The Plan! (I'm open to suggestions)

[Askesis]

I should start with a little about me.

Age: 35
Height: 6', 1/2"
Weight: 215 lbs.

I'm not sure what my % of body fat is.

The goal is to drop down to 185 on the scale, and have less than 10% fat. So I'll have to lose more than 30 lbs. and then add some muscle back.

The plan is not to start with anything too strict or complicated. I know what the bad foods are, and I know I shouldn't drink soda. So I'm going to reduce that stuff and increase the amount I exercise (which is close to nil). If what I've read is correct (from Steve and others) all I need to do is create a calorie deficit.

With a little math, I figure that I've been gaining close to a pound a month over the past few years. That seems about right. I never noticed myself gaining weight, I would just wake up one morning and my jeans would be a bit too tight. I guess my metabolism has been slowing the entire time and I never changed my eating/exercise habits.

If cutting back on junk food and soda, and exercising more works, and I step on the scale one morning and see 199, that should be all of the motivation I need to take it a step further and get a little more serious/hardcore with the routine. Dropping the first 16 lbs. should be pretty easy, but I imagine lowering body fat to less than 10% will take some effort (as well as adding muscle on - which I've read takes a calorie surplus).

Anyway, I'll figure it out when I get there. One step at a time.

-Scott

 

[a-n-g-e-l]

hey you have got the right approach to it i think. more excercise less calories. and also i think you said you are going to decrease the amount of 'bad' foods. thats god do't give them up altogether. results in binging for me and also this is a lifestyle change so you want a bit of everything really. ;-)

like you said take it a step at a time. set yourself mini goals. and...any weight loss is good. dont get discouraged by what the scale shows. trust me it changes everytime you step on it. i should know i step on it a million times a day. instead look at the way clothes fit you.

sori if i rambled i do that at times.

good luck with the journey and your goals

;-)

x

 

[gpucci]

Hey Scott,

What I did was pretty much take a week to get my cardio back into shape (didn't worry about weight loss on the first week, just used as adjustment week). I also decided what kind of foods to eat. Trial, and error on the first week. I ended up with an apple for breakfast an to snack on from about 9am-1pm. I segment it, and eat a couple every hour which would keep me from getting hungry.

At lunch I would have a carton (small 8oz carton) of cottage cheese. The kind with the fruit in it.

For Dinner I would eat pretty much whatever. Usually one of those TV type weigh watcher dinners.

5 days a week I would run 20 minutes than work out right after I ran for another 20-30 minutes. I started on the treadmill at 6mph, and upped it by .1mph each week. After I got to 6.5 I upped it every two weeks by .1 instead of every week.

With the above I lost about 3-5lbs a week at first (when I was 215 down to about 185) and after I hit 185 it was about 2-3lbs a week.

Make sure you watch out for shin splints. That was a big problem for me until I learned how to run correctly.

edit: I am 33 years old, and was about your weight. A bit shorter though.

 

[Carthonn]

Yeah I'm at 219 and I want to hit 180 - 185 also and I think as soon as I hit 199 I'll be running 10 miles a day just to get down there. There's no better motivation to me then progress.

 

[gpucci]

Yeah I'm at 219 and I want to hit 180 - 185 also and I think as soon as I hit 199 I'll be running 10 miles a day just to get down there. There's no better motivation to me then progress.

Some advise.. Try not to do 10 miles a day. Your shins will suffer. The most I can do in any given day is about 25 minutes (I run 5-7 times a week). I tried to do 40 minutes, and I ended up hurting my shins to the point that I had to use the eliptical machine which totally blew. I hated it because the stupid thing wouln't pace you, you would pace it.

If you were to do 20 minutes and keep your heart rate up and worked out right after than you will be fine. Even top runners will tell you 10 miles a day is a bit much. Trying to save your shins

 

[Carthonn]

Some advise.. Try not to do 10 miles a day. Your shins will suffer. The most I can do in any given day is about 25 minutes (I run 5-7 times a week). I tried to do 40 minutes, and I ended up hurting my shins to the point that I had to use the eliptical machine which totally blew. I hated it because the stupid thing wouln't pace you, you would pace it.

If you were to do 20 minutes and keep your heart rate up and worked out right after than you will be fine. Even top runners will tell you 10 miles a day is a bit much. Trying to save your shins

Yeah I was exaggerating a bit there . Shin splints is the one thing that annoys me the most with running.

 

[maverick2]

Sounds like a pretty good plan so far. I'd set some more concrete boundaries for yourself, though, so you'll have some ground rules.

Stuff like:
- No fast food (or only one cheat meal a week).
- Will drink X glasses of water a day.
- Will exercise 30 minutes a day (or three times a week...)
- No soda (or maybe only during your cheat meal)

Those are just a few examples. But if you have defined rules, you'll be less likely to "fudge" and you'll see results quicker. Try logging your exercise and food intake either on paper or on a website like Fitday.com.

Here's just a few other little tips:
- Try to combine cardio with weight training. While the weight training might stall your weight loss in the beginning, each extra pound of muscle you add on will burn an extra 75 calories at resting level. Plus, the more muscle you put on, the lower your fat % will be.
- Water will help keep you full.
- If you eat something "bad", don't beat yourself and give up. Just reboot your good habits the next day (or the next meal, or even the very next minute!) It takes some getting used to, but eventually the temptations will be outweighed by your desire to make choices which won't sabotage all your hard work.
- One of the best ways to avoid temptation is to work out a little bit every day. The more physical work you do, the more guilty you'll feel nullifying your efforts by eating stuff that's terrible for you. (Guilt can be good.)
- Keep healthy foods on hand so you won't get really hungry and make a bad decision based on that.

Good luck!

 

[gpucci]

Maverick is totally correct. I have noticed that after only 9 weeks on my diet (after gaining weight again ) that my cheat days are less than a normal day used to be.

I haven't had fast food since the beginning, and only drink a soda on the weeken rather than a 6 pack a day playing world of warcraft lol.