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2005/02/16, 11:22 PM
I have been eating healthier foods in more appropriate quantities for the past several months and have went from 235 down to 180. My problem is I have now hit a wall where it seems my body refuses to give up anymore fat. I am particularly upset with still having a signifigant double chin despite being trim in most other areas.
I just started my weight program today but due to being disabled I cannot endure a particularly stressful workout. Because of my illness I also cannot use the supplements that many seem to have success with.
Any ideas of how to better structure my diet to meet my goals?
Here is an example of my daily diet. All meals are accompanied by water only. I drink at least a gallon a day.
lunch
two sanwiches made with lean turkey breast and no condiments. Two pieces of fruit. On alternate days I substitute the sanwiches for Campbells chunky chicken noodle soup and 5 crackers.
dinner
8 ounces of fish (tuna, salmon or Mahi Mahi), green beens, broccoli, corn or peas (two different veggies each day) and four pieces of bread. On alternate days I eat 8 ounces of Ostrich or Buffalo.
snack
Two pieces of fruit, 2 cups of Cheerios or 3 cups air popped popcorn (only 1 item from this list).
I have read several posts about eating multiple small meals a day but can't quite figure out why this is suggested.
I am a 33 year old male, 6ft tall and currently 180 pounds.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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2005/02/17, 12:09 AM
congratulations on the weightloss and sticking to your workouts. First off at 6' 180 you're getting pretty lean. The weight training is the way to build muscle. Like you said you have to determine your own pace and limits. Muscle burns more calories than fat. To burn the last and most stubborn fat you need a combination of clean diet, properly timed diet, cardio and resistance training.
The reason for 5 or 6 meals a day is that your body will grow accustommed being fed regularly. This will speed up your metabolism. Your body naturally wants to conserve fuel. The 3 squares a day causes your body to store fat for survival.
It sounds like you know your daily caloric maintainance number. When you add weight training you will actually need to eat more. It takes recording your daily intake, and then adjusting calories by 250 a day for a week or two to hit the right combo of caloric deficit and exercise to get those last few pounds.
I'm afraid there could be some hereditary as well as dietery
influence on the double chin. Also when you add lifting don't be concerned if your weight plateaus or goes up. Muscle is heavier than fat. Use a tape measure more so than the scales to measure your progress. If you are getting smaller in the right places and bigger in the right places you're probably getting it right. :big_smile:
Good luck and welcome here.
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Fiction writing is great. You can make up almost anything.
Ivana Trump.
Charlie
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2005/02/17, 01:04 AM
Charlie,
Thank you for taking the time to respond!
As far as splitting up meals and eating 5-6 times a day, can you give a suggested portion size for each meal or point me in a direction where I could find this information?
Also, I don't fully understand why many people suggest a low carb diet. As you can see from my sample diet in my first post, my carb intake is fairly high and it seems to have worked well. I found when I cut carbs my body would crave them to a point where I would eventually break and binge eat. Would the same diet be appropriate if I were to break it down into 5 different meals?
The double chin is pretty discouraging. I hate to think I've come this far and will be left with a flappy neck while the rest of me looks fairly good! Would emphasizing neck exercises help to firm up the loose skin?
Thanks again!
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2005/02/17, 10:38 AM
About carbs. It is not so much the amount (although that is important) as the type. eat complex and fibrous carbs instead of simple carb. (wheat bread, wheat pasta, brown rice instead of white bread, past and rice). and as for how to split up your diet, try to split your calories evenly across your meals (6 meals @ 300 calories for a 1800 calorie diet, 5 meals at 500 calories for a 2500 calorie diet, etc.)
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2005/02/17, 11:01 AM
The meal splits are like this. If your maintainance calories are say 300 per day, simply divide 3000 by 6 and eat 500 calorie meals. Its ok to have a slightly larger meal at one or two of these times. Just balance it out.
Nobody here will suggest low or no carb meals. You need your carbs to fuel your exercise.
I've read here that there are creams and such that can help with loose skin. I've also read that if loose skin is going to tighten up it will do so within 18 months. Hope this helps.
BTW are you a lawyer? If so in the living board on one of bobosensei's posts I threw out a few lawyer jokes. I particularly like the link to the law office I put up.
Good luck.
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Fiction writing is great. You can make up almost anything.
