HMMMMM

[MegRo]

I am having a little trouble calculating the appropraite amount of fat into my diet. I know it's supposed to be around 20%. How much cheese can I have in my meal? I am eating light mayonaise also. I have switched to all complex carbs. Eating a great big bowl of cereal in the morning. All bran buds strawberry bites or raisin bran. HAving whole wheat pitas or whole wheat wraps, salads, with low fat, but not fat free dressings. Lots of dried fruit. Lean ham sometimes, chicken, some tuna, etc.
As far as exercising is concerned, I am gaining muscle...I can feel it. I am doing it religiously. Sometimes I take a day off. But I am using the elliptical machine for a solid 20 minutes at a high incline and around 5 for resistance..then I hop on the treadmill and do about 10 minutes of running at 6.2
Then proceed to do some strength training. I thought I was making excellent progress. I saw some pictures of myself...and hmm...not trying to be too critical, but the pictures are really all I had to go buy to notice my progress (I dont own a scale) But I didn't notice much of anything...
Anyone noticing anything that might be hindering my diet? Not eating enough...or my exercise. I wish this wasnt complicated!!! >_<

[ms_irreverent]

What are you doing for strength training specifically?

[MegRo]

You are always so quick to respond! I love it.
Well, I'm doing lat pulldowns, leg presses, leg extensions, situps, benchpress, umm, lat pull down, that exercise where you lay on your stomach and pull the weights up with your ankles- working your glutes. HAHA, not sure of the name. Also lower back exercises......

[MegRo]

Perhaps I am consuming too many calories. I was thinking for breakfast maybe cutting back on cereal and having some eggwhites and light cheese or something

[Bobcat]

Any plans for deadlifts? Squats?

[Tom]

"Failure to lose weight" problems are almost always diet-related. I'd suggest that you get really anal-retentive about measuring out portion sizes, reading the nutritional labels, and keeping track of your daily intake of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and calories.

Here are some common mistakes that people make:
1) Not knowing what a "portion" is. They're typically a lot smaller than you'd think. This is where measuring things comes in handy.

2) Slipping in an occasional snack here and there, because "it's just a little bit and it can't hurt." These sorts of things can add up.

3) Eating the wrong things. Some foods that would seem healthy at first glance can be loaded with fat. A lot of Chinese food is like that -- there are a lot of veggies, which is good, but they're drenched in oil and served with white rice or noodles.

I'd suggest that, at least for a week or two, you buy a notebook, buy a book of food counts (Corinne T Netzer's book is good), and buy a measuring cup and/or food scale, and weigh, measure, and WRITE DOWN _EVERYTHING_ you eat. And that means EVERYTHING!

This is a pain in the neck, but it's worthwhile. Do this for a week or two and I'm pretty sure that you'll be able to pinpoint the source of your troubles yourself.

I'd also suggest you get a scale and weigh in daily. It'll keep you on track and you'll be able to tell if you're making progress or not. Don't get mental about it. Just weigh in every morning, write the number down in your diet log, and go about your business. If you don't see the number going down from week to week, make some adjustments.

[CinnamonGirl]

I am having a little trouble calculating the appropraite amount of fat into my diet. I know it's supposed to be around 20%. How much cheese can I have in my meal? I am eating light mayonaise also. I have switched to all complex carbs. Eating a great big bowl of cereal in the morning. All bran buds strawberry bites or raisin bran. HAving whole wheat pitas or whole wheat wraps, salads, with low fat, but not fat free dressings. Lots of dried fruit. Lean ham sometimes, chicken, some tuna, etc.
As far as exercising is concerned, I am gaining muscle...I can feel it. I am doing it religiously. Sometimes I take a day off. But I am using the elliptical machine for a solid 20 minutes at a high incline and around 5 for resistance..then I hop on the treadmill and do about 10 minutes of running at 6.2
Then proceed to do some strength training. I thought I was making excellent progress. I saw some pictures of myself...and hmm...not trying to be too critical, but the pictures are really all I had to go buy to notice my progress (I dont own a scale) But I didn't notice much of anything...
Anyone noticing anything that might be hindering my diet? Not eating enough...or my exercise. I wish this wasnt complicated!!! >_<

Tom's advice is excellent. As a long term dieter, I know that I still ALWAYS UNDERESTIMATE my caloric intake on a day that I haven't planned what I'll eat and documented what I actually do eat. Until you know how much you're actually eating in terms of calories, it would be hard for any of us to accurately determine whether you're eating too much or not enough.

