Hi everyone!

I just signed up for this forum, and I've started losing weight for about 6 weeks now. Just wanted to know if the things i'm doing are alright and if any adjustments are needed. Any suggestions would be most helpful.

Age:19
Starting weight: 205 lbs
Weight currently: 195 lbs
1st Goal: 180 lbs
2nd Goal: 160 lbs
Height: 5'9

I workout about 5 times a week. Most days I do strength training exercises for about 30 minutes, and then head off to cardio for 45 (level 12 on the elliptical - that's pretty intense because I sweat a ton after i'm done).

At the time of testing my bodyfat almost six months ago I was at 24% weighing in at 205lbs. (just thought i'd share this incase it means anything)

My diet is also alright I think.

Breakfast: All-bran cereal with milk
Snack(this is usually right after my workout): Granola Bar
Lunch: Whole wheat break with a slice of cheese, chicken breast
Snack: Yogourt or fruit (depending)
Dinner: Usually consists of some type of meat (chicken, tuna etc) along with some vegetables

Also, all I drink is water, nothing else.

Basically thats about it, just wanted to know if theres any suggestions out there to keep this plan going, or to change anything.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate it!

It sounds to me that you have a very good plan going.
Congratulations on your initial progress. You are doing awesome.

Welcome!

veenie,

Great job!

Keep up the good work!!

What kind of strength training exercises are you currently doing?

I've found that the more complex the movement the more effective. For example, squats, bench press, lat pull-downs, even deadlifts if you feel adventurous!

Are you doing full body workouts every day? Or are you doing more of a upper-lower body split?

An example of a split routine:

Monday = lower body
Tuesday = upper body
Wednesday = lower body
Thursday = upper body

You get the idea

Anyhow, from a nutritional standpoint it seems as though (although I don't know your specific goals, other than losing weight) you might want to get a bit more sources of lean protein in your diet. Such as chicken breast (which you already have and that's great!) or egg whites, or lean ground beef, most fish, etc.

Remember that what is important when you want to lose weight is really the portion size which ultimately leads to overall calories.

Do you know how many calories these foods equate to?

Do you know your daily requirements for calories?

Basically (and I'm sure you know this) if you are eating more than you need you'll still gain weight, if you are eating enough to support your daily activities then you wont lose weight you'll just stay the same.

So you'd want to make sure what your eating is below your daily calorie requirements, preferably 500 calories below.

1 pound of fat = 3500 calories.

If you eat 500 under what you need to sustain your daily activities (i.e. maintaining your current weight) then 500 x 7 = 3500.

That would mean if you ate 500 under your maintenence every day you'd lose a pound of fat a week.

That's pretty good!

Veenie,

What you are doing looks "spot on". I'm glad that you understand the need to hit cardio hard to get the best results. Most people still believe that sticking to your target heart rate at a low intensity level gets the best result...the way you are approaching it, you will create a large calorie deficit and because of that the pounds will come off. Keep hitting the cardio hard...you will get great results!

One question?

Are you eating your breakfast right before your workout? If you workout in the morning, take advantage of that by working out on an empty stomach. You won't have any carbs (glycogen) in your system and you will burn much more fat because of that. If you need energy for this workout, consider just drinking 2 cups of green tea before this workout.

Other than that...keep doing exactly what you are doing!

Rusty

I am not trying to be mean, but I would ignore the advice of the previous posters.

Some take home notes...
Read this and follow this...
http://weight-loss.fitness.com/nutri...ines-ever.html

As for exercise, do only what you need. Working out that much, where are you going to go from there? Nowhere, unless you want to start training more and I can tell you your body doesn't like all that you are doing already.

-Pick a solid full body resistance program, 3 days a week (Wait a day between training M-On, Tues-Off, W-On, Etc)
-Start working on interval training aerobic programs
-Allow at least 1 day of complete rest right now.

This is wrong advice.

Myth.

I usually eat a small bowl of cereal, with some fruit and some nuts if there's any in the house. This is what my breakfast consists of before going to the fast. I've read about working out on an empty stomach, but I've also read that, by doing this, you're basically depriving your muscles of the energy they need, and it is not always your fat that goes away by working out on an empty stomach.

Also, I'm going on vacation for about a week and a few days. Does anyone have any tips so that I don't start gaining back what I've lost.

It's somewhat difficult to keep up with the 4-6 meals a day but if anyone has any tips, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance