Help with Diet/Exercise Routine

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VTPete22

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I need some help refining or restructuring a weight loss plan.

First some background...I am 6' tall and weigh about 285 lbs. Since last Halloween I have started going to the gym and have dropped about 25 lbs. doing a good amount of cardio and some weight training. My overall goal is to be about 225-240 lbs., but with a low amount of body fat (I realize that this could take some time, and I'm perfectly okay with that). I know that losing weight and building muscle involves diet, cardio exercise and weight training (which I have been doing all of), and I need some guidance with what to do. There are so many things out there and people out there who tell me one thing and then someone else tells me something that contradicts that. So I am hoping that there will be a few responses to this post that somewhat give same answer so I have a consensus. Now I'll get into what I've been doing the past few months that have helped me lose weight so you know where I'm coming from.

This is my current diet:
Weekday
Breakfast (6am): Bowl of Oatmeal or Plain Special K Cereal w/ 1/2 cup of 1% milk, coffee with 1% milk, and 1 banana. I also take a multivitamin and flaxseed oil pill
Mid-Morning Snack (10am): 1/4 cup of almonds, pecans, or walnuts with either 1 apple or 1 orange
Lunch (12:30pm): 1 sandwich with about 4 oz. of turkey breast, 1 slice of American cheese, lettuce, tomato and mustard on 100% Whole Wheat Weight Watchers Bread, 10-15 mini carrots, 1 bag of 100 calorie pack Sunchips, Diet Pepsi.
Pre-Workout Meal (4:00pm): Yogurt (no-fat, 90 calories, organic) with some granola and Whey Protein Shake
Dinner (After working out, generally about 7:30pm): Protein source (generally chicken, turkeyburger, etc.), Carbohydrate source (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, etc.) and salad with oil and vinegar dressing.

Note: On Fridays I generally have one slice of pizza for dinner with a bowl of soup (being in an Italian family, Friday night IS pizza night and there is no way around it).

Weekend
Pre-Workout Meal (8-9am): 1/4 cup of granola & nut mixed, Whey Protein Shake
Post-Workout Meal (12-1pm): 2 Egg Beaters, 2 pieces of whole wheat toast, whey protein shake
Snack (3pm): 1/4 cup of nuts & Yogurt
Dinner (5-6pm): Generally the same as during the week.

This is my current workout plan:

Note: For weights, I generally do 2 sets of 10-12 reps where the weight is enough so the last few reps are done to exhaustion. I also rest about 1 minute in between sets.

Sundays
5 Minute Cardio Warm-Up (Generally upright stationary bike)
Chest & Back
-Machine Chest Press
-Iso Lateral Incline Press
-Machine Fly
-Machine Row
-Wide Grip Pulldown
-Seated Back Extension
15 Minutes Cardio (Generally treadmill walk/jog or elliptical machine)

Tuesdays
30-45 Minutes of Cardio (15 minutes on each rowing machine, treadmill, elliptical)

Wednesday
5 Minute Cardio Warm-Up (Generally upright stationary bike)
Shoulders & Arms
-Machine Lateral Raise
-Cable Front Deltoid Raise
-Machine Rear Deltoid (Backwards Pec Fly)
-Shoulder Shrug using Smith Machine
-Cable Arm Curls
-Cable Tricep Extensions
15 Minutes Cardio (Generally treadmill walk/jog or elliptical machine)

Thursday
30-45 Minutes of Cardio (15 minutes on each rowing machine, treadmill, elliptical)

Saturday
5 Minute Cardio Warm-Up (Generally upright stationary bike)
Lower Body
-Machine Leg Press
-Machine Leg Extension
-Machine Leg Curl
-Machine Adductors
-Machine Abductors
-Smith Machine Squat
15 Minutes Cardio (Generally rowing machine)

So thats it. It's a lot to read and I apologize. It's just I have always been a big guy and I'm finally sick of it and want to change. Any and all help will be greatly appreicated. Feel free to critique anything and everything. Thank you in advance to everyone that is willing to help.
 
Hello VTPete Thomas here,

Congrats on your success thus far! it seems you have dedicated yourself to making a change in your lifestyle, I commend you for that. As a former big guy myself I understand the challenges you are facing and will continue to face to get to your goal.

As you are looking for some answers, I will provide a couple of responses that are an overall guideline to follow.

