Well call me a new years revolutionary

[dervydude]

Lots of questions for you, but first some background:

Stats:
I'm 16, 5ft 11", 36" waist 219 lbs, BMI 30.6 (ridiculous, I know). I should be at the prime right now, but I'm not, and it sucks ass.

Weight Gain:
I gained the weight on a trip that I took to England/Spain in 2005. Too much of Grandma's cooking combined with a lot of eating out was not good for my body. I gained a ton of weight during my 2 week trip, and when I came home, my parents commented that I was noticeably heavier.

Weight Loss:
I started going to the Y in 2006, doing next to nothing on weights and a ton of cardio (elliptical machine). I had my weight come down to 189. I took a hiatius because of a busy summer, and the weight came back, and then some.

Goals:
I want to lose about 40 lbs. I know it's an ambitous goal, but I looked up what the ideal body weight for me should be, and it's anywhere from 157-177 with my size frame. When I went to the doctor for a checkup, his advice basically was the same. I'm not so much wanting to bulk up right now, but I will in the future. Some of the areas where I want to lose body fat include the upper legs, gluteous maximus, stomach, and chest. I wouldn't mind toning my calfs as well. I also have some strech marks on the side of my stomach, but I'm not sure if they are the result of weight gain or the result of steriods I took while in England (I had a pretty bad allergic reaction on my left arm, and had to go to the hospital; I was prescribed an antihistamine and some steroids), and I would like to minimize them. They seem to have good days and bad days; sometimes they are very obvious and colored, other times they blend in with my normal skin color.

Diet:
Abysmal. That's how I would describe it. For example, today I had:

Cup of tea (british), and a bagel w/ cream cheese for breakfast.(8am) (300 calories)
Egg McMuffin later in the morning (10am) (380 calories)
Pretzel w/ Cheese, and 20oz Mtn. Dew (400+300=700 calories
Chocolate Chip Cookie (260 calories)
1/4 lb Cheese Burger, another 20oz Mtn. Dew (530+300=830)
Total: 2500 calories (rounded)

And I'm sure I'm going to have something before I go to bed too, as I am always hungry for some reason. As you can tell, I'm not exactly overloading on calories, but what I do eat is pretty crappy. I'm not a lover of most green veg, but i'll eat carrots and peas, beans, etc. Just not brocceli, spinach (blech), etc. I should probably lower my soda intake, as I'm getting basically 600 empty calories from it. For some reason, I also get nasty heartburn on occasion, causing me to wake up at night, in pain. This happens about 1-3x per month, and I take some tums and it goes away.

Current Exercise:
Racketball, Elliptical, Walking.


Questions:
Is 40 lbs too big of a goal for me?
What kind of time frame should I be looking at?
Should I incorporate more weights, or concentrate on loosing fat and then bulking up?
How often should I go to the gym? I usually go about 3x per week, M/W/F for an hour.
I have a weight bench at home, going to start using it again, but how much should I be doing?
I read about some supplements, and I have gathered that I shouldn't be worrying about that right now...is this true, if not, what should I be using?

Inspiration:
This would be it: http://www.johnstonefitness.com/php/...ohn_wl_4_f.jpg

Thanks for reading this far, and any advice or reccomendations would be great.

[mraustin0v]

1) 40lbs is a good goal.
2) About 5 - 6 months considering you lose a steady 2lbs per week.
3) Hit the weights and do cardio. Weight lifting will help build lean body mass promoting an increase in metabolism overall effecting total fat burn.
4) You should start out doing a full body routine such as Rippetoes Starting Strength 3 times a week while doing light-medium cardio 4 times a week.
5) I really recommend you find a gym. If not what kind of equipment do you have at home?
6) You shouldn't be worrying about any supplements right now besides a multi-vitamin.

You should also really Really REALLY work on your diet man. Cut the crap... IE: junk food, fast food, fried foods, and soda. Getting a solid diet in order in a HUGE majority of actually fat loss and muscle building.

[Hunter B]

Originally Posted by dervydude

Questions:
Is 40 lbs too big of a goal for me?
What kind of time frame should I be looking at?
Should I incorporate more weights, or concentrate on loosing fat and then bulking up?
How often should I go to the gym? I usually go about 3x per week, M/W/F for an hour.
I have a weight bench at home, going to start using it again, but how much should I be doing?
I read about some supplements, and I have gathered that I shouldn't be worrying about that right now...is this true, if not, what should I be using?

