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neiliog93

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hey, I'm a 19 year old male college student, Irish. Need to lose about about 50 pounds at least (I'm currently 259 lbs and about 6'3" tall, with a BMI of 32.5 - 33). I started dieting a couple of weeks ago, with a start weight of about 265 pounds.


At my fittest I played rugby at a high level and was very into bodybuilding, I was around 210 lbs at 13% bodyfat. I was 16/17 at that time. Since about Christmas of 2010, I've exercised only intermittently and led a pretty poor lifestyle, causing me to go up to 265 lbs in weight from fluctuating between 195 and 210.


I've been going to the gym for the last few weeks 3-4 times a week (a trip to the gym involves use of the treadmill, cross trainer, bike or swimming pool or a combination of them) and I usually run about 6km on the treadmill. Today, I ran outside for the first time, managing 3 miles with quite a lot to spare in the tank. I usually swim 50 lengths (25 metre pool) in the medium speed lane, which hopefully I can build up in the coming months. I find running outside harder than on the treadmill (I have good running shoes, so no worries there). I'm going to slowly build weight-lifting back into the routine over the coming weeks as well.


My diet still isn't perfect but my gym sessions usually work off about 800 calories, often up to 1,000. I' aiming for a deficit of 500-1,000 per day, leading to a 1-2 pound weight loss per week. As a student, cutting out alcohol is hard (especially in Ireland) but last week I had one pint in total, so that was good. Like I said, my exercise routine is good and my fitness has improved a lot, but my diet plan, while vastly better than before, still needs work. Hopefully, the experience of this forum can inspire me to be disciplined in my diet. From my bodybuilding days of "cutting" phases, I'm reasonably knowledgeable, I just need to maintain my discipline!


I'm considering aiming for a marathon some time next year, because I managed the 3 miler ok and according to the experts being comfortable over 3 miles is when you're ok to start a beginner's 16-week marathon training programme. Even if I don't achieve it, it's something to aim for and another reason to keep exercising.


My ultimate long-term goal is to get back to 200-210 lbs, somewhere in that range anyway depending on how much muscle I can put back on. I've worked out that if I really keep my discipline, I could be there in about 6 months, or late-April.


I joined this forum for support and to meet like-minded people. A burden shared is a burden halved, and I can learn a lot from others. Thanks guys, hope to learn from you, support you and get support!


Neil
 
Welcome! Good luck with your future weight loss. I'm new too!
 
A warm welcome to you...looks like you are pretty much in control and know exactly what you are doing. Since you have been into bodybuilding in the past, you are used to figuring out and designing schedules already and that is to your advantage. Additionally, you are very young and your body can take a lot of beating easily...dont think you will have any problem at all, getting back in shape...just be motivated.


My only suggestion would be, to do more compound exercises while you are getting back into shape and stick to 4X type training instead of Pyramiding. I am no expert, but this seemed to work for me and a few others.
 
Hey Neil, welcome to the forum! I agree with Hulk in that adding in some resistance training, especially focusing on compound exercises, is recommended for long term weight loss. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!
 
Thanks guys! You're definitely right about the compound exercises and weight-lifting, I haven't been doing enough resistance training at all. I've heard of something called "muscle memory" which means that if you had a reasonable amount of muscle in the past, it returns more easily than if you're a first-time bodybuilders. A lot of boydbuilders say it's true, and a smaller number say it's bull. Guess we'll see!


Thanks for responding anyway!
 
Just wanted to add that I've lost a lot of weight before in my life. Having been overweight for most of my life, I really ballooned when I was 14, leading me to be 227 lbs on my 15th birthday in the Summer of 2008. I was around 6'0" at the time, and hadn't done any proper weight-lifting at all, meaning the weight was all fat Thankfully, I was entering a serious year in my rugby-playing life, meaning that during the subsequent school year of 2008-09, I had training 6 afternoons a week, two mornings a week before school and during 3 school lunch times a week as well. I didn't really make any dietary changes, but because I was young, growing and exercise a lot, I lost nearly 50 lbs during that year, leaving me at a little 180 lbs by the time of my 16th birthday the following Summer.


It was at that point that I got serious with the bodybuilding and diet, managing during the course of the year from my 16th to 17th birthdays to gain 30 lbs of mostly good weight (I'm very prone to gaining fat but on the flip side I can gain muscle easily too) leaving me at 6'3", 210 lbs at 13% bodyfat around my 17th birthday. It was in about October/November of that year (2010) that I effectively stopped training to concentrate on my studies, as I was in my final school year, which unlike in the USA is incredibly demanding in Ireland (still not an excuse to stop training though). My diet went pretty bad with all the stress as well.


When I started college as a freshman in September 2011, I didn't get my act together at all, and didn't even get it together properly during the Summer of 2012 either. All of these factors led me to weigh 265 lbs by the time I started my second year of college this September gone by, which is an unacceptably high weight even for a guy who's over 6'3" tall. So I started dieting again a few weeks ago, with my goal weight anywhere between 195 and 210 lbs. My shoulders have broadened a bit naturally since my bodybuilding days (which are more than two years ago now) so maybe even 215 would be healthy for me now. We'll see how I look when I get there.


My main concern is that I could become a "yo-yo" dieter, as I also lost a significant amount of weight after my main growth spurt aged 12, only to put it back on and more by the time I was 14/15. So I've lost a lot of weight and put it back on again twice in my life, despite only being 19 years old. My mum has struggled with weight her whole life, going up and down on a semi-regular basis. I'm determined to make the weight-loss permanent this time, by maintaining healthy habits for the rest of my life!


PS: Sorry for the life story, just thought it might give you a clearer picture of where I'm coming from, and it's good for me to write it all down/share it too
 
neil...it is always good to share. When you share, you tend to force yourself to analyze and put a structure to what is at the back of your mind all the time. It makes you retrospect and it makes us think too.


It is interesting that you are scared of a yo yo situation and that is something I deal with too. Very similar story to yours. Went through a major weightloss in my mid teens and then took to bodybuilding, gained weight...then when i started my career gave up all exercise and fattened up for a few years, went back to the gym, lost again and now here I am doing it all over again. I think the trick is to condition ones mind permanently to just live healthy and make 'not working out' a no-option. Easier said than done! But we have to try
 
yeah, I have to say that writing all that down helped me a lot. We seem to be coming from pretty similar positions, which is kinda cool because I don't know anyone else with a similar "story" to me.
 
Hey neil, sorry it's taken so long to respond... I haven't been on the forum in a while! Just like Hulk said, it's always good to share the story of how you got to where you are and when it helps you to find others in a similar situation, then it can be even more beneficial. Good luck to you - it seems like the main thing you need to do is find consistency (just like everyone else) to help you maintain your muscle mass and overall weight.


Good luck to you, I look forward to hearing about your progress!
 
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