# The journal of a fat man



## redfx (Jan 6, 2003)

Hi. I'm finally ready to loose weight and get lean.  I figure keeping an online diary of what I eat and do will help me out and keep me motivated.

Also, any encouraging posts are greatly appreciated.


Primary Goal: Get to 200 lbs by easter (April 20th).
Secondary Goal: Get to 15% body fat.


My current stats:
Weight: 270
Body Fat: 33%


I know its going to be tough loosing 70 lbs in 4 months (15 weeks to be exact), but I really think its possible if done right.

Every day, I'll post what I ate the previous day, at what time, and what workouts I've done.


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## redfx (Jan 7, 2003)

Ok, 1 day down. What a tough day, work is a killer!

Got up at : 8:30pm
Slept at: 2am

Here's what I ate:

9:30 am -  1 cup honey & bran cerial, 1 cup 2% fat milk, 1 cup orange juice (with some pulp), 1 500mg vitamin C (time released)

12:30 pm - 1 cup carrots (shreaded) with vinegar

3:15 pm - 3 cups lima beans (no skin) baked with small sweet onions, garlic, and tomatoes.  Seasoned with thyme

6:30 pm - grilled chicken breast slices with sesami seeds.  baked artichoke hearts with peas and small sweet onions

I drank 72 oz water all day.


Didn't workout   Didn't have any free time, worked all day.


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## P-funk (Jan 7, 2003)

Congradulations on getting serious 

There are a lot of things in your diet that are going to keep you from reaching your goal.  You food choices aren't thes best:



> 9:30 am - 1 cup honey & bran cerial, 1 cup 2% fat milk, 1 cup orange juice (with some pulp), 1 500mg vitamin C (time released)


This meal is nothing but sugar And there is no protien, except for the milk which I don't count because it has lactose which is sugar.  You need to drop the foods in this meal and try something else.  Try eating eggs, egg whites and rolled oats.  Or have a protien shake with some heavy cream.



> 12:30 pm - 1 cup carrots (shreaded) with vinegar


Carrots also have sugar.  And where is the protien?  So far 2 meals to day all sugar , no protien!  Try eating some tuna fish or chicken or turley breast or some lean ground beef.  For your beggies choose greans like spinach, romain lettuce, asparagus or broccoli and use some oil (don't use fat free dressing)



> 3:15 pm - 3 cups lima beans (no skin) baked with small sweet onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Seasoned with thyme


Again. no protien.  Try eating the same as you 12:30 meal.  Or if you haven't had a protien shake you can have that here, make sure you mix it with some flax seed oil or heavy cream to slow its absorbtion and give it enough calories to count it as a meal.  You can also eat some more veggies.



> 6:30 pm - grilled chicken breast slices with sesami seeds. baked artichoke hearts with peas and small sweet onions


Chicken Breast  I don't know the nutritional info for artichoke hearts because I don't eat them so you moght want to find that out.  Stick to the greens here also!

Your meal frequnsy looks good.  I think you need to list how many calories/protien/carbs/fat you are getting each day as well.  I don't think you have enough calories here.


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## redfx (Jan 8, 2003)

Ok, here's what I did yesterday:

9:30 am - 1.5 cups honey & bran cereal, 1 cup 2% fat milk, 20oz coffee with milk and 2 sugars

1:15 pm - 2 cups carrots (shredded)

3:15 pm - 3 cups baked artichoke hearts with peas, diced potatoes, and small sweet onions

6:30 pm - 3 cups baked turnips cooked with diced tomatoes and onions.  Seasoned with fresh parsley and lemon juice when served.   2 cups green lettuce with parsley toped with mustard sauce (course mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil).


Woke up at: 8:30am
Slept at: 1:30 am

Didn't work out, worked all day long.  Man I'm tired! 

