For the FAT DJ's: question about eating habbits

[ShortTimer]

This is one part rant, one part questions:

I'm making this post because of some talks I've had recently with people and would like to get feedback from a larger group.

I've been overweight pretty much all my life, I put on pounds without much effort; and I'm wondering what the eating habits of other overweight members are. (Let me be clear about one thing here: I'm NOT talking morbidly obese.)

From some discussions I've recently had I've found out that for anyone who's never been overweight for a long period of time they don't seem to understand that for the most part you don't have to overeat to be fat. Over the last month or so I've had some discussions with people about food and some rather surprising things came up. First, even though I'm overweight I don't seem to be eating more than other people; sometimes I'll even eat less. Second, other's perceptions seems to be that if you're fat then you must have a box of doughnuts for breakfast everyday; this of course is not true.

As an aside let me say this: I do know a few women who are morbidly obese and they WILL do things like eat the box of doughnuts. I remember one time I went over one’s house for something and she had just finished dinner, her “dinner” was a ½ gallon of ice cream and box of cookies! Needless to say this does not reflect my eating habits, nor the eating habits of a few of the other overweight guys I know. Of course I do know some that will do crazy things like drink a whole 2 liter bottle of soda as part of their lunch, but that had never described me (I think I would pop!).

In the last month I finally signed my ass up at a gym, got a personal trainer and was put on a food plan. Yes that’s right I’ve found the motivation to work-out and keep it up. My food plan is for aprox. 2000 calories a day, but with smaller meals that come sooner. What I've found is that I'm usually too stuffed to want to eat. In fact I don't really look forward to eating at all anymore.

Originally how I ate (before the plan) it would go something like this: I would eat when I was hungry. It was that simple. Now I imagine those who have never been overweight would think "well he must be hungry all the time." In fact the opposite is true; a "normal" day could look like this:

8:00 am: Eat a frozen meal as breakfast, or none at all.
noon: Eat a lunch special from the local Chinese restaurant.
9:00pm Small snack before bed time, perhaps some left over Chinese food.

And that would be it. Sometimes in fact I was only eating ONE meal a day. Don’t get me wrong, my diet wasn’t entirely Chinese; the above is just an example.

Now, under the plan my nutritionist from the gym gave me I'm eating seven meals a day (to include supplement shakes and bars), and it's killing me because I just can't stand eating this much. It's like I'm overloading on food. Being overweight for so long I'll even make fat jokes about myself, so I see the sick irony here; I'm a fat guy who is saying "no more food, please make it stop!"

So I'm wondering if others have had any experience with this? Could poor eating habits (as opposed to what, or how much I'm eating) cause me to be overweight? Like maybe my body was in constant starvation mode and just held on to the fat?

Anyone who has changed their eating habits to something like what the gym's nutritionist gave me: have you found that you just don't want to eat?

 

[DJBen]

Want to know what I think?



8:00 am: Eat a frozen meal as breakfast, or none at all.
noon: Eat a lunch special from the local Chinese restaurant.
9:00pm Small snack before bed time, perhaps some left over Chinese food.



Thats a lot bad food, constantly. I used to do the same - and I know what you mean about most of the time eating less than everyone else, yet still being fatter. I envy those people because they went from thinking I was podgy to using steroids, or 'naturally having that build'. Theres nothing I hate more to hear that phrase after all the blood, sweat, tears and injuries. All the vomiting and close-to-passing-out. They dont see any of that.

I was pretty much the same as you. I had to change my eating habbits. It was damn hard at first, and I didnt want to eat so much all the time. But my body adapted. My mind adapted when I saw the results. I wasnt that slightly tubby guy anymore. I'm one of the strongest guys I know. When I'm walking down the road with my shirt off, I get the looks now, not my mates.

All of the above points make me carry on. I've put in all the effort of starting it, and my goal is in sight. I've been training so hard, I've been putting so much into it, some of my friends think I'm taking steroids or something. I get looks from people I'd never dream of. THAT keeps me going, because they dont see the amazing drive you can awaken by making yourself healthier.

Every time you feel like you want to miss a meal, think about looking slimmer. Think about what you want to look like. Think about those hot babes that will start looking at you soon and COMPLETELY CHANGE THEIR OPPINION OF YOU! think about how good you're gonna feel. Then remind yourself that I'd rather miss a workout than a meal. It's that important.

If you're struggling, take it down to five or six meals. 7 isnt easy, imo. I usually pull out 5-6.

 

[ShortTimer]

DJBen, I've only been at this for about a month; how long did it take you to start reaching some of your goals?

I've wondered that since it's easy for me to gain the wrong kind of weigt if it'll be easy for me to gain the right kind now; I sure hope so.

