<p>Russell I'm assuming you are male so if I'm wrong correct me.
I appreciate your breakdown of my diet...I know it isn't a good diet, but I love to eat. I'm not trying to be too critical or anything, but I don't know if you understand how women eat. We eat emotionally and during certain emotional cycles it is very hard to control what I want to eat.
Also I don't want to be toned, I just want to lose some of the excess weight I have gained. I don't even necessarily want to lose all of it because some of it has enhanced my figure.
I just got back from swimming...it was really relaxing but it was ridiculous how out of shape I was. Not to mention my swimsuit was much to snug!</p>
<p>Who needs to work out at the gym, just get a wii fit</p>
<p>Russell I'm assuming you are male so if I'm wrong correct me.
I appreciate your breakdown of my diet...I know it isn't a good diet, but I love to eat. I'm not trying to be too critical or anything, but I don't know if you understand how women eat. We eat emotionally and during certain emotional cycles it is very hard to control what I want to eat.
Also I don't want to be toned, I just want to lose some of the excess weight I have gained. I don't even necessarily want to lose all of it because some of it has enhanced my figure.
I just got back from swimming...it was really relaxing but it was ridiculous how out of shape I was. Not to mention my swimsuit was much to snug!</p>
<p>I'm telling you right now that you will not lose any fat eating like that. You are a woman, you have little testosterone and your body actually wants to store fat. If you want to lose the weight, you're going to have to give it reason to, which means limiting your calories and eating in a way that prevents further storage of fat. </p>
<p>That emotion thing is just another excuse to me. Regardless of your emotions, you have control over what you eat. I get ridiculous cravings for unhealthy food that I have control over. I have a sister that eats twice as strict as I do, so don't use your gender as an excuse. You don't seem to want to lose the fat very much, as eating seems more important to you. I know your kind too well. Good luck, I'm out.</p>
<p>Wow I just read this entire post and I'm shocked at some of the responses. </p>
<p>Excited, I know this might seem a little personal but are you on any kind of hormonal birth control? Because the estrogen in those contraceptives affects the part of the brain that tells you how hungry or full you are and it makes it a lot more difficult to control what you eat when. </p>
<p>I started on BC last summer and then switched types because I was having bad side effects and then just decided to come off of it in December completely because I couldn't control what I was eating anymore. I went from weighing 115 to 125 when I was on it and I've finally gotten the weight off now.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>I actually started on bc during Thanksgivng break...which I guess would make a lot of sense with my weight gain. Now it seems like an excuse, for my weight gain, but bc is really good for my skin, so I'm hesitant about quitting it.
Russell, you are right that food is very important to me, but there are ways for chubby women like myself to lose a few pounds even if it is just by walking or cutting out a dessert a day. Also shouldn't my body's tendency to store fat be a matter of being more lenient on me rather than a reason to make me work harder to lose weight. I will never have a hard stomach and I don't mind that. I think as a women it is better for me to have a little extra weight than too little weight.
Russell I have read some of your other posts and it seems like you think women should be stick thin. However there are guys like my boyfriend who say that my bigger body is much better than my smaller body.</p>
<p>I never gained while in school... in fact I've decreased my body fat % and gained a lot of muscle. I'm pretty lean ;)</p>
<p>Here's what I eat everyday pretty much when I eat in the dining hall. I'm unlike most people in that I like to stick to a routine with little variation (the variation comes when I eat out). It took me some time to figure out what exactly I want in my salad, sandwiches, and wraps, so once I did, I crave them over and over again.</p>
<p>Meal 1 (either right after waking up [around noon], or on days that I work out, 1 hour after doing HIIT):
Spring Mix salad with croutons (moderate amount), red beans, garganzo beans, tofu, 1 spoon of crispy noodles, raisins, sometimes hummus on the side, no dressing.</p>
<p>Wrap or 2 slices of wheat bread + chicken breast with lettuce, onions, green peppers. Ketchup and mustard. No cheese or sauce.</p>
<p>Desert: Lipton tea with soymilk</p>
<p>Meal 2 (while in class, around 3):
Protein bar but only kinds with low sugar levels</p>
<p>Meal 3 (dinner time, around 6):
same as meal 1</p>
<p>For dessert, I allow myself sometimes to eat fruits or yogurt with GoLeanCrunch Kashi cereal. Sometimes a few pieces of marshmallows.</p>
<p>Meal 4 (around 9):
varies a lot but usually something with a lot of protein and low in sugar </p>
<p>Meal 5 (around 12):
same as meal 4</p>
<p>When I eat out, I usually go to Cosi (and get only hummus&veggies, Turkey, or Sesame Ginger Chicken) or this place in Downtown Chicago called Pockets (and make my own salad with lots of protein). I don't really like anything else. Most options in Panera, Corner Bakery, Potbelly etc. are unhealthy.</p>
<p>Also, like I said, every other day right after waking up, I do HIIT (high-intensity interval training) for 20 mins, lift, and then wait 1 hour before eating my first meal of the day.</p>
<p>I change up my routine a bit so my body doesn't get used to the same foods and exercise habit. On that note, I think it's okay to indulge occasionally, but by "indulge," I mean consuming no more than 400 calories above one's daily recommended intake once a week. I also pay attention to the daily recommended fat intake and make sure I don't go above it or go far below it (since fat is essential). Absolutely no junk food here (I wouldn't consider my selection of protein bars junk, and even then, I limit my protein bar consumption to 1 bar a day since they're usually high in saturated fats).</p>
<p>Oh yea, notice I eat 5 times a day... I get hungry every 3 hours or so (I think that's the way most bodies are if you listen to your natural cues and not eat other than when you're hungry). I love the feeling of my stomach rumbling and then eating just enough to satisfy it. Because of my eating and exercise habits, I feel "clean."</p>
<p>Russell, you are right that food is very important to me, but there are ways for chubby women like myself to lose a few pounds even if it is just by walking or cutting out a dessert a day. Also shouldn't my body's tendency to store fat be a matter of being more lenient on me rather than a reason to make me work harder to lose weight.
