I had planned on a long-winded post describing my workout history, but I just made a protein shake and am too tired to talk about how sedentary my life has been since the accessibility of the internet through AOL.
Current weight: 205-210 lbs
Height: 6'2"
Body Fat from an Ironman scale: 18%
Protein Intake: 150g/day
Carbohydrate Intake: 250g mainly through fiber one cereal, whole wheat bread, and whole wheat pasta; was only 150g a day until a few days ago
Fat Intake: 30g/day last 2 days, was only 15g/day last 2 weeks through soy, organic peanut butter, and processed cheese(vegetarian diet)
Meals are divided 6/day but I only get fat in there in about 2 meals.
Water Intake: 6L or 1.5gal/day
Sodium: 500-1000mg/day
Sugar: ~50g/day, don't count that at all; whatever is in the bread, a couple servings of strawberries or kiwis, two tomatoes, and carrots.
Total caloric intake last 2 weeks: app. 1800cal/day
I need to also add that I take a meal replacement shake twice a day with the protein shake and cereal blended together. The meal replacement shake only has 100 calories, but the product support says they're highly effective calories, even though a calorie is supposed to be a constant measure.
Goal: Lose fat, gain muscle, eat healthy maintaining right levels of all essential fats like sat fat, monounsaturated fat, and omega 3s on the most vegetarian diet possible
Exercise: I was riding 30 miles a day, 3 times a week for the two weeks prior to last while only consuming .5L of water every 10 miles or 1 hour. I would have to quit when my knee gave out around the 20 mile mark, and then pedal 10 miles home with a sore left knee. For this reason, I switched to the stationary reclined bike at the gym, so I could stop the moment I felt any pain in my knee. My routine on the bike at the gym: Level 9, average RPM 100, average heart rate 170 first 29 minutes; 30th minute, go to level 20, 31st and 32nd minute, level 10. Repeat for 32 minutes, rest, have a protein & meal shake(200 cals with soy milk) and then hit the weight machines.
There were 5 machines that I was doing: seated row, lat pulldowns(cables), chest press or pec fly if triceps were sore, and bicep curls. I was doing 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps each, resting 30 seconds between sets, decreasing the weight one or two levels if my arms were dead, and then I repeated the circuit again. I wasn't losing my breath on any of these exercises and sweat wasn't pouring down my face. I was simply going until I couldn't squeeze out another rep. The reason I engaged different muscle groups in the same session twice a week was my triceps or biceps would be so sore for a few days afterward that I could only lift weights once a week. After the workout, I would finish with 20 minutes of cardio to prevent lactic acid buildup.
I'm now in the 5th week/7th session lifting weights at the gym. I'm worried that I've lost any gains I've seen through my minimal diet. Tonight, I decided to quit the machines aside from the seated row and focus on compound free-weights/cables. I didn't do any cardio and focused on high-intensity rows/lat pulldowns, bench press(thought I was gonna kill myself with 70lbs of weight on the bar and had to remove all weight to do 10 reps), and dead lift(have no idea how to do this one; I just used an opposite grip and pretended I was coming up from a squat making sure to lock my chest at the end). My right arm can comfortably lift 10 lbs more than my left, so the barbell was putting extra pressure on my left elbow even though it was only 40 lbs; i can throw a softball 200 feet and a football 50 yards with my right arm, but I'm simply not that strong. The workout only lasted about 30 minutes, but I didn't ever pause except when I ****ed up with too much weight on the bench, sweating the whole time.
Tomorrow I plan to do HIIT stationary bike since I read that I may be wasting my time and losing muscle on my current 1 hour moderate program(I call it moderate because I'm not breathing heavily even though my heart rate averages 170 and reaches 190 when I'm at the level 20 minute. My resting heart rate and blood pressure are fine at 70 BPM and 110/70; I get them checked every month when I donate blood). I plan to do a level 9 5-minute warmup, and then 22 minutes of levels 10-20, returning to level 9 for a minute before increasing each level. I guess I'm supposed to cool down with a level 9 at the end of the workout for 5 minutes even though I find this unnecessary. I truly cannot run at all and push myself to run 100 yards from my car to a store at times, and I think these anaerobic exercises will help with that. My sprinting speed is like a fast jog as well. I want to find some way to sprint faster. I'd like to be able to outrun my medium-sized dog at one point, but that's probably not going to happen.
