How did Wiskers Lose 25-30 lbs in 16 months?

[MrWiskers]

I can tell you it was 100% diet. I had been doing P90X for about a year and a half and my wife entered a figure competition in June 2011. Her diet was crazy strick leading up to the show. But, at the show I saw all the competitors and decide to do something about my weight. A little history, I am 6 ft tall and weighted 175 lbs when I gratudated jr college at 19 year old. In June of 2011 I was up to 215-220. I wore a 34 pant in 1995 and was up to a sung 38 in June 2011. </p>

So what did I do?</p>

Let me start by saying I am a sugar holic. Not candy and such, but Mtn Dew and chocolate milk type stuff. I would go thru 2-3 gallons of chocolate milk a week at home and no telling how many Mtn Dews. Good stuff. </p>

Here iswhat I eat now:</p>

Breakfast</p>

- Oats with low fat Country Crock and Splenda or 3 scrambled eggs and maybe a cup of Lucky Charms with soy milk</p>

Lunch</p>

- McDonalds - Ceaser salad with two grilled chicken patties with sometimesa regular (small)cheezeburger and unsweet tea with Spenda. Always dip your fork in the dressing, never, NEVER pour it on your salad.</p>

- Wendy's - Chili (with no and very little crackers)with a plain baked potato with butter only with unsweet tea with Spenda</p>

- Bar b q - I do a lot of this. Just a 1/2 lb of chicken or pork with cole slaw. Unsweet tea with Spenda of course. Sometimes I get a plain potato with chicken or pork to mix it up some. </p>

- Kevin Browns - Chili (no crackers) with (you guessed it) unsweet tea with Spenda (but I really want a cheeseburger).</p>

- Home - Homemade chicken noodle soup, Hebrew National Low Fat hotdogs on Wheat buns (only about 120 calories per dog) with reduced sugar katsup and mustard ortukey sandwich on wheat with Olive Oil Mayo and Sun chips.</p>

Dinner</p>

- Mojo Burrito - mini mojo on wheat with double chicken, pico, a little sour cream, cheeze and a few chips with unsweet tea with spenda</p>

- Outback or Texas Roadhouse - grilled chicken and plain baked potato with salad (dressing on side) with unsweet tea with splenda. Sometimes I do the half baked chicken.</p>

- Panera - Chicken noodle (bowl)with 1/2 turkey sandwich with unsweet tea and spenda</p>

- Bar b que - same a lunch above</p>

- Home - baked chicken with green beans and/or corn(I cook green beans with A1 only, no butter or fat; all the corn gets is pepper) or homemade chicken noodle or hot dogs from lunch above or turkey sandwich from above</p>

General notes:</p>

1) Spenda is my best friend. Without it I would be in trouble for sweets.</p>

2) I drink a lot of water as well</p>

3) For snacks I do raisins, banannas, apples, cashews, sunflower seeds,lowfat turkey peperoniand sometimes Sun Chips (which are not too bad for you). I eat these between breakfast and lunch, and lunch and dinner. You have to eat to have energy to do your workouts. Eating a little every hour or two is best to keep your sugar level even. </p>

4) I also drink a lot of orange juice at home and apple juice. Again making my sweet tooth happy and getting some good nutrition at the same time. </p>

5) I allow myself 1 12 oz Mtn Dew per day, usually in the morning for breakfast. I tried going cold turkey and was miserable so I allow myself this little treat every day. </p>

6) A1 is also my friend. I use it instead of butter and sour cream and on my meats. </p>

7) I have found Lucky Charms to be the best "sweet" cereal for nutrituion and fiber content. I just cannot eat the tree bark and pine cone cereals. </p>

8) Notice no dairy!!! I use soy milk for cereal. </p>

9) Nothing fried. Ever. Unless it is a cheat day and even this in very limited quantities. </p>

The goal is if you are going to eat calories, they should have some nutrutional value: protien, fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc. Soft drinks, donuts, ice cream, most chips, cookies, etc dont have any nutrutional value. Eat good foods. </p>

The other goal should be to never mix a fat with a carb during one meal. If you can follow this you WILL lose fat. It forces you to eat good. </p>

You can eat all the green veggies you want. I hate mostofthem but love green beans so I eat a lot of them. </p>

Nuts area great snack for. Most have good protien, fiber and are loaded with the good fats your body needs. </p>

</p>

Some folks will say what I have listed above is not the best diet in the world, but it works for me. I had to do things I could stick with long term. Dieting is not a tempory thing it isa lifestyle change. You have to keep eating good forever, not just until you get to your desired weight. </p>

In addition to this diet, I work out 5 days a week. P90X2 3-4 days and basketball 1-2 days. I usually replace the Plyo/cardio days in P90 with basketball. Funner for me. </p>

Let me know what you think and if you have any questions PM me. </p>

 

[SpurHunter]

Great info, I was wondering what yours looks like.
I am curious if you have an idea of average calorie intake for a day?

 

[MrWiskers]

No. Don't count them. My guess is 2500 or so. Might not be that high. If I get time I will keep a log for a couple days to see where I am. I lb of fat is about 3600 calories so cutting just 100 per day adds up in a hurry.

 

[team-d]

Great post and great idea Michael! Yes, if you want to lose weight it has to start with proper diet. People struggle getting that through their heads, I think a lot has to do with all the infomercials on miracle workouts and gadgets that claim to make you lose weight. There is no magic, you have to burn more calories than you are consuming, period (caloric deficit). Ways to do this are by eating fewer calories, making sure you are eating the proper protein-carbohydrate-fat ratios, and by increasing your activity level to burn more calories. Regular exercise also increases your resting metabolic rate (burning more calories while your sitting or sleeping). Eating smaller portions 6-8 times a day instead of eating 2 or 3 big meals a day also increases your metabolism.

I'll post examples of what I normally eat tonight when I can get back on the computer.

 

[SpurHunter]

I eat all the time, literally and I'm loosing weight and putting on muscle. When I realized I didn't have to starve to accomplish this, it was a good day.

I would bet your cal intake looks more like 3K. Matt is eating extremely clean and putting 2500 per day, (fyi you skinny people kill me!)

I really like this myfitnesspal app on the phone, I was shocked what things contained and what I was actually taking in. Even the days I thought I was eating good, it was an eye opener.

My biggest change has been to avoid processed sugar and white flour as much as possible. The calories in both are insane.

Ill post a little more about what Im eating daily and my ratio I shoot for.

 

[team-d]

I'm actually eating 3200-3500 calories a day the past 4 months, but the program I'm on right now (Body Beast) is geared toward putting on muscle mass and gaining weight. I am right at 6ft tall and started this program at 158 pounds with 6.5% body fat. As of this morning I am 173 pounds and body fat about 10%, which is a little higher than I want it but not much. My goal is to get to 180 pounds and still keep my body fat in the 9% range.

 

[SpurHunter]

What is the breakdown you shoot for Matt?

I am starting each day with a Shokeologoy, plus a scoop of protein powder in it. I try and get at least 150 g of lean protein in each day and then fill in the remaining calories with whole grain products, fruits and veg, averaging about 1800-2000 cals a day. I burn 400-1200 cals per day depending on which workout day I'm on.

 

[team-d]

I am shooting for 25-30% protein, 45-50% carbohydrates, and 25% fats right now. Good weight loss fat burning percentages (combined with exercise) I would recommend 50% protein, 30% carbs, and 20% fats. Total caloric intake varies depending on your height, weight, and body fat percentage.

 

[MrWiskers]

I forgot natural peanut butter as a snack. I just get a teaspoon full and eat it as a snack. Pretty filling.

 

[MagicMan72]

Greek yogurt is a pretty good snack too, I usually have some a while before I work out. It has a lot of protein just doesnt taste great you just have to make it through it. LOL.

 

[MrWiskers]

Tried it and it was really, really gross. Rather be fat.

 

[team-d]

MagicMan72 - 11/5/2012 6:17 PM

Greek yogurt is a pretty good snack too, I usually have some a while before I work out. It has a lot of protein just doesnt taste great you just have to make it through it. LOL.

Greek yogurt doesn't taste great plain but is a great sour cream and mayonnaise substitute. I buy the fat-free organic and use it with a little olive oil to make tuna or chicken salad, I also mix it with salsa for a good fish taco sauce or also use it as salad dressing that way.

 

[MrWiskers]

I also forgot about lean ground turkey. Just scramble it in a pan and eat it with reduced sugar ketsup. My wife also scrambles it with veggies.

 

[SpurHunter]

I LOVE turkey, grilled, baked, burgers, you name it. Great stuff.

 

[team-d]

God call, I love ground turkey too, I try to get breast meat only as lean as possible. Makes great burgers mixed with veggies on the grill, substitute for burger in any recipe, my favorite is meatloaf using lots of veggies and quinoa instead of bread crumbs.