Nutrition

Red.Apricot

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#1
So my boyfriend is trying to lose weight. He's seeing a doctor, but they just told him to diet. For the last week, he's been writing down everything he eats, without trying to change his diet at all--just to get a baseline for how many calories, and things he's taking in. He's averaging 1500cal/day. That's fewer than Elsie eats, and she weighs 38lbs. He used to run every other day (1-3 miles), but he's stopped doing that because his knee is hurting him too much (he broke it when he was 16 and it wasn't set), but he's been biking every few days, and he lifts weights every day.

He's 6'1 and weighs 275lbs.

Basically, I'm wondering if there's any websites with good nutrition/dieting information that he can look at before his next doctor's appointment, so he can go in with educated questions.

I've been reading quite a bit about low-carb diets, and they seem to help a lot of people who are in a similar boat as him--low calorie intake, high weight, trouble losing it. Are there any good websites out there? Or even journal articles, because I think I still have online access to them through my school.

Googling gets me so much contradictory information, it's mind boggling.

Again, he's going to discuss all this with his doctor at his next appointment, but we're just looking for some information to take with him.

I'm not even sure that dieting is what he needs to be doing, because it can't be the case that he needs to eat less, right? I'm here with him during the day, and he isn't lying when he says that's how much he eats.

If you read all that... :hail:
 
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#2
:eek: I am 5'4" and I eat around 1500 cals a days to maintain my weight at ~100lbs.

You are going to get all kinds of contradictory advice here as well :D, but my first question would be what is he eating? Is he getting enough protein, veggies, healthy fats and the right kind of carbs?

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_simple_diet

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/4_reasons_youre_not_lean

Also, if he's weight training while starving himself, he's most definitely not going to build muscle or see results. So, IMO, he should waaayy up the calories, lift heavy weights regularly, and introduce some high-intensity interval training.

I'd research more on bodybuilding forums as well, there are so many awesome body transformation stories out there. I also feel that most doctors are absolutely clueless when it comes to nutrition (just like most vets are). I might research personal trainers/nutrition counselors in your area, but you also have to be careful that they actually know their stuff as well.
 

Barb04

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#3
I'm agreeing with too little calories. You don't want more calories to come from junk food, but he does need more to eat. If you don't provide enough calories, your body feels it's being depleted and your metabolism slows down.
 

MericoX

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#4
I really love using MyFitnessPal for losing weight. It tells me the calories I should eat a day, as well as a few other things.

I too agree it sounds like he may not be eating enough calories for his body to lose weight. (I just played around on my profile and changed it to a 6'1, 275lb man, and it suggested for 2 lbs a week to eat 1850 calories/day).
 

Red.Apricot

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#5
Thanks everyone! I do all of the grocery shopping, so I know I have to be involved in the planning of all of this, but it's kind of overwhelming.

He's lost about 20lbs in the last year, and he's gone down three shirt sizes. The major change was that he moved in with me, and stopped eating so much fast food (his mom would get take-out 3-7 nights/week). He probably does need a lot more protein.

He was going to try to get a referral from his doctor to a nutritionist that would be covered by his insurance.
 

stardogs

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#6
My DH was in a similar position in college after an injury. He swears by a program called the Hacker's Diet - uses math and such so it really appealed to his engineering background. He lost 70lbs in a year! Dunno if that sort of thing might appeal to your bf, but figured I'd throw it out there. :)
 

Red.Apricot

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I think that would, actually. I got him a mechanical engineering textbook from the 40s, and he went through it and did all of the example problems for fun. Thanks!
 
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#8
I was in the same kind of situation until I bit the bullet and cut any gluten out of my life. It has made a HUGE difference.

From there it was an easy step to cut carbs way back. White starchy food is evil for some of us ;)
 

Red.Apricot

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#9
He's been thinking about cutting back on carbs and upping his protein and stuff for a while now. It's hard because I live on carbs (mm pasta) so I'm not sure how we'll work having that stuff in the house.
 

jenv101

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#10
:eek: I am 5'4" and I eat around 1500 cals a days to maintain my weight at ~100lbs.

You are going to get all kinds of contradictory advice here as well :D, but my first question would be what is he eating? Is he getting enough protein, veggies, healthy fats and the right kind of carbs?

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_simple_diet

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/4_reasons_youre_not_lean

Also, if he's weight training while starving himself, he's most definitely not going to build muscle or see results. So, IMO, he should waaayy up the calories, lift heavy weights regularly, and introduce some high-intensity interval training.

