new to all this - help - diet - etc

[loufran]

Hi,
New to all this, so patience.
I'm 38, and 78 kilos should be between 58 and 60 can't work out this fat radio thing. Went to the gym to sign up, which i did for a week, the trainer told me to loose the weight over a period of 12 weeks and then i could build up the muscule, but lacking on a bit of motivation. I run every other day. Any help, ideas for a beginner. Found this site looking for inspiration. Thanks

[Eileen]

Hi, welcome to the board.

First, there are no time limits on losing fat. Take as long as you need to do the job right. Dropping a lot of weight quickly (presumably by cutting calories very severely) will just result in losing lots of muscle as well as fat, which will make it harder to keep the weight off.

Concentrate on getting a good balance of diet, lifting and cardio. While cardio is essential for your heart and will burn calories, don't go overboard on it either.

Eat plenty of clean fresh food and make sure you are getting enough protein and fat. If you are inclined to put on weight around your waist, you may have the start of insulin problems, so a lower carb diet will be more effective for you.

Join a gym and learn the big compound lifts like squat, bench press, deadlift, stiff leg deadlift, pull-ups, dips etc. Lift as heavy as you can manage for 8-12 reps, then get out of the gym. A good high intensity session will be far more effective than hours of high reps with pink dumbells.

Go by the tape measure as much as the scales. You want to gain muscle as well as lose fat. Take regular photos of yourself. And hang in there, you can do it.