Weight reduction

ice27

I was wondering if somone could give me some advice please! I am currentely trying to lose weight, have been in fact for the past two months and I am still at more or less the same weight.

I train 4 nights a week by doing some weights and a 4-5 mile jog. Weight training consists of approx 10 reps x 3 of various upper body wiehgts done on a multi gym (abs,triceps,shoulder arms etc) I also do a some sets of free weights and finish off with some abs exercises (recommended from mike Gearys truth about abs book which i have to say is very informative) Prior to this I do the 4-5 mile jog which has a variation of flat and hilly terrain). I am defenitely toning up but I am not losing weight at all even with the diet i have.

Usual Diet
Morning - Porridge mixed with currents and raisins
Mid Morning - Slice of Health bread and banana
Lunch - Ham 0r cheese sandwich on wholemeal brown bread (sometimes x 2)
Dinner - 4-5 potatoes with Veg and portion of meat sometimes chicken.
Post workout - 1 x Holland and Barret protein shake mixed with frozen fruit, banana, yougurt and 1 spoon of honey.
Throught the day I have about 7 cups of green tea.

I am approx 5'11' and weigh 15.2stone(95.5kilos)

I take the weeken off but is that doing more damage then good. I also have a similar pattern of diet during the weekend but throw in a few beers and a bottle of wine which would be the total consumption for the week.

Any suggestions on what I could bring in to the mix in order to get more significant weight loss? As I said I am definetely toning up but will the weight start to drop after a while once the toning has plateaud?

Any advice would be much appreciated?

Regards:)

corkcomp

hi ice27, other posters will prob be able to give you better advice regarding resistance routine but if your really jogging almost 10k 4 times a week you should be seeing some results .. The diet is not great TBH - the first two meals are okay, you need carbs to fuel your exercise ... I would drop all bread after this and definately have only one or two poratoes for dinner and bulk up the plate with fresh veg instead .. Also, do you really need to be taking a proten shake? personally i would drop it for now ...

ice27

corkcomp wrote: »

hi ice27, other posters will prob be able to give you better advice regarding resistance routine but if your really jogging almost 10k 4 times a week you should be seeing some results .. The diet is not great TBH - the first two meals are okay, you need carbs to fuel your exercise ... I would drop all bread after this and definately have only one or two poratoes for dinner and bulk up the plate with fresh veg instead .. Also, do you really need to be taking a proten shake? personally i would drop it for now ...

Hi! thanks for the prompt response. You could be right, i was wondering allright about the protein shake! However after teh weight training and exercises I feel very very hungry and the protein shake quenches any cravings and anywhere I read about workouts etc they say that a protein drink immediately after a workout helps with muscle recovery and in some case weight loss. I might drop the proteing drink for a while and see if i get beetter results, as i said i put a lot of frozen fruits i.e strawberrys, bluberries and a banana in with it so this may contain a lot of natural sugars which may prevent me from losing the desired weight i need to get to.

Thanks for the advice!:)

c - 13

Do you know what your daily calories allowance is Vs what you actually take in ?

G'em has a very detailed post on it in one of the sticky s here.

If your cals are too low you go into starvation mode and hold onto the fat
If your cals are too high you wont lose any weight (Obvious enough point)

But I only recently started logging my calories and I was surprised to see exactly what I was taking in per day. Definitely worth checking if you haven't done so already.

ice27

c - 13 wrote: »

Do you know what your daily calories allowance is Vs what you actually take in ?

G'em has a very detailed post on it in one of the sticky s here.

If your cals are too low you go into starvation mode and hold onto the fat
If your cals are too high you wont lose any weight (Obvious enough point)

But I only recently started logging my calories and I was surprised to see exactly what I was taking in per day. Definitely worth checking if you haven't done so already.

Thanks c-13 ill go and check that out! To be honest Im not a great logger of things like that! Ill have to start learning. I always believed that if you cut down on food , like i am doing now and add in some weights and jogging then it was a sure thing that I would lose weight fast. This does not seem to be the case unfortunetely.