---------

Finally going to regular work hours so I'm working out today (Woohoo!  )


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## redfx (Jan 8, 2003)

> _*Originally posted by P-funk *_
> This meal is nothing but sugar And there is no protien, except for the milk which I don't count because it has lactose which is sugar.  You need to drop the foods in this meal and try something else.  Try eating eggs, egg whites and rolled oats.  Or have a protien shake with some heavy cream.



Ok, I'll try something new in this group.  
Aren't eggs cholesterol though?  i.e. bad for you health?




> Carrots also have sugar.  And where is the protien?  So far 2 meals to day all sugar , no protien!  Try eating some tuna fish or chicken or turley breast or some lean ground beef.  For your beggies choose greans like spinach, romain lettuce, asparagus or broccoli and use some oil (don't use fat free dressing)



Wow, didn't think carrots were classified as the sugar group.  I'm a heavy carrot eater... I'll cut that down for awhile.

Also, what do you recommend for dressings?  I use mostly plain old vinegar and sometimes mustard sauce which I make (ingrediants are usually course mustard, red wine vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil, and once in awhile, I add spices).




> Your meal frequnsy looks good.  I think you need to list how many calories/protien/carbs/fat you are getting each day as well.  I don't think you have enough calories here.



Ok, I'll do that.  And I think thats the first time I herd someone say I wasn't eating enough calories  

One last question, are there any web pages out there that list the callories/fat/protein/carb content of common foods?


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## P-funk (Jan 8, 2003)

> Aren't eggs cholesterol though? i.e. bad for you health?


Eggs contian healthy cholesterol.  Also you can eat eggwhites!



> Also, what do you recommend for dressings?


I recommend some sort of oil based dressing. Oil and vinegar is cool i guess, just drop the mustard, flax seed oil is good as well.



> Ok, I'll do that. And I think thats the first time I herd someone say I wasn't eating enough calories


You have to eat enough quality calories to make any kind of change in your body, whether it be cutting or bulking.  Also you need to get to the gym and work out to create lean muscle mass, burn calories and up your metabolism! 



> One last question, are there any web pages out there that list the callories/fat/protein/carb content of common foods?



fitday.com has a lot of nutritional info and it is free to register.



> Didn't work out, worked all day long. Man I'm tired!


Again your meals yesterday had no protien and weren't the best choices.  You should go to the diet and nutrition forum and read the best nutritonal thread at the top of the page.

By the way we are all tired.  Sometimes you just need to try harder.  I knew that I couldn't get to the gym after work today so I went at 5am.  Do you know what it is like to wake up at 5am to do squats.......It's fucking awesome.  Hang in there and get real strict otherwise you will never reach your goal


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## redfx (Jan 8, 2003)

Thanks for all the great info.

Waking up at 5 to work out is insane 


I left home at quarter to 10 and didn't walk in till 1:30 am... I worked a long long shift (14 and a half hours straight, only break was to eat).

I'll make more time though.  No excuses.

Thanks.


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## P-funk (Jan 8, 2003)

Fourteen hours with no break and only one meals doesn't sound good either.  I don't know what you do but try and eat another 1-2 meals in there.  There are always good snack choices!


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## Twin Peak (Jan 8, 2003)

Also, you need to eat more food.  You are going to kill your metabolism and shut down thyroid functioning.  You need to determine your baseline maintenance calories.  Probably around:

12 x 270 = 3240 (this is how much you can eat and not gain)

Anything below this will produce a weight loss (assuming this is your base).  You don't want to lose more than 2 pounds per week, which you can do since you BF level is 33%.  There are 3600 cals in a pound of BF.

2 x 3600 = 7200.  So if you reduce cals by 1000 per day, that is more than enough.  Probably too much if you are adding lifting.

So you should be consuming AT LEAST 2200 cals, you aren't close.  When you began to halt BF loss for a few weeks, than you can slowly reduce calls futher (key being slowly).

You need to break those cals up among 5 or 6 meals, and have protein with EVERY meal, listen to P.  Also, steer clear from all sugars and simple carbs.

Good luck, and welcome to IM.


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## redfx (Jan 8, 2003)

Thanks for all the great info.  I'll  try and get some better food choices and get me some good calories.

So far, I haven't done a good job today on food choices, but I'll make sure I eat some high protein foods for tonights meal.


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## redfx (Jan 9, 2003)

Ok, here's what I did yesterday:

9:00 am - 2 cups plain corn flakes (no sugar), 1 cup 2% fat milk

12:30 pm - 2 cups carrots (shredded), 2 cups lettuce (with oil and vinegar)

3:40 pm - 3 cups 16 bean soup (16 different beans, chicken breast cubes, diced celery and carrots and onions.  Dump it all in a big pot with water and cook. Yummy!)

7:00 pm - 4 cups 16 bean soup

Woke up at: 8:30am
Slept at: 1:00 am

workout: did a 35 minutes beginners kick boxing aerobics class.  20 minutes chest workout.


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## Twin Peak (Jan 9, 2003)

> _*Originally posted by redfx *_
> Ok, here's what I did yesterday:
> 
> 9:00 am - 2 cups plain corn flakes (no sugar), 1 cup 2% fat milk
> ...



You are not heading the good advice you have been getting.


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## P-funk (Jan 9, 2003)

Damn TP, I was just about to the say the same thing!


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## Twin Peak (Jan 9, 2003)

Except it sounds better from me, since you have been giving most of the advice. 

I think I only chimed in in his other thread.

Red, haven't you noticed the relative degree of consistency with our feedback?

You are here for a reason right?  That is an aweful days diet.


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## P-funk (Jan 9, 2003)

4 meals is better than 3 but not as good as 5.  You didn't list your total calories and your food choices are still the same as the were in previous days!



> 9:00 am - 2 cups plain corn flakes (no sugar), 1 cup 2% fat milk


TO MUCH SUGAR.  Just because the cereal has no sugar doesn't count for the fact that it changes to glucose in your system causing an insulin spike.  Drop the milk....lactose=insulin!!
Where is the protien?  How about some eggs or egg whites, maybe a protien shake or a little bit of cotttage cheese.  How bout some oatmeal for carbs?



> 12:30 pm - 2 cups carrots (shredded), 2 cups lettuce (with oil and vinegar


Again carrots are sugar.  Were you  using romian lettuce?  
Two meals today and no protien so far 

What kind of beans were in the soup?  At least this meal has protein .  Also soup usually has lots of sodium.  I would just eat the chicken and the veggies if I were you.  Or how about tuna fish?

More calories.......More protien.........Better carbs ..........more fats!
About the workout:  If you are going to do cardio do it after you workout so that you have enough energy to really hammer your chest.  How many sets did you do for chest?  What kiknd of excersises?


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## redfx (Jan 9, 2003)

Sorry guys, its hard adjusting.  I'm doing good today though.   Already had 2 eggs and whole grain bread for breakfast.  And tuna for my next 2 meals.  Not sure yet about my night meals but I'll get some protein in there.

I'll post my workout when I get home (my list is at home).

Thanks.


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## redfx (Jan 9, 2003)

> _*Originally posted by P-funk *_
> What kind of beans were in the soup?  At least this meal has protein .  Also soup usually has lots of sodium.  I would just eat the chicken and the veggies if I were you.  Or how about tuna fish?



I didn't add salt.  I just added water and let them all cook.  Water turns into a nice broth from all the beans (100% natural  ).

I'm not sure about all the kinds of beans.  I got a few of those mix bags and mixed them all up.  From what I recall:

Peas, kidney, lima, black-eye, black, red kidney, & lentils is all I remember.  I threw away the packaging so I'm not sure.


