A Fat Guy Seeking Help

Training Over 35 Lifter
41

[quote]Scottish Warrior wrote:
Well…it’s official, I have to stop running for a while. The pain in my knees is getting unbearable and I don’t want to do any further damage. I am going to start walking with a weighted backpack for the time being, I’ll try running again after I get under 225lbs.

Anyone have any thoughts as to what would be a good total weight for the backpack? I was thinking 45lbs or so. Thoughts? [/quote]

Work your way up to this weight. I’m in the Canadian Army. We do a Battle Fitness Test (BFT) that includes a weighted march of 13 Km (8 miles) carrying 24.5 Kg (54 lbs)of kit in about 2 1/2 hours. Most people can do this but usually require several weeks of progeressive workups.

You will lose weight with this but start with short walks (say 1 hr long) and gradually lengthen and add weight. It’s hard on the feet so watch for blisters and hot spots. Don’t do this more than once a week and maintain a general conditioning program along with it. If running is hurting your knees then its really pointless. Exercise should increase your fitness, not lessen it.

Stu

42

[quote]Scottish Warrior wrote:

What fucks me up is when I read contrary information an equally knowledgeable and respected PhD or nutrition/health guru. Many health professionals don’t think you can do anything to reverse the inevitable metabolic slowdown; all the conflicting information and research supported schools of thought drive me nuts. For instance, the �??cardio�?? debate.

F
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[/quote]

The reason most health professional don’t think you can do anything is that most people can’t. It’s hard work and requires motivation and someone to help out along the way. Keep up the good work and don’t be afraid to lean on the expertise on this site.

Stu

43

[quote]Scottish Warrior wrote:
Some good thoughts, thanks Scott.

The more you read the more confusing things get sometimes.

Things I know for sure:

  1. Eat 6 small meals with protein
  2. Lift weights using compound multi-joint exercises - Lift Heavy
  3. Eat clean non processed foods

Things I’m confused about:

Cardio…Good? Bad? Waste of Time?
Metabolic Rate…REALLY important? Not Important? Do the calories burned during exercise matter or only the fact that you are
increasing your metabolic rate…

My Doctor told me the ONLY thing that matters is creating a calorie deficit and the rest is BS.

He recommended a 1200 to 1500 cals a days a lots of walking, he told me not to worry about body composition until I get under 200lbs…I KNOW THIS CAN"T BE RIGHT!

There is so much contrary information around it’s driving me nuts.

WHAT THE FUCK IS THE BEST WAY TO LOSE BODY FAT?!?!?!?!?

[/quote]

Hey SW,

You’re a pretty young guy so you can still work out pretty hard and often. If I were you I would forget about the 1200 to 1500 calories. You need more fuel than that. A reasonable diet will take care of that.

As far as the 6 meals a day go, I think it does help your metabolism, but more importantly for me, it keeps me from getting to the point where I’m really hungry and eat like an animal. So 6 meals does more than just keep the oven hot.

If I were you, I would concentrate on getting rid of the bulk or that small child we seem to be carrying around when we let our selves go.

Try and set a target weight, say 210 in your case or whatever, but set a goal. I would try and get there by eating right and trying not to get in a situation where you sit down and are famished and eat like an animal,6-8 small meals, some good fruit is fine and drink shakes with plenty of protein.

Go with as much cardio as you can within reason, and lift as much as you can within reason. At this stage, I wouldn’t be OVERLY concerned with lifting real heavy, or trying to run 5 miles. You’re young so you can do cardio often and lift often. Along with your diet, just doing it is the most important thing at this stage. DON’T complicate things, JUST DO IT. The fat will be pouring off of you in no time.

When you get to your target weight, then you can start looking at what these guys that are ALREADY in shape are doing to fine tune their workout. I think that was what your Doc was saying but you need more calories than that.

I think you need a little patience and within a month you are going to see some very good results. It’s a “one day at a time” thing. Just plan what you are going to do that day and do it. You are probably a tough guy mentally and physically so it should be easy if it is what you want.

Sorry for the long post. I hope I didn’t contradict myself to much. LOL.

Scott

44

I am in similar situation. Holding all my fat around my belly. I also play a lot of poker. HU4ROLLZ? :wink: anyways…

After a couple weeks of Fish Oil, my knee that has hurt for the past 15 years, doesn’t hurt anymore. I do a short full body workout at home, working major muscle groups. I then hit the treadmill.

Screw running. My target is to get my heart rate between 120-136, which can be done walking on a treadmill at ~4mph, and hold it there for 20minutes everyday. I started at 3mph and have worked my way up as my heart/lungs got used to the work. I won’t include running unless I need to increase speed to get my heart rate over 120.

