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joutlaw's mission to 200lbs

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I'm still lifting before spin each day. I have typically been doing machines for my legs and free weights for upper body. I'm also doing some abs each morning before I run.

I'm on a high protein diet... coming basically from the Abs Diet book. The book suggests 1 gram of protein per lb of weight( I'm 244lbs or so now and 6'3")... I was lucky to get 200g's in a day, but by doing so I was taking 4 scoops of whey to get there. I just wasn't see the results with whey at where I am at. My weight is all in my stomach it seems.

Here is my a sample of what I eat in a day...

morning - 8oz of milk, low-fat mozzarella string cheese, almonds.
snack - baby carrots, v8 - low sodium
lunch - usually chicken or turkey leftovers from previous evening
snack - almonds with lots of water
dinner - either chicken, turkey, or salmon with a veggie

I was taking 2 scoops of whey protein in the morning and 2 scoops before I worked out/spin.




 
Originally posted by: joutlaw
I'm still lifting before spin each day. I have typically been doing machines for my legs and free weights for upper body. I'm also doing some abs each morning before I run.

I'm on a high protein diet... coming basically from the Abs Diet book. The book suggests 1 gram of protein per lb of weight( I'm 244lbs or so now and 6'3")... I was lucky to get 200g's in a day, but by doing so I was taking 4 scoops of whey to get there. I just wasn't see the results with whey at where I am at. My weight is all in my stomach it seems.

Here is my a sample of what I eat in a day...

morning - 8oz of milk, low-fat mozzarella string cheese, almonds.
snack - baby carrots, v8 - low sodium
lunch - usually chicken or turkey leftovers from previous evening
snack - almonds with lots of water
dinner - either chicken, turkey, or salmon with a veggie

I was taking 2 scoops of whey protein in the morning and 2 scoops before I worked out/spin.
Click to expand...

Well, what is more preferable to do is to take your protein after your lifting since your body really needs the protein. It will then put it to the best use possible and toss it into your muscles and stave off protein digestion. If you don't take protein after a workout, it has been shown that a certain amount of protein is broken down into amino acids and utilized for energy. I would honestly time those a bit differently. I only used to drink protein once a day and it would be after the workout. And you don't have to take in 1g/lb of body weight. You could cut out the other 2 scoops of whey and totally hit your protein goal.

EDIT: Oh, and if it hasn't been addressed in this thread already, QUIT USING MACHINES. Unless you're injured, get on some barbells and do the exercises right. Machines set you up for injury in the real world when you use the muscles that have underdeveloped stabilizers.
 
I use the machines for leg presses, extensions, and curls. I don't really have much of a option at my gym otherwise. Spin has my calves and quads in incredible shape after almost 4 weeks of use.

I imagine I could do some sort of lunges to get away from the machines. I agree completely about the machines and feel they only really target one area of the part of the body you are working out.

As far as the whey I get a lot of conflicting information on when the best time to take it. The Abs Diet book said before working out and not to eat anything for an hour after working out to continue the calorie burn.

I may continue on the whey... especially at $30/5lbs at Sams... but just cut back on it. I may have been taking the 1g/1lb into too much consideration.
 
Originally posted by: joutlaw
I use the machines for leg presses, extensions, and curls. I don't really have much of a option at my gym otherwise. Spin has my calves and quads in incredible shape after almost 4 weeks of use.

I imagine I could do some sort of lunges to get away from the machines. I agree completely about the machines and feel they only really target one area of the part of the body you are working out.

As far as the whey I get a lot of conflicting information on when the best time to take it. The Abs Diet book said before working out and not to eat anything for an hour after working out to continue the calorie burn.

I may continue on the whey... especially at $30/5lbs at Sams... but just cut back on it. I may have been taking the 1g/1lb into too much consideration.
Click to expand...

I would hardly take to heart any information from an "Abs Diet" book. There aren't any special things to do. The same thing works for everyone and that is final. Really though, what happens if you don't get protein after your workout is that it breaks down and gets used. That is counter-productive. Having protein available actually reverses that and helps the muscles get built back up bigger.

Also, I would like to see you throw some squats in there. I can understand what you mean by the spin class getting your legs "in incredible shape," but they are probably still fairly weak strengthwise compared to the rest of your body (since you're lifting for everything else). Remember, endurance and bodyweight work isn't exactly going to make them really strong. They will increase their lactic acid resistance and their ability to utilize oxygen, but will not increase strength much. Plus, squats really turn on the metabolism since it utilizes almost all lower body muscles.
 
