Hey everyone....

Looking for a little advice here. For background, I am 6'3 and in late 2003, I weighed in at around 270 pounds, with body fat of who knows what. I have slowly, with some successes and lapses along the way, made my way to where I am now at age 26, which is 212 pounds, and around 18% body fat, and I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life.

At this point, I want to make a big push to "finish the job" and get rid of this spare tire that I've had my entire life. I'd like to get my body fat down to the 12-13% range over the next couple months. I'm using my vacation to Miami in mid April as a real motivator right now.

Over the last couple weeks, I have designed a meal plan using the advice in the stickies in the beginner forum and started following it. I'm eating 2350 cal/day, with the breakdown at 38% Protein, 20% Fat, and 42% carb.

My workouts have been mainly focused on cardio over the last few weeks, doing a combination of LISS and HIIT (4 days) with a day or two of weights, all concentrating on compound movements (squats, deadlifts, bench, etc) and plyometrics. I'm taking 1 rest day per week.

Is there anything else I'm missing that might impede my progress? Or any other guidance?

Hey everyone....

Looking for a little advice here. For background, I am 6'3 and in late 2003, I weighed in at around 270 pounds, with body fat of who knows what. I have slowly, with some successes and lapses along the way, made my way to where I am now at age 26, which is 212 pounds, and around 18% body fat, and I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life.

At this point, I want to make a big push to "finish the job" and get rid of this spare tire that I've had my entire life. I'd like to get my body fat down to the 12-13% range over the next couple months. I'm using my vacation to Miami in mid April as a real motivator right now.

Over the last couple weeks, I have designed a meal plan using the advice in the stickies in the beginner forum and started following it. I'm eating 2350 cal/day, with the breakdown at 38% Protein, 20% Fat, and 42% carb.

My workouts have been mainly focused on cardio over the last few weeks, doing a combination of LISS and HIIT (4 days) with a day or two of weights, all concentrating on compound movements (squats, deadlifts, bench, etc) and plyometrics. I'm taking 1 rest day per week.

Is there anything else I'm missing that might impede my progress? Or any other guidance?

More focus on weights than cardio. Weights have more impact on fat loss than cardio will ever dream to have. 12-13% body fat isn't too hard. I'm sure you'll make it.

Hey everyone,

As a follow up, and to hopefully get some more in depth critique, I wanted to post my meal plan and workout plan for any critiques and advice as well. Let me have it!

I adjusted my workouts to add some more weight training back in as follows.

I workout at a local gym at about 5:30 in the morning.

Sunday - 40 Minutes Elliptical Trainer - Fasted LISS
Monday - Legs (Squats, Leg Press, Lunges, Leg Curls, Calf Raises)
Tuesday - Back/Biceps (Deadlifts, Seated Row, Chin up's, Bent Over Barbell Row, Barbell Curls)
Weds - 40 Minutes Treadmill - Fasted LISS
Thurs - Chest/Tri (Flat BB Bench, Incline DB Press, Skull Crushers, Close Grip BB Bench, Tri Pushdowns)
Fri - Shoulders (BB Shoulder Press, Lat Raise, Upright Row, BB Shrugs)
Sat - Rest

Although I loathe critiquing diets, just one word of advice- if you can, have something more solid before weight training, and have a liquid meal PWO. Someone else can chime in about the rest.

To chris, the other poster: this has been discussed ad nauseum on this forum, but DIET is the #1 regulator of fat/weight loss. The cardio vs. weights debate will hardly be solved on JSF. Weights contribute to net caloric expenditure, but their true benefit during a fat loss phase is lean mass preservation.

drew- if you can swing it, try throwing in 15-20 mins of light-moderate cardio after your weight training sessions as well.



Hey everyone,

As a follow up, and to hopefully get some more in depth critique, I wanted to post my meal plan and workout plan for any critiques and advice as well. Let me have it!

I adjusted my workouts to add some more weight training back in as follows.

I workout at a local gym at about 5:30 in the morning.

Sunday - 40 Minutes Elliptical Trainer - Fasted LISS
Monday - Legs (Squats, Leg Press, Lunges, Leg Curls, Calf Raises)
Tuesday - Back/Biceps (Deadlifts, Seated Row, Chin up's, Bent Over Barbell Row, Barbell Curls)
Weds - 40 Minutes Treadmill - Fasted LISS
Thurs - Chest/Tri (Flat BB Bench, Incline DB Press, Skull Crushers, Close Grip BB Bench, Tri Pushdowns)
Fri - Shoulders (BB Shoulder Press, Lat Raise, Upright Row, BB Shrugs)
Sat - Rest

Weights have more impact on fat loss than cardio will ever dream to have

Can't say that I agree with this at all.

