Yesterday I started another one of my weight-loss adventures – hopefully I will stick with it this time. Just a brief history – I am 24 years old and weight about 250 pounds. I have been a member of a local gym near me (LifeTime Fitness) for the last year and really have only gone in spurts. I work strange hours, sometimes very long days and also travel a lot for work. My last time going to the gym was around 6 months ago where I dropped down to 232 pounds, only to gain it back because I was on the road a lot, and frankly… to damn lazy to go to the gym. Thankfully I came across this site this morning – I have to say I am reading stuff I would of never known. This past weekend I went out and bought a dumbbell set and one of those huge inflatable balls to work with at home.

My basic schedule is like this:


6:30am
Stretch with Ball and do 50 sit ups
6:45am
Dumbbell curls – 15 reps each arm – 2 sets & chest press – 2 sets
8:00am
Eat Granola Bar (Nature Valley Honey & Oats) or 1 English muffin w/ jelly
12:00pm
Eat Lunch: Some days a Salad, Tuna Sub, Turkey Sandwich, chips and water etc..
5:00pm
25mins on treadmill walking fast pace
25mins on elliptical, bike or stairs
30mins of weigh lifting – Mainly back/chest & arms
7:30pm
Dinner: Chicken with veggie & salad etc.. always cook something

My plan is to go to the gyn 5 days a week, leave Saturday open for any activites ( I like to swim) and sunday is a day off.


Now, I drink a ton of water, in fact the only thing I do drink is water. I do not like Soda and milk has too much fat in it. (Though I love it) I drink about 100oz of water a day.

My question does this sound like a promising plan and/or where can I improve my daily routine to enhance my weight loss. I also take a diet supplement, 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon that boost my metabolism during the day at work when I am not as active.

You need food.

I suspect after 4 days, you'll be forced to almost have to give up.

You cannot function on that dietary outline, it's not going to yield fat loss nor any lean mass preservation.

As well, working out the same bodyparts twice in one day is a horrid idea, even WITH the right dietary plan of attack.

Do a search here, read the forums, etc. You can improve a TON.

Good luck.

~SC~

Too much excersize and not enough food.

If thats your plan, no wonder you dont stick to it ! I couldnt do that for a week, never mind long term.

Reduce your training and up your food. Read around a bit more and then come back to us for fine tuning. Everyones happy to help ! :)

Good luck !!! :gl:

Thanks for the info. This is why I am asking becuase I do not want to start the wrong way again and most-likely fail.

I've been reading a lot of good posts and adjusting my schdule & plan to include more food and whatnot.


Thanks!! :tu:

Post up your new plan of attack here once you get something together.

You'll want to seriously change it up!

~SC~

Sorry for the delay - I have been out of town

I've been doing a lot of testing lately to see what will work for my lifestyle and me. I am going to stick to my original plan, though - beef it up in areas like meals and reduce my workout. I can push to 4 meals a day (sometimes 5) but I do not have a lot of "my time" during the business day. I am very busy at work - always on the go. Sometimes (like last week) traveling at a moments notice. I also have one other barrier that I need to overcome. I eat out a lot - mostly lunch and dinner with clients for work. It doesn't happen everyday, but enough where it’s hard to keep consistence in what I eat.

I have talked in great length to one of the trainers at the gym I go to LifeTime Fitness (http://www.lifetimefitness.com) and he suggested I start eating this (http://shop.lifetimefitness.com/items/item_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=264) as a on the go meal. They are pretty good, quick and easy. I'm considering hiring one for a weekly "check up" sorta thing - to provide me advice and make sure I am doing everything correctly.


This is the basic schedule

6:30am
Stretch with Ball, 50 jumping jacks and/or sit ups - something to get the day started
7:45am
2 Granola Bars (Nature Valley Honey & Oats) or 1 English muffin w/ jelly or Leansource Shake
11:30pm
Eat Lunch: Some days a Salad, Tuna Sub, Turkey Sandwich, or Shake
3:30pm
Leansourse Bar (http://shop.lifetimefitness.com/items/item_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=268)

5:00pm
Mon:
30mins - elliptical
20mins - stepper
Tues:
15mins - Elliptical
40mins - weights
Wed:
30mins - bike
20mins - stepper
Thur:
15mins - treadmill
40mins - weights
Fri:
30mins - elliptical
20mins - stepper
Sat: Outdoor activity
Sun: Off

6:30pm
Dinner: Grilled Chicken with veggie & salad etc.. or anything on the grill. Fish etc.. with a shake.

