Hey guys,

My name is Jay, I'm 30 from Vancouver B.C. Canada and I have decided that it's time for me to do something about my weight problem. I'm 5'11" and 245. Because of my job I know I have quite a bit of muscle, but there's a lot of fat as well.

I have a gym membership that has been largely unused because of moving, life, etc. It's time for me to get off my ass and use it.

Any tips you may have for someone that works on call would be great. I have no way to plan a routine for eating and working out, but I'm sure I can do a lot more than I'm doing now.

My big problem is fast food and the convenience it offers. That is going to be my main battle and it will be a long hard one I'm sure.

I appreciate the support you guys offer each other, it's really motivating.

Thanks

Jay

Welcome to the forum.

It is great that you have decided to address your weight problem before it got any worse. Many of us waited a lot longer and got a lot harder job on our hands.

Many of us used the convenience of fast food for addressing a busy schedule as an excuse for getting far too many take-aways. I certainly used to get far too many take-aways myself....

The fact is that cooking things from scratch does not need to take a lot of effort (although a slight delay can be incurred).

Meals that I regularly have (and regularly had while losing weight) include the following that take little to no effort...

- pork loin steaks - cooked in the oven served with a tin of healthy (low sugar/low salt) baked beans. All that is involved is heating up the dish, washing them, cooking, turning over, cooking, opening tin, microwaving, serving....

- salmon steaks - wash - rub a small amount of olive spread on the surfaces, wrap into a parcel in tin foil, cook, heat up a tin of peas and sweetcorn for instance (or do other veg) and serve.

- there are plenty of other things from quorn sausages to plaice that you can grill and serve with veg or a tin of veg.

Last night I had some chicken left over from a roast on Sunday. I chopped 1 onion, 2 courgettes, 2 green peppers into a frying pan coated in frylight 1 cal spray, chopped up 2 chilli peppers very finely, added roast chicken leftovers chopped into small pieces.

Things like a mushroom omelette with baked beans can be prepared in a few minutes.

Although the meal may take a while to cook - I have to say that I have often sat in the take-away waiting for the food to come out for longer than the time I spend in the kitchen actually involved in making the meal - and that doesnt include the time getting to and from the takeaway from home...

As tinned veg go - I am actually quite a big fan of baked beans if you get the low sugar / low salt kind. They contain protein and fibre and are very good for cholesterol levels.

We all benefit from variation in our vegetables though...

Planning your meals up front is the big thing that you need to do - and that is important whatever work pattern that you do. You can therefore be sure that your shopping list includes all the ingredients that you need - and that your calories (not to mention the rest of your nutritional targets) come in where they are supposed to. I find that a free account from FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal helps me with that.

Good luck with your project.