It looks to me like you have made numerous positive changes for your health in the past 2 months - ie greatly reducing alcohol intake was likely quite difficult, and you stated that you adapted to eating healthier foods for lunch at your cubicle to resist the fried caf foods. You appear to have a good knowledge of nutrition and listed some good "clean" sources of protein and relatively healthy snacks. My first question is whether you are also getting an adequate intake of carbohydrates and fats in your diet - you only listed protein which is certainly important to someone who is working out, but if you aren't getting adequate carbs and fat that could be exacerbating your fatigue that you mentioned.

Many people believe that a "beer belly" is actually caused by or related to consuming alcohol, which is a misconception as it is only indicative of a persons bodyfat regardless of alcohol consumption. I'm not telling you to start drinking 5-6 days/week again, but that may be helpful to know if you are continuing to drink a couple days a week.

I have no experience with spin classes, but as people here have mentioned the important aspect of cardio is that your heart rate is elevated and stays elevated for 15-45 minutes - how you do that is your decision so it would be best to choose whatever you enjoy the most. If you find that it becomes too easy after time, you may need to move on to other activities to get your heart rate into the fat burning zone.

Your reunion may certainly be a good motivator for you, and I would suggest doing something to make that goal concrete if it isn't already. Perhaps choosing some clothes to wear that are too tight presently but could reasonably be fit into come time for the reunion, or maybe putting up a picture of old classmates in your cubicle since this is where most of your dieting takes place.

Edit: I didnt see there was a second page. Looking at your diet I think you're probably getting enough fats but I believe your carbohydrate intake may be lacking. Is the ABS diet a ketogenic diet like atkins? Also, I wouldn't recommend quitting whey protein, it is a natural protein product of high biologic value and is every bit as nutritious as other sources of protein. As sociallychallenged suggests, taking a protein shake after working out is the best way to go.
 
Thanks for responses everyone...

SC... I think the Abs Diet is generally known information to a lot of people who are into Fitness and have been doing this a while, but for someone like me it was a concentrated resource of a lot of information I didn't know but needed to. The book has a lot of good information about what works and what doesn't. He is highly against Atkins and any diet that restricts you to a certain type of food. His main thing is to cut tranfats and HFCS out of your diet... which I am doing the best I can. It also has pictures of how to do certain lifts in the gym and alternvatives you can do at home if you don't make it to the gym which is helpful. I've gotten out of the "making every excuse not to go to the gym" phase and actually enjoy spending my time there now. I just with I had someone to lift with me. I agree with keeping on my lower body even though I'm doing spin. It will help me go faster and burn more in spin if I am stronger so I haven't neglected my lower body, but could throw some squats in to really give me a boost. The thing is I'm still learning about free weights and haven't really done them much since highschool (I'm 27 now), and then I had a lot of help from football coaches etc...

TidusZ
I think I am getting amount of carbs in. I do eat whole wheat whole grain pasta and whole grain bread. I wish my wife would agree to 2% milk, but is set on skim only. I eat cheddars and mozarella. I also eat a lot of salads... sometimes with canadian bacon and turkey on them.
For me its still hard not to drink a few beers, but I have cut back considerably. I'm drinking 1-2 times per week instead of 5-6. I've gone with Michelob Ultra Amber b/c it satisfies my liking of more flavorful beers (I'm used to homebrew a lot).
As far as clothes I've held onto all of my clothes and where the 40's where starting to get tight a few months ago, I'm glad to say I'm in my 38s comfortably. I'd love to reach 34-36s again and that is my goal. Most shirts required XLs before and I am back down to L's already. It is motivational to see those kind of results... it lets you know there is some payoff.

 
Biggest motivation for training your legs with freeweights if you are interested in fat loss is that by far the most muscle mass in your body is contained in your glutes/hams/quads. If you do free weight squats you train all these muscles effectively and efficiently at once. Build more muscle = burn more fat = look/feel better and be stronger.

If you are concerned about your technique, check out stronglifts.com articles/videos as well as Crossfit.com and buy Mark Rippetoe's book "Starting Strength vol2", by far the best instruction for the money.

Cheers
 
Update...

I've started noticing my belly fat is reducing a lot more in the past week. I'm down another 3lbs to 241lbs.

I think the 8 minute abs I'm doing at 5:45AM is paying off... after that I'm running/jogging/walking in intervals and think it has really given me a boost. I'm definately feeling like I am more hungry, but trying to stick to the same diet as above.

I drank a little more than I'd like this weekend, but nothing too terrible. It's reassuring to see I can drink moderately on the weekends and still drop weight.

