Newbie - Need to drop some fat weight

So, i'm a total newbie and need some help desperately. In the last few years i have gained over 40 pounds and feel horrible. Used to be a 36 waist size (which was still a bit large) but now i'm a 42. I am 5 ft 11 inches, 26 years old and weigh 242 pounds. The main of it being belly fat/flab, nasty. almost looks like a beer belly, but i never drink. Anyway i don't even know where to start. I work 40hours a week and go to school 4 nights a week after work. There's a gym at my work so i could come in early and use it. My diet is pretty bad honestly, don't really watch what i eat and i only eat maybe 2 or 3 times a day. If someone could advise me with some guidelines, a workout program/nutrition program I would really really appreciate it. Not looking to build muscle yet, just want to drop the 40-50 pounds as soon as possible. Ideally i would like to be at least 20 pounds lighter by the end of the year. My final goal would be around 185 + ~10pounds of muscle added, but that's all for later. right now i just want to be able to wear my old jeans again. Please help, and thanks in advance.

What?!?! You don't want to gain muscle? I'm crying.... thats so sad to me...

Ok lets start with the diet. Starting TOMORROW lets impliment some changes in that diet of yours.
1) Eat your first meal as soon as you wake up,then eat every 2-3 hours after
2) In EVERY meal include some form of lean protein and complex carb, in atleast 3 meals include some form of healthy fat
3) NEVER EVER EVER EVER NEVER SKIP BREAKFAST! Not sure if you're doing this but its a common mistake so throwing it in there

Ok so when you get a chance you'll need to go do some grocery shopping. On your list of foods to buy should be either some or all of these staples (if you don't already have them):
Lean Proteins:
boneless skinless chicken breasts
fish (can be tilapia, tuna, salmon, orange roughy, cod.. whatever your little heart desires)
Lean red meat (I usually buy sirloin and grab the leanest cuts you can find)
lean ground meat (if beef grap diet lean, if turkey make sure it has less than 7 grams fat per serving)
low fat cottage cheese
Edemame
EGGS
lunch meat of some sort (try to find some with the least amount of sodium... that looks the least processed)

Complex Carbs:
OATMEAL (I love oatmeal! Love it with all my heart)
Quinoa
beans (can be black beans, kidney beans, navy beans, chili beans, garbonzos... whatever you want)
Whole wheat pasta
Whole wheat bread
Brown and/or wild rice
Sweet potatoes
VEGGIES (spinach, asparagus, green beans, brocolli, mushrooms, carrots, cauliflower, celery, onion)
FRUITS (apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, berries, cherries, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini)
Cereal is optional. I'm personally not a fan but I know many are. Go for something whole grain with the least amount of sugar possible. Also make sure it has fiber and protein if possible. Things like cocopuffs and lucky charms are not an option. Kellogs Protien Plus seems pretty good, Kashi has some good cereal, or simple bran or wheat flakes
low carb tortillas

HEALTHY FATS
Olive oil
Natural peanut or almond butter (I prefer almond but thats just me)
Flax
Nuts (almonds, peanuts, brazil nuts, cashews)
avacado

Ok this should get us started. So now that you have your food a typical day for dieting should look something like this (assuming you purchased some of the foods above)

Meal 1: oatmeal, 5 eggwhites plus, 1 whole egg, piece of fruit
Meal 2: (2-3 hours after breakfast) piece of fruit, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, nuts
Meal 3: Meat or tuna sandwhich on whole grain bread, light mayo if you must have, side salad
Meal 4: grilled chicken, veggie sticks with avacado slices
Meal 5: brown rice, chicken, veggies
Meal 6: eggwhite omelet with veggies

Ok now lets get to your workouts. Do you have access to a gym? Why don't you want to build muscle? Muscle is SO IMPORTANT! The more muscle you have the faster your metabolism and the more calories you burn because every pound of muscle burns about 35-50 calories per day... lets say you put on 10 pounds of muscle.... This would mean that you'd be burning 500 more calories per day! This means that you could EAT 500 more calories a day and not gain weight... healthy calories of course.. its a no brainer, put on muscle and speed up that metabolism. You'll lose weight faster and be more likely to keep it off. Plus, chicks dig muscles. Honestly.

