I am looking to lose around 25 lbs. before spring break. I am currently working out mon-fri, running about 15 minutes a day and eatting healthy (no breads, no fried foods, and no sodas). I was just wondering if there is anything else I should do in order to help out a little here and there in order to meet my goal. I am 6 foot tall and weigh 225 lbs. if that helps. I don't really feel like I am losing anything, but it is the first week. I started last sunday.
Glad to advise you. Some questions need to be answered:
1. By what date do you need to be in-shape?
2. Your diet, in FULL detail, please.
3. Your cardio regimen. Anything more than a 15 minute run?
4. How long have you been trying to cut?
5. Your age.
6. Do you tend to put on bodyfat easily and find it difficult to cut it?
That should get us started. We need to know where you are and how you got there, so that we can move forward with confidence.
Understand, a serious cut requires serious dedication and sacrifice.
1. March 10
2. Will get after class today.
3. normally 10-15 minute run, then walk 5 more minutes, then play basketball for around 30-45 minutes (just shoot around).
4. Since Feb. 5
5. 20
6. Umm I have been 225 lbs. for around 2 years now and I never ate healthy or watched what I ate, I just ate and drank around 6-10 cokes a day.
Yeah I know this, I have been working out a TON, only took one day off so far. It also feels alot better to start working out again.
Initial comments, beginning in the order of my questions:
We have an immediate problem, directly connected to the time factor. For a natural(no drugs) cut, it is generally impossible to lose more than 1-2 pounds of bodyfat per week, without involving serious muscle loss. Most cuts have a big weight loss during weeks 1-2, but that is water weight which is lost when the carbs in the diet are dropped. The real bodyfat loss begins after, and that is where all the trouble is. Sure, we can lose that 25 pounds you have targetted, but it will be at a real detriment to your overall physique. The way to do that is via starvation. But I don't think that is your intent. So, the bad news here is, according to the calendar, we have 3.5 weeks. That translates into roughly only 7 pounds of bodyfat, when done according to a muscle-sparing cutting plan. But we will do the best we can and hope for the best.
Your cardio plan is utterly inadequate. You will have to immediately begin to ramp that cardio run up to 1 hour per day. Add to it in 10 minute increments. I want it done, 6 days a week. Your cardio off day should be on leg training day. Forget the basketball stuff. I'm talking real cardio: treadmill, stepper, or elliptical. You'll need plenty of water. In a perfect world, I'd work you up to two sessions per day, but we don't have the luxury of time to ramp you up, safely. For a cut like this, I generally plan 2-3 months. Obviously, we don't have that. So, let's get as far as we can. A 1 hour cardio session is doable.
Next up is the issue of when the cardio takes place. I hope you can get your cardio session in, right after you wake up in the morning. The best way to burn bodyfat, in this situation, is to get you up, have some water, and possibly one scoop of protein powder in water, some strong coffee, and get you into the cardio. In other words, an hour of cardio on practically an empty stomach.
Good news that you have only been cutting for about a week. The longer you cut, the more likely it is that your body will figure out that you are starving, and it will shut down your thyroid hormone production. At that point, cuts hit a sticking point and we have to play tricks to break through the plateau and restart the cut. This normally occurs at the 6 week point. In your case, we do not have to be concerned at all.
Your age factor is yet another plus for you. The younger the body, the easier it generally is to make adjustments to body composition.
From your description, it is difficult to tell whether your weight is the result of a bad diet or genetics. Guys who are of the endomorph bodytype are the most difficult to cut, while ectomorphs are th easiest. We shall see where yo fit in.
Would you describe yourself as thick-boned, with a deep ripcage and proportionately shorter limbs, or with long, thin limbs and a shallow ribcage? Or maybe something in between.
About your workouts. Weight training is absolutely essential for success in changing body composition. However, it is not the major component in the equation, when we are looking at a cut. What will make or break your cut is your diet and cardio regimens. I have made some suggestions on improving the cardio process, now we await your current diet.
Last edited by muscletrainee : 02-13-2006 at 07:10 PM.
Good Guy here^^^ I don't know if your here to mod cars or mod bodies...lol <--- Yeah that sounded gay but you know what I meant. Also I saw that you had a great post on how to gain weight too. Great Info!
Where do you work 24 Hour Fitness...? Gold’s Gym or do for a living?
I lost 25lbs in a couple of months but it was pretty hard.
I cut out all fatty foods period...
Went on a Special K and salad diet
Worked on the stationary bike every night (too cold out to run)
situps, situps, situps
and when it was said and done I had gone from 200 to 175. Now I'm eating normally and working out on a regular basis to keep it off.
I feel ya there Joel, losing the weight sometimes can be tough. Remember though, it's not what you eat, but how, how much and when you eat. Plus, I think it is like 3500 calories to a pound. So to lose a pound a week, you need to be able to burn 3500 calories a week. Also, running for 15 minutes is only long enough to get your heart rate going fast enough to start the process of burning off those unwanted pounds.
....I don't know if your here to mod cars or mod bodies....
Where do you work 24 Hour Fitness...? Gold’s Gym or do for a living?....
I am learning about modding Hondas by lurking on the performance forums, but I mod bodies in the gym and online.
I am a freelance personal trainer, so I work with my clients in several different gyms. The most fun part of my activities involves working with competitive athletes, both on the amateur and professional levels. I'm owner/admin of my own bodybuilding webzine and discussion board. IronFist is on my Staff and it was he who recommended this board to me. So, blame him for my being here!
That's not really necessary for losing weight. Doing situps doesn't burn enough calories to make it relevant to weight loss, and there's no sense in doing a ton of them, anyway. Treat your abs like any other muscle. Definition comes from low bodyfat, not from doing 8243978243987432 reps a day.
Some guy going for like the "world most fit man" title or something did like 20,000 crunches in a day. He still didn't have a six-pack. I think he also had to do a ton of pushups and run a certain distance or something.
What you really need is one of those pads that you put on your stomach and it send shock signals through.....get your abs firm in like...30 seconds....
What you really need is one of those pads that you put on your stomach and it send shock signals through.....get your abs firm in like...30 seconds....
Umm no, but I am currently under 220 started at 225. I weight 218 and I feel confident about making the 200 mark. I am going to need to pick up my working out some more to about 2 times a day every other day, but other than that I am doing good.
