I need some nutrition and exercise advice please

Hi everyone,

Ok ill jump right in. I am a 25 yr old male and I started dieting just 12 days ago weighing a whopping 265 pounds ( I'm only 5 ft 8) Currently I have already lost 9 pounds ( hooray right). I used to be an athlete in highschool playing soccer and baseball but have gained all my weight since I stopped playing sports and went to college/graduate shool to get my MBA. I gained my weight by rarely ever eatin during the day, drinking at least 6 beers a night and binge eating every night right before bed ( and by binge eating I don't mean eating anything healthy. for the most part It would be Doritos, fast food, sweets, etc). Ok and now for my dilemma. I'm being told cutting my calories to 1750 a day is the healthiest way for me to lose weight. The problem is that since I never ate during the day before I have a hard time consuming that many calories. I have been eating extremely healthy including all types of nutrients and keeping my carbs to protein to fat ratio ideal (pretty much doing everything my fitness pal tells me) I can just never eat enough of what they recommend. I workout on the treadmill twice daily for 45 minutes each keeping my heart rate in the target zone. Some days I only net 400 or so calories after exercise, which seems terrible and I'm scared of my already poor metabolism just shutting down completely. I never feel to tired during the day and I always feel like I can do more on the treadmill but I force myself off bc I don't want to lose to many calories. I also am rarely hungry as a I eat 4 mini meals a day. Does anyone have any ideas why I seem like a freak of nature? If anyone needs anymore info from me ill answer everything haha, just looking for a lil advice

Replies

  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    Make your food choices more calorie-dense (full-fat dairy, nuts, nut butters, avocado) and you don't have to work out twice a day. If you want to do twice a day, shorten your sessions to only 20 or 30 min. If you still can't reach your calorie goal, maybe try a smoothie with one of your mini-meals.
  • Trj12081
    Trj12081 Posts: 12 Member
    Thank you, I currently do drink 2% milk and don't really bother with low fat food ( aka the cheese I put on my egg white omlette) I planters men's health recommended nuts and also have 100 calorie packs of almonds. I actually got some avocado just today for the first time hah.
  • ashleyisgreat
    ashleyisgreat Posts: 586 Member
    Yeah, everything that DancingMoosie said.

    Are you being completely accurate with your tracking? I mean, if you track a serving of X, is it really only a single serving? When I started doing this on another site a couple years ago, I found that I was not measuring/weighing things perfectly, and that I was consuming more calories than I thought.

    But if you are being accurate and you're still having trouble, try to squeeze in things like olive oil, nuts, etc. I needed to have 400 more calories the other day and I wasn't too hungry, so I ate half a baguette and dipped it in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was tasty and it got me right up to my daily goal.

    Also, maybe cool it with the exercise for a little bit. I think once a day seems sufficient at this point.
  • AmyJeanMarie84
    AmyJeanMarie84 Posts: 54 Member
    Get in the protein!! I use whey protein , kale, almond silk.almond milk and some fruit blend it together really well you have a high cal protein smoothie. Getting in the workouts is great but you muscles need food!! There are great recipes to up you calories in a clean healthy manner. Lean meats whole wheats lots of greens and fruits try some quinoa and hummus pb2 is a great peanut butter option. Checkout bodybuilding.com for different reviews on stuff.
  • JessiBelleW
    JessiBelleW Posts: 831 Member
    Uhhh, for starters use the whole egg - there is a ton of protien and other goodness in the yolk.

    Second of all why not just eat a bunch of your calories as a healthy meal during the time you used to binge? I imagine thats when you are hungry? Some people may tell you that you that if you eat late at night you won't lose weight but ignore them (so far I've lost 9 or so kgs) many people have success eating later at night.

    Yes you are correct, 400 net calories is dangerously low - most people say the minimum should be 1200, but at your weight I would imagine you would need to stick to your recommended 1750 cals (or maybe a few more).
  • Trj12081
    Trj12081 Posts: 12 Member
    I do track my foods pretty well as I got myself a digital scale from target. I do generally eat more proteins than fat as every night for dinner I eat a lean protein. ( fish turkey chicken etc) you have all been very helpful tho I really appreciate everyone's answer. To get my calories up I did start just two days ago eating 1 1/2 tbsp all natural peanut butter on whole wheat oatmeal bread with a banana cut up on it. It's sooooo good. As for the person who said to just eat at the time I'm used to, yes I've heard the rumors that eatif at night is not good and it terrifies me haha, when I do have my usual night time craving I eat a 100 calorie pack of nuts or some fresh fruit
  • Trj12081
    Trj12081 Posts: 12 Member
    Ps. I'm pretty new to this here so if anyone wants to be friends I'm a friendly guy with a non private food diary
  • Trj12081
    Trj12081 Posts: 12 Member
    I'm not a fan of the cholesterol in the whole egg. I get a lot of protein from the egg white
  • JessiBelleW
    JessiBelleW Posts: 831 Member
    As for the person who said to just eat at the time I'm used to, yes I've heard the rumors that eatif at night is not good and it terrifies me haha, when I do have my usual night time craving I eat a 100 calorie pack of nuts or some fresh fruit

    I'm the person who mentioned eating at night ..... I also said many people have lost weight while eating in the evening, I think its more about how much you eat than when :)

    You said you are eating lean meats - so unless you have a cholesterol problem (or like me eat a ton of butter) you probably don't need to worry about a yolk a day. Also remember you body needs fat (dietary fat isn't what makes you fat, eating too many calories is)

    Persoanlly I find a huge cup of tea (I mean like a giant mug :smile: ) to help. Not only does it distract me, but the only calories are from a dash of milk and it also helps me decide if my "hunger" was really hungry or if my body was just thirsty
  • Trj12081
    Trj12081 Posts: 12 Member
    Awesome. Thank you jessi. The cholesterol tho in two scrambled eggs is more than what my fitness pal recommends I consume daily though. Maybe the person who uploaded it to the food you can search for had a lot of butter in the pan when cooking. Maybe ill do one regular egg with yolk and mix in some of my egg whites
  • QuilterInVA
    QuilterInVA Posts: 672 Member
    The American Heart Association says a healthy person can eat whole eggs so there is no reason not to. The have found the cholesterol in eggs is different from that from other sources and it isn't bad for you. I hate egg whites and Eggbeaters and opt for a real Eggland's best egg instead.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    You should be able to eat that many calories a day if you split them up into 6 foods times.

    3 meals
    3 snacks in between.

    even if you never at during the day before this is not a lot per sitting. i'm not sure how you survived before not eating during the day tho?
  • Trj12081
    Trj12081 Posts: 12 Member
    Ultimate binging
  • Yellerie
    Yellerie Posts: 221 Member
    Thank you, I currently do drink 2% milk and don't really bother with low fat food ( aka the cheese I put on my egg white omlette) I planters men's health recommended nuts and also have 100 calorie packs of almonds. I actually got some avocado just today for the first time hah.

    Why Egg whites & not the whole egg? That would give you some extra calories. Whole eggs aren't quite the evil people make them out to be.