Is this healthy weight loss? A LOT OF QUESTIONS (from a noob)

S

Shayner

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I am a 21 year old male college student who has an internship in the summer, it's a desk job working an 8-4. I live and work in the downtown Pittsburgh area, so I walk to work (maybe a 1/4 mile there and a 1/4 mile back). I've been using this education: for about a week and I'm feeling better about my health. Filling out the Calorie Maintenance level program, My estimated calorie maintenance level is 2335 per day. Mainly I have been eating salads for lunch from the cafeteria, and ordering pizza for dinner, but this week I want to try something different; Here are facts about me:

- Monday through Saturday, I work out on an Elliptical Machine for about 40 minutes and burn about 600 Calories.

- I have shin splints, when I use a treadmill they tend to hurt

- I drink around 7 Bottles of Water a day (1 Gallon)

- In the morning, I have a coffee/mocha for breakfast (around 450 Calories, 250 from fat, the rest I am assuming from sugar)

- For lunch I am starting to buy subway sandwiches, I buy a footlong turkey breast and ham on wheat, with lettuce, olives and pickles. (6 inches = 300 Calories, 50 from fat)

- For Dinner I will be eating the left over 6 inches of sub from my lunch, I eat right after I work out at the gym (after work). If I am still hungry, I might end up cooking some frozen corn in the microwave and grill a chicken breast (nothing but maybe some montreal chicken seasoning) on my george foreman grill.

- I have about a half of inch of fat I want to get rid of all over my body, the areas that I see the most are my thighs, face, pecs, and my gut (about 2 inches there -- the worst place)

- My goal is to be skinny and toned, but not muscular. As of right now I am 5'10, 182 Pounds, with fat in the places mentioned above.

- On average, I get 6.5-7 hours of sleep a night.

- My pee is clear. (Not that you needed to really know, but After starting to drink alot of water amuses me :))



So now that I told you my life story and my goals, I have a couple questions to ask:

1. Is this a healthy way to lose weight? 2335 Maintenance Level, taking in about 1000-1500, and burning 600?

2. I feel like I should be doing some kind of excersise to make sure I don't lose my muscle, what should I be doing? My campus has almost every type of machine/weights.

3. How quickly will I get results?

4. What kind of areas of change will I notice first?

5. Is subway good to eat? What other kind of cheap food plans could I do and lose weight from?

6. The coffee is from starbucks, a white chocolate mocha. but we have coffee in the office. It's black but I can add sugar/creamer. Should I use that instead?

7. How does alcohol affect my weight loss if I want to let loose on a friday night? (Shots of Vodka)




These forums are an incredible resource, and you guys are experts, so please let me know.

I'll be checking this forum every 10 minutes, lol.
 
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Shots of straight 80 proof alcohol are 64 calories apiece. If you do only shots, or mix with a diet soda, they aren't too bad of a way to drink.

I personally would drop any liquid that was causing me over 400 calories, that coffee is killing your goals. I drink mine black. If you need it sweetened try splenda. You just cut 395 calories right there.

Of course both aerobic and anaerobic exercise combined would be best to lost fat and gain muscle.

You don't have TOO much to lose, you should really eat about 1500 calories. You'll lose just under 2 lbs a week there.

Subway is great, hold the condiments tho! Adding cheese and mayo will DOUBLE the caloric value of the sub defeating the purpose. Try the 6 grams of fat or less with just the wheat bread, the meats and all the veggies your little heart desires.
 
Thank you SO MUCH for your reply, I can not get enough of the people here on the forums.

As for my coffee, duly noted. I will drink mine black from now on. Hopefully it tastes good.

I use Lite Mayo, and provolone cheese, do you really think I should cut that out? I would MUCH prefer to just cut out the cheese, as I come from Canada:canadaf: where we love mayonnaise. ;-)


Thanks alot for the help about the alcohol too, I have a whole handle of 70 proof raspberry vodka. Some times I might like to let loose just a little bit.


+REP + REP +REP +REP

If ANYOEN has ANYTHING else that can help me, please let me know!
 
i wanna make sure i have this right your mantenance is about 2300 that sounds right but thats not including excercise if your burning 600calories you need to add those to your mantenance, that 2300 is mantenance at no excercise completely sedentary lifestyle so if your doin this 6 days a week you should be eating about 2200 cals a day look at the stickies for more info on this you want a 20%defecit or else you will set yourself up for starvation mode and you should read the stickies on nutrition subway is a good start but eventually your gonna need to change a little more. I do think its a good idea for you to start weight lifting at least a couple of days aweek. Once you read the stickies youll be able to ask more specific questions and then I will be happy to help once again. congrats on takin a step in the right direction!!!
 
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What types of excersies should I do for weights? I'd much ratehr prefer to do resistance training, the resistance machiens are much easier and fun to do than the free weights. Last night I did:

- 40 Minute Elliptical Machine Workout (ALOT OF SWEAT): 650 Cal
- 3 sets of 10 reps of a Mid Row Machine @ 125 pounds
- 3 sets of 10 reps of a Leg Press Machine @ 280 pounds
- 3 sets of 10 reps on an Ab Machine @ 90 pounds


Does this look right?

