New Member and Weight Loss Help

[Digital Void]

What's up everyone. I'm a new member to Anabolic Minds, came across the site while looking for some information/advice about weight loss.

Here is where I am at ... this will be a long post so sorry in advance.

I am currently 22 years old, 5'11", and weigh 277lbs. I have been overweight my entire life, losing weight and then gaining it back again. I've always been rather academic and worked a lot, and as a result I ended up with a poor diet and exercise habit.

Since last July I have been dedicated to finally getting into shape. When I first started I weighed 298. I've always wanted to have a shredded body, and get into power lifting so at that point I decided to kick my ass into gear and do what it took to get there. In all honesty, I anticipated two years to drop all my body fat and begin working toward building muscle and getting sculpted.

I hold my fat in my upper body mainly. I have a large fatty chest (front and side) and went to 3 different doctors to have it checked to see if it was gynocomastia and they all said they felt it was just fat. I also hold fat in my sides (obliques) and my abs and back. I also have some fat in my upper legs (quads) and my glutes. Thinking about it now, my entire body is just fat lol.

When I started at the gym, I didnt know a lot about nutrition, setting up protocols for myself, etc so I hired a personal trainer. I chose my trainer because of his credibility - 32 years experience, nationally ranked power lifter, holds his MS in Nutrition, as well as his CISSN and CSCS, and teaches at the National Personal Training Institute. So, with his level of experience he seemed well worth the money.

Fast forwarding a year ... I am definitely stronger, my agility has improved, and I'm in better cardiovascular shape. Weight wise, I have only dropped 21lbs and 1 pant size. My shirt size is still the same, and honestly I dont notice much change visually. This is extremely frustrating considering the time, dedication, and money I have put in to this routine. I spoke with him numerous times about my slow results, and I felt like I have several sticking points or plateaus in that year which he attributed to stress. Now, adding to the frustration, I am currently laid off and I can't afford my trainers sessions, so now I am on my own.

I am at the gym 5 days per week, doing weight training and cardio. My typical schedules is as follows:

Sun - Legs
Mon - Off
Tue - Shoulders and Cardio
Wed - Chest and Cardio
Thur - Back and Cardio
Fri - Bi / Tri and Cardio
Sat - Off

The movements I do for each body part varies so my body doesnt adapt to one type of protocol, and sometimes I will do a circuit of body parts as well rather than just one. For cardio, I do 45 minutes of interval training on an elliptical machine. With cardio, my workout lasts about a 1.5 hours.

For diet, I was following what he laid out for me ...

Muscle Milk
300 Calories, 12g Fat, 16g Carbs, 5g Fiber, 32g Protein
Tri-O-Plex
420 Calories, 16g Fat, 45g Carbs, 6g Fiber, 30g Protein

Supplements
1x Multivitamin
Iron 28mg – 1x morning, 1x afternoon
Omega 3 – 2x morning, 2x afternoon
CoQ10 100mg – 1x morning, 1x afternoon
Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc – 2x morning, 2x afternoon
Vitamin C 100mg, 1x morning, 1x afternoon

Water - 8-12 glasses per day.

Breakfast (pre-workout)
Whole grain bagel or 1.5-2 cups Fiber One

Breakfast (post-workout)
Whole grain bread or bagel
6 eggs w/ cheese

or

Fiber One
6 eggs w/ cheese

Snack
Tri-O-Plex

Lunch
Chicken / turkey breast / steak / salmon / tuna
Rice or baked potato
Mixed vegetables or salad

Snack
Muscle Milk

Dinner
8-12 oz chicken/tuna/salmon/steak

Snack
4-6 eggs or tbsp peanut butter

I stuck to variations of that diet pretty religiously. I do treat myself when I crave, but I try to keep that at once a week.

Thats pretty much it for background information. I feel like at this point my body is just idle, like its hit a wall and just cant get past it. I also think my metabolism has slowed because I feel tired and lethargic a lot, despite getting 9 hours of sleep per night. I've had my thyroid and hormone levels checked not too long ago by my family doctor and he said all is normal. So, not really sure where to go from here.