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## P-funk (Jan 9, 2003)

Whole wheat bread isn't good either.  Try to keep bread, pasta, cereal and milk out of your diet.  Especially if you are cutting.  The soup sounds good.  I don't know what others think but I don't consider beans, especially lentil,legumes and kidney beans to be that bad.  But you have to watch the amount your are consuming.  Don't over do it with that stuff.  You need to get specific (ie 1/2 kidney beans). 

It sounds like you diet today was a lot better.  Besure when you post it to put at the bottom your total calories/protiens/carbs/fat.  It sounds like you are on the right track Now kick some ass in the gym.


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## redfx (Jan 9, 2003)

Hi Guys.  Here's a thread with a listing of my workout:


http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14186


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## P-funk (Jan 9, 2003)

You don't have to go in for one day to do abs by themself.  Just do them with on one of the other days you are there.  It looks like you might be doing a lot of sets. Try to lower that  so that you are not overtraining.  You can try and keep your rep range arund 8-12.  Try and stick to free weights instead of machines because they will help to build overall mass.  Also try and stick to the basic bodybuilding movements like bench press, squats millitary press.  If I was going to trian my chest and bi's together here is an example of what I would do:
chest:
bench press (with barbell, not machine)-3 sets
incline dumbell flys-3 sets
dips (2 sets)

bi's:
barbell curls (3 sets)
preacher curl or dumbell hammer curl (2 sets)

Try and keep the workouts to around 45min-1hour.


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## redfx (Jan 10, 2003)

Ok, thanks for the info P-funk.

Here's what I did ate yesterday:

9:30 - 2 eggs and 2 small slices of 7 grain bread
12:30 - 8 ounces plain tuna and 2 cups green lettuce (no dressing)
3:30 - 16 ounces plain tuna

Munched on some soy nuts during work.  About 0.39 ounces to be exact.

6:30 - 3 cups 12 bean soup (same as previous day).   1 large eggpland baked stuffed with 5 dice size fat free feta cheese (crumbled) and with 1 medium tomatoe (diced, then mashed).

10:00 - 1 cup cottage cheese


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## Twin Peak (Jan 10, 2003)

Getting better.


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## P-funk (Jan 10, 2003)

Things look better today 



> 2 eggs and 2 small slices of 7 grain bread


Still not enough calories in this meal.  7 grain bread still is not a good choice.  Try for oatmeal.  (if you really need bread try whole grain bread......not whole wheat bread (because it is to processed)....but I don't suggest the bread for a cut, It wont help you reah you goal!)  Try eating more eggs and some oatmeal.




> 12:30 - 8 ounces plain tuna and 2 cups green lettuce (no dressing



You need some fat here.  You should get some olive oil or flax seed oil in there either on the veggies or on the tuna.  This meal looks a lot better than before.



> 3:30 - 16 ounces plain tuna



Again, need some fat and some veggies



> 6:30 - 3 cups 12 bean soup (same as previous day). 1 large eggpland baked stuffed with 5 dice size fat free feta cheese (crumbled) and with 1 medium tomatoe (diced, then mashed).



Looks like a big meal.  Take some of these caloreis and spread them out over the day.  Your meals need to be more balanced.   Don't use that fat free cheese.  Use the real stuff it will help you get more fat in your diet.  (cheese isn't the best fat for a cut).  Need some protien here.  How about chicken or lean beef?



> 10:00 - 1 cup cottage cheese


Not enough calories here either.  Was it low fat cottage cheese or the regular full fat stuff?

you didn't log your calories/protiens/carbs/fat
I think you could use more calories and really spread them out over the entire day.  
Much better food choices! 

Do you have protien powder? (might be a good investment)


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## Twin Peak (Jan 10, 2003)

Some flip side to Funky's comments, but firstm let me continue to state, Red, that he is giving you good stuff.

I'd don't disagree with anything per se, but in CONTEXT, I think you could lighten up a bit funk.

Here is the context to which I am referring.  We have a very overweight individual, who has recently decided to get serious.  He is brand new to dieting (at least in a proper way) and he is brand new to training.  Thus, what do we have?  An eager beaver with a ton to learn, who SHOULD be an excellent responder to any diet and training.

