Going to get serious about losing weight and building muscle

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x3r0
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Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:50 pm
Location: NY

Going to get serious about losing weight and building muscle

Post by x3r0 »

Okay for the past 2 years I haven't really exercised and weight trained as seriously as I could. Added to that, I tried to eat a balanced healthy diet but being in college prevents that with drinking and other social influences. Anyway I'm going to mark this as beginning point (even though I've been trying to lose weight for a while). I am 5' 11 and 163-165 pounds. I do not know body fat percentage but it can't be that low considering the fat i have lol.

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Yes, quite gruesome isn't it lol. Anyway workout regiment consists of backs and biceps, triceps and chest, and shoulders, while switching of for those 3 groups every 2 days. I sometimes run and incorporate lower back and squats before running on off days. Then I switch off for full body workouts the next week to keep it varied from week to week. On all weightlifting days I incorporate either weighted core exercises and planks or ab workout circuits as well. So basically it is like this :

week 1:
Mon- chest and triceps
Tues- Squats and deadlifts plus running intervals or 3 miles (depending on whether legs are dying or not)
wednesday- shoulders
thursday- running (intervals or 3 mile jogging at a steady fast pace)
friday- biceps and back
sat- (sometimes) running and some body exercises such as pullups and pushups and prisoner squats
sun- off
week 2:
Mon- full body
tuesday- interval running
wednesday- full body
thursday- interval running
friday- full body
sat- jogging
sunday- off

As for diet and nutrition:
Morning- 2 pieces of whole wheat toast, egg white omelet with peppers, onions, tomato, and sometimes broccoli, 2 large glasses of water and coffee.
3hrs later- some almonds or a protein bar and water
2 hrs later- some sort of meat for protein and a large salad, 2 glasses of water, a banana, sometimes coffee too
3 hrs later- protein shake (depending on whether it is a workout day or not)
2 hrs later- some sort of meat for protein and a large salad 2 glasses of water etc
3 hrs later- sometimes a banana and water

major problem is snacking which sucks because i sometimes get results and then fall into a vicious cycle. Also drinking and other altercations of the mind sometimes leads me to eat a lot. So any advice? The main thing I am concerned with is the proportions of food i should be eating, like how much meat and salad etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated :D [/img]
swanso5
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Post by swanso5 »

Okay for the past 2 years I haven't really exercised and weight trained as seriously as I could. Added to that, I tried to eat a balanced healthy diet but being in college prevents that with drinking and other social influences. Anyway I'm going to mark this as beginning point (even though I've been trying
drinking prevents eating properly? you don;t have too...just excuses me feels
cassiegose
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Post by cassiegose »

Hi there,

If I were you I think I would stick to the workout that you're doing on the second week (full body with intervals) and do that every week for a while. In order to keep your workouts varied, try switching up the reps and sets (adjusting the weight as needed) and simply do variations of the basic compound lifts (lunges, squats, deadlifts, rows, pullups, dips, pushups, military press, bench press).

For your diet.... how about this....

Morning- 2 pieces of whole wheat toast, egg white omelet with peppers, onions, tomato, and sometimes broccoli, 2 large glasses of water and coffee.

3hrs later- some almonds, fruit, and lean protein, water

2 hrs later- some sort of meat for protein and a large salad, 2 glasses of water, veggies, sometimes coffee too

3 hrs later- protein shake (depending on whether it is a workout day or not)
2 hrs later- some sort of meat for protein and a large salad 2 glasses of water etc
3 hrs later- sometimes veggies, protein, and water

when are you working out? I'm assuming before drinking the protein shake? Add some carbs after drinking the protein.

If I were you I would eat between 165 and 250 grams of protein a day (this is your body weight x 1 and your body weight x 1.5). If you're eating 6 meals a day, this would be between 28-40 grams of protein per meal. You should get into the habit of reading labels to figure out how much youre getting. If the food doesn't have a label, you can always look it up online.


