Noob wants to loose weight!

[ich1ban]

Hi there,

This is my first post! I just started lifting weights about 2-3 months ago, i am 21yrs old 5'8" 245lbs. I learned little things here and there but now i've decided to cut and get lean before i try to get big. I am looking for your advice!

This has been my diet for about 2weeks now
Diet:
Morning: 12oz 2% Milk, Bowl of Total Wheat Cereal, Bananas, 40FL OZ of water

Afternoon: Subway Special toasted no cheese with 20FL OZ water

Evening: Salad some dressings, hard boiled eggs, no cheese.

Heh, this is probably around only 1200cals very low for my body type but i just too busy to cook. I go to school, work full time, and live by myself.

Workout Schedule

6AM I run for about 20 mins and do 40mins of basketball.

Then i go to work/school

6PM I work out for about 1.5hrs on different machines

I want to loose about 45lbs in 3 months, can this be done, what good stacks would you recommend?

thanks for any advice

 

[Ziricote]

You think there are as many as 1200kcal there? Sure...

Too much too quick I suspect, I'd think something more like 2000-2500kcal and cutting your workout time down. Do 30-45 minutes of cardio and then 30-45 of weights later in the day, a total of 2.5 hours exercise and a max of 1200kcal is a recipe for disaster besides, cutting down that 1.5hour session also means you have time to prepare something to eat for the next day.

Another thing, stop using machines and start doing free weight compound exercises (squats, deadlift, row, dips etc).

 

[sf9ersfan8]

I dont cook either man, but when i diet i usually whip up something as simple as some turkey slices on some wheat bread w/ cheese. try breaking those meals up into at least 4, maybe even 5 or 6. I work and go to school full time, i know its tough. is your morning cardio befor or after breakfast?

 

[EasyEJL]

Some quick observations

Not enough protein
Not enough overall calories
Too much of a strength workout (in terms of time)
45lbs in 3 months is too much

I'm going to give you the advice other people gave me, that I wish I would have followed. Use this time right now while you have a lot of bodyfat to add muscle. Trying to get superlean first won't work very well. The problem is that when you flip around to trying to gain, you will be inclined to gain fat as well. Whereas right now if you eat maintenance calories and workout hard on weights, you can trade a bit of fat for muscle fairly easily.

I think at your size you should target at least 6 months to loose that 45lbs. You really need to do it in such a way as that you build habits you can live with long term. To get to where you are now, you didn't eat like this. so if you managed to loose that weight in the 3 months, what would you be eating then? its far better to loose the weight slowly, and work out how you can live your life and enjoy the foods at a lower calorie total

 

[JASONJAYJ9]

Cut the cereal out and replace with protien. Stay on the machine weights but do HI reps-15 reps at 3 sets each and do Cardio at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes minimum-the more cardio the weight you lose quick!! Free will only bulk you up unless you do HI reps too.

 

[ich1ban]

Hi there thank you for the replies....

I do agree that my calorie intake is pretty low, i just have no clue what to buy in the grocery. I'm thinking eggs and baked chicken, I don't know what else.

Ziricote: thanks i will try to come up with a meal plan that would be around that caloric range

sf9ersfan8: Yes my morning cardio is before breakfast, i just drink a mix of water and gatorade.

EasyEJL:thanks for the tips and advice, 6months would be a perfect, just right for summer.

JASONJAYJ9: ah i see alright thanks, milk eggs and baked chicken is tastier anyway

i posted a pic, 5'8 245, i have no clue what is making me so heavy but people think im a big round ball usually. i have alot of fat in the midsection and thighs though >_<

 

[EasyEJL]

Lowfat cottage cheese is good, ground turkey can be used in place of ground beef in almost anything. You can do pan fried stuff, just use olive oil or coconut oil. Sams club has precooked salmon fillets prefrozen in 4oz individual packs, also walmart has frozen tilapia in 4oz individually sealed packs. either of them is 20-25g of protein in a single serve. The salmon is great cause its already cooked, so just thaw it in the microwave and put it on top of the salad. the tilapia requires cooking, but is only $2.50 a pound.

