23 year old over weight guy wants to get in better shape & is jogging

[SoloFixer]

Hi all, I'm 23 years old, 6' 0" tall,and I currently weigh about 220 pounds. All of my life I was not very athletic. Years back, I weighed the most, around 285ish. Then one spring and summer I lost alot of weight. I was probably 16 at this time and got down to about 215-220ish. I didn't exercise, but I seriously cut down on what I ate.

Well, fast forward about a year and a half, I gained the weight back, was about 245ish. Between the prior summer and last summer I was down to about 218-220 pounds.

This past winter when I stopped jogging outside I gained some weight back, back to about 240ish.

The past 3 summers I have been jogging. Obviously more as time went along. I am jogging the most I ever have this summer.

Since this past late April 2012 I have jogged and walked 167 miles up until now and I am back down to around 220 pounds right now.

I really want to continue through the winter and deal with the cold weather. I like exercising outside versus inside, but honestly, the winter is a big turn off!

I exercise 3 times a week, usually Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I will go to the local community track AFTER WORK. This means I am starting on the track about 11pm and finishing about 1230am. VERY LATE - this is probably odd, but I like to do it at the coolest, calmest time of the day, and also after work. I am not a morning person so getting up early in the morning before work to go jogging really isn't my thing. Call me lame if you want......

I do 6 miles each time. I walk a mile, then I jog 2 miles continously, then I walk another mile, and finish by jogging 2 more miles without stopping. I am doing about 9 minute miles when jogging and 19 minute miles when walking.

Also, 2 or 3 times a week I will do between 200-270 pushups in intervals of 30-35. I also drink a glass of whey-protein mix 3 times a week after my walking and jogging workouts.

My man boobs have shrunk, I notice alot of muscle growth in my calves muscles, also muscle growth and less loose skin in my arms, and also the skin tightened up a little bit on my face and neck. I also notice more muscle in my thighs but I still have a big stomach. A "muffin top" if you want to call it that. I really hate my muffin top and my man boobs, I really want to lose these!

As far as my diet is concerned, I try not to eat alot. But I notice I nibble, but I try to be healthy. I like to snack on cheese, whole grain cereal, lunchmeat, etc. I do NOT eat fast food or fried things! When I was younger I ate a lot of this stuff and it honestly made me fat. I hate fast food. I really try to eat GOOD. I eat pork, vegatables, etc. Sometimes I probably don't eat enough, and I notice because I can be irritable, especially when I wake up in the mornings. I can be groggy and grouchy until I get a bit of food in me....must be low blood sugar or something. I'm sure a trainer and a nutritionist would help, perhaps someday.....

Does anyone have any suggestions for me with my current workout routene?

I am NOT going jogging tonight - my right calves muscle was REALLY stiff during and after Monday's workout....so I am going to skip today and try again Friday. Still doing my pushups today. I really do feel like garbage when I have to miss a workout. I really want to stick with it...but DAMN, it is hard work! I wish I would have thought more about how difficulty getting and staying in shape was when I was getting FAT! That should have been motivation, but I was pretty young so it is unfortunate....oh well.....I'd just really like to be able to put on a pair of pants and not have my stomach hang over my belt. I am not looking for perfection, I just want to be average in terms of my size.

Thanks

PS - Some photos are attached of my "progress" (I think it is small for progress, but progress nonetheless) taken a month apart the past 3 months.

View attachment 5598View attachment 5599View attachment 5600View attachment 5601View attachment 5602View attachment 5603

 

[SoloFixer]

Any tips or suggestions for my workout routenes? Anything you would change?

 

[HyungJun]

First up, congrats on the effort

Yes winter is a turn off, even to me, but if you are serious about losing body fat, you will have to sacrifice something. In this case, comfort. Not a morning person? Learn or go harder after work. Again, you will have to sacrifice something. Sorry to be blunt and seem like a jacka$$ but that is an excuse. I work at a weight loss gym and hear things like that all the time and people wonder why they are not seeing results.