 
Weighed today and I was at 231. Not bad considering I vacationed the beginning of this month for a week.

Still doing spin, but I'm about to kick up free weights again and get more protein in my system.
 
1) Cut all those supplements out except whey. They're poison and bullsh*t, you don't need them.
2) I personally would (I have, in fact) stop drinking entirely, but definitely cut it back to one day/week at the most. It ambushes fitness goals.
3) Losing weight generally involves hunger. A few people are lucky enough to avoid this, most are not, even on the "6 small meals a day with high protein". Reality is that most people just cannot lose significant weight without hunger. This is, of course, why so many people do not lose and keep weight off.
4) Buy cycling shorts. They have internal padding. I would never do a spin class in normal shorts. Choda say no thank you. If you don't want these tight shorts, you can buy cycling shorts with a lose short overtop built into them, or just use them underneath other shorts. I personally like triathlon shorts (like cycling shorts, but really thin padding) underneath other shorts that have no internal underwear, when at the gym. Comfy on the bike and looks fine.
5) Cycling is one of the best weight loss approaches because it can kick your ass and since it's minimally weight bearing is forgiving on an overweight person's joints. Remember to keep seat quit high (most people have them too low) and knees fairly close to center so that they go up and down (not out at the top like if you were riding a horse).
 
Originally posted by: Skoorb
1) Cut all those supplements out except whey. They're poison and bullsh*t, you don't need them.
2) I personally would (I have, in fact) stop drinking entirely, but definitely cut it back to one day/week at the most. It ambushes fitness goals.
3) Losing weight generally involves hunger. A few people are lucky enough to avoid this, most are not, even on the "6 small meals a day with high protein". Reality is that most people just cannot lose significant weight without hunger. This is, of course, why so many people do not lose and keep weight off.
4) Buy cycling shorts. They have internal padding. I would never do a spin class in normal shorts. Choda say no thank you. If you don't want these tight shorts, you can buy cycling shorts with a lose short overtop built into them, or just use them underneath other shorts. I personally like triathlon shorts (like cycling shorts, but really thin padding) underneath other shorts that have no internal underwear, when at the gym. Comfy on the bike and looks fine.
5) Cycling is one of the best weight loss approaches because it can kick your ass and since it's minimally weight bearing is forgiving on an overweight person's joints. Remember to keep seat quit high (most people have them too low) and knees fairly close to center so that they go up and down (not out at the top like if you were riding a horse).
Click to expand...

That's not right at all. If you have a correct balance of macro's being taken in, you will experience no hunger whatsoever. The people that I've helped out and written nutrition plans for have been surprised how full they feel. They thought it was going to be a brutal process of fighting hunger all the time. I say that if you're feeling hunger while losing weight while in a REASONABLE caloric deficit, you're doing it entirely wrong. It is not hard to incorporate meals with good, fibrous fruits, veggies, leafy greens and a balance of carbs, proteins, and fats.
 
Originally posted by: Skoorb
1) Cut all those supplements out except whey. They're poison and bullsh*t, you don't need
Click to expand...

Orange Triad is fine. I take it, and feel like it helps on all 3 fronts. (multi, digestion, joint support).
 
Update

I haven't updated in a while, but I am at 224lbs. I am getting lots of notice from friends and family and I could probably fit in a 36" waste now... I was at 40" before.

I felt I plateau'd on spin b/c I could never get much under 230lbs. The workout was beginning to get too easy for me.

I decided to switch it up and got P90x. The first week was absolutely brutal. I still can't do much pull up wise, I have to use a chair to assist me. I got medium and heavy bands, but I am looking at purchasing adjustable dumbells... just have to save up.

This workout seems a lot more complete. Plyometrics had me sore for 4-5 days. I really like the Shoulder and Arms workout.

I can do push-ups now without having to be on my knees. I am on my 4th week which is kind of the break week, but I start with the muscle confusion next week with a new routine.

Overall I am liking P90x better than spin and the pilates I was doing. I like getting more strength in without feeling intimidated in a gym atmosphere. The pace is a lot faster than what I am used to and I feel like I get a lot more out of it. It's taking a lot of dedication b/c the workouts range from 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes 6 days a week with an optional 7th day.

 
Congrats on switching to P90x - from what I've read and seen about it, you'll get a much more complete workout than from spinning. Once you get a bit more comfortable with it, consider trying out Crossfit. It'll be another step up in terms of giving you a much more complete workout, intensity, variation and effectiveness. Better yet, the vast majority of the CF workouts are under 30 minutes, done on a 3 on, 1 off schedule, so you'll save some time 🙂
 
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