I still plan to do the long cardio sessions but no longer at the gym and at the most once per week. I'll make sure to have a protein shake in the middle of the ride though. I currently feel healthier than I did in August, but I've only lost about 5 lbs in a month, but i've only been on a hardcore diet for the last two weeks. I've been a vegetarian since I was 12, so restricting my diet is not a problem if I have my fridge stocked with fruits, vegetables, bread, soy, pasta, cereal, and cheese. I've been at 185(active)-195 lbs(sedentary) most of my adult sedentary life until the last 2 years when I decided eating out at an Indian buffet, Italian restaurant with salad bar, or 4 burritos in one meal was all I needed for food because I had a fast metabolism. I had no idea I put on 30 lbs by doing that.
My protein intake is pretty consistent: shake in the morning when my body needs it the most, before a workout, after a workout, and then before bed(higher concentration of casein/soy). I guess I may be having too many shakes, but I actually do eat real food with every shake and 6 times/day. I'm probably killing my stomach and liver by eating so much soy(50-100g of total protein per day), but I'm not ready to make the transition to another vegetable-based protein with an even lower BV. By limiting soy, I would have to make even more whey shakes a day, which probably isn't healthy either. Also, why don't most protein powders come with a carb blend if carbs are supposed to be higher in your diet? What's the point of making them with sucralose if you need some fructose or sucrose at times? Hell, I'd even take a carb/protein/fat blend if possible.
I'm looking for any tips and pitfalls to avoid. I heard you could eff up your knees by using wrong technique on squats and that your body will use up protein if you don't consume enough carbs, but that's about it. I hear people saying all the time at the gym that they don't even bother with squats anymore due to the risks. I also know ab isolation exercises aren't as important as the compound core-building ones. I apologize if I've written too much, but I'm sure I'm doing almost everything wrong.
Current weight: 205-210 lbs
Height: 6'2"
Body Fat from an Ironman scale: 18%
Protein Intake: 150g/day
Carbohydrate Intake: 250g mainly through fiber one cereal, whole wheat bread, and whole wheat pasta; was only 150g a day until a few days ago
Fat Intake: 30g/day last 2 days, was only 15g/day last 2 weeks through soy, organic peanut butter, and processed cheese(vegetarian diet)
Meals are divided 6/day but I only get fat in there in about 2 meals.
Water Intake: 6L or 1.5gal/day
Sodium: 500-1000mg/day
Sugar: ~50g/day, don't count that at all; whatever is in the bread, a couple servings of strawberries or kiwis, two tomatoes, and carrots.
Total caloric intake last 2 weeks: app. 1800cal/day
I need to also add that I take a meal replacement shake twice a day with the protein shake and cereal blended together. The meal replacement shake only has 100 calories, but the product support says they're highly effective calories, even though a calorie is supposed to be a constant measure.
Goal: Lose fat, gain muscle, eat healthy maintaining right levels of all essential fats like sat fat, monounsaturated fat, and omega 3s on the most vegetarian diet possible
Exercise: I was riding 30 miles a day, 3 times a week for the two weeks prior to last while only consuming .5L of water every 10 miles or 1 hour. I would have to quit when my knee gave out around the 20 mile mark, and then pedal 10 miles home with a sore left knee. For this reason, I switched to the stationary reclined bike at the gym, so I could stop the moment I felt any pain in my knee. My routine on the bike at the gym: Level 9, average RPM 100, average heart rate 170 first 29 minutes; 30th minute, go to level 20, 31st and 32nd minute, level 10. Repeat for 32 minutes, rest, have a protein & meal shake(200 cals with soy milk) and then hit the weight machines.
