A little guidance needed

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CharlzO
CharlzO Posts: 96 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, I was hoping not to, but it got the best of me, so I am posting this, humbly asking for opinions and advice (preferably minus the backlash that I'm sure will be coming, but whatever). And apologies if it drags out, just felt I should give a background. And, adding that I've read through a lot of the stuff here, but really, there is SO much information, some of it seemingly conflicting...so it's hard to digest it all.

I'm a 34 year old guy (ok, 35 next week, so..). I'm currently around 176 lbs, and I need some help lol. I work a desk job, but a few months back I started trying to lose some weight (I was at 203 or so a while back and felt way too out of shape). So, I started jogging, since that's really all I could think of to do. Let me be clear, I've never really exercised in my life. I used to play a lot of basketball back in my days out of school, but that was 10+ years ago since I really did that. I've never lifted weights, I never ran anything, I just played ball when I could, and that was it. Jogging for a while, I had managed to drop down to about 190.

So, I had dental work done, which really limited my food intake because I couldn't really chew, so the reduction helped me lose another 15ish lbs. Now that's all settled up, and I'm where I'm at. Here's my problem:

I'm not hungry most of the time. I get hungry, don't get me wrong. But I don't eat much. I used to go out and eat a full rack of ribs, and whatnot whenever. But, after my food reduction, I stopped drinking soda along with fast food. Figured that had to be a good thing? But now, I can eat a couple eggs before I go to work, and have something when I get home, and I feel fine. Granted, I have a desk job, so it's not like I'm expending a ton of energy through the day.

But now that I've started up Insanity this week, I'm also looking to add strength training in (which I know NOTHING about - though I have a weight bench at the house, so I'm hoping to find a beginning how-to that works well). And I'm looking at what I eat, and more that I DON'T eat...and I'm trying to figure out how best to proceed. I know I am not eating nearly enough calories. But at the same time, it doesn't feel like my body is craving more and more food. And based on the numbers, I should be eating a LOT more. I don't want to feel that I'm stuffing myself, but I realize that I need more in me to continue. I'm assuming that as my body starts pushing through more of these workouts, it's going to demand more of me, maybe it just hasn't woken up to that yet? I'm not looking to get huge, I don't need to lift a tree. I just want a good balanced body, and really don't know where to start. I'd prefer to not have to outlay $ on trainers and gyms, since I'm not really freed up enough to do so.

So my question, I guess, is...does anyone have any good links, tried and true, of decent meals that are healthy enough to indulge in, without breaking the bank on an ingredient list? Maybe not specifics, but more general ideas? I'm just trying to figure out how to even eat the extra 1000ish+ avg calories that I'm sure I'm supposed to be eating. Also helpful, would be any links to beginning anythings, for strength, and then some. I recalculated the settings to a 1.5 loss per week which is probably still overkill, with the updated dailies of working out and it didn't change my numbers at all.

TLDR: I am a complete noob at this stuff, I've never lifted weights in my life, I'm doing the Insanity Workout and am looking for a program to also do some weight training. I don't eat nearly enough because I don't really feel hungry with what I'm eating already, and I'm looking for some general advice and pointing in the right direction of some programs, and meal ideas that I can somehow adjust into, without feeling that I'm over-stuffing my face, while getting a healthier body overall.

Diary is open, I log everything I put into my mouth, and I know it's pretty sparse, and I'm expecting a lot of blunt criticism on everything. Please know that I'm accepting all opinions and advice (except for blatantly degrading ones - not everyone knows everything, which is why I'm asking for advice or links to where I can get some more).

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    No advice on the lifting but you don't have to feel hungry to eat. If you eat very little your body gets used to it and you don't feel hunger the same way. Also you eat a lot of crap food. Make better food choices, lean meats, full fat dairy, nuts, oils, you know real food, not a lot of take out stuff.

