Thread: It's Time

I'll be along for the ride, AWESOME job on the Mental change, that will carry you far on the physical change!!! Wishing you nothing but the best!!!

Beings this is your journal why dont you post your workout you intend to do here? I will definitly suggest working with weights atleast 3 days a week. I have often heard the saying if you are a large pear you cant reshape that pear with running and cardio, but weigh training reshapes that pear and molds the body. You say you want to lose weight for now, but dont forget to include weights in it.

Thanks for the replies. My workout looks like this:

First hour of walking and running on a treadmill wrapped like a pre-packaged butterball turkey. Last 30 minutes to 1 hour are various weight training with LIGHT weight and high reps. I haven't really established a weight training schedule yet so much as my cardio workout. I doing it more now to get me through that inital shock to my muscles then ask you guys for advice for a nice strucutured light weight training schedule.

Meal Consumption is like this:

Wake up and eat my first meal. Varies from 3 Eggwhites with bread and some nuts to Cereal and a bannana.

Then I work out, get done and drink my Whey protien and eat my second meal.

Usually Grilled chicken with a veggie side or lean pork chop.

Eat my third "meal" more like snack, which is usually a handful of cashews (I love 'em).

Eat my fourth meal which is usually like my second.

Then eat my last which is usually like my third.

How far along are you with weights. I like a rep scheme of around 3-6. However if you are kinda starting I would shoot for some more volume around 8-12. However I dont think theres a reason to go over 12 reps unless its simply every once in a while. You could scheledule something simple like:

Day1-Push
Day2-Legs
Day3-Pull

This is a 3 day a week routine. Keeping with changing reps and sets about every other week to keeo your body guessing. If your diet is right and your protein is high you will add muscle while cutting fat.

Now how often do you suggest I do cardio? In about 1 hour blocks of running/jogging/walking along with that weight training schedule.

Where the mind goes the body will follow! Finding message boards is what helped me to KEEP motivated, because being interested in so many things I found that I had a hard time being consistent for months and months without a hiccup if there were not people interested in the same things that I could talk with; just being around fitnessy-stuff like on a message board helps to keep me going.

If you had time all over the place I'd do 45-60 minutes of light cardio every day, separate from weight training itself. To me this would be some bike riding or brisk walking, something to get the body going but not what we'd call traditional cardio. Opinions will differ so those are just my thoughts.

160 is very light for someone 5'11" so I wouldn't be surprised, and I'd actually hope that you'd shift goals before you reached such a low bodyweight. I'd like to think that you could be a very solid 200-ish without having to start from near endurance runner like levels, but time will tell!

Good luck

Hey Mudge, thanks for the reply. I am just throwing a number out as of right now. As I said, I use the mirror as my scale so when I am happy with my results as i go along, then I will tweak my diet and workout as needed.

Is it OK to do cardio 7 days a week or should I give my body a day of rest before going back at it?

Depends are you talking about 7 days of low impact and low intensity cardio or what? Because it would be ok imo.

I would say get a weight program together and then you are doing something very positive!

BTW good advice Mudge gave ya there.

Well I only have dumbells to work with right now as far as weight training goes so I have been doing all the workouts I know usually sticking to back and bi's one day, chest and tris another, odds and ends the next, rince and repeat.

Could you also help me tweak my diet a bit. I am eating extrmely healthy but if you could maybe give me an outline of what would be the most efficient diet for my size and goals, that would be awesome.

Ok guys, I really need help tweaking my diet and workout to lose the most weight the quickest. I am willing to make sacrifices and work hard because I gots about 4 months to lose some serious weight. Anyone want to tacle this for me?

Ok, let me give some more info so SOMONE could please help me better. Here is what my diet looks like. I think I am eating way too little, but I stay full. Mind you, I work the weirdest schedule due to the career I chose so meal times are altered to the time I wake up.

Meal 1: 4 Egg Whites, 1 Slice of this crazy multi-grain all natural bread my Dad gets, 1 Glass of Organic Milk

Meal 2: Chicken Breast, 2 servings of Salad with no dressing (I don't eat it anyway) or any other vegetable I have at my disposal

*Workout*

Meal 3: It will usually be a Protein Shake or a Protein Shake and some nuts

Meal 4: Chicken Breast, 2 servings of Salad with no dressing (I don't eat it anyway) or any other vegetable I have at my disposal

Meal 5: 3 Egg Whites, 1 Full Egg and some Veggies

I need to cut as quick as possible without killing myself. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

lol its good to hear your goals as well... im feeling your exact same mind set right now, and im lovin it. its funny cuz we are pretty much the same person physically, even tho im still 10 lbs heavier lol. but hey, there all gonna be gone soon anyway. how is your body handing the hydroxy cut? i was REAALY tempted to get on some of that, because i am working really hard, training almost every day and in a great mindset. a supplement fat burner would only help my progress, but i was wondering if since im only 18(just turned) that it might be bad... did u take any fat burners at my age? btw, id recomend getting some green tea in there ive been trying to have a cup every day(i drink it with a single sweetener) and i love it as a snack with a poeice of fruit. it takes me awhile to drink,i like the taste, and im pretty sure it helps fat loss. anyway, hit me back and good luck as always.

