Training & Nutrition - Trying to make changes in diet for first time in my life HELP…Thanks

I am 34, 5 feet 11 inches 210 pounds and have not made any changes in what I eat ever, not in 34 years. It has finally caught up with me. Let me explain. I still got out and drink once a week (usually a malt beverage like Zima 6 or more etc. or Crown Royal & Coke). I live off steak, pork, chicken, Mac and cheese, pizza, and vitamin D milk. I am a network administrator so I sit on my butt all day. For lunch (2 hours) we usually go to the same places every week. A Chinese buffet where I get ?chicken? just the meat and red spicy sauce nothing green, as a matter of fact I eat nothing green ever. Meatballs chicken wings, BB-Q ribs and shrimp. Or we eat at Pizza Hut buffet I get pizza and bread sticks. Popeye’s, I get fried breasts. Some Italian joint where I get a big meatball and cheese sub. I think I eat too much because of the buffets and I want to get my moneys worth. For all lunches I drink Coke. I have been reading the Training & Nutrition threads for a week now. So today is the first day of my changes. Today I bought apples, bananas, white seedless grapes, chicken noodle soups, shredded wheat cereal, Gatorade mix (I learned here it is cheaper to mix your own) 2% milk, peanut butter and crackers, nutter butter cookies, A few Balance Gold bars, some chocolate granola bar. SO now what? The things I bought today are “things I like or will learn to like” Lunch is more of a requirement because we discuss real business for about an hour it, so I need to eat with these guys. Ok, with so many bad things I am doing, what are the MOST IMPORTANT changes I need to make. What vitamins should I buy if any? On my list I bought today what is good what is ok and what is bad? What else should I try to eat that is not green? How much meat can I eat and when? ……………Man compared to some of you I must be sound like a mess. When I was 20 I would ride a road bike 20 miles a day and 70 to 100 on weekends. I just started last week on a mountain bike and am up to a 12 to 15 mile course that is pretty hilly and demanding. Well at least for me it is. Thanks in advance?

First of all, GREAT JOB!!!! :thumbup:

It's great that you recognized that you have some fitness issues and you're willing to address them.

Second, sweet bike! I was wiping the droll off my mouth when I was looking at your bike.

Third, can I make a suggestion? If you have a two hour lunch, take that first hour to ride that bike of yours, then the second hour, you can have your healthy meal. I bet if you did this every day, then did one long ride on the weekend, you'd see those extra pounds melt away. Then step 2 is trying to figure out where you can get the weightlifting in.

Feel free to frequent the forum whenever you need support. There's a great thread called Weight Loss Club if you haven't seen it where you can keep up with everyone's progress and get encouragement.

Again, great job and good luck!

Koffee Brown

Oh goshdarnit!

I was so enthused to see you were doing this new change in your life, I didn't even address the questions! I'm sure everyone is going to have some say here.

First, try to get your vitamins in the natural food form. It's always better to be able to get the vitamins in its natural, rather than synthetic form. For instance, for your vitamin C needs, drink the orange juice (100% orange juice) rather than getting a vitamin C pill. Notice on the side of all the boxes and wrappers of everything you buy, it will tell you how much of each vitamin you're ingesting. I find if you're eating your normal 3 meals a day, and you're eating healthy, you will pretty much get your vitamin intake for the day, but you can always add them up by looking at the sides of the boxes and keeping track of what you eat every day.

Consider this- the first time I ever bothered to think about nutrition, I went to see a nutrition seminar. The woman there maintained that if you followed the food pyramid exactly, and you exercised regularly, you will lose weight. I laughed it off for a minute, then went home and tried it for a month. I was shocked to see I'd lost weight after a month of following the food group pyramid, plus with my exercise. It was the first time since I'd started my diet that I had some weight changes. If you don't feel like measuring out everything, simply follow the pyramid and don't deviate, and I bet with the exercise, you'll see changes in no time.

Once you've made the changes to your lifestyle, stop thinking "diet" and start thinking "permenant lifestyle change". A big problem with diets is that people seem to latch onto them for the short term, doing all kinds of unrealistic exercising and eating in an unrealistic manner, and once they've achieved their goals, they stop. Then they wonder why the weight comes back! A lifestyle change means forever, so when you make your dietary changes, consider that this is a lifelong process for you. If you make sensible changes and do reasonable exercising, there's no reason why you can't maintain a healthy lifestyle for the rest of your life!

