Hi there,

I finally want to start as well. So here is my story.

Background:
I have been very active, lots of sports (Squash 6 hours a week) lots of water-ski, handball etc… at least 3-4 hours of sports a day, I have never done weight lifting. Then I got out of university, into work, got married, got kids, got fat… Especially 2 years ago when I stopped smoking I took 22 pounds in about 6 months.

I have several times tried to workout but always gave up. Like a lot others here I was pretending too much work, family life, you know the story.
I have also found out that I have artrose, so I cannot do sports like squash, tennis etc… anymore. For the last 6 months the only real exercise has been some heavy working in the house such as placing 150m² tiles, placing fence around the house etc… Otherwise the only real other exercise is a 2 hours skating session on Saturday or Sunday afternoon. I have never taken HR but I am really sweating and I keep pushing myself. (around 70%-80% of maximum capacity).
And walking the dog for 30 minutes every evening (rather fast walking)

My details:
Height 172 cm 5.64 Feet
Weight 80 Kg 176.37 Pounds
Age 31
Married
1 kid
According to the test on BB.com I am an Endomorph, I have also a very large skeleton (e.g. at the shoulders). (see attached pictures below)
http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4452&stc=1
http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4451&stc=1
http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4450&stc=1

Objective:
My primary objective is to become fit and active, get some energy back into the body. Today I sleep 8 hours a day and still have difficulties getting up in the morning, nearly fall asleep in the afternoon; also I am really missing some energy etc…
My secondary objective is to cut off fat, especially the “love handles” and the belly, then the legs.
The initial goal is to loose 10 kg (22 pounds) of fat, (4-6 months, this makes 1 pound per week) then I will start working/concentrating on muscle gain. My target that I would like to move towards is something like:
http://celebritiespictures.supereva.it/Nicolas%20Cage/002.jpg

I want to devote quite some time to it, let's say 5 days cardio in the morning and 3 x workout in the Evening. Also some not so drastic but reasonable diet.

Progress:
Well, Well,……….. Well, hmmmm, how was it about those excuses….:-)
OK, I am really fed up with my body. I really need to do something. My problem till now has been that I have gone from one extreme to the other, this ended up in yo-yo dieting and has never lasted for more than 1 month. Especially Weight watchers etc…
The only positive thing is that I have been able not to add any additional weight over the past year although I believe that I have lost some muscle mass and added fat instead.

I have started documenting myself a lot, reading and reading. I have bought “The 90 day fitness plan” from Matt Roberts. It has a lot of good info on diet and workouts for beginners. Most of what he says corresponds to what I am reading on this web site.

I have already started working on my diet plan, I stopped eating in between meals, I have foreseen snacks (Apple, cereal bar), I replaced pasta with vegetables 1 out of 2, I am trying to replace red meat with chicken and turkey breast. I have the advantage of having a lava grill in my kitchen so I only grill meat and for my vegetables I have a vapor cooking machine. I also force myself to drink more water, each time I walk by the fridge or the water distributor I grab a cup of cold water to drink, this sums up to 6 – 8 plastic cups a day.

The Plan:
Diet:
Everybody says this is the most important, however this is the one I have the most problems with getting under control. I have read about the calculations of the calorie consumption etc… That I should use 40 40 20, This is where I got lost. I followed some diets and I found it difficult to keep track of calories, leave alone protein, carb and fat levels. This is what I liked about weight watchers, I bought the book of some recipes, found out the number of points I could eat and even that was sometimes difficult to keep track off, especially if you have to cook for the complete family for dinner and need to change the dinner every evening all this under time constraints. My major concern is alcohol, I drink about a glass or two of whisky with diet coke every evening, sometimes more, this definitely has to stop, I planned on allowing 1 or 2 glasses for Saturdays and Sundays to start with. It has really become a bad habit to drink some alcohol to relax from the daily stress at work. Hopefully very soon the workout will do this instead of alcohol.

Another question I have is about cardio, the best is to work out in the morning before breakfast, but what should you take as a breakfast when doing cardio, anything special to improve the fat burn?