As for the snacking and "altercations of the mind" (not sure exactly what you're referring to there but I think I have an idea) you're just going to have to be more careful. If you want to get into shape and have a body that you're proud of then you'll stay on track, workout regularly and eat a healthy diet. However, if you care more about the drinking and partying than having a healthy, fit, toned body, then nobody here can help you. Its your choice to make.

I realize that college is a time of fun and partying... however if you truly want to get into better shape you won't let that get in your way.

Good luck!

Cassie
x3r0
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Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:50 pm
Location: NY

Post by x3r0 »

okay responding to swanso's response:
Drinking is basically undermining efforts to eat properly due to the fact that it has so many carbs and calories. While I do eat healthy everyday, drinking and smoking weed kills efforts because I do not control myself and I end up eating really bad food. Just two cents.

And responding to cassiegose's response:
Thanks for the tips, but should I still run intervals on off days if i do full body workouts every mon, wed, and fri? I feel its always hard to really run after doing squats the day before. And I typically workout midday on monday and wednesday like 5 or so. And for Friday I workout in the morning due to schedule.

I have been smoking less and drinking less and been seeing some of the weight lost from the "freshman 15" =D
cassiegose
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Post by cassiegose »

Hi there,

The intervals should be fine on the days when you're not lifting. I've found that when I go in and run on the days after lifting it actually helps to eleviate some of the soreness by getting muscles loosening up and getting some blood flowing. You need 24-72 hours between lifting to help the muscles recover, but cardio shouldn't have an effect on your muscle recovery.

Good job on cutting back on the drinking and smoking. College should be fun, however I definitely think you need to set some priorities. I believe there are ways to have fun without completely jeopardizing your health and fitness.

Cassie :)
swanso5
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Location: melbourne, australia

Post by swanso5 »

Drinking is basically undermining efforts to eat properly due to the fact that it has so many carbs and calories. While I do eat healthy everyday, drinking and smoking weed kills efforts because I do not control myself and I end up eating really bad food. Just two cents.
well it's all about choices i suppose isn't it?

www.uponlinetraining.com
Pablo_P
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Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:33 pm

Post by Pablo_P »

Hi x3r0.

Weed + proper nutritional diet can be tough, as you know, because weed stimulates the appetite and gives you the munchies.

A little tip; next time your smoking and getting that major sweet tooth, have a couple of chunks of pineapple. That really does it for me. Better yet, have some pineapple, apple, blueberries, banana and strawberries with low-fat yoghurt. -licious! (a lot of hardcore bodybuilders on here may tell you not to have so much fruit because of the sugar or fructose or whatever - but if it's between sweet fruit and chocolate/candy because your stoned mind is convincing you that you need it, go for the fruit man, it'll kill that ache.
x3r0
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Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:50 pm
Location: NY

Post by x3r0 »

Pablo_P wrote:Hi x3r0.

Weed + proper nutritional diet can be tough, as you know, because weed stimulates the appetite and gives you the munchies.

A little tip; next time your smoking and getting that major sweet tooth, have a couple of chunks of pineapple. That really does it for me. Better yet, have some pineapple, apple, blueberries, banana and strawberries with low-fat yoghurt. -licious! (a lot of hardcore bodybuilders on here may tell you not to have so much fruit because of the sugar or fructose or whatever - but if it's between sweet fruit and chocolate/candy because your stoned mind is convincing you that you need it, go for the fruit man, it'll kill that ache.
Thanks for the tip Pablo, but I have stopped smoking the stuff for quite some time now =).
Now I got a new problem: finals week...
Any ideas guys to get through this week without killing progress? I need to be up for all hours but need food to somewhat stimulate fatigued brain i guess. Tips would be helpful =D
Mustangs80
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Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 3:52 pm

Post by Mustangs80 »

x3r0 wrote: Now I got a new problem: finals week...
Any ideas guys to get through this week without killing progress? I need to be up for all hours but need food to somewhat stimulate fatigued brain i guess. Tips would be helpful =D
Well if I were you, I'd maybe hold out on working out until the week is done. And the same rules apply nutritional wise. Whip cream isn't going to help your fatigued brain. Fruits, vegetables, everything that's been said should be applied. I personally recommend enrgy drinks.
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