Anything missing in my plan?

A

anothersteve

New member
Hello Ladies and Gents. For the past few days I have been lurking around your forum reading posts getting lost in different techniques and methods. Rather than post “how can I loose 50” lbs I’ll give a brief description of my situation and plan and have you critique as you see fit.
I am in my mid thirties, 5’9 235, 15 years ago I was in shape but I got lazy and a desk job with a donut shop right downstairs, (yes it’s all the donuts fault!). I have set a goal to reach 175 with no specific time frame however I would like to see 25 lbs by May.

The plan is quite simple 20 min’s per day on the treadmill with a mix of walking and jogging. Some light free weights. Reduce my calorie and carb intake buy making some changes in food choices, more fish, and chicken and whole wheat pasta’s. Less fried food’s and pop/junk food.

Okay, what am I missing? Thanks for reading and I certainly appreciate any replies or thoughts you may have, this is my time to change and I know very little on the topic.
Happy new year to all!
 
Why light weights?

While there is sometimes an overload of info on this site, do spend some time reading the stickied threads in the exercise and nutrition forum... you'll get some good info about weight training and caloric information.

I'd also suggest using a site like to keep track of your calories and take the time to weigh and measure what you're eating... it's important to make sure that you're eating enough food and don't cut your calories too low from the get go...

Welcome to the forum and much success getting to where yo want to be
 
Great, another steve.

:p

Welcome to the forum. I think this is a good first step. There certainly is not a need to go all out immediately. Gradual change tends to be more 'sticky.' What I mean by that is, it's those who seem to take baby steps from the get-go that seem to truly make this a permanent change in lifestyle.

That said, I'm not sure you need to do cardio every single day. I know I wouldn't. If you like it, so be it. But if you don't.... starting with a handful of sessions each week will suffice. Especially with low intensity stuff.... it's much easier to simply skip out on eating a few bites of food.

With weight training, I ask the same question Mal does. Why light weights? I'm glad to see you are sticking with free weights. But a spectrum of rep ranges should be used ideally.... not just high rep stuff. I'd be interested in seeing what you are doing in terms of weight training exactly.

It's up to you if you choose to count calories or not. If you choose to, check out the link Mal provided above. If you don't want to be that hands-on for starters, don't. By simply making better food choices, there will be a naturally downshift in caloric consumption most of the time for beginners. Eventually you might have to start counting though.
 
Thanks for the replies; I did check out that link and it will prove very helpful I am sure. I mentioned light weights because I don’t have a bench or gym at the moment and that might make heavier weight training difficult to some degree.
I also am searching around the net for some info on recommended intakes per height and weight to use as a baseline for meal plans as I would like to count calories but as a first timer I want to do it accurately if possible.
Any good sites that you’re aware of?
 
if you search on harris benedict formula you'll get a "close enough" range - but to be honest, every body is different and there's no precise number -(at least in my non-expert opinion, you need to be a little experimental..

What works for me -with regular exercise is about 11-12 calories a pound and that gives me a fairly steady weight loss...

You want to start as high as possible as as you get futher down the road, adjustments will have to be made and it's easier to adjust from a higher point than a lower one...
 
Again Mal is spot on with her advice.

Trying to be too exact with calories can be overly-tedious and frustrating.

14-16 calories per pound tends to be maintenance for the average person with a moderate amount of exercise factored in.

The leaner and/or fatter you are, the more 'off' these numbers will be.

From there, starting with a 20-25% deficit off of maintenance tends to be a good starting point.

Which would take you down to around 11 calories per pound. Track your progress via weight, measurements, pics, etc and adjust as needed.

In terms of weight training, you might want to check out this site for some good ideas of things you can do from your home:



Eventually, joining a gym or investing in some equipment would be a good idea IMO.
 
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