I will use a calorie deficit of 500 a day to start with, this means I should loose 1 pound a week.
My BMR is 1810 this means that I need 2172 calories if I don’t workout and 2715 calories if I workout. Reducing this by 500 a day makes 2215. Considering I don’t work out today and that I haven’t taken any weight I assume my current calorie intake corresponds more or less to 2680 calories, therefore I could keep it that way or eat even a little more and simply work on matching the 40 40 20 ratio as well as increasing the meals from 4 a day to 6, so when I start to work-out I'll have a deficit of 500-700 calories.

Supplements:
Do you guys really believe that in the beginning the supplements are necessary? Or should I do without and add supplements when I start to see some stagnation. I take multivitamin though.

Workout
I will follow the plan of Matt Roberts, it looks good to me and I will make adjustments as I read through this web site.
He speaks a lot about basal metabolic rate. According to Matt you need to get your Basic Metabolic Rate (what your body needs as a minimum) as high as possible, in order to do this he suggests to workout the biggest muscles first e.g; quads, etc… The more you develop those major muscles the higher your BMR gets, therefore the more calories you require to survive for the day, therefore if your body burns more energy even when not working out (this creates snowball effects…)
Rm = repetition maximums => you do always the same amount of repetitions but you need to make sure you use sufficient weight so the last 2-3 reps are really difficult. The second phase will use PHA (peripheral Heart Action) anybody here any experience with it? Is it a productive workout method?

The work-out for phase 1: (1st 4 weeks)
Leg Ext. 3 sets of 12rm (replaced by Deadlifts using dumbbells, suggestions?)
Leg curls 3 sets of 15rm (looking for an alternative using dumbbels, suggestions?)
Squats 3 sets of 15rm (using dumbbells)
Lunges 3 sets of 25rm (using dumbbells)

Press-ups 3 sets of 20
Lat pull-down 3 sets of 15rm (looking for an alternative using dumbbells, suggestions)
Bicep curls 3 sets of 20rm
Hammer curls 3 sets of 20rm
Tricep extention 3 sets of 20 rm (alternated with overheads)

Chest Press 3 sets of 20rm
Single arm row 3 sets of 18 rm
Pec flyes 3 sets of 15rm

This is the medium workout plan, the very beginners work out plan is pretty similar but does only 2 sets.
The frequency is 2 times per week, according to Matt, 2 of the 3 aerobic trainings should be followed by the weight training. E.g Monday: aerobic + weights, Wednesday: Aerobics, Friday: aerobic + weights. Aerobic being cycling, jogging etc…
The aerobic training consists of 35 minutes at 75% MHR
I have read here that cardio shouldn’t go together with weights so maybe I should either do the cardio in the morning and weights on the same day in the evening or alternate the days, e.g. Monday cardio, Tuesday weights, Wednesday cardio, Thursday weights, Friday Cardio… Sat and Sun rest. What is your opinion on this?

Tools:
That is an issue, for now I have only a stationary bike and a magnetic running machine and a pair of dumbbells that have 10 kg each 4x2kg and 2x1kg)
I really don’t feel like investing until I am convinced that I am going to work out regularly in which case I am willing to purchase a machine. Do you believe this is sufficient for the start (1st 3 months) or do you believe that I really absolutely need some other equipment?

In the meantime I will move the dvd player from the saloon to the fitness room, so I can’t watch movies in the saloon and it will motivate me to work out while watching a movie etc…

Obstacles:

I have tried to identify the reasons that could keep me away from working out, and I tried to find a solution to them:

Time: Now I get up at 7h00, breakfast, shower etc… and 7h45 I leave for work. Back at 6, 6h30 pm depending on traffic, dinner, 7h play with the kid for a while, 8 pm go for a walk with the dog, around 8h30, I spend some time with my wife and then I either watch a movie, read something I am interested in (e.g. JSF for the moment, or simply relax with a whiskey or 2) and then around 10pm or 11pm I am off to bed. This really doesn’t leave a lot of time for workout.
French cuisine and dinner at home: I am a real gourmet, I love French food, with some good wine etc… this is really going to be tough to stop for the diet plan. I will allow at least 2 cheat-meals a week in the beginning.
Alcohol: Already mentioned before.

