that this is a lifestyle change and you have to make changes that you can live with rather than ones that feel like you are in a version of hell on earth!
Wishing you luck!!
Beth

lisawest · April 2010

Some easy ways to add in calories are nutbutters (peanut butter, almond butter, nutella, etc.), nuts, and "regular" dairy products (rather than low fat, reduced fat, etc.). I REALLY love Peanut Butter & Co.'s flavored natural peanut butters. You might want to look into some of those to put on your English muffin. Similar NI as regular PB, but with a little extra flavor.:happy:

I am going to have DH take a look at this post, and he'll be able to give you more ideas as to what he does. (Being a bigger guy, he would know more tricks than I do!:laugh: ) It really is all about experimenting. DH and I started with portion control, then we moved to other items (exercise, sodium, etc.). One step at a time and you will get there! Try something new for a few weeks, if it didn't work as planned, tweak it and try THAT for a few weeks.

You're doing great. Keep up the good work!

iplayoutside19 · April 2010

Wow Dude, I had a hard time surviving on 1900 calories.

Good job on making those changes. And you're right you need to change things up or you will get bored and revert to your old ways.

Looking at your menu I agree with some other posters, you need some more protien. Frozen chicken breast is awesome. It's easy to cook, you can do just about anything with it, and it's not caloricly expensive. What ever you make, make a lot of it, and then measure out serving sizes and save them for your lunches. Fish and Pork are other good lean meats.

Another thing I do, is every Sunday I make breakfast burrito's for the entire week. They're about 200 calories each. I have two of them and some fruit. It's OK, we're big guys we can afford it, and need it.

And like my wife said. A lot of this was trial and error. Don't be afraid to screw up. And Plan, think ahead, and plan.

spritie · April 2010

another way to stop those microwaved veggies from getting nasty is to cook them with a flavoured crushed tomato sauce type deal.

I don't know about over there but here you can buy crushed tomatos with herbs and spices in them.

Or pasta sauces, just add half a cup of them to your veggies, makes them not get dried out and give a bit of flavour, also means you can keep the veggies the same and change it up with the sauces

and you get lots of tomato-y goodness

just read the label and look for added fats + oils, added sugar/high fructose corn syrup and added salt

but you should be able to find something thats just the tomatoes and herbs and spices

(here in Australia you can get a variety in Indian, Morrocan, Italian styles etc, variations so there really are a lot of options)

mabear74 · April 2010

Congrat on starting your journey to a healthy you!

Have you tried the Steam in the bag veggies? Green Giant and someonel else makes them, and they are nearly impossible to over cook.
They also make sinlge serving cups for conveinance.

If you like to grab breaksfast or lunch out try subway. They have breaksfast now,and for lunch u can grab a sub, without tons of dressings and cheese.

Holton · April 2010

It really sounds like you have made a great lifestyle choice and already have some great advice coming your way. In regards to vegetables, I absolutely love them and they are the quickest and easiest things to prepare. I pretty much only buy fresh, with some occasion frozen stashed in my freezer. You can throw just about anything on a baking pan (my favorites: cherry tomatoes, onions, asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, et. al..........) sprinkle then with olive oil, a little salt and pepper and your other favorite seasonings (rosemary and garlic are mine) and bake in a 450 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes. IF you do a large pan, then you can package and just reheat for daily lunches. ALSO, asparagus, and broccoli can be gently steamed for 8-10 minutes, drain and sprinkle with some parmesan cheese for another quick veggie side dish. If I am cooking whole wheat pasta, during the last 2 minutes of cooking, I through in a bag of spinach which wilts down. When you drain your pasta, you can add some feta cheese or parmesan cheese. These are some easy ways to sneak some vegetables into your day. To pack more calories in your day, I would prepackage snack bags with nuts, apples w/peanut butter, carrots & hummus, and eat those throughout the day so that you have more like 6 meals going on rather than 3 big ones. Whatever you do, keep logging those foods onto MFP and stay focused on your goal; you WILL achieve it. Good luck to you!

ZGodzicki · April 2010

Thank you again everyone for all of the wonderfully positive comments.

I am happy to report that when I went home Friday, I was 3 pounds less than I was Thursday night, and dropped over 5 pounds on Saturday when I weighed myself. I know I SHOULDN'T be doing it often, because it will fluctuate, but I was happy to see that it wasn't just remaining constant.

For the veggies I have, I got the steamer bag, but it's a large bag, more than I would eat in one sitting. Today is my weekly walk to the grocery store for more fruit, so I am going to get some smaller ziplock steamer bags so that I can do single servings in the microwave.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I think I will pick up some chicken breasts as well, and I can cook tonight for the rest of the weeks lunches maybe. This is going to be a whole lot of trial and error. I am thinking I will try a chicken & wild rice with asparagus perhaps.

Thank you all again!!

vinjama · April 2010

Hey Bro, gratz on making a change to your life. It's really really hard to get started at it, especially with the diet. But you know what, when you been doing it for a few weeks and discover the foods you like to eat and pick up more knowledge here and there, the diet is the easiest thing to get under control. I know that sounds crazy, but it takes time, patience, commitment and staying positive to change your eating habits. I think the one thing that puts it into perspective is not to think of it as being on a diet, because to say diet gives the impression that changing what you eat is only going to be a temporary way of eating until you drop the weight you want to lose. At least, this ideology has helped me, so I thought I would pass it along.

I really like MFP food diary setup, it's fantastic! But I personally do not use MFP calculator and macro nutrient ratios. I set my own. I set my own based off my own research in regards to my lifestyle. I like to use this http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm#
It's a handy little website I like to use to plug in my and other peoples information to get a basic estimate of calorie intake. It also has a body fat calculator that can give you a rough idea of where you're at. I did it and found it was pretty close to when I actually had my body fat percentage taken with the calipers.

Frustrated

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