finding a balance between working out, cardio, and diet

[emcdee]

I am 22, 6' 7'' and weigh 180 lbs. I'm not overweight by any means, in actuality I'm probably underweight for height.

I guess the fact that the body fat I have seems to collect in undesirable places like pecs and bellybutton area, really isnt uncommon... but up until now I've not really gotten serious about trying to tone and shape these areas to all they can be.

overall goal is to have a toned and flat stomach as well as (decently) shaped pecs and arms (I'm not trying to body build, I just want something defined) I keep reading about finding a balance between how much cardio you use, how much working out you do, and how much and what types of food you should eat.

I try to run 3-4 times a week for about 30 mins, and then i've started working out every other day doing some beginner sets of the muscle groups I'm trying to tone up.

I dont know much about what I'm supposed to be eating, other than high protein and low fat and drinking lots of liquids. Thats about it, I know its a commitment, and I've finally gotten the resolve to follow it through.

I feel kind of lost in a really big sea of information, and dont know where to even start. I've included some recent (taken a couple days ago) photos of torso, so people can see where I'm at and what I'm talking about so that they might could help me out in pointing me where to focus on.

I guess thats it! if there is anything anyone can give advice on, I would be very appreciative.
Thanks!

Emory

[cassiegose]

Hi Emory,

Great job on trying to make changes towards a healthier lifestyle!

For starters... What does your current diet look like? You might post an example of a typical day so suggestions can be offered. Also... have you ever trained with weights? What does your workout program look like? Post an example of that too please. :)

In order to tone up and add a bit of muscle you'll want to incoorporate a weight workout into your routine in conjunction with a healthy diet and a solid cardio routine. The weights and cardio will help you to lose fat and build muscle and an intense cardio workout in the form of intervals, stairs, sprints, fartleks, and/or ploymetric type exerices a couple days a week will help to burn fat.

For nutrition, you are correct, it is important to eat adequate amounts of protein to help you build muscle. A general rule is 1 to 1 1/2 gram of protein per pound of body weight. You don't necessarily need to maintain a low fat diet to meet your goals. Fats are a very important part of the diet. The key to eating fats is to make sure you're eating healthy ones like avacadoes, nuts (almonds are great!), nut butter (again, almond butter is great!), coconut oil, and olive oil. You'll want to stay away from greasy foods and junk food as much as possible and stick to whole foods like grains, fruit, and veggies as well as lean proteins. In addition, to keep your metabolism revved all day long it is a good idea to eat every 2 to 3 hours and make sure youre getting protein with every meal. For instance, say you wanted to consume 225 grams of protein a day and you were going to eat every 2-3 hours for a total of 7 meals. This means that every meal you'll want to eat around 32 grams of protein. Make sure you eat your first meal as soon as you wake up and then eat every 2-3 hours thereafter.

Some great examples of foods would include:
Lean Proteins: eggs/eggwhites, chicken breast, lean turkey breast, lean cuts of red meat, low fat cheese, tofu, soybeans, lean cuts of pork
Cabohydrates: oat meal, high fiber cereals, whole wheat bread/pasta/couscous, brown rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, fruits and veggies

Fruits are best if saved for the morning meals and veggies are best for the noon/afternoon meals. Also, the majority of your carbs should be consumed in the morning and less in the afternoon.

I've thrown a lot of information at you here. Please feel free to ask questions if needed. Also, swanso has posted a sticky in the diet/nutrition section. You should read that as it provides a layout of an excellent diet plan as well as additional information that will be useful to you.

Hope this helps... :)

[emcdee]

ok, yes thanks a lot! That is some good info for me to start with.

I've really only just started workout exercise routine for about a week now.

So far, it consists of about 30 mins of cardio (running/jogging outside) where i will jog at a pace that is just past comfort zone, then when I reach certain points on the jogging path i will run as fast as i can for about 45 secs to a min. ( I read somewhere that high intensity interval training ...or something like that, was good for you when trying to tone up)

I've done that, and am planning to do that, unless otherwise advised... now everyday of workout routine.

As far as weight training goes, I have been focusing mainly on arms, chest, and abs. I've done this training every other day so far, and it has so far consisted of something like this:

3 sets of 8-15 reps of (right now just 20 lb dumbbells)
3 sets of 25-30 sit ups laying on a decline bench (i guess is what itscalled?)
3 sets of 8-15 reps bench presses (with 30 lb weights on each side) with arms close to side to work on chest.

I know that that isnt even paying attention to the other parts of body like back and everything leg-wise, but is this good to start with ? How should I add or alter it?


Ok, as far as diet is concerned...