Changing your body takes time, you seem to be fine with that wich is half the battle.

Always remember your body is contunually trying to become more effecient at whatever demand you ask of it, that is a phenomenon that can also be troublesome at times.

Specific adaptations of imposed demands, meaning if you are continually asking your body to do the same things it gets better and better at them, minimizing the change that occurs- an undesireble byproduct.

Periodization is the fundamental key along with progression. You seem to have your diet pretty much dialed in, remember cal in VS cal out.

I am, however, curious to where you have learned your current workout plan?
Having a program is great, Having the right program is priceless.

I would encourage you to contact a local CPT ( certified personal trainer ) and ask about his credentials and experience with clients he has had in similar circumstances to your own.

Lastly, there are many highly qualified CPT on this wonderfull forum, we are all here to help. I look forward to hearing more from you.

More to follow.
 
What kind of pizza and soup on friday night?

There is quite a bit of difference between pizza with sausage and pepperoni with cream based clam chowder versus pizza with vegetables and skinless chicken breast with minestrone soup.
 
Hi VTPete

It looks like you're well on the way to a healthier you. Congrats friend.

I wouldn't be too worried about a slice of pizza once a week. Consider it calorie cycling :)

I'm not a personal trainer so this is just a novice's observation, but it looks like your resistance workouts are packed with machine exercises. It may be a limitation of your gym but if possible I would throw a few free weight movements into you routine. Machines have their benefits, they keep perfect form and can sometime be the only option if you're pushing to failure without a spotter. But I feel free weights use more muscle, to keep your posture and stabilise the movement, hence burn more cals. And that's the name of the game if weight loss is your objective.
 
Thanks to to those who have replied thus far. I wanted to post some additionally informationa and also answer the questions of those who have helped already.

Additional Information
-I forgot to mention that at the end of every workout I work my abs. Usually 15-20 crunches, 15-20 leg lifts, and 15-20 oblique twists with a body bar.
-I also drink 8-12 glasses of water per day and 1-2 cups of green tea in the morning at work.

ThomasMBBN-My workout plan was formed with a combination of reading magazines (Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Fitness & Muscle) and various internet articles. It is a combination of push/pull and opposing muscle group concepts.

tjl-The pizza I have is one of three choices. Margherita, Plain cheese, or salad with chicken and ceasar dressing. The soup is also one of three. They are all homemade and are either vegetable soup/minestrone, Manhattan Clam Chowder or lentil.

Waxy-You pretty much hit the head on the nail with the machines. I realize they don't build muscle as effective, but there are a few reasons I use them (I don't want to sound like I am making excuses though). The first is that like you said, I don't have a spotter with me and working to or close to exhaustion I am a bit scared of what could happen. Also, I really haven't weight trained before and like you said the machine helps me learn and mantain good form for all reps. And last, I am intimidated by those using the free weights at the gym. They all try to outlift each other and throw as many plates as they can on the bar. I know this is a piss-poor excuse and I'm sorry.

That is everything. Thanks again for all your help.
 
...A lot of times plain cheese pizza has considerably more total and saturated fat because they load on double the amount of cheese
 
VTPete22 said:
Waxy-You pretty much hit the head on the nail with the machines. I realize they don't build muscle as effective, but there are a few reasons I use them (I don't want to sound like I am making excuses though). The first is that like you said, I don't have a spotter with me and working to or close to exhaustion I am a bit scared of what could happen. Also, I really haven't weight trained before and like you said the machine helps me learn and mantain good form for all reps. And last, I am intimidated by those using the free weights at the gym. They all try to outlift each other and throw as many plates as they can on the bar.
Click to expand...

You aren't really learning any "form" while using the machines. Your stabilizer muscles aren't getting used and the "form" that the machine is forcing you to use is a lot more different and rigid (and wrong) compared to doing it on your own. So you're working out less efficiently, learning the wrong/no form and are more prone to injuring yourself!

As far as spotting goes - I've been able to do all of the major free weight compound lifts without a spotter except for the bench press. But if I was working out alone and was too shy to ask someone to spot me then I could always just do a dumbbell bench press instead.

You'll have to get over the intimidation of going into the "real weights" section some time. Most of the people there are probably just minding their own business and building up a sweat. Just promise me you won't stand in the squat cage doing curls. :)
 
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