Newb trying to loose ALOT of weight

yankeeswin84

New member
Hey guys I been searching around the net looking for advice and found this forum and basically everyone seems very knowledgable so I thought this was the right place to go for major help. I'm about 5-11 250 pounds and I'm looking to get down to about 190. I know its a long road ahead of me and won't be easy. I think I pretty much got the diet thing down but was wondering how I should be working out. My schedule should allow me anywhere from 4-5 days a week to work out and I was thinking of doing 3 days of about 20 min. of cardio and 40 min. of lifting with 2 days of just strictly 45-60 min. of cardio. I know cardio is important but I think I will go nuts if I have to do just 5 days of cardio and really wanted to mix a good amount of weights in there...however theres no point in lifting right now if its not going to help in loosing this weight. So I'm here for opinions about how I should be working out. Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for your knowledgable responses.
 
i dont know much about loosing weight. One thing I do know is that it is a smart decision to focus on diet and training to accomplish your goals. But ive also noticed that people who choose your route end up having a much harder time loosing weight because what will happen is you will gain muscle, which weighs more than fat. the result will be a much more alive, energetic and better looking body- but not nessecarily weight reduction. Although intuition tells me that you will probably drop some good weight before it becomes difficult to loose weight, but thas just a guess. Anyways visit the diet forum here and on other websites, like the nutrition and weight loss board here http://www.extremefitness.com/forum/index.php
 
whats your workout history? are you new to this alltogether? Im going to say what everybody else is going to say, just keep it up with the diet and cardio. its not gonna be fun or interesting but its the only true way to lose the pounds. focus more on that rather then how you workout. the workout can be as basic as you want it or complex, simply just adjust your caloric intake and the amount of time you spend doing cardio to fit your needs and goals. the training forum has a ton of templates that you can follow. hope that helps and good luck. keep us posted.
 
Thanks for the response. As far as the questions you asked. I basically haven't really worked out in a while. I just recently graduated from college and man college did a number on me. Back in high school I was in great shape, I worked out everyday and weight about 180. But once I got to college I took up smoking, drank a lot of beer, and ate a lot of crappy food (especially late at night). Now I realize that I need to take this weight off that I gained especially with my family history of hear problems. With my job basically having me sitting at a desk 8 hours a day, I know along with dieting I need to start working out and was just hoping (maybe wishful thinking) someone could steer me towards a work out geared towards weight loss that isn't completely centered around cardio and allows for some weight lifting in there as well. Believe I'm not looking for the easy way out if cardio six days a week is what I need to do then so be it but I again I was hoping I could do both.. Thanks again and I look forward to more knowledgable responses.
 
wear more layers of clothes...
during workouts..tank-t-shirt; t-shirt-hooded sweatshirt
more layers means more heat and more sweating...
keep drinking water...
balance a diet on a 1500-1800 calorie intake below 2000 already means losing weight...
truth is...muscle weighs more than fat but that doesn't mean you cant do both...also with cardio, you will lose some strength and try to do cardio in the morning before work...or after your weight training workout.

I hope this helps...I'm doing the same.
 
thurstonKG said:
wear more layers of clothes...
during workouts..tank-t-shirt; t-shirt-hooded sweatshirt
more layers means more heat and more sweating...
keep drinking water...
balance a diet on a 1500-1800 calorie intake below 2000 already means losing weight...
truth is...muscle weighs more than fat but that doesn't mean you cant do both...also with cardio, you will lose some strength and try to do cardio in the morning before work...or after your weight training workout.

I hope this helps...I'm doing the same.

generally, do not listen to this advice. 1500 calories for any young 5'11 guy is dangerously low. your body really cant function on that, especially if you plan on working out and doing cardio. you could really hurt yourself and affect your overall health. especially if you plan on wearing extra layers of clothes, you'll be more prone to overheating in a weakened state. also, doing that only temporarily drops water weight. it's more useful for weigh ins, not for permanent weight loss. that weight will come right back the second you intake water. it'll just make you uncomfortable

listen, dieting isnt a science and you dont need anyone to point you in any direction. eat healthy, it's that simple. anyone over the age of 12 has a decent idea of what's healthy and what isn't. dont eat twinkies or that second serving. eat breakfast, eat moderate portions, and eat often. shoot for 30 g protein a meal, + similar amount of comples cabrs coming from green veggies and such.

workout with weights. pick a beginner's routine from any the sticky above and go with it. after the routine shoot for 30 min of cardio. on off days from the gym go in and do like 45 min of cardio.
 
there are some suggestions i'd like to make: i'm assuming by weightloss you mean fat loss, and you're ok with even a few extra lbs of muscle mass right?
1) diet: don't drop cals drastically. first off, make sure you're eating around 250 g of protein every day. (i'd say minimum is 200). add in your carb rich foods sparingly, preferably before evening (assuming you workout in the am). after 5 pm, try to avoid too much carb rich food. take some fish oil supplementation. fitday.com should help you with the details. also, keep carbs to between 100-200g/ day. if you find you are dropping fat with more carbs, then you could go that route as well... you need enough carbs so you don't feel like shit (read lethargic in or out of the gym)
2) workouts: i'd suggest something on the lines of 4 days of weights - some kind of upper/lower done 2x per week or 3 full body workouts a week. say you workout in the am, then do 4-5 mins of INTENSE cardio in the pm. on non lifting days try to do am and pm cardio (same protocol).
3) search carb cycling diets.
4) a useful ebook you might consider buying - burn the fat, feed the muscle by tom venuto
 
Thanks for all the info guys...you made it seem a lot simpler than I was making it out to be I guess its all about eating good and being able to combine cardio with some weights...I did check out fitday.com and noticed that I'm taking in about 1800 calories a day but also noticed that I am taking in about 250 grams of carbs so I really think I need to cut down on that and try to get it more around 150. Well thanks again and I will def. keep you guys posted.
 
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