first real attempt at losing weight

[Jesseecuh]

A good portion of people are out to lose weight now with the health risks that have painfully been brought to the general public's eye and I'm no different.

family has a history of heart problems, type 1 and 2 diabetes as well as an assortment of other issues caused by food allergies. Personally I haven't met an untimely fate with anything other than mild asthma and some acid reflux. Lucky, lucky me.

Up until this point in life I really haven't given much thought to appearance or health in general. Now I do. I'm 19, 5'7" and 270 lbs. with a larger bone frame; although you couldn't tell weight just by looking at me. weight distribution is fairly even and I do have a tad bit of muscle under that fat.

So far on own I've lost 12 lbs., though I **highly** doubt it was healthy. At the moment I've started a...ah..somewhat diet.

Breakfast:
-Bowel of oatmeal, with a table spoon of honey.
-fruit (banana, strawberry, grapes).
-A glass of water or skim milk.

Lunch:
-Sandwich; lunch meat (ham or turkey), american cheese, pickle slices.
-A glass of Diet Sunkist.
-Small portion of chips; usually sunchips.

Dinner:
-A smaller portion of whatever mother fixes. Which is usually some type of fish, chicken or beef with rice and vegetables.


I'm not exactly clueless, but I can't boast about any of knowledge either. I need help getting things in order nutrition and exercise wise. At the moment I've not started any exercise routine for fear of injuring myself needlessly.

So what I'm asking is can anyone point me in the right direction? I have a weight loss goal of 90 lbs.

[Boss Man]

Breakfast:
-Bowel of oatmeal, with a table spoon of honey.
-fruit (banana, strawberry, grapes).
-A glass of water or skim milk.

(I'd have either the Strawberries or Grapes to keep Carb spike in check, and allow 10-15 minutes for the Fruit to digest. then have the rest of the meal.)

Lunch:
-Sandwich; lunch meat (ham or turkey), american cheese, pickle slices.
-A glass of Diet Sunkist.
-Small portion of chips; usually sunchips.

(Don't bother with Pickles, they are greasy and Salty and possible I'd imagine. Could go for a bit of Low Fat Chees,e and keep the portion low ot stop you having too much Protein in the meal.)

Dinner:
-A smaller portion of whatever mother fixes. Which is usually some type of fish, chicken or beef with rice and vegetables.

(Good choice.)

You need other meals, between meals, to make sure calories are okay, and minerals and Vits are okay Daily.

You could go for things like Low Fat Cheese, Peanuts, Cashews, perhaps some kind of Legume based meal, or a small poultry based meal / sandwhich as examples.

You should be eating 5-6 times a day, every 2.5-3 hours, so your body doesn't have to spend 1-2 hours between meals, using Fat and muscle for sustenance when you've digested most of the previous meal.

[Jesseecuh]

Okay, so every two and a half to three hours on the food intake. Something with protein in it, got'cha.

What about working out? To start off with, what's a healthy schedule? Three or four times a week? Or more? How long should the workout routines be?

[cassiegose]

A couple more things.... I would try to add in a bit of protein with that breakfast. You're getting a little from the oatmeal and milk but i would add in maybe an egg and an eggwhite to increase it a bit.

For lunch... if you're serious about losing weight I would take out the diet sunkist and replace the chips with veggies. On the sandwhich make sure you're having whole wheat bread... no mayo as that can add alot of fat and calories. Instead of pickles you could add some spinach, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts...

Dinner looks good.... if possible suggest that she uses brown rice and whole grains instead of things like white pasta and rice.

And... like the wise bossman adviced make sure youre eating every 2-3 hours.

For your workout... I usually recommend working out 5-6 days a week doing a combination of bodyweight exercises and HIIT cardio... if you're working out 6 days a week do 3 days of weights, 2 days of HIIT, and one day of longer slow cardio... Something like this:

Monday: weights (lunge variations, squats, deadlifts, dips, pushup variations, row variations, pullups, military press)
Tuesday: HIIT (high intensity interval training)
Wednesday: weights
Thursday: HIIT
Friday: Weights
Saturday: long slow cario... walking, joking, hiking, biking, swimming, kayaking....

Hope this helps...


Cassie

[aleia]

Because you are just starting out, I would recommend working out about 3 times/week. If you enjoy doing cardio, then by all means perform full cardio workouts in addition to weights. If you do not, however, there are ways to sneak it in. Try performing a 10-20 minute warm-up and cool-down. (there's 20-40 minutes of cardio!) Or, try performing mini-circuits (push-ups, situps, squats, lunges, repeat) with little rest to keep your heart rate up. Either way, make sure to include lots of compound exercises (ones that work more than one muscle), and focus on the larger muscle groups (like back, quads, and butt) to secure overall conditioning. Good exercises would be pushups, bench press, squats, stiff-legged deadlifts, pulldowns, and lunges. Make sure to STRETCH after every workout, and on off-days if you can. This increases muscle gains and overall health, and helps prevent injury.
Everyone is giving you great advice about your diet, but I would like to add own experience to your pot. Don't do a complete overhaul. Start out slow; try to make one or two healthy changes per week. Add one vegetable per day, or switch from white bread to 100% whole wheat. Also, positive changes (adding or changing foods instead of restricting them) are easier to stick to. In this way, you will - admittedly - reach your goals more slowly. However, it's better to develope a healthy lifestyle and lose 30 pounds in 3 years than it is to burn out or become discouraged. Also, if you slip up, forgive yourself and keep on truckin!
And always drink plenty of water.
-Aleia