READER QUESTION FOR JANUARY

READER QUESTION FOR JANUARY Jan 10, '10 11:02 PM for everyone TODAY'S QUESTION is from a college student friend of ours. He is over 6 feet tall and has played football in the past, which encouraged a hefty weight. Now that he is in college, he wants to lose some of the "bulkiness" and trim down a bit. ============================================================ January 8 Hey Anita, I have gotten back to working out, running, and riding my bike. These are the easy things for me to do because i enjoy them so much. The hardest part is eating significantly less than what I eat now. I have been doing some research and found a calorie counter and i filled it out and it says that in order to lose about 1.5 to 2 pounds a week i can only consume around 3,300 calories a day being very active. Does that sound about right? And, what do I need to start eating that does not break the bank? DAVE January 9 DEAR DAVE, Probably less, but you're going to have to find your own number. I was an overweight child. Every chart I look at tells me that I can eat 1800-2000 cals a day and maintain weight. They aren't right. I've tracked it for years and if I eat that much I gain. So you have to find YOUR own number through trial and error. For the last two days I've been using DAILY BURN and I REALLY LIKE IT. Click here and join my group, then start putting in what you eat every day. http://dailyburn.com/challenges/team_beachbody_fitness_usa_team_beachbody_fitness_fanatics ~~~~~~~~~~~~ HOWEVER, THIS TAKES A LOT OF TIME! SO I'LL GIVE YOU AN EASIER OPTION TO TRY AND SEE IF IT WORKS. I imagine it will. You must do it for at least a week or two to see. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ YOU JUST HAVE TO REMEMBER TWO RULES OF THUMB: 1. First, don't buy anything that has more than 3 grams of fat per serving. 2. Second, if there's something that has 4-5 and it is a food you really like, buy it ONLY if it is something you don't eat every day (for example, twice a week is OK) If there is a food you like that has 9-12 grams, make sure it is a MEAL, such as the Sam's Choice Chicken Alfredo Meals that are frozen and they come in 4-serving boxes (about $7 at wal-mart). Those are OK too. I mentioned those in my last video because I think they taste great and are good for you. There are about 4 different varieties of chicken meals in that brand. We didn't care for the greek one very much, it was OK, but way too many black olives. And they aren't frozen food. They have regular raw chicken that has to be cooked (I can tell you a fast way to do it). Anyway, it's not frozen food like Lean Cuisines, which you should stay away from. If you don't lose quite a bit of weight the first week doing this, I mean at least 3 pounds, then you have to start tackling calories. Last night I was genuinely hungry before going to bed, I mean my stomach was hurting for real, but I had put in my calories for the day in DAILY BURN and was already up to 1500, can't lose weight on more than that, so I just didn't EAT any more. I drank a 25-calorie hot chocolate and took my vitamins and went to bed. I didn't like it but I did it. I have eaten my share over Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I know it didn't hurt me! It might take you 30 minutes on the DAILY BURN site to figure out how to put in everything, but it isn't too hard. If you don't have 30 mins, call me anytime after 9 pm and I will walk you thru it and it will take 10 minutes. Unfortunately I have to deal with my weight every day. I ALWAYS want to eat more than I can have. But I have learned that I can just about eat as much as I want as long as I buy/eat the right choices. I do eat salads until they are coming out of my ears! But they are healthy and combat cancer so that's OK. Summary: I'd do fat first, keep it between 30-60 grams a day. Much easier to count and keep track of--you can almost do that in your head as the day goes by. Then if the weight doesn't come off, calories. The good thing about DAILY BURN is it keeps your protein counts too, which is what I would teach you to do next, to make sure you are getting enough per day. (about 150-200 grams) Write back if you have any questions. ANITA p.s. I buy BODY FORTRESS chocolate whey protein at WalMart and drink 2-3 (usually 3) scoops every morning for breakfast. Must use blender, can't shake it. Use water/ ice. If you don't like it with water, use 2 scoops and 1 cup of skim milk, some water, and ice. Pour into a 32 or 44 oz Coke cup from the gas station, put in some ice cubes, and take it in the car with you. Option: drink half of it with 1-2 pieces of toast (100% whole wheat) and then keep the other half in your car to drink between/after your class for morning snack. Eric makes turkey bacon every morning and