Forty0z's Fitness/Food Journal

[Tenzen]

whaoo this thread has tons of good info. If your drink the night before, wake up in the morning eat a small meal and do your cardio in the morning it will work wonders as your metabolism is the highest in the morning. You'll burn more fat in the morning then in the middle of ur day. Try that, and run outside if u can the treadmill is crap for cardio.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Try that, and run outside if u can the treadmill is crap for cardio.

it is fine especially if you have 100lbs to lose.

however, I do agree this thread is good, Forty0z has shown willingness to change and dedication and I'm hoping he'll become another success story like KarmaSutra.

 

[Forty0ztoFreedom]

seltzer water is carb free right? try to drink more water than that. at least a gallon a day.

Yeah, from the label its pretty much water. I have no idea how they get the flavoring in it, but I'm not complaining.

If your drink the night before, wake up in the morning eat a small meal and do your cardio in the morning it will work wonders as your metabolism is the highest in the morning.

I'll remember that, thanks. There's 2 unavoidable Halloween parties this weekend . . I'm gonna try to go easy on the drinks, and stick to just hard booze and diet sodas/seltzer . .

however, I do agree this thread is good, Forty0z has shown willingness to change and dedication and I'm hoping he'll become another success story like KarmaSutra.

Thank you, and I will absolutely be a success story! The thought of going of giving up and going back to the way things were is scary to me . . I don't want to go back there.

Anyway . . Yesterday after work I had another kelbasa/sausage link and some nuts and turkey pepporoni. For dinner I had steaks and a bunch of broccoli. Drank a lot more water too, like you said. I'm sure I hit a gallon yesterday.

Hit the treadmill for 50 minutes + 10 minutes just cooling down at a slow pace. This was another session that was unusually hard for me . . Felt like I was going uphill. But I suffered through it. I'm not gonna let anything stop me or push me backwards.

Should I be mixing in weight training with this, or does it matter if I only stick to cardio? I do have a gym membership that is currently only making a nifty key-chain . .

Today for breakfast I had eggs and salsa, some ground turkey beef in a salad that I saved from dinner (w/ ranch dressing), and another kelbasa link . . (they're a little bigger than hot-dogs). For Lunch, I had a big salad with more ground turkey beef and a banana.

I am going to the store tonight to grab the fish oil, and I've stopped taking the Lean System 7 . . I've noticed I am really tired right now, and I'm thinking its because I'm not on the caffeine found in the LS7 . .

 

[Warboss Alex]

Tut tut tut tut.. bananas are a starchy fruit packing 20-30g carbs each. Oh wait, I didn't tell you that. My fault! Still, it won't harm you overly. The best fruit to eat are berries, very low carb, fibrous, tasty as hell and have more (important!) antioxidants than most any other fruit.

Dropping caffeine and carbs is a reason why many people feel terrible on low carb approaches or write them off with "they don't work for me" or something similar. Caffeine screws with your insulin sensitivity (i.e. your ability to process food and carbohydrates) when eating a higher carb diet so it just contributes to energy high/lows. You are still trying to get your hormonal levels (insulin) under control so you'll have the occasional blip like this (a couple days good energy then feeling like you're dragging ass or something like this), some days it will hit you hard but you MUST stick with it for your body to adapt. By sticking with the diet you force the body to function without carbs and caffeine so that you can reintroduce these later, in controlled amounts, to get the benefits of them without the negatives.

Ride it out, if you are lacking in energy then eat more food. Given enough time on the diet your body will get used to it and you'll feel great and will have stable energy levels. But you can't expect years (I assume) of higher carb eating to be turned on their head by a few days low carb eating! It won't take years to adapt to the new diet but it will take time, and you're slowing things down with your drinking... :| with all these parties coming up, do NOT cheat (food-wise) in the week. stick to the plan, just as you're doing now, and you're doing very well.

for most people the diet and cardio are significant enough lifestyle changes but if you want to add weight training then by all means do so and we'll help you out. you can start immediately if you want. check out 'where to start' in this thread and choose a routine. or you can do something even simpler. it's great that you're determined to do things the right way, this will accelerate your weight loss and gain you some muscle as well. but! don't worry about pre/post workout shakes, aminos or sh1t like that. for now let's get you in the gym.

congrats on making another positive step towards a new you.

 

[Tenzen]

Want muscles? Start going to that gym man. Plus it'll boost your cardio that u do on the treadmill. Your body is too used to running on the treadmill try playing some sports or do other things for cardio if you can(like working out). You need to shock your body. the same thing over and over again with no change isn't as effective as mixing it up once in awhile. Read that in Mens Health mag somewhere...