There were 5 machines that I was doing: seated row, lat pulldowns(cables), chest press or pec fly if triceps were sore, and bicep curls. I was doing 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps each, resting 30 seconds between sets, decreasing the weight one or two levels if my arms were dead, and then I repeated the circuit again. I wasn't losing my breath on any of these exercises and sweat wasn't pouring down my face. I was simply going until I couldn't squeeze out another rep. The reason I engaged different muscle groups in the same session twice a week was my triceps or biceps would be so sore for a few days afterward that I could only lift weights once a week. After the workout, I would finish with 20 minutes of cardio to prevent lactic acid buildup.
I'm now in the 5th week/7th session lifting weights at the gym. I'm worried that I've lost any gains I've seen through my minimal diet. Tonight, I decided to quit the machines aside from the seated row and focus on compound free-weights/cables. I didn't do any cardio and focused on high-intensity rows/lat pulldowns, bench press(thought I was gonna kill myself with 70lbs of weight on the bar and had to remove all weight to do 10 reps), and dead lift(have no idea how to do this one; I just used an opposite grip and pretended I was coming up from a squat making sure to lock my chest at the end). My right arm can comfortably lift 10 lbs more than my left, so the barbell was putting extra pressure on my left elbow even though it was only 40 lbs; i can throw a softball 200 feet and a football 50 yards with my right arm, but I'm simply not that strong. The workout only lasted about 30 minutes, but I didn't ever pause except when I ****ed up with too much weight on the bench, sweating the whole time.
Tomorrow I plan to do HIIT stationary bike since I read that I may be wasting my time and losing muscle on my current 1 hour moderate program(I call it moderate because I'm not breathing heavily even though my heart rate averages 170 and reaches 190 when I'm at the level 20 minute. My resting heart rate and blood pressure are fine at 70 BPM and 110/70; I get them checked every month when I donate blood). I plan to do a level 9 5-minute warmup, and then 22 minutes of levels 10-20, returning to level 9 for a minute before increasing each level. I guess I'm supposed to cool down with a level 9 at the end of the workout for 5 minutes even though I find this unnecessary. I truly cannot run at all and push myself to run 100 yards from my car to a store at times, and I think these anaerobic exercises will help with that. My sprinting speed is like a fast jog as well. I want to find some way to sprint faster. I'd like to be able to outrun my medium-sized dog at one point, but that's probably not going to happen.
I still plan to do the long cardio sessions but no longer at the gym and at the most once per week. I'll make sure to have a protein shake in the middle of the ride though. I currently feel healthier than I did in August, but I've only lost about 5 lbs in a month, but i've only been on a hardcore diet for the last two weeks. I've been a vegetarian since I was 12, so restricting my diet is not a problem if I have my fridge stocked with fruits, vegetables, bread, soy, pasta, cereal, and cheese. I've been at 185(active)-195 lbs(sedentary) most of my adult sedentary life until the last 2 years when I decided eating out at an Indian buffet, Italian restaurant with salad bar, or 4 burritos in one meal was all I needed for food because I had a fast metabolism. I had no idea I put on 30 lbs by doing that.
My protein intake is pretty consistent: shake in the morning when my body needs it the most, before a workout, after a workout, and then before bed(higher concentration of casein/soy). I guess I may be having too many shakes, but I actually do eat real food with every shake and 6 times/day. I'm probably killing my stomach and liver by eating so much soy(50-100g of total protein per day), but I'm not ready to make the transition to another vegetable-based protein with an even lower BV. By limiting soy, I would have to make even more whey shakes a day, which probably isn't healthy either. Also, why don't most protein powders come with a carb blend if carbs are supposed to be higher in your diet? What's the point of making them with sucralose if you need some fructose or sucrose at times? Hell, I'd even take a carb/protein/fat blend if possible.
I'm looking for any tips and pitfalls to avoid. I heard you could eff up your knees by using wrong technique on squats and that your body will use up protein if you don't consume enough carbs, but that's about it. I hear people saying all the time at the gym that they don't even bother with squats anymore due to the risks. I also know ab isolation exercises aren't as important as the compound core-building ones. I apologize if I've written too much, but I'm sure I'm doing almost everything wrong.