One thing that seems to surprise lots of people is dried fruit. It's very calorically dense for the amount you get. I could very easily eat four to six pieces of dried nectarine. That's the equivalent of two or three fresh nectarines! Some of the most popular dried fruits are enhanced with high fructose corn syrup -- read the labels on your packages of blueberries, craisins (cranberries), mangos and pineapple.

[ms_irreverent]

I'll leave the specific food advice to everyone else, but if you haven't yet seen Marty's most recent blogs on food, do read them. One thing to remember is that if you are eating clean you actually can eat more--which is necessary anyway if you are working out regularly and effectively.

Regarding your strength training, if you'll post your workout log in the training and logs section, we can help you troubleshoot that as well. And if you haven't been keeping one, well, now is a good time to start! :)

[fireman1]

MegRo:
Everybody has given you some good information. Let me give it to you one more way.....

If your goal is to change your body composition, you should be losing 1 to 2 pounds per week. Tom suggests checking every day, I would suggest checking once a week, at the same time on the same day - best time is in the morning, after you've been to the toilet. If you're not achieving a 1 to 2 pound loss per week, then the odds are your diet is a bit off. Here's a quick review of what you might do over the course of a normal week.....

Keep up your cardio routine 4 to 5 times per week. Increase duration or intensity every week.

Progressive resistance training three times per week - always with intensity - increase reps or poundage with every session.

Performace eating - concentrate on eating clean 4-6 times per day. After reading your post I will suggest to you several things that I do....do not eat cheese or mayonaise (of any kind), eat less fruit (too much sugar), read the labels on EVERYTHING you eat and if you find the words hydrogenated or high fructose corn syrup on the label - throw it away and NEVER eat it again.

This should get things moving in the right direction.

Then once you've achieved the body composition you want, it will be time to adjust the bias to a more balanced approach (the approach described above is biased towards cardio and performance eating).

[Marty]

the bodybuilders seek to lose about 1-pound per week per 100-pounds bodyweight - a 200-pound individual would shoot for 2-pounds per week -this seems sensible and realistic - break the foods out into smaller allotments, clean up the calories - I'd suggest really nailing down the multiple feeding part 1st - once you've 'squared away' the metabolism its much easier to clean up the type calories eaten...again, better 2000 in 5-400-calorie chunks than 1500 with a 300-cal breakfast and a 1200 diner with nothing inbetween...

[MegRo]

Thanks to all for all the great tips.
I do believe my efforts are paying off. My brother lives far away, and came for a visit and later reported that I looked very different since Christmas.
I think this is my first attempt of losing weight at a very slow gradual pace through small changes and incorporating exercise. I am not in any hurry. I just wanted to make sure I was moving in the right direction.
Regarding the comment about no cheese and no mayo. I only eat light cheese and non-fat mayo or light mayo in my foods. And use only a tablespoon of mayo and a sprinkling of cheese. Usually for my tuna salads. Is that really going to hinder my efforts? I have cut back on the wraps, even though they are complex carbs. I do break up my meals so that I am eating 3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks so that my insulin levels are never dropping and I'm keeping my metabolism up. Sometimes I only manage to get in those three meals, but they are always healthy low fat meals. If I am eating lean protein I want to make sure that low fat mayo and low fat cheeses and low fat salad dressings are okay to eat. I can't cut out fruits. I need the fiber in apples and vitamin C in Oranges. I stopped having half a banana with my cereal because its high in sugar and have cut out dried fruits with the exception of raisins. Carrots are a rareity. I eat onions and peppers and green beans and avoid the tropical fruits. I do not consume refined sugar except for the occasional serving of rice pudding ( I CANT HELP IT, ITS MY FAVOURITE) My breakfast is always whole grain cereal with milk. I'm not shy with the cereal or milk because I like to fill up at breakfast and I will burn it off.
I never eat beef or pork, I avoid high-sodium processed foods, full fat condiments, fruit juice, pops, cookies, candies, etc.
It's all the food god intended us to eat, except for Crystal light :)
Each meal or snack I have has a teeny bit of fat, protein and carbs.
And I love fruit smoothies with yogurt, maybe a small scoop of low fat no sugar added ice cream and fresh fruit.
This has to be a recipe for sucsess????????? SAY IT IS!!! PLEASE! haha