I need to loose some weight but the right way.

[chiliphil1]

So, I just started training again in Shorin-Ryu. In addition to that some of my old senior instructors found out and asked me if I wanted to open a school teaching my old art as well! So, now I am in a situation, I've been down with a hip injury since June of 2014, I have spent the last year and a half sitting around and have packed on about 40 pounds and lost tons of muscle and flexibility. I am finally at the point where I am sort of able to move again, hence the training, I still have tons of pain and restricted movement but I am pushing through it because I am tired of the couch potato lifestyle!

I wanted to ask here because I honestly have never eaten properly. I've been able to maintain a reasonable weight due to being very active but since i have not been active it has caught up with me in a big way. I have a problem eating raw fruits and veggies, I do not like the texture of it but I am really trying to make myself eat it. For the last couple of weeks I have been trying to eat salad, I have a muscle milk protein shake for breakfast and bought myself one of the ninja blenders to make smoothies with (had one to day, EXCELLENT!) anyway. I have dieted before with great results but it was a bit of a crash diet and in the long run it didn't work out. I ended up putting back on about 20 of the 40 pounds that I lost and here I find myself at almost the heaviest point of my life.

I was hoping for some advice and tips. I was thinking of doing the 5-6 small meals a day thing, but I am not sure how many calories or what kind of food items I should eat for those meals. I don't want to crash diet again because I cannot maintain that over time. I need a life change and I'm not really sure how to go about doing it. I've always been at least a little over weight and have struggled with it. I have had tremendous strength and endurance I've just also had a gut to go with it!

Thanks for any tips. I would love to be able to get myself into proper shape.

[Spodo Komodo]

I have managed to lose about 50lbs over a year and pretty much kept losing slowly since then. Veg is good for filling up but I don't like raw stuff either so I bought a steamer. Steamed veg is less bitter than boiled veg and supposedly a little better nutritionally. I also eat soup for my evening meal, made from 250 grammes each of onion, peppers, peas, mushrooms and spinach, a can of baked beans, a can of chopped tomatoes, a teaspoon or two of marmite and a good tablespoon of curry paste. Boil it, blend it and freeze it in 300ml portions.

I saw a nutritionist and she told me to lay off the fruit, a couple of portions a day is good but green veg is better as it doesn't have the same sugar content. Apparently some doctors say that although fructose is better than sucrose or glucose it is still sugar and should be taken in moderation. My fruit intake is now an apple with my breakfast and a banana after training.

I can't recommend the free food logging site MyFitnessPal highly enough. It was an eye opener to see how much sugar and salt was in my diet. It takes a while to get your favourite foods set up but once it is done it keeps track of your protein, fibre, carbs, sugar, salt etc. pretty well.

Good luck!

[Spartacus Maximus]

Water, water and more water. That and mid to high intensity training as many days of the week as manageable. Avoid over restricting diet and just eat sensibly in proportion with daily activity. The only thing to adjust within reason of course is the size of meal portions.

Just that is more than sufficient to lose excess fat weight. Speaking from experience of going from nearly 200lbs to 165 in about two years. It might seem slow but trying to do it quickly will have nasty effects on the body as well as rebounding back to a worse case.

[mazzybear]

It's all about fueling your body properly. How much activity/exercise you do ultimately determines what you should be eating. Calorie defecit/crash diets are NEVER the way to go. For example the average mans recommended calorie intake for the day is 2,500Kcal. If someone was to do the deficit by means of losing weight say for example 2,00Kcal the body naturally burns through 1,000Kcal without any type of execise routine, add in 1 karate class which can easily burn 1,000Kcal in a session, that's 2,000 right off the bat leaving nothing with which to fuel the body, so in this instance you actually have to UP your calorie intake to 3,000 possibly 3,500Kcal.

It's also about knowing what to eat and when, getting your macros right (protein/carb/fat ratio) learning about good and bad fats and carbs etc. The upshot of it is, it's not a diet it's a lifestyle change. If you do it right, then theres no reason to deny yourself a treat when you want one.

My daily meals looks someting like this:

NON WORKOUT DAYS (Wednesday used as example)

05:30- protein shake

09:30- wholegrain toast (1 slice) with scrambled egg, a boiled egg and a peice of fruit.

