So I’ve been stuck at 210lbs for a long time now. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I do something active at least 5-6 times a week (HIM training). Here is my typical diet for the week:
5am-Oatmeal with fruit or yogurt, granola and fruit
8am-PBJ sandwich
12pm-Sandwich (turkey, multigrain bread and lettuce)
3pm-Clif bar
8pm-Protein shake after my workout
Weekends have longer workouts but frequency of meals shrinks to 2 big meals and clif bars.
What am I doing wrong here? Should I talk to a nutritionist?
I’m down to 214 from 229 since Jan and I know it is harder for me to drop below 210 as when I train more I get more hungry.
The timing of your meals can make a difference, not too much eating later in the evening is best and maximizing your post workout meal.
Unless you are really accurate with the calorie intake of each meal it can be easy to eat a couple hundred extra calories a day that stagnates your loss.
if you are muscular than it becomes even more of a challenge. A good nutritionist can be a great resource for you to find the areas where you can improve.
I don’t see beer listed so you are doing better than me
Chris Carmicheal and Chris Brewer have discussed this topic extensively on the www.paceline.com website (The site for Team Discovery, Lance Armstrong, etc.). Lots of good advice there about nutrition and weight.
In the meantime, try to up your fiber content. Make sure each meal you eat contains 5 grams of fiber, or more. For instance, instead of a turkey sandwich on multigrain bread, put it on Thomas Light Multigrain English muffins (tons of fiber and tasty). Substitute Alpine lace cheese for your other cheese, and other than light cheeses, cut every other cheese out. Watch it with salad dressings too - these can add 100 calories to a meal easily. I use a lowfat ginger miso dressing that doesn’t make me feel like I’m eating diet food.
I’m not a nutritionist, so take my comments with a grain of salt. But here’s what I’m noticing:
You say you’re training for a half ironman, and training 5-6 times a week. How many hours of training are you doing per week? per day? For half iroman training, most people are doing a minimum of an hour a day, minimum of 10 hours a week. Looking at your sample menu, I don’t htikn you’re eating enough. Enough of what, you may ask? Enough of everything. I don’t see enough calories. Your lunch of just a sandwhich is pretty (really) light. I don’t see any substantial evening meal. I also don’t see any veggies. Its recommended to have 5-10 servings of fruit and veggies a day, and I see one serving in the morning and that’s it.
If I were you, I’d see a nutritionist. From the looks of your menu, I don’t think you’re eating enough. I’ve read that for weight loss, especially during training, you’ve got to eat enough food. If the body isn’t getting enough calories, it will hold on to fat and weight because it needs it. If your feeding yourself properly, the body can then shed the pounds knowing more food is on the way.
In a nut shell, eat more fruit and veggies and talk to a nutritionist.
training 5-6 days for HIM on ~1500-2000 calories per day during the week? Dude, are you including those jelly donuts you sneak from the breakroom at 10am?
jk, but honestly, your meals seem pretty light at face value (not counting your two “big meals” on the weekend). why don’t you try putting some calorie numbers to your daily/weekly intake. Not all PBJs & Protein drinks are created equal. the devil is in the details. a nutrionist will do the same.
You story is a typical one for many people. You can’t seem to lose weight and initially post what you think you eat, which arguably doesn’t seem like a lot. However, I am sure with careful examination, you probably are eating substantially more than just what you posted on your initial post. Just in the span of this thread you remembered you drink beer, eat vegetables etc. Everything adds up. People, also tend to exaggerate or be naive to how many calories they are burning in workouts and underestimate the caloric content of foods they eat.
Also, the amount of each food you eat is important. How much oatmeal do you eat? How big is your protein shake?
What you really need to do, and I am sure a good nutrititionist will tell you the same, is to keep a food diary. You need to religiously record everything you eat and drink, the time you eat it, and the quantity that you eat and drink. This includes water and other low calorie or non-calorie items such as diet soft drinks etc.
You should do this for 1 week and even better 2 weeks. I am sure once you actually record everything you eat you will see that you are eating a lot more than you think you are.
It is very rare for people to eat too little (especially in this country) and not lose weight. Unless you had some horrendous disease, i.e. some cancer or weird ailment such that you are retaining all the fluid you drink it is almost virtually impossible to gain weight with poor intake, even then, it is hard.
Do you drink Gatorade or other sports drinks during your workouts and eat GU or other gels. Like some other posters mentioned every little thing counts.
I second the food diary. We are bad about underestimating the calories we consume and overestimating the calories that we burn.
