Time to lose weight, need some help/guidance

[ishkabibbel2000]

So.. a little bit about me.

Growing up, I was 1 of 2 siblings. I was active, healthy and in great shape. I played football in high school during my freshman and sophomore years and was in damn good shape. At the time I was 5'9" and weighed about 155. But, that was 15 years ago, and if it were still the case, I wouldn't be here asking for help!

Now, I'm 32, 5'10", 235lbs and work a desk job so my daily routine is pretty lax. I'm also a father of 5 kids so they monopolize a lot of my time. Unfortunately, this creates several issues.

1) My eating habits are garbage. I'm constantly doing "on the run" dinners which consist of hitting the value menus of fast food places, or quick dinners like hot dogs / brats / hamburgers on the grill or homemade tacos.

2) I don't have the time to go to a gym, play a sport etc...

So, what I've done is made a small home gym for myself. We now own an elliptical, treadmill and small weight bench with about 100 lb in weights.

My goal is not strength at this point. It's all about weight loss and cardio improvement for me right now. I would love to get my weight down between 170 - 185. So here are the questions that I have:

a) How often should I be exercising, and for what intervals?

b) Is one machine more efficient than the other, or should I be using a combination of the two?

c) Are there any websites dedicated to "quick" meals that aren't so unhealthy?

Thanks in advance for any help!
-Scott

[Boss Man]

Hi there. Good to correspond with you .

This is one I give to people so it should be fine for you 3x a week.

Squats, 2 sets, 10 reps

Lunges, 2 sets, 10 reps

Good Mornings, 2 sets, 10 reps

Chest Press, 2 sets, 10 reps

Bent Over Rows, 2 sets, 10 reps

Shrugs, 2 sets, 10 reps

Planks 30 seconds

You can blend it with cardio into this kind of system.

Day 1. Weights

Day 2. Cardio

Day 3. Weights

Day 4. Day off

Day 5. Cardio

Day 6. Weights

Day 7. Day off.

This stops you doing 5 days straight and 2 days of nothing back to back, which help recovery and progress better.

As for the machines, there is no discernable difference I can see between them, so you could focus on one or use both during thr week.

As for the snacks, there plenty of options.

Low Fat Cheese, Peanuts, Boiled Eggs, Celery Sticks, Carrot Sticks, Nut or Plain Yoghurt pots, Fruit, Avocado, Seeds, Oat Bars, Salads, Turkey, Beef, Chicken or Ham from a Packet, Tofu, Rice Milk, Almond Milk, Oat Milk, Soy Milk, Nattokinase, the fermented Soy and Bifidus combination, that I believe comes in two forms, one of which is a cubic form like Tofu. Also you could have a home-made yoghurt type concoction made with Kefir, or you could find places that sell rotisserie Chicken as well, plus whole-grain Bread or home-made sandwiches.

Also you can have yoghurt type things like Yakult, Muller fruit corner, Activia, Onken, assuming america sells such things.

If you can access a microwave then things like micorwave Baked Beans, soup and Rice dishes could be options.

If you need to eat out, then McDonalds is not a bad place for Fruit portions, bottled water, fresh Orange juice, Quarter pounders with no cheese and if they have any sauces or pickles, ask for them to be excluded, Scrambled Eggs off the breakfast menu, plain Hamburgers without the greasy pickles and relish or Ketchup. You can have single plain or double plain which is two pieces of meat.

Also KFC do Baked Beans in a tub and also a grilled Chicken now.

Burger King does whoppers, which are not that bad as long as there is no sauce or pickles on them. I have never eaten there, but if they have such additions, ask to have them removed. Unless that is you have an allergy to Sesame Seeds, in which case I think all their buns have seeds on them, as Sesame Seeds have also in recent years, been strongly linked to Eczema flare-ups.

I'm however quoting these places from a British perspective, so I don't know what if any of those options, those restaurants do in America.

Some of those options could be full meals, but obviously some, like Carrot Sticks, would make up part of a meal.

Hopefully that all makes sense .

[Jars]

Cutting calories is the most efficient way to lose weight. An easy way for you to progress is to follow a low carb diet like "the south beach diet". They make products that you can purchase at grocery stores. Eat under 1500-1600 calories a day. Be consistent! no cheating. Count Calories. you will lose weight. If you want you can add cardio training with your elliptical or treadmill( it doesn't matter which of those machines you use).

Losing weight means creating a calorie deficit. Creating a deficit is most efficiently accomplished by consuming fewer calories. You might burn 600-800 calories on an elliptical trainer if you used it for a solid hour. Seeing how you don't have much time, that doesn't seem like the right way to go for you. Here are some simple rules to follow: don't eat fried foods, don't eat fast food, only eat veggies, lean proteins, fruits, only drink zero calorie drinks. oh, count calories. If you find counting calories annoying or hard, then use the elliptical trainer for an hour 5-6 times per week at least. Ill let you guess which of those two options i think is harder.

[Boss Man]

Personally I would say eat more than 1,500 calories a day. Sedentary females need 1,800 and men need 2,000, so you could add another 200-400 there for exercise days, on top of those numbers.

If you cut calories too much or in the wrong ways, the body could create a "starvation mode", where it thinks it's being starved and doesn't shed fat.

Alsoif you lose muscle you could store more fat, as 1lb of muscle burns an extra 45-50 calories a day, but losing it will burn less calories.

As Carbohydrate is needed to maintain blood Glucose levels, fuel the brain and help create muscle glycogen, a prime energy source, I would suggest not going below 20g, but staying at around 30g is more preferable.

