hey guys,ive never asked anyone to look at my det,but things are getting frustrating. first off lemme tell you im 5'8" 165lbs. certainly not the average guy you see around asking for weight loss advice. ive lost 35 pounds and its time to take things to the next level. i think ive reached that point where you actualy have to THINK about how to lose weight and things have to be carefully planned out, so i have a few questions.

first off ill link you to my fitday, ive kept track of the last 2 days.
http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=dtrg65

id say i have about 10-15 more pounds to lose to get where i want to be. im just looking for opinions on what steps to take whether it be increase/decrease calories or something else. im having trouble deciding on how many calories to consume. on one hand ive heard once you get to a lower bf% you should up the calories and the cardio to get real LEAN.

heres what im starting this week:
high intensity cardio (1hr) 3x/week
HIIT 3x/week
low/moderate intensity 1x/week
lift 3x/week

a while ago i cut the HIIT out of my regimen since i just couldnt get up so early in the morning before school to do it anymore, ha.

im also starting up a bottle of creatine ethyl ester this week as well as getting new multi vits (other ones i was taking were expired). on top of that i take ephedrine/cafeine,fish oil, and have a new obsession with green tea.

anyway,im really caught up on how many calories to take in. i know it comes down to cals in/cals out, so my reasoning is to keep it as low as possible. the problem is im getting hungrier and hungrier. i understand "everyone is different" and i should "test to see what works" but ive gotten about 100 different ranges on how many calories to consume.

you guys here are all pros at losing weight. did you have the same problem as me when you got the initial weight down but had a smaller amount to lose? what did you guys do? i feel like im stuck, and i dont like it. any help or comments you guys could offer would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

ok,did some mathematics...

with my old regimen, i burned approx. 4000 calories a week from cardio. took that number, dived by 7, came out to burning an average of around 550 calories a day from cardio.

ok, so lets say i took in an average of 2000-2200 calories a day. according to calculators, my sedentary matenence intake would be 1980. so now with my cardio added to my matenence cals, it comes to about 2500 cals. 2500 minus 500 (diet deficit needed) = 2000. so basically, to lose 1 pound per week i would have to take in 2000 cals a day and this does not happen. dont forget refeed day which i take in more calories than normal!

so yeah, i was probly thinking too much! if i stick to my new cardio regimen and take in a strict diet of 2000 cals, which shouldnt be too hard, ill be well on my way to where i want to be. sometimes fixing a problem can be as easy as talking, or typing it out loud. if anyone has any suggestions or wants to check my math, id still greatly appreciate it!

Two questions to start this off:

1) How old are you?
2) Do you have any pics to help assess where you're currently at?

Your routine doesn't make a lot of sense....

lift 3x/week
HIIT 3x/week
cardio 3x/week
LISS 1x/week

I don't get the break down of this (bare with me the coffee has hit the blood yet ;) )

What are your goals? Simply lose weight, gain muscle, lose fat?

What's the next level....from average to shredded? If that's it....I'd make a few changes to your diet.

How often are you eating? If your veggies really consist of 1 stalk of celery and shredded lettuce the day before.....you need a LOT more veggies in your diet. I'd take 2 cups of broccoli over the granola sugar bar any day.
Slimfast shake.....ugh...get that out of there.
English muffin and your whole wheat bread....what's the ingredient list? I'm betting it's not great....HFCS is usually high up on the ingredient list....if you are looking to get your body fat in the sub 10%....I'd probably switch breads or dump it all together. Not all whole wheat products are created equal FYI.



What do you hope the creatine will do for you?..... Not so sure creatine would be in my supp list during a good cut (bulk sure but not a cut)....but that's more a personal thing.

Your routine doesn't make a lot of sense....
Exactly what I was thinking. :confused:


heres what im starting this week:
high intensity cardio (1hr) 3x/week
HIIT 3x/week
low/moderate intensity 1x/week
lift 3x/week
Huh?

The "high intensity cardio" - is that like 1 hour of sprinting? Usually "high intensity cardio" and "hiit" are, well, the same thing. Withough the word "interval" I assume you sprint for an hour. If so you are my hero. :D

All jokes aside, please explain...

hey guys, first of all, thanks for replying.

for starters, im 18 5'8" and currently at 166 pounds. im posting some pictures as well. not the best way to take a picture but its the best i can do right now. also, heres a link to show you where i started: http://www.geocities.com/dtrg65/weekly1.html

ok, heres the routine:

1 hour high[er] intensity cardio (heart rate average of about 170, gets up to 185 and as low as 165) - monday,wednesday, and friday

Lifting and HIIT (after lifting) - tuesday,thursday, saturday

45 minutes LISS on sunday (also usualy my refeed day/day off work)

right now my goal is,like you said, to go from average to shredded.

im eating at least 6 times a day. some of the things i eat (crappy granola bar) is only cause i go to school and its the healthiest thing in the vending machine. youre right though, it would make a lot more sense to take some veggies to school with me instead of buying that. the whole wheat bread i get is the only bread ive seen at my market that doesnt have HFCS and thats why i get it. just checked those muffins and they DO contain HFCS, probly shouldve checked a long time ago. what are the benefits of eating so many veggies? jw.

the creatine im getting for two reasons, 1. wanna get into the habbit of taking it 2. ive heard good things about it being used in a cut (maintain more muscle mass), but i didnt do much actual research, just looked at peoples opinions online.

Is the "higher intensity" cardio fasted? If it is, I'd drop the intensity. If it's not, it's okay, I'd probably just stop around 45-50 mins.

If I were you, I would do this.

Lifting (no cardio after)
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

Cardio
HIIT - Wednesday
LISS - Saturday, Sunday

Calories, probably around 2200-2400 per day and eating freely one day over the weekend.

What's the advantage of so many veggies?

Um, vitamins, minerals, fibre, nutrients, anti-oxidents....and

low cals (since you are hungry all the time) ....well in a caloric deficit (eating below maintenance)....fibrous veggies are going to leave you full for hours. 14 oz (~400g) of broccoli is only going to work out to ~136 cal and I dare you to try and eat 14oz of broccoli in one sitting (it can be done, but you're gonna feel like someone blew a ballon up in your stomach :eek: .

last but not least....the thermic effect.....fibrous veggies are hard to digest.....pound for pound, your body burns MORE cals trying to digest them.

Is the "higher intensity" cardio fasted? If it is, I'd drop the intensity. If it's not, it's okay, I'd probably just stop around 45-50 mins.

If I were you, I would do this.

Lifting (no cardio after)
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

Cardio
HIIT - Wednesday
LISS - Saturday, Sunday

Calories, probably around 2200-2400 per day and eating freely one day over the weekend.
:tu: Good advice here!
BTW, good progress. Although I had to twist my head sideways for the newest pics, it looks like you've added some muscle since the July ones. Keep up the hard work:gl:

Yeah....HIIT is considered to be in the same class as a weight training session....doing both on the same day would be counter productive to muscle gain FYI. Best to separate the two.

hey thanks for the replies guys!

couple questions:

how come more lifting than cardio? i havent had a real concrete lifting regimen. ive lifted, but i dont write down anything, my routine is done by memory and will try new exercises here and there. i just havent put in a 100% effort into it cause i dont think id be gaining muscle since im taking in less cals than matenance. dont get me wrong, i still lift hard, but i just dont go about it like i do cardio. know what i mean?

also 2200-2400 is much higher than i thought id have to take in. how come?

thanks

hey thanks for the replies guys!

couple questions:

how come more lifting than cardio?

Well, ideally you'd do more cardio than lifting, because you'd be getting up early enough to do it most days. However, when that's not an option, lifting is always more important than cardio for numerous reasons.

1) You CAN gain muscle when lifting on a slight calorie deficit. (This is why I like to eat closer to maintenance and let exercise take down the net calories)

2) Building muscle leads to an increased metabolism 24/7 which leads to more calories burned every day which leads to easier fat loss

3) Lifting has a great EPOC (post-exercise calorie expenditure) and by lifting, you increase your metabolism for hours and hours (up to as much as 48 hrs for leg workouts I've read)

4) Lifting is just more fun. Cardio is :sleep: and Lifting is :jumping: so when lifting offers more advantages anyway, why not place more importance on it?

i havent had a real concrete lifting regimen. ive lifted, but i dont write down anything, my routine is done by memory and will try new exercises here and there. i just havent put in a 100% effort into it cause i dont think id be gaining muscle since im taking in less cals than matenance. dont get me wrong, i still lift hard, but i just dont go about it like i do cardio. know what i mean?

Yep. Mistake many people make. Start logging all your workouts and making sure you are pushing yourself to the max. Every session, when you leave the gym, you should know you couldn't have given it any more than what you did. This is what will lead you to success moreso than anything else, exercise-wise.

also 2200-2400 is much higher than i thought id have to take in. how come?

For guys who are young and in decent shape like yourself, I generally say bodyweight x 15 and then subtract maybe 200-300 calories on off days. Let your cardio create most of the defecit. If you see you're not progressing as much as you'd like, try taking the cals down a bit. If you're still not progressing, try pushing them UP. If you'd like, expand the range a bit 2000-2400 cals/day.

That's about it for now. If you need help devising a lifting split, just ask.

hey thanks A LOT

i think ill try this out. i decided a while ago once i do a serious lifting scheme im gunna do max-ot, so ill start that. ill do it pretty much like its lined up in the booklet 5 days a week 1 group per day.

for cardio ill try sunday and monday 45 minute sessions, lift tues-sat., and do hiit on wed. and fri. in the morning (well seperated from the lifting).

im liking the sound of this especialy since itll allow me to eat more. thanks for all the help.:tu:

Just FWIW, I dislike Max-OT greatly. I think a solid split routine is far more effective for your purposes.

Also, you should never feel like you're starving. If you are, you aren't eating enough. :eat:

Just FWIW, I dislike Max-OT greatly. I think a solid split routine is far more effective for your purposes.

Also, you should never feel like you're starving. If you are, you aren't eating enough. :eat:

how come you dont like max-ot? ive heard nothing but good reviews about it helping to build strength. ive also been looking at HST but im not sure if i want to build strength or size at this point. some size would be nice.

Well, that's just the thing. Max-OT is great for building strength, but I like to build strength and, more importantly, size. Max-OT workouts are short and not exciting. They also force you to use limited exercises and I just didn't enjoy it. I know many people have had success with it, but there's a reason most of those people end up going back to your traditional split routines or some form of a full body routine.