A Newbie- Help me loss weight and eliminate my tummy :)

[onzki]

Hello to all, my first post here. Got excited with my gym membership, valid for 5 months because they have complete old school cardio as well as modern fitness equipments. The problem is I'm not hiring any trainer due to its rate.. I hope some of you here who has experience in workout can give me advice/routines and diet on how to effectively spend my 5 months membership.
My goal is:
1. minus 10 pounds weight
2. minus 12 pounds fat
3. abs, or at least a flat tummy.
4. if possible, an evident biceps

Present data:
Age: 29. Weight: 154 pounds Height: 169 cm
I attached my health assessment link if you want to check it out.


Thanks a lot!

 

[Goldfish]

Hi there. Glad to see you're excited with your gym membership.

There's a lot of good information in the stickies in each section of the forum, so I recommend having a read through, it should give you plenty of guidance.

Addressing your goals, good news: In 5 months they should be quite achievable, especially the simple weight loss goals. Issues such as how flat your stomach is can be affected by things like posture, which could, hypothetically, stop you from getting a flat stomach, even if you get to a low bodyfat level. Thanks to lordosis (excessive curve in the lower back) I used to have about 7%BF, 8-pack abs, and an apparently buldging stomach (wasn't actually buldging, but posture caused the appearance of buldging). Just letting you know, so that you don't take flatness as a solid indicator of success. But the decrease in bodyfat and slight increase in muscle mass you'd be looking at is quite achievable.

Know that nutrition comes first. You won't be able to make any consistent changes in body composition without taking care of your nutrition. One of the best things you can do starting out is to keep a food diary in which you record everything you eat over the course of three regular days. Record the food itself and the quantities, as accurately as possible (that'll mean measuring your portions). Then go onto a website such as calorieking.com and enter the details to find out how much protein, fat, carbohydrate and total energy (calories) you're consuming.

You will then want to decrease the average daily consumption by 500kcal, and organise your meals so that you get 150g protein/day (~ 1g/lb bodyweight). You'll need some complex carbohydrates in your diet to keep your energy levels consistent and to fuel your training, and a little bit of fat is actually good for you, so long as you don't go overboard. Eat plenty of vegetables and a moderate amount of fruit, and at least 3 meals per day.

As for your exercise program, a simple 2-3 days/week of resistance training with 3-5 exercises per day should serve you well. Again, there's plenty of good information in the stickies. An absolutely basic template is 1 leg exercise, 1 push (chest/shoulders) and one pull (back/shoulders), which could very simply be squats, bench press and pull ups. You'll find more detail in the stickies.

 

[Healthnut512]

I completely agree with goldfish. Setting personal goals and changing nutrition is the first step in any attempt to change how your body looks and feels. I have two roomates who had very different goals for fitness. One, about 9 months ago, weighed in at about 145 and is about 5'10. He set a target weight of 170, changed his diet from eating sandwiches, salads, and soups, to a more carb and protein heavy diet with lots of pastas, meats and cheeses. He began weight training and has reached his target weight and fitness.
~ My other roomate was on the other end of the spectrum: weighing in at about 270 standing about 6'2. His target weight is 200 even. He switched his diet essentially from eating fast food 2 - 3 times a day to eating sandwiches, poultry(chicken) and fish. Also about the same time he began taking a dietary supplement called "Core4" that is created by a company called Xyngular. He said that it has helped him in his venture to lose his weight and now hes about half way there weighing in at about 235.
Again, setting goals and diet are the key to any change but the supplement he is taking seems to be a factor in his weight loss from what Ive seen. Might be worth looking into for you or anyone else who is looking to slim down.