Starting long weight loss journey. Advice on nutrition/meal prep/cardio?!?

talimore
talimore Posts: 5
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello Everyone,

A little background, my name is Devin and I currently weight 380lbs. I'm married to the most beautiful women in the world, who happens to weigh 90 lbs.... Can you see how that doesn't fit! We are very happy together but I worry, and my wife worries, about myself and my future! I keep putting this off and I keep saying, I'll do that tomorrow, I'll exercise tomorrow, I'll get in shape tomorrow. Well tomorrow is today!

When I go home I am stopping at the grocery store and getting food ready for a large food prep for the next 4-5 days of food.

Sample Day's of Food (suggestions highly wanted and appreciated!):
  • Breakfast: Oats cooked in water with a few apple slices or a little almond milk
  • CARDIO WORKOUT(2-3 hours at the gym)
  • Snack: Some Grapes (while im at the gym)
  • Lunch: Either Chicken Salad(baked chicken/lettuce/onion/carrots/light dressing) or Baked Chicken with Brown Rice (1 cup) and veggie (peas probably)
  • Snack: Almonds (I love almonds!)
  • Dinner: Salmon or Talapia with mashed sweet potatoes and other veggie

I will start logging food tomorrow and my exercise. I also have a Garmin VivoSmart to track some of my lost calories and have thrown out all the bad food out of the house and turned off my cable and gave away my game consoles. I'm serious about losing this weight and I want help. Please guide me so I can change my life!

Also: I will be going to Japan for 2 weeks in March and I expect to cheat every day :( I know that sounds really bad but I have planned this trip for a long while and I'm looking forward to
that Japanese Food again (lived in Japan for a while). I will be walking 5 or more miles a day while there to counteract the bad eating habits though.

My biggest help I need is portion control. I listed the food I will be eating but don't know a good potion size to use for each meal. Thanks in advance!

It's late and I'm at work so quick note, sorry if this is written with proper grammar or spelling, It's 5 am and I have been up for 12 hours and don't have the concentration to go back and fix my mistakes right now. Will re-edit post in the morning.

Replies

  • talimore
    talimore Posts: 5
    Also, any suggestions on good Workout music on iTunes would be appreciated lol.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Since it looks like you need to change completely your lifestyle, I would suggest you take things slowly regarding exercise at first and focus on calories. Use a food scale, and count everything for a few days, to figure out how much you are eating and where you need to change things. You can eat e.g. a huge portion of rice and chicken, and end up eating more calories than if you had two slices of pizza. So, keep an accurate diary, using a food scale, until you can figure out what and how much to eat and stay within your calorie goals.
    As for exercise, keep things reasonable. Unless you are already in awesome shape, no you will not do 3 hours of cardio. It is not realistic. Start simple if you are not exercising at all. Personally, I would suggest just walking. Start at a pace you are comfortable and see if you can walk for 30 minutes. Once you figure this out, work your way to an hour and then see what else you can do regarding cardio. Some strenght training will also help on the long run.
    Also, sorry to say it, but you need to start with an attitude change, or you will fail. You cannot think of this as dieting and feeling deprived and then already dreaming of cheating. It should not be cheating. Figure out how much you should be eating, and then include in this your favourite foods. You can fit high calorie foods in your weekly plan. Otherwise, you are going feel deprived, stress yourself and end up gaining everything back.
  • mperrott2205
    mperrott2205 Posts: 737 Member
    http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ - Use this tool to work out accurately how many calories you should consume each day a long with a reasonable macro split.

    I will also recommend that you follow this workout guide: www.buffdudes.us/2014/04/buff-dudes-12-week-plan.html - It worked for me, it can certainly work for you.

    Good luck on your journey!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    OK

    1) Eat whatever food you like to hit your calorie defecit - no bad foods, no good foods just the right portion sizes and the right mix to hit your satiety and satisfaction. Dieting isn't about deprivation it's about learning how to eat normal food well.

