Post: #1

Hey players -

Unfortunately I find myself slipping into Betadom - getting fat and lazy while my GF is doing the same. Luckily I've convinced her to hit the gym, and I must as well. I've also been getting the itch to get a little creepy this summer before the woman and I get a little more serious (save the speech, I'm not getting married, but this girl is a keeper).

Ok so here's my deal. I'm 29 yrs old, 5'9" 235 lbs. Yes, I'm a fat fuck! (although when I tell people that they're honestly shocked and think I carry it well, so to speak. I don't think they're just being nice, but whatever, I know I'm obese!). Two years ago was the last time that I dropped some serious weight (was down to 202 at one point, not amazing, but a lot better).

So here's the plan -
Monday - hit the gym, do upper body (press, rows, bench, tris, pullups, pushups, etc).
Wednesday - gym again, legs (squats, leg press, calf raises, leg curls, leg extensions)
Friday - abs & cardio (shitloads of situps and some running)
Sunday - I play football in the morning, figure that's enough

Diet is my main issue. I get so confused with how to calculate how much to eat, when to eat it, what to eat, how many times to eat, how much water to drink, etc etc.

I'm actually one to not get that bored with a boring diet. If the solution was to slam down eggwhites for 4 months, that actually wouldn't be an issue for me.

I'm planning on taking some pictures and keeping this thread as a log. My goal is to drop some weight, feel great, hone the game chops at the same time, then bang a 9 this summer. Help me get there!! Lets go!

Post: #2

Do yourself a favor and follow the routine at Stronglifts.com, or buy Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. Very similar programs, and the best you can do. Stronglifts has a TON of great info on legit workouts to get bigger, stronger and more athletic as well as good nutrition info.

Post: #3

I'd focus on cardio and burning fat if you're that weight at that height, don't be like all the fat guys I see in the gym lifting heavy, but not doing any cardio and fat burning exercises.

Swimming is good, and if you're going to lift, I'd recommend starting off with low weight and doing high reps.

Post: #4

(01-27-2012 12:55 AM)OGNorCal707 Wrote:  I'd focus on cardio and burning fat if you're that weight at that height, don't be like all the fat guys I see in the gym lifting heavy, but not doing any cardio and fat burning exercises.

Swimming is good, and if you're going to lift, I'd recommend starting off with low weight and doing high reps.

Don't do only cardio if you want to burn fat. Combine it with weightlifting. Weights first, then cardio after.

Post: #5

My opinion:
At this stage, diet is 75%, workout is 25%. Put together a simple diet of fruits, veggies and lean proteins. Skip the wheat and starch. Your only carbs should come from the fruit. Drink a lot of water (2-3 liters/day). Use an online calculator to get a rough idea of your daily caloric intake and subtract 500-700 from it. Don't forget your workouts will be burning calories. Now go to http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ and sign up for a free account and log everything you put into your mouth everyday (including exercise). That site has a massive database of foods and entering what you eat becomes a quick one minute chore everyday...and most importantly, you'll be able to see how many calories you're eating, and where those calories are from (protein, carbs, fat).

Your workout should be simple right now - four days of cardio and football on sunday. No offense, but the more exotic the plan you design, the less likely you are to stick with it. Especially if you're a beginner. Just focus on maximum burn right now; don't worry about muscle development. At 5'9, 235, you're a big boy. Drop some body fat first, lean out a bit, and then focus on the weights.

Your girl has to be on board with your lifestyle change. If she's not, you'll likely fail.

Post: #6

(01-26-2012 11:54 PM)Maniero Wrote:  Diet is my main issue. I get so confused with how to calculate how much to eat, when to eat it, what to eat, how many times to eat, how much water to drink, etc etc.

Get Ripped at http://www.cbass.com.

Basically, eat low-caloric density food. Vegetables, fruits, whole grains. Avoid fat, cream, butter, sugared soda, fruit juice, alcohol. Use meat as a condiment only.

If you do this then you can eat all the damn time. I did this, and after a year I was struggling to regain some of the weight.

As an easy experiment, try this three times per day. Eat a whole apple, or a plain baked potato, a whole carrot, or a slice of whole grain bread. That will spoil your appetite and fill you up, displacing a lot of the junk you are currently eating.

Post: #7

Like others have said, get your diet in check first. I'd recommend either a temporary vegan or paleo diet. If you're feeling extra daring, look into raw foods/juice fasting. Check out this thread: /thread-9335.html

Your workout plan sounds pretty solid, but like Smitty said -- keep it simple at first. You can always add more later.

Post: #8

(01-27-2012 12:10 AM)RioNomad Wrote:  Do yourself a favor and follow the routine at Stronglifts.com, or buy Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. Very similar programs, and the best you can do. Stronglifts has a TON of great info on legit workouts to get bigger, stronger and more athletic as well as good nutrition info.

THIS. i hit the gym with a similar routine as op and my body fat didnt budge. i started doing stronglifts and following the "stronglifts" diet. ie. protein + veg with every meal and carbs only after lifting and my bodyfat plummeted. I didn't lose much "weight" but what guy wants to be skinny-fat?

So yeah, do stronglifts, its super easy to get down. read as much as you can about nutrition + weighlifting. I suggest calorie count for keeping track of your calories. It charts out what you're lacking, if youre eating too much of something etc. Super good for reteaching yourself about food.

