cafenervosa Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I'm sure this type of question has been asked before, but it's something on which I need some insight. First a bit of background: I'm 5ft. 7in. and currently weigh 180lbs--obviously in need of some significant weight loss. Right now, and since I've moved to Cayman, I've been allowed to use the station vehicle, but starting this week, I'm going to be biking to and from work and all around town to run errends. This is about a 7 mile bike ride one way just to work and the gym. I'm also starting to get back in running again by jogging for 30-40min. 4 days a week on the treadmill, plus I swim and dive on the weekends. So cardio-wise, I'm getting pretty active. I lift 4 days a week as well and have recently starting working w/ a gym partner so I'm really pushing myself to increase my weight. Now, my problem is, I work all day from 10-7 and am not allow to eat more than once, maybe twice during the day if I have a chance, usually rice & beans and some carrot stick and celery. Plus, once I get home I'm usually very tired (I go to the gym in the early mornings) so I don't have a lot of time to cook or fix big meals. I usually only eat tofu or vegie burgers & stir fry frozen vegies for dinner. Right now I'm eating about 1700-2000cal. (I'm guessing) Now, I need to loose about 30lbs of fat, but I feel like I'm not eating enough and I'm concerned that this is affecting my energy to lift. So should I increase my calories to have more energy to lift more or concentrate on loosing the fat first and then increase the calories once I get in better shape to lift more. (Does that make sense?) I'm starting to make small incrimental gains in my lifting, but feel that I can't push myself as hard as I want to because I burn out of strength and energy too quickly. Sorry if this was long winded... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daywalker Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Are you male or female? Anyway, you should try to somehow eat more often. I don't know the situation at work, but maybe some nuts or fruits as a snack are possible, or a soy drink?As you aim to lose weight, if you can't increase the number of meals, it makes no sense to increase the calories (per meal). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FormicaLinoleum Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Plus, once I get home I'm usually very tired (I go to the gym in the early mornings) so I don't have a lot of time to cook or fix big meals. My solution to this problem is to cook a big huge pot or casserole dish or whatever of something on the weekend and eat it for dinner during the week. It means eating the same thing 5 evenings in a row, but I don't mind that. To make up for it, I try to have diversity from week to week rather than from day to day. Btw, I do this for my lunch as well. So on Sunday I make two big dishes--one for my lunch all week and the other for my dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cafenervosa Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 Are you male or female? Anyway, you should try to somehow eat more often. I don't know the situation at work, but maybe some nuts or fruits as a snack are possible, or a soy drink?As you aim to lose weight, if you can't increase the number of meals, it makes no sense to increase the calories (per meal). Sorry, I guess I forgot to mention that I'm female... I am trying to aim for 4-5 small meals throughout the day, but that doen't always happen. Right now, I usually have a piece of fruit and some v-8 juice in the morning before I cycle to the gym and then have about a 2 hr workout of 30min. jogging, and an hour & a half of weights (concentrating on a specific area). Then I head to work, have a bean burrito or bean soup and some sort of vegies. I also do another lighter workout at 12:30 for an hour--more weights and stretching and then have my lunch at 2pm. The only other time I have to eat is something small and quick around 4pm and then it's nothin until I get home at 7:30. By that time I can't stomach anything more than some vegies and some vegan burgers or tofu, as I have to go to bed by 9pm so I can get back up by 5am. What kind of total calories should I am for at each meal and total throughout the day? Should I stick with the 1700-2000? Less/More to loose the weight? I just hate that I don't feel like I have no strength or nearly as much energy as I used to have when I worked out regularly a few years ago. I just don't remember ever hitting the wall so quickly BTW, good idea Formica. I'm going to have to try getting something together on the weekends for the rest of the week. However, that's not going to work too well when I start to work my way to totally raw foods, which is my 6 month goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daywalker Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 I think your diet looks okay. How long have you been doing this diet and workout? Any progress so far?Your workout sounds too much for me. Weights twice every day? I'd cut that down. Maybe weights in the morning, cardio + stretching at noon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cafenervosa Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 I think your diet looks okay. How long have you been doing this diet and workout? Any progress so far?Your workout sounds too much for me. Weights twice every day? I'd cut that down. Maybe weights in the morning, cardio + stretching at noon. I've been doing this pretty regularly since Jan. and I've made a little bit of progress in strength and cardio gains. But I can't help feeling like I hit the wall too quickly during my workouts. That's the reason I go to the gym twice a day....so I can finish what I intended on starting. I don't go twice a day every day I go to the gym, just when I can't accomplish what I planned for that workout. I need the second session to finish. I just can't help think back a few years ago when I could literally work out all day (between running and biking outside and then hitting the gym for 2 hours at a stretch) and feel fantastic by the end of the day. I was an omnivour back then and ate a lot more calories. So, now I can't help feeling that I just don't have the same energy level at all. I have no intention on going back to being and omni, but I just need to figure out how to eat properly so I can have energy to lift and still loose the weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daywalker Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 I don't think it's a calory thing. If you were so low on calories that you cannot even workout properly and lack energy, you would certainly lose weight!Maybe it's some other deficiency, or a health issue that leads to the lack of energy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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