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Nutrition Diet and Training Assistance

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Caine

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Hello, my name is Caine and I've been perusing these forums for some time now. I've finally decided to seek some assistance. I am 23 years old, weigh 232 lbs, and I am 5'10".

I am aiming to reach the 180-190 lb range so that I may enlist with the Army National Guard and eventually join the State Police. I am beginning with the Paleo diet and will be following the S&S routine with some added cardio (1-2 mile walk or run) everyday.

I have been on this diet before for several months but have recently been struggling to maintain it. I was wondering if anyone could give me any helpful hints or advice on diet or even training? It would be much appreciated.
 
I definitely don't have the expertise to give diet advice, but here's a free listen with some good tips (I think @JamesO was the first to recommend this):
RT 157 | Georgie Fear - The Science Behind Habit Based Nutrition | Rdella Training : Strength Training | Functional Exercise | Kettlebells | Fitness

And if you like what you hear, her "Lean Habits" book should be a good read. That author also recommends (as do many people here) "Fat Loss Happens on Mondays."

As for training, you've definitely come to the right place! How's your S&S training going?
 
Thanks for the reply! I'll definitely give that a listen when next I have the chance.
As for S&S, I have only just started the program again with a 16kg. I had originally gotten up to using a 24kg but after a couple setbacks I felt I should start again using the 16.

My workout looks like this:

Warmp-up: Halo x5, Goblet Squat x5, Pushup x5 all repeated three times in circuit.
Workout: 10x10 swings with active rest in between each set followed by 5 get-ups on either side.
I usually end with a cooldown of 3x5 shoulder presses, 3x5 goblet squats, and 30 situps.

I'm wondering if I should add in some light cardio with the run or walk afterwards.

Sorry if that was a wall of text, I'm posting from my phone so the format is a little off.
 
Your training sounds just right. If you haven't had a chance to read and re-read the S&S book about 10x, I recommend it. You will pick up something new each time. And if you have "Audible" (Amazon's audio books) application, it's there too, and you can listen to it while driving.

One thing I'd recommend to change about your training is to discontinue the sit-ups. See Prof Stuart McGill's work, including this and other blog articles from him, to help explain why these are not good for your spine. Alternatives: hardstyle planks, hardstyle sit-backs, hanging leg raises, hollow rocks -- MUCH more effective for ab strength, and much more back friendly. You can find info on these in Pavel's Hardstyle Abs book, or we could probably find you a good instructional video. I know you have to do sit-ups for PT tests, but you'll be able to do them just fine when you have to, from swings and this other abdominal work.

The other thing I might recommend is work in some 2H swings with the 24kg (maybe every 3rd set) so you can get more power development while solidifying your 16kg 1H swing.

The light walk/run is certainly good - IMO, either before your S&S, or a different time of day; whatever works for you. If you struggle to maintain form while running (if it's impactful for your joints, your back, etc.), probably better to not run right after your S&S, but a walk should be good anytime.

So I'm curious -- what do you struggle with the most, as far as the diet? (Like I said, I'm no expert there, just a fellow struggler :) )
 
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Anna C said:
I definitely don't have the expertise to give diet advice, but here's a free listen with some good tips (I think @JamesO was the first to recommend this):
RT 157 | Georgie Fear - The Science Behind Habit Based Nutrition | Rdella Training : Strength Training | Functional Exercise | Kettlebells | Fitness

And if you like what you hear, her "Lean Habits" book should be a good read. That author also recommends (as do many people here) "Fat Loss Happens on Mondays."
Click to expand...

Yep. I was in Georgie's private coaching group for a bit over a year. I believe the model has changed a bit now. She and Josh Hillis (the author of Fat Loss on Mondays) have a project together where they co-coach those wanting to improve their nutrition coaching game.
 
I will definitely use your recommendations for the 24kg and the discontinuation of the sit-ups for planks or a mixture of the others.

And I think it might be a good idea to give S&S another read or two.

As for struggling with diet, it's mostly the drastic change that comes with eating paleo and removing grains from my daily meals. I eat sandwiches fairly often and sometimes lack the creativity or motivation to find alternatives.
 
Haha, yeah, sandwiches with no bread are no fun. Rolled meat/cheese, wrap in nori paper, use lettuce for bread... that's about all I could come up with. Simplest thing is to get used to eating meat by itself, and veggies on the side. Roasting vegetables in the oven with a little olive oil and seasoning is really tasty and helps with variety. And if you have a slow cooker that's a great way to prepare meat. Use the search function for slow cooker (or it's probably in this food section); there was a good thread a while back with some great ideas.
 
How much weight have you lost for the several months since you changed your eating habits? What was your heaviest? At what age did you first begin to gain body fat?
 
krg said:
:(

It sucks that humans are programmed to find unhealthy crap like bread so tasty
Click to expand...

Why is bread so unhealthy?

I strongly disagree. A good fermented sour dough is very good for you in my opinion. Mass produced, artificially leavened white bread has little value. Naturally fermented grains are a staple food around the world, since humans developed agriculture and settled in communities.

Bread is one of the keys to human evolution.
 
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Hey Caine,

1. Dieting --> Establishing Sustainable Nutrition Habits

First and foremost, you need to transition from a dieting mindset to ingraining proper nutrition habits into your lifestyle, especially if this relates to enlisting in the Army National Guard.

When mentioning you "have been on this diet before for several months but have recently been struggling to maintain it", have you assessed whether Paleo dieting is sustainable for the long-term and maintaining your weight loss?

"Flexible Dieting" is one concept that allows you to have various foods while aiming to fit your macronutrient (e.g. fat, protein, carbohydrates) ratios (measured in grams or percentages).

