low carb beginner tips?

How is everyone doing with their program?  Staying disciplined, or back to your old ways?  It's tough guys, but it's really simple.  Just like the old Nike slogan, it's is simple as "Just do it".

If you just do it and stay consistent, you will be very happy with your results in a few months.  I'm completely exhausted right now after working a long stressful day but I'm going to force myself to get my ass up and head to the gym.  Do it guys.

Still going strong. I’m up at 4am every morning. Hitting the treadmill by 4:15. After that, I lift for about an hour and twenty minutes before getting ready and, heading out the door. Six days combination of cardio and weights. Sunday’s just hitting the treadmill.  

Dropped sugar, soda and, all sweets. 
Most carbs are cut out completely. 

185 feels like 135. 255 feels like 185 on the bench. I just wish I had more room in my garage for my leg press machine and, hamstring curl machine. For now, I’m making due with my two dual stations, bench, hex trap bar and, dumbbells 
I ordered a preacher bench. It’ll tuck nicely into a corner that it will stay in. 
Pants are getting loose. 
I’m just over three weeks in. 

Great work Chance, keep it up and you will see an amazing transformation just in time for summer.  People around you will notice and wonder how you did it.

You might want to try lifting first and then doing cardio afterward as it will deplete your glucose first and then you can get into the fat burning stage during cardio after.  But everyone is different and do what feels best.  Most important of all is just keep eating healthy and moving.  

I did not want to workout tonight but I forced myself.  Now I will benefit from better sleep tonight which is another important element in the formula. Sleep is so important, and I sleep much better after I work out.  

Hopefully some of you other guys are going at it too.  

I’m on the treadmill to help warm up and break a sweat before lifting. It’s not ideal but, I tore my supraspinautis doing front arm raises about eight years ago (palm down, bad form).  Being warmed up, I feel it’s safer being warmed up and, helps avoid another injury. My diet is in check. That was my main priority. 

What’s your stack? 
I’m using Optimal Nutrition Gold Standard whey, micronized creatine, BCAA’s and, glutamine. 
 

I know I’m a little late here, but wanted to provide some thoughts and things that have worked well for me. 

Since it sounds like your primary goal is to lose weight, it comes down to simply ensuring you’re in a caloric deficit each week.

It starts with figuring out what your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is. For someone of your stature, I’m assuming you’re going to be somewhere around 2000/2500 calories. If you can find a local facility that does “Inbody” type scans, it would be well worth it to go get a consultation to get your BMR and also a body composition analysis. 

Once you know your BMR, weight loss is as simple as ensuring you’re in a caloric deficit on a daily/weekly basis. This SHOULD be accomplished with both diet AND exercise. 

1) Carbs aren’t bad. Just focus on natural, Whole Foods. Cut out processed and added sugars. Stay away from unhealthy fats. 
2) The “Zone” diet works well. Something like a 40:40:20 split on your macros. 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat. 
3) Use an app like My Fitness Pal to track EVERYTHING you eat to track your calories, macros, and understanding what portion sizing is all about. Do this for several months until you understand what you need to eat to hit your caloric deficit and macro goals. 
4) Your caloric deficit target should be sustainable. Something like 0.25 to 0.5 lbs of fat loss per week is very reasonable, and won’t require that much of a caloric deficit. You’ll get enough food that you shouldn’t feel that hungry. 1lb of body fat is about 3000 calories. So if you want to lose 0.25 to 0.5lbs of fat per week, your weekly caloric deficit needs to be somewhere between 750-1500 calories under your calorie expenditure. Weigh yourself weekly. If you lose less then 0.25lb, you need to increase the caloric deficit. If you lose more than 0.5lbs, you should probably up the caloric intake by a couple hundred calories per week. 
5) Vegetables and leafy greens are your friend. Mostly because you can have a lot of volume with low calories, which helps with satiety. 
6) Try to stick to 3 meals per day, with two snacks, one between breakfast and lunch and the other before dinner (or after dinner if you eat early but never within 2 hours of bedtime)

7) Exercise as much as you can to increase calorie burn. 
8) Meal prep. This is a big one. Having food ready to go for the next few days will lead to better decisions and significantly reduce impulse eating. I always try to stay at least 2 days ahead of myself, with meals cooked and containerized ready to grab and go. Yes it can be a pain and requires time and thought, but this is a huge part of making sure you are prepared to make healthy eating decisions each day.

9) Are you hungry? Or are you just bored or comfort eating? Go for a walk, drink a cup of green tea, do some light stretching for 15 minutes. The brain can trick you into thinking you’re hungry even when your body doesn’t need the fuel. 
10) Cheat days/meals. They are going to happen, and it’s fine. But don’t make it a habit. If you have a bad meal or day, get right back to it the next meal or day. 
11). High intensity, short duration workouts (HIT) promote calorie burn exponentially faster than walking, running, or lifting weights. Try to get at least 3 HIT workout in per week. CrossFit has been great for me. 
12) high quality, low fat  protein. Lean meat. Chicken breast, 95% lean beef or bison, white fish, tuna, lean ground Turkey or chicken. Don’t overlook beans and legumes as a staple in your diet. 
13) Get in the habit of reading product labels before buying it. Buy the healthiest versions of each product you can afford. You’d be surprised how many “healthy” foods have added sugar, high in fat, and made of lots of processed elements. 
14) It’s going to take time. Don’t get discouraged. Focus on long term sustainable results. Don’t get crazy with your diet or else it’s going to lead to yo-yo effect. 


