Diet/Work out Help?!?

[[email protected]]

Hi! I'm currently in the military in the middle east. I've spent 7 years of my time overseas. Well, I've let myself get overweight and have spent the last few weeks working out and trying to correct this problem, and make some lifestyle changes for the best. I'm 26, 6'5, weight 252 right now. I have to get down to below 225 otherwise I will have problems in the military.

Reality finally hit. I've never watched what I eat, haven't been exercising much, and have a job that has me sitting on my a$$ for 12 hours a da. Finally realizing that I need to make a change, I watch what I eat, eating oatmeal/boiled egg white breakfasts.

I'm working out every day now (5 times a week), usually do 20 min of bike, keeping my heart rate at 126, followed by lifting weights. I'm taking Xenadrine right now, till this bottle is out, and have a bottle of the new Hydroxycut but haven't startd it. I feel firmer and sore after working out, but haven't seen any weight drop. I also take a multi-vitamen daily.

What is the best way for me to lose this extra flab? Some magazines say don't work out with your heart rate about 120, and others say to get up to 160-180. Should I be running most of the time, varying days bike/lift/stepper/lift, or should we keep doing 20-30 min of bike/stepper and then lift weights? Everything seems to say different things. First I want to lose this weight in fat, and then I want to start bulking up on muscle. We looked at doing a cyle of Andro, but the possible side effects don't seem to appealing. Also, what's the best way to watch what you eat when you can't control what's being served? No breads/rice/pasta, just meat/vegetables/fruits? Please advise, pretty confused now.

 

[Stryc-9]

The bottom line is going to be total daily calories. You've probably heard it before, but it's true - the simplest answer is that you've gotta burn more calories than you're consuming to drop body weight.

If you don't have much control over diet choices - just steer clear of simple sugars and overly processed carbs. Exclude those, or keep them to a bare minimum. Make sure protein is adequate (e.g., 1g per pound of bodyweight) and don't skimp on healthy fats. Too many guys drop fat way too low (then test drops and they wonder why they're losing more muscle than body fat).

Set daily calories at 11 or 12 x bodyweight - and adjust from there depending on whether you gain or lose weight from week to week. Or simply take note of what you currently eat (and if you find that you're weight remains relatively constant) simply reduce your daily total by 500 calories. After a week or so you should notice a drop in weight. If not, cut another 500 calories or so. Just don't drop calories too low, too quickly - or your metabolism will simply shutdown!!

As for cardio - put that after you lift weights. That way, muscle glycogen will already be depleted and you can begin tapping into those fat stores (theoretically). Or you can do cardio on a separate day - and shoot for somewhere around 45 minutes to an hour (do that three times a week and you're set).

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks for the info

Just one more question: If I do cardio every other day and lift in between, what should me target be? Mens health says not to do cardio above 120 heart rate for max fat burn. A different magazine says for max fat burn keep it above 160-180 for an hour. Which approach is best?

 

[Stryc-9]

You'll hear lots of different guys telling you the best method of cardio for maximum fat loss. They argue for days and never reach any helpful conclusions. What they don't realize is that your body will figure things out on its own - as long as you put the work in - regardless of specific times and intensities.

Some guys say to do your cardio first thing in the morning on empty stomach - with low intensity - for about an hour.

Others say to eat something and then do high intensity intervals for twenty minutes or so.

In my experience - it doesn't make much difference in the long run - because your body will end up burning nearly equivalent amounts of bodyfat over a twenty four hour period.

Studies have been done to show that if you burn more fat during the actual cardio session - you will tend to lose less during the course of the day. Whereas, if you burn more glycogen during the cardio session, your body will tend to burn bodyfat later on in the day. The conclusion being that your body will find a way to burn equivalent amounts of bodyfat regardless of the method you choose.

It's a theory - but I've always found it to be true for myself. With the exception of times when I'm extremely lean (at those times, I actually find that early morning, empty stomach cardio works best for me). Watch for muscle catabolism (which shouldn't be a problem unless you're overtraining to insane limits).