Pre workout I take some Biotest Power Drive. Post workout I take some Creatine and 100% fruit juice. This combo makes for a REALLY good mood all day long.

My next purchase will include some REZ-V to try and increase T (along with other health benefits).

My goal is to be able to hit the college gym when I take some classes this fall.

45

Stu and Scott, thank you both for your replies.

Scott, “DON’T complicate things, JUST DO IT” this advice is golden, I tend to over-complicate things.

46

I finished reading �??The Metabolism Advantage�?? by John Berardi and it excellent; I recommend it without reservation to those who have not read it. Lots of great info, recipes and entire 8 week plan. I am not going to drop everything I�??m doing and change the 8 week plan but I am going to tweak my approach with some the things I learned from the book; mostly carb timing. I am also going to use some the recipes to add a little variety to my current diet.

The workout routine contains some funky stuff like suitcase squats and one armed barbell curls�?�…I�??m sure it�??s a excellent routine but I�??m sticking with my Chad Waterbury 3 day a week full body workout plan, I love it and Waterbury is by far my favorite T-mag writer when it comes to workout routines; Berardi is for sure king when it comes to diet and nutrition.

47

[quote]Scottish Warrior wrote:
Well…it’s official, I have to stop running for a while. The pain in my knees is getting unbearable and I don’t want to do any further damage. I am going to start walking with a weighted backpack for the time being, I’ll try running again after I get under 225lbs. [/quote]

Have you considered bicycling?

I’ve had a couple of knee surgeries and they had me bicycling after each. My knees don’t like running anymore, but they love bicycling (then again, I’ve done a lot of it over the past 45 years, even before the first knee injury).

You can ride for “aerobics”, or for “HIIT-like” workouts (pedal like hell on the uphills and flatlands in a hard-to-peddle gear, then “rest” at ~85% effort on the downhills or when you get too winded).

48

I have done a lot of biking in my day as well, I enjoy it. I just bought a sweet Trek spinner that attaches to my Mountain Bike and allows me to “ride” inside during crappy weather or whenever…it’s pretty convenient, the only thing that really sucks is my dog hates me for not taking him on long walk/runs!

It’s one of the reasons I have resisted biking and really tried to make the running thing work, oh well better to have my Dog pissed off at me than to be this fat any longer :wink:

49

UPDATE - Long overdue.

Well…I am doing pretty well overall and satisfied with my diet 100%…I really have it dialed in. For the sake of simplicity and consistency I eat the same thing every meal, every day.

I allow myself one �??cheat�?? meal a week; I don�??t go crazy, I just try and satisfy my cravings for things liked mashed potatoes and gravy, pan cakes, fish and chips ect�?��?�.the stuff that most people eat every day. My training on the other hand is not going as well. I keep flip flopping approaches and I do not have it dialed it.

There are so damn many approaches and so much contrary information it�??s silly. I am very analytical and love to read and research so I tend to suffer from training ADD, there is so much great information on this site and I have a pretty good home library as well. In particular, I am really struggling with cardio:

Do it?
How much?
What Kind?
How to implement it with my weight training?

My resistance training is a little better, I am pretty well versed in most of the major approaches to building muscle and have a pretty clear goal now�?��?�.Quality muscle MASS! As my martial arts days are behind me stuff like relative strength and total body weight are pretty irrelevant in my life at this point.

I just want to get muscular and get my body fat below say 13% or so. I have no desire to get super �??ripped�?? or anything. I want a build I can maintain all year long, I want to feel and look powerful and healthy.

To this point I have managed to gain strength and build muscle WHILE losing body fat. I could lose the fat faster if I cut calories and did more cardio I�??m sure but I don�??t want to lose any lean body mass. I am worried that sooner rather than later I am not going to be able to continue to add muscle and drop fat at the same time�?��?�…in fact I know this is going to happen soon enough.

I now weight 229 lbs�?��?�…down 56lbs from my high of 285. I am comfortably wearing 36 inch jeans and can squeeze into 34�??s�?��?��?�.I was wearing 40 inch jeans in the summer (I burned the 3 pair of the fuckers last week, NEVER AGAIN!).

All or certainly most of my �??deep fat�?? or central adiposity (fat between my abdominal organs) is gone and now I�??m left with the daunting task of getting rid of my subcutaneous adiposity (fat between my skin and the muscle) which is a lot more difficult to lose. I still have a long long road ahead but have made some pretty good progress.

50

You’ve made great progress! Its inspirational. Don’t forget to post that turkey chili recipe! I have been starting to eat turkey more as part of my weekly meals–turkey burgers, turkey sausage and just plain old turkey. Hoping soon to add some venison to the mix.