 

[EFFORT]

Keep up the good work, hopefully karma will stop by and post in here, he went through the exact same thing you were going through.

 

[Forty0ztoFreedom]

I got home from yesterday and ate some pork that was made, a little bit of fish, and some vegatble soup . . Then I got ready to work out, but completely crashed and slept for 3 hours! Woke up and had a late dinner at about 9 pm . . I know late dinners are probably bad, but at that point there was no choice . . should I just skip it next time? Anyway, it was more pork & fish, along with 2 hot dogs and a bunch of broccoli.

At that point I had such a sugar craving . . So I had 2 sugar-free little Jello things to tide me over. At about 10 I hit the treadmill for 25 minutes jogging, then 15 minutes walking. Again, it was very hard. But I'm starting to think the new room I put the treadmill in has sort of an incline, and its making it harder . . Its been so damn frustrationg to be able to go for 50 minutes + some days, to suddenly struggling past the 20 minute mark! Ugh . . Could it be the lack of carbs thats making it harder? Its fine if it is, I'm still sticking to it . .just curious I guess.

For breakfast today I had a big omelette with sliced hot-dogs inside and a lot of cheese on top. For lunch I have some more vegatble soup and another one of the omelettes.

And through all of this I am snacking on turkey-pepperoni and lunch-meats . .

I got fish oil pills yesterday . . 1000 mgs each, but I forgot to check the "18% EPA / 12% DHA" thing! Damnit . . I'll see when I get home. Hopefully I luck out.

Tut tut tut tut.. bananas are a starchy fruit packing 20-30g carbs each. Oh wait, I didn't tell you that. My fault! Still, it won't harm you overly. The best fruit to eat are berries, very low carb, fibrous, tasty as hell and have more (important!) antioxidants than most any other fruit.

Wow, I had a couple bananas over the last week . . oh well, live and learn!

But you can't expect years (I assume) of higher carb eating to be turned on their head by a few days low carb eating!

My experience with low-carb eating is about a week or two of trying the Atkins thing and then giving up . . So higher carb eating has been pretty much my whole life.

I feel better today so far. Yesterday was definetely a "dragging ass" kind of day, but I still did good all in all, except for the late-night eating and exercising.

for most people the diet and cardio are significant enough lifestyle changes but if you want to add weight training then by all means do so and we'll help you out.

Should I ADD the weight-training, or replace a couple days of cardio with it? I could squeeze both in on weekends, but weekdays would be pretty hard. Whats the best way?

Your body is too used to running on the treadmill try playing some sports or do other things for cardio if you can(like working out). You need to shock your body. the same thing over and over again with no change isn't as effective as mixing it up once in awhile. Read that in Mens Health mag somewhere...

I've heard this too. I've been doing the treadmill only for cardio since about April . . I would love to do sports for cardio but nobody I know plays, and I don't want to have to rely on people for a set time/place to do my workouts. It would get discouraging IMO. Plus to be honest, the friends who WOULD play are insecre competive pr*cks and it probably wouldn't even be fun.

Ok weird question maybe, but what's the score with milk? Is it allowed? I'm getting sick of drinking seltzer only . . what else can I drink? Any ideas?

Thanks again.

 

[Warboss Alex]

I know late dinners are probably bad, but at that point there was no choice . . should I just skip it next time?

nope, don't skip meals. ever.

Ugh . . Could it be the lack of carbs thats making it harder? Its fine if it is, I'm still sticking to it . .just curious I guess.

possibly, you are still in a transitional phase. try to eat more red meat if you're having trouble with energy.
also, inclining the treadmill is going to make it harder than if it's flat. don't worry about it, just stick to the plan.

And through all of this I am snacking on turkey-pepperoni and lunch-meats . .

make sure the lunchmeats aren't the crappy ones full of carbs. many of them have very little protein and are mostly fat and carbs.

I got fish oil pills yesterday . . 1000 mgs each, but I forgot to check the "18% EPA / 12% DHA" thing! Damnit . . I'll see when I get home. Hopefully I luck out.

most of them are 18/12 so I expect yours would be too.

Should I ADD the weight-training, or replace a couple days of cardio with it? I could squeeze both in on weekends, but weekdays would be pretty hard. Whats the best way?

