help with life change

Hello all,

My name is Brian, and i have been under weight all my life.  At 6ft, i weighed 130-135 with a 28-29 in waist from about 9th grade till i graduated college in 04.

Since graduating i have shot up to 155-160, all in my belly, pushing me up to a 32-34 waist.  I recently turned 30, and have decided its time to make some changes.  For most of my life, i have not treated my body very well, always skipping b-fast, and alot of the time lunch, and in college, doing alot of drinking, and partying, and not alot of eating.  I quit smoking first of 09, and only drink occasionally.

I feel that the nutritional/fitness components are all that i am missing to complete my change.  I do not feel overweight, in fact, my goal is to gain muscle mass, i just feel out of proportion and very self aware of this belly i now have.  Its hard for me to see myself now with a belly, knowing how i looked with a six-pack (though this time, i want it the healthy way, not the starving way)!

I have a treadmill, and a bowflex in my basement, as well as heavy, and speed bags.  I am looking for advice on how to best go about gaining mass, while burning my belly, and toning the rest of my body.

I need exercise as well as nutritional advise, i want to gain, but gain with healthy food, and preferably without protein shakes, they play hell on my stomach.  I was just at the Dr. for a full physical just before my 30th birthday, and all my bloodwork came back good, and i am perfectly healthy, nothing tested too high or too low.  All i have is GERD, which keeps me from eating certain foods that aggravate my stomach.

I would be grateful for any and all help, all previous efforts to accomplish this goal have failed.

thanks,

Brian

You could do worse than check out this site which is full of great information on nutrition and how to acheive a healthy diet.  http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/  Basically, any and all good, wholesome foods are worth eating when you need to gain mass.  Carbohydrates, proteins and fats... not simply proteins.  The aim is to generate a little spare energy and then turn that into muscle with exercise. 

To maintain your weight with a light level of exercise I estimate you need about 2500 cals a day.  So aim for a little higher than that... say 2700-2800.  Then you'll need to map out your food day so that you're getting three main meals and some snacks in between...   The CC food log is a good planning tool.  Enter the foods and quantities you plan to eat and you can quickly see if you're at the right calorie level.  Press the 'analysis' button and you can see if things balance up reasonably well.

To lose the belly simply choose plenty of wholefoods, high-fibre foods,  base your meals around fresh vegetables and drink enough plain water.    The foods to avoid are fizzy drinks, sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol and foods that have been heavily processed.  This is because abdominal 'fat' often includes a lot of retained fluid.  This happens if you're dehydrated and the 'foods to avoid' list will dehydrate you very quickly. 

Good luck

What is a sample day now for you? I think in the start to preplan is key so you get into a healthy routine. Very key to have proper meals and snacks meaning no skipping any. It sets you up to feel too hungry and choose the wrong items. You can have treat foods like cake of course but you want to also get in adequate nutrients. Think of each meal and snack as carbs/protein/fat and produce/dairy. So for example Breakfast could be a bowl of oatmeal,yogurt,banana with peanut butter etc etc. I am not that kowledgable about exercise but I would think a combo of cardio/weights and not extreme. Picking activities you like may help commit. As for the GERD I would look online or ask your doctor on foods to avoid. Good job for wanting to get healthier.

A sample day for me now is up at 8, at work by 9.  Only coffee till around 1-2pm sometimes 3, then lunch, usually pre-pack, processed,  total crap food.  Things like souffers meals, fridays frozen potato skins, chips and salsa.

Back to work after lunch off at 5 (unless its tax season), dinner around 7 or so (depends on when i was able to eat lunch), if its tax season, dinner may not be till 9 or 10, sometimes later.  i am trying to at least make my own dinner more, i could tell my body/general health has been deteriorating, so i am trying to make myself better things for dinner, instead of stopping for fast food or eating another box meal for dinner.

you are right about going to long, then just being so hungry i feel justified in eating whatever i want.  but i really am just starting out here to learn what is and isnt good. 

I already know what foods to avoid for the GERD, they are different for most people, but i am learning my things.  Good thing is i cant drink pop with it, it kills me, like drinking lava, wants to burn a hole right thru me! 

i dont like sweets, like pie and cake, ice cream every now and then, for me its the salty things, chips and dip, chips and salsa. 

i have cut out all chips except tortilla chips, and fresh made salsa (not processed), and i want to start getting up earlier and getting a workout in on my bowflex.  and i think i really need to start eating breakfast, its hard though.

If the only thing you sort out is getting a regular, healthy breakfast this week then that would be a serious improvement over where you are now.  Eating nothing from 7-9pm the night before until 3pm the next day means up to 20 hours when your body is starved of nourishment.  That has all kinds of implications on your weight, your eating habits and your health.

You don't have to eat a heavy breakfast initially, you can break it down a little.   A fresh fruit smoothie is fairly easy to drink first thing in the morning and if you combine it with something like a home-made BLT made with lean bacon and wholemeal bread to eat when you get to work that would be agood start to the day.

Prepare packed lunches the night before so that you're not resorting to ready-made stuff.  (They're quite trendy these days now that everyone's economising)  A good tip is to pack plenty of snacks in the box that you can graze on if mealtimes tend to shift a little.  Nuts and raisins, for example are a good energy-dense, nutrient dense option.  Bananas are a good slow-release food.  But do make time for lunch at a reasonable hour.

If supper tends to be rushed a good idea is to make bulk quantities of healthy meals at weekends and freeze them up in portions for during the week.  For example, I made a big amount of Chilli Con Carne at the weekend which has gone into the freezer in smaller pots to be defrosted, heated through and served with some pitta bread and salad when I've got less time....  Means you're less likely to resort to more fast food.

Takes a little effort an planning to achieve what you stated at the outset but, once you're in a better eating habit, it becomes second-nature.