Hello, I am 26 years old and have some basic questions about weight loss and about my workout routine. I have been in pretty decent shape my whole life, until about 2.5 years ago when my wife got pregnant. I have heard stories of men gaining weight during their wives pregnancy, and that definitely happened to me! I'm 6'0 tall and I went from 180-185 lbs to 215-220lbs, which most of the weight was gained during that first year of my wife being pregnant. I'm looking to make some changes though and would like to drop down to about 180-185 again.
I have been going to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday's. I don't mind working out, but it is always hard to find time with a 2 year old running around. I work until 5, so I like to spend time with him when I get home. I usually end up working out from 6:45pm - 8pm.
Lets start with my first question, my diet. I'm trying to eat 5-6 times a day. I believe my target calories per day should be 1500 to lose weight. I am going to try to do a better job at keeping track of that. I am confused though of what to eat after I get home from work and after workout. When I get home at 5pm, I have been taking a protein shake with about 40 grams of protein. When I get home from workout, I am usually starving so I eat something then too. I try to eat a piece of chicken or some sort of protein and a vegetable. Is that ok? Should I reverse these two and take the shake after and eat the meal before workout? I like taking the protein shake at 5, because it doesn't fill me up right before my workout. If it doesn't make a difference, I will continue doing what I'm doing.
Next, in the past I have tried to cut my calories and workout. The main problem is that I ALWAYS end up getting sick after only about a week... Like a cold type sickness. It's horrible, and I don't think a coincidence, because it's happened so many times. I think I was really cutting my calories more than I should and that might have been the cause. Anyone have any idea? I'm hoping if I stick to the 1500 calories, I won't have this problem.
Next, I have a question about my workout. During my 3 day workouts, I do about 40 minutes of cardio total and then also lift. Most of the time, I only do about 3 sets of 3 different machines (arms one day, legs another, etc). When I do the cardio, I usually do 20 minutes of one thing, then do my lifting, then finish off with another 20 minutes of cardio. I get a good sweat going, but is this working as well as I want it too? Should I do all 40 minutes of cardio at once then lift? Will that make a difference?
Lastly, I have considered doing more cardio during the week. Like add another 40-60 minutes of it on Tuesday and Thursday. I would probably do that in the mornings before work. Would I be hurting myself if I added another 40-60 minutes of cardio in the morning on the same day as my normal M,W,F workout? So basically on Mon, Wed, and Fri I would be doing 40 minutes of cardio in the morning, 40 in the afternoon, and also lifting. I know I would be burning a ton of calories, but is that going to be bad for me?
I know I asked a lot of questions, but I really want to get some good information so that I can fit back into my normal clothes and feel good about myself again! Thanks to anyone who responds!
I have been going to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday's. I don't mind working out, but it is always hard to find time with a 2 year old running around. I work until 5, so I like to spend time with him when I get home. I usually end up working out from 6:45pm - 8pm.
Lets start with my first question, my diet. I'm trying to eat 5-6 times a day. I believe my target calories per day should be 1500 to lose weight. I am going to try to do a better job at keeping track of that. I am confused though of what to eat after I get home from work and after workout. When I get home at 5pm, I have been taking a protein shake with about 40 grams of protein. When I get home from workout, I am usually starving so I eat something then too. I try to eat a piece of chicken or some sort of protein and a vegetable. Is that ok? Should I reverse these two and take the shake after and eat the meal before workout? I like taking the protein shake at 5, because it doesn't fill me up right before my workout. If it doesn't make a difference, I will continue doing what I'm doing.
Next, in the past I have tried to cut my calories and workout. The main problem is that I ALWAYS end up getting sick after only about a week... Like a cold type sickness. It's horrible, and I don't think a coincidence, because it's happened so many times. I think I was really cutting my calories more than I should and that might have been the cause. Anyone have any idea? I'm hoping if I stick to the 1500 calories, I won't have this problem.
Next, I have a question about my workout. During my 3 day workouts, I do about 40 minutes of cardio total and then also lift. Most of the time, I only do about 3 sets of 3 different machines (arms one day, legs another, etc). When I do the cardio, I usually do 20 minutes of one thing, then do my lifting, then finish off with another 20 minutes of cardio. I get a good sweat going, but is this working as well as I want it too? Should I do all 40 minutes of cardio at once then lift? Will that make a difference?
Lastly, I have considered doing more cardio during the week. Like add another 40-60 minutes of it on Tuesday and Thursday. I would probably do that in the mornings before work. Would I be hurting myself if I added another 40-60 minutes of cardio in the morning on the same day as my normal M,W,F workout? So basically on Mon, Wed, and Fri I would be doing 40 minutes of cardio in the morning, 40 in the afternoon, and also lifting. I know I would be burning a ton of calories, but is that going to be bad for me?
I know I asked a lot of questions, but I really want to get some good information so that I can fit back into my normal clothes and feel good about myself again! Thanks to anyone who responds!
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