I'd research more on bodybuilding forums as well, there are so many awesome body transformation stories out there. I also feel that most doctors are absolutely clueless when it comes to nutrition (just like most vets are). I might research personal trainers/nutrition counselors in your area, but you also have to be careful that they actually know their stuff as well.
100% agree with this! Men usually need more calories than women, due to their metabolism and muscle mass - I'm 5'9"ish, not exactly small, but smaller than him and I maintain around 2000-2200 calories. So, he's not eating enough for sure. The key is definitely in eating whole, unprocessed foods and keeping yourself active.
 

Taqroy

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#12
I have absolutely nothing useful to add to this thread. But I went and looked up what my daily caloric intake should be (5'5" and 140ish lbs) and came back with 1900. I eat about 1200/day, not restricting. Even on days when I eat til I feel like exploding I don't think I hit 1900. o_O I don't know how to feel about this. Lol.
 
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#13
For sure--I'm 5'9 and ~118-122, and I eat 2,000-2,600/day depending. He says he's just not hungry.
Perfect example of how impossible it is to use tables and statistics for this! Metabolisms are so individual, i.e., I'm 5'10" and even when I was bodybuilding, working out for HOURS every day, if I ate that many calories a day on any sort of routine basis I'd have my own show on Lifetime :eek:
 
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#14
I have absolutely nothing useful to add to this thread. But I went and looked up what my daily caloric intake should be (5'5" and 140ish lbs) and came back with 1900. I eat about 1200/day, not restricting. Even on days when I eat til I feel like exploding I don't think I hit 1900. o_O I don't know how to feel about this. Lol.
you should feel how you feel :)

Charts and estimates are pretty much worthless when trying to apply to an individual. that's the bottom line.
 

RD

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#15
PROTEIN!

Something I've found is that building muscle, and not so much watching calories at first (within reason, of course) leads to better weight loss down the road. Often times protein-dense foods have a moderate amount of calories so a lot of people avoid them, but I really think it's important to eat them -- especially if he's working out.

I'm 6' and fatter than I'd like to admit, but my limit is about 1400 calories a day WHEN I'm working out. If I'm being sedentary? Probably under 1000 a day.
 

Red.Apricot

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#16
So, the past couple days he's started eating lots more protein, and a vegetable with every meal. He says he feels better.

He joined a couple body building forums and is lurking around, but he feels frustrated because we don't own a weight set, and aren't really in a position to buy one right now.

My mom was briefly into this home-gym thing where you make your own weights and stuff out of household items, but I can't find the website. It had some cool ideas.

Perfect example of how impossible it is to use tables and statistics for this! Metabolisms are so individual, i.e., I'm 5'10" and even when I was bodybuilding, working out for HOURS every day, if I ate that many calories a day on any sort of routine basis I'd have my own show on Lifetime :eek:
My sister and I are both like this, and we're told our dad was too, until he was about 35.

I've started biking (go me!) and doing yoga (which isn't exactly high impact, but at least it gets me moving), and that's got me eating better--more protein, less potato chips.
 
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#18
you don't need a weight set, you have a body, use it :)

go to www.monkeybargym.com and order their jungle gym. It's about 70 bucks or was last time I got one and get to work. It's all you need. The rest is just fluff. It doesn't cost anything to do a push up or a squat or lunge, or pistol.
 

Red.Apricot

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#19
you don't need a weight set, you have a body, use it :)

go to www.monkeybargym.com and order their jungle gym. It's about 70 bucks or was last time I got one and get to work. It's all you need. The rest is just fluff. It doesn't cost anything to do a push up or a squat or lunge, or pistol.
That's what I told him. There's a park with monkey bars and all that good stuff (and a nice track!) two blocks from our house. I've been trying to get him to go there with me--I walk to the park every couple days anyway with Elsie, because the field has a grid painted on it (for soccer) and I use it for heeling practice, because I can't walk a straight line. :rofl1:
 

Doberluv

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#20
So, the past couple days he's started eating lots more protein, and a vegetable with every meal. He says he feels better.

He joined a couple body building forums and is lurking around, but he feels frustrated because we don't own a weight set, and aren't really in a position to buy one right now.

My mom was briefly into this home-gym thing where you make your own weights and stuff out of household items, but I can't find the website. It had some cool ideas.



My sister and I are both like this, and we're told our dad was too, until he was about 35.

I've started biking (go me!) and doing yoga (which isn't exactly high impact, but at least it gets me moving), and that's got me eating better--more protein, less potato chips.
Hey! Tell him to be frustrated no more. I've got the perfect solution. I could borrow him for a couple of weeks. I've got a big landscaping project in the planning stages. There's lots of weights doing that. There's stone patio and wall work, digging up sod, hauling in dirt and mulch, lifting trees and scrubs out of their pots and planting them. Even the yard work I'm doing now is strengthening my muscles. Send him this-a-way! :rofl1:
 

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