In the evening if I a hungry I munch on popcorn, but not often.

With the above I've noticed I'm never really hungry. I think this best fits ME, even though it may not be the optimal plan. I do struggle with traveling, which is probably the worst thing anyone can do while trying to keep on track. I limit my selections of places to eat, like Subway instead of other fast food joints. I also try and use the hotel pool or exercise room daily if one is available.

Here is the LifeTime Fitness shop (http://shop.lifetimefitness.com/) page, any recommendations on anything else I try? I also would highly recommend LifeTime Fitness as the gym to go to if you have one in your area. I am amazed at the amount of support, quality facilities and over-all feel of the place.

There is only one thing i can say. You need to eat way more then that. Im not splitting heirs or saying you need to eat more for optimum results. You need to eat more just to make your plan healthy. Its not an option, its a must. Otherwise i only foresee problems.

At my guess your eating 900-1000 calories a day?

Too low, unless your taking appitite suppress stuff, you should be hungry alot.

Your body won't want to drop fat at that low calorie intake. If anything you'll lose more muscle than fat by alot. More calories won't make losing fat harder, it'll make it easier, and if you up your calories, you'll most likely maintain more mass.This will help you look more leaner so you don't have to keep dropping wait to get the way you want.

Have a good one!

Heh, live and learn I guess - as I woke up this morning I was so tired I slammed the snooze button and went back to bed.

At first I was just going by Time & Meals and not crunching numbers. But yesterday and today I kept track of what I was eating and did find out I was getting to few calories. I was near 900-1000 a day which is way low. I did my BMR calcs per the Nutrition guide by marcus and came up with the following:

66 + (913.37) + (876.30) - (163.20) = 1692.47 x 1.375 = 2327.14

3500cal - 1lb of fat: I figure 1-2 pounds per week is nice and easy (and safe)

2327.14 - 1000 = 1327.14

To even it up I bumped my daily intake to 1500cal which gives me room to play with.

So with a 1500cal/4 meals = 375 cal per meal.

And I do take a supplement by Learnsource click here for details (http://shop.lifetimefitness.com/items/item_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=224) which is really nice. I don't get that buzzy feel like most brands I have tried. I have also ordered a few whey products from learnsource (shakes/bars etc).

Let me know if I am completly off here, all advice has been really helpful. I am definitly going to be eating more and keeping better track.

at most you should only cut 500 cals... 1000 is too steep. Instead cut 500 and burn 500.

Edit: I removed my old post, here are the nutrional numbers you should follow:

247 lbs * 11 * 1.3 = 3532 cals/day to maintain
3532 - 1000 = 2532 cals/day to lose fat @ 2 lbs per week (this needs to be recalculated as you lose weight and boost metabolism)

2,532 cals / 5 = 500 cals per meal. That's pretty small.
Break it up 30% protein, 30% fat, 40% carb
That's roughly 190 g protein, 85 g fat, and 253 g carb per day.

Make sure the carbs are complex/low-gi, the fat is good fats (monos and polys), and the protein is from lean meats. Eat 5 or 6 times per day. We all have learned to fit it in wherever possible using creative means if necessary.

Got it?

2,532 calories per day broken down as
* 190 g protein
* 85 g fat
* 253 g carb

You will lose fat, build muscle, and have a ton more energy.

I agree, even I eat more than you do and I'm female and half your size! :) Plus, I'd cut out the granola bars - way high in sugar.

Edit: I removed my old post, here are the nutrional numbers you should follow:

247 lbs * 11 * 1.3 = 3532 cals/day to maintain
3532 - 1000 = 2532 cals/day to lose fat @ 2 lbs per week (this needs to be recalculated as you lose weight and boost metabolism)

2,532 cals / 5 = 500 cals per meal. That's pretty small.
Break it up 30% protein, 30% fat, 40% carb
That's roughly 190 g protein, 85 g fat, and 253 g carb per day.

Make sure the carbs are complex/low-gi, the fat is good fats (monos and polys), and the protein is from lean meats. Eat 5 or 6 times per day. We all have learned to fit it in wherever possible using creative means if necessary.

Got it?

2,532 calories per day broken down as
* 190 g protein
* 85 g fat
* 253 g carb

You will lose fat, build muscle, and have a ton more energy.


Thank you very much! Not sure how I was so off, but thankfully this place is so helpfull ;)

:tu: