2008 or Bust!

Bigger Stronger Leaner Beginners
1

Hey folks,

So like most people I am going to start the new year off on the right foot and get in shape. I’ve tried this before (not just at the new year) and failed, but I recently had a “come to Jesus moment”, so to speak and I feel I’m ready to finally put in the work and self discipline to get things done.

So I thought I would post here and request some advice. I’ve posted some times before, nothing serious, but I honestly am ready. I need any and all advice, don’t hold back.

I’ll post my official January 1 stats that day, but to give you an idea, based upon a visit to the scale this past Monday:

age: 28
wt: 280 lbs
body fat%: 33

My main motivation is wanting to get back into high school shape - I was an athlete in high school, and while I certainly wasn’t an elite athlete, I could play a full game of soccer start to finish without stopping, and I wasn’t rail thin either. If I tried to play a game of soccer now I’d die. So at first, my plan would be to drop the fat as much as possible. After that, I would adjust my plan to grow into the physique and health I wanted.

Secondly, I have a wedding in August which I would like to be in shape for; not my own, but I don’t want to be quite as much of a fat ass as I am now.

Anyhow, I need advice on a workout regime and a diet plan. Here is what I am thinking…

For me, I would like something I can understand when it comes to working out, and I think an easier plan for a beginner would be the TBT training outlined here ( http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=508031 ) by Waterbury. When I say easier, I don’t mean it is an easy plan to get through, I just mean, I think it is less complex than some others.

My only concern is that since it is a 3 day per week plan, what do I do the other days in terms of exercise? Nothing? I’m going to re-read the article after I post this as it has been a while since I read it.

For the diet, at first I considered the Velocity Diet. I even tried it once before (I failed). But after reading a lot of forum posts about the V-Diet, I really do not think it is for someone in my physical condition; though I could be wrong. What I really want to do is learn to eat well for my entire life, and from what I gather, the V-Diet is not a life long commitment. So I was considering something like the T-dawg diet outlined here ( All Articles - T NATION ) by Shugart and TC. It is easy to understand (for me), I think.

Anyhow, any advice is appreciated. Any good sources of info, etc, is welcome.

I’d really appreciate it if someone could help me walk through determining how much protein/fat/carb/calories I should be taking in, etc. Based on the T-dawg diet, I think my stats would be:

280 x 15 = 4200 calories

After a week I would drop it by 500, which should create enough of a deficit with my exercise to burn about 2 pounds per week, right?

I don’t know how I would eat 4200 calories of clean food per day, but I’ll try; I have a ton of Metabolic Drive from Biotest which I love, but honestly, that is a lot of calories. And based on the article, my protein intake should be:

1.5 g x 280 = 420g

Now, someone once told me that the calculation should use your lean body mass, which I assume would be:

lbm = weight - fat weight - water weight

Right?

As you can see, I know nothing. But I need to succeed and I am willing to do whatever.

Thanks for reading this long post.

Oh, and yes, honestly, there is no better time to start than now. I’d just rather start on the 1st, it just seems like a clean start.

Thanks.

2

http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=459493

read that, and do it for a while. You will notice a reduction in your weight.

I would recommend not worrying too much about counting calories right now. You’re fat. And that’s because you’ve made poor food choices for a while now combined with a lack of activity. SO, fix that big stuff first: make clean food choices!

I only say this because it’s really, REALLY easy to analysis paralysis when you start these things. You end up spending more time reading about it than actually doing it. The 7 habits article above will have you basically avoiding starchy carbs outside of work out times. This is a good thing, and basically the t-dawg diet.

TBT would work great. DO IT! As far as off days, I would say just do some cardio. Now, when I was bigger (250+ as well), running hurt. So feel it out. If running hurts stop it! There’s a guy in your similar situation in the physique clinic right now. CT has him doing morning walks. Try it out. That’s a form of activity you could do every day, even on lifting days. And it won’t tax you as much as a higher intensity run will.

Good luck! Lift Heavy! And fuck the new year, start now.

3

a caloric deficit of 500 per day amounts to a loss of around 1lbm per week

It may not sound like much, but its already near the upper limit of what i consider a ‘healthy’ weight loss speed

Furthermore, don’t make any extreme adjustments in the amount of calories you consume in a short time frame, e.g. if you were doing 3000 per day before i would not jump right to 4200 but increase by 500, and then by another 500 after a week or so (likewise if you reduce your calories)

4200 calories per day sounds really much if you are working out 3 days per week and trying to lose weight. I would suggest you experiment a bit and if you are not satisfied with the results you should maybe go a bit lower ~3500 or something, at least on non-lifting days.

there is no ‘right’ way to calculate the amount of protein you need to consume per day, usually people are worried about getting enough so they ingest more than they actually need. It has no real negative side effects either (as long as you dont consume extreme amounts for extended periods of time), your body will use it as an energy source like carbs or fat. If you weight 280lbs and you estimate ab BF% of around 30%, ~250g protein per day should be fine for you, if you consume more it won’t really hurt either

As for the off days, there are plenty non-impact ways to be active, doing cardio 2-3x per week in addition to weight training is a great way to speed up weight loss (and have fun !). There are plenty of cardio machines, if you dont like those try swimming or maybe just going for a walk for 1 hour.

4

Most calorie calculators assume a normal (15-20%) body fat. Since you are about 15% over that or about 45 lbs, your real maintenance level is probably (280-45)x15 = 3525 calories. A 500 calorie deficit would be about 3000 calories which is probably a more realistic starting spot. If your loss is too fast, slowly raise your calorie levels as Petrichor said.

If you stick to leans meats, fish and eggs, eat lots of vegetables and fruit, restrict dairy, potatoes, beans and grains and eliminate sugar, you should have no trouble keeping the calories down.

5

Thanks to everyone for your comments. I’ll re-post Jan 1 with all of my “official” (as official as a regular scale can be) stats.

Thanks.

6

[quote]stuward wrote:
Most calorie calculators assume a normal (15-20%) body fat. Since you are about 15% over that or about 45 lbs, your real maintenance level is probably (280-45)x15 = 3525 calories. A 500 calorie deficit would be about 3000 calories which is probably a more realistic starting spot. If your loss is too fast, slowly raise your calorie levels as Petrichor said.

If you stick to leans meats, fish and eggs, eat lots of vegetables and fruit, restrict dairy, potatoes, beans and grains and eliminate sugar, you should have no trouble keeping the calories down.[/quote]

That doesn’t mean no milk, I use milk with a scoop of protein before bed, and a glass with dinner. It’s good for you, but don’t down a lot of it.

7

Wow. You just bought a shitload of supplements from here, didn’t you? :slight_smile:

8

Thanks to everyone for the info. I’m going to track my progress in another thread.