Russell I have read some of your other posts and it seems like you think women should be stick thin. However there are guys like my boyfriend who say that my bigger body is much better than my smaller body.</p>
<p>Your body's tendency to store fat is actually reason that you have to be as strict as possible. Women generally have a harder time losing fat than men, but that isn't an excuse for men to slack off, either. Both should be as strict as they can.</p>
<p>I don't think that women should be anything. I wasn't trying to preach; I was just stating what I find attractive and ideal. In that other thread, I was just pointing out ideals. If you think that Jennie Garth's body is the limit of what I'll settle for, you're wrong. I've been extremely attracted to girls that I'd consider a bit chubby because they had other things to offer. Everyone has to settle for less that their ideal - that's reality. However, I do value fitness a lot in women as it's such a big part of my own life.</p>
<p>By responding to you in this thread, I wasn't trying to get you to be thin and become my opinion of what's ideal. I was just trying to help you reach your own goal.</p>
<p>What are your eating and exercise habits like, Russell?</p>
<p>Right now I'm getting around 4500 calories a day right now, because I'm bulking. I eat mostly oats, beans, milk, peanut butter, tuna, chicken, eggs, 12 grain bread, whole wheat pasta, rice, various lunch meats, cheese, bananas, and water.</p>
<p>Workout routine... no point getting deep into it. I have a 4 day split with chest/calves, back/traps/rear delts, tris/bis/forearms, and legs/front and lateral delts. Ab training is about 3x a week.</p>
<p>When I'm cutting, my diet is a lot different, and I do a lot of cardio.</p>
<p>I PMed you, btw.</p>
<p>excited, I know you say you don't want to be toned, but judging from what you're saying you do want to be toned. If your body is fit, and I'm not talking six-packs or hard stomachs here, it allows you to intake a lot more calories than you can otherwise and maintain or drop weight. Look at Russell's diet - 4500 calories. When I used to run competitively I'd cram about 3500 every day. My running weight was ~140 and I was pretty thin for a guy. </p>
<p>Truth is, your position is fairly common, especially so for HS girl swimmers who don't continue on to college. All that activity and fitness allowed you to burn off tons of calories so you could eat as much as you want without it staying anywhere. But then you're off to college, where the pool is often 15-30 minutes away and without team obligations, most never find the motivation to go. Compound this with many swimmers not enjoying running or jogging and it gets doubly worse. One of my best friends in college actually explicitly told me she was on the swim team just so she couldn't flake out of exercising and thus could eat freely. Metabolism slowing + calorie intake staying level or increasing (beer) is a bad combination.</p>
<p>If you want to eat what you want, then you have to work out or get regular exercise. Simple as that. You don't just "lose excess weight" without changing your eating or exercising habits. Something has to budge.</p>
<p>Being toned doesn't necessarily mean a six pack and massive biceps. Do really light lifts with your arms to keep some of the flab away. High amounts of reps with lower weights will not make you look bigger but will keep you lookign healthy. The most important part of being healthy is your diet, which russell helped out with.</p>
<p>It is often looked over by many people, but if you are working out but not eating correctly, you will not notice gains like you should. A proper diet is probably the most important part to working out. It doesn't mean you can't have another candy bar, but make sure you get your complex carbs around 1-2 hours before working out, then afterwards eat protein so your body can regenerate its broken down muscles.</p>
<p>diet is definitely the #1 thing.</p>
<p>I'd just like to point out that by eating 4500 calories a day, I'm actually trying to gain weight here. I'm eating above maintenance calories. I actually have to force feed myself a lot of what I eat.</p>