The benefits of eating light....

[Plantman]

I thought I'd share this with all of my virtual friends.

For the past 3.5 months I have been watching what I eat, cutting out sugar and a lot of processed carbs, while eating smaller portions of high protein low fat meals, like greens and broiled chicken, beef and veggies, etc...

I have lost in excess of 25 lbs and feel 10 years younger.

I occasionally indulge in some pizza and allow myself 1 cheat day where I eat anyting I want. I've never been much for sweets so I've never had much of a problem in that area.

I have always excercised regularly, but I never did enough, especially after turning 35, to keep the fat off. I'll be 40 in August and was not too happy at the prospect of getting older/heavier.

A typical day for me consists of a 4-6 egg white omelette with turkey, and some veggies for breakfast.

Around noon or so I may have a grilled chicken pita or something along those lines.

Arround 2 or 3 I may have a protein shake with peanut butter and bananas.

At around 7 or 8 my dinner will usually consist of nothing but protein and some veggies.

No big secret, just smaller and more frequent portions.

I went from 260 plus to 240 as I type. And I am alo bakc to 38/36 " waist, which was REALLY tight for me to get into when I started.

I'm rather tall(6'4") and large framed so I hid the 260 plus pretty well. Now I look a lot leaner and my gut and love handles are gone.

For any of you who are struggling with weight and health issues related to such, I strongly recommend it.

All those lose weight in a hurry scams are just that, scams. It took me a long time to get heavy, it will take me a while to get thin. In the long run, it's be worth it.

My knees hurt a lot less as does my back and I am spry like a kitten.

Oh, and I still indulge in my cocktails once or twice a week, although I limit the beer to days that I have worked out early in the morning.

Thanks for listening.

[H2O2]

I thought the only thing that could eat light was a Black Hole.

[Plantman]

I'll be getting my breast reduced in month or so.

[GottaDiesel]

This is some of the greatest news!

I can relate 100%. I was never a big guy, but after I got married I gained, slowly, about 15 lbs. But I'm only 5'9" and at the time I was 160-165... and not much muscle.

After I seperated from my ex-wife I joined a gym as a way to control stress. I also started eating much differently. Mind you, I still eat what I want, only in a smart way.

Over a year later, I still go to the gym 4-5 days a week, and eat right. I'm 15 pounds lighter, and have a build that I am actually more proud of (I'll admit it isn't exactly what I want... yet...). I know I could/should gain about another 10 pounds of muscle and I would be great... but so far so good.

More energy... sleep better, and I can run 5-6 miles with ease. (It started because I wanted to run... for the stress of the divorce... worked great!).

The funniest part is, I love it. I don't watch much TV because I spend that time at the gym... but I don't mind.

Good post!

Pete

[GottaDiesel]

Originally Posted by w126

Good job Plantman -- eating sensibly will go a long way. Unlike what I'm doing now...

Just for the hell of it and to see if it works, I decided to drastically cut back on carbs.

No bread, no pasta, no processed foods, no fast food. I eat mainly beef, chicken, eggs, cheese, protein shakes, skim milk, broccoli, basic salads. I've lost 15 lbs. in 4 weeks, now just under 200 lbs. Increased my cardio workouts as well. Problem is that I can't eat like this much longer, so when I get to about 185, will eat more carbs and see if I can maintain.

Don't go crazy and cut out carbs all together. This fad is not the way to go. You're doing great with the protein, and no more processed and fast food. 70% of the trouble people have is in the processed food.

Carbs are not your enemy. Try to go with whole wheat (REAL whole wheat) and not processed wheats. I'm not a fan of the whole wheat pasta, so I stick with regular pasta.

Another hint, carbs are fine, but try to avoid them once you're about 2-4 hours prior to bed. This is still a hard one for me. I was raised on pasta, so I enjoy it for dinner. Carbs are best in the morning and lunch for energy.

Hope this all helps you make your goals happen. I dedicated a huge part of the past 2 years to this sort of thing. It was my "helper" while I was divorcing, and I've spent a lot of time reading, etc. I'm not a personal trainer or anything... just trying to help.

Good Luck,

Pete

[sixto]

Originally Posted by Plantman

I went from 260 plus to 240...

I'm rather tall(6'4") and large framed...

... and I am spry like a kitten.

Makes for an interesting visual

Congratulations!

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL

[Plantman]

I haven't cut out carbs at all, just cut back, especially after 5 PM.

I'll still go and have a sub on whole wheat bread or some pasta every now and again.

You know what, the biggest thing about not over indulging is that bloated, disgusting belt popping feeling.

I've actually done this before at different times in my life and knew it would work. the question was I willing to put in the time.

I realized I had to do something when all of my pants would have had to be 40 and above. I only own 1 pair of dress slacks that big and vowed to never need a 40.

