Obesity Discussion Forums

[dynomite]

Hello everyone! I, too, weigh too much. I'll be asking some questions, and I'm hoping that I can lose some weight very soon because I really need help. Thanx.

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by dynomite

Hello everyone! I, too, weigh too much. I'll be asking some questions, and I'm hoping that I can lose some weight very soon because I really need help. Thanx.

Welcome dynomite! You came to the right place. Feel free to ask away, we would be more than happy to help you acheive your goals.

[dynomite]

Well to start, I am 5'10" tall and I weigh 280lbs. I'm trying to eat right, but I haven't seen a good diet plan that I can follow. I have tried looking up a meal plan that would keep me in the 1900 - 2000 calories range. But the meals include food that I normally don't eat or foods that I'm allergic too. I don't like meals with cheese or mayo, and I'm allergic to shellfish. Do you have any suggestions (meal plans), that can really help me?

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by dynomite

Well to start, I am 5'10" tall and I weigh 280lbs. I'm trying to eat right, but I haven't seen a good diet plan that I can follow. I have tried looking up a meal plan that would keep me in the 1900 - 2000 calories range. But the meals include food that I normally don't eat or foods that I'm allergic too. I don't like meals with cheese or mayo, and I'm allergic to shellfish. Do you have any suggestions (meal plans), that can really help me?

Mayo is not good for you anyway so don't worry about that. Diet plans are for the most part temporary solutions. We emphasize making what's called a lifestyle change (like a permanent diet so to speak). It's actually very simple. You just need to create a calorie deficit, which means you consume less calories than you expend in a given day. You really need to write down the details on what you eat. Keep track of the calories you are consuming in a given day, and also the carbs, protein, and fat.

Depending on your activity level, you burn roughly the following calories a day (based on your height/weight/age):

No exercise/inactive daily: 2900 calories burned a day
Light activity (walking no more than 2hrs a day/other misc. activity) : 3400 calories burned a day




Eating only 1900-2000 calories a day is a big calorie deficit since you are burning at least 2900 calories a day. That's a caloric deficit about 1000 calories a day which means you would burn 2lbs a week just from the low calorie eating habits.

You could up your food intake to 2400 calories a day and even without exercise you still should lose about 1lb a week.

The key for you my friend, may be to add exercising to your routine. That might give you the best of both worlds. You could still eat more calories and eat more of the things you want, while still dropping weight at about 2lbs per week.

Most people when they first start exercising with weights and cardiovascular exercise, burn maybe around 500 extra calories day. That would allow you to eat 2400 calories a day and still lose about 2lbs a week. Or you could eat 2900 calories a day and lose 1lb a week.

There is plenty of good food that isn't horribly high in calories. Check some of the recipes we have here on the site, and you may find some things you can make that aren't too high in calories yet are very tasty.

[William Wallace]

Originally Posted by dynomite

Well to start, I am 5'10" tall and I weigh 280lbs. I'm trying to eat right, but I haven't seen a good diet plan that I can follow. I have tried looking up a meal plan that would keep me in the 1900 - 2000 calories range. But the meals include food that I normally don't eat or foods that I'm allergic too. I don't like meals with cheese or mayo, and I'm allergic to shellfish. Do you have any suggestions (meal plans), that can really help me?

What type of foods do you like to eat? Give us some examples of a typical eating day for you and we can help you go from there!

[dynomite]

Foods I like to eat: Cornflakes
Scrambled Eggs
Oatmeal with Cinnamon
Hamburgers
Pancakes & Sausages & Hashbrowns
Hotdogs
Salads with Italian Dressing
Guacamole (very spicey)
Steamed White Rice
Spanish Rice
Tortillas
White, wheat, and rye Bread
Peanut Butter & Jelly (Grape or Strawberry)
Frijoles (Refried Beans)
Corn
Potatoes - mashed, french fries, baked, potato salads
Brisk Ice Tea
Diet Pepsi
Water
Milk 2%
Meat Loaf
Tuna in water
Tilapia - no bones
Filet Mignon
Chicken
Pork
Ketchup & Mustard

[Obesity Discussion]

OK, I am going to analyze what you eat to try to figure out why you have not been able to find what you want in a diet plan.