I train year-round, but when it comes time to do a photoshoot, show, appearance, video appearance, etc., I add my cardio in and I get ripped up a lot quicker/easier.

Both are important in a body comp change for the better, yes, but to say weights have more of an impact on fat loss than cardio "will ever dream to have" is some serious slippery slope reasoning.

~SC~

Everything in your diet looks pretty good, but the Pineapple really sticks out to me...is it worth 42g of carbs!? Whoa. I know pineapple tastes great and it has it's health benefits, but IMO you could do alot better with those calories and those carbs.

I guess "will ever dream to have" was a bit too strong. Sorry about that.

I guess "will ever dream to have" was a bit too strong. Sorry about that.
If it's true, it's true. Regardless of the strength of your comparison.

I happen to agree with you, as far as activity is concerned. However, as tennis said, diet is far and away the most important factor.


As for the pineapple, personally, I see nothing wrong with 1 serving of 42g worth of carbs per day. Fruit is an excellent carb source IMHO, when not used excessively. I wouldn't consider 42g excessive. (This will likely differ depending on the individual.)

I would like to add that I said that because the guy seemed to be concentrating too much on cardio than weights. Another reason is because after trying to lose fat with just diet and weights, I found no difference in my results than with diet+weights+cardio. Actually, there is a difference. It has nothing to do with losing fat but when I do cardio, I've noticed that my skin tone is more cleaner and clear. Maybe it's because of the sweating during cardio?

I would like to add that I said that because the guy seemed to be concentrating too much on cardio than weights. Another reason is because after trying to lose fat with just diet and weights, I found no difference in my results than with diet+weights+cardio. Actually, there is a difference. It has nothing to do with losing fat but when I do cardio, I've noticed that my skin tone is more cleaner and clear. Maybe it's because of the sweating during cardio?
I'd definitely disagree that cardio has no fat loss benefit. It most certainly does. I just find it expedites the process to a certain degree.


To the OP: the plan you posted with weights and cardio sounds great to me as a start. The diet looks quite good as well. Personally, I'd eat more calories (I'm 60 pounds less than you and eat nearly the same as you when losing fat), but if it's working, keep with it.

I also generally agree with tennis' advice of a solid meal pre workout, however, in your case, I understand completely why you've chosen a liquid meal and when I lift in the morning with little time before the workout, I do something very similar.

drew- if you can swing it, try throwing in 15-20 mins of light-moderate cardio after your weight training sessions as well.

Anyone else on this....is it a good idea? I have the time if it is worthwhile and not counterproductive.

Anyone else on this....is it a good idea? I have the time if it is worthwhile and not counterproductive.
Depends how much other cardio you're doing. If you're already getting cardio in 3+ times per week, this is unnecessary. If it's only once or twice, 15-20 mins after a workout is great.

Cardio after lifting is pretty effective from my experience.

I agree with doing 15-20mins of cardio after weights.
He's only doing 2 x 40min session of LISS/week.
I would make sure the intensity on the weights are dialed in and at the same time, step up the cardio...if you're losing weight/fat and getting results without the extra cardio, that's great, but if you're not, keep adding cardio in until you're getting the results.
Personally, when i want to step it up (like now), i'll do 3-4 50mins LISS (actually 75-85% of max HR), 2-3 sessions of 35min (HIIT, 5 min warmup, 5min cool down, 1 min hard/1-2 mins easy) per week. Plus, i'll walk to work/school (over 1 hour per day).

The theory goes that after lifting, you're in a glycogen depleted state, so tacking on some cardio can enhance the fat loss effect. Will other parts of the equation suffer (PWO nutrition, prolonging a catabolic state, etc)? Maybe to a small degree, but then again, you aren't competing at a high level. You're looking to maximize fat loss, and preserve some lean mass.

I've met some people who do this cardio while *adding* lean mass. Yikes!



Depends how much other cardio you're doing. If you're already getting cardio in 3+ times per week, this is unnecessary. If it's only once or twice, 15-20 mins after a workout is great.

Cardio after lifting is pretty effective from my experience.

Thanks for the advice. I'll add a 20 minute cardio session to my weight routine on all but the legs day. Miami, here I come!

does anyone have an opinion on "culking" for me? I'm fairly satisfied with my overall body weight, would I be better off eating close to my maintenance level and maintaining my training level. How might this affect fat burning/muscle growth?