let me start by introducing myself and a little about me and my situation. Im a 27 yr old male living in upstate ny. im 6'2" 210 lbs. One year ago i quit smoking after 14 years and have since packed on about 30 lbs. About 3 weeks ago i booked a 10 day cruise to the virgin islands leaving may 11 and have 8 weddings to be attending this summer (3 of wich i will be in) I need to get in shape. 3 weeks a go when i booked the cruise i quit drinking wich i was doing 3-4 nights a weeks and a fri or sat night it was nothing to put back a 12 pack. for the most part i eat fairly healthy ( other than not eating breakfast because it makes me feel like crap and hungry for the rest of the day) i usually have a fruit and a protine bar for lunch and dinner is usually a subway sub or a grilled hunk of meat and a fruit or something like that. I take gmc multy vitamens daily and stay pretty active. I work road construction 8-12 hrs a day 6 days a week and have a lot of physicialy active hobbies including motocross, paintball, hockey, snowmobiling, sofball ect... that i usually do a few nights a week. The days that im not doing one of those hobbies after work i try to workout (1-2 mile run, 25 situps, 25 pushups and 15 pullups) but i tire easily after a 10 hr day of physical labor. working out before work isn't an optiion as i need to be onsite for work at 6am. It seems no matter what i do i cant get rid of the belly fat, love handles and "man boobs". Can anyone help me or give me suggestions to a healthy diet/excersise plan that i can fit into my schedual and help me get into shape before the summer?

Try eating breakfast, it will speed your metabolism for the day. Even if its just a couple of carrots or some oats or something.

is " breakfast" something i should be having as soon as i get up? i am up daily around 430am. I dont know why but eating first thing in the morning leaves me feeling crappy and usually makes me feel hungry all day long. at work we will usually stop around 9am for a coffe break wich usually consist of just a coffe for me. is grabbing a quick fruit or veggie around 9 after ive been up for 3 1/2 hrs still a good time for breakfast?

In order for you body to understand that you are trying to lose weight, it needs signals from you. If you're eating small meals every 2-3 hours, you will not only find that you're not feeling like you're starving but your body will start to trim off the fat that it has stored up. If you're eating very little, as it sounds like you are, your body doesn't know when its next meal is coming and will cling to fat, burning muscle instead, as a way to sustain itself.

Breakfast should be eaten within half an hour of getting up. Now maybe instead of a physical meal, try a meal replacement shake? So if you're getting up at 4:30, have something to eat (or drink a shake) that has some carbs. You NEED these carbs to keep up your energy through the morning. So you'll eat your breakfast about 5am, then at around 8-9am, have a yogurt cup or a small chocolate milk (250mL one), or something like that. Come lunchtime, have carbs and protein! Again, you NEED to have some carbs to keep your energy up through the day. That doesn't mean you need to have a ton of them, but you need some. Follow that with another small snack around 3pm or so, some veggies, an apple, or mixed nuts are great and easy to take with you.

You'll be ready for your dinner around 6pm or so, and this time leave out the carbs (unless you'll be playing heavy sports, then add a little bit), because you won't need a ton of energy since you'll be going to bed in only a few hours. Some lean protein with lots of veggies will fill you up! Then, before you go to bed, have some citrus fruit. Your digestive system can digest citrus overnight and will keep your metabolism working! So have an orange or a couple of kiwis, and go to bed within half an hour of that.

This type of routine will keep your metabolism running all day and will send the signal to your body that you're trying to get rid of fat stores. Your body won't think you're trying to starve it because it will be getting food frequently, so it will understand the signal that you no longer need the excess fat.

I hope that helps you, I know it's hard to eat breakfast sometimes but it really honestly makes a HUGE difference!

Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry, but this part made me chuckle...

You gotta love "HUNK of meat".

yes breakfast is something you have when you get up. Even if its just a carrot or apple or something until you get a proper breakfast later on. If you are a coffee drinker leave the coffee about 2 hours after you first eat if you can

Breakfast always make me, umm, how do I say this...bathroom-friendly? Yeah, let's go with "bathroom-friendly". So, I usually don't eat it.

thats exactly why you should eat it. Clearly its cleaning out garbage which it doesnt need

Thats kinda like saying I dont clean my oven because dirt comes out ....

True, but the only problem is that my garbage gets taken out for the whole entire day. And, a lot of the times, my garbage must've been sitting out in the rain, because it's a little bit soggy.