Questions:

Diet plan:
How can I easily create a menu for the week, calculate calories and especially the protein carb etc. intake. E.g. I know how much protein I need but how much is there in which meal etc…
(OK, I found the Recipes, how did I oversee those...)


Supplements are there any suggestions for supplements I could take right from the beginning. I was considering multi-vitamin (which ones?) and eventually some minerals (which?). Are there some other things you would suggest? E.g. fat burners?

That’s it for now, any suggestions are welcome here, changes to the workout, etc… I am very new to all this and still trying to learn and assimilate all the info on the site.
Oh yeah, starting date is 3st of January, but I will already do diet plan (eating clean) before as well as some cardio (3x30 min in the morning) increasing 5 min until I reach 45 min.

wish me luck, dedication, motivation etc...
isoranger.

P.S. I will try to poste updates once a week or maybe once a month.

Hi there,

here is my first update.
After one week I have been pretty productive. So here is what I've done so far.

1. @ 7h00am I did 40 min fasted cardio at 70-75% , followed by an 2 egg omlette 15 min later as breakfast (protein/fat as suggested in the board)
2. @ 10:00 I had some muesli with oat, nuts, dry grapes and a little skim milk
3. for lunch and dinner I alternated chicken or fish with either rice or couscous
4. for the "inbetween" meals I had either fruit or pumpernikel and cheese.

As a result I have lost 3 pounds in 1 week.
On Monday I go and get my workout bench and weights that I have bought second handfor 100 Euros (picture will follow), then I will start to do workouts and alternate cardio and workouts. I'll keep the deficit of 500kcal a day. Monday, wednesday, Friday I'll do workout and tuesday, thursday, saturday I'll do cardio in the early morning. I still need to adjust the diet for the workout days.

I am still having problems finding out about the perfect diet plan, so many diverging opinions... Also during these christmas/new-year periods I take it easy on the diet.

Isoranger

HI

here I am again. I finally got my work-out bench (100 Euro on Ebay with all weighs you see on the picture), the only thing left is to get a bar and some additional weights, the ones I have might be good for the first month or two. I hope to keep this equipment for at least a year. Attached is a picture of my equipments.
I am also reviewing my diet plan, upping a bit protein and lowering carbs.
I feel really good after my morning cardio so I'll keep it 6 days a week, I'll keep Sunday as optional as I mostly do Ice skating at a decent intensity for 2 hours. I am also planning my workout plan, probably a 3 or 4 day Split, but it is not yet outlined completely. Is Max-OT system recomended while cutting or is it simply for bulking phases?
I will also start incorporating some supplements into my diet, manly whey protein and I keep some multi-vitamines. Anybody knows where to by whey protein and Egg-beaters equivalents in Belgium?

Starting next week will be tough I will have to get up at 6 am do the cardio as I will have to leave for work at 7h30 so 45 min cardio +shower+breakfast, walk the dog... Especially I don't get to bed before 11h30pm to midnight, this leaves 6h30 of sleep, I will really try to go to bed early.

Best Regards,
Isoranger

Hi everyone,

Stats: lost 6 pounds in 3 weeks, although I haven't lost any in the last week, I believe this is due to the start of the weight training. Also the diet hasn't been so clean... business lunches and birthday dinners.... but I stayed at my 900cal deficit a day, however I had some wine and the macronutrients %ages didn't match. I have also got some terrible flu, cold etc... I sticked to my programm but with far less intensity as before, e.g. cardio only 60% instead of 75% also I did 30-40 min. instead of the usual 45 min. This is also why I take the WE off from any cardio/workout.

