Am I doing enough to lose weight?

mark2912 · 06-02-2019 7:36pm #1

I'm a 17 year old 5' 7 1/2" male who weighed 13st at the start of the year. I started the gym early last month and go 4 times a week. So far I have lost 6 lbs.

But I'm just wondering if what I do at the gym is enough, or do I need to do more? My target weight is 11st 7lbs, so I need to lose another 15lbs.

I warm up by doing 10 mins on the cross trainer, followed by 10 minutes on the rowing machine, 10 on the treadmill and then another 10 on the cross trainer.

Is this enough to do?

The_Honeybadger · 06-02-2019 7:58pm

Diet is the biggest factor by far for weight loss post up a typical days food and drink and people can suggest where you might make improvements.

You should include resistance training while you are at the gym. Are there instructors there that can show you how to use the equipment and start you off with a programme?

endacl · 06-02-2019 8:01pm

You’ll lose all the weight you want in the kitchen.

mark2912 · 06-02-2019 8:17pm

I eat healthily enough. I've cut out all crap food and eat only healthy foods such as meat and veg. I don't eat between meals. I use Slimming World's technique of healthy extras (250ml Low fat super milk /day and 40g cheerios /day). If I were to have the odd bit of crap I'd use slimming world's syn system.

An instructor at my gym has advised me that I should eat 160g protein a day, any ideas how I could do that?

We've also agreed on the following exercise plan, what do you all think?
8 min warm up on cross trainer

box squats: 4x8 @20kg
chest press: 4x8 @2.5kg x2
pulldown: 4x10 @25kg
facepulls: 4x12 @23kg
plank: 3x 20 seconds

Dial Hard · 06-02-2019 8:33pm

mark2912 wrote:

I eat healthily enough. I've cut out all crap food and eat only healthy foods such as meat and veg. I don't eat between meals. I use Slimming World's technique of healthy extras (250ml Low fat super milk /day and 40g cheerios /day). If I were to have the odd bit of crap I'd use slimming world's syn system.

Post up a day's worth of eating anyway, including portion sizes. It's perfectly possible to eat only healthy foods but still overeat.

mark2912 · 06-02-2019 8:37pm

I'm not sure about portion sizes etc.

For breakfast, I'd usually have a handful or 2 of plain cheerios with no milk.

I usually skip lunch.

For dinner I'd usually have veg with fish such as cod or salmon.

I only drink water and tea. I measure my milk out at the start of the day to 250 ml of avonmore low fat super milk, and go through about 6 bottles of water a day.

TRS30 · 07-02-2019 10:05am

mark2912 wrote: »

I'm not sure about portion sizes etc.

For breakfast, I'd usually have a handful or 2 of plain cheerios with no milk.

I usually skip lunch.

For dinner I'd usually have veg with fish such as cod or salmon.

I only drink water and tea. I measure my milk out at the start of the day to 250 ml of avonmore low fat super milk, and go through about 6 bottles of water a day.

I'd say your not eating enough.

You need to work out how many calories is maintenance, i.e. the amount your body needs each day and then work out a deficit.

Maintenance- 2000kc a day
Deficit- 1,500kc a day

A few tips:

-buy a weighing scales so you know how much ingredients you are using
-cook meals in batches and then freeze so can be reheated in microwave
-drink lots of water, i.e. min 2 litres a day
-check youtube etc for healthy meals to cook

PS. I will caveat the above by saying this is what worked for me however everyone is different.

The_Honeybadger · 07-02-2019 10:35am

You’re definitely not eating enough. Am I reading it right that all you have to eat for the whole day before dinner is two handfuls of cheerios?

Paladonia · 07-02-2019 11:24am

As mentioned, starving yourself can be counterproductive and may lead to storing more fat. You need to fuel your body to get the most out of your workouts.

Be wary of so-called "low fat" foods too. Often the flavour lost from removing fat is made up with sugar or other sweeteners. Fat in itself isn't a bad thing in a diet and doesn't necessarily make you fat.

silverharp · 07-02-2019 11:35am

I'd cut out cr@p like cherios for starters, don't eat anything that "comes in a box and has a barcode" , they don't fill you up and its notoriously easy to overeat, something egg based would be a better breakfast for you than the cherios. If you are trying to lose weight I’d cut out having processed/suragry “syns” every day (though I admit I don’t know what the full definition of this is) , do something like essentially none during the week and without going nuts at the weekend have a treat or 2. It looks like you have a bmi ~27 so you are only marginally overweight. In terms of snacks a couple of squares of 90% chocolate is ok or some berries in a natural yogurt. Avoid processed food labelled as low fat it just means it will be depending on sugar for taste.

Marengo · 07-02-2019 11:40am

mark2912 wrote: »

I'm a 17 year old 5' 7 1/2" male who weighed 13st at the start of the year. I started the gym early last month and go 4 times a week. So far I have lost 6 lbs.

But I'm just wondering if what I do at the gym is enough, or do I need to do more? My target weight is 11st 7lbs, so I need to lose another 15lbs.

I warm up by doing 10 mins on the cross trainer, followed by 10 minutes on the rowing machine, 10 on the treadmill and then another 10 on the cross trainer.

Is this enough to do?

A lot depends on the intensity of your training. If flicking around with a phone and not pushing yourself, no.

And of course diet, quality and quantity of food. Maybe mix up the gym work with some running and or cycling.. Maybe football etc. Better for your overall health than total indoor workouts. Esp at 17 it will help with studies.

But good man, good to be proactive.

Marengo · 07-02-2019 11:43am

Just reading your diet. Skip the Cheerios. At the risk of sounding Ray Darcy..porridge

Don't skip lunch.

Marengo · 07-02-2019 11:45am

silverharp wrote: »

I'd cut out cr@p like cherios for starters, don't eat anything that "comes in a box and has a barcode" , they don't fill you up and its notoriously easy to overeat, something egg based would be a better breakfast for you than the cherios. If you are trying to lose weight I’d cut out having processed/suragry “syns” every day (though I admit I don’t know what the full definition of this is) , do something like essentially none during the week and without going nuts at the weekend have a treat or 2. It looks like you have a bmi ~27 so you are only marginally overweight. In terms of snacks a couple of squares of 90% chocolate is ok or some berries in a natural yogurt. Avoid processed food labelled as low fat it just means it will be depending on sugar for taste.

A 27 BMI is around the equivalent of a 31 in a mature adult at 17 years if you look at a wall chart. It's a bit excess for a teenager.

Depending on build of course too.

silverharp · 07-02-2019 12:01pm

I would disagree with the comments about that you must eat every 3 or 4 hours, the flip side of that argument is that your body wont burn fat is it has a constant supply of energy. There are a lot of people doing very well on intermittent fasting and time restricted eating, the whole point being to give the body a chance to tap into body fat. The only reason not to skip meals is that if your alternative is ploughing into doughnuts because you can wait for your next meal, then most likely the person is just eating poorly anyway and on a constant sugar high low

silverharp · 07-02-2019 12:06pm

Marengo wrote: »

A 27 BMI is around the equivalent of a 31 in a mature adult at 17 years if you look at a wall chart. It's a bit excess for a teenager.

Depending on build of course too.

a cross check is waist to height ratio which should be at or under 50% so in this poster's case with a tape measure his target should be ~33-34 inch waist.

TRS30 · 07-02-2019 12:55pm

silverharp wrote: »

I would disagree with the comments about that you must eat every 3 or 4 hours, the flip side of that argument is that your body wont burn fat is it has a constant supply of energy. There are a lot of people doing very well on intermittent fasting and time restricted eating, the whole point being to give the body a chance to tap into body fat. The only reason not to skip meals is that if your alternative is ploughing into doughnuts because you can wait for your next meal, then most likely the person is just eating poorly anyway and on a constant sugar high low

Eating healthy regular meals is more sustainable in the medium to long term than starving yourself.

Alf Veedersane · 07-02-2019 12:57pm

TRS30 wrote: »

I'd say your not eating enough. Your body needs regular fuel, you should be aiming to eat smaller meals every three hours or so.

If your body doesn't get regular food all it does it store the food it does get as it does know when it will get more. Skipping meals can be as bad as over eating.

That's not really true. Not in this instance anyway.

TRS30 wrote: »

You need to work out how many calories is maintenance, i.e. the amount your body needs each day. You then work out a deficit and spread your food intake out over say 6 meals a day.

No need for 6 meals a day. The deficit is the important part. How they manage it will vary depending on how the person finds it easiest to sustain, Some people might find that's by eating small amounts regularly, some might find it easier to have 2 larger meals of 600cals with one 'snack' of 300 cals, for example.

TRS30 · 07-02-2019 1:13pm

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

That's not really true. Not in this instance anyway.

How so?

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

No need for 6 meals a day. The deficit is the important part. How they manage it will vary depending on how the person finds it easiest to sustain, Some people might find that's by eating small amounts regularly, some might find it easier to have 2 larger meals of 600cals with one 'snack' of 300 cals, for example.

No need for 6 meals, I used that number as a general point of reference to indicate regular food intake. I appreciate that everyone is different however so as you said the deficit is the most important aspect.

bladespin · 07-02-2019 1:23pm

TRS30 wrote:

Eating healthy regular meals is more sustainable in the medium to long term than starving yourself.

I agree to a certain degree but IF is not about starving yourself, and for many (myself included) it is far more sustainable than many regular eating plans. It is just another method for calorie control, surplus/maintenance or defecit; that's up to you.

silverharp · 07-02-2019 2:07pm

TRS30 wrote: »

Eating healthy regular meals is more sustainable in the medium to long term than starving yourself.

in this context "starving" is a completely hyperbolic term and has no medical meaning. The average person carries well over 100K surplus calories on them.

Mellor · 07-02-2019 2:42pm

TRS30 wrote: »

If your body doesn't get regular food all it does it store the food it does get as it does know when it will get more.

How does that work?

If somebody eats irregularly, and their body "stores the food it does gets". Where does the energy that fuels their basic movement and functions come from? How do they get out of bed in the morning?

TRS30 · 07-02-2019 4:55pm

Mellor wrote: »

How does that work?

If somebody eats irregularly, and their body "stores the food it does gets". Where does the energy that fuels their basic movement and functions come from? How do they get out of bed in the morning?

When I was trying to loss weight 7/8 years ago that was what I was lead to believe based on the research I did at the time.

However, it looks I was wrong

https://www.bornfitness.com/how-many-meals-should-i-eat/

will edit my initial post.

[Deleted User] · 08-02-2019 11:40am

My own experience is intermittent fasting works great. i do 16:8 and i have shed the stubborn pounds i couldnt shed while eating the conventional way. I eat all my meals in an 8 hours window and even throw in a few biscuits. It takes about a week to get used to having no breakfast but i still have 2 cups of coffee with a drop of milk. I also think 16:8 is very sustainable and not as restrictive as the so called diets. intermittant fasting is not actually a diet but a shift in eating patterns

Am I doing enough to lose weight?

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