On the other side of the equation, I was pretty badly out of shape at close to 16 stone with a lot of fatty flab , which has been toned up a lot, so maybe it just takes time! I may be a little too impatient. I am around 15.2 now but thats after months of training (4 nights a week), both weights and jogging on those 4 nights and i just felt that i should be like a stick at this stage. Thanks also for the advice!:)

matrixroyal

I would say that you could :

-lose some / all of the bread, cut down a bit on the spuds
-eat more, in the form of small snacks during the day ( handful of nuts, some fruit ) so that you are grazing and keeping your metobolism ticking over
- could you space out your workouts, so maybe do the weights in the morning and run in the evening ?
- if you know you are going to have a bit of a diet blow out ( few beers, dodgy food ) why not try to have an exercise blowout before hand to speed up your metabolism and limit the damage


You are going in the right direction though, you just need to finetune your efforts to match your own system, we are all different.

ice27

matrixroyal wrote: »

I would say that you could :

-lose some / all of the bread, cut down a bit on the spuds
-eat more, in the form of small snacks during the day ( handful of nuts, some fruit ) so that you are grazing and keeping your metobolism ticking over
- could you space out your workouts, so maybe do the weights in the morning and run in the evening ?
- if you know you are going to have a bit of a diet blow out ( few beers, dodgy food ) why not try to have an exercise blowout before hand to speed up your metabolism and limit the damage


You are going in the right direction though, you just need to finetune your efforts to match your own system, we are all different.

Cheers matrixroyal! What benifits would spacing the weights and the running have for me! Would this benefit weight loss? Is it not ideal to be running and doing weights in such close timeframes! one after the other? I could always get up an hour earlier (go to bed an hour earlier as well) and do weights early morning around 7am! 4-5 mile jog would be at around 8pm.

Thanks also for advice!:)

aye

ice27 wrote: »

I train 4 nights a week by doing some weights and a 4-5 mile jog. Weight training consists of approx 10 reps x 3 of various upper body wiehgts done on a multi gym (abs,triceps,shoulder arms etc) I also do a some sets of free weights and finish off with some abs exercises (recommended from mike Gearys truth about abs book which i have to say is very informative)

what is you actual weights program? what exercises do you do, and what do you do for your legs? do you find the 10 reps hard?
its good you are lifting weights, as this will speed your metabolism if you are lifting heavy enough.

ice27 wrote: »

Usual Diet
Morning - Porridge mixed with currents and raisins
Mid Morning - Slice of Health bread and banana
Lunch - Ham 0r cheese sandwich on wholemeal brown bread (sometimes x 2)
Dinner - 4-5 potatoes with Veg and portion of meat sometimes chicken.
Post workout - 1 x Holland and Barret protein shake mixed with frozen fruit, banana, yougurt and 1 spoon of honey.
Throught the day I have about 7 cups of green tea.

why do you need 2 sandwiches for lunch?
meat is sometimes chicken, what else can it be?
as one poster said try keep your body from being hungry by snacking on nuts, fruit, healthy yogurts, etc.

ice27 wrote: »

I take the weeken off but is that doing more damage then good. I also have a similar pattern of diet during the weekend but throw in a few beers and a bottle of wine which would be the total consumption for the week.

do you need the beers? they are just empty calories really at the end of the day.
when you go out on the beer, do you then get a takeaway on the way home and then have a big fry up the next morning?
you dont need to stop having enjoyable things at all, just try modify the amount you have.



if you want to check you daily calorie requirement, this site will work it out for you.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/issa64.htm

in order to lose weight the amount you take in should be about 300 calories less than your requirement, per day.
keep up with the weights so the majority of weight loss is fat.

ice27

aye wrote: »

what is you actual weights program? what exercises do you do, and what do you do for your legs? do you find the 10 reps hard?
its good you are lifting weights, as this will speed your metabolism if you are lifting heavy enough.



why do you need 2 sandwiches for lunch?
meat is sometimes chicken, what else can it be?
as one poster said try keep your body from being hungry by snacking on nuts, fruit, healthy yogurts, etc.





do you need the beers? they are just empty calories really at the end of the day.
when you go out on the beer, do you then get a takeaway on the way home and then have a big fry up the next morning?
you dont need to stop having enjoyable things at all, just try modify the amount you have.



if you want to check you daily calorie requirement, this site will work it out for you.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/issa64.htm

in order to lose weight the amount you take in should be about 300 calories less than your requirement, per day.
keep up with the weights so the majority of weight loss is fat.

My weight program and exercise program is im sure probably not ideal as its something i made up myself. It is as follows

Stretch exercises and warm up approx 5min
4-5 mile Jog on road. (usually 25-30mins) on very mixed terrain - flat, hilly, etc.