Best of luck. You CAN do it. Just comes down to planning and discipline. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. 

Still going at it. Hope the rest of you guys are. 

I'm 6'3" 205lbs.  Been eating only one meal a day for over 40 years.  Very meat centric but always at least one green veg and bread of some sort.  Not a dessert fan except around Christmas.

My weight varies very little.  I shit like clockwork every morning.  I have the energy to get shit done.  Think I'll just stick with what's been working.  

My problem is snacking , I started this new thing when ever I crave junk food. I give myself permission to eat what it is I'm craving if I first drink 3 bottles of water. You'd be surprised the number of times you forget about that snack after drinking that much water.

Anyone still doing this? I’m down to 222lbs from 251 lbs in January. 

Nice job! Keep it up!

I’m on my 2nd straight year of eating clean and I’ve never been fitter! 

I’m not going to offer food tips as the awesome Vital members have that covered. I am 6’ 3” and was up to 205 and wanted to drop to 190. When I’m overweight it’s all n my belly, which is terrible for your health. I got going on a APP called “my fitness pal”. It’s basically a calorie counting app where you enter everything you eat/drink throughout your day. It has graphs to see your fet, carb, sugar etc intake. At first I started out on an approx 2,000 calorie a day diet with an allotment of 58 grams of sugar. I lowered my intake to a 1,500 calorie a day and 28 grams of sugar. Once I got to those numbers steadily my weight dropped down to 188 within 6 weeks and my belly is as flat as it was in my 20’s. I also feel much better getting the sugar down. I no longer go for a daily Starbucks or any sugary drink. It’s kind of a fun way to keep an eye out on what’s going into your system. Best of luck to you. Obesity can kill you as I’m sure you’re aware. My brother is 65 and weighs 300ibs and his life is pretty pitiful as he hardly moves any more. It’s sad to see

Is anyone taking nutritional/meal timing with workouts into consideration?
 

I’m down to 211 now. I haven’t had a soda since January and, only drink water and, coffee. My inability to hit legs hard (damn knees) has hindered the speed of which I’d  normally be able to lean out. Regardless, I’m hoping to be down to 195 - 200 lbs by December. 
 

I miss being able to eat anything and, not gain weight like when I was younger lol. 

You & I are basically the same size. I got a stomach virus years ago, and literally didn't have the urge to eat, if I even looked at food I would almost start puking. So I fasted for 4 days, until I felt like my stomach and body could/would process anything. Only thing I had was water, and sparingly at that throughout the day. On day 3 I felt as if I had come out of a fog, I could hear better, see better, seemed to have way more energy later in the day. It was weird to be honest, but I actually noticed it. Colors seem brighter, maybe I was dying, but I listen to JRE a lot, all these people he has on from time to time that talk about fasting, and the benefits to it etc etc. I didn't go into not eating for 4 days as a test, it's just what I did to feel better. The weird thing is I didn't feel hungry either, maybe because whatever virus I had played mind games or my body was just wanting a reset, but it seemed to work. I ate some tail mix at the end of the 4th day and started driving into these different diets etc. Also loaded Noom and followed their plan set for me, as well as mixed in fasting twice a week. I switched over to the eating more red meats, and green vegies, water, and no more than what Noom had listed for me in caloric intake, which was 1800 calories daily, also LOTS of water, I would drink 1/2 my body weight in ounces daily. I lost 50lbs in a matter of 15 weeks. The fasting seem to help too with energy levels, don't know how to explain it, but that's what it did for me. I would fast Tuesday & Thursday, eat nothing, those days, just water or water with lemon. I did this Noom App for the 6 months I signed up for & it worked for me. I got down to 240, and maintained for a while at that weight, then as my boys got older, the more the diet switched back to the norm for what they would eat. Ah to be a teenager again, stuff your face with whatever and maintain skin & bones.  I wish you luck, it gives me motivation to get back to it. 

Some sources I used:

Noom.com

Liondiet.com

Hubermanlab.com

100% agree cook it fresh yourself.

Read labels and see what is in there. Processed foods are filled with sugar to make it “taste better”

Catch sepsis like I did and it makes you loose 30 lbs in 2 weeks. No food sounds good ant anll and you have to force yourself to eat. You eat smaller portions and feel full.

Speaking about portions …. we are all taught to eat way too much! Read labels and only eat only the suggested serving size.

I’m down ~6 lbs since January. Slowly starting to dial the overall caloric intake back up to find the ideal composition.