Actually what's keeping me motivate is a job I'd like to get; there's actually an embarasing story behind all of this, but I don't think I'll share it.

 

[DJBen]

haha, no worries man. we wont force you. *click* ... much

First I wanted to drop some weight. I started out on the right foot, made strength gains while losing weight. That didnt last too long and I then had to bulk for the extra gains. Either way, I cut 3lbs in the first two weeks, and then 2-2.5 for the next 4 weeks. I lost a fair amount of fat and probably a bit of muscle near the end. Either way, I was looking better. I went from 175 to 158.

Then I bulked... put on some mass at freaky speed. Went from looking a bit twig like to looking fairly healthy.

I'm basing my goals about what I see in the mirror. Right now my goal is to increase arm size and chest. My overall goal is to be happy with how I look.

I was impressed when I lost all that weight. Thats when I saw the potential. A bit of reading up, going balls to the wall when I'm training, and taking my food even more seriously than the gym.. I went from 175 of flabbyness to 175 of musclyness. I'm not sure how long it's taken. I had some road blocks on the way [injuries etc, I've now got a more serious health problem which is another road block. no worries, I'll hit the gym harder than before ]

All I can say is go by the mirror.

 

[Dirtheart]

When I started to put on weight in my teens, one of the prime culprits was Coke. I used to drink it all day, and that's a lot of calories that I wasn't burning off. One of the prime culprits for most people I know gaining weight is regular binge drinking.

I'm no expert, but I believe that alcohol also has a negative effect on your metabolism and makes it much harder to get in shape.

It maybe what you are drinking rather than what you are eating. Just a thought.

 

[RussianRocket]

Without going into much detail, follow these simple rules and you will lose fat. Guaranteed.

1) Cardio. Since you're an endomorph, go for 5-6 times a week. 20-45min.

2) Lift weights. 3-4 times a week.

3) Eat EVERY 3 hours.

4) BAN ALL food containing sugar, processed carbs, saturated and trans fat.

5) Eat lean proteins, complex carbs and good fats at every meal.

That's it bro. People think there's MUCH more to it than that, but there isn't. It's lacking in the detail department but that's about as condensed as it can possibly get.

 

[CLOONEY]

Ever heard of the body for life program? Do it, then tell me you are "born fat"! Show some dedication NOT motivation, difference being, at the times you DONT want to do excersise or control your eating habbits (I say habbits because there is no such thing as a diet, only a habbit you create for yourself in the way you eat), u push through it like a warrior and do what you gotta do! And that is show self control, self confidence and dedication!

 

[DJBen]

Originally posted by CLOONEY
Ever heard of the body for life program? Do it, then tell me you are "born fat"! Show some dedication NOT motivation, difference being, at the times you DONT want to do excersise or control your eating habbits (I say habbits because there is no such thing as a diet, only a habbit you create for yourself in the way you eat), u push through it like a warrior and do what you gotta do! And that is show self control, self confidence and dedication!

Some people really do find it very hard to lose fat. Body for life isnt the best either there is no best workout plan.

I put my balls into all my workouts. I eat the best I can [no ones got a perfect diet]. I walk into the gym, and theres always a guy I've seen drunk in the weekend, eating fast food around town and constantly drinking coke when he leaves the gym. The guy stays ripped. If I did that, my body would throw on the lbs in no time. I'm an active person. It's just one of those genetic things.

 

[ShortTimer]

Originally posted by CLOONEY
Show some dedication NOT motivation, difference being, at the times you DONT want to do excersise or control your eating habbits u push through it like a warrior and do what you gotta do! And that is show self control, self confidence and dedication!

If all this was about was self-control I'd have been ok a long time ago. Part of the problem I've found is that the idea of less food = less fat is simply untrue; well I guess I never tried anorexia.

Like I said in my first post there have been times where I could get away with eating one meal a day and be fine. If you want some real gory details, let me tell ya that the one time I was able to bring my weight near to where it was supposed to be I was eating 1200 calories a day; but I felt constantly sick from the lack of food.

So I'm hoping between what the nutritionist gave me and the work I do at the gym will be enough this time, it kind of has to be; I really want that friggin' job.

Originally posted by DJBen
I've seen drunk in the weekend, eating fast food around town and constantly drinking coke when he leaves the gym. The guy stays ripped.

I have a friend who's exactly like that. As far back as high school this guy would eat as much as he wanted and didn't gain any fat. There were times when he would eat the leftovers of other people's meals when he was just done eating his own. Finally now, 12 year later he's starting to get a little pudge around his stomach; and this much fat took him years of dedicated daily drinking.

Funny thing is I was overweight even when I was a baby. With my doctor's help my parents kept me on a controlled diet, but I still weighed more than I should have. Mind you I was an infant at the time so I don't remember this; family members related this to me.

 

[-HPNOTIQ-]

Like many workout/diet articles say...its a balance of input calories and output calories which will cause weight gain or weight loss.

The answer for lossing weight is simple. Eat healthy and work out. Of course the answer is simple, but, the calculation is different for everybody due to genetics metabolism, motivation, education, etc.

For you, I'd start with a basic plan of moderate eating and moderate working out. Remember...losing weight and gaining health is a MARATHON race...not a SPRINT.

It is often said for something to become a habit, it must be performed for three weeks.

Here are the tips, regardless of height, weight, metabolism, genetics, ect to help a morbidly obese person loss weight- remember, this is a basic plan of tips that have worked for me as well as people I've given them to - as soon as you start you will see strength gains and muscle loss...once you understand your body, you will tweek these tips to help yourself.

I'm not going into all the scientific detail such as Diesel's thread, keeping it simple is the way to start.

GOOD LUCK

*Keep calories around 2000/day. Don't eat less than this mark. You need calories, this is your fuel. If you think that you will starve yourself more and eat only 1500cal/day and loss weight quicker, you aren't thinking MARATHON. You are thinking SPRINT RACE. You will more likely splurge eating one day then slowly start going to your old ultra-high calorie diet.
*Keep your carbs around 60g/day. Too little carbs and you will feel wilted and weak. You will have no energy to work out if you cut ALL carbs out of your system. Too many carbs, then, you may start to store it as fat. Drop the processed carbs like breads, pastas, cereals, rice, etc - look for low carb options..but..keep those carbs right about 60g/day.
*Keep fat grams around 40g/day total fat and no more than 25g/day saturated.
*Stop the soda and fruit juices. If you must, go diet drinks. By choice, drink tons of water..keep water handy.
*Eat your last meal at least 3 hours before you go to bed.
*Eat whenever you feel hungry. Don't starve yourself. Just make better food choices. Low carb powerbars, low carb cereal and dried fruit and nuts, an apple, eat healthy carbs...but DO eat.
*Read labels, I'm sure you already do this. But, understand serving sizes, carb levels, calorie levels, etc.
*Keep a constant Work Out Routine. Start off easy. Take a brisk walk around a stadium track at your local HS/college. 4 laps equals one mile. Shoot for ten laps (2.5 miles). Do this 4 times a week. When you build strength, instead of walking that last lap, jog it. When you build more strength, jog the last two laps. Etc, Etc until you keep improving and find yourself jogging at least a mile.
When it comes to weight lifting, I'd leave it alone now until you've gained enough strength from the cardio. The cardio will help improve your heart rate and blood pressure. You will need these two things in check before you start any strenuous weight lifting regiment.
*Make a daily log of your workouts. You'll feel better seeing all the days you've X'd on a calendar and will keep you motivated to continue your progress.
Don't weigh yourself often. When first starting any weight loss program, the first amount of weight that is lost is water. Depending on your weight, you can loss anywhere from 5-10lbs of water in a week of working out. People get the misconception that they are lossing fat when its only water. So, they end their workouts early by rewarding themselves with fatty foods. Then they re-weigh themselves only to find the water weight came back plus a few extra pounds.
IMO - just weigh yourself once a week at the same time of day everytime.
*Project yourself to lose about 2-3lbs/week. Rememeber, this is a Marathon, not a Sprint. Most registered dieticians believe the longer it takes for you to loss weight, the longer it will take to gain the weight back. Conversely, the quicker off the quicker on.
*Take a good Multivitamin Daily.

For my last piece of advice, don't read too much into these articles from Men's Health, T-Mag, Skinny Guy, Muscle Fitness..etc.

It is amazing how many times I've read contradictions in work outs from the SAME MAGAZINE in different articles. One issue of Men's Health stated on page 80 that coffee and caffeine were bad for weight loss because it took calcium away from bones. In the SAME ISSUE on page 100 it said that caffeine and coffee is great for weight loss because it helps speed up heart rate - thus raising metabolism

The tips I gave above were the one's I've used, and stuck with me over the years.

Good Luck on your MARATHON path to good health...my advice isnt the end all be all..but..I hope it will help you get to where you want to be.

 

[Centy]

i havnt read all the others replies. but here's my two cents

first of all, how much do you weigh? cause starting off with 2000 cals a day sounds waaaay too low! When i dieted i weighed about 225lbs and i started off with 3000 cals and i was damn starving all day long. It didnt take me long before i upped it to 3500 cals a day.

You gotta remember that starving = BAD since your metabolism stops up and you dont want that when you are dieting.