I do the 40 Minute Elliptical Machine Workout every day but sunday,

how many days should I do the weights?
can I do them every day? Am I doing the right type?
 
Shayner, I, too, am somewhat of a noob, but I have a few thoughts for you. If someone else disagrees, they probably have more experience than me. However, using the advice from people on these forums, I have now lost 55 lbs.

Regardless, you don't really have too much fat/weight to lose, necessarily. If I were you, I would do the elliptical 3-4 times per week and really ramp up the weight training. You will not "pack on" muscles if you are in a calorie deficit, but if you are in a surplus, you will add muscle mass more quickly. I mention this because you said you do NOT want to be super-muscular. Regardless, I would do more weight training--you need an upper-body push exercise, like maybe a bench press, and a lower body pull like maybe a leg curl. Add some lat pulldowns and a shoulder press, and I think you have a good, general workout.

I think you might be doing more cardio than is needed for the weight loss you want--resistance training will get you better/faster results. Plus, when the half inch of fat melts off, you'll have some nice muscle definition to show off.

And yes, you need to ditch the high-cal/fat coffee... You might want to add some more protein to your diet--the days when you don't make a chicken breast, you are somewhat deficient in that.

In my opinion, if you ditch the mayo and cheese until you reach your goals, you will get there faster. Once you do, you can "treat" yourself on like every other sub--you'll appreciate it a lot!

Nice to see you've joined the forum--good luck to you!!!!
 
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I am a little confused by this post; I am doing too much cardio? I don't understand, I thought the more cardio I did, the better, the more calories I burned the better. I understand that weight resistance training is good, and I will do some more after my cardio tonight, but am I really doing *too* much? I really want to lose this weight and I sort of like to do the cardio, it makes me feel good after I’m done with it. Honestly, I feel like I do have a lot of weight to lose, I mean I’m 21 years old and I have a gut for Christ sakes, who has a gut at 21 years old??!?!?!? I want a very lean body and I know that I have to do a lot of work and diet to accomplish it. I want to have “almost” abs by the time my goal is reached; someone from 183 to about 165-170. (I’m 5’10”). I will definitely eat more protein as you recommend and since you lost 50 pounds, I am sure you know what you’re doing. I was curious if anyone agrees with her or has any other types of advice?
 
Shayner--I didn't say NOT to do cardio, just that you didn't NEED to do it 6 days per week. Also, it is often recommended to do weight training before cardio--the weight taps into the readily available energy, while the followup cardio goes in for the kill in attacking the fat cells.

It is MOST important that you are doing what you like to do--I just think that MORE weight training would allow you to accomplish your goals mosre quickly, and 3-4 sessions of cardio per week is "enough" to accomplish your goals. Do what you like so you keep doing it! :)

I think, based on the math, that you are looking to lose about 20 pounds--I know my perspective is different because I have so much more than you to lose!! It really is a "relatively" small amount to lose, and when you're working through especially the last 15 lbs or so, it is the hardest, and the best progress is made through diet. See what other people are doing, but I have been successful following a 40/40/20 plan with 40% of calories coming from protein and carbs, and the last 20% from fat. It sounds easy, but it ain't. You can track this on fitday.com--set up an account to check out how your nutrition stacks up.
 
Shayner said:
I am a little confused by this post; I am doing too much cardio? I don't understand, I thought the more cardio I did, the better, the more calories I burned the better. I understand that weight resistance training is good, and I will do some more after my cardio tonight, but am I really doing *too* much? I really want to lose this weight and I sort of like to do the cardio, it makes me feel good after I’m done with it. Honestly, I feel like I do have a lot of weight to lose, I mean I’m 21 years old and I have a gut for Christ sakes, who has a gut at 21 years old??!?!?!? I want a very lean body and I know that I have to do a lot of work and diet to accomplish it. I want to have “almost” abs by the time my goal is reached; someone from 183 to about 165-170. (I’m 5’10”). I will definitely eat more protein as you recommend and since you lost 50 pounds, I am sure you know what you’re doing. I was curious if anyone agrees with her or has any other types of advice?
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First thing is first, plenty of 21 year olds and even younger have belly fat and all sorts of overweight problems, keep in mind obesity is a medical epidemic these days. The fact that you are taking the steps to improve yourself is good enough, don't talk yourself down.

There is a difference between lean and skinny. By doing cardio you are indeed burning calories which, if combined with a good diet, will cause you to lose weight (both fat AND muscle). Have you seen those marathon runners from Kenya? That is what someone who runs all the time with the purpose of losing weight will look like.

