help with my diet and excercise regime pls

[badcook]

(skip further down if you dont want to read stories lol or alternatively read bolded items for skimming)

hi guys

with the new year and all my resolutions making and breaking me everyday i've decided to come seek help. could you guys please tell me if i'm on the right track and help with a few doubts since this is the first time i've ever gotten serious about losing my weight. i've actually gotten into the habit of working out or doing some form of exercise for atleast an hour if not more everyday (so seeking help before i crumble and lose the habit) but i do not have a diet plan to back it up.

i'm almost 24 weighing in at 95kg (209lbs) last time i checked and about 5'7" in height.

i've been chubby since 8 or 9 but always involved in school sports or sports in general. i would say that the bulk of my weight is in the form of a beer belly or pot belly and flabby arms so my legs are quite muscular from carrying them around.

my knees are prone to injury (i've buckled them both sideways many times, right knee kinda buckles in a bit towards the left knee and vice versa). it feels like it dislocates very slightly and then falls back into place, pain usually subsides within a few hours so i've never been to a doctor regarding this. i also have an under-functioning thyroid and i'm on medication for it (50mg dosage of thyroxine sodium tablets every morning), presumably for life.

i've almost always eat out since i spend a lot of time at work and eat quite unhealthily. i eat maybe one or two small meals a day on weekdays (i used to work for 18ish hrs a day for most of last year and the year before) and absolutely pig out on pizza, sodas and alcohol on weekends and days off. 18hrs a day of work also affected my sleep cycle as it would. basically had 6 hours of sleep and clocked in at work at all sorts of different times including all nighters.

thats me and my small medical history if i was needed.

(skip to here)

i am a vegetarian by religion but not very orthodox so i've allowed myself to eat egg (what?? i likes cake!!), but no meats of any kind.

my goal is to lose as much weight as possible to reduce body fat%. i do not want to bulk up too much. just want to get leaner so as to reduce the stress on my knees.

i have done a bit of research on these forums and around the internet. i've amended eating habits since december so i can get into healthy eating from 2009 (went cold turkey on pizza and sodas, restrained myself to maybe a beer or two a month).

this is what i've come up with, please correct me if my understanding or anything for that matter is wrong.

my diet is now only salads, fruits, light yoghurt, egg whites, skimmed milk, cereal, nuts and water. i also have whey protein shake but havent gotten to like it yet.

veggies/salad constituents : celery, onion, mushrooms, black olives, bell peppers, carrots

fruits : green appples, bananas, oranges

nuts: almonds, walnuts, peanuts (all raw/unprocessed)

cereal : uncle toby's plus protien lift (nutrition facts from the side of the box with 1/2cup of skim milk on 45g serving)

energy: 900kj (214.29cal) ; 1600kj/380cal for 100g avg serving.
protein: 11.7g
fat: total= 0.6g ; saturated=0.3g
carbs - sugars: 17.7g
dietary fibre: 1.8g
sodium: 190mg
thiamin: 0.6mg (50% rdi+)
riboflavin: 0.68mg (25% rdi+)
niacin: 2.6mg (25% rdi+)
folate: 74mcg (37% rdi+)
calcium: 350mg (25% rdi+)
iron: 3.1mg (25% rdi+)

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the regime:

breakfast: omlette (3 whites, 1/2 a yolk (can skip on the yolk if its not needed), with some veggies from above) or cereal. with one apple and one orange. water/whey protein drink.

1 to 1.5hr workout: jog 2.5miles, cardio and some plyo (i have the p90x dvds but i do not have enough stamina, strength or equipment to follow it to the T yet - so i'm just following the cardio and plyo from it till i get to a weight of 160lbs for now). lift about 19ish-lbs dumbbells (its all i have atm - Set of 10, 3 times rep). i intend to make them harder, longer or add new exercises as i get fitter. also simple ab workouts, crunches, squats etc.

lunch and dinner: salad, 1 apple, orange, 100g tub of yoghurt and water.

afternoon/evening: mite play some tennis. an hour of serving or 1.5 to 2hrs of gameplay if my hitting partner is free.

snack: 100g tub of yoghurt and water.

i'm thinking of just doing the same thing everyday. with maybe a day or two here and there a month to eat something a bit more unhealthy.

first question: does that have enough of all required nutrients or would i need to supplement it with some pills or anything else i should be adding?

secondly: is it bad or unhealthy to eat the same thing everyday? do i need to change it up? similarly, is it bad to do the same exercises everyday or for every workout session for a primarily weight loss perspective?

thirdly: what should i be eating before and after working out? especially after working out in the morning or evening tennis? i am a bit unsure about this as different websites say different things, gets a little confusing.

fourth question: a lot of websites say that is good for beginners to exercise every other day and give the body a break in between? i've been doing the jogging and cardio and plyo everyday (maybe miss a day or two here and there but it is usually replaced with a couple of hours of tennis) for a few weeks now and feel fine. should i be giving my body a break every other day as a mandatory health practice? or is it ok if i do the same amount of jogging, x-stretch or some light exercises instead on the days off?

fifth question: related to question 4, how should i alter my eating habits, what should and shouldnt i be eating on the days when i'm giving my body a break?

lastly: is a 100g tub of yoghurt bad as a snack? what should or could i be eating instead?

thanks for any and all the help, i know i need it. i sincerely apologise for the long post and am very grateful to anyone who has read it all.

