In response to dbutterfield
Alright, so our primary goal at the moment is a 55 lb weight loss. However, you’re smart enough to play by ear and stop losing weight once the image you are going for is attained and you feel good physically.
Fat loss is primarily a function of sound nutrition. One thing I haven’t done on this forum is write up nutrition programs for people. I don’t want to get into that territory. My recommendation on the nutrition side of things is this:
1. Input your current plan into or something of the like to figure out where you are now, calorically speaking. It will also give you a nice macronutrient breakdown as well.
2. Match this to your estimated maintenance with is probably in the ballpark of 3000 calories. At least, this is where it should be unless you’ve been doing something in the past that would do a number on your metabolism.
3. Once you determine your caloric goal, start with a 15-20%ish reduction from maintenance intake to institute the energy deficit.
4. Suppose this number is 2400 calories.
5. We would then fill this 2400 calories with proper foods. The first thing you should consider is your protein consumption. I’d personally shoot for roughly 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. You’d be safe to take in around 170 grams or so. This would compute to 680 calories, leaving you with 1720 calories still left to “fill” with food. Your protein could come from foods such as lean chicken breast, turkey breast, eggs, cottage cheese, whey protein powder, lean beef, pork tenderloin, top round steaks, fish, etc.
6. Next, I would worry about your fat intake. Aside from the trace amounts of saturated fats you are going to intake via the consumption of the above proteins and other foods, aim for the good stuff. You can find essential fats in things like fish, fish oil, flax, nuts, natural peanut butter, flax, safflower, etc. I’d shoot for around .25-.5 grams per pound of body weight. This would equate to roughly 100 grams of fat. There are 9 calories in each gram of fat so this would equate to roughly 900 calories. You still need to fill 820 calories.
7. This 820 calories can come from carbohydrates and/or more fats. Carbs I’d include in my own diet might look something like this: old fashioned oats, whole wheat pasta, yams, veggies/fruits, rice, whole wheat wraps…. the list goes on. Be creative. And don’t completely restrict yourself from satisfaction! I always leave some room for the good stuff. I eat some candy daily. Or I might throw some spicy nacho Doritos into the mix too, yummy! It’s your diet, do what you want with it. Just makes sure you cover the basics first and foremost…. always.
I can tell from your diet that you are most likely light on protein and good fats. Definitely input your normal diet into the website I provided you above.
As for the exercise side of things, it seems like you are following the popular myth that cardio is more effective than resistance training when it comes to fat loss. Don’t worry; it’s infected everyone I think. Even your local gym owners!
Intensive anaerobic exercise bouts may not burn as much calories as a lengthy session of steady state cardio. However, it will elicit a greater increase in excess post exercise oxygen consumption, which in turn, will elevate caloric expenditure for hours on end.
Not to mention that once you invoke a caloric deficit in order to shed the fat, shedding the muscle along with the fat is a very real possibility. Following a well structured resistance training program will help send the right neuro-chemical signaling for muscle maintenance… which is a very good thing.
To add to this, as a novice in the weight room, there is potential for body recomposition. This is where you will experience a simultaneous increase in muscle mass along side a decrease in fat mass. This is very nice.
Increased strength, better mechanics…. the list goes on and on as to why strength training is a critical component of any plan, have it be weight loss of muscle gain.
There are probably a million and one ways to structure a resistance-training program. However, a few things are certain:
1. Free weights always win over machines
2. One should focus on compound movements that bring the most muscles into “play”
3. The biggest mistake I see people make aside from over-emphasizing machines is over-doing it each and every week. There is a major concept known as fatigue management that becomes even more important when dieting
If I were just starting out in the weight room, I’d probably do a very simplistic, boring routine. Why? Because it’s what would be optimal until my strength increases. As a novice, you are able to train your entire body with relatively high intensity multiple times per week without over-taxing your body systemically. As you become stronger, the loads that you are able to lift become more and more taxing on your system and the concept of fatigue management dictates a more infrequent training frequency with intense weights. You really don’t have to worry about this though.
For now, you’d simply have to worry about:
1. Learning the form of the basic lifts, all done with a barbell if possible. Think squats, bench press, deadlift, overhead press.
2. Determine the starting weights for each lift by starting with the bar, and incrementally increasing weight each set until you find the exercise becomes difficult or the rep speed slows down appreciably.
3. Once the weights are determined for each exercise, I’d get the design of the program figured out. This is something I could help you with once you figure out how many days you can afford to strength train. Again, preferably 3 times per week.
4. Once the program is laid out, simply focus on linear progression. This entails adding small amounts of weight to the bar each and every time you train. This will force the general, positive adaptations associated with strength training.
We can discuss the proper execution and layout of a resistance training program after you read and digest this.
As for the cardio side of things, I’d simply start with a handful of sessions each week. I’d probably do one session of HIIT per week, assuming you are able physically and your conditioning is well enough. If not, simple interval training will suffice for now. I’d also do one, maybe two sessions of steady state cardio per week. Knowing me, I’d probably start with one, LOL. These can fall on off days from weight lifting or vice versa. Actually, I’d suggest you perform the HIIT on a heavy squat day. This leaves a full day to recoup between leg workouts.
Hmmm, that’s about all I can think of for my initial response. Please let me know what questions you have and where you’d like to go from here.
Best to ya.