Hello, world!

Anyway, I started dieting less than a week ago. I'd say about 6 days ago now. To be honest, I'm not trying to diet, I'm trying to change my lifestyle, which I think is better.

Anyway, on Saturday, I was about 241, I would say roughly 25-27 percent body fat (I'm pretty fat). But also, I'm semi-muscular. I work a really physical job and I"m constantly throwing around 50lbs boxes, which is where I assume I've built (some) muscle mass.

This week I've been eating maybe 1200 calories and working out a lot. Like 3-4 hours a day. I want to lose weight, but I definitely don't want to be unhealthy about it.

Today I weighed in at about 232. 9 pounds in 6 days is VERY unhealthy, I don't care how you slice it. I've been losing a pound or two every day (literally). So, I'm guessing I'm losing muscle mass, so I need to come up with a plan.

What are some suggestions for workout time/caloric intake/types of foods and types of exercises? Should I be doing all cardio? Mostly cardio/some weight training? Should I just drop all the weight and go to 160ish and then build up muscle mass or can I effectively lose fat and build muscle at the same time? That seems impossible.

Thanks for all the help. This community and especially John Stone has been an inspiration to me to change myself.

Hello!

First of all, I doubt you have anything to worry about. You are definitely undereating, but it takes a lot longer than 6 days to lose that much muscle mass :) The weight you have lost so far is probably 3 or 4 pounds of fat and the rest is water weight.

Calorie-wise you should aim for around 2800 calories to start with. If you lose weight at a rate of around 2lbs a week, it's all gravy, if not then you can reduce calories by around 200-300 a day and see if it restarts progress. For more info on what to eat, I recommend reading the sticky threads at the top of the beginners forum.

For training, well, there are many ways to skin this particular cat. I would recommend following a full-body weight training split on 3 days a week. Starting Strength (http://www.startingstrength.net/workouts/) is a great place to start. Weight training will help maintain the muscle mass you already have, may help you build more and will also boost your metabolism and will make it easier for you to burn fat. Plus it'll burn calories!

Then, if you have the time and will, supplementing your weight training with 2 or 3 cardio sessions a week will give you an extra boost. There are often great debates about whether to do HIIT or LISS cardio, but to be honest I found that just getting my heartrate elevated for 30-40 mins was enough for the fat to melt away when I first started. Pick something you enjoy and get in the habit of doing it :)

I agree with the above poster. Most of what you lost is probably water weight. Which means (since you have just suddenly upped your training), you need to make sure to stay hydrated. When I used to play football, we would weigh in and weigh out for every workout. Our coach would look at the scale and say "that's water weight, replace it." I just recently had a similar experience. I took a little vacation and my weight was at the top of its natural fluctuation. In about four days, I "lost" 10 pounds ... 9.5 of which was probably all water. I re-hydrated myself and got back into the habit of always having a water jug with me -- no harm done. I also agree with the fact that you're under eating... by a lot. You need way more than 1,200 cals a day. Go for about 500 cals per meal five times a day. The smaller meals taken in with more frequency will keep you metabolism racing and burning all that fat for fuel. As for the cardio training, I think if you're pretty out of shape, HIIT can tire you out so fast that you're probably ready to quit before you've gotten any benefit. Go with LISS until your heart and lungs have gotten a little used to the new workload, then start tricking your system with mixing up the cardio plans. As for weights, go with full-body workouts with weight that you get get 8-12 times.