 

[150mph_]

how do you play tennis if your knees dont work?

 

[vin]

first question: does that have enough of all required nutrients or would i need to supplement it with some pills or anything else i should be adding?

Everyone has different nutrition requirements. Some people do well on a vegetarian type of diet, others do well on a lot of protein and fat. Everyone is different. Consider the diet of an Eskimo (nearly all protein and fat) versus people who are native to tropical climates (mostly carbohydrates).

secondly: is it bad or unhealthy to eat the same thing everyday? do i need to change it up? similarly, is it bad to do the same exercises everyday or for every workout session for a primarily weight loss perspective?

It most definitely IS bad. Eating the same types of foods over and over leads to sensitivities that can slowly but surely destroy your health. Eat as much as you want of a particular food on a given day, but try to avoid that food for two or three days after. Since you seem to like a routine (I do too), come up with a meal plan for a few different days and rotate them.

thirdly: what should i be eating before and after working out? especially after working out in the morning or evening tennis? i am a bit unsure about this as different websites say different things, gets a little confusing.

This is a detail you don't really need to worry to much about, especially now. Just focus on sticking with your ambition to improve your lifestyle. However, you don't want to eat too much before a workout, and it's beneficial to eat shortly after. There's a lot of hype about carb loading and exercise these days, but most of it is just that ... hype. Furthermore, the foods that will benefit you most in terms of supporting your exercise and helping you recover will depend on your individual needs. See my answer to your first question.

fourth question: a lot of websites say that is good for beginners to exercise every other day and give the body a break in between? i've been doing the jogging and cardio and plyo everyday (maybe miss a day or two here and there but it is usually replaced with a couple of hours of tennis) for a few weeks now and feel fine. should i be giving my body a break every other day as a mandatory health practice? or is it ok if i do the same amount of jogging, x-stretch or some light exercises instead on the days off?

You really don't need to do that much cardio and jogging to lose weight. In fact, you don't need to do any at all. What you really need to do is focus on your diet and especially eliminate refined carbohydrates and sugars. Most of us eat way too many carbohydrates.

fifth question: related to question 4, how should i alter my eating habits, what should and shouldnt i be eating on the days when i'm giving my body a break?

As I said, everyone has individual needs, and whatever your needs happen to be, you should eat according to them every single day regardless of whether you're resting or not.

lastly: is a 100g tub of yoghurt bad as a snack? what should or could i be eating instead?

It is if it's flavored. All yogurts except for plain have a lot of sugar in them. Not what you want if you're trying to lose weight. Furthermore, depending on your individual needs, yogurt may not be a good food for you.

I have a friend that wrote an ebook that will tell you everything you need to know about losing weight and promoting good health through your diet. It includes a detailed program that makes it easy to follow as well as a bunch of recipes. I wrote a review of it on my website:

http://healthfitnessandfun.com/dietsolution.shtml

Let me know if you need further help.

 

[badcook]

how do you play tennis if your knees dont work?

long story short

lol they work fine.

long story long (sorry really bad at explaining and keeping it concise at the same time)

i've done them in like i explained 4 or 5 times in the past 3 or 4 yrs. it doesnt happen as long as i'm not doing anything stupid. i know what triggers it or what could trigger it, so i'm over-cautious about not doing it, even if i cant explain it.

its very slight and happens very quickly. feels like it pops out of place and then falls back in within a second but the pain is quite excruciating for a few minutes.

usually happens if my ankle gets into the wrong position (happened thrice on the cricket field, we dont play a very high level so dont have park/field curators to fix a sudden pot-holey dips in the park) and pressure gets exerted on the knees from the side on pushing it inward. needs very little pressure. only from side like on a perpendicular angle acting on your profile, not head-on (lol i'm trying hard to explain - so if there was a side-on mug shot of me in a bad position or losing balance and u poked at my knee, it would buckle in.).

maybe this video mite help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyjVnG6CAGI

at 0:19 you see his left foot quite parallel to the baseline. i could do it like that but my mind panics and i open it up, which he shows at 1:33-1:37 as being bad technique (certainly not as perpendicular as his feet are to the baseline, more like a 60degree angle). i worry about losing balance or forward momentum (like he shows at the end of the video) causing the knee to buckle inwards. i open it up so forward momentum is transferred more to the balls of the feet, rather than the knee.

i could keep it parallel and there is a very high chance that nothing would happen and the knee will be fine even if i am losing my balance. its just a mental hurdle. i am hoping getting leaner and fitter will improve my balance and give me more confidence.