I want to thank you all for the replies and help. My next few lines aren’t to come across abruptly. It is really the truth. I know some of the examples are to help.
Things I have going for me:
I don’t do any soft drinks. Only water, not even flavored water. Coffee from home twice a week. Use half a teaspoon stevia when I do.
I don’t do ranch dressing or mayo or fried foods or white flour.
I really get that most talk about their good eating days and leave out the days. I get that. I am trying my arse off here and trying to get healthier and bigger and stronger. Bigger as in muscle bigger not gut bigger.
Meals today:
Waking up. Coconut milk and whey protein powder with half a banana also mixed in one container Oikos triple zero yogurt. Breakfast. Three eggs with about 1/4 cup cheddar cheese on a carb balanced soft tortilla and couple tbsp homemade bacon bits.
Lunch. Six ounces of baked chicken breast. Snack. Piece of chicken sausage with an egg and broccoli. So far, 1,317 calories, 73 grams carbs, 65 grams fat, and 131 grams protein. Is this not good?
It may serve you well to just focus on a single goal right now. Everything else should be in support of that goal. Fat loss / muscle preservation is appropriate based on what you have said thus far. What you eat on any given day is majoring in the minors. You know about how much protein you need on any given day along with an appropriate caloric deficit. Fats and carbs should be divided in a way that will help you keep your diet.
Can’t remember the name of the program. It is legit but just bars, snacks, shakes, and one meal a day with a meat and greens. No exercise at all. Am I jealous about this? Not at all. Just a crazy thing to think about. This guy is 6 foot 3 inches and weighs 215. He played baseball in high school. So, he has some muscle. He is 7 inches taller than me and weighs 15 pounds less than me and is eating 900 calories a day.
Not it’s wrong but what is the reason for the protein shake upon waking before breakfast ?? Most people usually define their first meal of the day as breakfast (as in it breaks the fast).
I wasn’t sure I was going to get an actual breakfast meal in. I had to get a lot done around the house and help the wife pack for work. So, when the rain started, I couldn’t get half the stuff done outdoors. So, I made myself one of my favorite breakfasts. This is usually not the norm. Another reason I do shakes and oatmeal in the morning is that eggs, and I do love them, have a tendency to send me to the bathroom. So, during the school year, I don’t do eggs on weekdays. Like this morning, I had my shake and oats. So far, 35 grams carbs, 16 grams fat, and 36 grams protein.
Hey @ralphiedacat Would circuit training be best for me for the goals I want to achieve right now? Just thinking weights plus cardio in the fashion that circuit training is done.
When training for fat loss any program that you would use to build muscle will also help you keep your existing muscle during a fat loss phase. The only caveat is that your ability to recover will be reduced so don’t go insane with the volume. Furthermore it is very unlikely that you will be able to put on a significant amount of muscle while losing fat (it does happen if protein is high enough, you have a ton of fat to lose and/or you are a newb when it comes to training). Since you are asking whether or not circuit training is appropriate than you are probably a novice. If that is the case than you might want to consider a full body split (typically M W F). There are numerous articles on how to construct one.
– Raphie
P.S. Your friend who is eating 900 calories a day probably isn’t to concerned conserving his lean muscle mass. Weight loss will follow but it certainly won’t just be from fat.
The reason I am leaning towards circuit training is due to calorie burn, fat burn, and muscle tone/build or whatever. See, my body is like this: waist down I am fine. I have nice legs, it big legs, but I have had women say they wish their legs were nice as mine. Shoulders and above I am pretty wide. I have a little too much fat in my face for my liking, but not extreme. So, my midsection is like a world globe. Or basketball. Or well you get the idea. It’s not like I have fat just hanging off of me all over. Hope this provides more insight. Any ideas? Stay the direction I am going with heavy weights and cardio days or circuit training be better? Or whatever? Many thanks again.
You can’t spot reduce, so the approach is the same.
I personally dont circuit train because I like to get in the groove for each exercise at a time. But you should check out some of Brian Alsruhe’s Giant Set stuff. Does anyone ahve his 5/3/1 program?
This way you can get your main lifts out of the way, and then do multiple giant sets whch are basically circuit training.
Find a good full body program, there are lots on T nation.
Keep you diet clean,
get your 3 walks in (add a weight vest if you want to make them more effective) and
3 Train bloody hard 3 days a week and stick to the program as written.
Do this for a solid six months, every week you dont follow these three rules 100% add another week to the six months.
Start a training log in here so we can follow along and help keep you accountable to the rules. This stuff is simple but it isn’t quick and you wont change overnight. Ask yourself how long it took you to add all the weight and get yourself into your current state? Expect it to take a similar amount of time to take you back to awesome.
A couple of things that have worked really well for me. I’m 45, 5’9" 170 lbs and still have a 31" waist and have remained relatively lean and strong for quite some time. Eat real, whole foods. Not triple zero yogurt, coconut milk (if it’s one of those fake milks that’s in the milk aisle), or carb balanced tortillas. Instead: whole milk, full fat greek yogurt with no added flavors, and sprouted grain breads/tortillas.
My typical day:
Breakfast at around 7:30: two handfuls of spinach, frozen blueberries, whole milk, handful of raw almonds, and whey protein all blended up.
Pre/post workout about 10:30: banana or peanut butter sandwich, some leftover smoothie from above.
Lunch about 12:30: Tuna sandwich, as many pistachios as fit in a baggie, an apple.
Snack: Maybe some nuts or fruit as needed.
Dinner: about 6 tonight it will be pasta with ground beef, broccoli or other veggie. Whatever my wife makes, which typically has some meat, some carbs, and some veggies.
Post-dinner: 1-2 beers or glasses of wine most nights.
Total calories: who knows? I don’t like counting macros or calories, nor am I interested in being obsessed with measuring foods. Unless you want to compete in a physique competition, I don’t see the need and in fact I think it creates weird obsessions with many people.
Well, glad to hear about the No to circuit training. I like the heavy weights and semi low to medium number reps. I totally get the deal with whole, real foods. I have learned to stay away from pasta from my keto days. I like spaghetti squash a lot. Thanks for all of the help. I am going to give this stuff a few weeks to months and see what happens.