I'm an Officer in the US Army stationed at Fort Drum. About 3 years ago I got really into weight lifting and went from 165-195 in a few months (I'd like to think of mostly muscle). I grew up a soccer player, so I used to be able to add and drop weight like it was my job. However, the last 2 years I've been in the Army, and I've been stuck at 195. It wouldn't be a problem, except due to my incredibly messed up foot/ankle structure my legs can't hold up my body weight and I get constant stress fractures down my shins. I'll take 6 weeks to 4 or 5 months off of running, then as soon as I get back at it (even gradually) my fractures reappear. I don't know if losing weight is the answer, but it will definitely help. I'm a single dude with a mediocre skillset in cooking so diets are tough, so I'm asking suggestions or a diet that's worked for others to cut 15-30 lbs for someone in a reasonable amount of time (and it will of course be mixed in with my exercise routine). Any and all help will be appreciated.
Forget diets. Diets don't work, maybe in the short term, but over the long haul people tend to gain it all back and then some. You didn't mention what foods your now eating so it is not easy to make suggestions. I lost 25 pounds when I stopped drinking sodas and munching on chocolate and began a light exercise routine. I have a friend who dropped 30 pounds in one month by going vegan and cut out all sugar. He couldn't maintain this lifestyle and he gained a few pounds back and now eats mainly veggies but adds leans meats. I suggest cutting out all the fast food as you can, stop sugary drinks, sodas, limit sweets like chocolate, and try to make he bulk of your food intake plant based. You mentioned you don't cook a lot so I suggest looking into raw food diets and adopt what you can do. Also a great investment would be a juicer, screw type, and start juicing. No cooking needed. Look into fermented foods and drinks like kombucha, kefir, raw sauerkraut, kimchi, etc., and find something you like. These products are great for keeping your digestive system functioning at peak performance.
Good luck and thank you for serving in the Army.
don
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Keep moving, it makes it harder for the undertaker to catch you. Don
Cut out as many refined carbs as you possibly can. This will help immensely. I find that by eating a bowl of oatmeal every morning, the fiber gives me a full feeling all day until about 6PM when I then eat a small-moderate dinner. I am slowly starting to drop the weight. I do think that limiting the refined carbs has helped the most. I have also cut out the soft drinks. These sugary liquids carry a lot of empty calories. Soft drinks are nothing more than liquid candy and I know people who consume up to a 12 pack per day. I am not a fanatic tho. You have to enjoy life so I still indulge in things that are not particularly good for my health or waistline but I limit these things now so I am not feeling constantly deprived. Weight loss is a hard thing to do but if you avoid the fad quick loss diets and combine slow weight loss with healthy nutrition, moderate exercise, good sleep hygiene, and natural things like yoga or meditation to reduce stress, you have a better chance at keeping your weight where you want it for the remainder of your life. This multidisciplinary approach is really hard at 1st but like most things in life gets easier if practiced regularly and usually will yield superior longterm results. Good luck to you.
Last edited by BlueSkies14; 09-25-2011 at 07:58 AM.
I'm an Officer in the US Army stationed at Fort Drum. About 3 years ago I got really into weight lifting and went from 165-195 in a few months (I'd like to think of mostly muscle). I grew up a soccer player, so I used to be able to add and drop weight like it was my job. However, the last 2 years I've been in the Army, and I've been stuck at 195. It wouldn't be a problem, except due to my incredibly messed up foot/ankle structure my legs can't hold up my body weight and I get constant stress fractures down my shins. I'll take 6 weeks to 4 or 5 months off of running, then as soon as I get back at it (even gradually) my fractures reappear. I don't know if losing weight is the answer, but it will definitely help. I'm a single dude with a mediocre skillset in cooking so diets are tough, so I'm asking suggestions or a diet that's worked for others to cut 15-30 lbs for someone in a reasonable amount of time (and it will of course be mixed in with my exercise routine). Any and all help will be appreciated.
This is an ex army Dude, Warrant Officer, here to give you some suggestions.
So if your weight went up to 195 from weight lifting then your whole body got bigger from muscles and so stronger. Therefore it is difficult to think that overweight on it's own is giving you your grief. I have known lots of fat runners and no more got shinsplints than others. I suggest that one or two, or one and two reasons for your troubles. One is overload, that is bad training and the other biomechanical discrepancies. Overload includes, exercising on hard roads, uneven tracks, increasing your program intensity too soon, bad shoes and excessive downhill and uphill workouts.
The biomechanical part includes poor running techniques, tight muscles, running and leaning too far forward and or backwards, landing incorrectly on the feet and running with feet out at an angle.
So my advice, either a podiatrist or physio that knows what is going on and if possible be able to video your running gait. They can also give you advice on stretching and running. Perhaps Fort Drum has a PT in residence, the America Army has their own PT school and I suspect Fort Drum is big enough to support a rehab centre. Let us know what you think and do.
James
