Hey all - New here - Tips/advice much appreciated

[AdrianVall]

Hey guys,

As stated in the title, I'm new here, and new to working out. Here's a little backround information on me.

I'm 5' 8" and my start weight was 266 lbs. I'm down to about 262 lbs. at the moment. I got a gym membership at 24 hour fitness for christmas, and have been going 5:30 AM every morning this week before week, and was doing some cardio work last week, either in the morning or at night. But from here on out, I will be going at 5:30 every morning.

Anyway, my workout schedule is:

Monday - Shoulders & Cardio
Tuesday - Back, Biceps & Cardio
Wednesday & Friday - Core (abs, obliques and lower back) & Cardio
Thursday - Chest, Triceps & Cardio

I do 20 minutes of either the elliptical machine, treadmill, or bike for cardio workouts at the end of weight training.

What I usually eat through the day is as follows:

Before work out excercises, I eat a banana and stretch.

Morning - 2 cups of cheerios with fat free milk or 2 boiled eggs.
Snack - Banana
Lunch - Lean cuisine or healthy choice meal
Snack - Apple with a few rice cakes
Before dinner snack - Broccoli and yogurt ranch dressing
Dinner - 8-10 oz. of Chicken breast/Tilapia/Lean Ground Beef with 2 oz. of noodles, or yellow rice, ect ect..

Also, I only drink water.

Any other tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Does that sound like a reasonable schedule? I'm used to eating a LOT of food at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.. so this whole eating smaller meals throughout the day is very tough, but I think I'm doing very well with it. Am I on track with losing weight?

Thanks for the help!

Cheers,
Adrian

[JimmyChew]

First off, welcome! Glad to see you making the commitment to change not only your eating habits, but to dedicated time to the gym. That's great.

As far as your workout schedule goes: if that seems to work for you, and your body seems to recover properly (and you get enough rest) doing this--I would stick right to it. You need to listen to your body. It takes a while, and don't feel bad at all if you need to switch around what days you do which routine.

The diet looks good to me, honestly. Doing the HIIT/Cardio after weights is the proper choice, and as long as you are hitting the iron with solid intensity (and stretching) you should see great gains over the next 6 months. VERY great gains.

Are you supplementing a protein powder into your regimen at all? I'd consider a small protein shake with water before working out, then get the banana and maybe another shake after working out. This allows you to hit the gym at 0530 with essentially nothing in your system, which will really kick up that fat loss. The "fast" carbs from the banana will replenish your muscles right after the workout, and the protein will sustain them over the next few hours to begin recovery.

Let me know how it goes, I'm subbed to this thread!
Cheers!

[AdrianVall]

First off, welcome! Glad to see you making the commitment to change not only your eating habits, but to dedicated time to the gym. That's great.

As far as your workout schedule goes: if that seems to work for you, and your body seems to recover properly (and you get enough rest) doing this--I would stick right to it. You need to listen to your body. It takes a while, and don't feel bad at all if you need to switch around what days you do which routine.

The diet looks good to me, honestly. Doing the HIIT/Cardio after weights is the proper choice, and as long as you are hitting the iron with solid intensity (and stretching) you should see great gains over the next 6 months. VERY great gains.

Are you supplementing a protein powder into your regimen at all? I'd consider a small protein shake with water before working out, then get the banana and maybe another shake after working out. This allows you to hit the gym at 0530 with essentially nothing in your system, which will really kick up that fat loss. The "fast" carbs from the banana will replenish your muscles right after the workout, and the protein will sustain them over the next few hours to begin recovery.

Let me know how it goes, I'm subbed to this thread!
Cheers!

First off, let me just give you a HUGE thanks for responding to my thread. Really appreciate it.

As far as protein shakes go.. I was eating protein bars, but was told to stop eating them since I can actually gain weight from them? How true is that? And what type of protein shakes would you reccomend? How many grams of protein per serving? What should the ingredients look like as far as sugar, fat, and all that jazz? Drinking a shake before working sounds like a good option. I would rather do that then eat, since I'm never hungry as soon as I wake up.

I'm glad the diet looks good as well.. I was afraid that I wasn't doing all that great with eating right.

My body is a bit sore, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I'm handling it quite well, and kinda feels good!

[JimmyChew]

My body is a bit sore, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I'm handling it quite well, and kinda feels good!

^ That's great!

In reference to your thank you for responding: no doubt! That's what we do here.

The protein bars vs. shakes issue...where to start? lol. Basically, the bars tend to have more fat and carbs (sugar especially), as they need to bind together--and actually taste half decent, and be something that people can chew up. I avoid them, or have one every so often as an emergency snack or reward.