So if i were you and I wanted to lose weight my workout schedule would look something like this:

Monday: Full body weight workout (yes i'm ignoring the fact that you said you don't want to gain muscles.. this is going to be alot easier if you pick up some weights)
Tuesday: Cardio
Wednesday: Full body weight workout
Thursday: Cardio
Friday: Full body weight workout
Saturday: Recreational cardio, maybe go for a walk, take a hike, ride your bike, work in the yard
Sunday: Off

Ok thats a lot of info. What do you think? Any questions?

Cassie

Nice one Cassie. Very thorough!

I've said this before and I will say it again.

You *can* do any one thing and lose weight. No one's going to argue with that.

However, you will also stop very very quickly if you don't have a good balanced lifestyle. This must include:
1) Cardio!
2) Eat right!
3) Weight Train!

A LOT of people would rather "work on the muscle once I hit my target weight". 1) Weight is arbitrary. Don't pay attention to the scale. Go instead by measurements and how you feel on a daily basis 2) You will lose weight more efficiently if you weight train in conjunction with your cardio. You will hit fewer plateaus and fall off of them faster. Think of cardio as short term loss (increased metabolism directly after your w/o) and weight as long term loss (increased muscle mass means increased metabolism all day long!) 3) This will add variety and excitement to your workout. Running on a treadmill 2 hours a day is counterproductive and boring as hell (it also starts to hurt your joints. No good). Running on a treadmill 30 minutes every other day and rockin' some weights 45 minutes every other day is fun, exciting, and a great way to pick up chicks. Or really old creepy men.* 4) Variety and excitement means you will stick with it! A boring experience with your w/o is not going to stick for very long. This is also true for overtraining (:

The first couple weeks you will lose more weight. This is going to be mostly water weight, and your body adjusting to your new lifestyle. DO NOT use this as a baseline! If you lose (and this is possible) 10lbs in 2 weeks, don't expect to do that every 2 weeks. That's not how it works. Especially if you are building healthy muscle up, too. (See comment above about the scale). 1-2lbs a week is healthy and acceptable. If you start dropping too quickly, or you go to extremes to do so, the weight is less likely to stay off. Be patient and become one with your gym. It's a good feeling (:

Good luck!


* Some guy was staring at my ass while I was squatting last Monday. Creeped me out. I sorta wandered around aimlessly til he left. Ugh.

Welcome to shapefit! As a newbie myself (I'm just over a month back in the gym) I have to say, these ladies really know their stuff! Heed their advice, it's excellent advice. The only thing I would add is I think it helps a lot when you're 'getting into the swing of things' to come up with a daily routine, meaning you hit the gym first thing in the morning - first thing when you get off work - whatever works for you...but I think a routine helps oodles (at least it did for me)! At first it may be difficult, but believe me: you will look forward to your workouts once you get into the routine! And the girls are right...chicks dig muscles!

Good luck!!!!!!!!!

Cool this is really helpful. So i'll work on muscle building too! Yes i have access to a gym pretty decent from what i hear. It is at work and open 24/7. So i think i can handle the diet/eating habits and the cardio. what i still need some help with is an example(s) of weight training for the weight training days. I would be up around 430am and in the gym by 530. then work from about 7 to 4pm. home from 5 to about 7 and then school from 7-10. so i will probably really need to do some planning as far as what and when to eat. Today i skipped b-fast oops and lunch oops. for dinner i had very lean thin cut pork loin grilled in a skillet without any oil with sauteed carrots and mushroom (again no oil) on the side. It is now 530pm. thanks for all your help!

Some guy was staring at my ass while I was squatting last Monday. Creeped me out. I sorta wandered around aimlessly til he left. Ugh.

did it look anything like this (last photo here):

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_arti ... hs_exposed

I am totally printing out Cassie's reply post...that is the most thorough and complete from a to z "everything you need to know" to get started (and even for some of us who have been at it a while! ) plan I have ever read. Awesome Cassie!
Welcome raz7, you have been given a true gift and wealth of info to get you started! Put it to use and I guarantee you will see results Stay positive, focused and determined, work hard, eat clean and in no time you will begin to not only see physical results, but feel more positive and happy inside too with more energy and just an overall feeling of well being....it's a beautiful thing. Good luck to ya!

*Deep Breath*

applesauce, apple orange pear, nuts, pb and WW crackers, yogurt, string cheese, green pepper carrot celery slices, cottage cheese, some yogurts, tabouleh, salad, bottles and bottles o water, turkey ham chickie slices

Some of these things are cool cos you can keep em in your desk! Granola bars, too, but read the labels! Some are really bad. I was very fond of "envirokids" when I was in college, but I think that's just because they had koala bears on the box? Idk.

As for the w/o, there are a ton of good examples floating around on the site. Big lifts are good, since they multitask. I'm overly fond of pull ups and push ups. I'm sure you'll find your 'sickness' too (:

Cool this is really helpful. So i'll work on muscle building too! Yes i have access to a gym pretty decent from what i hear. It is at work and open 24/7. So i think i can handle the diet/eating habits and the cardio. what i still need some help with is an example(s) of weight training for the weight training days. I would be up around 430am and in the gym by 530. then work from about 7 to 4pm. home from 5 to about 7 and then school from 7-10. so i will probably really need to do some planning as far as what and when to eat. Today i skipped b-fast oops and lunch oops. for dinner i had very lean thin cut pork loin grilled in a skillet without any oil with sauteed carrots and mushroom (again no oil) on the side. It is now 530pm. thanks for all your help!

Hi again!!!

YAY FOR BUILDING MUSCLES!!!!

That gym will be a huge asset in helping to meet your goals. Ok so i would start with something like this for workouts:

Monday: Total body weight routine: Squats, pullups, deadlifts, pushups, lunges, dips, military press
Tuesday: Cardio 30 minutes
Wednesday: deadlifts, lat pull downs, squats, bench press, reverse lunges, dips, military press
Thursday: Cardio 30 minutes
Friday: squats, pullups (change the distance of your hands from where they were on Monday), deadlifts, pushups (put your feet on step so body is at angle), walking lunges, dips, military press
Saturday: Cardio 30 minutes
Sunday: Rest

Diet: Are there any foods you absolutely can't stand? Maybe something like this:

4:30: Wake up eat some fruit and 1/2 protein shake
5:00: Hit the gym, immediately after workout out drink another protein shake (can just have the rest of the one from earlier)
As soon as possible after workout: bowl of oatmeal or cereal, 6 eggwhites plus 1 whole egg
9:30 (or 2-3 hours after previous meal): fruit, lean protein from list above, a few nuts
12:00: whole wheat lunch meat sandwich, veggies or side salad
3:00: veggies, lean protein from list above, a few nuts or avacado slices
6:00: complex carb from list above, lean protein from list above, veggies
9:00 (or after you get home if you can't eat in class): ff cottage cheese and veggies

Would something like that be possible for you? You obviously have a busy schedule, however keep in mind that you MUST feed your body if you want to lose that weight... you have to let it know that you're going to give it plenty of food so that it knows that its ok to let go of its fat stores. Also, eating regularly keeps your metabolism humming right along so you'll have more energy throughout the day.

Any questions?

Cassie

Awesome, yes this sounds feasible even with my schedule. Just a couple questions.

I assume i can find some info on how to properly do the weight exercises you listed here on this site?
and even what some are, as I'm not sure.

Second, sorry if this is a dumb question but egg whites, whole egg? just raw? or prepared somehow?

Is 30 minutes cardio sessions enough? Very intense or moderate? any recommendation on whats best to do/use?

No, there are not any foods that i just can't stand, well maybe a few but they wouldn't be healthy to eat anyway.
Thanks so much for the help, I really need it. Belly fat and love handles are really depressing.

Raz

Is 30 minutes cardio sessions enough? Very intense or moderate? any recommendation on whats best to do/use?

30 minutes can be more than enough with the right exercise. Ever heard of HIIT training? It is a combo of slow/fast (sprint) interval cardio done on a treadmill or elliptical, bike, or just outside walk/run, slow jog/run, etc.
this link might help with info about the benefits of HIIT:
http://www.intervaltraining.net/highint ... ining.html

it has become my favorite type of cardio!

Ok heres a list of good exercises:
http://www.shapefit.com/quadriceps-exer ... lifts.html
http://www.shapefit.com/quadriceps-exer ... quats.html
http://www.shapefit.com/quadriceps-exer ... unges.html
http://www.shapefit.com/quadriceps-exer ... quats.html
http://www.shapefit.com/hamstrings-exer ... lifts.html
http://www.shapefit.com/back-exercises-pullups.html
http://www.shapefit.com/back-exercises- ... downs.html
http://www.shapefit.com/triceps-exercis ... -dips.html
http://www.shapefit.com/triceps-exercis ... rsion.html
http://www.shapefit.com/triceps-exercis ... ition.html
http://www.shapefit.com/triceps-exercis ... esses.html
http://www.shapefit.com/chest-exercises ... -grip.html
http://www.shapefit.com/chest-exercises ... press.html
http://www.shapefit.com/chest-exercises ... vated.html
http://www.shapefit.com/chest-exercises ... -grip.html
http://www.shapefit.com/chest-exercises-pushups.html
http://www.shapefit.com/chest-exercises ... press.html (keep your feet flat on the ground though)
http://www.shapefit.com/chest-exercises ... press.html
http://www.shapefit.com/chest-exercises ... press.html
http://www.shapefit.com/shoulder-exerci ... esses.html
http://www.shapefit.com/shoulder-exerci ... esses.html
http://www.shapefit.com/shoulder-exerci ... esses.html
http://www.shapefit.com/middle-back-exe ... -rows.html
http://www.shapefit.com/middle-back-exe ... -rows.html
http://www.shapefit.com/middle-back-exe ... -rows.html

You might plug the names into a search engine to get a more thorough explanation of how to do them. Shapefit shows the exercise but doesn't always display the best form for all the exercises.

Eggwhites: You can buy plain eggwhites in the egg section of your grocery store or simply buy eggs and separate the yolk from the whites. It might take some practice but basically just get the eggwhites in your bowl and the yolk in the sink (or dog bowl). To prepare I actually cook my oatmeal then add my eggwhites, stir, and cook some more. I eat this every morning. You can microwave the whites, or simply cook them in a pan with some nonstick cooking spray or oil. You can also make a veggie omelette or make them like scrambled eggs. OR boil them, peal off the whites and toss the yolks (eat one yolk toss the rest).

30 minutes will be enough to get you started. Go hard. You can also do intervals with your 30 minutes by doing a 5 minute warm up, then 1 minute moderate pace, then 1 minute as hard as you can, then 1 minute moderate, 1 minute hard, 1 mod, 1 hard... and so on until you've done that for 20 minutes or so. This is great for fat burning. I like to switch up my cardio to keep it from getting boring and keep my body guessing. Sometimes i'll do intervals on the stairstepper, sometimes intervals on the elliptical, sometimes 45 minutes of long slower pace on either of those, sometimes i run stairs at the football field, sometimes i run sprints on football field or treadmill, i teach spinning so do that a couple days a week... as i said, i like to mix it up to keep my body guessing.

Make sense?

Cassie

Awesome, seriously this is very helpful. Tonight I am going shopping to buy more health food i don't already have. I'm hoping to have access to the gym by Monday (they need to enable my badge to work on that door, LOL)
Thanks for the links those are uber helpful, esp for exercises i didn't know
Whoa they sell just whites, i'll look for them. i thought i'd be cracking and separating eggs every day (plenty skill in this area) making pastries with my wife Hehe. No more of that though.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
I will get a calendar and plan some stuff out.
Monday i'll jump into it full force.
For now i'm already eating better and haven't tasted sodas or anything with sugar for 2 days. woohoo, big deal for me.
Still a couple coffees a day, no sugar just some powder plain creamer, this okay?
Also yesterday i drank 133 oz of water. carried a gallon around all day.

I think coffee is fine... Just don't go overboard on the stuff.

Why wait til Monday to get started? Maybe this weekend you and your wife could go for a long walk or take a hike together?

Yeah just buy the eggwhites and throw a whole egg in with and you'll be fine.

Great job on cutting out the sugar and soda for 2 whole days! That is a big deal!! Keep it out for a few weeks and you won't even crave the stuff anymore! Its just those first 3 weeks or so that are really difficult then it gets easier.

Great job so far and good luck!

Cassie

Hey, thanks for the encouragement and the advice. Ya i meant start the Gym on Mon, but definitely becoming more active until then as well. As a matter of fact I took a lengthy walk during my lunch today at work and I've gone up 3 flights of stairs quite a few times, even went out of my way to use the stairs and longer walk. Also planning on a good clean dinner with some lean protein. I hope you're right about the cravings cuz I sure do wanna have something sweet right about now but I refuse to do so.