Good luck!

Koffee

congratulations on the diet change! with eating habbits like you described i imagine it will be an uphill battle for you, but you are already taking the first major step in improving your health by choosing to make some changes. my actual diet recommendations are probably quite different than most people will suggest, since i only eat vegetables, grains, and fruit. so in my biased opinion i would highly recommend exchanging as much meat as possible for vegetables. but it sounds like vegetables are pretty foreign to you, so starting out with the grocery list you provided is a great first step.
some of the items that stuck out to me were:
-the coke every day for lunch. try replacing it with juice or water.
-eating too much at buffets so you get your money's worth. we all want to get our money's worth, but overeating just ends up adding pounds.
-fried breasts at popeyes. try to stay away from fried foods.
-generally, eating out too much is a bad thing, because restaurants rarely have the customer's health in mind when making their food.

getting enough excersise is the next part of the equation, which you have already started doing. 12-15 miles on a hilly mtb course is definately some good excersise. it helps a lot to try to improve your speed each time by just a little bit.

going out for drinks once a week is in my opinion less harmful than most of the rest of your diet. some people will disagree, but i think doing what you like to do in moderation is very healthy, as long as it doesn't become a problem.

for vitamins, a good daily vitamin should be all you need. they only really work efficiently if you take them every day, though.

finally, i would recommend not over-doing the healthy thing right away. you don't want to discourage yourself and give up because the food doesn't taste as good as what you're used to. eventually healthy food starts to taste good. and there's nothing wrong with treating yourself to a junky snack or meal item on occasion, just keep it minimal.

good luck, and let us know how you are doing!

The two-hour lunch is only because it is with the boss and other network admins from other offices so I am kinda required to be there for the whole thing. It would hurt the career not to go. Besides if I did not go with them I would only get a half hour to an hour like the “other workers”.

I thought I would hear from you (Koffee) I have seen and read many of your posts, and will continue to do so. I read your first post and thought……That’s it, that all he has to say. Then I saw the second one. Thanks again.

What hurts me the most? The drinking? The no eat green? The eat red meat? Cokes at lunch? ….I know ALL OF IT. Hey at least I don’t smoke and never did.

I Posted this before I saw gonesh9's answers. THANKS

The most important change I think you need to make is to balance out your meals and cut back on the saturated fats as well as fried and refined foods.You can continue to eat meats with meals but chose lean cuts and balance out with whole fruits/vegies/grains.Also add in some mono/poly fats through nuts/fish etc.I don't know what your aversion to green is but if you can learn to like salads this is a good option when eating out(at buffets etc.).Otherwise try adding as many varied colored vegies(red,orange,yellow etc.)along with northern climate fruits(low glycemic)such as apples,pears etc. and whole grains such as oatmeal/brown rice/whole pasta.You can substitute in other protein sources such as nuts/nut butter/beans/etc. for meat in some of the meals as well.As far as your new food choices most are high carb and some such as gatorade/cookies/granola/crackers are high refined sugars.You want to guard against wholesale substitution of saturated fats with refined sugars as it won't be much healthier . Some can be appropriate to fuel fastpaced rides but don't overdo sitting around the office.On the peanut butter if its natural its fine.Overall try to eat smaller more frequent meals and as I said before balanced as to lean protein/unrefined carbs/ healthy fats.Try to make gradual changes as many often find it hard to break lifelong habits with drastic changes.And finally try to tailor your overall calorie intake to your activity level (ie you don't need to consume huge amounts of food when your sitting around the office all day).

I don't have snacks at work and I drink 4 to 5 20oz. waters a day there. I only bought the peanut butter crackers and PB cookies for on longer rides I plan to take a banana for the shorter ones.
RTW, When you say lean cuts does you mean Filet or NY strip? I don't know much about food at all but those are the cuts I buy now. I will go gradually so I don’t get fed up with the change. I will be adding fish to my new diet. And I will fill the cooler in the truck with one liter waters for lunches. I drink a Red Bull before each ride. Is that ok? One last thing. I wake up at 7:00 and cannot seem to get to sleep before 1AM most nights and 2am some nights. Anything to help with that.

