Advice on routine and diet

Nameless_87

Nameless_87

Nameless_87

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8 Oct 2009
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Hi,

Back in April 2013 I was 135KG and I decided to finally do something about it. I went to a personal trainer and nutritionist and followed their instructions with regards to diet and he helped me train as well.

A year later and I was down to 82KG (my personal low).

Ever since June 2014 I decided I needed a break from the usual routine and I just wanted to enjoy summer. I only went to the gym once a week (sometimes once every 2 weeks). I started eating junk again basically.

Last November I signed up to a new gym and I am back to 3 time per week gym. However I kept eating junk until the new years basically.

I started my diet again this Monday and when I weighed myself I was 97KG so in 6 months I ended up gaining 15KG.

Diet
Monday-Thursday, Saturday:
Breakfast: nothing (sometimes a banana). I am usually ina hurry in the am so I end up not eating anything.
10am: 1 Banana
Lunch: 200gr chicken breast marinated in bbq powder or garlic and herbs powder with mixed stir-fry veg (mushrooms, peas, onions, marrows, aubergines, carrots and sweet paprika) and 1 baked sweet potato with rosemary.
4pm: Grapes / strawberries / oranges / kiwi or a mix of all
Dinner: same as lunch usually or sometimes a wrap with chicken, couscous and vegetables

Friday:
Breakfast: nothing (sometimes a banana). I am usually ina hurry in the am so I end up not eating anything.
10am: 1 Banana
Lunch: Cheat meal - sushi / burger / pasta
4pm: Grapes / strawberries / oranges / kiwi or a mix of all
Dinner: Usually nothing except some drinks (alcohol) with colleagues after work, so I thought I wouldn't eat to compensate.

Sunday:
Breakfast: nothing (sometimes a banana). I am usually ina hurry in the am so I end up not eating anything.
10am: 1 Banana
Lunch: Cheat Meal - usually it's fried rabbit or fried veal or pork (when I say fried it's usually a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan) with roasted/sauteed potatoes
4pm: Grapes / strawberries / oranges / kiwi or a mix of all
Dinner: wrap with chicken, couscous and vegetables or same as monday lunch

Occasionaly (once-twice a week, I have some chocolate (like a finger of kitkat or something). I got a massive sweet tooth!


Gym
I am going to the gym on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and I follow the following 2 routines (alternating between days).

Routine 1:
20 mins Treadmill - 3.5 mins 8 km/h; 1.5 mins 11km/h
Leg Press: 3 x 15 (100kg, 120kg, 140kg)
Back Squats: 3 x 15 (40kg, 50kg, 60kg)
Lunges: 2 x 20 (both legs, 10kg dumbells on each hand)
Crunches: 3 x 15

Routine 2:
20 mins Treadmill - 3.5 mins 8 km/h; 1.5 mins 11km/h
Lat Pulldown: 3 x 15 (40kg)
Bench Press (chest machine): 2 x 15 (40kg)
Shoulder Press (machine): 2 x 15 (20kg)
Bicep Curls: 2 x 10 (10kg dumbells on each hand)
Triceps: 2 x 15 Dips


My aim is to get down to 80KG, regain fitness and lose as much body fat as possible.

Any advice on how to improve, what to add, what to remove, etc from the diet and gym exercises is appreciated!

Thanks and sorry for the long post :D
 
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Can't comment on the training but there's a word missing from the diet bit...

Calories :p

Work out what you actual intake is over the course of 2 weeks and you'll soon get a good picture of what your consuming.

You're tracking your workouts so no reason not to track your food (and drink in this case).
 
This ^

Remove the variables and remove the guess work.

Also, just in case anyone storms in with bro-science dribbling down their chin, not eating first thing in the morning will not hinder your weight loss efforts.

Congratulation on your journey so far.
 
A 'cheat' meal day or a binge can easily negate a weeks worth of dieting.

If you create a 300 calorie deficit a day (2,100 calories weekly), you can easily wipe that out without even trying if you cheat/binge on energy dense/high calorie foods.

Rather than regularly 'cheating' why not allow yourself a little of the food you like (in MODERATION) every day or every other day?

This is a much healthier approach to both dieting and food in general and will smooth out any fluctuations from a massive calorie spike once a week. With calories controlled it won't hinder your weight loss and removes the misery.
 
Start using myfitnesspal on a regular basis and be honest in in logging exactly what you are eating and make sure you get your height and weight right. For me, it was very accurate on what my intake should be.
 
It's not really a cheat meal day... I usually have only lunch which is a 'cheat' and usually not something too unhealthy either (example not pizza).

Also regarding gym... how do you see my 2 routines?

I came across this http://stronglifts.com/5x5/ and I wonder if it would be better to switch to this... the only thing I don't know how to do is deadlifts, everything else i know how to.

What do you think?
 
Definitely switch to stronglifts. It's an awesome routine.