Anyway, I noticed that everytime I went out, I was only using that pair as it was the only one I could still wear.

Big time bummer! So I said the hell with it and went to work.I'll keep it up though, I haven't felt his good in a long time.

I've also started Farmers Burns' deep breathing ab excercises, whihc have been around since forever and my waistline has shrunk dramatically.

In fact, I have on a pair or 38 Levis cargo shorts that 3 months ago were but a dream, and they're pretty loose.

[Plantman]

Originally Posted by w126

Farmer's Burns deep breathing ab excercises?


How is it done?

It's pretty simple really.

From a standing position, you inhale as much as possible, expanding your chest, keeping your stomach tight.

When you've inhaled as much as possible, slowly begin to exhale forcefully while tightening your stomach muscles, sides arms etc.......until you emptied out as much air as possible, repeat again for 5 minutes upon waking. Try and add more time as you can do it anywhere. You'll be surprised at how much of a burn you get and the flattening results are amazing. I do them while I drive, read, etc....not really much effort.

I learned of this wrestler Matt Furey from a friend who is built like a rock. He never ever lifts weights, it's all hindu pushup and squats, up downs etc.... anyway, he swore by him and I bought a couple of his books.

If you are interested, I can email or fax you some of the excercise that I do.

Warning: You may get a little lightheaded at first, but you'll get used to it.

[GermanStar]

Originally Posted by Plantman

I thought I'd share this with all of my virtual friends.

I bet it's a lot easier on those knees of yours, too. Way to go, bud.

[Plantman]

Originally Posted by w126

I went through a core phase, but got bored with exercises and hated group workouts. I also lost some of my strength, so had to mix it up with free weights. The gym membership was expensive, so I dropped it and went back to free weights and some plyometric stuff I can do at home.

Thanks but...
Eh, don't get me started on Matt Furey. His exercises are tried and true, but he's kinda hokey. There's some good, solid material on him at bullshido.net -- A martial arts site that roots out some of the b.s. in the fitness industry.

I could care less for all of the bombardment I get from him daily via email and a lot of what he says is based on him selling another book.

However, he does not claim to have invented the wheel and his excercise are simple, tried and true and effective. The rest I could care less about.

If I would have never mentioned his name, the excercises woudl still work. Don't blame him.

[Plantman]

Originally Posted by GermanStar

I bet it's a lot easier on those knees of yours, too. Way to go, bud.

No doubt about that, I rarely have any problems with 'em anymore.

Perhaps it's all the calcium and glucosamine, but I'm betting the weight has a lot to do with it. I have actually cut down on the glucosamine as well.

[Kuan]

Congrats man! I've been trying to lose a few pounds of belly fat as well. If I were a piece of fish I'd just cut it out!

I love food, it's my one big vice.

[Plantman]

Originally Posted by w126

I went through a core phase, but got bored with exercises and hated group workouts. I also lost some of my strength, so had to mix it up with free weights. The gym membership was expensive, so I dropped it and went back to free weights and some plyometric stuff I can do at home.

Thanks but...
Eh, don't get me started on Matt Furey. His exercises are tried and true, but he's kinda hokey. There's some good, solid material on him at bullshido.net -- A martial arts site that roots out some of the b.s. in the fitness industry.

I'm not being defensive, but have you ever read anything on bullshido that wasn't ripping something or another?

I looked up Ninjitsu 2 weeks ago, followed by another search for Krav maga and it seemed like every other post was negative.

Bonehead must be over there too!

[Plantman]

Originally Posted by w126

I understand. Everyone has an opinion and some techniques work better for some than others. They slam pretty much anything that isn't mixed martial arts.

I have somewhat negative feelings about Furey because that core gym I belonged to is owned by a good friend of his. I didn't have a good experience at this gym (or the owner -- due to $$), so there ya go.

It's ironic that the core guys are into the handstand pushups -- I could do them 10 yrs ago when I weighed a buck 60. I could barely do them when working out at this gym, but now can do a dozen easily since going back to free weight work. Thanks to cleans and deadlifts.

Furey and the other core advocates make some good points, but it might be better to mix things up. Infact, the strongest dudes at this gym also worked with free weights. The others that only did core work lacked raw power.

I agree. If you want to get fit, you can pretty much use your own body weight for resitance.

If you wanted to get big or really big, you need some iron, or it'll take forever.

[Hogweed]

good job! i too struggle with weight (after age 35). i am 5' 11" and weigh in at around 230 but like you i have a large enough frame to hide it well. this is a mixed blessing: too heavy to be comfortable but not grotesque looking enough to really be motivated
my cousin lost 45 lbs by not eating after 5 pm. i have been trying but with the long days and vacation etc it is tough. thanks for sharing your triumph!