I'd add it 2 days a week for now. One weekend and one weekday (in place of your cardio workout). Do the following:

Day 1
====
Squat 4 x 10
Bench Press 4 x 10
Dip 4 x 10 (use the dip assist machine if necessary)

Day 2
====
Deadlift 4 x 10
Chin up 4 x 10 (again, use the chin assist machine if necessary)
Barbell Row 4 x 10

Just keep things simple for now. Don't worry about how much you're lifting, just make sure you're building up a sweat. Focus on fast, powerful movements. As I've said before, right now your priority is transitioning through diet and exercise, building strength and muscle can come later.

I've heard this too. I've been doing the treadmill only for cardio since about April . . I would love to do sports for cardio but nobody I know plays

There's plenty you can do for cardio other than the treadmill although I wouldn't tax yourself right now as you're still transitioning. But feel free to do the stationary bike, elliptical machine, rower, stepper machine or whatever as cardio instead, or choose a different cardio exercise per session.

Or do something like dragging a tyre behind you on a rope, or flipping a big tyre, or carrying heavy things for distance and time. Depends what equipment you have available.

Ok weird question maybe, but what's the score with milk? Is it allowed? I'm getting sick of drinking seltzer only . . what else can I drink? Any ideas?
Thanks again

Milk is a no-no, sorry. Learn to love water, it's essential in losing fat, building muscle and generally being healthy. You can also drink herbal/fruit teas and diet soft drinks (basically anything that has no or trace calories in it). But get used to water, the more you drink it the more you'll prefer it to other stuff.

 

[Forty0ztoFreedom]

Ok, sounds good. Damn, I'm gonna miss milk.

Is there anything I can do to substitute squats? I can try them, but regular squats kill my knees after a while . . I can only imagine it would be worse with even more weight added. I'll try chin-ups and dips too, but I'll probably need some serious machine assistance.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Squats should not kill your knees if you do them properly - that is, going down as far as possible on them. in fact, people with knee issues often find these are alleviated with deep squatting (which the body was designed for). how far down do you go?

 

[Forty0ztoFreedom]

Its hard to describe, probably a little further than the midway point.

 

[Warboss Alex]

doesn't sound low enough. go down as low as physically possible and explode up, I promise you that you WON'T have knee pain if you go down all the way.

 

[Forty0ztoFreedom]

Doesn't that put pressure on your knees? Or do you not use your knees?

 

[Quagmire911]

Doesn't that put pressure on your knees? Or do you not use your knees?

Stopping prematuely in the squat puts pressure on the knees. Using a full range of motion transfers the load to the hips, which can take a lot more of the load.

 

[Forty0ztoFreedom]

Ok, I'm gonna hit the gym for the first time tommorow.

Now, the diet log . .

Yesterday after-work: A Mcdonald's double-cheeseburger without the bread, a kelbasa link, some pepperoni, and vegatble soup with noodles taken out

Dinner: A big steak with cheese on top, a bunch of broccoli and peas

Breakfast this morning: A hot-dog, some eggs with salsa and cheese, and a piece of leftover chicken.

Lunch: A big Chef's salad with a ton of ham, turkey, and cheese in it. A convienience store beef stick, a Power-Ade Zero (no carbs or calories), and a few peanuts.

I've been taking the fish oil, but they come in pills. It doesnt' really say how much a pill is, and the bottle says to take 3 a day. Does this sound good, or should I take even more?

No time to workout at ALL yesterday, which is annoying and feels like a set-back. Always feels like an uphill battle . . Oh well, back to it today right after work. I have to stay positive and make this a priority above everything else.

 

[Warboss Alex]

I got fish oil pills yesterday . . 1000 mgs each

your pills are 1000mg each or 1 gram, you told us this a couple of posts ago.

take 15 of these pills a day, spread over meals, so if you eat 5 meals a day eat three each time.

the 'fast track' would be to take 45-50 a day (for a month, then come down to 10-15) but you can go with a lower dose now if you want. up to you.

food looks good, keep it up

 

[Forty0ztoFreedom]

Ok, kind of a rough weekend. I was good with food though . . I'm gonna try to list everything.

Friday after work I had a tiny bit of ham and a hotdog. I hit the treadmill for 30 minutes, then had to start getting ready for a Halloween party. I had some cheese and two big chicken wings there. Thats it for food. But I got completely smashed on whiskey and diet cokes. I drank a lot and stayed up late as hell, then slept through breakfast . .

For lunch I had some Mcdonald's double-cheeseburgers w/out bread and buffalo wings, and a ton of water. Then I pretty much did nothing all day, recovering from the previous night.

For dinner I had a big omellette with chourica in it, and cheese on top. Then I worked out for about 30 minutes but mostly fast walking . . I was still hurtin from the previous night. Then I hit the next Halloween party . . I didn't get smashed, but I drank. Kept it way cooler this time though, and ended up going home sober at about 1:30 am. Had a late-night snack (I know . . probably a bad idea) . . some lunchmeat and a hotdog.