I responded surprisingly well to the Hydroxy Extreme. I would advise that you don't put yourself into stressful situations the first three days though because you will rip somones face off. Until your body gets use to it, it makes you extremely hyper and active. Honestly, it reminds me of Ephedra. Which I mis dearly. Haha Damn government. Anyway, yes, I was taking Ephedra at your age... and I had a terrible diet (I was practically starving myself). So, I would imagine, 1 pill 2 times a day of Hydroxycut Extreme with a great diet and plenty of exercise won't hurt you at all. It's the people that do nothing, eat shit, and think it's going to do something that get hurt. Thanks for the reply Arnold, you and I need to stick together throughout this.

Anyway, anyone want to critique my diet (above)?

haha agreed. to me, your diet looks pretty good. nice, clean eating. unfortunately, im not a nutrition expert like some of these fine young gentleman. however, it looks to me like ur not getting very much fat (i may be WAY off) depending on how u cook ur eggs. whenever i cook mine, i put in 1-2 tblspoons of olive oil and fry it in that. i know that whenever the word "fried" comes into play its generally not the better option for fat loss, but i find its a good way to get some olive oil in me. honestly, i think i might start following a similar diet because that looks pretty good and filling. there may be some mussing nutrients, but if there is i dont know lol.

Hey Arnold. Thanks. I made some tweaks with the help of Juggernaut and it seems it's a perfect plan. Now I just need to tweak my training schedule to optimize performance and burn and I'll be well on my way to my fatless self. Woohoo!

What is the cals macros with that diet.

Looks like the Cals are extremely low.

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

What is the cals macros with that diet.

Looks like the Cals are extremely low.

Uhm, I am shooting for around 1500 calories. I need to cut weight quick and on this diet I am not hungry so I am guessing my bodies not missing the calories until I start doing some serious weight training. At that point I will adjust my diet accordingly. What's your thoughts?

You are 220 lbs? and want to have Calories at 1500 cals.

I think you are setting yourself up for failure.

With cals that low, the body is going to want to hold on to bodyfat as a safety measure, it thinks it is starving it self. You will be sacrificing lean muscle. You will be screw up you metabolism. Losing weight isn't and shouldn't be a short term goal... I know we all want a quick fix. But it took time to get to where you are and it will take time to loose it.

What are your eating habits leading up to this? any idea on total cals?

Why are you having such a small amount of carbs, they aren't the devil as much as the media would like to you believe.

Have you read the stickies in the Diet and Nutrition forum?

Yeah around 220. I don't weigh myself so I have no idea where I am now. I refuse to until I see results. It discourages me and that's just the way I am, can't help it.

I refuse to fail.

Honestly, I am not hungry though. The meal plan I am on has some pretty large portions. I am eating a nice slab of chicken breast and a pretty big side of salad and it's taking me awhile to get through it. I just can't eat like I use to... nor do I want to.

My eating habits before I started this or up until this very point in time?

Well honestly, I'm not having that little amount of carbs. The bread I eat in the morning is like bread on roids. 1 slice has the following: 130 Cals, 2gs Fat, 24g Carbs, 6g Dietary Fiber, and 5g of Protein.

Yes, I've read the stickies 10 times. I am learning and tweaking my habits as I go along and learn more. Thanks for the feedback.

I just had a very nice portion of Salmon as my 4th meal. Grilled with alittle extra virgin olive oil, added some lemon. Yummy yummy. Haven't had Salmon in quite some time.

mmm salmon. i just had some Skate(dunno if thats how u spell it) but its fish that has these long carteledged running down the back, and on both sides theres meat and its soooooooo delicious. oh man. good to see u on track. im eating really slowly too now. at a normal pace. with water most of the time. it feels good.

Ok, it's been awhile since I've given an update. I haven't cheated once, my diet is clean and in check and my workouts are long and hard. My "off day" workouts consists of light walking on the tradmill and jumping jacks and my on days have been pretty intense running and some weight training that is getting more intense as my body starts to readjust to the changes. I quit smoking after 9 years, cold turkey and haven't even craved one after cleaning up my diet and working out like an animal. I sometimes think of junk food and could care less about having it. It's so weird, it seems that I cleaned up my diet so much and knowing how hard I workout, my body doesn't even want that shit anymore. Anyway, just wanted to drop an update. I will post more as results are seen.

Ok, I have been going strong for about 4 weeks now, lost a significant amount of weight and have not cheated except for the light beer and glass of wine here and there (which still fell well within my daily caloric intake.) Now I was thinking of doing a small cheat meal tomorrow because the taste of chicken and steamed veggies is driving me nuts. I am huge on chicken and mushroom from the Chinese place up the street from me but I KNOW that the brown sauce it comes in is terrible for you. I am undecided whether or not I should do it. Maybe I should just get it steamed so I can eat more without hitting my diet too hard. HELPPP.

Theres nothing wrong with a cheat meal once a week or so. Go for it.

Originally Posted by Double D

Theres nothing wrong with a cheat meal once a week or so. Go for it.

Thanks man. I am going to keep it as small as possible, no fried foods, just chicken and mushroom with the brown sauce and some steamed broccoli on the side. Yay! Can't wait.

If your doing good throughout the week and you are making progress one meal will not hurt ya, no worries.

Ieah, I've been doing good for 4 weeks now, both diet and exercise. My workouts have been intense and now I just got an Eliptical which definitely spiced up my workout and makes me want to push harder. Thanks for the kind words Double D.