THANKS TO ALL

A lean cut would be top round/london broil(or any sirloin cut is fairly lean I think) and you can trim any visible fat off beforehand as well.Or skinless chicken/turkey breasts .I would substitute any of these for the filets/strips etc. The best time to consume simple carbs such as red bull would be during intense rides but ideally you should start preride by consuming complex carbs several hours in advance so you won't need to refuel until well into the ride.As far as sleep it could be any number of reasons but try some light exercise earlier in the evening(several hours in advance) or some lowfat milk (calcium) .

For the sleep- every night before I go to bed, I soak in a bath with epsom salts. I went to a seminar on supplements and nutrition, and the lecturer recommended a few tablespoons of epsom salts in a hot bath- it's supposed to be a light muscle relaxant, and it would relax you to the point where you would be able to ease into sleep. It works every time. My head hits the pillow and I don't open my eyes until my alarm goes off in the morning!

Koffee

you are on the right track.. making changes for yourself and asking questions... you will make it..
if you don't mind i would like to post this thread another cyclist has posted on another forum.. it may help you, it certainly is inspiring.. his name is Fred and he likes to bike :)

here he is
http://forums.bicycling.com/bic/thread.jsp?forum=4&thread=34225


12-15 miles is a lot farther than some can go in the beginning.. you are off to a great start!

These are some great specific suggestions. In fact I have a few myself.

I think that one of the keys is to try to adjust your habits gradually, without feeling like you are putting yourself through a hardship. You should initially set goals something like this: "More often than not, I will try to have green tea or sparkling mineral water instead of coffee or soda" (assuming you like tea). This means that you can still allow yourself a soda or a coffee without "failing". Another sample goal might be "I will eat more fruit". Buy some apples, banannas, oranges or whatever you like and leave them around the house. You will be eating these instead of chips and candy bars. You can still eat chips and candy bars if you like, but if the fruit is there, you might as well have that as well, right ?

As far as the cycling goes a good goal is "I will ride some most days". This means that 4 out of 7 days you will get on the bike and pedal some. First of all, it's pretty hard to fail with a goal like that and if you cycle 4 days out of 7 you will figure out you actually like it and you will naturally want to do more.

Experiment with food. Go to a Farmer's Market and try new things. You will be sure to find good things that you like as much as you like the stuff you are eating now. For me fresh asparagus fried in olive oil with garlic is one of my favorites. Eggplant is pretty good too. You will have to figure out what works for you, this can be fun.

good luck
Dan

well, you've already gotten a lot of good info from everyone...

my first question is:
what exactly is your goal or goals? to be healthier, to loose weight, to be a better cyclist... to be a generally fit and healthy person or to be a serious athlete???

anyway i would think that defining this would be an important basis and also determine many of the diet choices...

let me also add that although i am still not the healthiest eater out there as i tend to not get enough variety, i have GREATLY improved from say 10 or 15 years ago. i have never had a over-weight problem (i was underweight) but i used to drink about 25 cans of Coke per day, eat almost no fruits and vegies and pizza, taco bell and burger king were my 3 staple foods... so you can change with a little effort and it's really not bad - in general if there is something you really like you can continue to eat it OCCASIONALLY as long as your overall daily diet is much better.

i'd say the best start would be try and decrease some of the stuff RTWD was talking about and REALLY try and increase your fruit and vegetable intake. this will have many advantages in getting you many good nutrients as well as reducing your overall calorie intake while still not feeling hungry (fruit and vegies per calorie unit tend to be more "filling" than meat or fat or sweets)

i also agree with Dan --- don't make it impossible and a gradual improvement is just fine. you don't have to become "mr healthy" overnight and forever give up steak and all the foods you love... do it gradually and you should also start to FEEL the difference it makes and this should motivate you to even more.

oh, if you were training to be a pro athlete i'd say the lunches are out, but i think it sound like something that you kind of need to do and if you improve your diet and get more time on the bike in general it should be ok (how about bike commuting to work?)

if you had told me 10 years ago that i would not consume any candy or sweets in my vicinity in a matter of minutes i would have laughed. now i frequently skip the dessert stuff or choose jogurt instead b/c i just don't have the taste for the sweet stuff any more (yes, every once and a while, but not every 2 hours like before)

and coupled with cycling, only making some minor changes you should be able to loose some weight and get back to being REALLY healthy in a year or two...

