A great and timely thread. My two sons 14 and 17 sent me an email and asked if we can do some backcountry camping and hunting this year. I am currently deployed in Afghanistan. Given the lifestyle over here, I have been fortunate to loose weight and keep it off. I would like to pass on some tips to help. I never had a problem with weight, never had a problem with PT but was bigger than I would have liked. So far I have lost almost 50lbs.
My 2 cents as follows:
You need to count calories. You loose weight by burning more calories than you take in. That is the basic rule. When you work out, you burn calories and create the deficit. The problem of course is the fine cusine we have in North America. In one day you can consume a weeks worth of calories if you don't pay attention. So you principally need to have a deficit diet with exercise ensuring that you have a deficit. If you just "do it" and don't keep track, one fast food frenzy could wipe out all your benefit of a weeks worth of exercise and diet.
Tools to help you do it:
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm This is a calculator that lets you figure out what your maintenance level is...which is the amount of calories you need doing your basic activites. At this level you will neither gain nor lose weight. Once you figure out your maintenance, then create a deficit and do so gradually. No more than say 20% of your maintenance. The calculator will show you a 500 and 1000K deficit. As noted on the website, unless you have significant body fat, you don't need to go to extremes with the 1000K deficit.
OK, so now you know how many calories you need to be eating....how do you track what you are eating.
www.myfitnesspal.com This website allows you to track your meals and figure out not only the calories but how much protein, fat and carbs. The database is huge and you can find just about anything in there. If need be, you can add the data from the label if the database does not have it. All the fast food in North America is at your finger tips!
With this information, you need to make sure you are getting the right nutrition, not just the calories. Figure out how much body fat you have in big....err fat numbers.
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/bod...calculator.htm Not exact but close enough for government work. Now I worry about making sure I get the correct amount of micro nutrients by grams to lean body mass (LBM) not a percentage as my fitness pal likes to use. My numbers look like:
Protein - 1.25 to 1.5 grams per lb of lean body mass
Fat (good fat) - 0.4 grams per lb of lean body mass
Carbs - the remainder of my calories but usually working out to 1 gram per lb of lean body mass
So I set my calorie goal for a deficit, make sure I get enough Protein and Fats, but essentially eat whatever fits within these numbers. If I know that I am going to have pizza on Thursday, I plan ahead with that meal and make sure the rest of my food fits the numbers. I can eat whatever I want. I have pizza, cake, burgers, fries. You just have to balance the equation so to speak. In the pizza night example, my lunch will be salad but so be it. I track everything and after a while, I do it the night before and it takes minutes. Here in the camp in Afghanistan, I supplement with protein shakes from BSN. It helps me make sure I hit my protein numbers given the difficulty of decent meat in the DFAC.
The result is I loose weight and coupled with good, regular PT, have placed me in the same shape I was when I was a paratrooper in my youth. I weigh now the same as when I joined the army at 17.
Remember, you need to log what you eat and plan ahead. Just like back country bowhunting, failing to plan is planning to fail. I have lost 50lbs and feel fantastic. I have more energy and strength that I have not felt in a long time. It makes a huge difference. Note that myfitnesspal can be loaded onto a smart phone. It is a great tool and a lifestyle changer.
I hope this helps in some way. I am looking forward to coming home and getting ready with my boys.
Keep safe and good hunting.
Topic: ELK-Fit Challenge (Read 13952 times)