Cardio wise, you are doing a total of 28 minutes. 19 minutes are walking. 9 minutes running. Why are you walking for so long? Try cutting your walking down and increase your jogging and as you get fitter, try running. Remember, higher intensity exercises burn more calories which will lead to a better body fat composition. Yes, it is hard.

Push ups are a great compound exercise. But you should not only stop at push ups. Look up other body weight exercises you can do or join a gym and start resistance training. It is a must.

Are you getting enough daily protein requirements through your diet? If yes, then you don't need protein whey supplement drinks. As the name suggests, they supplement your actual food intake. It is there for people who need to take it or can't meet their body's requirements. If you are providing enough protein through your diet, your body will get rid of the excess protein. You could be drinking that whey protein shake for nothing. Work out your macronutrients or see a nutritionist/dietician if you need to.

If it will help, write a food journal and write EVERYTHING that you put into your mouth. Nibbling on foods such as what you mentioned all have calories and all adds up.
You did not mention carbs in your meals besides the nibbling on wholegrain cereal and vegetables. You are feeling irritable because it seems like you have cut a LOT of carbs out. Carbs are just as important as protein and fat.

Just keep on top of your food, little more higher intensity cardio, resistance training and patience. It does take time.

 

[Albert Smith]

Except irregularity I do not find any problem in your workout and diet routine. There are some people like you who cannot wake up in the morning. Just don’t fret. This is not a problem either. You may choose afternoon and before dinner time.

But what I am seeing in the attached picture of yours that you have still lots of fat in your abs. By the way are you working for that?

I recommend that you should add some cardio and abs exercise in your daily workout routine since Cardio is one of the most important things you can do for your body, whether you want to lose weight, build muscle or improve your health.

You’re already exercising regularly and progressing in your exercise intensity, you may want to try shorter, more intense workouts to enhance your calorie burning.

However, a slow and steady progression of longer and less intense exercise is probably a better option.
Lastly I think you should also try HIIT occasionally since HIIT training (short, high-intensity interval workouts) burn more calories than longer, lower intensity aerobic workouts.

 

[SoloFixer]

Well guys and gals, I am about 177 pounds right now. I've been at this weight for about 2 months. I was jogging until about mid-November when I developed some more leg pain and decided to call it quits for awhile....and also, the cold weather has set in. I changed my jogging routene to involve more jogging and less walking. In fact, the majority was jogging. However when I started to get the leg pain, I'd walk....although it's probably better to rest it anyway, than go alternating jogging/walking with ANY sort of pain. So that's why I stopped....

Looking back at the pics, my chest has receeded quite a bit, but I still have the "muffin top." Seems to be alot more loose skin though....but, I still do have fat in my abs. But, it's less, and I'm sure I'll make more of it disappear as well

I have also increased the size of my biceps as well.....going strong with that....

Just logging in for once in awhile

PS - I honestly believe I was able to drop more pounds by eating more healthily and eatubg LESS than exercise alone. This is probably one of the easiest ways to drop the pounds, slowly but steadily. Looking back, I notice where my faults were in the past, with eating junk food, high fat processed foods and other crap. Also, alot of people just eat TOO DAMN MUCH and take in way too many calories. Now, I really don't count calories, but I know which stuff is HIGH CALORIE and I avoid that stuff like the plague! I pretty much stick to meat, vegetables, and fruit, and everything fresh.....no frozen processed garbage, fast food, or sweets. You just need a bit of will-power to get it started and then it's like nothing when you're accustomed to your routene.

 

[NaturalMuscle]

My advice is to try to make every meal and snack a combination of moderate amounts of lean, high quality protein (chicken, turkey, steak, fish, eggs) a modest amount of healthy fats (avacodo, hummus, raw nuts, seeds, nut butters etc..) and high fiber (celery/carrots sticks with your hummus or nut butters, stir fried vegetables, large organic salads(watch the dressings!) bean,lentils/legume side dishes instead of rice, breads, past's etc..) high fiber lower sugar fruits and weight train and do cardio that you enjoy. (power walking is great)