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Quinnch

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Hey Everyone,

My name is Chuck, I'm 5'9" and my weight fluctuates throughout the week between 186-190 (depending on time of day, day of week, etc.)

I played sports in high school, and recreationally in College, but 4 years of binge drinking and poor nutrition has left me iwth an extra layer of fat that I want to shed. I'm great about working out. I usually get ot he gym every day, and minimum would be 5x/ week. While there, I run 2-5 miles about 4 days a week, and do some weight training.

I have stopped doing exercises like bench and heavy rows, because I want to slim down and I wouldn't mind losing some muscle to tell you the truth. I played football in High school, and my knowledge of working out was always the "bigger is better" model. I used to lift the heaviest weights possible, now I am trying to focus on form and repetitions.

I would apreciate the support from all angles, and I will start by telling you some of my major problem areas:

1. Family. My mother/father are very loving and supportive, but they are both overweight (though not obese). They enjoy eating out, and my mom likes to bake sweets and fattening foods. They are always getting me muffins or donuts for breakfast. I am sometimes good about turning down all of this stuff, but it is extremely hard for me to do so.

2. Social. I don't drink anywhere near what I used to in college, but that said, I'm still going to go out for drinks on a friday or saturday night. I know alcohol is counter-productive to being in great shape, but I'm a social person and I don't want to give up having a drink or 2 on the weekends.

3. Work. When I'm in the gym, I'm not lazy at all. That said, I don't do much else during the day to help me burn calories. It's extremely difficult for me ot stay moving throughout the work day, as I work with a law firm and I pretty much sit at a desk all day.

I would apreciate any advice, I'm open to all angles. My main goals would be (instead of packing on huge muscle) to burn fat, increase balance and flexibility, and maintain peace of mind.

Thanks, Glad to be here!

Chuck
 
welcome to the forums. Hope you find the answers and motivation here that you need.

I would suggest posting a little about your diet so people can review it and see where it might need improvement to help slim you down. There are some great stickies about nutrition and links to calorie counters and such so you can see how much you should be eating compared to what you are eating.

Good luck with your journey to a slimmer you :)
 
Hey there

Welcome :)

It is good to see that you have identified the factors that may stop you from achieveing your goals, now you can work out how to go about it. Best of luck :)
 
Try to find any and all ways to move around a little bit during the work day. Sitting for eight hours is horrible for you, even if you do everything else right.

And not to lecture, but it is quite possible to be social without drinking alcohol. :-D

Congratulations on making a change!
 
joebedford said:
Try to find any and all ways to move around a little bit during the work day. Sitting for eight hours is horrible for you, even if you do everything else right.

And not to lecture, but it is quite possible to be social without drinking alcohol. :-D

Congratulations on making a change!
Click to expand...

It's also quite possible to start a fire with a flint and twigs... but why bother when they've invented the lighter?
 
Diet will be key here. The real secret is getting yourself set on a diet plan, and allowing yourself to indulge(in moderation) when appropriate. Couple light beers on a saturday night, oh no 200 calories. Its not going to ruin all your hard work. A few a night, or 12 in a day, well you already know that result.

If you have the space at work, do some stretches a couple times throughout the day. I try to, some truck twists, stuff like that. PLus eating a diet that helps keep your metabolism going is key as well. Orange in the afternoon. Green tea for a pick me up, there are lots of things out there, just find them.

If your parents are always buying crap for breakfast, maybe make them eggs for breakfast one morning. They might get the idea that you are turning down their gracious offer for a reason, not just to be difficult or disrespectful.

Hope thats a start, like others said, read, plan, execute.
 
If you have a sedentary job it's still possible to burn more calories per day by doing some CV and weights. Both will increase your metabolism and both use extra calories to recover well after your workout.

Put it this way - if you have a sedentary job and currently need 2500 calories and eat 2500 calories your weight obviously won't go down, but if you have a sedentary job, continue to eat 2500 calories but go to the gym regularly, your daily calorie intake might go up to 3000 calories, therefore you will lose weight.

Also, most people could easily decrease their calories intake drastically by cutting out the alcohol but telling most people to do this is just a waste of time. I imagine that working in a law firm is stressful and when you say you like to be social, what you really mean is you drink to get rid of the stress but don't like to do it alone. Also what usually follows a few drinks on a saturday night? Pizza. Kebabs. A burger. Junk food of any description. If you want a truly healthy lifestyle this all needs to be stopped, but if this just isn't realistic then factor it into your calorie intake for the day and hit the gym for a good cardio session the next day to offset it.

I've found a visit to the gym, if you can manage it, is the best hangover cure there is!
 
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