And its the hidden calories that kill us ( 8- 10 calories to lick an envelope, for example.)
Interesting information I learned this past week - low testosterone levels can affect weight - body is less able to turn calories into muscle so it turns it onto fat. (see my other post on testosterone supplementation and resulting discussion). I am sure there are other metabolic issues that might be reasons for weight retention. MAybe a basic physical and blood work would shed some light on your situation.
So I’ve been stuck at 210lbs for a long time now. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I do something active at least 5-6 times a week (HIM training). Here is my typical diet for the week:
5am-Oatmeal with fruit or yogurt, granola and fruit
8am-PBJ sandwich
12pm-Sandwich (turkey, multigrain bread and lettuce)
3pm-Clif bar
8pm-Protein shake after my workout
Weekends have longer workouts but frequency of meals shrinks to 2 big meals and clif bars.
What am I doing wrong here? Should I talk to a nutritionist?
Not specific enough. How many calories are you burning a day? How much Oatmeal, what are you putting in it? How big of a sandwich? How much Peanut Butter? what is in your protein shake? How big? Nothing else at all? No sodas or the midday candy bar?
When it comes to weight loss, devil is in the details!
This worked for me. “Get with the program” from Bob Greene the guy who trains Oprah. You candown load it for 19.99. If you use it properly everyday and don’t cheat it will work. I’ve gone from 163-143 since March 28 and put in the highest spring mileage ever and I am diffently the fittest I have ever been. I know others who have tried it and quit after a week. I think alot depends on your personality type. I know for me the first time I had to add 300 calories of potato chips to my daily intake and saw the number on the screen was the last time I ate them. It’s a thrill to see the total calories of a fresh turkey burger on whole wheat bun with a plate on grilled peppers, zuchinni, mushrooms, tomato and brown rice. The only problem I can see with the program is if you are a compulsive type (enough is never enough) you may have to force yourself to eat more on hard workout days.
Instead of a protein shake for dinner that is probably loaded with calories, I would go with a high fiber meal that has carbs and protein like beans and brown rice.
As a dietitian, I couldn’t have said it better myself. If you go to see a nutritionist (who by the way needs no real credentials) or a dietitian who specializes in sports nutrition, the first thing they will do is ask you what your goals are and to keep a food diary for about a week or two… of everything.
So before you go and spend the money on someone like me, start keeping track. Write down what you are eating, exactly how much (a serving of pasta is 1/3 cup but how many people only eat that much… not me), and maybe even how hungry you were before and after you ate so you can see what times of day are your weakest points. Also make sure you do the same with exercise (what you did, time of day, duration, etc.)
I can guarantee you that you will be surprised at what you see… And if after that you haven’t found something to change, then head toward a professional.
Agree with most of what I’m reading. My first impression is that you’re not eating enough, but then my next thought is that you need to keep a food diary.
Even if you are going to see a nutritionist, you’ll get more value from one if you walk in with 3 weeks worth of food logged, as well as specific workouts so he or she can get an idea of calories in vs. calories out. My hunch is that you may not even need a nutritionist because you might be able to identify the culprit yourself after looking at it.
I was stuck at the same weight for a long time, and then I started logging my food on www.fitday.com. it’s free, and there are a lot of foods already in there so you don’t have to type in calories/fat/protein, etc for each one unless it’s something weird. (if you eat out a lot, dietfacts.com has a lot of restaurant food nutrition info and there’s a link to add stuff to fitday.)
you can also enter your workouts and compare calories in and calories out. I don’t want to sound like a commercial for fitdaybut once I started limiting my fat intake to 25% or less of my calories, and burning 3500 calories more than I eat each week, the extra pounds finally came off (and fitday was the best way for me to track this). This works best if you have access to a computer throughout the day, but sometimes when I don’t, I log on in the morning and plan my food for the day - that’s what I eat so I know I won’t go over.
You didn’t give that much info about your training, your own height, body composition (ectomorph, endomorph, mesomorph). You obviously forgot to talk about your drinking, so what else are you leaving out?
many factors go into healthy weight loss:
-training
-calories (if you have too few calories for your training, the body won’t release fat correctly)
-proper intake of macronutrients
-proper hydration
-proper rest and sleep
-keeping stress low so the body can recover from training, and therefore metabolize food correctly
-hormones/gland function
-changing meals around so the body does not get accostomed
I can already see that you don’t have enough healthy fats in your diet. If you don’t put in healthy fats, your body is not working well as it could…