My tips to you would be :

- to first of all to clean your diet, no need to macromanage but make sure that what you get in you is healthy stuff and just not a bunch of fast food/sugar/sodas etc. A lot of people say that fat is bad and that you should avoid it as much as possible, but fat is an essentiell part of a diet cause we have good and bad fat.

- Then find your maintenance level (how many cals do you have to eat daily in order to stay at the same weight as you are?)

- when you have done that you can start lowering your daily carbs. 100-200 a week should be okey. You should be aiming at losing 3-4lbs a week, a slow weight loss is better than a jo-jo diet where your weight fluctuates. Don't panic if you loose a lot the first week, then not so much the second week, cause you will intially lose a lot of water-weight.

- try to split up your meals so you dont go starving any periods of the day. starving = bad.



what dieting basically comes down to is ;
input callories < output calories

you gotta burn more cals than you eat.l simple as that!!

good luck

 

[ShortTimer]

Originally posted by Centy
i havnt read all the others replies. but here's my two cents

Perhaps you should.

Originally posted by Centy
first of all, how much do you weigh? cause starting off with 2000 cals a day sounds waaaay too low! When i dieted i weighed about 225lbs and i started off with 3000 cals and i was damn starving all day long. It didnt take me long before i upped it to 3500 cals a day.

I weigh 230 lbs and it would seem I'm the opposite of you. The 2k cals is too much food for me; I'm not hungry and don't look forward to eating.

Originally posted by Centy
You gotta remember that starving = BAD since your metabolism stops up and you dont want that when you are dieting.

I've learned this the hard way over the years.

Originally posted by Centy
- to first of all to clean your diet, no need to macromanage but make sure that what you get in you is healthy stuff and just not a bunch of fast food/sugar/sodas etc.

I've been doing fine with water and my protein shakes, I'm not really craving soda or coffee or anything. Ok, ok I had ONE cup of coffee last week; I'm hoping that won't kill me.

Originally posted by Centy
You should be aiming at losing 3-4lbs a week,

I would have an auto-orgasm if I lost that much body fat each week.

Originally posted by Centy
- try to split up your meals so you dont go starving any periods of the day. starving = bad.

I eat or have a shake/bar every three to four hours.

Originally posted by Centy
good luck

Thanks!

I do have a question for you. You said you started at 225 lbs, how long until you got rid of most of your fat? How long until you started hitting some of your goals? I've not really done this before so I don't know what to expect.

Again, thanks and thanks in general for everyone's replies.

 

[DJBen]

Originally posted by Sazuko
Loosing more then 2lbs a week is usually not just fat but also muscle and water.

Everybody is a little different, but 4lbs a week doesn't sound healthy, keep it at 2lbs max.

When you're considerably over weight, adapt the figures. Everyone that says all this... they're powerlifters/bodybuilders where their main mass for their body is muscle. When a lot of it is bit of fat, expect more =]

Just go with what feels natural. It usually balances to 2lbs anyway. If you ask me, weigh yourself every 3 weeks or something. Go by pictures/the mirror as much as possible. Your bodyweight can change up to 18 lbs from morning to evening. Scales arent always the best indicator

 

[Levex]

i've never been overweight but i did notice a few things in the past that make me steadily gain or lose weight.

so if you want to lose weight:

1.Forget about cola and soft drinks. Way too many calories and there's a reason sugar is called "white death".

2.Never skip a meal,it only makes you eat more in the long run. And at the same time eat just enough to feel satisfied.

3.Forget about Burger KIng,McDonalds etc...even a healthy,fit person will eventually get fat if they regularly eat at those places.

4.Never eat or snack when you're not hungry.(say you're out with your buds and you stop by a diner...if you're not hungry dont order anything just to keep them company)

5. If you dont know what's in the food you're about to eat...dont eat it! Meaning, if there are too many ingredients and additives,it cant be good for you. ex:mayonaise,pasta sauce,coffee creamer,those dinner-in a-box meals. Stick to foods that can be consumed on their own, like potatoes,meats,fresh veggies and fruits,fish,eggs, etc...(depending on the specific diet you're on, of course).

 

[OzzyBoy]

I think if you stay away from the high fat/high sugar foods/drinks, don't skip meals, eat every few hours, drink plenty of water, try not to consume too many calories and do a bit of exercise you do lose some weight. I have put on a little bit of weight this winter but i have been following these tips my weight has already dropped about 1-2 kilograms in the last couple of weeks. I do think however you can have some fast food from Burger King,McDonalds or wherever it may be but only once or twice a week as this will fulfill any cravings and stop you from binging later on. But i think it is a good idea not eating some foods that you don't know what is in them. I usually always like to look at the nutrional information on the food labels to work out if it is actually good for you or not.