Help with food and exercise

[theshrew]

Im looking for a bit of help.

Im a overweight certainly not huge but not skinny not sure what weight i am as ive not got any scales + not really interested in the actual figure. I decided to loose a bit of my lard about a month ago, its working so far.

What i want to do is to makesure im doing it in a healthy way. The food side of things im finding a bit tricky.

Before i started this i didnt eat loads anyway but perhaps the wrong kind of things.

Typical day before

Breakfast - 1 bacon 1 sausage 2 rounds of toast 1 poached egg
Lunch - Sandwich either 2 slice of bread or 1 bap but maybe 4 days a week i wouldnt have anything
Tea - Meat and veg
Drink - Would have maybe 4 cups of coffee a day + my downfall 1 bottle of wine

So ive now changed to

Breakfast - 2x wheatabix
Lunch - sandwich 1 slice of bread with either chicken or tuna but still dont have it every day
Tea - Meat and Veg or Meat with salad
Still the same drinks but am going to cut the wine out when ive ran out this week

So since doing this i dont have the same ammount of energy and i didnt have a great deal to start with so am i doing something wrong ?

With the exercise i do some MTB anyway but not as much as id like but ive decided to ride more even if it just on the roads. I did 16 miles on road and 10 off last week and went swimming one day at lunch time.

Would i be ok doing ride one day swim the next so on and so on or would this be to much ? Would i be better to have a rest day ?

[RobM77]

If you're lacking in energy you might try eating more often - perhaps do what I do and have two light lunches rather than one a day? There's no science behind my decision to do that, it's just that there's no way I'd contemplate having two wheetabix for breakfast then just having a sandwich between then and dinner - I'd probably collapse! Maybe what you're experiencing is just a mild version of that? i.e. lack of energy. With multiple meals you're also more likely to eat what you need, rather than over-eating each time and trying to judge how much you'll need to store away for the day ahead.

With regard to exercise, make sure you're putting in enough effort (it's all too easy to go swimming for an hour and only burn about 200 calories) and yes, a rest day once a week is a good idea, depending on the intensity of the exercise of course.

[Slagathore]

I'd say eating more often would help.

Google low GI carbs index. You want to eat stuff that releases energy over a longer period of time. Also, stuff that's high in fibre, so you feel full for longer.

Porridge is generally regarded as the best for breakfast, though you could have it a bit later in the day as lunch.

I like to eat a few times a day. Breakfast at 7:45, then small lunch at 11, then again at 2pm, then another light snack at 5pm. Then I'll go to the gym and will eat after at about 9-9:30pm.

[quilabegesine]

Hey Friend I want to loose my weight but when I goes to dieting it affects to my power that is increase weakness daily. So what should I do?

[RobM77]

A totally unscientific response based on personal experience:

It's all about:

a) eating the right types of food
b) eating enough, but not too much, food (getting your intake amount right)
c) when and how often you eat, so when you exercise you've got the fuel to do it.

For example, I currently do around an hour or two of exercise a day, usually circuit training, cycling (spin classes at this time of year), running or swimming. My girlfriend does the same two or three times a week. At weekends we often do longer trips: cycling, kayaking or walking - sometimes for up to 6/7 hours. Neither of us really have problems in lacking the energy to do this, despite having a fairly 'normal' calorific intake. It puzzled me so much I started a thread on it, and I think the thread concluded I was taking in around 2200 - 2500 calories a day. My weight is stable.

I guess it's just a balance that you need to find. If you're trying to lose weight, then yes, you may struggle more than me, because your calorie equation is going to be stacked to the negative (whereas mine is balanced), but again, even if you're losing weight, you need to find a balance that you're happy with. Perhaps you should aim to lose less weight per week, so you have more energy for the exercise you're trying to do?

[gjf764]

You need to drink more, try to get a couple of litres of water down your neck each day.

It'll be hard work at first but it will help. You also need more fruit and veg in your diet, loads of different colours.

Good luck

[RobM77]

On that note, I should add that I always cook from scratch; so a few different types of vegetables, meat or fish and rice. I also drink a lot of fruit juice, and drink water all day at work. Sadly I can't eat fresh fruit due to an allergy, but I seem to manage ok.

[anonymous-user]

gjf764 said:

You need to drink more, try to get a couple of litres of water down your neck each day.

It'll be hard work at first but it will help. You also need more fruit and veg in your diet, loads of different colours.

Good luck

this. buy a 2l bottle of water to refil when empty and drink at least one a day.

[RobM77]

bulldong said:

gjf764 said:

You need to drink more, try to get a couple of litres of water down your neck each day.

It'll be hard work at first but it will help. You also need more fruit and veg in your diet, loads of different colours.

Good luck

this. buy a 2l bottle of water to refil when empty and drink at least one a day.

I'm presuming this is just the "chewing gum effect", in that it stops you wanting to eat? I don't believe there's any scientific evidence that hydration to this level when sat at a desk is actually necessary? Personally, I just sip a cup of water at my desk all day for something to do

[anonymous-user]

RobM77 said:

bulldong said:

gjf764 said:

You need to drink more, try to get a couple of litres of water down your neck each day.

It'll be hard work at first but it will help. You also need more fruit and veg in your diet, loads of different colours.

Good luck

this. buy a 2l bottle of water to refil when empty and drink at least one a day.

I'm presuming this is just the "chewing gum effect", in that it stops you wanting to eat? I don't believe there's any scientific evidence that hydration to this level when sat at a desk is actually necessary? Personally, I just sip a cup of water at my desk all day for something to do

No, it's just that I find that when you drink lots of water (particularly when changing your diet so radically) that it energises you, nothing scientific about it. Sometimes I drink 4l, better than coke.

[RobM77]

bulldong said:

RobM77 said:

bulldong said:

gjf764 said:

You need to drink more, try to get a couple of litres of water down your neck each day.

It'll be hard work at first but it will help. You also need more fruit and veg in your diet, loads of different colours.

Good luck

this. buy a 2l bottle of water to refil when empty and drink at least one a day.

I'm presuming this is just the "chewing gum effect", in that it stops you wanting to eat? I don't believe there's any scientific evidence that hydration to this level when sat at a desk is actually necessary? Personally, I just sip a cup of water at my desk all day for something to do

No, it's just that I find that when you drink lots of water (particularly when changing your diet so radically) that it energises you, nothing scientific about it. Sometimes I drink 4l, better than coke.

Interesting, thanks. I guess I rarely get to experience that, as I don't drink coke, tea or coffee; so I'm either drinking water, fruit juice, or something alcoholic.

[theshrew]

So at this point im confused.

With the Fruit and Veg side tbh its rare i do eat fruit but i do munch away on veg or salad with my tea every night. Does salad not count as veg ?

The other thing is im full up when i have a meal i dont feel like eating any more. That doesnt mean i have huge portions well i dont think so.

For eg Today so far

Breakfast 2x wheatabix
Lunch Can of tuna and a tiny bit of salad
2x cups of coffee

I feel full so wouldnt want to eat anymore.

Whats with all the water ? If i had any more to drink i wouldnt want to eat anything at all.

[anonymous-user]

nothing "with" the water, one of the reasons you feel tired is because you're changing your diet so completely extremely. If you're going to do that, why not go to the next extreme which is to swap coffee for water? It makes a big difference I find.

[theshrew]

I have cut down on my Coffee i used to get about 7 or 8 cups down me every day.

Your correct though it would be best to stop drinking it altogether.