and make the changes FOR YOUR LIFE so they become habits.

i would gently change your habits slowly. many people fail because they radically change things that the mind and soul are not ready for. weather it be a diet or any other discipline, slowly make changes. rome wasn't built in a day, as they say. as long as you are doing it for yourself, you are half way there.

you need to change your relationship with your food. i now view food as an energy source primarily. the social aspects make can make it a demon. but try eating slowly (tasting the food for that religious experience) and only eating till you are satisfied...not till you feel that you've gotten your money's worth.

realizing what food can do for you and what it can't do for you is important.
i am not even talking about changing your diet. 8 years ago i was 6 ft tall (still am) and weighed 208. i changed my relationship with food, and not changing anything in my diet initially i simply cut down on portions. (taking my plate and throwing away 1/3 of it before i even started) and wtogether with cycling i turned into 182lbs, which i have been for 7.5 years now.

and now i eat very healthily and pay close attention to what foods give me energy and optimism and which ones are not conducive to my overall health picture.

make slow changes. you've got your whole life.

At those lunches look at the menu harder. A lot of the places will have brolled or grilled options that would have less fat. What's wrong with green? At pizza hut you could get a salid an a little less pizza, and pizza with more things like onions, mushroom, olives, peppers... and less meat will help. Don't make the change too drastic or you will hate it. How about unsweeten ice tea with lunch?

Good luck
Joe

Congrats. I was in sort of the same boat as you. Although you are lucky to be starting at a lower weight than I was. I was 230-235 lbs 6' tall 28 yrs and away from cycling/racing for about 5 yrs. Now I have been training 5 days per week ~ 1hr each sessions since the start of December. I am now 205 lbs and counting. Here is what I did.

1. Cut down on the volume of food. Take only one serving and slightly reduce the portions if they are heaping. (Oh ya eat a little slower).
2. Get the snack food out of the house. (Sounds like you are doing this). Raisins, saltines, dry cereal etc. make good light snacks. I tell my wife not to buy junk food since I will eat it eventually.
3. Don't eat too late. We try not to eat any later than 6:30 pm.
4. Drink a lot of water. I too prefer Gatorade so I have three 64 oz. bottles that I keep mixed up in the fridge at all times. When I go out for lunch I rarely get any beverage other than water.
5. Since I rarely go out to lunch I started buying the big boxes of Power Bars and keep them in my desk as a supplement.
6. Ride and have fun.
7. After you lose some substantial weight try on some of your old clothes. This made me feel great and I discovered I did not need to buy new jeans. LOL
8. I drink a lot less than before simply because it's not a good idea to refuel with it and too much the night before makes for a bad ride the next day.
9. I weigh myself each morning when I wake up and plot the weight and BF % on an Excel chart so I can track progress. (It's a motivator)

Your Questions

1. Don't force yourself to eat stuff you do not like. Eat smaller quantities.
2. Exercise is the biggest change you will make.
3. I don't take vitamins, but that is just me. I don't think that they would hurt.
4. Cut back on drinking alcohol.

It sounds like you are on the right track. Don't train too hard, but work your way up or you will burn out. Don't be too harsh about what you eat just eat in moderation. I agree with the guys do not make too drastic of a change or it will be much harder to stick with it. You will eventually be amazed at the way you used to live and everything will be come second nature.

And if you get down just think of Rob Sneider in "Waterboy" "YOU CAN DO IT!" :D
:thumbup:

I am 6', 33 years and 175 lbs. Four years ago, I was 210 lbs (from a decade of decadence - I was all lean muscle mass at 20). I didn't eat all that healthy (though a slight bit better than you describe), I drank weekly and I sucked Coca Colas (2-3 a day, what is with us IT people anyway?) also.

Although changing of eating habits is a good idea, I took a different approach based on advice from a friend - I ran. I hated it, but I ran religiously. I had to stop 5 times when I first tried running 2.5 miles. But I continued running a minimum of 3 times a week. I'd try to run further, then eventually that same distance faster. I started lifting weights on the days I didn't run (allowing a rest day or two per week). Then I bought a bike and rode it to work occasionally. Sometimes I'd knock off a quick 30 minute run during lunch. Eventually, I was proficient enough I could run 10 miles non-stop. I'd never run that far in one instance in my life. I now ride my bike to and from work every day, logging about 125 miles a week.

