Big Belly Looking to Slim Down

This is my first post, so please bear with me.

I am a 25 year old male. I am 6’2 and my current weight is 280 with 39% body fat. I started dieting about a month ago where my initial weight was 305.

I worked out almost religiously in high school, being an offensive lineman,and have retained a lot of the muscle, despite being very lazy for the past 7 years.

The only problem is that I am noticeably fat. I have rock hard abs…but they are hidden under all my belly fat. I have huge biceps and pecs, but again, they are hidden under fat.

About two weeks ago, I started going to a gym. I do about 25 min cardio everyday, along with a few reps each of bench press, curls…etc, mostly upper body. (my legs are cut like a Greek god for some strange reason). I take protein shakes before and after each work out.

My diet consist of: whole wheat bagel and protein shake for breakfast, tuna and veggies or salad for lunch, baked chicken with veggies for dinner, and a few snacks of granola or yogurt in between each. This diet worked for me to lose 25 lbs. before I started exercising, but I am sure it probably needs to change now.

So what am I doing right and what am I doing wrong? My main goal is to cut away the fat to show the muscle that is already there.

My opinion is really kick up the protein and limit your carbs to fruits and veggies only. Save the “sugary” carbs for post workout. I would also suggest you start working in some healthy oils like Fish, flax, olive, etc. Get rid of the 25 minutes of cardio for more intense interval work like sprints (even on a stationary bike), jumping rope, etc.

If you haven’t been using a thermogenic up to this point you may want to try one. Also, if you have the means you may want to get your endocrine/test levels checked to see if that isn’t working against you. Alpha Male and some other supplements on this site can help in this area.

I just re-read your post and I should add you really need to put together a good workout, probably full body. And just because your legs are “cut like a greek god” or whatever, you really need to be squatting and deadlifting.

Why? Because these are important, full body exercises that are much more effective at building muscle and burning fat than bench and curls.

I agree. Another thing I forgot to mention is that I tend to stray away from lower body routines due to a bad back and several surgeries on my leg years ago. Thanks for your input.