Not sure where to start, just turned 36, 240 lbs, male
 

So basically its time for me to get my "stuff" together. I just turned 36, male, 240lbs. My wife and I are trying to start a family and I want to be healthy for our child. I feel tired all the time and I need to make a change.

I do not eat excessive amounts of food, but I need to make changes to my diet. I only drink water and try to eat salad with chicken, avocado and no dressing for lunches. I am addicted to cereal, the cranberry crunch one from costco. I only use skim non-fat milk, but I eat it almost every day. I am OK giving this up but it will be hard. I try to walk on the treadmill or use the elliptical as much as possible but I will start trying to go every day.

When I was about 23 I did the Atkins diet, you know when it was all the rage. I lost about 20 lbs back then but then I started eating carbs again and I gained it all back plus more.

My wife is naturally thin but also has gained some weight since we got married. She is also looking to cut back and we are going to support each other, but sometimes we make bad decisions food wise.

I am going to start again cutting out almost all carbs and cutting down sugar. I need help from anyone on here that can take a few minutes to guide me or give me suggestions. I am happy I found this forum. I am ready to change but I need a helping hand. Thanks in advance.

Hi! Having the wife taking the journey with you is a very good thing.

Hopefully you don't mind eggs. They are so good for breakfast (and more), and they are nearly perfect for this way of eating.

Hopefully being a relative newbie* here doesn't discount my opinion, but my biggest tip is to not obsess about fat, or even calories. Control the carbs, eat healthy food (not the frankenfood pushed as "substitutes"), and continue with the water. Don't go crazy on the treadmill. Yeah, it's a good thing to be moving, but so many people start overtraining and it just burns them out. Get the eating part situated, and then supplement with simple exercise to keep the metabolism kicking.

(*I dropped 85 lbs back via Atkins when I was about your age, and like you, I gained it back and then some.)

thanks for that, I just want to drop some pounds and maintain, I am not looking to be a model or anything haha. thanks for the advice, i just need to get over the hump of the diet and then keep it going as long as possible. I dont think i can totally cut out carbs and sugar, but I will try my best to cut them down as far as I can go

Hi Joey,
You have found a great forum for information and support. As you see, it supports all kinds of low carb plans. But since you said you read Atkins and know that one, you can start with this summary at the top of the Atkins sub-forum. http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=236482
You can stay on this "induction" plan as long as you like if you wish, or move to phase two. The Ketogenic Diet, a stricter version of Atkins if you will, is all the rage now. A good beginners guide here, another website filled with information, videos, etc. https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto
All the best,

Thanks so much, I will check those links out

The greatest gift you can give your children is a good healthy diet. And that starts with mom and dad living in the LC groove.

My kids are in good health, trim and athletic. COld cereal left the house, except cheerios. Fruit juice was very watered down. Eventually these left the menu too.

Basically I transitioned my kids to the same quality foods as on the Atkins list of allowable foods, even if that meant drowning it in ranch dressing. My 14 year old JUST asked for Italian. The older one still favors ranch. lol

My point is my kids are pretty healthy eaters because I eat healthy. ANd with a good start before sending them off to school, they kids are likely to stick with the good foods while the other kids eat junk.

Good luck with your changes. THink of the kids, and kick the cold cereal out... replace with steak and eggs, like my kids eat.

Hi Joey, welcome to the forum.


Three years ago when I was 36 I was over 300 pounds. Now I'm 39 and about 187. There aren't too many blokes our age around here, but don't let that put you off. This place has been a key part of my own journey these last couple of years. Stick around and it can be just a big a help for you too.


Regarding giving up certain foods, that's easier to do when you have other food options to replace them with. A typical breakfast replacement for most people involves eggs, any way you like. Maybe some bacon or sausages or something to go with them as well. Your lunches sound all right, although you haven't said what's for dinner (assuming you have dinner at all :)).


I know another couple in their mid-30s who are doing this together, and while they each have their own tastes in a few instances, they're still quite happily supporting each other and getting some great results after just a few months so far. If you can get some momentum going between the two of you it will become much easier for you both as well.


As Janet has already suggested, Diet Doctor has plenty of introductory information on how to get started with low carb and what your eating options are. Lots of recipes there too, as well as here. There's plenty of reading in both places. Take your time, soak it all in, ask any questions you like. We're here to help.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info. We want our kids to eat as healthy as possible and we need to start them that way, but they only way to do that is to start ourselves. We don't eat bad by any means, no fast food, only drink water ect, but for sure something needs to change.

Thanks for the info as well. Its good to hear from a guy my age about this, I was looking for others in the same situation and I am glad to meet you. For dinners we usually have some meat and veggies with rice. My wife is asian so getting her to cut down the rice is a problem, but i think we are motivated enough to try.

I don't know if we can go totally no carb, but I will try to get it as low as possible. I am using an app called cronometer.com that helps me see what I am eating and where I should cut back.

We both live very busy lives right now, so I dont know if this is a good time to start this, but I feel tired all the time and just generally out of shape and insecure with my body. I have to stop making excuses and just do it.

Cauliflower Rice is so popular that most grocery stores now carry some version by various brands in the frozen section. If you have a Trader Joe's, they have both Organic Frozen rice and in the Fresh produce area too. It is not that hard to make from a whole head of cauliflower , https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/...auliflower-rice but you are busy.

You are probably going to need to raise your protein consumption and replace the carbs like cereal with protein.
For most meals 4-6 oz of meat would work.

Something to think about is that anything low fat has elevated levels of sugar to compensate for the lack of flavor. So find yourself some full fat salad dressing, low in sugar.(read labels)

Vegetables have some carbs too but Nothing Like noodles, rice, bread, cereal, crackers etc.. which turns into sugar when you eat it.

Focus your meals around some pork chops, a steak, a 3-4 pieces of chicken, sausage 100% meat no added sugar, eggs, bacon, 4 oz ground beef or burger patty with your low carb vegetables. (don't be afraid to eat the protein you need to fill-up)

Cook them with butter, coconut oil. olive oil and no added sauces with sugar in them.