As Greenhorn Gal has mentioned you need to do some weights. Doing weight lifting excercises also burns calories (in some cases as many if not more than cardio depending how you do it) but if done correctly will also help develop your muscles underneath and as muscle weighs more than fat you may not necessarily lose 'weight' but will drop your body fat percentage. This in no way means you will get huge or become anything but the 'lean' figure you have mentioned as that process takes so much commitment and effort that it is not funny, so don't worry about that. You want to incorporate a full body routine that will build all the muscles in your body (refer to the weight lifting sections for excercises) as this will burn fat, develop muscle, make you look leaner and when you have more muscle your body naturally burns more calories so you will find it easier to keep a lower BF% if that is your goal.

I hope this gives you an idea of what Greenhorn Gal what referring to when she said you should do some weights and maybe not so much running (but hey if you enjoy it you can do that too) to become the lean figure you want to be. If you lose weight and don't have any muscle to show underneath you will never have 'abs'.
 
Shayner... I'm going to be honest and say that your fat loss plan is not good at all.

Drop the starbucks mocha. Subway is questionable, but if its your only option, stick to whole wheat breads, turkey, chicken, limited condiments (mustard, maybe oil and vinegar) and load up on veggies.

You absolutely have to eat more than 1000 calories, especially if you plan to work out with any intensity. I would suggest shooting for 2000 calories on workout days and about 1800 on non-workout days. Limit white bread products, sugars, and pretty much all refined carbs. I would actually cut out bread all together, but that's difficult to do a lot of times... at least make sure it's whole grain.

Assuming you're at Duquesne, CMU or Pitt, (I'm in downtown Pittsburgh as well, BTW) you should have top notch workout facilities at your disposal. your primary goal of losing fat is going to be acheived by LIFTING WEIGHTS and complimenting your weight routine with some cardio. There's tons of guidance on this site for putting together a solid fat loss routine, check it out and feel free to ask if you have questions with fine tuning a diet or workout.
 
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Thanks SkianS, yeah I go to Duquesne, internship downtown at Highmark.

I guess I'll set up a weight schedule, how familiar are you with Duquesne stuff? That way I could set up an awesome workout routine etc.
 
To the OP :-

- the page is slanting too much to the right because of your long link. Put a tag to stop that.
- kick out vodka/mocha/subway from your diet.
 
Shayner said:
Thanks SkianS, yeah I go to Duquesne, internship downtown at Highmark.

I guess I'll set up a weight schedule, how familiar are you with Duquesne stuff? That way I could set up an awesome workout routine etc.
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I went to Duquense :rofl:

but i graduated pre-power center so i'm not sure about all the equipment they have. I'm certain there's more than enough to put together almost any workout you see on here.
 
Snewsome said:
First thing is first, plenty of 21 year olds and even younger have belly fat and all sorts of overweight problems, keep in mind obesity is a medical epidemic these days. The fact that you are taking the steps to improve yourself is good enough, don't talk yourself down.

There is a difference between lean and skinny. By doing cardio you are indeed burning calories which, if combined with a good diet, will cause you to lose weight (both fat AND muscle). Have you seen those marathon runners from Kenya? That is what someone who runs all the time with the purpose of losing weight will look like.
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Claiming that overweight or obese poeple will evetually look like marathon runners is simply false and grossly underestimates the complexity of metabolism.
 
matt182 said:
Claiming that overweight or obese people will eventually look like marathon runners is simply false and grossly underestimates the complexity of metabolism.
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Professor Matt, you are wrong (I had to correct two spelling mistakes in your statement):-

Code: 
tons of cardio = muscles and fat lost
especially on the marathon runners diet.


Code: 
cardio + resistance training = muscles fed and fat burnt
-> In my case my trouser is falling while I have increased muscle. Resistance training releases HGH and gives your body reason to hang on to the muscle.

don't fret, you can always ask the Professors here! :D
 
Shayner,

Personally, I find that subway is a good place to eat but look up the nutritional fact on it's website for which sandwhiches have lower calories. For example, a footlong subway club will have about 650 calorie BUT a cold cut combo or meatball will have about 1150 calories. That is about double the calorie intake while both sandwiches makes you feel full. What I do is eat half the sandwich, 6" for lunch and save the other half for dinner. In the meanwhile, I am snacking on fruits / nuts every few hours. Almonds are great for helping with weight loss but eat them sparingly.

About the coffee / caffeine, its tricky component of weight loss. Caffeine will help the transport of fat to be used as energy during aeriobic excercise, so I usually try to drink some 30 minutes before my workout. IF you can, I would skip on the mocha and go with the house coffee and add some sugar and cream. I mean 450 calorie is about 45 minutes on the threadmill OR elptical machine. The thing that make caffeine tricky in weight loss is that it's a duiretic, mean that it makes you piss and loss water from your body. If you drink coffee everyday for 2 weeks and stop for 2 days (then weigh-in), I betcha that you will notice a weight gain of 1-2 lbs. My point is this, let the scale be an inspirational tool; however, don't let it bring your spirit down.

My personal view on weight loss plan is that it's a misconception. A better way to view it is, it's a LIFE STYLE change. Adjust your diet to what you are comfortable and use excercise to burn of the extra fat needed to get to your desire weight.

Sorry about the mispelling.
 
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