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Dietary Help

post #1 of 19
1/28/09 at 5:08am
Thread Starter 
My goal this new year is to lose 1-2" around the waist and about 15-20lbs.

I've been doing a lot of cardio, swimming, and light lifting. I work out 4-5 times a week for 1.5 hours each time for about a month now, but I haven't seen any results. While I feel more energetic throughout the day, I've barely lost weight, less than 5 lbs. In week 2, I actually gained weight.

Diet-wise, all I've changed is the fact that I eat more often, but in terms of snacking, and not actual meals. Snacks include raw vegetables, fruit, yogurt, and granola. The only thing I cannot get out of my diet is rice (I'm Asian). I eat about 2-3 cups a day. I also used to eat a lot of pasta, but I haven't eaten that, or bread, in about a month.

While, I understand that it would just be easier for me to cut out rice completely, what can I do to work around the fact that I love it so much or what can I eat in substitution for it? BTW, I like to cook, so I will make extra efforts to make meals that will help me meet my goals.

Thanks for any help.
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post #2 of 19
1/28/09 at 5:34am
Sounds like you're on track to me. You state you've been training for a month and have lost roughly 4 pounds? That's a pound per week so how much were you expecting to lose? At this pace you'll lose 48 pounds in the year but you state you only want to lose 15-20.
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post #3 of 19
1/28/09 at 2:39pm
Eat more fat and less carbohydrate.
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post #4 of 19
1/28/09 at 3:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheessus View Post
My goal this new year is to lose 1-2" around the waist and about 15-20lbs.

I've been doing a lot of cardio, swimming, and light lifting. I work out 4-5 times a week for 1.5 hours each time for about a month now, but I haven't seen any results. While I feel more energetic throughout the day, I've barely lost weight, less than 5 lbs. In week 2, I actually gained weight.

Diet-wise, all I've changed is the fact that I eat more often, but in terms of snacking, and not actual meals. Snacks include raw vegetables, fruit, yogurt, and granola. The only thing I cannot get out of my diet is rice (I'm Asian). I eat about 2-3 cups a day. I also used to eat a lot of pasta, but I haven't eaten that, or bread, in about a month.

While, I understand that it would just be easier for me to cut out rice completely, what can I do to work around the fact that I love it so much or what can I eat in substitution for it? BTW, I like to cook, so I will make extra efforts to make meals that will help me meet my goals.

Thanks for any help.

Its possible you've put on some muscle. Does this appear to be the case. The rice isn't gonna kill you, eat more protein.
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post #5 of 19
1/28/09 at 11:31pm
I don't know shit about nutrition, but I can say that relatively recently I cut carbs down significantly (I made my own bread and used to eat more of it than you can imagine...). I have found my bodyweight and type to be hugely easier to manage now. Gaining or losing weight is much easier now by controlling the other types of food and exercise.

Cut out the rice.
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post #6 of 19
1/29/09 at 12:02am
What is your current diet like? Caloric intake? How much protein, carb, fat, etc are you eating? What is your current weight? Btw I'm Asian too. I used to eat rice alot and thought that I couldn't get around it. I don't eat hardly any rice at all anymore. Eating 3 cups a day = 615 calories of simple carbs. Simple carbs are easily broken down into sugars and this is bad (there's alot of detail behind it but that's the end result lol)...instead, you want to try consuming complex carbs, which would be brown rice, whole grain, oats, vegetables, etc. Complex carbs are lower in sugar and high in fiber and vitamins. They are better fuel for the body and is important in overall weight/fat loss....as far as how much to eat, well that depends on the answers to the questions above. Although I don't have an exact diet plan for you cuz I'm not a nutritionist, I can at least point out things to you until someone more knowledgable can give you an exact plan to follow.
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post #7 of 19
1/30/09 at 5:08pm
I posted a few weeks back about myself getting fat for no reason. Here's some stuff that has made me drop a lot of midsection fat since then:


Cut out:

If you party, cut out beer. Switch to hard A. Use club soda with a twist for mixed drinks.
Refined flour.
Refined sugar.
Eat carbs sparingly.
Do not eat high fructose anything. That is for people who want to be diabetic.