That is a critical piece of it being a long term success, keeping enough variety that you don't get bored of what you eat and slowly start cheating more and more. Once you are a good few weeks in and comfy with your routine, its fine to cheat 1 or 2 meals a week. And cheat as hard as you want for those 1 or 2 meals That is really critical too, as it gives you the "openness" to be able to enjoy family meals at holidays, or go out with the boys once a week or whatever. And don't overcompensate on your next meal or anything, understand that if you manage to take in 2000 cal on that 1 cheat meal, it really isn't that much of a change for the week. Saying that on a 3 meal plan you should be around 800 per meal, thats only 1200 more, spread over 7 days its only a 200 cal a day difference, 10 minutes of hard running or basketball covers that

And dont forget each pound of muscle you add burns more calories than the pound of fat you loose, and it makes it easier to burn the next pound of fat off

 

[ClintCanada]

Cut the cereal out and replace with protien. Stay on the machine weights but do HI reps-15 reps at 3 sets each and do Cardio at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes minimum-the more cardio the weight you lose quick!! Free will only bulk you up unless you do HI reps too.

Ich1ban

I'm not sure why this guy decided to post here but PLEASE disregard that jibber-jabber.
Free Weights are generally ALWAYS your first choice over machines unless you don't have a choice -- doesn't matter what your goals are . . .
You aren't going to 'bulk' -- lmao -- train for hypertrophy and strength -- so keep you reps UNDER 15 !! --if it were that easy we'd al be running for governor -- if you DON'T build any muscle and only lose weight (not just fat, but weight) then you will become smaller all over. This means if you are pear-shaped now, you will be a smaller pear. If you are a ball now, you will become a smaller ball. This is why you lift WEIGHTS, and if and only if you have time on your hands do you do cardio -- because although it burns calories, it does not alter you metabolism. Increasing your muscle mass not only changes your shape to look like a man instead of a pear, but it increases your metabolism so that while you will burn calories in the gym just like with cardio, you will CONTINUE to burn calories all day long -- #1 priority is WEIGHTS.

Read more about the hieracrhy of fat loss here:
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1526539

Here is a very good link as to how and what to eat and the hierarchy of your basic supplements -- keep it simple

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/charlie2.htm

 

[JASONJAYJ9]

Ich1ban is all about getting big. You on the other hand want to lose weight and look ripped up by summer. So disregard Ich1ban's adivce. Do cardio as much as you can and High reps whether it's free weights or machine weights. Look at all the big guys in the gym, they have no definition becuase they are worried about bieng big but when the shirt comes off, it's alot of body fat. Ask any guy that is Totally Ripped, what is there secret to being ripped. They will all tell you Cardio is the number #1 reason. All body builders do alot of cardio to get that Ripped and Striaghted look, you can't get it buy just lifting weights alone. Ich1ban needs to do his research first about shedding Fat.

 

[ClintCanada]

Ich1ban is all about getting big. You on the other hand want to lose weight and look ripped up by summer. So disregard Ich1ban's adivce. Do cardio as much as you can and High reps whether it's free weights or machine weights. Look at all the big guys in the gym, they have no definition becuase they are worried about bieng big but when the shirt comes off, it's alot of body fat. Ask any guy that is Totally Ripped, what is there secret to being ripped. They will all tell you Cardio is the number #1 reason. All body builders do alot of cardio to get that Ripped and Striaghted look, you can't get it buy just lifting weights alone. Ich1ban needs to do his research first about shedding Fat.

Jason,

I'm not sure how you could mix up who's who but it may be linked with your fat loss advice. First you apparently need some introductions: Ich1ban is the one who started the post who has stated he wants to get cut up. I, ClintCanada have advised him how to achieve this and included some links with some good information.

And I am NOT about getting big either, but also about getting cut up, and that's how you do it (not sure why you assumed my approach was to 'get big').

PLEASE don't try to help this guy out when you DO NOT HAVE A CLUE WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. YOU need to learn a little bit about nutrition and fat loss before posting your insane garbage here. This guy is asking for ADVICE -- if you can't helpl, its ok to sit on the sidelines and listen and learn, thats how everyone here learns.

The arguing over free weights vs. machines and telling guys to lose weight by doing cardio speaks for itself -- GO AND DO SOME RESEARCH -- you're wasting Ich1bans time including your own -- take some time and open up ANY book from the abs diet to T-diet, or read any of the forum on THIS SITE OR ANYWHERE on fat loss and cutting weight.
Since you haven't done the research on your own or even gone to the link I posted (which is just one of dozens out there) here's the basics of efficiency for fat loss.: (in order of importance)
Ichi1ban please listen to this . . .
1-You need a calorie deficit diet without sacrificing the protein.
How do you create a calorie deficit? consume less and/or burn more (this is a whole topic in itself but you need to start eating 6-7 small meals per day with 30g of protein in each as just a CRUDE example).
2-Activities that burn calories, maintain/promote muscle mass, and elevate metabolism (WEIGHT TRAINING)
3-Activities that burn calories and elevate metabolism
4-Activities that burn calories but don't necessarily maintain muscle or elevate metabolism (cardio)

cardio DOES burn calories, so go ahead if you have extra time but it is last on the list. PERIOD. FYI if you DO have time for cardio then do it first thing in the morning when you are still (hopefully) in a catabolic state (glycogen stores depleted from the night's fasting). You burn stored glycogen first, then fat, so do it first thing in the morning prior to eating OR the next advisable time would be following a weight training session (at which time you've ideally burnt stored glycogen)

