Newbie's Honeymoon is over

[Basophillic]

Same story most people ask here - in my late 20's, and 5 months ago realized I was fat and out of shape - 6'3" and weight 230-240, BF% way up there. Started lifting 3-5 times a week, and did cardio 3-5 times a week as well. Cut diet down to around 2000 cals/week, and for the first 3-4 months the honeymoon was on. Weight went down to 205, BF% got better, but not great, and the weight I was lifting went way up (initial bench was - gulp - 85lbs, and now up to a less than stellar but more respectable 180lbs or so). So far so good, but the past 4-5 weeks I'm stuck both in regards to weight, BF%, and how much I'm lifting.

Like everyone, I want to gain muscle and loose fat, but if I'm prioritizing I want to get rid of this damn spare tire first. Is this program going to work, or if not, what should I change?

Diet: 2000-2100 cal Carb/Fat/Prot 40/30/30

Cardio: 20-30 minutes after each weight workout

Weights as follows - basic exercises, good form, heavy, 10-12 sets per part. Work 6 days a week as follows, each having a day:

• Chest
• Back
• Shoulders
• Triceps
• Legs
• Biceps
• Rest day mixed in somewhere

The schedule is kinda screwy because I can only hit the gym for about an hour or so each morning between 6 and 7:15 or so - schedule won't allow otherwise. Fiancee is also training for a marathon, so I'll be in the gym most mornings with her. That sound reasonable?

 

[ajtomasi]

You might want to slow things down a bit. working out 6 days a week, even if it's only one body part a day might be overtraining.

I'd suggest you pull something from that sticky "Needsize's 5x5 revealed..." Alot of people, including myself, have found some great gains.

 

[Savage]

Now your doing 40/30/30, give CKD a try for a little while, a lot of people swear by this, I'm on day 9. My bubble burst just last week.

Look for Mr.X's posts or go to masmonsters.com and look for CKD.
It's an easy diet.

 

[Basophillic]

My only fear about slowing down is that I fall off the wagon again. After the past few months I've found that going more often, ironically enough, makes me keep at it. That's why I was trying to do only one body part a day, to keep me going more often.

The 5x5 stuff was very interesting - I've actually been using sort of a bastardized version of it for 2 months or so. Liked it a lot, but I can start following it more strictly.

I downloaded that CKD Excel sheet from mass monsters a few months ago as well, and started playing around with it. If I can get away with it, I'd rather keep off it- I really felt like ass the 2-3 weeks I played around with it.

Is dropping more calories a good/bad idea?

Thanks for all your help, BTW. Been lurking here for awhile, and it's really nice to find advice from people whose advice isn't "learn to love the way you look!!" or "eat only fruit."

 

[crazeensleepee]

What is your weight/percentage. I ask this because you're 6'3 and only 230-40 which sounds perfectly fine weight-wise. It would seem to me that if your BF is around 20% that it would be more wise to focus on muscle gain then fat loss.