Weights
Dips x 24 (2 x 10)
Military style Grip pull ups (2 x 10)
Arm curls x 20 (2 x 10)
Bench Press x 20(2 x 10)
Machine Flyes x 20 (2 x10)
Cable Squats x 20 (2 x 10)
Shoulder Press x 20 (2 x 10)

Free Weights
Incline dumbell presses x 20 (2x10)
Ab crunches using dumbell x 20 (1 x 20)

I always finish of session with below:
Hanging knee raises – 2 x 8
Decline board leg thrusts – 1 x 10
Lying leg thrusts – 1 x 12
Stability ball hip flexion – 1 x 15
Ab bicycles – 1 x 30
Stability ball crunches with arms straight over head – 1 x 10
Bench crunches – 1 x 20
Alternating crunches 1 x 20
Abdominal vacuums
I got this straight from Mike Geary's truth about abs programme while skeptical at first I found it very good as i read on.


It seems like a lot but 30 mins for the run and about 1 hour for the above exercises usually covers it. I know it is all over the place but i find that routine good for me.

To answer question re beer you are right , i do well to only have a few beers at home on weekend and over the weekend i have about a bottle of red wine. I also have taken to eat approx 2 square of 70% dark chocolate as this is supposed to be a good antioxident although i have my doubhts, maybe ill give that a skip. The sandwiches will have to go, they are just convenient and the fact that it was brown wholemeal bread made it seem easier to have two.

corkcomp

ice27 wrote: »

My weight program and exercise program is im sure probably not ideal as its something i made up myself. It is as follows

Stretch exercises and warm up approx 5min
4-5 mile Jog on road. (usually 25-30mins) on very mixed terrain - flat, hilly, etc.

Weights
Dips x 24 (2 x 10)
Military style Grip pull ups (2 x 10)
Arm curls x 20 (2 x 10)
Bench Press x 20(2 x 10)
Machine Flyes x 20 (2 x10)
Cable Squats x 20 (2 x 10)
Shoulder Press x 20 (2 x 10)

Free Weights
Incline dumbell presses x 20 (2x10)
Ab crunches using dumbell x 20 (1 x 20)

I always finish of session with below:
Hanging knee raises – 2 x 8
Decline board leg thrusts – 1 x 10
Lying leg thrusts – 1 x 12
Stability ball hip flexion – 1 x 15
Ab bicycles – 1 x 30
Stability ball crunches with arms straight over head – 1 x 10
Bench crunches – 1 x 20
Alternating crunches 1 x 20
Abdominal vacuums
I got this straight from Mike Geary's truth about abs programme while skeptical at first I found it very good as i read on.


It seems like a lot but 30 mins for the run and about 1 hour for the above exercises usually covers it. I know it is all over the place but i find that routine good for me.

To answer question re beer you are right , i do well to only have a few beers at home on weekend and over the weekend i have about a bottle of red wine. I also have taken to eat approx 2 square of 70% dark chocolate as this is supposed to be a good antioxident although i have my doubhts, maybe ill give that a skip. The sandwiches will have to go, they are just convenient and the fact that it was brown wholemeal bread made it seem easier to have two.

i was thinking you were doing a lot more running .. im not sure 25 minutes would cut it to be honest.. are you mixing up miles with km by any chance? because 5 miles would be 8 km and i reckon this would take you 45 mins to jog at a handy pace ...

ice27

corkcomp wrote: »

i was thinking you were doing a lot more running .. im not sure 25 minutes would cut it to be honest.. are you mixing up miles with km by any chance? because 5 miles would be 8 km and i reckon this would take you 45 mins to jog at a handy pace ...

ok, 25-30 mins is a bit off allright , i would say it probably does take longer to be honest. I would say 40 mins would be more realistic. I have to be honest with you I dont have the proper timing watches or anything. I just look at the clock when i go out and if i remember it i look at it when i come back to see how long it took. I do a fairly proper pace but on hills etc going down i try and put in a fast sprint here and there to get the cardio up.
At present I am more interested in actually completing the route then actually timing it. Although after a few months I have come to the realisation that I need to start recording my performance levels and extending my route. I never before did jogging in my life so its only now i am getting more serious. Im in my mid 30's by the way, still a young man I think!! and the old ankles and knees feel it the next day, even after that short distance. Its defo miles i do. I have to add i am totally knackered after that short run! hopefully it gets easier!

aye

ice27 wrote: »

My weight program and exercise program is im sure probably not ideal as its something i made up myself. It is as follows

Stretch exercises and warm up approx 5min
4-5 mile Jog on road. (usually 25-30mins) on very mixed terrain - flat, hilly, etc.