Slept through breakfast again! This was a rough weekend . . I then had some sort of a meatball soup that was made, and then a big lunch of pork, chicken, and peas. Lounged around the rest of the day, recovering from the weekend . . I had a sliced up tomatoe, two pieces of chicken, and a hot-dog omellete for dinner.

Today for breakfast, eggs with salsa and cheese and 2 hotdogs. That brings the thread up to speed.

I have been slacking on the fish oil pills . . About 6 a day on average. I'm gonna start 15 a day today. Also, I didn't hit the gym like I said I would on Saturday. I really didn't think I'd get as smashed as I did Friday night. There's one more party on Friday, and then I'm gonna seriously cut back on the drinking . .

The scale isn't moving yet. I know weighing yourself isn't an exact indicator, but I feel like I'm plateauing. Plus, I did drink a lot this weekend. But besides that, is there anything I'm doing wrong? Should I be eating leaner meats?

 

[Warboss Alex]

The scale isn't moving yet. I know weighing yourself isn't an exact indicator, but I feel like I'm plateauing. Plus, I did drink a lot this weekend. But besides that, is there anything I'm doing wrong? Should I be eating leaner meats?

Plateauing? LOL dude, you haven't STARTED yet. And to expect the scale to move after a weekend of drinking like you did, sorry, ain't gonna happen. lol. You probably negated much if not all of your fat loss you had during the week (now you see why you should stop drinking?).

Weigh yourself in a month after you have been 'clean' for that time (i.e. no drinking, no more than 1-2 cheat meals per week) and consistent with your food (i.e. eating breakfast! and eating several times a day) and training (some sort of activity every day for at least 30 mins).

And late night snacking is NOT a bad thing. If you're hungry you're hungry, so eat.

btw all those hot dogs you're eating, they better not be stuffed full of carbs.

 

[Forty0ztoFreedom]

You probably negated much if not all of your fat loss you had during the week (now you see why you should stop drinking?).

Is it really that dramatic?? Thats insane. I will be limiting drinking to once every 2 weeks from now on. Would that affect it significantly if I replace a cheat meal with it?


Alright, back on track . .

Yesterday for Lunch I had some pork & chicken, with a bunch of grapes. After work I had a hotdog (checked the label, it has 1g carbs and less than 1g sugars) with some cheese on it . . What can I say, food was short.

For dinner I had a big steak, a small piece of chicken, and a ton of grean beans and wax beans, along with a small amount of grapes for "desert" I guess.

I worked out for 40 minutes on the treadmill, 25 jogging, the rest walking.

For breakfast today, eggs and two spicy sausage links (3g carbs each . . is that too much?)

For lunch today I had a grilled chicken salad with Ranch dressing, a cup of sugar-free Jello and more grapes.

I made it to 12 fish oil pills yesterday . . Damn its harder than I thought to remember to take them all. I took 6 so far today.

Maybe I'm crazy but I do notice clothes fitting looser today.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Looking good today, Forty.

The spicy sausages are okay-ish just don't eat a dozen of them in a sitting. The thing with saying "keep it to 1g of carbs or less" in hotdogs etc is to make things easier for you, to avoid counting meticulously whatever you eat (which will drive you insane and is TOTALLY unnecessary for you right now), but at the same time make sure you're not piling up the carbs through 'hidden' sources which will throw off your fat loss. The few carbs you should be eating every day should come mostly from vegetables, some nuts, the odd piece of fruit, that sort of thing (i.e. nutritious sources). The carbs in hotdogs are useless. If you want something like that, have bacon (no added sugar or anything like that).

But as long as you're feeling energetic and the weight is coming off (we'll ascertain this after 2-3 weeks of clean eating, no drinking - see below) then you're good to go. Your clothes will start to fit better yes, give it time dude, you haven't been doing this 2 weeks yet.. lol. Check after a month. Chances are someone else will notice the changes before you do anyway.

As for drinking, if you REALLY want to make a commitment to losing weight, you'll cut it out. It is worthless, most cheat meals will have some nutritional value (i.e. you go and have a burger and fries, you'll get some good meat with that, veggies most likely, the carbs from the fries will help you out metabolically and refill your energy stores) but alcohol gives you absolutely nothing, and shuts off fat burning until it's out of your system. I would not recommend replacing cheat meals with alcohol. In fact I'd say I wouldn't cheat at all if I was drinking (that would count as all the cheats for the week).