1. Nothing is too big of a goal if you are willing to devote the time to it.
2. After the first couple weeks you should not lose more than 2lb/week, and that's pushing it. I would try to lose a pound a week.
3. You only need to lift weights while on a weight lose diet if you want to preserve your muscle and actually look decent after the weight lose.
4. 3 full body workouts a week will do good for a while. Read the stickies to get some more info on workout routines and such.
5. Weight wise? No one will be able to tell you that but yourself. Experiment. Also make sure you aren't just bench pressing and curling or anything stupid like that.
6. Well you diet is complete garbage so supplements are useless to you until you become devoted enough to change your terrible diet.

[dervydude]

Originally Posted by Hunter B

6. Well you diet is complete garbage so supplements are useless to you until you become devoted enough to change your terrible diet.

Way to be blunt! I know it's bad...I shoud've highlighted that isn't how I always eat, but I would say 50% of the time.

[mraustin0v]

Originally Posted by dervydude

Way to be blunt! I know it's bad...I shoud've highlighted that isn't how I always eat, but I would say 50% of the time.

That's still aweful... that was sortof how I used to eat over a year ago. The first thing I did was stop drinking soda and I litterally dropped a few lbs from that alone.

[dervydude]

Originally Posted by mraustin0v

That's still aweful... that was sortof how I used to eat over a year ago. The first thing I did was stop drinking soda and I litterally dropped a few lbs from that alone.

Yeah I know. I will be cutting back on my soda intake soon. 2 mtn dews is actually normal for me...it is basically all empty calories and sugars i guess...
what can I put in place of it? I hate diet sodas, is Vitamin water any better? It has 200 calories per 20oz bottle.

[Hunter B]

Originally Posted by dervydude

Yeah I know. I will be cutting back on my soda intake soon. 2 mtn dews is actually normal for me...it is basically all empty calories and sugars i guess...
what can I put in place of it? I hate diet sodas, is Vitamin water any better? It has 200 calories per 20oz bottle.

3/4 cup oats has about 200 calories I'm not mistaken. If you have a coffee grinder then grind it and drink it; if not then throw it in the blender. I know it doesn't sound very tasty, and it isn't. Also you could eat a couple cups of fruit for 200 cals. Actually there are many healthy choices that could take the place of soda, be creative.

[mraustin0v]

drink green tea, water, milk, and 100% fruit juice instead. you will eventually grow to love water... I used to be a dewaholic just like you but I broke the habit and I don't miss it... soda makes me sick now.

[dervydude]

Originally Posted by Hunter B

3/4 cup oats has about 200 calories I'm not mistaken. If you have a coffee grinder then grind it and drink it; if not then throw it in the blender. I know it doesn't sound very tasty, and it isn't. Also you could eat a couple cups of fruit for 200 cals. Actually there are many healthy choices that could take the place of soda, be creative.

I'm gonna def. pass on the oats. I do eat some fruit, but not enough. I will def. try increasing the fruit intake.

[teenage_guru]

Diet:
Abysmal. That's how I would describe it. For example, today I had:

Cup of tea (british), and a bagel w/ cream cheese for breakfast.(8am) (300 calories)
Egg McMuffin later in the morning (10am) (380 calories)
Pretzel w/ Cheese, and 20oz Mtn. Dew (400+300=700 calories
Chocolate Chip Cookie (260 calories)
1/4 lb Cheese Burger, another 20oz Mtn. Dew (530+300=830)
Total: 2500 calories (rounded)

Terrible mate. If u wanna lose the pounds, your diet is where it all begins. Before u go eating all the *****y food, think of how this is affecting you.fight the urges. Get on a good diet, and keep the cardio up. And the weight will fall.

[MacDaddy68]

Just clean up ur diet and cut out all the simple carbs(white flour)
Do not drink soda.
Do cardio 3 times a week
Also try Ripptoes starting Strength.
Give it about 6 months following a strict diet and you will feel and look like a different person.
Good Luck

[user178944]

^^^agreed...and 2500 calories too high....stay around the 2000 range if possible and definitly no soda
no fast food
no more bagels...

try eggs/egg whites/cottage cheese

things like that cut as many carbs and sugars as humanly possible

[user178944]

oh and 1 gallon of water EVERY DAY! all the liquid you need...no need for anything other then water...also low calorie protein shakes...like instant whey ones 100 calorie per serving i believe

[CountryLifter]

Originally Posted by mraustin0v

That's still aweful... that was sortof how I used to eat over a year ago. The first thing I did was stop drinking soda and I litterally dropped a few lbs from that alone.

Same here, I stopped drinking cokes about 16 months ago, I would drink one a night and when I finally got off them I lost a lot of weight extremely quickly. I added up what kind of calories I was getting a month due to just cokes. (I threw in a couple extras for when I would go out to lunch and get 2 or 3 in one sitting, this also includes drinks like sweet tea and such) The calories totaled to about 6000 a month. That is a lot of extra junk in your diet, almost 2 pounds of weight a month due to cokes alone. Meaning 24 pounds of extra weight a year! This stuff really catches up on you fast. And this past year has been the most healthy year I have ever experienced and I attribute most of this to the lack of caffiene or Cokes in my diet.