Originally Posted by dynomite

Foods I like to eat:

Cornflakes- carbs
Scrambled Eggs- high in cholesterol, but OK in moderation
Oatmeal with Cinnamon- carbs
Hamburgers- depends on how fatty the beef is, can be very bad to good
Pancakes & Sausages & Hashbrowns carbs/fatty
Hotdogs- fatty & processed
Salads with Italian Dressing- fatty dressing, what else is in the salads?
Guacamole (very spicey)- Fatty, but OK in moderation; has good fats
Steamed White Rice- carbs
Spanish Rice- carbs
Tortillas- carbs
White, wheat, and rye Bread- should try to stick to whole wheat (OK in moderation)
Peanut Butter & Jelly (Grape or Strawberry)- Jelly has sugar (carbs) and more carbs in the bread. Peanut butter is OK in moderation, but very high in calories and medium in fat.
Frijoles (Refried Beans)- lots of dietary fiber, kind of high in sodium, overall not bad in moderation
Corn- very high in carbs
Potatoes - mashed, french fries, baked, potato salads- super high in carbs, and fries are high in unhealthy fats
Brisk Ice Tea- OK assuming there's not a lot of sugar in there
Diet Pepsi- OK, but beware sweeteners can have bad side effects including increase in appetite.
Water- great
Milk 2%- good, but can you go to 1% or even skim? There's also some sugar in Milk, so drink in moderation
Meat Loaf- probably high in saturated fats depending on beef used, maybe cholesteral too.
Tuna in water- awesome! (unless you start mixing with mayo or other items.)
Tilapia - no bones- Great!
Filet Mignon- high in fats (saturated too) and cholesterol, fat trim/quality affects fat content,
Chicken- is this breast? Fried? Skinless or with Skin? Chicken breast is very good.
Pork- can be good or bad depending on fat cut
Ketchup & Mustard- mustard is great, a good amount of salt/sugar in Ketchup, so beware







OK, after reading this list, it has become apparent that you LOVE carbs, especially for breakfast, which is the best time to eat carbs however. Many of the things on your list aren't the healthiest of foods which is why you are having problems finding an eating plan that's right for you.

I noticed a lot of items on your list contain beef/meat that can potentially be good or bad depending on fat content. How lean is the beef you are eating? Are you eating chicken that is fried or with skin? I have a feeling there may be an opportunity for you to keep eating a lot of the things you are eating, but you maybe have the ability to reduce some of the fat content.

The fried stuff on your list should go bye bye, and so should the processed meats. I know it's tasty, but it's counterproductive. It would help a lot if you could maybe focus more on some of the things on your list that are healthy or could be healthy with some changes....and maybe you could eat more of these:

Tuna- great!
Tilapia- great!
Salad (with light dressing though)
Milk (in moderation, skim preferred)
Water
Chicken BREAST
Eggs- whites are better, but overall OK in moderation
Tortillas- try the low carb whole wheat tortillas from Mission or other companies. I get them and they have a ton of good dietary fiber and protein.
Bread- You need some, but it should be wheat. White bread should go bye bye.
Pork- OK if lean
Hamburgers- OK if lean beef (think 96% lean), and not piled with bad toppings like mayo, cheeses, bacon, lots of ketchup, etc, and use whole wheat buns
Mustard is great, keep using it a lot for taste!
Oatmeal- try to get oatmeals without 100 different ingredients in them, but OK in moderation
Filet- OK in extreme moderation
Frijoles- OK in slight moderation
Drinks (tea/soda)- make sure there is no sugar. Beware Diet sodas may make you hungrier


Again though, remember, what you eat is important, but so is how much you eat (in calories). I can help you create a sample meal plan for a day to give you an example of some of the things you should eat. At the end of the day you need to record what you eat as well and compare it to your target calorie intake.....as easy as it is to create a meal plan, it's not as easy to follow it to the letter....sometimes you have to make meal plan detours (business lunches with clients, etc).

Also, feel free to use our recipe index, I am constantly adding new recipes, and there are a lot of healthy recipes in there that use tuna, chicken, beef, eggs, salad, etc....

[Irving]

welcome dynomite these folks are great and can really help you out i know they have helped me!

[dynomite]

Originally Posted by Irving

welcome dynomite these folks are great and can really help you out i know they have helped me!

Hey Thanx Irving!

I see that you are doing very well in reaching your goal to 150. I am hoping that you will not let anything stop you in achieving your goal. Is there a meal plan per day that you follow everyday? Or are you just eating less than what you were b4? I ask this question because I need to follow a meal plan that will help me lose weight, and also achieve the weight of 150. I weigh 280 right now, and I don't feel right anymore. So, if you can also help, I'd appreciate it, too. Thanx!

[dynomite]

Originally Posted by Obesity Discussion

OK, I am going to analyze what you eat to try to figure out why you have not been able to find what you want in a diet plan.