I am done with my 3rd week of my "transformation". I really feel that I have lost quite some bodyfat although I am a litte bit disapointed about the weight loss this week (none), although I am at a deficit of 900cals a day, and more or less p/c/f=40/40/20. The macro's however sometimes get really screwed, there were days where I ended up with 40%fat and 40% protein....
I am in my 3rd week cardio (7xfasted, 45 min) followed by an omlette with cheese(200 cals, only fat/protein). First carb meal is arround noon.
This last week I have added the Weight training. I am sore all over the place, the most difficult was to do the cardio after the leg days, I think I pushed it too hard for a 1st serious workout in my life. I do a 4 split but I will add some changes:

I believe that my current system is really good, however It really doesn't fit my schedule:

fasted cardio is too time consuming in the morning, I cannot cope with getting up at 6 am, so I might move to hitt or do cardio in the WE or only 3X a week instead of every day. (I know hit might burn muscle)
4 workouts a week is too much, I prefer to do longer workouts 2 or evt 3 times a week


I haven't really worked out a new plan, any Ideas are welcome. I am still having difficulties Identifying the best weight training for cutting. low reps, high weights, full body workouts or doing different bodyparts on different days, the amount of weights and the number of reps etc...

Best Regards,
isoranger

P.S. Enclosed are the comparison pictures Day0 (red background) - Day 21 (Yellow background)

Hi,
the first month is over, current weight is 77-77.5kg wich means 3.5 kg lost (+/- 7 lbs) . I reviewed my food log and noticed that I had a deficit of 700-800 kcals so I should have lost more weight, at least 10 lbs, so I am a little bit disapointed on that side. The only explanation I could find is the start of the Workout and that I have gained some muscle wich offsets the fat loss.
I am still rewamping my workout down to 2 or 3 split eventually MAX-OT although it seems too intense for a beginner. I also decided to totaly rest on saturday and sunday: no cardio, no workout unless I missed some during the week.
I am still looking for a second-hand barbell as I still don't have one, and some additional weights.

I took pictures but won't post them because there is no visible difference to last-week's.

have fun
isoranger

Hi again,
I just reviewed my food logs. For some strange reason I don't loose enough weight considering my caloric deficit.
Here is my calculation:
BMR x 1.2 2172 BMR x 1.5 2715
I eat in average 1500 kcal a day.
In the 1st 2 weeks I have been doing 45' LIC cardio 5days out of 7. During these 2 weeks I have lost 5 pounds
In week 3 and 4 I have added wheight training and since I haven't lost any more weight. Nothing has changed in my diet.

Also in the first two weeks I could nearly "feel" my belly melting away... not anymore in the last two weeks.
Any Ideas are welcome. So far I have Identified several possible causes:
I have increase HR progressively from 65% to 73%, maybe I need to keep it lower.
Maybe the weight-training is developping muscle which offsets the fat loss... I don't have a BF% tool.
Action plan is to reduce cardio HR down to 65%.
I have also adjusted my WO to a 3 split/week

cu.
isoranger
P.S. Any suggestions are welcome

you probably added some muscle so the scale didnt move as much. no worries. keep doing what you are doing and be consistent. body composition matters not scale weight. post new pics and let us be the judge. you have some nice looking equipment there. get some rubber mats to protect that shiny hard wood floor. that stomach melting away is a great feeling. everytime i start after a layoff i get the same thing in the begining. i think its from losing the excess water but i dont know for sure. keep up the good work. :tu:

Hi badgolfer,
thanks for stepping by, I agree that feeling much better, even withoutconsidering weight loss etc... is a great feeling. I got addicted to mymorning cardio. This week I had to skipp wednesday morning cardio, Ireally had to catch up on some sleep. I also started my 3 day splitworkout, it suits me much better. Also I stay with the WE workout andcardio free, besides the 2 hours ice scating session I do with my sonand wife on sunday afternoon.
I have lost another pound this week and I really feel my musclesdevelopping altough I am only in my 3 week of workout. I really do thethe exercises without cheeting, I started up slowly increasing weightuntill I can't do the exercises without starting to cheat. e.g notbeing able to do a 2 sec positive and 2 second negative, or starting toswing the weights etc... I do 3 sets of 8 except for quads hams and abswhere I do 3x15.

I will take pictures this week again and post them, I will however have to remove some other pics to free up some space.

Happy cutting or bulking to all of you
isoranger

Hi,

I must say that workouts/cardio are pretty time consuming, since Istarted cardio and workouts, I have much less time for my familly life,to do some work in my house (there's always something to do) etc...

