Need Help - Reaching Out

Hi! I know men are different that females to my understanding you should be at a higher calorie intake than a female. But dont quote me this is just what I have read in some of these forums. I know there are plenty of guys here than can help you out so Im going to give your post a BUMP in hopes someone can help you!

welcome to the site feel free to add me as a friend, and going over on protein is not a big deal, I do it daily and well over mfp goals but I do so on purpose, I started a mens group geared towards men's needs and issue weekly challenges to the group, feel free to add me to become a member and take part and get some much needed dietary help. here is a link I posted that will help you out with fat loss; http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/210894-feed-to-shed-fat

I dont like to be critical of others who are really trying to achieve their goals... but in the spirit of help heres what I see: It looks like you are getting way too much salt in your diet as well as not enough fruits and vegetables. You can better manage this by preparing more of your own meals and eating out less and eating less pre-packaged items.

I think you can eat more calories and exercise more and it could be that if you think about the calories in the food you eat like this.... A full orange and a handful of potato chips have about 100 calories each. Which food weighs more and which one will be more filling. You can have a giant salad with some grilled chicken breast, veggies and some low fat salad dressing for around 300 calories or you can eat a serving of Macaroni. In this case... the Giant Salad is going to be more filling and last longer.

Just my two cents but Congratulations on starting on your journey to health and fitness. I just know you will do well. Feel free to add me and to look at my diary for suggestions. I am not perfect and I enjoy the occaisional splurge but I try to stay at 1200 net calories. Thats 1200 + my exercise. Best success to you!
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Hey jdix... I only went back 2 days and the first thing that stuck out at me was that your SODIUM is entireeeeely too high. You are setting yourself up for the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.

I'm not a "professional" but I would love it if you friend requested me and I can help you make some different choices. I'm pretty good at analyzing diaries (did it before with another friend, created charts for her, etc)...

My first and most important suggestion is to lower the processed food and up the "real" food such as lean meats, vegetables, and fruits, nuts, and healthy oils. Eating cleaner will make a world of difference... right now you are getting most of your "nutrients" from processed packaged stuff that includes ingredients that have ZERO benefit to your body.

EDIT to add... DO NOT stop strength training and switch to cardio only as another poster suggested. Once you burn through your carb reserves while doing cardio- your body will start taking from your muscle. BAD IDEA. Lean muscle mass is essential for fat burning... that is what you are here for... reducing the fat, upping the muscle. It will lead to a sculpted body that runs efficiently and effectively... Geez I could go on and on... please friend request me! I eat 100% of my exercise calories by the way and my body is a fuel burning machine. I give it nutrients that it can use almost 100% of and trust me- it appreciates it!

If you have a desk job, like I do, go w/sedentary. If you have a job where you are moving around more go w/active. MFP adjust your cals. depending on that.

I agree with above poster on her suggestions. I aim to be over on my protein each day. BUT i make sure to drink lots and lots of water to help flush it out.

1-2 miles per day at 6mph isn't long enough IMHO. I mean it's OK for cardio (as in your actual cardiovascular system), but I don't think it's doing much in the way of fat burning. I would slow the pace and extend the length of time you're actually running. At least 30 minutes, shoot for 45.

Don't worry about the protein intake. Excessive sodium will supposedly make you retain water (maybe part of the reason you're not seeing the scale move), so you may look into cutting out some salt.

Additionally, don't place too much emphasis on weight, especially if you're lifting at the gym. Measurements are more telling of how you're doing (specifically waist and neck for men).

I think your calories settings are about right. As you continue on this journey your eating will improve. I lost 2 pounds average weekly the first three months at 1,500 calories daily while eating back my exercise calories and I am 5'6". Now that I am closer to my goal weight I have recently started fairly intense weight lifting 3 to 4 times weekly and have increased my calories significantly. Many days I am over 2,000 calories. My goal now is to lose around 1/2 pounds per week while increasing muscle mass...It is working so far. In the last month I have lost 2 pounds while a noticeable muscle increase has occurred. On the morning I workout for an hour of weight training I eat 700 calories or so by 08:00 am. I work out at 05:30 am.

My food diary is public so you can view it....Lots of food in there over the course of six meals a day.

Good luck.

I don't think you are bringing in enough calories. Based on your diary it looks like you are set up to only bring in 1290 a day before exercise. That seems VERY low for a male. You might want to check your settings to make sure sex, age, height, weight is all correct.

For example, I am 43, 67", and currently weigh 160. I am set up to lose .5 lb. per week. My minimum caloric intake per day is 1780 with no exercise. I exercise 6 days a week and burn, on average, 500 calories per workout. So, I am aiming to consume about 2300 calories per day to stay healthy, build muscle and lose fat. I would be surprised if you should be bringing in less than 1800-1900 per day with exercising - to stay healthy.

Keep in mind, if you are not bringing in enough calories your body goes in to starvation mode and stores everything it can get in fat.

I agree with this post...I need to clarify my above post. I had mine at 1,500 calories per day and last month changed to 1,700 calories per day. Plus the 500 or so exercise calories. Eat right to fuel the machine and then push it hard.