12:30- Grilled chicken with green veg and a fat free yoghurt (check the sugar content also)

15:30- Peice of fruit

18:00- Grilled fish, sweet potato and green veg.

If i feel peckish in between I'll have a handful of almonds or rice cakes and peanut butter.

WORKOUT DAYS (Sunday used as example)

09:30- 1 avocado halved and baked with 2 eggs

10:00- workout in the garage (usually 50mins 500Kcal burned)

11:00- protein shake

12:00- Chicken salad and a fat free yoghurt

14:00- handful of almonds and a peice of fruit

16:30- wholegrain pasta with fresh tuna steak

17:30- karate class (90mins 1,000Kcals burned)

19:30- protein pancakes and peanut butter with a protein shake.

I'm not saying I stick to this religiously but, if I can do it at least 95% of the time then I can have a pizza or a donut if I want one at the weekend or if i can't be bothered cooking one night. See a sports nutritionist and ask for a specific plan tailored for your needs, they'll have a million meal plans you can use.

Also be sure to stay well hydrated, water or green tea with your meal or snack.

Mo.

[Lupin1]

I lost about a hundred pounds a few years ago by cutting sugar and carbs (primal/paleo, maybe even verging on keto).

Everyone's bodies are different, of course, and we're not doctors (at least I'm not. We might have a doctor or two in the house somewhere), but if you have any trouble with sugars-- insulin resistance, diabetes, PCOS for the ladies-- anything like that, cutting carbs down under 50-100g per day (towards the 50 end if you're not an intense exerciser, towards the 100 end or even a little higher depending on how much and how intensely your exercise) might be a good option for you.

And I know some people consider low carb a "crash diet" because that's how many people approach it, but if you approach it as a long term change, it won't be a crash diet. I've been at it for four years now. I allow myself to have treats on holidays and special occasions and every once and awhile just because, so it's not like I've sworn off carbs and sugar for all eternity, which would be unsustainable. You just have to treat them as a once and awhile thing and not an every day staple and it becomes a long term, sustainable change in your eating habits.

[JR 137]

I'd consult a nutritionist. Most health insurance plans cover them, I believe. Might need a script from your physician to get it covered. If so, see your doc and have a chat. Being overweight causes some health problems like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, etc. I'm sure your doctor would be cooperative if you addressed it as wanting to make a healthy change rather than wanting to try some fad diet.

I'm not saying you're overweight or are at risk for anything. Just stating facts.

[DWx]

Whichever diet you go with, I would also highly recommend MyFitnessPal. Especially the apps. Alongside just counting calories, you can use it to track exactly how much protein, carbs, sugars etc you're consuming and like Spodo Komodo said above, it really is eye opening how many calories are in some of our favourite foods. If anything, I use it to help make informed choices about what I chose to eat, especially when eating out.

Ultimately losing weight is about consuming less calories than your body is using whichever diet you use to get there.

https://www.myfitnesspal.com/

[Nidan Melbourne]

For diet i would recommend a Nutritionist or a Dietition as they can help you with the food side. Because everyone is inherently different, so what may work for one person may not work for you.

IMHO eating many small meals can work for many people, but that can 'shrink' your stomach so when you do have a larger meal you won't be able to consume it. But also you have to be very specific to what you have in every single meal.

Currently i have 2 main meals which is lunch and dinner, then 3 small meals to get me through the day. Usually on a day like a saturday where i officiate basketball all day that is where i do 5 small meals because that will keep me energised, then 1 large meal at the end of the day.

In terms of exercise depending on if you have any prior injuries, or medical issues then worth going to an Exercise Scientist or an Exercise Physiologist as they can prescribe exercise that benefits you more than what a physiotherapist or a personal trainer can do.

Losing weight and maintaining it you should be doing moderate to intense exercise for most days. Which karate classes are both for sections of time. This relates to food because you need to put out more than in all whilst getting that nutrition in.

I use a fitbit to help me track how far i go and also it has 'active minutes' which is when you work at a certain level to get some exercise. It is a great motivator and gets me moving.