Losing my gut?

[JB1Million]

Hello everybody, as you can see this my first post, but I am not new to exercise. I was very in shape until I was about 24(I'm currently 27) and I got into a 4 year relationship and got lazy and put on about 40lbs. In August of 2010 I decided that I was tired of being lazy and started eating right and working out again. I started running again, slow and not far at first. Usually 1 mile at about 3mph, three times a week. Since then I have progressed to about 3 or 4 miles in 30-45 minutes every day. I also started doing light crunches. About 50, three times a week. I have since progressed to about 150-200 a day. I also do some light lifting and pushups just to try to have a balanced workout. I workout 6 days a week. I have lost 35lbs so far and have noticed a difference in my arms, chest, shoulders and my upper stomach, but no matter what I do, I just can't seem to shake that small gut I have left and bits of love handles. I am 6'5 and before I started working out again I was about 240lbs and am now around 205lbs. I do not drink any soda, haven't in a year next month. I rarely eat sweets anymore. I eat Special K and a banana for breakfast. Random fruit throughout the day, a chicken salad or Special K for lunch, depending on what I feel like taking to work, and a full dinner. Not fast food mind you. Steak, chicken, pork, seafood, potatos, veggies. That kind of thing. I honestly don't know what to do. I am very happy with my increase in energy, being able to go out and play sports again without feeling like I'm going to die, and I'm happy with the way most of my body is changing back to the way it used to look, but I guess something in my body changed between 24 and 27 that is making it harder for me to look the way I want to look. Does anybody have any advice on that pesky gut and love handle area that I'm overlooking? Thanks for the long read and any feedback!

[agreutman]

Hello everybody, as you can see this my first post, but I am not new to exercise. I was very in shape until I was about 24(I'm currently 27) and I got into a 4 year relationship and got lazy and put on about 40lbs. In August of 2010 I decided that I was tired of being lazy and started eating right and working out again. I started running again, slow and not far at first. Usually 1 mile at about 3mph, three times a week. Since then I have progressed to about 3 or 4 miles in 30-45 minutes every day. I also started doing light crunches. About 50, three times a week. I have since progressed to about 150-200 a day. I also do some light lifting and pushups just to try to have a balanced workout. I workout 6 days a week. I have lost 35lbs so far and have noticed a difference in my arms, chest, shoulders and my upper stomach, but no matter what I do, I just can't seem to shake that small gut I have left and bits of love handles. I am 6'5 and before I started working out again I was about 240lbs and am now around 205lbs. I do not drink any soda, haven't in a year next month. I rarely eat sweets anymore. I eat Special K and a banana for breakfast. Random fruit throughout the day, a chicken salad or Special K for lunch, depending on what I feel like taking to work, and a full dinner. Not fast food mind you. Steak, chicken, pork, seafood, potatos, veggies. That kind of thing. I honestly don't know what to do. I am very happy with my increase in energy, being able to go out and play sports again without feeling like I'm going to die, and I'm happy with the way most of my body is changing back to the way it used to look, but I guess something in my body changed between 24 and 27 that is making it harder for me to look the way I want to look. Does anybody have any advice on that pesky gut and love handle area that I'm overlooking? Thanks for the long read and any feedback!

Start tracking your intake, despite the fact that you are eating good foods, your caloric intake may be more than you thought.

[sahdow]

I spent 10 years in an office chair and gained 50 #'s. But to be honest the beer didn't help with the absence of exercising..

So based on what you said:

a) Kill the alcohol consumption if you haven't
b) Reduce fat intake
c) When doing cardio limit heart rate to 65% max, or you will be building stamina, not burning fat..

I know there are a lot more factors, but those are the ones I'm working on..

[JB1Million]

I've cut back a lot on the beer.

So, should I be more worried about running to burn fat or lifting?

[sahdow]

As you get older, you can't skimp on the cardio. When I was 26 I never did cardio, just a couple minutes on the treadmill to warm up (averaged around 4,500 - 5,600 cals. per day - was trying to gain back then)..

Now I can't loose weight without cardio (when I started lifting at 26 I weighed #115 - six months later #165).

But when you are on the reverse trying to loose weight - If you just do lifting, you will build muscle and keep the fat. My current routine (which seems to be working so far) is to warm up for 10 minutes, lift to failure, then wrap up with 40 - 50 minutes of low intensity cardio (I'm 40 now, so I try to keep the heart rate around 117 -125) to burn fat (most Gym machines will have a generic chart for age).

And yes watch the diet and intake.. Cut the fats, limit to one beer as a reward per week maximum (has to do with alcohol and insulin), and cut the simple carbs, but replace with complex carbs (otherwise you might get moody).

[JimmyChew]

...and cut the simple carbs, but replace with complex carbs (otherwise you might get moody).

WILL get moody! Spoken from experience.

For me, weight training first (cardio immediately after) was the best way to trim up. Also, your sugar/fat intake is the first thing that I see that may be slowing your progress.

The special K (sans banana) is an ok start to the day--but bear in mind: you're taking a cereal that has (IIRC) 6g carbs per serving, then adding milk to it (fat + more carbs). I'd skim up that milk, be sure you're only taking down 1 serving of the special K, and skip the banana. Take a multi-V to replace the nutrients lost by skipping the fruit.

Skip the beers, as mention. Or at least limit them to some of the ultra light beers. The fewer empty calories you take in, the better (obv).

I'm going to say something hypocritical, and say that you may want to skip the potatoes. Being a Mainer, I'm very much a "meat n potatoes" kinda eater--so I say that, but it's hard for me to do as well. Timing your carbs counts, if you must eat them--it's truly best before 6pm. After 6pm, nothing but clean veggies (no starch/carbs)--or a protein shake (with water).

Cheers!

[JB1Million]

Thanks guys! I'll change it up and see what happens.

[feint80]

I just turned 30 and I once weighed in at 271 LB, got down to 190 and currently at 214.....as someone mentioned, lifting will not cut it..... my suggestions as an endomorph are:

1. track calories
2. try full body workouts AS IF youre doing cardio with minimal rest between sets
3. slow state cardio with music or watching something on the screen
4. have ONE day, ONE meal, ONE hour to where you go in a comma with no rules as a reward

you have the priciples down to a T, its just a matter of experimenting I think

[JimmyChew]

I just turned 30 and I once weighed in at 271 LB, got down to 190 and currently at 214.....as someone mentioned, lifting will not cut it..... my suggestions as an endomorph are:

1. track calories
2. try full body workouts AS IF youre doing cardio with minimal rest between sets
3. slow state cardio with music or watching something on the screen
4. have ONE day, ONE meal, ONE hour to where you go in a comma with no rules as a reward

you have the priciples down to a T, its just a matter of experimenting I think

Very good advice! Repped

[Nemdog]

I'm also new to the site, but not new to fitness. The best diet I ever did was a fat free high fiber diet. I used this diet when I was doing triathlon type training, but it gave me the appropriate energy throughout the day and kept the metabolism going. Within 30 minutes of waking eat a bowl of shreaded wheat cereal with skim milk. When I say shreaded wheat I don't mean anything with sugar. You can add a bananna, as it was said earlier it can be cut but banannas are great sources for potassium which is crucial for someone who does alot of cardio. Every 2-3 hours for the rest of the day eat a small meal high in fiber low in fat. Do things like fish and chicken of course for your meats. Stop eating approximately 2 hours before you go to sleep. Your last meal should be something like a whole wheat bagel with fat free cream cheese or plain. With this diet you'll have about 3 bowel movements a day but your metabolism will get trained to process food faster instead of storing it. Also as mentioned before the "sprint" type cardio will work the fat off the fastest.
Best of luck