Thread: Suggestions/Help needed - new user

Hi all, I think I need some help as past habits have hurt my metabolism & I need to know what to do - I could be way off base on most of this but here goes:

I'm 35, 5'8 200 lbs. When I was young I was heavy - high school weight of 215. After high school, my meal consumption dropped & got even worse in college - ate no breakfast, maybe a snack for lunch, healthy choice meal for dinner & drank a ton of beer - also played a lot of raquetball - by the time I was 21 I weighed 150 & over the next couple of years dropped another 10. So I'm 24 & 140 to 150 lbs with very little calorie consumption. I get married, change jobs from an active job to sedentary, start getting 2 solid meals per day plus snacks & over the last 10 years have jumped all the way back up to 215 at the beginning of the year & down to 200 now. Until recently I've never eaten a breakfast. I've tried Atkins & a few years ago I was in the gym pretty steadily & got down to 180. In other words my weight is a yo-yo.

I've been back in the gym for 2 months, trying to eat better. I do a variation of the Max-OT weight training & have noticed increase in strenght however my weight won't budge. I hate cardio (I had a collapsed lung 2 times a few years back) Now, I know muscle weighs more than fat, but I don't notice any differences in my appearance & I'd like to shed some lbs. I work out in the am, eat a wheat snack & protein shake for breakfast, chicken or salad for lunch, another wheat snack in the afternoon & then dinner with maybe a granola snack in the evening. Are my expectations too high? I feel I should have at least noticed some change in weight - I go to the gym at least 4 days per week for about 30-40 min.s per day. Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

Has there been any progession in terms of body fat loss? It seems like you have established a pretty regular workout routine and diet. Good for you. What is it you need help with? You know that going on a drastic calorie reductions diet doesn't work for you, and if you're a guy, 140 is too low for 5"8...