Ideally I would like to get down to 240lbs ... and to me, that 30lbs drop should only take 6 -8 months. I'm willing to do what it takes, I just need help to get on that path. I've been considering taking some weight loss supplements as well like Hydroxycut or something to help with the fat loss, but I'm not sure ...

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. I know the post was long but I wanted to get all the info out there. Thanks in advance.

 

[youngandfree]

How many calories total have you been consuming on an average day. How long have you been at the same calorie level? On paper, your diet plan looks ok, maybe could drop some of the carbs a bit lower. Do you drink sodas or other sugary drinks?

I would probably stop spending money on the trainer even if you weren't layed off if he hasn't been able to give you some meaningful insight into helping you get through the plateaus.

You came to the right place. Welcome to AM.

 

[marshmallow man]

I lost around 50lbs. What helped me was weight watchers. I followed it religiously from Oct to May. I ran at least 5 times a week, about 3 miles. Sometimes it was just jogging for 30 minutes, other times it was HIIT.

I went from 220 to 170, but I was still kinda squishy...lol I've been focusing on more lifting and less cardio. I'm around 183-5 right now and much leaner.

Good luck.

 

[suncloud]

i admire your dedication to make a positive impact on your life and health, and would suggest you try total body workouts. something like the "300 workout", which is a GH promoting workout which involves compound movements only, and a total body routine.

this would look something like :
MWF
squats
bench
deadlifts
pullups (assisted)
clean and press
floor wipers (youtube has these)

5 sets of 10 as supersets. do all 300 reps in 45 minutes, and work your way to doing them in 30 minutes. weight is secondary to speed with regards to promoting GH, which will help you burn fat. once you get down to 30 minutes, then you can add weight as needed.

on tuesday and thursday, do HIIT workouts instead (45 second slow bike, 15 second maximum intensity) for 10-15 minutes.

when you get down to 245, i would consider staying at that weight to allow your skin time to shrink. you may need supplements to do this (RPN has one), but you will need surgery to pull it off if you get much lower than that. IMO. again, not trying to be mean, just want to make sure you know when to start pacing yourself.

good luck, welcome to AM, and congrats to changing your life/health around.

EDIT : and switch that rice/potato for brown rice or sweet potato

 

[jsheely]

Also remember that having the same diet for an extended period of time is going to make you plateau. You need to cycle your calories and carbs to keep your body from adapting. You should also add up your daily caloric intake and figure out your Base Metabolic Rate to see if you're in a proper calorie defect on average. Too low will shut down your metabolism and you wont loose any weight. Take your temperature when you wake up in the morning. If it's below normal, it can indicate that your metabolism has slowed from too few calories. As far as supplements, I'd save the fat burners for later when you've slimmed down some and get stuck with diet and training variations. If you're going to use something though, I'd recommend Ephedrine/Caffeine/Aspirin and slimX is really good too.

 

[dedlifter1]

As you can see, there is alot of help here, and the above advice so far is spot on, givin by guys who know. The HIIT cardio is a great suggestion, it is currently how I am recomping. Being trained by a powerlifter may not have been the best idea, regardless of his experience in the feild. I think you will be pleasently surprised to see the quality muscle you have once that fat has been obliterated. 21 lbs loss is not bad either, considering you were miore than likely gaining muscle at the same time seeing how your strength and agility had increased. You ask all the right questions, Im sure that succcess is in your future!! Welcome aboard.

 

[Digital Void]

Hey everyone, thanks for the welcome and for the great advice, its much appreciated. Sorry for the late reply, I've been away on vacation for the past week.

So, to answer some questions asked - My average caloric intake is between 2400-2800 calories per day. I've been at this calorie level and diet layout for the past 4 months. I dont drink sodas, juices, or other sugary drinks and I dont eat sweets either. I'm also not a big alcohol drinker, and I dont smoke.

