Hey all, I have been using this forum about a year to help in my fitness goals as well as much needed motivation and knowledge. I am at a critical point in my training that frustrates and confuses me. I have lost the weight, I can see the definition in my abs and body, have a great deal of muscle, but would like to "polish and clean" what I started.
I have been physically active for about the past 8 years (football, track and field, offseason, . . in high school as well as working out in college). But this summer I decided to combine the knowledge I gained from reading everyone's posts and other material on the internet with my fitness program to finally reach the body I have wanted.
I am 20 years old, male, 5' 8'', 154 pounds. I started my serious efforts in mid June and have lost 9 pounds. I am extremely happy with the results, meaning that I can actually see and feel the improvements, but I am not at the point that I really want to get to.
The first three weeks of my program consisted of a daily 2 mile run and various exercises on the parallel bars at a nearby high school. My calorie intake was a strict 1500 (sometimes less) a day. I was also getting adequate protein since I was using whey protein supplements twice a day.
After the fourth week I went back to using my college's weight room. I lifting weights at a low-medium intensity level, basically enough to just maintain the muscle I had on my body. Concurrently, I bumped up my cardio workouts, alternating between 4 - 5 mile runs. I was also swimming about 400-500 meters on the weekdays. I was forced to increase my calorie intake to 1700 calories.
Now, for the past two weeks, I have been lifting weights ( 5-6 times a week) , running 6-7 miles (10:30 min mile pace) daily, and eating an 1800 calorie diet. I should also mention my diet is clean, meaning no sodas, doughnuts, sweets, unnecessary fats, fast foods . . .
The questions that I have been contemplating heavily for the past week is once you lose the weight, what must one do to properly finish what one set out to do? How do you know how much to eat because for the past X amount of weeks one has been in the mental mode of limiting calories instead of focusing on eating for maintenance. As for the exercise, I know I can't continue doing what I am doing daily, surely 5 times a week, but surely not daily and at the mental energy that it is taxing me at the time. For the past month it has been all that has been on my mind, RUN, LIFT, DIET, repeat. What is the proper way out of this mentality so as not to regain the weight or to lose what you have worked so hard to achieve.
I want to thank all of yall in advance for the replies (hopefully) and also thank everyone for the great work and advice that is displayed in these awesome forums. These are truly valuable sources of support, knowledge, and motivation.
best,
John
I have been physically active for about the past 8 years (football, track and field, offseason, . . in high school as well as working out in college). But this summer I decided to combine the knowledge I gained from reading everyone's posts and other material on the internet with my fitness program to finally reach the body I have wanted.
I am 20 years old, male, 5' 8'', 154 pounds. I started my serious efforts in mid June and have lost 9 pounds. I am extremely happy with the results, meaning that I can actually see and feel the improvements, but I am not at the point that I really want to get to.
The first three weeks of my program consisted of a daily 2 mile run and various exercises on the parallel bars at a nearby high school. My calorie intake was a strict 1500 (sometimes less) a day. I was also getting adequate protein since I was using whey protein supplements twice a day.
After the fourth week I went back to using my college's weight room. I lifting weights at a low-medium intensity level, basically enough to just maintain the muscle I had on my body. Concurrently, I bumped up my cardio workouts, alternating between 4 - 5 mile runs. I was also swimming about 400-500 meters on the weekdays. I was forced to increase my calorie intake to 1700 calories.
Now, for the past two weeks, I have been lifting weights ( 5-6 times a week) , running 6-7 miles (10:30 min mile pace) daily, and eating an 1800 calorie diet. I should also mention my diet is clean, meaning no sodas, doughnuts, sweets, unnecessary fats, fast foods . . .
The questions that I have been contemplating heavily for the past week is once you lose the weight, what must one do to properly finish what one set out to do? How do you know how much to eat because for the past X amount of weeks one has been in the mental mode of limiting calories instead of focusing on eating for maintenance. As for the exercise, I know I can't continue doing what I am doing daily, surely 5 times a week, but surely not daily and at the mental energy that it is taxing me at the time. For the past month it has been all that has been on my mind, RUN, LIFT, DIET, repeat. What is the proper way out of this mentality so as not to regain the weight or to lose what you have worked so hard to achieve.
I want to thank all of yall in advance for the replies (hopefully) and also thank everyone for the great work and advice that is displayed in these awesome forums. These are truly valuable sources of support, knowledge, and motivation.
best,
John
