21 male 237lbs - What to expect?

L

luafc11

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I know this forum is under women's health but apparently men don't need to lose weight so it isn't available under men's health or general forums.

Okay, Here's my deal - I used to work out almost every single day. I lifted weights and did cardio and I was never out of shape.

About two years ago I stopped working out (full time work along with full time college, etc.) and now I weigh 237lbs. I am about 6' tall and I checked my BMI to find out that I am obese. I used to be proud of my body :(

I just started to work out again (this is day two). Basically, I want to get down to about 175lbs before I even consider getting back into weight training. I have never done just cardio before in my life so this is a new learning experience for me.

Here's what I am doing - 1 hour a day or at least seven hours a week on the eliptical trainer. Nothing more, nothing less. At the "suggested" advice/school of thought that one should lose no more than 2lbs a week I should reach my goal sometime around September...But what should I REALLY expect? I know you're supposed to lose more than that ratio at first and then it slows down as you lose more and more weight. So I really don't know what to expect and when I should start to see good results.

Also, my diet is nothing great but it isn't too bad either. I don't drink soda and I am not a big fan of candy. I do eat a lot of breads and cereal, though.

The bottom line:

What should a 237lb 21 y/o male expect with an average of one hour of cardio a dar or seven hours per week?

Thank you all for any help you have!
 
You should expect a lot of weight gain once you stop :)

Seriously to lose fat your best bet (especially since you are male) is to add strength training right away. You also need a rest day at least once per week. You sound like a female (the more cardio I do... the better). WRONG. No offense to us ladies.

Here are 5 tips to fat loss:

1) Eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day. Each meal should be 2-3 hours apart. Each meal should contain one protein and one carb. The first meal should be eaten within an hour after waking.


2) Drink lots of water :)


3) Rest properly. This means taking at least 24-48 hours between strength training the same muscles, and it also means getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Lastly, it means taking 1-2 days off from exercising per week.


4) Cardio. This should be done at different intensity levels and different session lengths. Consider doing a low intensity/long session, a high intensity/short session and a few medium intensity/medium length sessions.


5) Strength Training. Strength train each muscle 1-3 times per week. You should lift a proper weight and perform the proper amount of sets/reps for your strength training method.


All of the above things combined will result in fat loss. You gotta get your nutrition in check. That's paramount. Strength training is next.
 
Thanks for your help. I don't plan to stop by the way. When I used to work out it was like an addiction and I am already feeling that way again.

As far as strength training goes- the reason I wanted to wait until I lost weight is because I do not want to be huge, and taking 237lbs and turning it into muscle is not my goal. But perhaps I can try a low weight high rep workout.

Also, my legs are killing me so I suppose I will have to take one or two days off a week. But does adding lost time to the days I work out make any sense, or would it be wasted time? i.e- rest one day, double the workout the next day.

Like I said before, my diet is not too bad to begin with but perhaps I'll keep a log for the next few weeks and see what I am taking in.

Again, thanks for all your help.
 
Doing an hour of cardio a day though is really tough on the body. At some point you may HAVE to stop due to injury. I'm an aerobics instructor and doing tons of cardio gets really tough on the joints and stuff. You really do need to get your rest. I wouldn't double your workout after a rest day either. I don't have any scientific reason on why (hopefully someone does) but it doesn't make sense to me.

If you start weight training you won't turn your entire 237 lb frame into a big muscle...I promise. What it will do is maintain/build lean muscle mass which burns more calories than fat and increase your metabolism.

~teresa
 
If your goal is fat loss, then you should participate in a strength training and cardio routine. You should absolutely rest and NOT double up the next day. That would simply mean instead of working out for an hour, you are going to do 2 hours.

Anything over an hour will begin to put stress on your body. It's going to backfire. Unless you are an elite athlete or training for some sort of competition (in which case you should have a coach) then working out more than an hour a day is overkill.

Strength training is going to add lean muscle mass to your body. That lean muscle mass (do not read huge freaky muscles) burns more calories per day... thus making you lose more fat.

One pound of fat burns 5 calories a day.
One pound of muscle burns 50 calories a day.

Big difference, huh? You can do cardio, but I can almost promise you that you will lose weight... but it will not be permanent without the lean muscle mass from strength training.

And by the way... doing high reps, low weights is not going to help. You need to ADD lean muscle mass. That's heavy weights and low reps. So if you decide to venture into strength training... do it right :) Otherwise you'll get frustrated with the lack of results.

Sorry to sound negative. I would just hate to see you work so hard at completing a goal and then have it wasted within a few months. Teresa is correct... doing an hour of cardio every day is not good.
 
You guys are great. Thank you all for your help!

I will take your words to heart and begin strength training again...time to dust those old weights off.

:)
 
I'm glad to hear that...good luck :)

(cut back on the cardio a bit too so you don't hurt yourself...this is from someone who used to do hours of cardio a day with little results other than shin splints, sore knees, etc :))

~teresa
 
Thanks again. I already cut back on cardio. Today I bought a new weight bench, took me nearly 3 hours to put it together but it was worth it. So now I have cardio and strength training to do. Lost 3 lbs by the way :)
 
Sweet! Good luck and keep us posted :D
 
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