Hm..so I'm trying to figure out my best course of action. Currently I'm at 225 lbs (Although I havent had access to a scale for 2 months so it could be more or hopefully is less! . When I'm at school I'm able to go to the gym and while I havent seen much of the fat vanish I have defintely gained a lot of muscle mass (For example...last April I could only bench 95 lbs but by June I managed to bench 135 lbs) I've also been watching what I've been eating. I've been so-so during part of the summer but I'm going a few days strong of seriously considering what I'm eating. I even went to a picnic today and only had one hamburger and hotdog. Probably should have only had one or the other but compared to the days of chowing down 4-5 of each I feel that I've defintely made an important baby step. What should my best course of action be to drop the pounds and actually be lean. (I havent been able to go to a gym all summer but school starts next month and I'll have access to it until June when I graduate)


Any advice would be appreciated!

Matt

Dude, that's a HUGE step - not a baby step. I used to sit down and maul like 5 pieces of pizza for dinner, but now I'll only eat one, MAYBE two at the most. It's kind of difficult at first, but it's mostly a mental thing. You don't need to be eating 4 or 5 burgers, but you want to because you're used to it. So, getting over the initial hump is difficult, but it's a huuuuuge step.

I suppose I'm just humble about these things. I only have a couple of slices of pizza on the rare occasion that I do. I'm trying to be more aware of what Im doing. Is it because Im hungry or is it just from the habit/social atmosphere? I think that I get it more now.

It's a combination of both. When you're hungry, your body is going to tell you to eat. But, if you're in a social environment in which eating food is what everybody is doing, then the atmosphere might make you eat, even though you're not hungry. It's just something that you have to learn to control. It took me a few weeks to really get used to not eating so much, but once you learn to control your eating habits, it will help you lose weight.

I've lost 60 lbs in the past 4 months and a lot of my weight has been lost due to my change in eating habits. I don't stuff my face like a fat pig anymore; I just eat what I NEED to eat - not what I WANT to eat. You'll get the hang of it before you know it.

That's a huge thing you've started. I can relate. I'm a pretty compulsive eater, and I don't eat anything good unless I can eat a lot of it. It's almost a sick rule I have lived by - an entire large pizza, an entire box of donuts, an entire pint of ice cream, etc. I always told myself it was my "cheat meal" so it wasn't weird, but now I'm thinking maybe it is.....hmm.

I've never been medically overweight, but it sure does keep my bodyfat percentage up there.

Yeah. I just need to make more careful choices in what I eat. So far I've been good at only eating a plate of food and not going for seconds. The hardest part will be watching what I drink. I'm in college and I do attend functions with alcohol. On those nights that I do decide to have something which drinks have the least calories?

Hi Matt - and welcome!

I'd suggest that you start looking at the sticky posts in the nutrition and exercise forums. There's a ton of good information there.

I'd also suggest that you register with one of the free sites like fitday.com or thedailyplate.com and start logging your food. Ideally at your weight, you should be eating around 2200 calories a day, trying to maintain a good split of 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% healthy fats.

As far as the alcohol goes - in general 1 shot of liquor - 70 calories, 1 can of regular beer = about 150 calories, and 1 glass of wine = 120 calories. If you must drink, I'd stick with something like a shot of liquor plus some kind of calorie free mixer - diet coke, soda, diet gingerale, etc. Fruity drinks, drinks make with juices, and frozen drinks like margaritas and daiquiris can have 500+ calories because of all the syrup and sugar and juice, so avoid them like the plague.

Another thing to remember about liquor is that it tends to dehydrate you and that can show up as weight loss over the next few days as your body retains water. A good rule of thumb is to drink one glass of water for every alcoholic drink you have. It will not only help you keep the water weight down, it'll help if you drink too much - you won't feel as hungover the next day.

Finally, as far as exercise goes - I see this in a lot of guys. They get hung up on "how much" - and especially on how much they can bench - like being able to bench a lot of weight has a direct bearing on how fit they are. Benching is useless when not combined with other weight lifting exercising. Add squats, lunges, presses, rows, pull ups, push ups, chin ups, etc. Focus on full body movements as much as possible, complex movements after that, and leave the isolation stuff at the wayside. If you really *want* to do curls, or other isolation stuff, that's great ... but make them secondary to the full body stuff.

Hope that helps you get started!