Ivana Trump.
Charlie
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2005/02/17, 02:16 PM
Thanks again for the replies and good advice!
I will sart the calorie splitting today and see ho my body reacts.
Charlie, I am not a lawyer. If you are referring to my screenname it actually reflects my hobby of keeping and breeding rare turtles and tortoises (I know, it may sound weird to some of you).
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2005/02/18, 10:32 AM
well I'm glad you aren't a lawyer...you sound like a nerd, but an interesting nerd. I like nerds. I am one myself, but I'm more of a book nerd. I got a story to freak you out a little, a friend of mine had a little turtle for a pet, and every week she would clean the aquarium and the turtle! I think she honestly used a bleach and water solution and she'd scrub the turtle shell. He died after a few months.
I wanted to tell you to make sure that your wheat bread is 100% whole wheat. If it just says wheat then it can have some white flower in it or something. Also, you do eat breakfast don't you? I like the high protein and fiber cereals made by Kashi. I like the go lean crunch cereal they make, but it has a bit of honey in it for sweetner. It tastes a lot like honey smacks to me (well it only has like 13 grams of sugar so it's not nearly as sweet), and I like HiLo cereal. You can also go with eggs to get a good protein blast for the morning. One day I'm gonna try the body builder pancakes. Might be the only way I'll ever eat cottage cheese. For your dinners you eat 4 slices of bread. I'm not sure how much rice you could get for the same amount of carbs, maybe a cup and a half or so. For a change you might want to do brown rice. I make big pots of it when I get the kind that takes 30 minutes to cook. It's cheap and good for you. If you make a ton at once then you've got what you need for a week so it's as easy as bread, but you'll like the change.
Your chin might not be too flabby. As charlie suggested, you might want to use a skin firming lotion. I've used one by Vaseline Intensive Care and one by Jergen's. I'm not sure if it's the same stuff that people talk about on here, but they did feel good. It would be a cheap way to try to do something about the stretchy skin. If it doesn't work then you haven't done any harm. The only reason I started using the Jergens was that a friend of mine who lifts weights used it for his stretch marks.
BTW I didn't mean any offense by calling you a nerd ;) I like interesting hobbies.
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2005/02/18, 05:00 PM
No offense taken!
Bummer about your friends' turtle. The types I work with and breed are listed as endangered and therefore are not for the novice looking for a "pet". Prices start at $500.00 to $2000.00 per baby (about the size of a 50cent piece) so naturally people take great care of them.
Up until a few days ago I only ate two meals a day plus one snack. I am also using white bread instead of wheat. What is the advantages of whole wheat bread over white.
Thanks
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2005/02/21, 12:05 PM
I find four slices of bread at one meal too much and will spike your insulin levels up at one sitting. I am for good carbs not NO carbs. Good carbs are whole grains, millet, rye, barley, wheatberries, brown rice, whole wheat breads. At dinner I think you should have a cup of brown rice, couscous, or some other type of low glycemic grain.
As far as the double chin goes ditto for the hereditary card. You cannot do anything about it. I don't care what anyone tells you. All these creams are pure bunk. As you lose weight it may go down some. Drink a gallon of water a day. It is good for weight loss and skin. Work with the hand you have. If you cannot do certain activities you just can't. Do what you CAN. You already lose weight and should be very proud. Any improvement is good. Don't compare yourself to magazines or even others your age. If you have a disability of health problem you gotta work with it and accept limitations.
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2005/02/22, 01:14 AM
Rickyshot,
Thanks for the reply.
I do unfortunately have severe limitations regarding my ability to perform strenuous physical activity. I try not to let it get me down, but now that I have come so far in "re-inventing" myself the double chin is a hard pill to swallow. I naively thought that since I couldn't change what's on the inside (my illness) I could at least change what's on the outside. Even with the signifigant weight loss I still am disappointed with the fact that there is nothing else I can do to attain the goal I set for myself.
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2005/02/22, 08:02 PM
Honey After you attain your weight goal, If you still have the double chin and it is really bothering you, you can go the lipo route.
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2005/02/22, 08:57 PM
Unfortunately liposuction is not an option due to my illness. It looks as though its the natural way and whatever is left I'll just have to learn to live with.
I guess there are worse things in life than a flabby chin right LOL?
Thanks for your replies:)
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