My 3 day split is giving me some additional time though, it fits myschedule and life/style pretty well. I will however have to start somelanguague courses and my GSEC, CISSP and other certificates for workare also due to renewal, this will add a lot of workload to theevenings, which are anyway short since I go to bed at 10 pm in order toget up at 6 am for morning cardio, I really need my 8 hours sleep.

I have stayed pretty much on track with workouts and cardio, except oneday where my son was sick during night so I didn't sleep much so Iskipped the morning cardio, most of the time I also skip my Fridayevening workout which I then hold on Saturday morning.

I am still balancing between 76 and 77.5 pounds, which means that Ihave been pretty much stable in weight however my trousers are gettingbigger and bigger which proves my theory that my fat-loss is offset bysome muscle gain, also MY RIPS START TO SCHIM THORUGH, this is probablythe best reward.

Conserning my diet I have tried to stay pretty clean although I had alittle chocolate left and right. I keep however my calorie deficit andtry to eat healthy stuff; (e.g. salads for lunch, fish for dinner, Istill have my omlette with a slice of ham in the morning after fastedcardio). The most difficult is to come, MY PARENTS. They arrive todayfor a week and my mom is cooking (cry cry), I guess I don't have todraw you guys a picture (Pasta, oily steak, a lot of creamy sauce....)Thank god I am not there during the day at least.

Some pictures are already very long overdue... I promise to catch up as soon as I have a little minute.


that's it for now
happy workout and cardio to all fitness addicts.
isoranger

Hi all,
a little update again.
I have finally managed to take some progress pictures, you will find them attached below. I don't like my fatty skin, it is still pretty fat, I had expected to be leaner. I am now in my 7th week cardio and 5th week of working out. I am still sticking to my 5 days cardio and 3 day workouts, I will however change some exercises. I have stopped logging food intake and I am not as strict as I should be on my diet. I don't eat more calories but I don't eat that clean anymore. Untill now I haven't been taking any supplements but today I went to buy some whey protein and some protein+ dextrose PWO shake. I have also bought some fat burnes as I am not very happy with my fatloss. I haven't lost weight in 3 weeks after I have lost an initial §kg in the first 4 weeks. However I feel stronger, I constantly add weights etc... Probably fat is burning and muscle is growing. I have also had a few beers in the last weeks and some wine. I will now try to get a litte bit cleaner in food and drinks and I hope that with all these supplements I'll boost the fat loss and lean muscle growth.

have fun all
isoranger

Hi,
I am really getting frustrated, I haven't really lost a gram since a few weeks, and my fat isn't decreasing either. The result is that I got really frustrated the last two weeks because all these efforts don't lead anywhere, the frustration has led to a decrease in dedication. I did all my cardio and workouts but I stopped eating so clean although I tried not to exagerate.

I used to do no sports at all, regularly have a beer in the evening, eat fat and sauces and I wasn't really gaining weight.

Now I have decreased calories (at least I certainly don't eat more than before) I have adjusted my macronutrients I do cardio 7x a week and besides the first 4 weeks, I am not loosing a gramm since 4 weeks, my silhuette isn't really changing either, so why should I bother doing all this.

I really don't understand what I do wrong.

br
isoranger

Hi all,
this week I have taken a total break from diet, workout, cardio. 1st week in about 3 months and I have gained 2 pounds. I feel really guilty but since I did no progress at all I had to take a break and reconsider all this. So far I did 7x cardio fasted low intensity 45 min + a 3x Workout per week in the evening. For 3 monts my life has mainly be thinking of food, workout, cardio... I decided to change all this and to spend some less time in workout and try to concentrate more on the diet side of things. I will move my workouts to the morning and remove 3 cardio sessions.So I'll have something like this
Monday ¨7 am Pecs/shoulders/Triceps 3 sets of 8 for each
Tuesday 6 am Cardio
Wednesday 7am Leg workout
Thursday 6 am Cardio
Friday 7am Back, Biceps, Abs
Saturday 7am Cardio
Sunday 7 am Cardio
I still need to figure out a good diet plan to this new schedule, any suggestions are welcome, especially on how to eat in the morning when I do my workouts.
Below the progress pics so far, again, since the initial losses in the first 6 weeks, I haven't really progressed on the weight side. Maybe I have become a little leaner.

br
isoranger