What became an interesting side-effect was that I now crave exercise (running included) and my diet has transformed also. I don't drink alcohol but rarely. A beer sometimes tastes good, but any more than two makes me cringe. I couldn't tolerate a greasy cheeseburger if I was forced. I drink water all day rather than soda because my body craves it. Constant exercise will often change your tastes toward more healthful fare.

In the beginning, I did consciously eliminate some obvious offenders such as the soda and alcohol (heavy in empty calories), but after I grew accustomed to my established exercise routine, my diet merely followed suit.

No real suggestions, just wanted to convey my experience. I'd recommend the advice of someone more knowledgeable of nutrition/exercise than myself.

Congrats on the changes in your lifestyle. I too have experienced this with the new found sport of mtn biking and really enjoy my health alot more. I'm also 34 and spend alot of time seated at work. As a truck driver, the temptation for the quicky foods was there and its all fried or full of fat. I knew the first thing to need change would be the diet, yet needed something to curve the hunger/boredom habits I had in the past. Portions were the biggest changes. I eat 6 times a day, but small meals. Every meal has a serving of carbohydrates and protein. Proteins are harder to digest, so you feel full longer. I also incorperate 2 servings of vegetables into the 6 meals I have for the day. 3 of the meals per day are supliments. I do work out every morning before work and do enjoy a protein shake 1 hr after the workout. The one hour before first meal is to optimize fat burning. I also take a multi vitamin at that time. Between solid meals, I eat an energy bar of some sort. Balance, and EAS are the 2 I have used and they have great flavor. You will also want to hydrate well and drink 8 ozs of water with each meal during the day. Sport drinks are great for replacing electrolytes, but they dont do much for hydration. If you do drink sport drinks, you should also drink the same amout in water. You should also do the same with teas and coffee as they are diaretics. The serving sizes I have used and base my diet on are as follows.
Proteins.....chicken, beef, etc.....make them about the size of the palm of your hand.
Carbs.....potatoes, rice, etc......make them about the size of your fist.

Based on the length of your days, you can determine how often you do eat. I eat every 2 hrs. My body tells me its time. The stomach is lookin to chew a hole in my shorts if I dont get something down there. I do not starve by any means. I havnt felt this good since football and water polo days in high school.
There are several replies here for you to look at. Hope this one helps you as well. Its certainly worked for me.
Good luck and again, Congrats.

Well, I'm going slow but steady. Yesterday was GRILLED chicken sandwich and water for lunch and since last night was “the drinking night” I got a meatball and cheese so that was not too good. Today was better lunch was jumbo shrimp with crab, small mashed potatoes, baked beans (are they bad for me?) and water. Diner was grilled chicken breast in the George Forman and an apple with a smaller than usual 2% glass of milk (how much better is 2% than D) Also since the milk tasted much better that I thought it would I am going to try the 1% when this gallon is gone. I appreciate all the posts and support here. Thanks. I will continue to read them all and look forward to the next ones. Oh yea one more thing I stopped by the local pub on the way home (It was too COLD and rainy to ride....I don't want to get sick again) any way at the bar I had a Gatorade and a water.

Kick ass dude, keep it up.

Good job. Keep it up.

Just a couple of thoughts:

Potatoes are essentially sugar. If you like them, sweet potatoes or yams are much, much better for you.

It won't be long until you find that totally non-fat milk tastes just as good (it is simply a matter of getting used to it) as 1%.

But, you are really headed in the right direction. Keep going. Good luck. I always have to lose weight, and my nemesis is ice cream!!

Stupid isn't it. Too much weight because of ice cream!! :o

Beyond that, I eat a pretty good diet.

Hey Denver,

Does your supermarket have Skinny Cow Ice cream sandwiches ? My wife and I picked some up a few months ago... they are a little bigger than a hockey puck, and come in a few regular flavors... they taste pretty good, you can;t even tell that they only have 3 grams (I think) of fat in them.

Jeff

Oh gosh! I love Skinny Cow. If it wasn't for Skinny Cow, I wouldn't have the chance to eat ice cream. It's expensive, but worth every penny if you crave ice cream.

KB