Cornflakes- carbs
Scrambled Eggs- high in cholesterol, but OK in moderation
Oatmeal with Cinnamon- carbs
Hamburgers- depends on how fatty the beef is, can be very bad to good
Pancakes & Sausages & Hashbrowns carbs/fatty
Hotdogs- fatty & processed
Salads with Italian Dressing- fatty dressing, what else is in the salads?
Guacamole (very spicey)- Fatty, but OK in moderation; has good fats
Steamed White Rice- carbs
Spanish Rice- carbs
Tortillas- carbs
White, wheat, and rye Bread- should try to stick to whole wheat (OK in moderation)
Peanut Butter & Jelly (Grape or Strawberry)- Jelly has sugar (carbs) and more carbs in the bread. Peanut butter is OK in moderation, but very high in calories and medium in fat.
Frijoles (Refried Beans)- lots of dietary fiber, kind of high in sodium, overall not bad in moderation
Corn- very high in carbs
Potatoes - mashed, french fries, baked, potato salads- super high in carbs, and fries are high in unhealthy fats
Brisk Ice Tea- OK assuming there's not a lot of sugar in there
Diet Pepsi- OK, but beware sweeteners can have bad side effects including increase in appetite.
Water- great
Milk 2%- good, but can you go to 1% or even skim? There's also some sugar in Milk, so drink in moderation
Meat Loaf- probably high in saturated fats depending on beef used, maybe cholesteral too.
Tuna in water- awesome! (unless you start mixing with mayo or other items.)
Tilapia - no bones- Great!
Filet Mignon- high in fats (saturated too) and cholesterol, fat trim/quality affects fat content,
Chicken- is this breast? Fried? Skinless or with Skin? Chicken breast is very good.
Pork- can be good or bad depending on fat cut
Ketchup & Mustard- mustard is great, a good amount of salt/sugar in Ketchup, so beware







OK, after reading this list, it has become apparent that you LOVE carbs, especially for breakfast, which is the best time to eat carbs however. Many of the things on your list aren't the healthiest of foods which is why you are having problems finding an eating plan that's right for you.

I noticed a lot of items on your list contain beef/meat that can potentially be good or bad depending on fat content. How lean is the beef you are eating? Are you eating chicken that is fried or with skin? I have a feeling there may be an opportunity for you to keep eating a lot of the things you are eating, but you maybe have the ability to reduce some of the fat content.

The fried stuff on your list should go bye bye, and so should the processed meats. I know it's tasty, but it's counterproductive. It would help a lot if you could maybe focus more on some of the things on your list that are healthy or could be healthy with some changes....and maybe you could eat more of these:

Tuna- great!
Tilapia- great!
Salad (with light dressing though)
Milk (in moderation, skim preferred)
Water
Chicken BREAST
Eggs- whites are better, but overall OK in moderation
Tortillas- try the low carb whole wheat tortillas from Mission or other companies. I get them and they have a ton of good dietary fiber and protein.
Bread- You need some, but it should be wheat. White bread should go bye bye.
Pork- OK if lean
Hamburgers- OK if lean beef (think 96% lean), and not piled with bad toppings like mayo, cheeses, bacon, lots of ketchup, etc, and use whole wheat buns
Mustard is great, keep using it a lot for taste!
Oatmeal- try to get oatmeals without 100 different ingredients in them, but OK in moderation
Filet- OK in extreme moderation
Frijoles- OK in slight moderation
Drinks (tea/soda)- make sure there is no sugar. Beware Diet sodas may make you hungrier


Again though, remember, what you eat is important, but so is how much you eat (in calories). I can help you create a sample meal plan for a day to give you an example of some of the things you should eat. At the end of the day you need to record what you eat as well and compare it to your target calorie intake.....as easy as it is to create a meal plan, it's not as easy to follow it to the letter....sometimes you have to make meal plan detours (business lunches with clients, etc).

Also, feel free to use our recipe index, I am constantly adding new recipes, and there are a lot of healthy recipes in there that use tuna, chicken, beef, eggs, salad, etc....

Oh yes! A sample of a meal plan would be nice, so that I can follow it. Just so that you know, I can eat at: 7:00 AM - Breakfast
10:00 AM - Snack
12:00 PM - Lunch
3:00 PM - Snack
7:00 PM - Dinner
9:00 PM - Snack
Any help that I can get, will be appreciated. Thanx!!

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by dynomite

Oh yes! A sample of a meal plan would be nice, so that I can follow it. Just so that you know, I can eat at: 7:00 AM - Breakfast
10:00 AM - Snack
12:00 PM - Lunch
3:00 PM - Snack
7:00 PM - Dinner
9:00 PM - Snack
Any help that I can get, will be appreciated. Thanx!!

I will whip something together for you tomorrow and/or Saturday. I am going to be travelling late tonight.....but I would be more than happy to!

[Merle]

Originally Posted by Obesity Discussion

I will whip something together for you tomorrow and/or Saturday. I am going to be travelling late tonight.....but I would be more than happy to!

You're late


Glad to have you here Dynomite!

I know OD will take care of you, he's usually superbusy running this site and working a full time job where he travels 100% of the time!

[dynomite]

Hi Merle!

