I Need Some Pro Advice

Bigger Stronger Leaner Beginners
1

My Intro:
My name is Benj. I am 25, 5’ 10" in height and reached my heaviest at 292lbs! I started working out last April 1 on a self-driven goals of achieving better health by losing excessive body fats and toning my body to improve my self-esteem.

My Workout:
-My workout consist of at least 30 minutes cardio (warm up and body stretching), some light free weights and machine exercises (3x8-12 to 5x8-12), and doing many sets of 20 ab crunches (cannot do sit ups yet) and making it sure that I am really targeting the abs!

My Nutrition:
-I am on a low carb, high fiber diet (boiled or steamed potatoes, vegetables and some legumes…and fruits).
-I would eat 2-3 slices of plain whole wheat/grain, fiber-enriched breads if I am really on a very very hungry mode.
-I am not really fond meats, but since I am on a diet, my protein sources are chickens (skin removed), egg whites, tofus and canned tunas…usually boiled or steamed but on minimal servings only.
-I also cut down on salt, sugar and processed foods. (potato chips, brownies, donuts, pastries, ice creams etc.) As an alternative, I would use lemons, vinegar and some herbs as flavoring. I have not eaten any salty and sweet stuff for the last 11 days.
-I have been drinking only water for the last 11 days now…and I have staying away from commercial beverages like instant juices, sodas, flavored water and even sports drinks!
-I have some multivitamin and Vitamin C supplements taken daily.

My Initial Results:
-After the first painful week of my workout I was able to shed 4lbs off my initial weight of 292lbs down to 288lbs.
-I also notice that fats concentrated in some parts of my body, are beginning to loosen a bit.
-The muscles that I train are starting to develop rather slowly.
-I am feeling well all day and in doing my usual tedious chores, my endurance has improved a lot.
-I have been doing the same stuff for the last 11 days and right now my weight is playing around 285-286lbs…so I can safely approximate some 2-4lbs of weight loss a week.

My Questions:

  1. Am I doing just fine or can I still do more and get better results?

  2. I have been hearing that if you build muscles and you will burn also fats but I don’t think I am getting enough protein servings everyday to properly develop my muscles, so can I start drinking those whey and protein drinks as early as now or I still need to lose certain amount of body fats before doing it so?

  3. Do fat burner and ‘L-carnitine’ tablets/formulas really burn fats?

  4. I am the only fat guy in our gym and before going to the gym, I would take a nice lukewarm bath and put on deodorant but when I begin to sweat I notice that my sweats really stink compare to other people and they seem to be distancing themselves from me whenever I move around in the gym. Is it just me or people do mind if someone’s sweats do stink while they are working out? well, I don’t really mind being stinky but I don’t want to be a discomfort to others while they are working out.

Hoping to hear from you guys.

Thank you and Cheers To All!

2

  1. You have made progress, just don’t EVER become satisfied with what you have achieved or else you will become stagnant.

  2. More muscle mass means you use more calories a day for just maintaining your body. As for protein, it depends on what you are doing in the gym.

  3. Dunno, possibly, but if you use these pills then your progress will become somewhat dependent on them. Would you want to commit the next year of your life to using these or just do it yourself?

  4. It might be something you are eating. Who knows, but who cares about those assholes. Let them do their arm-curls and talk on their cell phone while you sweat out 40 lbs of fat all over their shoes!

3

Aside from needing to stick to this plan until at least next april 1st, you should attempt to move more throughout the day.

Get up EVERY morning or EVERY night and go for a walk. The only proven diet is eat less, move more. Just by getting up during the day am moving your body you will be able to drop a considerable amount of weight.

The biggest nugget of nutritional advice that I can give you is to write everything that you eat down. Get a notebook and carry it with you. When you can see where your calories come from it makes it harder to rationalize those foods. When you have to write down a meal of a 720 kcal double quarter pounder with a 610 kcal fry with 600kcals of soda makes you sick to your stomach. Compare that with a 230kcal chicken breast with a 100 calories of salad and a 0 cal diet soda. WEll you get the idea.

Good luck, and stick with it.

4

I want to adress #1 specifically:

Probably the best thing you can do is read through the first post and click through some of the links on this thread;

http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=640350

Knowledge is indeed power. It’ll also answer a bunch of questions you don’t know you have yet.

Welcome to T-Nation! If you have the courage and the patience, you’ll acheive your goals.

5

scented deoderant is your friend.

6

[quote]fattyacid wrote:

-The muscles that I train are starting to develop rather slowly.

  1. Do fat burner and ‘L-carnitine’ tablets/formulas really burn fats?
    [/quote]

Muscle does develop slowly. I applaud your desire, but 11 days of working out will not show a noticeable improvement, especially since you have a lot of weight to lose.

  1. Moving more and eating less burns fat. Save your money for healthy food. Supplements should not be a major concern for you.