Post: #9

Just got back from the gym. Since it's Friday I did 30 min of cardio, probably about half walking at 3.0 speed, then the other half at 6.0 jogging speed.

Signed up for myfitnesspal, and started reading some Stronglifts.com. Seems like an easy routine to remember.

Thanks for the help so far. Will likely post some starting pictures this weekend.

Post: #10

good move on the starting pictures. weightloss is not as drastic as the before/after tv pictures but when you can see the monthly changes you'll get even more motivated. also don't look at how much you weigh as opposed to your measurements. keep track of your measurments and do them monthly. i use bodybuilding.com for this, gives you cool graphs of your measurements and lifting stats. the progress will help motivate you.

Post: #11

Website of a famous Crossfit coach in San Francisco. Talks about increasing your mobility and avoiding injury.

http://www.mobilitywod.com/

Post: #12

Eat healthy and excercise a lot

Post: #13

stop eating, start running. Everything should be diet. I went from a 3,000 calorie diet to a 500 calorie diet and dropped 40 pounds in a few months, and am now running and working out to tone up.

Post: #14

Like RIoNomad said start with Ripptoe's Starting Strength. Try to make your diet look something like this: 40% protein, 30% carb and 30% fat!
So if you're eating 2000 kcals, you'll need 200g protein, 150g carb, 65g fat.
Avoid sugary carbs at all costs.

Post: #15

Checkin' back in...

Sunday I played a football double-header scrimmage (season starts in 3 weeks). Tons of running around for about 3 hours, was really tired later in the day around dinner, but the good kind of tired.

Went to the gym today and tried out the first stronglifts workout. Since it was my first time doing it and didn't have someone immediately available to spot me (using the free gym at work), I did it with the Smith machine. I know I need to do it free, but didn't want to go too crazy the first time trying it. Also then ran for 15 minutes afterwards.

Holding off on the photos - don't know whether its necessary to display my man-boobs all over the intertubes. If I feel myself slipping and needing extra motivation, maybe I'll still put em on here.

Post: #16

Weighed myself this morning, down 2 lbs for the week. I'm sure mostly water weight, but been sticking to the gym and eating decently.

Post: #17

If you eat no carbs for 6 months I can almost guarantee you that you'll lose 25 lbs or more. It's not complicated.

Post: #18

(02-04-2012 01:07 PM)gringoed Wrote:  If you eat no carbs for 6 months I can almost guarantee you that you'll lose 25 lbs or more. It's not complicated.

I can vouch for this. Im a huge low carb proponent. If you go low carb and add in calorie maintenance weight just falls off.

Chef In Jeans
A culinary website for men

Post: #19

(I can't add links yet, so Google is your friend.)

Martin Berkhan of LeanGains is the man to follow. His style of Intermittent Fasting is great for weight loss and he often writes about new research findings in depth.

- Intermittent Fasting: eat in an as narrow a time frame as possible, e.g. from 1 PM until 6:30 PM. In that window you can eat whatever, but...

- Low carbohydrate: in addition eat as little refined carbs and simple sugars as possible. No sugary soda shit, it is poison and starts energy storage in fat cells. No cakes, cookies and other crap either for the same reason.

- Rule: Eat the things that come out of the ground, and eat the things that eat the things coming out of the ground. Whole foods, so meat and fish, nuts, seeds and veggies. Only a bit of fruit. No potatoes, try eating rice if you have to have some carbs.

- Lift heavy! Cardio burns calories, but you get more hungry afterwards. Lifting actually burns fat as your body starts to synthesize muscle, which costs a lot of energy. Moreover, fat calls make you hungry, whereas muscle cells costs energy just to maintain.

(Regarding using cardio for fat burning, remember that in order to run off a can of coke you have to run a marathon pretty much.)

Read 'Good Calories Bad Calories' by Gary Taubes on why we get fat and how politics and corporate interests has pushed the High Carb Low Fat diets that make people obese.

Watch this lecture called 'Sugar: The Bitter Truth' (Youtube) on how sugars, especially fructose (HFCS and sucrose), are metabolized.

Good luck.

P.S: Your girlfriend is a keeper, but she's gaining weight with you? Make sure you don't end up with a post-wedding post-childbirth fatty.

Post: #20

^ good post

Check out the documentary Fat Head as well. Movie changed my life.

Chef In Jeans
A culinary website for men

Post: #21

(02-05-2012 06:37 AM)sixsix Wrote:  P.S: Your girlfriend is a keeper, but she's gaining weight with you? Make sure you don't end up with a post-wedding post-childbirth fatty.

I was waiting for someone to mention this.

She's a keeper because we never fight, she doesn't nag me, I lead her all the time and I can do NO wrong in her eyes.

I'd honestly say she's probably a 6.5 right now. When I say she needs to lose a little weight, I'm talking 15 lbs, MAYBE 20. If she does that, she's definitely up to a 7.5 IMO, maybe even pushing an 8.

Am I worried that she might blow up if I "get serious". Maybe. However, just like I did now ("Hey babe, we should really start getting serious about losing weight"), her ass was in the gym the next week and buying all healthy food.

I think a lot of it had to do with my laziness. I think she'll always follow my lead, and if I get myself in shape, she'll do the same.