Shakes are my pick, but this is mostly opinion/experience based. Shakes like Muscle Milk will have a bit higher fat and calorie content--but they are MCT (medium chain triglycerides) which I won't bother explaining, as it's very wordy--and you can read all about it on the back of a jug of MM or on their web site. Essentially, they are "ok" fats that will burn up as energy rather than be stored. I like the flavours a ton as well (strawberry in particular, as I've had entire too much "chocolate" shakes over the years).

As far as amounts go, there's plenty of different "schools of thought" for lack of a better term. 20 grams before a workout and 30-40 grams (of protein) after your workout has always been my choice; however, if you can go without eating or having a shake before your morning workouts I think you may find some killer fat burning results. Don't be afraid to try it for a few weeks if you can. Just gotta find what works for you body, and listen to your body. If you're too weak to get a good pump in the morning, have a shake. If you can go without, give it a shot!

Cheers!

[AdrianVall]

^ That's great!

In reference to your thank you for responding: no doubt! That's what we do here.

The protein bars vs. shakes issue...where to start? lol. Basically, the bars tend to have more fat and carbs (sugar especially), as they need to bind together--and actually taste half decent, and be something that people can chew up. I avoid them, or have one every so often as an emergency snack or reward.

Shakes are my pick, but this is mostly opinion/experience based. Shakes like Muscle Milk will have a bit higher fat and calorie content--but they are MCT (medium chain triglycerides) which I won't bother explaining, as it's very wordy--and you can read all about it on the back of a jug of MM or on their web site. Essentially, they are "ok" fats that will burn up as energy rather than be stored. I like the flavours a ton as well (strawberry in particular, as I've had entire too much "chocolate" shakes over the years).

As far as amounts go, there's plenty of different "schools of thought" for lack of a better term. 20 grams before a workout and 30-40 grams (of protein) after your workout has always been my choice; however, if you can go without eating or having a shake before your morning workouts I think you may find some killer fat burning results. Don't be afraid to try it for a few weeks if you can. Just gotta find what works for you body, and listen to your body. If you're too weak to get a good pump in the morning, have a shake. If you can go without, give it a shot!

Cheers!

Interesting. So you would reccomend the "Muscle Milk" brand of shakes then? I believe my Costco carries them, so it would be easy to buy a whole bunch.

Also, it was to my understanding that you should always put something in your system before doing any weight training? Is that true?

I'll do some reading about that MCT stuff as well. Thanks.

[JimmyChew]

If you're powerlifting, looking for strength/mass gains and not directly focused on being lean or cutting weight--you'd want something in your system (slow digesting proteins most likely). But in you case, with attempting to get peeled--I'd hit the gym on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, so your body goes from catabolic state (while sleeping) directly firing up that metabolism in the mornin! That's just my opinion, it's what I did all through college--and I liked the results.

[AdrianVall]

12/26/10 - 266 lbs.

1/14/11 - 257 lbs.

Not to shabby I'd say, right?

[AdrianVall]

Oh, and by the way..

Thanks for the help Jimmychew. There have been 107 views on this thread thus far, and you've been the only one to reply. Appreciate it.

[JimmyChew]

Oh, and by the way..

Thanks for the help Jimmychew. There have been 107 views on this thread thus far, and you've been the only one to reply. Appreciate it.

No problem! I know what it's like to have the desire, but lack just that extra bit of "know-how" and it's always nice to get a little reincouragement, or advice. That's the whole point of these forums, without people helping each other, we'd all be on our own--no one wants that!

Repped

[AdrianVall]

12/26/10 - 266 lbs.

1/14/11 - 257 lbs.

1/21/11 - 252 lbs.

I've lost 14 lbs! WOO HOO!

[Alexxxey]

You don't have any fats in your diet... and imo thats not good... healthy fat sources can be: mct/flaxseed/olive/fish oil, walnuts/almonds, lecithine, cla...

Before workout a protein shake can come in handy... as JimmyChew said. You need some amino acids in your system while lifting. And leave the stretching for after training... as a warm-up do some dynamic stretch. Post workout, simple carbs(20-30g) and protein (you don't need more than 30g). For extreme fat loss use only protein with some almonds. Before/during/after training you can have also supplements like BCAA's/Glutamine/Creatine... they will help with recovery, strength, energy...

The workout seems fine... but in your case I would recommend a full-body split(3 times a week with compound movements like squating/deadlifts/bench press/rows/chin's/pull-ups/dips) and cardio in the off days also when possible.

Also... the main supplement you should consider is a multivitamin. It will help a lot on the long run...

Best wishes!