I've cut out all fast food, I'm eating only whole wheat breads. I will try to eat more meals a day like you suggested, but right now a typical day for the past week has been as follows:

Breakfast (something like the following):

..honey bunches of oats cereal
..oatmeal
..eggs with onion and ham and maybe a slice of cheese

Lunch (something like the following):

..deli meat sandwich (a few slices of ham and turkey) and a slice of cheese (no mayo)
..some baked lays chips
..sauteed salmon and angel hair pasta

Dinner (something like the following):

..some of a frozen Bertoli mediterranean style pasta, meat and veggies dinner
..some salmon again
..ramen

........

I also might snack on regular popcorn somewhere during the day.

I have been taking this protein shake so far once a day (should I take it twice?) called "Pro Complex" that has 60g of protein per serving and is less that a gram of fat per serving.


Other than that, thats about what exercise and diet has consisted of since I've started on this.

If there are any other suggestions about which way I should take this, I would follow them most humbly.

Thanks again!

Emory

[cassiegose]

Hi again!

Your workouts don't look too bad. For your weight routine I would do a full body workout three days a week. This is the workout that I'm currently doing for fat loss and it seems to be working quite well. So three days a week (maybe monday, wednesday, friday) I would do exercises like push ups (incline/decline), pull ups, deadlifts, squats, lunges, rows (dumbell/inverted), and dips. For cardio, good job on doing the high intensity cardio! You're right this is great for you! Some would argue that you don't need any more than 20 minutes or so of cardio so you might step that cardio up a notch 2 days a week (tuesday, thursday) so you can run no more than 20 minutes. You could add in more sprints and do less jogging. If you'd like you could do a liesurely jog on the 6th or 7th day of the week (saturday or sunday) for longer slow cardio. Take atleast one day off per week to recover.

For diet... It looks ok but I think we can definitely make some changes.

When are you typically working out during the day? Morning? Afternoon?

If youre working out in the morning how about something like this:

Meal 1: (as soon as you wake up) Fruit or yogurt with 1/2 protein shake
Meal 2: (right after working out) protein shake, oatmeal
Meal 3: protein, fruit
Meal 4: deli meat sandwich on whole wheat with low fat cheese with side salad or veggies OR salmon with carb from list and veggies or salad
Meal 5: protein, veggies
Meal 6: protein, veggies
Meal 7: protein, veggies

This plan is fairly low carb. If you're finding that this isn't enough you could add some carbs to meal 5 also. Also make sure to add in some healthy fats as mentioned in last message. You could throw some nuts or seeds on your salad or some avacado. That salmon is a great source of healthy fats! If you eat salmon for lunch try to make dinner a different source of protein (chicken, turkey, red meat, pork) as you don't need all that fish in one day. Its could to eat a variety of different foods and large amounts of fish isn't too good for you as it is high in mercury.

Any other questions? :)

[DianaB]

Have you had any blood work done lately, because it looks like you have some hormonal issues going on here. How old are you?
I really think you should get your estrogen levels checked out.
Maybe it's just a matter of cleaning house on the diet front, but you are packing in areas that just don't seem right for a guy.
It's worth checking out, because if you do have an imbalance, all the work you are putting into eating and training may become an exercise in frustration.
Good luck to ya!

[emcdee]

Ok as far as the post that Diana made, (I'm 22) I've long thought that some hormonal imbalance could be the cause of (especially) less than desirable fat accumulation on chest.

This most recent workout "spree" (so to say) isnt the first, there have been times where i've worked out fairly committed for a solid 2 months and the only change I could notice was that of increased energy. There has never been a change in the actual toning and appearance of chest or stomach.

while yes, it is possible that i've just yet to find that balance in proper diet and exercise routine, i do think there might be something to the whole hormone imbalance thing... which? i guess i should get checked out?

.........

As far as what cassie has said, I usually have been working out late morning time. or late afternoon (whichever schedule allows).

The suggestions for the meals are good, I will start changing diet to fit something like that. Should I be "counting calories" etc? how much of the "good fats" should i be eating (gram wise, if that needs to be worried about)

And lastly, as far as the actual work outs go, do i train all muscle groups on the days that i am working out?

Thank again a lot!

Emory

[DianaB]

Before you get too far into the whole thing, counting cals etc. get the blood work done. Your diet has been less than stellar, for sure, and diet is really the most important element for fat loss strategies. But there may be some foods that are contributing to the issue at hand. Get yourself tested and educated, then you can make informed decisions about food.
You definitely need a better training program, do you go to a gym at all? Stay active and do what you are doing until the big picture is sorted out. There can be nothing worse than toiling away to reach a goal and not being able to attain it because of unknown variables, in your case, perhaps hormonal imbalances.
It's not just the chest fat that concerns me, you've got a "mommy tummy" going on as well. Get it checked out, there is nothing to be ashamed or hesitant about.

[emcdee]

ok sounds good, I guess I just go to family doctor and ask him to test me for hormones?

As far as the gym goes, I use a small gym here at apartment, nothing big by any means.

Until the time comes that I do go to the doc, yea, I will continue to work out and train and stay active.

Thanks.

Emory