DetroitBreakdown

Sorry if this is a double post...didn't seem like it went through:

Hi everybody. I've been working my way to changing my food lifestyle over the past couple of months and finally am taking the committed plunge. I'm 42 and hugely overweight (male, 5'7", 350lbs). I'm not trying for rapid weight loss, but am hoping I can just change my lifestyle in ways that will make a difference.

So yesterday was my first real day of planning everything out foodwise. It was strange to feel like I was eating all day as I was always used to being in starvation mode, not eating anything until 1pm then eating a huge dinner at night. Yesterday, I had a breakfast, a mid morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and replaced my diet coke with water. By the end of the work day I felt noticeably bloated. I didn't feel like eating dinner. I forced myself to do 30min on the treadmill, and felt ready for dinner about an hour later.

But this morning I'm still feeling kind of puffy. I suspect this is the radical change in my diet and will pass, but curious if anyone else experienced this and has any advice.

On the bright side, I felt great all day yesterday in terms of energy, which was a real switch for me. Thanks for any answers, and sorry for such an epic post. What I ate is below in case it's that:

Breakfast:
Whey protein in a cup of enriched soy milk
apple

Snack:
1/2 cup of Kashi Crunch cereal

Lunch:
Raw spinach salad with beets, garbanzos, raw broc, 2oz of broiled chicken, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries and balsamic vinegrette.
1/4 cup of lowfat cottage cheese.

Snack:
8 mini carrots and a few raw almonds

Dinner:
1 slice of toasted sprouted wheat bread with a ground chicken patty, 1/2 avocado and a couple of table spoons of toasted flax seed.

Snack:
1/4 cup hummus mixed with 1/2 avocado and 5 mini carrots

I know it seems like a ton of food. Just under 2,000 calories

Thanks to anyone who made it this far

almeeker

I guess my first question is did you eat something that is new or unusual for you? Whey protein can cause issues if you are in any way allergic to milk protein or lactose intolerant. Since you mention mixing it with soy milk I sort of wondered about that. The other foods on the list that can cause gas and bloating are broccoli, garbanzo beans, and hummus (which is made out of garbanzo beans). You might want to check the portion sizes on the packages and make sure you don't go overboard on those foods, or maybe the portions were all fine, you just shouldn't eat them all on the same day. My other question is did you drink enough water? Swelling is often a symptom of dehydration. I can't stress enough the importance of getting enough water, especially when you are trying to lose weight. 64 oz baseline, + another 8 oz for every 10 pounds you want to lose. Oh and I almost forgot, the stomach flu is going around, is it possible you just had a touch of the bug?

01gt4.6

ditto everything said.

cjreyes

I do agree with the above. I can get really bloated from eating broccoli, so as almeeker suggested, maybe look at the foods you had all day and substitute some of the bloating foods with others. More protein would be good for your diet as well.

You're body's metabolism speeds up when you are digesting protein, hense burning more calories. And though I LOVE avacado, eating one entire avacado a day is too fattening. So stick to maybe only 1/2 of one.

DetroitBreakdown

Thanks for the thoughtful replies. The Whey protein is new to me, but I've never had a problem with dairy before. I've just always preferred soy milk to regular milk. I normally put raw broc on my salad, but I was never much of a chick pea guy, so those were a bit different. For what it's worth, I'm feeling much better today. In fact I feel kind of great.

Is it really true that I need to drink 64oz + 8oz for every 10lbs I want to lose? Since I want to lose 180lbs that would mean 208oz per day or 13oz an hour. I'm not sure I can consume that much. I only had about 54oz yesterday, so that could have been it. I'm gonna try for 100oz today.

On the protein, I really wasn't sure how the balance should be. Yesterday I had 111grams for 22%, with 41% fat and 37% carbs. I know the fat got out of whack with that avocado. I wouldn't normally eat a whole one, but it was so darn good mixed with the hummus

Thanks again everyone. Looking forward to participating in the community!

almeeker

If you've always preferred soy, there might just be a reason why. I don't know. The symptoms you described are pretty typical for someone who is lactose intolerant, and whey is pretty much concentrated milk proteins so if you have even a very mild milk protein allergy (so mild you never noticed it before), any reaction would be much more pronounced with exposure to whey. If the problem persists when you use the whey powder, you might consider Greek yogurt, the process of making yogurt changes the structure of the milk proteins and most people tolerate it rather well even if they are allergic to milk or lactose intolerant.

On the water thing, yes it's true. Although if you have a lot to lose you might take it one goal at a time. So let's say you set a mini goal of 10% of your body weight, which would be 35 pounds, so that would be 64 oz + 30 oz = 94 oz. Use that number as a minimum level, seriously as you get used to drinking a lot of water you can increase it as you go. I totally think that 208 oz is possible, I'm at 144 so far today, and I'll be adding at least another 48 to that before bed, keep in mind I'm only slightly bigger than an elf. I've gotten so used to downing big jugs of water that I think nothing of guzzling down 32 oz at a time. Lately I've been adding a little flavor to it, I like sugar free cherry limeade and I buy the cheap store brand. It really helps to curb my sugar cravings.

DetroitBreakdown

Thanks for the great advice, almeeker. You could be right about the whey. And that's such a great idea about the water. I can think in terms of my small goal, not my big goal.

Congrats on your amazing progress!

almeeker

Thanks, if I can do this, so can you. BTW I'm also 42 and a former diet coke addict

yauncin

I'm lactose intolerant. If you stick to a pure whey protein isolate you should be fine. The whey protein concentrate and casein protein is what you should avoid. On a side note I take the Maximum Greens, Ultra Mega Green supplement from GNC which contains a digestive enzyme supplement. Since I've been taking that I haven't had any problems with my casein protein. I can also handle small amounts of cheeze and milk without any problems again.

DetroitBreakdown

Thanks, yauncin. I appreciate the advice.

I've actually been feeling tons better. I actually feel kind of amazing. I've significantly upped my water intake and I think my body is falling into a pattern with the new eating plan.

I seem to be tolerating the whey protein fine, and I'm not having any digestion issues with any of the other dairy I have been getting.

Keep up the good work everyone!