    2) Planning on cardio for 2-3 hours? Really that's totally excessive, uneccessary and unsustainable
    - weights and some cardio would be great for you mind and soul

    Make sure your path is not all or nothing, you will *kitten* up on the journey, the trick is to make this your new lifestyle that you enjoy and can manage
  • talimore
    talimore Posts: 5
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Since it looks like you need to change completely your lifestyle, I would suggest you take things slowly regarding exercise at first and focus on calories. Use a food scale, and count everything for a few days, to figure out how much you are eating and where you need to change things. You can eat e.g. a huge portion of rice and chicken, and end up eating more calories than if you had two slices of pizza. So, keep an accurate diary, using a food scale, until you can figure out what and how much to eat and stay within your calorie goals.
    As for exercise, keep things reasonable. Unless you are already in awesome shape, no you will not do 3 hours of cardio. It is not realistic. Start simple if you are not exercising at all. Personally, I would suggest just walking. Start at a pace you are comfortable and see if you can walk for 30 minutes. Once you figure this out, work your way to an hour and then see what else you can do regarding cardio. Some strenght training will also help on the long run.
    Also, sorry to say it, but you need to start with an attitude change, or you will fail. You cannot think of this as dieting and feeling deprived and then already dreaming of cheating. It should not be cheating. Figure out how much you should be eating, and then include in this your favourite foods. You can fit high calorie foods in your weekly plan. Otherwise, you are going feel deprived, stress yourself and end up gaining everything back.

    Thanks to everyone for the advice. To follow up to what you said, and a little more backstory, I used to be in ok shape until I let myself go. I used to exercise and eat right but following a neck injury and some surgery that laid me up for several months, I let myself go. I understand this isn't a fix or temporary thing but a lifestyle change.

    I actually don't think I eat enough and the biggest issue I have is what I eat and my activity level. On most days I eat 1 bigish meal with a couple snack following quickly but dont munch throughout the day or eat other meals. For some reason I don't get hungry and my wife gets mad at me when I don't eat. There have been a few times where I just didn't eat enough in a day and ended up passing out because of it. Doctor told me to start eating more regular meals and not group it all into one and that has helped maintain my weight a bit without gaining. I think with a shift to healthier foods would help me loose weight on its' own.

    As far as exercise is concerned, I don't plan on running for 3 hours a day but walking to start and I know my body and I know I can walk for 3 hours in a day. I will likely do three separate 1 hour walks throughout the day and then try to put that into 2 larger workout sessions after brushing the dust off.

    I really appreciate the advice and thank you everyone and keep the helpful suggestions coming.
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
    edited January 2015
    2-3 hours cardio?! You don't need to torture yourself! Take it slow! Small sustainable changes you can keep up for life!

    Eat what you like.....stick to your calorie goal.
    Don't make it harder than it has to be!


    P.S. eating too much is what got you to 380lbs....not eating too little.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    Oh those 2-3 hour cardio sessions made me want to have a lie down? You will seriously burn out if you try to keep that up. I know you're all motivated now, but please, take it slow. Slow and sustainable is key to lasting.

    Have you entered your stats into the data based and calculated a daily caloric allowance? Do you enjoy the food you're eating? The key to sticking to this is to make small sustainable changes, not big sweeping ones. If you're giving up lots of favorite foods to lose weight, you don't really have to. Eat what you like. Just plan for it. This site has a big data base and Google can be used to double check the calorie counts for anything in it. Plan your intake, stick to your calorie goal, eat foods you love in moderation. You don't need to eat everything you love in one day, but something here and there makes it all easy to do.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    talimore wrote: »
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Since it looks like you need to change completely your lifestyle, I would suggest you take things slowly regarding exercise at first and focus on calories. Use a food scale, and count everything for a few days, to figure out how much you are eating and where you need to change things. You can eat e.g. a huge portion of rice and chicken, and end up eating more calories than if you had two slices of pizza. So, keep an accurate diary, using a food scale, until you can figure out what and how much to eat and stay within your calorie goals.
    As for exercise, keep things reasonable. Unless you are already in awesome shape, no you will not do 3 hours of cardio. It is not realistic. Start simple if you are not exercising at all. Personally, I would suggest just walking. Start at a pace you are comfortable and see if you can walk for 30 minutes. Once you figure this out, work your way to an hour and then see what else you can do regarding cardio. Some strenght training will also help on the long run.
    Also, sorry to say it, but you need to start with an attitude change, or you will fail. You cannot think of this as dieting and feeling deprived and then already dreaming of cheating. It should not be cheating. Figure out how much you should be eating, and then include in this your favourite foods. You can fit high calorie foods in your weekly plan. Otherwise, you are going feel deprived, stress yourself and end up gaining everything back.

    Thanks to everyone for the advice. To follow up to what you said, and a little more backstory, I used to be in ok shape until I let myself go. I used to exercise and eat right but following a neck injury and some surgery that laid me up for several months, I let myself go. I understand this isn't a fix or temporary thing but a lifestyle change.

