[mrdamo]

I have been losing weight for past two years now..going from 130kg(286pound) to 90kg(198pound).. But as most people do, I've hit a plateau..

I'm doing the same thing i've done for past two years, lots of cardio with weights mixed in.

Eating salad/fruit with around 5-7L(1.32gallons on average) of water everyday, 30-60mins of cardio a day(if I can). Each day i take "nature's way Metabolift Max Strength" with each main meal. But when I do big workout I also take "Horleys Ripped Factors Xtreme" Have just started adding in 2-3 protein shakes between main meals.

I would like to know if there is anything else that I can do/take(stonger supplement?) for an edge to increase workout or whatever to lose that little bit more off the stomach, i know you can't single out the stomach to loss fat from..


Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Damo

Couple pics of my transformation of last 2 years

[onelife]

If you could post up your diet it would be a huge help brotha

[t-bone2]

Also, your cardio - do you do steady state every day or mix it up with some interval type work? How many beats-per-minute are you typically at during your carbio sessions?

What do you mean by "weights mixed in?"

[mrdamo]

Typical daily intake(what it's been for past two weeks)

Breakfast - bowl of nutri-grain
snack - water, Banana or two with Lo-Carb Protein Revival
Lunch - water Dish of vegies with chicken or ham
Snack - water Banana or two with another Protein Revival shake
Dinner - Steak with vegies or couple of sandwiches(if craving overpowers me)

This is what intake would be if I can really control my urges and don't let the hunger overpower me. The 5-7L of water is spread out during the day put in with the snacks and lunch. The food intake each week varies on how strong i am, i may have little greasy meat instead of healthy lunch, one or two servings of subway, and have more bread than i really should. I'm trying to cut out as much bread as i possible can(i almost go through 2 loafs a week...wholemeal and/or grain bread)

My cardio sessions contain 30mins on cross trainer and if i have enough time i try to have a little break and then do another 20-3mins. I can really only do cross trainer due to recently getting disc protrusion in L4/L5, so can't jog or do anything that compresses the body. It's interval training on X-trainer(4mins low, 4high..so on for 30mins)heart rate is around 130-170, it used to get around 185-190 when i just went nuts, but now i'm trying different approach and gettin heart-rate in the target rate.

My weights consisted of 1-2 sessions a week with PT, consist of core exercises. ie. seated row, lat pull downs, pullups, squats, bench. I was doing a very large amount with leg press, but can't anymore due to injury.

[Rodja]

The best thing for you to do is going to be cycling your carb intake. Your physical situation makes an increased training load a bad idea, so tinker with your kcals.

One thing I want to stress is that you need more protein with breakfast.

[mrdamo]

Can you explain more on what you mean by "Your physical situation makes an increased training load a bad idea, so tinker with your kcals."

How much protein for breakfast, should i just have a protein shake itself aswell or other foods?

One thing that I don't know how to do is count cals/kjouls...how do you go about this?

I also have "redbak - wpi" is this good for another source of protein?

[Rodja]

Originally Posted by mrdamo

Can you explain more on what you mean by "Your physical situation makes an increased training load a bad idea, so tinker with your kcals."

How much protein for breakfast, should i just have a protein shake itself aswell or other foods?

One thing that I don't know how to do is count cals/kjouls...how do you go about this?

I also have "redbak - wpi" is this good for another source of protein?

Since you have a bad back, it is not a good idea to workout more. A basic way to count kcals is 4kcals for carbs and protein and 9kcals for fats. I am not familiar with that particular protein supplement, but if it is whey protein isolate, then, yes, it si a good source of protein.

[mannip23]

Originally Posted by mrdamo

Typical daily intake(what it's been for past two weeks)

Breakfast - bowl of nutri-grain
snack - water, Banana or two with Lo-Carb Protein Revival
Lunch - water Dish of vegies with chicken or ham
Snack - water Banana or two with another Protein Revival shake
Dinner - Steak with vegies or couple of sandwiches(if craving overpowers me)

This is what intake would be if I can really control my urges and don't let the hunger overpower me. The 5-7L of water is spread out during the day put in with the snacks and lunch. The food intake each week varies on how strong i am, i may have little greasy meat instead of healthy lunch, one or two servings of subway, and have more bread than i really should. I'm trying to cut out as much bread as i possible can(i almost go through 2 loafs a week...wholemeal and/or grain bread)

My cardio sessions contain 30mins on cross trainer and if i have enough time i try to have a little break and then do another 20-3mins. I can really only do cross trainer due to recently getting disc protrusion in L4/L5, so can't jog or do anything that compresses the body. It's interval training on X-trainer(4mins low, 4high..so on for 30mins)heart rate is around 130-170, it used to get around 185-190 when i just went nuts, but now i'm trying different approach and gettin heart-rate in the target rate.

My weights consisted of 1-2 sessions a week with PT, consist of core exercises. ie. seated row, lat pull downs, pullups, squats, bench. I was doing a very large amount with leg press, but can't anymore due to injury.

First off I have a similar story to you bro. In Jan of 06 I was 19 years old and 300lbs, and I am now 6'2 180 and under 10% bf. You have to train like an animal but diet is by far the most important part. I see a lot of things wrong with your diet, and I am really suprised you did not hit a stopping point after losing 20lbs. First off get rid of the nutrigrain and the banana's. I have never heard of nutrigrain ceral but if its anything like the bar's its loaded with high fructose corn syrup one of this worse things for you. Most ceral is loaded with process sugar. If you need ceral the Kashi go lean is acceptable. If you are tying to lose weight fruit is something you usually want to stay away from. You want complex low GI carbs. Banana's are the worst fruit as far as simple sugars and high gi carbs. If you have to eat fruit, eat it first thing in the morning or right after weights. Apples and blueberries are two of your better choices here.
You need to be eating 6-7 meals a day. This will make your metabolism a fat burning muscle sparing machine Roughly eat every 2 1/2-3 hours. Don't be afraid to eat healthy fats. YOU NEED FAT TO BURN FAT OR ELSE YOUR BODY WILL STORE IT!! You need to get between 7-12 g's of fat a meal. Half should come for lean animal sources, and the other half should come from fish oils, flax, and nuts

Here is a simple guideline, put one of each protien and complex carbs together for meal 6-7 times a day plus add veggies in for three or four meals. Cut your carb out either in the 2nd to last meal or last meal and put a veggie in its place. (Stay away from carrots late in evening though)

Protiens (try to make a serving that you get atleast 40 grams of protien each meal)
extra lean ground meat
Chicken Breast
Turkey Breast
All seafood and fish
egg whites (egg beaters)
lean cuts of steak (top rpund and top sirlon)
eye of round roast
low fat or ff cottage (great to eat before bed has a lot cassien protien which is slow burning)

Complex Carb Sources
old fashion oats (the best thing for you to be eating)
plain yams
plain sweet potato
hot whole grain ceral
brown rice
any bread that is 100% whole grain
100% wheat pasta
some fruits and plain white potatoes are acceptable but they are not as good as the ones above

Throw in a nice cheat meal once a week for a reward and to give a shock to your body. After about 2- 3 months of eating like this your metabolism will be out of controll. The pounds will melt off once this happens.

[mrdamo]

rodja, this is the redbak product.. http://www.redbak.net/pages/wpi.html

cereal is "just right original" got mixed up there..

The thing i'm noticing with the protein is that if I have to much it just goes straight through me..This is from the shakes, would it be different due to eating solids?

mannip23, you speak of healthy fats..What is classed as that? I'm always getting mixed up with these poly or mono-unsaturated and so on..

[mannip23]

Originally Posted by mrdamo

rodja, this is the redbak product.. Redbak is one of Australia’s best known Sports Nutrition brands, number one protein powder sales

cereal is "just right original" got mixed up there..

The thing i'm noticing with the protein is that if I have to much it just goes straight through me..This is from the shakes, would it be different due to eating solids?

mannip23, you speak of healthy fats..What is classed as that? I'm always getting mixed up with these poly or mono-unsaturated and so on..

get 70% of your fats from animal sources The other 30% should come from these sources
omega 3's
flax seeds fish (salmon, herring, mackerel)
sardines
Foods high in Omega 6 include:
sunflower seeds
vegetable oils (corn, sunflower, sesame, soybean, safflower)
pumpkin seeds
mono-unsaturated
Foods high in mono-unsaturated fats:
olive oil
avocado
nuts (macadamia, peanuts, almonds, pecans, pistachios)

[Rodja]

Originally Posted by mrdamo

rodja, this is the redbak product.. http://www.redbak.net/pages/wpi.html

cereal is "just right original" got mixed up there..

The thing i'm noticing with the protein is that if I have to much it just goes straight through me..This is from the shakes, would it be different due to eating solids?

mannip23, you speak of healthy fats..What is classed as that? I'm always getting mixed up with these poly or mono-unsaturated and so on..

IMO, powders should only be used in situations when time is limited or for post-WO. Try to make the majority of your diet whole foods and use protein powders for convenience. Also, try to have less refined carbs, such as breads and cereals, in your diet. Many people can maintain there weight while eating these, but losing weight is difficult.

[mannip23]

Originally Posted by Rodja

IMO, powders should only be used in situations when time is limited or for post-WO. Try to make the majority of your diet whole foods and use protein powders for convenience. Also, try to have less refined carbs, such as breads and cereals, in your diet. Many people can maintain there weight while eating these, but losing weight is difficult.

Exactly protien powders and meal replacments are fine if your in a bind and can't get real food. Natural food has a thermogenic effect if eaten in the right portions and frequency. Eating like I posted above will put your body in a fat burning furnace state after a short time. The processed cereal and bread should be stayed away from however 100% whole grain breads and 100% whole cereals are ok.

[waimoku]

consider Ezekiel 4:9 products for your grain sources. Their bread, pasta and cereals are from sprouted grains which have a low glycemic index value. Oh yeah, and they taste pretty good despite the low to no sugar content.

[mrdamo]

I've bought new stack of food, i'll try to write up a daily plan for this week and get everyones opinion on it.

waimoku, i'm in australia.. so most of the stuff you get over there I wouldn't have a chance of getting here or even hear of it.

thanks heaps for your help

[t-bone2]

Originally Posted by mannip23

...however 100% whole grain breads and 100% whole cereals are ok.

mannip23 has given you some great advice, especially with regard to fruit and grains. HOWEVER, use caution with "100% whole grain" products. I've noticed lots of these recently that are incorporating High Fructose Corn Syrup. Read the ingredients.

[mrdamo]

What's the danger of "High Fructose Corn Syrup"?

sugar or something??