So what is my point?  Funk, he does not need to go from where he was to a hardcore bodybuilder overnight.

In other words, 

- grain bread will be okay
- FF cheeses will be okay
- protein powder shouldn't be necessary (though an MRP for a quick meal if necessary ain't bad).

Context my friend.  Remember this is not a "cut" in the sense of a bodybuilder, but a life change to making better choices, becoming fit, and then perhaps, if he likes it, becoming an anal-retentive freak like the rest of us.  

P.S.  I don't mean to discourage you in providing input in the slightest.  And feel free to disagree if you like, just my two cents (or was that more like a dime?)

PPS.  Red, I DO think you would do well to learn the macros in your foods, to know the daily macros you are taking in, and to learn what calorie levels and macro ratios you are best responding to.


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## P-funk (Jan 10, 2003)

Yeah, I agree.
I get carried away sometimes, thinking that everyone needs to be as strict as me.  Everyone has there own goals.  Red I think you're doing a fine job trying to change your current lifestyle.   
My goals (dropping my bf% down to about 6-7%) and your goals (making the change to a healthier lifestyle) are completely different and sometimes when I give people advice I just lump there goals in with my own (not good).  Sorry for dropping so much shit on you.
My bad TP, thanks for the slap in the face (yor dime is greatly appreciated)

Red listen to TP.


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## redfx (Jan 11, 2003)

Thanks for the great info guys and for the support.  I definitly couldn't do it without you.

Ok, so here's what I did yesterday:

9:30 - 8 ounces cottage cheese
12:30 - 16 ounces tuna
3:30 - 16 ounces tuna, 2 cup lettuce (no dressing)
6:30 - 3 medium sized zucchini (boiled) and 1 medium sized patatoe (boiled)

Munched on some soy nuts during work. About 0.4 ounces.

8:00 - 12 red grapes
9:30 - 8 ounces cottage cheese


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## redfx (Jan 11, 2003)

Ohh, and by the way, the cottage cheese is low fat (the lowest I could find).


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## P-funk (Jan 11, 2003)

The diet in starting to clean up nicely


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## redfx (Jan 12, 2003)

Thanks 

Ok, here's what I did yesterday:

9:30 - 2 eggs and a half a tomato (tomato omlet)
12:30 - 12 ounces tuna
3:30 - 12 ounces tuna, 2 medium sized boiled zucchini
6:30 - 1 big bowl 12 bean soup (same as above)
8:30 - 8 ounces low fat cottage cheese


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## P-funk (Jan 13, 2003)

Looks nice.  Just make sure you keep getting those veggies in there.

How are your work outs going?


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## Twin Peak (Jan 13, 2003)

As P said, definitely looking better.  You still need to learn to count macros and total cals.  You look to be really low particularly for your size.

YOu may think that can only be better as you'll lose quicker right?  Wrong.  You will onlylose marginally fast and your losses will come to a screaching halt, and you'll be to low already to drop them further.  Also, you can eat much more and still lose weight so why suffer?  YOu are more likely to stick with it if you don't!


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## redfx (Jan 13, 2003)

Thanks guys.  I still need to learn to count my calories.

I'm really not hungry.  I feel pretty full through out the day, but I'll try eating more.

Here's what I did yesterday:

9:30 - 8 ounces low fat cottage cheese
1:00 - 8 ounces tuna
5:30 - 2 grilled chicken beasts with hot sauce  , 1 medium zucchini boiled, & 1 boiled potato.
8:30 - 8 ounces low fat cottage cheese
11:00 - 2 garlic breadsticks


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## redfx (Jan 20, 2003)

Phew, ok... I've been sick lately (got the flu  ) but I'm back to normal now so back to the diet I go.  I'll continue posting what I do again in the next day or two.


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## P-funk (Jan 20, 2003)

Hope you feel better.


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