    I actually don't think I eat enough and the biggest issue I have is what I eat and my activity level. On most days I eat 1 bigish meal with a couple snack following quickly but dont munch throughout the day or eat other meals. For some reason I don't get hungry and my wife gets mad at me when I don't eat. There have been a few times where I just didn't eat enough in a day and ended up passing out because of it. Doctor told me to start eating more regular meals and not group it all into one and that has helped maintain my weight a bit without gaining. I think with a shift to healthier foods would help me loose weight on its' own.

    As far as exercise is concerned, I don't plan on running for 3 hours a day but walking to start and I know my body and I know I can walk for 3 hours in a day. I will likely do three separate 1 hour walks throughout the day and then try to put that into 2 larger workout sessions after brushing the dust off.

    I really appreciate the advice and thank you everyone and keep the helpful suggestions coming.

    You did not end up with all that extra weight by not eating enough, sorry. Not eating enough for a day or two, sure. But in the big picture, you are eating way more than you need to be at a healthy weight. Whether the calories come from one meal or 10 snacks, it is irrelevant. As for eating healthier foods , of course this is great for you, and will improve your overall health. But calories are calories when it comes to weight loss. If you eat more, you gain, no matter where the calories are coming from.
    I understand how you feel, honestly. But you are overcomplicating things. You do not need to start tomorrow, to have an exhausting exercise plan, to stick to certain foods, to order special equipment. You need to start now, and have realistic expectations. Proof you are not taking this seriouly? The plan to cheat, before you even started. There should be no need to cheat. People travel, go to restaurants, skip days at the gym, have fun and not end up obese. It is not "eat fish and rice only, and workout for hours" or "eat all the crap I can find". You need a balance you cna live with, forever, not a few weeks.
  • scottacular
    scottacular Posts: 597 Member
    As already said, there is no need for that much cardio - you'll do more harm than good with that as you'll burn out and lose your motivation. My personal opinion is that you should focus on lifting weights and then at the end do about 20 minutes cardio. Just take it easy, don't kill yourself here. It's a long journey so take small steps. And regarding food in take, get some scales, weigh what you eat and pre-log it.
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Eat the foods you love, in smaller portions. Calculate your numbers and eat at a reasonable calorie deficit, 500-1000 per day. Try to get some exercise. Statistics say you have a single digit chance of success no matter what you do, don't make it harder by trying to eat food you don't like and burning out on exercise. My belief is you have a better chance if you make small changes over time. Good luck to you!!!!
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,149 Member
    ALL that is required to lose, is a caloric deficit. Exercise is for health and will help that deficit, in addition to helping you maintain LBM. 2-3 hour workouts are not necessary.
  • talimore
    talimore Posts: 5
    I was healthiest when I lived in Japan now that I think about it. I didn't adjust my eating per-say but I walked a lot. On an average day I used to walked 2-3 hours a day. My classes were 3-4 miles from my dorm and there were no busses and when I went to town I had to take a bus that was very expensive, so when I finally got to town I would walk the 1 hour+ to wherever I needed to go.

    I'm gonna try to walk 2 hours today and see how my body responds. I will keep everyone posted. I will start food logging tomorrow.

    All the food I listed above is also food that I really enjoy eating.
  • sarieth05
    sarieth05 Posts: 313 Member
    I actually might be going to Japan later this year for the first time to visit some family. I'm nervous and super excited. Best of luck to you with your weight loss, and hope you enjoy your trip. :)
  • MrCoolGrim
    MrCoolGrim Posts: 351 Member
    It simple but not easy! Decrease your food intake (Caloric deficit) + add a little exercise = Weight loss. Have faith in your abilities to do this and alot of disipline.
  • talimore
    talimore Posts: 5
    Hello everyone! Just an update on my situation. I have lost 37 lbs as to date and I have been doing walking/jogging on the weekends and I do "Boot Camp" Mon-Fri. Its an intense workout class I do with a class of around 15 and its whipping me into shape!
  • DataSeven
    DataSeven Posts: 245 Member
    I started off a little bit heavier than you, I'm just over a year in, and 100+ lbs down. My biggest suggestion of all would be make small changes over time. Do not jump into any overly restrictive diet or commit to unrealistic exercise regimes. Once you come off those things, you'll gain the weight right back. Don't do anything to lose weight that you can't realistically maintain doing for the rest of your life.
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