And it begins...

[cstretten]

Hi all,
I found this site about a week ago, and I have to say its absolutely amazing. John's transformation was fantastic and very motivational. Its the first time I've seen day-by-day shots like his. ( I saw the quicktime movie before even visiting the site... its being passed around my work at the moment, heh. )
So a bit about me... I'm Male, 28, weigh 215 lbs., 5'8" tall and sitting at a nice round 42 inches in my waist. The online Body Fat counter says I'm at 20.8%. When I met my wife 7 years ago... I was a 28 inch waist...
Well, I've committed myself to a lifestyle change, I have eaten a lot better for the last few days, dusted off the elliptical trainer and began my cardio routine. I'm not sure that I'll be doing HIIT intitially, but we'll see how it goes... I will be uploading a starting pic in the other section of the forums hopefully this evening.
I don't have any weight lifting equipment, but there is a new Extreme Fitness that has just opened up just down the street, so I'll be checking that out.
I had a couple of questions:
First, since I'm beginning my fat loss phase, what type of weight training should I be getting into? I've seen Max-OT posted everywhere on the forums here, but I was under the impression that it was geared more towards the Bulking phase.
Also, because of my schedule, I won't be able to do any sort of lifting until late evening - 9ish - most likely. ( My cardio on the elliptical is happening in the morning at 6:30, 1/2 hour after I eat breakfast ). Does anyone have some advice on how I should schedule my meals/supplements and such to work with this kind of schedule? Btw, I am hoping to get at least 7 hours of sleep in there somewhere
Any help on this would be very much appreciated!

Cheers,
Chris

[Mahdimael]

I've been using the Max-OT method for a few weeks now, and I'm pretty impressed with the results. What you do really depends on how much you can lift, I think. If you're not used to doing any exercise, it may be better to go with a standard 3 set, 10-8-6 rep type of lifting. Make sure you don't try and do too much at first- your body will let you know. The key for weight loss seems to be cardio, though, and I'd say the elliptical trainer is a good way to go. Do about 20-30 minutes every other day and you should be good.

I also do my workout after dinner, and I've been fine, so there's no worry there. I wait an hour after dinner and then lifting takes 30-40 minutes. I hop in a quick shower and usually still have an hour or two before I need to go to bed.

Definitely get enough sleep, especially at first. Your body will be tired, and until you get used to the exercise, it will be.