Certainly any meals where the person is consuming 50-60 or more grams of Carbs, needs addressing.

If the person cuts calories too low then their nutrient intake make cause issues, depending on which nutrients become low and if consumption of some bone nutrients got too low and caused too much bone thinning, then exercise in the mix could combine to cause fracture risk.

[ishkabibbel2000]

Thanks for all the advice folks! I do have a couple of follow up questions.

Bossman, I've been following your exercise plan recommendation. But, after the first day of weight exercises, I was so sore that I had to skip the cardio the next day. Obviously this isn't optimal, but how should I handle days like that until I'm in better shape? I don't want to cut out too many days, but I also want to be able to effectively exercise when I do.

Also, with the weight exercises, what would be a sufficient amount of weight? Are we talking just 10 pounds, or should I be maxing out the weight I'm capable of lifting?

I took your advice on the snacks and bought lite yogurt and some individual trail mix packets. I'll add in some of the other snacks from your list later on. However, for a weight loss regimen, what should my calorie target be? There's NO possibility of me cutting back to 1500 a day. My body would certainly go into starvation mode because I'm used to eating significantly more than that. Also, what are good options for breakfast?


One last question. How often should I, if at all, should I be OK with consuming a "comfort" snack? Something like an ice cream bar or some potato chips? I want to take it easy with those things, obviously, but I really enjoy those snacks also.

[Boss Man]

Stick to one "dubious" snack per week. If you're regimented with it, instead of sneaking a few too many in, they won't take over your eating patterns to much and derail progress.

As for calories, a sedentary male needs 2,000, so I'd aim for around 300-500 more than that.

The soreness mignt be DOMS, (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), which is something your body in time should get used to and should lessen.

You could try to releive it to some extent by doing some mild stretching and / or doing 5-10 minutes of mild cardio.

Other than that, just do your Cardio on something like a recumbent exercise bike, so you're not loadbearing your upper body weight on your lower body and this might help you to tolerate cardio more, whilst still feeling some soreness.

As for thr weight being used don't max out to start with no. if you're using Dumbells on small muscles, aim for the smallest thing available from the regular selection. Obviously I'm not talking pink ones, but ones which might be 4-5lbs and for big muscle groups use 2x that, whether the exercise requires dumbells or a barbell.

You could go a little higher after about 2 weeks, then after 4 weeks you would be ready to go almost to failure, once your body has had the requisite time, to adjust to the biomechanics of weightlifting.

Good Breakfast options.

Beans on toast.

Eggs on Toast.

Low Fat Cheese on Toast

Cereal and Eggs.

Chicken, Apple and Yoghurt Pot.

Sandwich with or without a few nuts.

Peanuts and a glass of juice or Milk.

Turkey and a Banana.

There are others, but those are good examples.

[ishkabibbel2000]

As for thr weight being used don't max out to start with no. if you're using Dumbells on small muscles, aim for the smallest thing available from the regular selection. Obviously I'm not talking pink ones, but ones which might be 4-5lbs and for big muscle groups use 2x that, whether the exercise requires dumbells or a barbell.

Oh... That explains the DOMS... I used 50 pounds the first time I did weight exercises for every exercise. Squats, Lunges, (holy hell these were tough while supporting 50 pounds on my shoulders) Rows, Good Mornings.... I'm glad that I was at least sensible enough to not try the planks with 50 pounds on my back..

Thanks again Boss Man. Your advice really is helping me.

[Boss Man]

Sounds about right, what you're describing. A case of too much too soon, or learning to run before you learn to walk.

You can adopt this conservative approach for new exercises, or ones you return to.

If you're not sure about new exercises, go a lot lower than you might think, as adding a bit more set by set, is fine if you're too light, but overestimating could risk injury.

The same applies to exercises you haven't done for a while. If you've gained strength, then you cannot based an old exercise and your new lifting levels on it, based on other things.

It's like someone saying I must be able to lift around 50% more weight on Cable rows, because I squat 50% more weight on now, since I stopped doing Cable rows 3 months ago, then expecting to be able to lift 50% more on Cable Rows, based on frankly a flimsy assumption.

It would be easier to add a little more weight on the revived exercise, then adjust a little each set, until you find the happy medium. Even if it takes nearly 2 sessions to suss out what's what, it's safer than making false assumptions and overestimating.

[alexabench]

As for me, I'm on a tight budget right now but I really want to lose weight. My friend introduced me to walking and jogging every other day then do zumba dancing for 30 minutes. I've been doing this for 3 weeks already and felt so better. I've also referred to online fitness boot camps as well and found out that there are other ways and exercise to lose weight.

[davidwalin]

If you're having trouble getting started, make a small move such as starting an eating log or buying walking shoes. You're three times more likely to follow through if you start with small gestures such as these.

[paclarsheltex]

http://www.healthstatus.com/health_blog ... eight+loss
do visit this link.

Hope it can help due to your problems.

[higs_321]

High intensity interval training is the most effective way to burn fat and continue that burn even after your workout. These workouts are performed for as little as 20 minutes. This strategy is also effective to add lean muscle mass. Think sprinter vs. marathon runner. There is no need to be on a treadmill, bike or elliptical for hours. What you need to do is have your body performing at a higher intensity level for short bursts of time. Good article in ezine articles explains this http://ezinearticles.com/?HIIT-Training ... id=7524034. Hope this helps.

[Boss Man]

Good article in ezine articles explains this

Well you did write it, so I'd expect you to big it up a little