As already said, use MyFitnessPal or the like to accurately log the types and amounts (accuracy is very important here) of food you're eating. Having a 'cheat' day is fine but what BennyC says is completely true - if you're not paying attention you could easily have a cheat meal that undoes a load of your good work. Conversely, you could have a 'cheat' meal that is actually not that bad for you and then be missing out of kcal you could have eaten. Once I started logging properly I realised that often in the past I would feel guilty about eating something I enjoyed despite the fact that it actually wasn't that bad for me/would fit in with my kcal intake easily.
 
Thanks :)

Will definitely start logging what I eat!

Regarding stronglifts... should I just follow that website?

And what about cardio? I usually do 20 mins running in the beginning everytime. With stronglifts 5x5 I should not do the threadmill/bike/crosstrainer anymore?
According to what he says, you should do the lifting first (after warm up, let's say 5 mins jogging threadmill) because then you won't have energy to lift.

so 5 mins warm up, then lifting according to the program on his website. Correct?

Is it better to do this instead of my current routine?
 
The cardio you are talking about doing is largely pointless from a weightloss perspective.

I hadn't done cardio for 2.5 years and handled a 10 mile bike ride without any trouble... why? Because lifting weights is good for fitness, too (in very broad terms ). :)

Do it if you want, but do it with your eyes open. ;)
 
Do you like cycling? If so, buy yourself a mountain bike, find the local bridleways, and go for regular bikerides of 30 mins+. Buy some good lights if you can only go at night.

Great exercise for weight loss and muscle strength, plus you see some nice countryside too (in daylight).

Rgds
 
Firstly well done for getting your self back on the wagon. I suppose at this moment in time your aim is to lose weight.

So here is my recommendation.

1. Do your cardio after your weights and do about 30mins steep incline fast walking. So you get all hot and sweaty.

2. My second recommendation is to up your routine to 4 session a week. So you will do Routine 1 Routine 2, day off, Routine 1, Routine 2 (then on weekend you could if you wanted too do some swimming but definitely keep this light so you don’t get knackered and do take sat or sun off)

Your rep ranges for your weights are.... I suppose tailored towards cardio. If it was me I have been doing more muscle building rep ranges so when I come to cut the aim is to maintain muscle whilst losing fat) Where as for you, you haven’t spent a good amount of time building up your strength so I don’t think your in a position to do this.

How tall are you by the way. Would you say when you where 80kg, where you still over weight by a large margin?

As for one back exercise, I would switch Lat Pull downs for something like rows. These will definitely make you sweat. Barbell rows or dumbell bent over rows will do.

---

When you get down to a weight you are happy with, then it will be time to slow bulk and hit those weights in a way to build muscle.

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Another way to do this as others have recommended is the stronglifts routine followed by cardio.

But really that’s a bit of a mish mash of ideas here, as you are on reduced calories so why do a routine which is focused on strength gain which in tails being on bulk calories for it to be worth while.
 
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I will try the 5x5 routine for a month or two and see how it goes...

I do prefer lifting as opposed to cardio anyway so this seems like a win-win...

What I am not sure about is the amount (kg) I should start with for each exercise.

Like if I follow the website and start with only the bar it is gonna feel super light as at the moment I squat 60kg.

So any idea on best starting points for each exercise? (based on the current kg in the OP)

Thanks
 
Opeth, I would kindly suggest you point the OP at the 'sticky' threads, please, as your post doesn't really help.

OP: if you are beginning a routine, the best thing you can do is stick at it for at least six weeks to see how it progresses. As far as weight are concerned, I would strongly suggest starting from scratch with something like Stronglifts because of its progressive loading... However, working by feel and then using the principles of Stronglifts can work, but you may wind up tiring yourself out quicker and hitting a wall over the course of a few weeks.
 
opethdisciple said:
so why do a routine which is focused on strength gain which in tails being on bulk calories for it to be worth while.
Click to expand...

No it doesn't.

You can see huge increases in strength with clever programming and no change in overall bodyweight.

OP, remember this is an internet forum on a PC hardware website. Whilst we have some very knowledgeable folk amongst us we also have some not so so please be careful with any advice you follow.
 
mrthingyx said:
Opeth, I would kindly suggest you point the OP at the 'sticky' threads, please, as your post doesn't really help.

OP: if you are beginning a routine, the best thing you can do is stick at it for at least six weeks to see how it progresses. As far as weight are concerned, I would strongly suggest starting from scratch with something like Stronglifts because of its progressive loading... However, working by feel and then using the principles of Stronglifts can work, but you may wind up tiring yourself out quicker and hitting a wall over the course of a few weeks.
Click to expand...

Just trying to help my friend. To say my post doesn’t help, I actually think I gave some solid advice there. Orientated around what the op is already doing, so would be very easy for continuation.

If nothing else, it's nice to see another point of view so you can weigh up ideas and see more clearly why you plan to do something.

Once he hits a weight he is happy with, then he will be in a position to start bulking and get the most out of a strength routine.
 
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