cooks in micro for at least 2 or 2.5 minutes, until it is almost burnt, really crispy. You can put that on your toast and eat as a sandwich. Very fast and EASY. January 10 ANITA, WOW! Thank you. This will be helpful to try and get started figuring this thing out! I move in with my roommate this week and will be doing more cooking for meals so this really helps on what to buy and what to start eating. I will let you know if I have any other questions (and I sure will have more questions). Thanks again. DAVE DAVE Jan. 10th Cool! I had some time to mess with that site you told me to join and I got set up. I am going to try that out and see if I can remember to keep up with it. I think it is going to help alot. I am excited to get started. I am going to try to keep on track. DAVE Jan. 11th Well I have been doing the program for half a day and like it already!!! I am determined to lose weight. How can i join your challenge? ANITA Jan. 11th If you click here it should take you right to the page and you click JOIN on the right-hand side, I think. http://dailyburn.com/challenges/team_beachbody_fitness_usa_team_beachbody_fitness_fanatics >>>>>It will really help you.>>>>>> FOR EXAMPLE, I ate a mini bagel. I just typed in "bagel," chose one, and put in .5 for the serving size. You don't have to get the exact item, just pick something close. We aren't doing algebra here, just getting a calorie range.... I ate a buffet at Golden Corral, and even with a big salad, I still figured it was a bunch of calories. I typed in BUFFET and it came up with INDIAN BUFFET as 600 calories, so I said, yeah, that' s probably about right. I didn't do it yesterday so I am doing it right now for sure. If you wait until the next day you won't remember. Calculate your fat in your head as the day goes on and try to keep a running total, because it won't do you any good if you get to the end of the day and you've eaten 100 grams of fat. Besides weight gain, that's just asking for a heart attack. Did you buy protein powder yet? EAS is at Sam's and it is great brand too. In fact, I think EAS makes Body Fortress. If you buy those ready-to-drink protein cans you will go broke. Must get the powder. Protein Bars: the best for the price are PURE PROTEIN, box of 6 at walmart is about $6. Don't live on those, eat only when you need food and don't have anything else available that's healthy. You could also keep a notepad in your car and write down what you eat so you don't forget at th eend of the day. MY DAILY BURN TOTALS>>> cals 1624.9 - fat 35.1g - carbs 184.1g - prot 157.0g My fat is a little higher than normal because I ate breaded salmon which was 15 g fat for one piece. But I don't eat that every day, the kids like it so I buy it about once a month. I probably ate slightly less protein than that just because I used what was on the list instead of inputting my own exact number. All I want to know is, was I around 1200 or 1600 today? I will lose weight at 1200-1400, but not much at 1400-1600. So I am just looking for a range. THAT 200-CALORIE DIFFERENCE IS WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR. There's a personal trainer saying that goes, "You can't out-train a bad diet." What YOU want to know is, am I eating 4,000 calories a day? 3,000? 2500? Once you know where you are, then you will know where you need to go. A. p.s. even if you miss putting in your food 2 days a week, you will still get a good idea if you can keep up with it for 5. Try not to miss more than 2 though. DAVE Jan. 12th Hey tomorrow I am going shopping for some healthy groceries. I have been doing pretty good about putting in the right stuff and keeping track. I am on my laptop alot for school and different things so it should not be to hard to keep track. I am starting to see that on a daily basis I probably have been eating around 3,300 calories a day. Because as I have been cutting down I have added in what I would normally eat after a meal and I have cut out that not-needed food. Hopefully by the end of this deal I will be able to send you a before and after picture. On daily burn when does the new day start? ANITA Jan. 12th I don't know, I guess midnight! (are you eating ice cream at 3 am?? If so, stop that... ha ha) Today I was at Wal-Mart and was over in the meat section. I almost bought SADLER'S BBQ, which is pre-cooked and you just warm it up. I turned over the box, and AAAAAAHHHHHHHH! 