So, based on all the advice above it seems as if I need to alter and tighten my diet, and change my workout routine. I like the suggested 300 workout. It looks challenging from a strength and endurance perspective, and appears to be a nice change from what I've been doing. I've been doing the same workout routine for about 3 months now and I can tell my body has adapted. I am concerned about loose skin if I drop a lot of weight too rapidly and I would like to avoid having to get it surgically removed, so I plan to pace myself.

Now, creating a new diet ... I suck at the nutrition part of it. Is it recommended to try and stick to normal food as much as possible with bars/drinks used only as supplements in between, or for my purpose would it be recommended to use the bars/drinks as a meal replacement and supplement normal food in my diet in small portions? What does everyone think about Muscle Milk and Tri-O-Plex bars? There is a lot of talk on the forums about the quality of ingredients, the protein, etc. Are they decent supplements, should I look for something better quality, less fat, etc? Should I use them as supplements or meal replacements? There is also a lot of talk about weight loss stacks such as Clen and ECA. Should I be looking into these to aid my weight loss?

For the 300 Workout ... seeing its intensity and the amount of reps, it appears to be a strength and endurance protocol rather so I'm guessing I should stick to lower weight, similar to a crossfit? Reading around online, most sites recommend this routine be done once or twice a week in conjunction with another regiment ... that being said, should I do this 3 days per week every week as my regiment, or incorporate this alongside another regiment? What about adding in movements, such as for bis/tris and other types of movements for legs, back, chest, shoulders etc such as dumbell presses, lateral pulldowns, dips, etc?

As for my trainer, I am done with him. I've brought up questions regarding my body seeming to be adapting to the routine and plateauing, changing my diet, etc and he just said that I was getting anxious and the plateau was more likely stress. In a way I feel like an ass for believing him, but live and learn. Since I got laid off and I've been on my own I've asked him for help with various parts of my protocol and diet and he's helped but its been very vague ... its hard to even get a spot from him. He dumps tons of services to his clients that pay him 100+ an hour, but wont voluntarily help anyone in the gym unless there is potential to pull them in as a client. Very arrogant IMO. Anyone, I am done with him ... there is a lot of good info on this board it seems, and based on my responses above I can see there is a good user base here to help me through this.

Thanks again for all the help. I will try to rework my diet and post it again for critique. Until then, any suggestions would be great.

 

[Digital Void]

Alright, so I have been thinking of a new workout routine and diet. The diet I'm still working on, and in a way I want to incorporate some type of weight loss supplement such as an ECA stack or even something like Hydroxycut. I'm still deciding on that though.

Anyway, I like idea of the 300 workout with the HIIT cardio. Reading around online, the 300 workout seems pretty advanced from a fitness perspective, and is recommended to either be done as a final fitness test or to be worked in 1-2 days per week alongside another routine. I'm also curious how well the 300 workout works total body fitness i.e biceps, triceps, back, chest, etc. Granted when you are working chest you are using triceps as a synergest, same with back/biceps, etc but are those indirect movements enough to constitute not working them directly while doing a weight loss routine?

Anyway, reading around and putting some stuff together on my own here is something I came up with that is similar in principle to the 300 workout only its a bit more broken down and hits each of the main muscles directly. Let me know what you guys think:

Sunday - Legs (Leg extensions, squats, leg press, calf raises) and Abs
Monday - Chest (bench press, dumbell press, dumbell flies, dips ... can also do incline/decline), triceps (pushdowns, dips, skull crushers, close grip bench), and shoulders (straight bar press, dumbell press, upright rows, lateral raises, cables for post delts)
Tuesday - Back (pullups, lateral pull down, bent-over row, low row), biceps (straight bar curls, preacher curls, resistance band curls, curls with opposite hand in an isometric hold at 90 degress)
Wednesday - Legs/Abs again
Thursday - Chest/Tri/Shoulders again
Friday - Back/Bi again
Saturday - OFF

Each day I will also work in HIIT cardio.

The one aspect I'm stuck on at the moment, aside from diet, is whether I should go for strength/endurance i.e lower weight with 12-15 reps per set, or do more hypertrophy and go for a bit heavier weight with 8-12 reps per set.

What does everyone think?