First things first, 40 pounds isnt an unattainable goal, I lost 35 pounds in 3 months. Second thing is if you arent willing to change that awful diet you may as well just get yourself to a hospital because you'll be having a heart attack pretty soon.

Look up other peoples journals and check out what foods they are eating. Your breakfast is a pretty decent one, but instead of tea throw in some milk and orange juice and take off the cream cheese on your bagel. Breakfast is the foundation for a great day.

[danzbo]

Originally Posted by lancepimpdurmom

^^^agreed...and 2500 calories too high....stay around the 2000 range if possible and definitly no soda
no fast food
no more bagels...

try eggs/egg whites/cottage cheese

things like that cut as many carbs and sugars as humanly possible

Some Other Good Foods Are:
Grilled,Steamed, Broiled Chicken Breast
Natural Peanut Butter
Wheat Bread
Grilled/Baked Potatoes
Salad with very little low cal dressing
Brocolli

[mustgethuge]

drink some lowfat milk instead of soda high in protein... read up on dieting like everyone has said. NO DIET SODAS! Fast food is the enemy. dont try and lose over 2lbs a week 2lbs is a healthy limit. Multi's simple workout and cardio i actually just read a study taht said running before you eat breakfast is the best time to lose weight something along the lines of drinka protein shake and walk for 30-45 mins you could jog too and probably do it in like 15-20 but when i start cutting im going to use that time to wake up. just read best thing to do

[Defiant]

A huge part of doing this, is sucking it up, being a man, and give up a lot of the foods you like. If need be, eat it in moderation, like instead of eating a chocolate bar a day, eat a small(very small) peace everyday to soothe your craving. Don't try and cut down on your pop. Do it. Don't try and clean up your diet. Get it done. We eat to live, not live to eat, and if we're eating to live, then don't put garbage in your body anymore.

[TheStuddMuffin]

Current Exercise:
Racketball, Elliptical, Walking.

Try something intense. Jump Roping/Jogging/Sprints are amazing for weight loss.

Questions:
Is 40 lbs too big of a goal for me?

Not at all. Remember this: When attempting a goal the optimum way of achievement is to set goals slowly, one by one, and specifically. For example, losing 40lbs could be a long term goal, but set shorter goals (such as 10lbs by March and so forth), or more specific (body fat percentile).

What kind of time frame should I be looking at?

You're an endomorph, plain and simple. Your structure will be larger than the average person and losing weight should be a bit more difficult (you could an exception). Who knows what you'll look like after shedding 40lbs.

Should I incorporate more weights, or concentrate on loosing fat and then bulking up?

Don't worry about bulking up. Set your mind on your current goal. Weightlifting is very important considering it raises your metabolic rate and grants the greatest calorie burn of almost any exercise (whilst claiming you catabolic, which is why you should perform a cardio or eat afterwards).

How often should I go to the gym? I usually go about 3x per week, M/W/F for an hour.

This is fine.
Monday: Upperbody, Wednesday: Lower Body, and Friday: Upperbody

I have a weight bench at home, going to start using it again, but how much should I be doing?

With a gym membership I wouldn't think about spending time at home for the bench press. You should atleast be able to bench 225 at your weight (which is unlikely but understandable).

I read about some supplements, and I have gathered that I shouldn't be worrying about that right now...is this true, if not, what should I be using?

Protein, protein, protein. Nothing is as important when cutting weight. You could also try a weight loss/energy product if you wish (hydroxycut is an example).

Inspiration:
This would be it: http://www.johnstonefitness.com/php/...ohn_wl_4_f.jpg

Be patient and don't stress yourself out. Anything is possible

Thanks for reading this far, and any advice or reccomendations would be great.

If you want more info you can PM me

[dervydude]

Thanks for your advice.

I've tried to figure this out on google, but all I can find is information about whinny emo kids....what the heck is cutting??

[TheStuddMuffin]

Originally Posted by dervydude

Thanks for your advice.

I've tried to figure this out on google, but all I can find is information about whinny emo kids....what the heck is cutting??

Cutting means cutting fat/shredding fat = losing fat.

Simple concept.

[Big_fuzzy]

Bill Starr 5x5

Less then 2000 cals a day.

C/P/F=20/60/20

look up HIIT.

begin doing HIIT sprinting routine 3 times a week on your off day weight training.

Devote Sunday to absoloute laziness!

Dont go by weight loss. YOur body will be recomposing, burning fat and adding muscle. so weight might be inaccuarate.

go by one thing...

the mirror.