15 Grams of fat! no! I went over to the LLOYD'S brand, right next to it, 3 GRAMS of fat (and it was cheaper too). I bought 3 of those and Eric/David/Mark had it for dinner tonight on 100% WHOLE WHEAT BUNS. They said it was great and they want it tomorrow night too. The package was $4 and there was some leftover (I was at work so that was for the 3 of them). Pretty good price for feeding 3, I thought. BTW, the BBQ Chicken had more fat than the beef, so I bought the beef. READ LABELS! When you buy bread, make sure the bread says 100%. Not just "whole wheat." It has to say 100% whole wheat. That's important! Here's your trivia question: What healthy food can be thrown in your backpack, stay in there with your books for 3 or 4 days, won't smash, and can be eaten just fine without refrigeration at any time of day or night? (Keep this food in your backpack at all times.) Hint: it keeps the doctor away Here's a grocery list to start with, I'll put them in groups as you would eat them for meals/snacks: ***NOTE TO BLOG READERS: Remember, I am writing this for a college student!*** 1. Chicken breast (tenders, frozen, they cook faster than the whole chicken breasts, can even cook them in skillet), Success brown rice 4-packs in a box, green beans, salad items. >>>>> COOK A WHOLE BAG OF CHICKEN TENDERS EVERY SATURDAY AND PUT IN REFRIGERATOR IN A GALLON ZIPLOC BAG. Can be eaten cold, on a salad, with BBQ sauce, on a sandwich, on a taco, with spaghetti, with macaroni, etc etc. <<<<<< 2. Fat free sour cream, picante sauce, baked Tostitos, corn tortillas, lettuce, fat free Kraft cheddar cheese, envelope of taco seasoning, small tomato (eat chicken on the tortillas, warm them in microwave), can of black beans (warm up in microwave) 3. Lloyd's BBQ beef, 100% whole wheat buns, lettuce, corn, salad 4. Eggs, fat free mayo, canned tuna or chicken for tuna salad or chicken salad with boiled eggs in it, 100% whole wheat bread 5. We try to stay away from lunchmeat, but you will probably have to buy it -- buy 98% fat free lunchmeats, mustard, lettuce, pickles, tomato, or fat free mayo, bread 6. Enchilada Hamburger Helper (make it with a can of chicken breast) 7. Frozen shrimp (already cooked, deveined, $5 at Wal-Mart), put them in oven on a tray, spray with fat free butter spray and sprinkle with garlic salt, cook on 400 degrees for just a few minutes, broccoli or squash, bread—toast it in oven too, with butter spray on it. 8. Chicken/Rice Soup: Chicken broth (I like the PASTE, you can find it in the soup section in a jar that has to be refrigerated after you open it), can of chicken breast, Success brown rice, celery, onion or onion flakes in the spices section. 9. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, thin pork chops (must bake these), green beans or broccoli, salad. 10. Whole raw chicken (put in a crockpot overnight with water, salt, will be ready the next morning). DO NOT EVER PUT THE CROCKPOT IN THE REFRIGERATOR HOT. It keeps too much heat in the food and your food will develop food poisoning. Remove the chicken from the crockpot and put in a bowl then you can put it in refrigerator, even if the chicken is a little hot (don't put a tight lid on it though). 11. BEAN SOUP: Dry lentils or split peas (rinse, put in crockpot overnight with water, salt and 1/2 package of ham cubes and onion flakes). Will be ready in the morning. 12. Kashi cereal, Special K "PROTEIN" cereal, Light-n-Fit yogurt /or/ Yoplait Light FatFree, skim milk, fat free cottage cheese, fat free strawberry cream cheese, fat free Butter Spray, eggs, 70% less fat Butterball sausage or Turkey Bacon. THIS DOESN'T HAVE TO BE BREAKFAST --- these foods are fine for dinner too. 13. Fat free hot dogs, 100% whole wheat buns, great value brand hot dog sauce (this has about 1 gram of fat), fat free Kraft cheddar cheese, salad 14. Any frozen un-breaded fish, green beans, sweet potato, salad. 15. Thin spaghetti, spaghetti sauce (no more than 1 gram fat), reduced fat parmesan cheese, salad. You can get frozen white-meat ground turkey, brown it in skillet, and add to spaghetti. If that takes too much time, buy the frozen meatballs BUT DON'T EAT MORE THAN 4-5 of those in your spaghetti. They are full of fat, but convenient and so I buy them and we just eat a few. The good thing is you can pour out 4 meatballs, heat them up, and put them on top of your spaghetti and leave the rest in the freezer for later. Keep the bag closed well. 16. Sam's brand frozen chicken boxed meals (in meat section at Wal-Mart) SNACKS: apples, oranges, bananas, grapefruit, jello pudding fat free, 3-gram-fat ice cream sandwiches, fat free sugar free vanilla ice cream (wal mart brand is GREAT), 25-calorie hot chocolate packages, 98% fat free kettle corn, baked chips (don't eat a ton of these but you can buy them), diet root beer. That's probably more than you would need for 2 weeks! AVOID ham, all red meats--this includes hamburger, juices (they are just sugar), cookies/cakes/brownies/LittleDebbies/donuts/pizza. You can do that. I'm going to do my DAILY BURN totals now! bye! Tags: lose weight, workout, videofitnesscoach, health, fitness, salad, weight loss, diet, protein shakes Add a Comment