Begginer- Need Diet And Exercise Routine Advice

[t0t]

hey guys i'm new here. i'm also not in the greatest shape, i'm 17, about 5'8 and weigh 195 so obviously i'm what you'd call over-weight, but i'm committed to losing weight i just need some help getting started. at the moment i do have a diet planned out as well as an exercise routine, but i'm looking to see what you guys think and hopefully get some good advice.

as far as the diet goes, it's basically 6 meals a day with about a 2-3 hour waiting period in between each one.
1) bowl of cereal (right now it's special k) with 1 % fat milk
2) 3 egg whites with 2 slices of turkey ham
3) snack- granola bar
4) snack- fruit
5) chicken breast sandwich with lettuce and mayo, on wheat bread

at around 7:00 pm i start doing exercise and an hour after i'm done working out i have a yogurt. i also try to drink a lot of water throughout the day and saturday and sunday are my 'cheat days'. it's not a specific diet out of a magazine or anything, more like something a friend helped me put together since it's so simple and doesn't require a lot of cooking. what do you guys think? i think it's about 1500 calories, somewhere in that range i'm guessing.

as far as my exercise routine, thats where i need a bit more help i think. right now i'm doing hiit on a treadmill (i know it's not the best option for doing hiit but i have to work with what i have, far too hot to be outside running in 120 degree weather). basically it looks something like this

5 minute warm-up at 2.0 mph (treadmill speed)
and then i do 1 minute at 4.8 (this being my max) and 2 minutes at 2.5 (rest period). i do 6 sets of those and then finish off with a 5 minute cool-off at 2.0 again.

i can't really do a 10 mph sprint as my max since i'm not in shape, but from what i've read i can always adjust my hiit routine later on. the total exercise time for that routine is 28 minutes. thoughts?

i also wanted to incorporate some arm and ab exercises into my routine. any recommendations on ab exercises? i want to start working on losing some of that gut if possible.

i also want to start working on my arms. i'm not looking to be body-builder buff but right now they're just flaps of fat. i have 5 pound weights from years back and even though they're extremely light i think i should have some sort of arm routine (or knowledge at least) before i go out and buy new ones.

i know this is a lot to take in, sorry if the post is really long-winded i just wanted to provide as much information as i could. thanks in advance guys.

 

[limestix]

You need to get better weights if you only plan on working out at home. Look up exercises for the whole body. You will look silly if you only build up your arms; plus, it doesn't really work that way. Also, doing 5000 crunches a day won't shrink your belly, you can't spot reduce. Doing some ab work will help them get bigger and show through more, but to get abs you need low body fat. Maybe someone else here will help you, but you shouldn't have much trouble finding a full body work out routine, or just learning a bunch of exercises you can do. Also, if you don't want to buy more weights, there are a lot of great body weight exercises you can do, and cheap easy alternatives.

I was kind of baffled when I read you go 2-4.8. Isn't 3mph average walking speed? You REALLY need to push it a lot harder on cardio if you want to lose weight. Since you are just beginning, I wouldn't recommend HIIT. Walk some, and jog as much as you can. Walk with incline jacked up high if you can. This will work you out hard without killing your joints or over-exhausting you.

The diet looks healthy and is good if you're just beginning. You'll need to revamp it later but its perfect for now.

 

[t0t]

thanks a lot for taking the time to reply man

i agree that the weights are too small and i'm more than willing to buy new ones, but i guess i'd like to know what exercises i need to do and practice with the ones i have now, just for a day or two.

i was hoping some of you could help me out with full body exercises as you said or individual exercises that i do separately i don't mind, any help is appreciated. there's a ton of just different exercises out there and it's kinda easy to get overwhelmed so i was hoping you guys could recommend a few. especially after you mentioning that just doing crunches won't work. i don't expect a 6 pack anytime soon, i was just wondering if there were exercises i could add on to the hiit i'm doing to help get rid of some gut, love handles, etc.

my hiit speeds definitely aren't impressive, but the articles i've read all emphasize on giving it your all for that max interval, and how it's all relative. for a fit guy that exhaustion may come from a 10pmh jog and for a not so fit guy it may come at 5 mph. i don't know it seems to be doing alright, i'm pretty tired after finishing up but i definitely see myself going at higher speeds as soon as i can.

the reason i turned to hiit was because i was on the same diet and basic walking/jogging, slowly increasing the speed every 10 minutes or so. this was about 3-4 months ago or so and did see results for a bit, but i didn't keep with it and gained some of the weight back on. but back then i didn't bother asking or anything like that, thats why this time i want to be informed and get help from people who've done this before.

 

[t0t]

.. anyone?