New and Willing to Learn

[damnation]

hey everyone,

Just thought i'd shoot out my greetings to everyone before i started taking an active role in the forum.

My name is Jonathan and my friends(the polite ones,at least) call me Joe. You can all call me Joe.

Right i've finally gotten my butt off my chair and started working out after 6 and a half years of an extreme couch potato lifestyle.

Why i dint work out? simple, i dint really care what i looked like since i was always overweight by about 10 kilos or so and i was too lazy to put an effort to burn it off since i never could get it off and just quit trying (recent research on the net shows it might possibly be due to an unbalanced workout plan and definitely due to a messed up diet

Why i started? Even simpler.. i dint look at my weight for over 2 years. I am 24 years old now and a little over 5feet 8 inches. I dont drink alcohol but i've been a heavy smoker over the last 6 years varying from 3-4 packs a day 4 years ago to about 10 sticks a day nowadays. When i last checked my weight two years ago i was between 92kg and 96kg. Two years later i hop on the scales and my weight is a 112kg (approx 250 pounds,give or take). That was a shock and just plain unhealthy and pretty much motivated me to start lookin out for myself.

I joined a gym and have been going regularly 6 out of 7 days since gym is closed on sunday evening and the morns are too early for me.

The first week was bad. Twenty minutes on the treadmill (walking) and i was wheezing like an old man taken off life support (yes i know its the ciggies). 10 minutes on the elliptical and another 10 minutes on the bike. At which point i could legally certify myself as dead.

The second week i was more used to the sudden physical exertion so i started doing a circuit on the weights after 20 minutes of the treadmill (sprinting for the most part) and another 10 minutes on the elliptical. lots of pain at this point.

Third week is over and i started on focusing.
Monday - Shoulders
Tuesday - Chests
Wednesday - Lats
Thursday - Biceps/Triceps
Friday - circuit (but prob gonna start on legs or something)
Saturday- circuit

I do ab crunches on alternate days and hip stretching (not sure what the term is) on the other days.

This is my fourth week. and its going well Everyone says i look a lot slimmer but the weight is the same. about 111 kilos. I'm not depressed or worried too much since i'm sure it will go in time. Only thing that bothers me is my diet. Googling on the net produces to much information and its going to be a long lesson getting a hang of counting calories.

The gym is fun since i've forgotten how much fun it is when you make new friends with the same goal of losing weight. Doesn't make it like a lonely battle anymore.

Advice though.. How much time should i put in on the cardio like treadmill and elliptical and i stopped the bike since i was adviced it was ineffective.

Furthermore, can you help me fill the slots on Friday and Saturday somehow i am not sure if a circuit is effective enough. Also, i will probably be starting on lipo6 as weight loss suppliment if it works, it works.. if it don't i got the treadmill and time. I guess my goal is that i would like to lose a min of 10 kilos within 6-12 months and then see what i can do after.

Sorry for such a long winded post. But i hope to be a more active member on the forum. Any and all advice is appreciated.

[damnation]

well its now week 5... my last weigh in was at 109kg.. i guess the lipo6 is working as well... i was a 111 on the day i started lipo 6... and after 3 days i am now 109... so it took me 4 weeks to knock off 2 kgs.. and another 3 days to knock off another 2kgs..

Working out routine is going well.. and i've been watching my diet... dont really do the whole counting calories thing... but ive found that if i avoid eating stuff that makes me feel guilty... its more effective that way.

[RyanLRams]

It is not necessary to hit the gym 6-7 days a week. Especially after being so sedentary for so many years and being as over weight as your are. I would venture to say you are about 100lbs over weight. I like to the hit the gym 4 times a week. That way, it doesn't feel as though I do nothing but exercise when I'm not working. I don't like your workout breakout. You got shoulders and chest on back to back days. Your shoulders get worked out on chest day dude. This is what I do:

Monday - chest, light tri, ab (30 min treadmill after workout)
Tuesday - back, trap, light bicep, (30 min treadmill after workout)
Wednesday - rest or HIIT. NO WEIGHTS
Thursday - Legs, abs (20 min VERY LIGHT treadmill after workout)
Friday - Shoulders, biceps, triceps, forarms (30 min treadmill after workout)
Saturday - rest
Sunday - rest

I rarely spend more than 60 minutes lifting. I don't do a ton of sets or reps. If I go over 60 minutes, it's because I'm talking too much. The sets and reps I do are QUALITY! Don't worry about lifting a lot of weight right now. Concentrate on form and safety. If you can do abs on alternate days, your not working them hard enough on the days you do them. My abs are sore for 2-3 days after I do them. Find some different ab exercises and push them hard like you would any other muscle and let them REST like you would any other muscle.

Do whatever you want for cardio. The idea is to move and get your heart rate up.

More muscle = more burning calories

Basic diet rules to follow when trying to lose fat:
1. 5-7 small meals a day
2. no carbs after 6pm
3. no fast food
4. avoid fried foods.
5. eat good fats IN MODERATION (nuts, peanut butter, fatty oils - they will boost your testosterone and you will lose more fat)
6. eat green veggies in EVERY MEAL (fibrous green vegetables will help your body digest the food you eat and help your body extract the nutrients it needs)


Hope this helps you some.
Most importantly, don't get impatient if you don't see immediate results. You didn't get fat in one month, or even one year. It may take a couple of years to reach your goals.

G.L.

[lostboyrufio]

Bump

I couldn't +1 because I have to spread some around.

[R41D3RZ]

[damnation]

Ryan,

Thanks for taking the time to post. I agree with you and I'm not getting impatient and as i said i am not really worried about the weight. Pretty sure it will go down over time. As it is, my last weigh in was at 108 kgs. But i am looking a lot fitter. Muscles are building up and some of my old shirts are kinda swimming in areas that used to be stretched.

I understand that i dont have to work out 6 days a week... but i'm self employed which basically leaves me with a very open schedule and quite a bit of spare time on occasion. So hitting the gym seems to be a much better option than going out with friends and getting dragged for whichever food they want to eat.

I knew my workout plan was messed up at the start but i was using it that time to get into the swing of using muscles long thought dead..i have been looking for a more appropriate table for working out. but Saturdays are definitely for legs as i need sunday to get over the jelly like feeling.

I have started on more variations of ab work outs.. and i get what u mean by 2 days of pain.

Right now though i'm more concerned about building up strength in my left arm. Doesnt matter if its chest, shoulder or bicep exercises... at some point.. the left arm locks and refuses to move. There is no pain but it feels like all the energy gets lost around my elbow. Continuing after that is pretty pointless since i can pretty much only lift it with a jerk sending everything out of sync.

as far as the diet is concerned.. Thank you.. those are some of the simplest points i have seen so far. and i have pretty much ditched the friend and fast foods.

Will post on my new schedule soon