Eat more:

Meat. Preferably fish.
Unsalted nuts.
And eat these or fruit/veggies any time you are hungry.


In general, eat more. I've been eating a can of tuna around 2:00pm every day and it keeps me full and I eat less at dinner.

I increased working out from 2 days a week up to 4 days a week. And more weights. More muscle= more calories burned. So work out those legs...the muscles are big so they will use more calories. (this may or may not be true)


Ive dropped like an inch off my waistline in 3 weeks and am wearing some pants again that I was almost going to give away. My weight has stayed the same but it is probably due to weight lifting.

Hope this helps.
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post #8 of 19
1/30/09 at 6:07pm
Depending on how quickly you want results, you will need to adjust your diet accordingly. If you want to drop the weight fast, cut the carbs almost completely. This is not optional if you want to drop the weight quickly. Reason being, if you're eating 3 cups of rice, fruits, and other shit with sugars in them, even if you're exercising,, you will be storing a lot of glycogen in your body. Glycogen is short term storage of sugars. If you're eating all of those carbs throughout the day, you'll be spending a large portion of your workout burning your reserved glycogen. You can get around this slightly by working out in the mornings; but for the fastest loss, cut the carbs AND work out in the morning. Your body will be forced to burn fat for energy. Once you reach your deserved weight, you can add back the complex carbs and fruits.
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post #9 of 19
1/30/09 at 7:54pm
Exactly.

You don't have to get all Atkins about it, but cut out the carbs for the most part

My usual chow mein and pork today was whole wheat soba, light on the noodles and heavy on the meat. I'm still full right now whereas normally Id be snacking...probly on a bagel too.

And that shit makes a huge difference and you'll notice it.
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post #10 of 19
1/30/09 at 8:06pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all the advice.

I have a pretty ridiculous body. I weigh a lot even though I don't look "fat," though I'm not particularly muscular. It's only been recently that I've noticed I'm developing love handles. I'm 5'8", 185ish. At this height, the lightest I've ever weighed was in the upper 150s, and people told me I looked unhealthy. I must have incredible bone density or something.

I have no idea how many calories I'm consuming a day as I can't keep track of how many calories are in produce, but I would venture a guess of about 1700. The only carbs I eat come from rice. I don't drink soda nor do I drink juice. The only sugars that I consume come from the fruits and vegetables that I eat. Luckily for me, I don't like sweets; I never snack on candy, ice cream, or any baked goods. As for protein, does it matter what kind of meat I eat? It is not often that I buy fish and skinless chicken breast because of cost, though I can readily afford some cuts of beef/pork and cheaper chicken parts such as drumstick and leg quarters.

The last thing is that I do drink, but I have been switched from beer to hard A on the rocks. I only drink light beer if that makes any difference.
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post #11 of 19
1/30/09 at 8:31pm
You need to start keeping track of calories. Use this, it may just surprise you:

http://fitday.com
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post #12 of 19
1/31/09 at 12:15am
I just set up FitDay and was surprised to see that carbs make up a relatively huge portion of my diet, that my calorie intake is a lot less than I thought even though I TRIED to eat recklessly today, and that I get a lot of protein.
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post #13 of 19
1/31/09 at 12:45am
I was surprised at how high the percentage of carbs I ate were, how little protein I took in, and how huge of a percentage of your daily calories can come from a bit of alcohol...

It's a good tool.
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post #14 of 19
1/31/09 at 10:02pm
i use Gyminee.com - same kind of thing.

if you really put everything in there every day you will learn a TON and gain much more control...and yeah, the alcohol thing can be a bit surprising!
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post #15 of 19
2/1/09 at 4:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ludeykrus View Post
You need to start keeping track of calories. Use this, it may just surprise you:

http://fitday.com

Thanks for the link Ludeykrus.

My progress has been good. I'm now curious about how it all adds up. Should be a revelation - My Imagined Intake versus My Actual Intake

Lear
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