Thanx! I see that you have been doing real good in gettin' rid of yours. I'm sure OD will get back to me so that I can start eating right instead of eating a lot of carbs.

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by dynomite

Hi Merle!

Thanx! I see that you have been doing real good in gettin' rid of yours. I'm sure OD will get back to me so that I can start eating right instead of eating a lot of carbs.

Yep, I sure will be getting back to you soon!! I just finished writing a sample meal plan for Bigboydman, and you can take a look at it to get a general idea of what yours will look like. He however weighs more than you, so his calorie requirements will be different than yours (i.e. you will have less food on your diet plan, and hense less calories, carbs, and fat). See the link below!

Diet Plan

[Obesity Discussion]

I'm working on this for you as we speak....

[dynomite]

Not a problem, OD. I'm sure its hard to put a meal plan together.

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by dynomite

Not a problem, OD. I'm sure its hard to put a meal plan together.

That it is Took me quite a few hours to do one for BigBoydMan

[Obesity Discussion]

I really tried hard to incorporate the "foods you like" into a sample meal plan, but it was very hard given that a lot of the food you listed is junk. The other thing I noticed when doing this is you listed no fruits or vegetables on your food list. While you don't need fruit, you do need some veggies, so I added a serving with dinner. Please be very strict following this list as far as portion sizes go, and remember condiments add calories, fat and carbs! So one serving of light Italian Dressing max, etc. Based on the foods you gave me there's not a lot of wiggle room to add more food or condiments to your meals, except maybe some more veggies on your salad would not be a bad idea. Normally I would never design a meal plan with chips and a peanut butter/jelly sandwich, because they're both ladened with carbs, but you didn't give me much to work with for snacks besides carbs. Since you do like chicken/beef, something I would like to do is substitute out the potato chips for a serving of beef or chicken jerky, but I didn't see that on your list so I didn't add it.

Now keep in mind the food you gave me to work with is food I am assuming you are OK to eat, don't have allergies to and won't react bad with any drugs. This is merely an example of how to structure the food you like and is safe for you to eat into a meal plan that will allow you to meet a calorie target you set for yourself.

Breakfast
2% Milk 1 Cup (8oz)

Actual Calories: 121
Actual Fat: 5g
Actual Protein: 8g
Actual Carbs: 11g


Breakfast
Scrambled Eggs 2 eggs

Actual Calories: 198
Actual Fat: 14.8g
Actual Protein: 13.6g
Actual Carbs: 2.6g


Breakfast
Oatmeal, 1 packet, unseasoned/unflavored


Actual Calories: 110
Actual Fat: 2g
Actual Protein: 4g
Actual Carbs: 19g


Snack
Tilapia (3 ounce serving)

Actual Calories: 106.5
Actual Fat: 2.5g
Actual Protein: 21g
Actual Carbs: 0g


Lunch
Tuna Sandwich (full can Tuna, low calorie wheat bread, 2 slices)

Actual Calories: 235.75
Actual Fat: 1.75g
Actual Protein: 37g
Actual Carbs: 18g


Lunch
Dark Green Leafy Lettuce (3oz) w/ 1 Tomato, Lite Italian Dressing, 2% Milkfat shredded cheese

Actual Calories: 184.4
Actual Fat: 11.2g
Actual Protein: 9.1g
Actual Carbs: 11.8g


Snack
Potato Chips (1oz)

Actual Calories: 156.2
Actual Fat: 9.8g
Actual Protein: 2g
Actual Carbs: 15g


Dinner
Rotisserie Chicken (8oz), light seasonings

Actual Calories: 280
Actual Fat: 8g
Actual Protein: 44g
Actual Carbs: 8g


Dinner
1/2 Mixed Frozen Veggies (cooked), light butter (1 tbsp)

Actual Calories: 99.4
Actual Fat: 4.6g
Actual Protein: 2.6g
Actual Carbs: 11.9g


Dinner
Refried Beans (1/2 cup)

Actual Calories: 126.5
Actual Fat: 2.5g
Actual Protein: 6g
Actual Carbs: 20g


Snack
Low Fat Peanut Butter/Jelly Sandwich (1 serving of each), 2 slices low cal whole wheat bread

Actual Calories: 349
Actual Fat: 13
Actual Protein: 12
Actual Carbs: 46


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BELOW ARE THE GRAND TOTALS OF ALL THE MEALS LISTED ABOVE

Actual Total Calories: 1966.75
Actual Total Fat: 75.15g
Actual Total Protein: 159.3g
Actual Total Carb: 163.3g


BELOW ARE THE TARGET CALORIES/NUTRITIONAL VALUES I WAS SHOOTING FOR WHEN CREATING THIS MEAL PLAN

Target Total Calories: 1955
Target Total Fat: 75g
Target Protein: 160g
Target Carb: 160g