Now the high rep thing?? If YOU CAN FIND ANY LINK OR REFERENCE ANYWHERE WHICH SAYS USING HIGH REPS (MORE THAN 15) WILL CREATE MUSCLE HYPERTROPHY THEN POST IT OTHERWISE SHUT IT.

Hope this advice helps clear up the brain fart.

 

[EasyEJL]

Let's keep it mellow here please it is possible to build muscle with high rep counts but its much more efficient to do it with low rep counts. If you use TUT (time under tension) then weight doesn't matter as much either.

 

[ClintCanada]

Let's give this guy some good advice.

Fat-loss is A BATTLE. Anyone who has SUCCESSFULLY done this knows this. Ich1ban, you simply will NOT achieve the results I know you want if you don't first work smart and second work hard (unless you can spend endless hours in the gym wandering around -- well maybe that won't even work . . .).
Please have a read of what I've posted and look at some of the other threads here on cutting -- there are some good ones. Remember the basics:
1-you need a calorie deficit to loss weight
2-maintain the protein to mitigate muscle loss
3-calorie deficit is a combination of watching calorie intake and burning calories.
4-the most efficient way to burn fat isn't while you're in the gym, its during the rest of the day so you need to INCREASE YOUR METABOLISM (you can also burn calories from cardio or many other ways . . . go play some basketball, whatever)
5-you increase your metabolism by increasing muscle mass
6-you increase muscle mass by weight training that cause hypertrophy
7-EFFICIENT weight training that causes hypertrophy is achieved by doing some compound movements such as bench press, deadlifts, squats, shoulder press, bent-over barbell rows and dips for example (all done with free weights if possible) that force you to lift HEAVY weights over long distances which use several muscles. If time permits continue working on down to smaller muscle groups and single joint/isolation exercises (under 15 reps).

By the way, yes bodybuilders do cardio to get ripped and striated but they already have a MASSIVE muscle base which is why they ALREADY HAVE A HIGH METABOLISM, and so it is used simply as a calorie burner -- it is only the icing on the cake of an already massive calorie-burning machine. Again, Ich1ban, if you have extra time to kill, then go for it.

Jason, I apologize for the rudeness -- but hear me out -- I used to share the same opinion as you several years ago, and it was an uniformed opinion. I know better now and I'm trying to share what I've picked up . . .

 

[asianbabe]

Great advice Clint.


You need more protein, and more meals. You might do better on a lower carb, high protein diet.

In regards to your training in the PM - get yourself into a routine, no need to stick to machines, you can use free weights if you can get someone to teach you good form - and having a program ensures you are working all parts of your body evenly.

After you workout, you should get in a good source of protein (whole food or protein powder) doesn't matter too much.

In the mornings, I might swap your cereal for Oatmeal and eggs or protein powder

 

[MESSPLAY]

Clint and Easy have great advice for you.

I noticed you were in a bit of a time crunch which is why you eat three small meals a day.

Find time at the end of the week (a lazy sunday afternoon, for example) to cook all of your meals in bulk (you can even individually pack them [ie. tunafish sandwich in tin foil and plop it in the fridge]) so that you can just grab and go and you'll have time to spare. You can do this with fish, oatmeal, chicken breasts, etc and they'll keep all week.

I remember when i first joined I was just like you eating well under maintenance and doing high reps with light weight thinking I was going to get ripped shedding all that fat off. I had seen success with my methodology over the Summer but I had lost weight the easy way- unhealthy; sacrificing muscle in the making.

EasyEJL told me to eat like a horse, lift and sleep. It's worked incredibly thus far. Listen to these veterans.

 

[ich1ban]

Thank you so much for the help guys, i really have noted down all your advices. Preparing food in bulk is a great idea, couple hrs of a day could save me time for the next few days.

I will try to portion and schedule my meals, I'll probably need an alarm to get a habit of it. I'll also take the advice to swap out certain foods for better more nutritious ones as well

I will keep a log for myself and we'll see what happens in a few months. I appreciate it, thanks!