I am 22 years old…5’11" and 260 pounds. Doctor stated that was 80 pounds overweight yikes! I am a member of a nice local gym.
Yet other then going in and jumping on a treadmill for an hour. I dont know what else to do. I am slowly getting my diet in order with more protien. I even have a bottle of hot-rox but havent started it.
I’d love to at least get close to 190-200.
One issue I have is…I am a Network Tech so most of my work is behind a desk all day. Whats the best things to eat during the day since work wise I get little physical activities?
I appreciate all the suggestions.
By the way my main goal right now is to just shed the fat…
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Welcome to t-mag and the forums. Well the best place to begin is to read as many of the past issues as possible. You sit behind a desk so I’m guessing you’ve time to read online. Just simply going through all the old issues of t-mag and/or typing “fat loss” in the search engine will give you a wealth of info. Start reading, start learning, start lifting and you’ll be a t-man yet. Seriously though not trying to dodge your questions but you’ll learn more in a week of reading through past issues than 20 posts on here for something this basic( even if all 20 posts were by Tampa Terry;] )
I would say first off try to get your Body Fat Percentage and weight. This will let you know if all of that 80 pounds is fat.
Once you know this then take your lean body mass (LBM) and multiply it by 1.5 grams. That will give you the number of grams of protein you need to eat. (Good sources of protein, Low Carb Grow, fish, chicken breast, non fat cottage cheese, turkey breast, and lean beef.
Then take your body weight and multiply it by .4 or .6 that will give you the amount of fat grams you need to have. Good fats (fish oils, flax oil, olive oil, butter–but not too much)
Then for carbs I would keep them under 100g a day that you don’t train. Consume most of your carbs in the morning and then towards afternoon into evening just eat protein. Good Carbs (oatmeal, green vegatables)
Try to develop the habit of eating 6 times a day.
That’s it for the diet.
Do you work out? You should try to lift weights three times a week. If you haven’t trained in a while just do 3 sets of 10 using lighter weight so that you can strengthen your ligaments, tendons, joints, muscles without hurtin yourself.
you could start with 3 sets of 10
Squats
Bench Press
Lat Pull Downs
Sit Ups
Back Extensions
Calf Raises
Those will pretty much cover all the muscles in your body.
You have to build the muscle snd eat less to lose fat. If you are losing 1-3 pounds a week you’ll be doing good. Plan on losing 25 pounds of fat in the first 12 weeks.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Your MD says "Lose weight;" a better goal is to lose fat. Any low-calorie diet, combined with an unreasonable amount of distance running, swimming and/or jerking-off, will cause you to lose weight, but much of the weight lost will come out of your muscles. You won't be as strong or look as studly as you otherwise might. Eventually, you'll be ass-dragging tired, hungry enough to kill and eat people, and spring-loaded to the pissed-off position. (So, most people "cheat" their diets into oblivion.)
The back issues of T-Mag may be the best source anywhere for advice on diet and exercise. However, if it's all new to you, just reading this stuff will cost you so much time and confusion that you may never get started. I'd get a "personal trainer" for about 6 weeks and pick his brain. You want someone with a long background in training athletes, not just overweight housewives. Let him come to your kitchen and throw out the crap. Have him walk you through a big grocery store and point-out the huge areas where you don't even wanna WALK. (You win or lose this battle in the grocery store.) Then, come back to T-Mag and this website to fine-tune your newfound knowledge. It ain't brain surgery, but it's not quite as simple as "just eat less."
You’ll be very pleasantly surprised at what you can do for your body.
Several articles here at T-mag will get you on the right track:
The New Diet Manifesto: summarizes many diets and includes links.
The Missing Ingredient - a food log guide.
The Beginner’s Blast Off Program - newbie lifting program.
The Essential Berardi - Summary of John Berardi’s great nutrition advice.
The Hot-rox will help a lot, but give these articles a read first and get your diet and training down.
Welcome! I would suggest you start with a few articles.
The Diet Manifesto, here:
As well as all the Appitite for Construction articles. Personally, I like Fat Fast for a jump start. I find it to be easy to stick to because it is extremely regimented. I would recommend a sugar free fiber supp, and don’t rely too heavily on protein shakes. I usually use two shakes, and two or three meals of lean protein and fat when doing fat fast.
Beginner’s Blastoff, here:
And all the Dawg School articles.
For motivation you cannot beat Merry Christmas Bob, here:
It would be helpful to figure out your body fat percentage in order to construct the most effective diet plan. The amount of information on this website is overwhelming at first, but you can start making some small changes in the meantime. Cut out sugars and refined carbs, don’t eat anything out of a box, eat more fresh veggies, lots of lean protein, and “good fats” from fish oil, flax oil, and olive oil. Start splitting your meals into Protein + Carbs, and Protein + Fat, never mix carbs and fat. Even these small changes will make a difference, especially in the way you feel.
I would also say save the Hot Rox until you figure out your body fat and get your diet a bit more in order so that you can maximmize the benefits.
As an extreme beginner, I would suggest something like the following:
- Get light exercise every day.
- Eat protein with every meal.
- Limit carbs during and after supper.
- Eliminate junk food and sugared soda.
Junk food includes obvious junk food as well as dumb things like eating a pizza for dinner or something. Try not to eat carbs and fats at the same time, especially in convenience or fast foods like hamburgers, fried chicken, pizza and so on.
When I was 250 lbs I simply went for a walk every day. As I felt better I’d go for longer hikes. Believe me, with ten years of desk work behind me I was pretty sedentary. Even going for a reasonable walk can cause stiffness and soreness in the beginning.
These simple things will start you off. You don’t need costly supplements, calipers, workout plans or anything to get started. Don’t get confused and indicisive or look for magic cures. You are at a point where progress is easy!
While you are doing your walking and improving your diet, read up on things as everyone suggests. In a month or two you will have dropped a fair amount of fat and have learned a lot. As you learn things you can adjust your eating or add to your exercise regimen.
One of the things I’m worried about, having been sedentary myself, is getting into things too quickly can be very demotivating. Going to the gym when very out of shape can be tough on the ego and cause a lot more soreness than a fit person is used to experiencing.
wow guys thanks for all the great responses. This will get me off to a great start. Thanks! I’ll do some before and after photos too.