    Also how are you coming up with your exercise calorie burns? They look a bit high from what I generally see for the same types of activity. If you don't have a HRM you might want to invest in one.
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
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    OK....You are not eating enough, - but you know that.
    You need to start eating real food - looks like you don't cook - what about picking up a ready made shepherds pie/pasta dish/butter chicken or other dish at Costco (if you have one close by.)?
    Portion it and freeze it - take out one portion, add some salad or fresh fruit and you have a meal that is actual food and not pizza or candy.
    Forget about insanity and look up Stronglifts 5x5, starting strengh or even Chalean Xtreme - for that one you can get away with a few heavy duty resistance bands - so very little money.
    Get some protein powder, buy fresh milk and at least have a shake every day...Add peanutbutter for calories.... Fruit too.....
    Nuts (cheaper in bulk) avo's, frozen veggies and lean ground beef for a stir fry - takes about 15 minutes...
    Brown rice - make a pot on Sunday and freeze it in individual servings....
    Just start eating something other than junk!!
    Oh, and how tall are you - 176 is not that much for a guy....
  • tarabole
    tarabole Posts: 166 Member
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    I think that doing the Insanity is a really good start. I don't know that you need to start weight lifting right away. I don't know exactly what is in the Insanity dvd's but the P90 and boot camp type of dvd's will offer you the chance to condition your whole body and build muscle. Maybe once you have completed it you can better assess what to do next.

    As for your meals, I see you skip meals from time to time, perhaps getting a smoothie if you don't have time for a meal might help you to reach your goals. I noticed you seem to get a good amount of protein too, but perhaps adding more fruits and vegetables might help you to get more nutrients.

    Best of luck and I am turning 35 next week too!
  • CharlzO
    CharlzO Posts: 96 Member
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    Right. Height. Forgot about that lol. 6' tall, and I definitely appreciate the food advice. That's just it, I've never really looked at diet much, never really known what was ideal to eat for certain things. I mean, yeah, I know a lot of processed food isn't great, I know a lot of sugar, etc etc. But other than a vague idea of what's NOT healthy, really never knew what to look for otherwise.

    I don't mind cooking, I should add that. I just want to avoid having to go out and drop a hundred bucks on ingredients that will end up making 3 meals, if that makes sense. It does also make sense that I really need more fruits and veggies. And until you said something, I hadn't even thought about it lol. I mean, other than "wish I had an apple atm" things, it never really crossed my mind to get some in there. I think part of my mentality has also been avoiding making actual meals, and just throwing something in quick.

    I'm actually picking up a HRM next week, but my walking stuff, just comes off Runkeeper, and the stuff from Insanity, I check my pulse throughout, as best I can to try to get an idea of where I am. Then I found a site (it's bookmarked at home) that has some other people's rates, with similar age,weight, and heart rates. I then take 100 off of their number, and even then, I'm sure it's still higher than it probably is. So I don't really rely on the exercise ones to hold too much water yet, but that stuff is secondary to my diet. That's definitely what I need to get set, and I just didn't even know what to start fixing. It's somewhat embarrassing to feel so clueless, but I've always just ate whatever, and I mean, even at 200 lbs, people would tell me I didn't need to lose any weight. However, I felt I needed to, I didn't like how I looked in the mirror. I might not have needed to lose the weight itself, but I needed my body to carry it better, I guess?

    I'll be looking into what the local places have for some of the suggestions, and hopefully can find a way to plan out actual meals and see how that helps. Thanks again for all the input so far, it helps more than I can express.
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
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    At 6 feet 176 is really not a lot for a guy - I'm 5'8 and still too fluffy over wannabe muscles at 176, but I'm a female and ten years older than you - so you do not need to lose any weight...

    I would think that you definitely need to look into resistance training - nerdfitness has nice programs for when you have no equipment...and eating more protein....

    "Healthy food" would be lean protein (chicken, steak (without fat) pork chops (again without visible fat) fish and beans (if you like chilli) or eggs...Cheese too

    Lots of fruit and veggies - veggies are easy to make if you have a little steamer - add a little butter and spices and its yummy...Or grill in the oven after basting with a little olive oil and spices...Frozen or fresh...Califonia mix frozen veggies has a little variety all in one bag....

    healthy fats - nuts, avocado, olive oil....

    Whole grains - oatmeal (instant but without the added sugar, or make the real deal in the microwave...Mix with a protein shake instead of milk and you have a winner....Brown rice, quinoa etc...

    Wholewheat pasta with egg (hard boiled, mixed frozen veggies and pasta sauce - make a huge bowl and freeze in portions) Add cheese when you warm it up......Cheap and yummy...

    Dairy products - greek yogurt is one of my favourites - string cheese or babybel cheese for snacks....

    Do you have a bbq? Grilled chicken, steak, chops, kebabs with a salad/veggies and some baby potatoes (5 min in covered bowl in a microwave) - voila - you have a meal....

    I have pizza once a week - with red wine - healthy too!:bigsmile:
  • tarabole
    tarabole Posts: 166 Member
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    Even just starting small like buying a bag of apples and some bananas each week as part of your groceries. You could also buy some brown rice and make up a batch once per week to go along with some vegetables and chicken breast.

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