Try this concept for at least a month in conjunction with the next step...

2. MyFitnessPal/Fitness Tracker

Using MyFitnessPal or a fitness/calorie tracker will allow you to assess around how many calorie you are reaching daily, so you can adjust it accordingly to your weight loss goal and time frame.

For MyFitnessPal, you first are prompted to enter information including current weight, goal weight, timeframe, and activity level.

A daily calorie goal and macronutrient ratios will then be provided to input your foods and deduct the amount from your daily calories and macronutrients.

3. Goal/Time Frame

Have an exact goal weight and time frame. Write down your goals and aim to recite them daily to ingrain the goal into your subconscious.

Example: "By December 25, 2016, I will have attained a body weight of 185 pounds."

4. Visualization

Visualize yourself achieving your goal in the desired timeframe.

Visualizations should include as much detail as possible, Caine. Try to imagine how you feel, what you are wearing, how you are looking, and so forth.

Here is an excellent video I found on YouTube further explaining visualization:

'Hope this helps, Caine. Please let me know if you have any questions.

-J
 
Just looking back to @Caine 's OP, some suggestions I got from a nutrition pro that really made a difference for me:

Timing of food generally -- eat three meals a day. This one surprised me. I had been eating healthily, but throughout the day, including fruit as a snack, which supposedly would result in an insulin roller coaster. Solution was to abandon even healthy grazing and eat three meals a day.

Timing of carbs -- only in my post workout meal, and that includes no more fruit as a snack during the day. If no training that day, then no high-carb food that day.

Quality of carbs -- good natural stuff with lots of nutrition benefit like sweet potatoes. A serving of fruit is fine. Ezekiel bread mentioned above also fine. Again, only in the post-workout meal. (Half a baked sweet potato topped with some chili may be unconventional but it's good!)

Sleep -- do it.
 
Michael Perry said:
Timing of food generally -- eat three meals a day. This one surprised me. I had been eating healthily, but throughout the day, including fruit as a snack, which supposedly would result in an insulin roller coaster. Solution was to abandon even healthy grazing and eat three meals a day.
Click to expand...
Thumbs up to this aspect of eating. Eat only when really hungry. If we avoid snacking between meals, we will be hungry. Some folks eat only two meals daily, not three.

+1 to every thing you mentioned. Sleep, the unintended causality of modern day living!
 
Yes, Georgie Fear talks about that in the podcast linked above; she also advocates eating 3 meals. Before you eat, be hungry for 30-60 minutes, then eat "enough". So, what's "enough"? Picture a hill ahead of you where you are trying to land -- if you eat too little, you land on the upward slope and your satiety hormones won't keep you satisfied; if you eat TOO much, you land on the downward slope, and that doesn't feel good either. Aim to land on the top each time you eat a meal. The interesting thing to me about this is you really have to tune in, while you're eating, and ask yourself where you are on that hill.
 
Sorry for the late reply! I hadn't realized I had gotten any more responses since my last post.
aciampa said:
How much weight have you lost for the several months since you changed your eating habits? What was your heaviest? At what age did you first begin to gain body fat?
Click to expand...

My weight has fluctuated over the last two years. I was at 240 lbs before using MyFitnessPal and purely focusing on calories consumed and exercise and managed to get down to about 215 before falling off the wagon for who knows what reason and gaining weight once again until I was about 225. I then adopted the Paleo diet and reached 215 again before once again, screwing up. 240 was definitely my heaviest. I would say I have always been heavier compared to most others my age, but I started gaining larger amounts of body fat when I was about 18 or 19.
 
Justin C. said:
Hey Caine,

1. Dieting --> Establishing Sustainable Nutrition Habits

First and foremost, you need to transition from a dieting mindset to ingraining proper nutrition habits into your lifestyle, especially if this relates to enlisting in the Army National Guard.

When mentioning you "have been on this diet before for several months but have recently been struggling to maintain it", have you assessed whether Paleo dieting is sustainable for the long-term and maintaining your weight loss?

"Flexible Dieting" is one concept that allows you to have various foods while aiming to fit your macronutrient (e.g. fat, protein, carbohydrates) ratios (measured in grams or percentages).

Try this concept for at least a month in conjunction with the next step...

2. MyFitnessPal/Fitness Tracker

Using MyFitnessPal or a fitness/calorie tracker will allow you to assess around how many calorie you are reaching daily, so you can adjust it accordingly to your weight loss goal and time frame.

For MyFitnessPal, you first are prompted to enter information including current weight, goal weight, timeframe, and activity level.

A daily calorie goal and macronutrient ratios will then be provided to input your foods and deduct the amount from your daily calories and macronutrients.

3. Goal/Time Frame

Have an exact goal weight and time frame. Write down your goals and aim to recite them daily to ingrain the goal into your subconscious.

Example: "By December 25, 2016, I will have attained a body weight of 185 pounds."

4. Visualization

Visualize yourself achieving your goal in the desired timeframe.

Visualizations should include as much detail as possible, Caine. Try to imagine how you feel, what you are wearing, how you are looking, and so forth.

Here is an excellent video I found on YouTube further explaining visualization:

'Hope this helps, Caine. Please let me know if you have any questions.

-J
Click to expand...


I have been debating for a long time on whether using Paleo was sustainable or returning to a Flexible Dieting routine. I believe that my indecision has definitely contributed to my lack of progress in terms of dieting. Most of your recommendations here were what I had followed when I had the most success but after eventually failing at it, I tried a different method which I eventually also failed at. Now I am trying to start anew once again and I am seeking the best and healthiest route that I can reach my goals in as little time as possible, seeing as I would like to be enlisted by the Fall of this year.
 
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