Weights
Dips x 24 (2 x 10)
Military style Grip pull ups (2 x 10)
Arm curls x 20 (2 x 10)
Bench Press x 20(2 x 10)
Machine Flyes x 20 (2 x10)
Cable Squats x 20 (2 x 10)
Shoulder Press x 20 (2 x 10)

Free Weights
Incline dumbell presses x 20 (2x10)
Ab crunches using dumbell x 20 (1 x 20)

Are you in a gym? or at home? do you have access to a barbell where you could do deadlift, and military presses maybe?

do you find these weights difficult.

ice27 wrote: »

I always finish of session with below:
Hanging knee raises – 2 x 8
Decline board leg thrusts – 1 x 10
Lying leg thrusts – 1 x 12
Stability ball hip flexion – 1 x 15
Ab bicycles – 1 x 30
Stability ball crunches with arms straight over head – 1 x 10
Bench crunches – 1 x 20
Alternating crunches 1 x 20
Abdominal vacuums
I got this straight from Mike Geary's truth about abs programme while skeptical at first I found it very good as i read on.

why so many ab exercises? your abs arent going to show until youf bodyfat percentage is very low. you'd be better off sepnding this time doing some high intesity exercises like a dumbbell snatch, dumbbell swing, clean and press etc.
nothing wrong with doing core work, but you do alot of it, and you core will work hard enough doing lifts like the clean and press.

ice27 wrote: »

To answer question re beer you are right , i do well to only have a few beers at home on weekend and over the weekend i have about a bottle of red wine. I also have taken to eat approx 2 square of 70% dark chocolate as this is supposed to be a good antioxident although i have my doubhts, maybe ill give that a skip. The sandwiches will have to go, they are just convenient and the fact that it was brown wholemeal bread made it seem easier to have two.

vitamin e is an antioxidant, and so are apples.
dark chololate also is, but the reason it gets press coverage is cos well its chocolate.
if you are now eating more chocolate to get an anitoxidant, that doesnt sound right, eat an apple.

ice27

aye wrote: »

Are you in a gym? or at home? do you have access to a barbell where you could do deadlift, and military presses maybe?

do you find these weights difficult.



why so many ab exercises? your abs arent going to show until youf bodyfat percentage is very low. you'd be better off sepnding this time doing some high intesity exercises like a dumbbell snatch, dumbbell swing, clean and press etc.
nothing wrong with doing core work, but you do alot of it, and you core will work hard enough doing lifts like the clean and press.



vitamin e is an antioxidant, and so are apples.
dark chololate also is, but the reason it gets press coverage is cos well its chocolate.
if you are now eating more chocolate to get an anitoxidant, that doesnt sound right, eat an apple.

To be honest I like doing the weights and find them ok to do, not a chore by any stretch. I am fairly broad shouldered with a fairly big frame prob down to competitive swimming as a youngster.

I am lucky enough to have a dedicated room at home with a multi gym, cross trainer, stability ball and a punch bag which i also failed to mention which I sometimes do about 5 mins workout on if in the mood, only very ocassionaly it has to be said.

The chocolate i suppose just satisfies my craving for something sweet, and with the anti oxidant benefits you kinda kill two birds with one stone so to speak.

I suppose i was following the mike geary programme I mentioned above and that is why i was doing all the abs exercises. It stated that to do these at the end of a session is good. I also find them very rewarding as with these I can feel the pain in the abs and it gives the impression anyway that things are working, no pain no gain and all that! However, as a novice I take on board your comments and might replace them with what you said and when hopefully I get better toned up I can bring them back in when I see better results.

Again , thanks for the invaluable advice!

Daithi McGee

If you are getting toned and looking less fat you could also just be losing weight via fat and adding it via muscle. Thus not seeing any huge changes in weight? Just a thought.

Keep up the good work!

Nowler

Cut out simple carb altogether, maybe a small bit b4 your workout for fuel.
Simple carb= potoatoes,white bread, batter on chicken fillets, cereal.

Exchange em with complex carbs.
complex carbs= sweet potatoes, oat meal, brown rice, hole wheat pasta, hole meal bread.

About 4pm cut out ALL carbs and eat as much vegs as you like.
If your a male and are wanting to hold onto the muscle you have i would definitly not drop the protein shake, you don't want to go catabolic now do you?

Eat about 1.5g of protein per lb of bodyweight.

Heres a typical diet.

Egg whites and oatmeal
Protein and oatmeal
6 oz chicken
Spinach
Protein and oatmeal
6 oz chicken
Spinach
8 oz lean ground beef
Green beans
Probolic whey protein

Now if theres somthing you dont like there u can swap it for some thing equally as good.

The key to cut dieting it to eat clen small frequent meals.

You could try supplements like and eca stack or ecy to help with the fat loss.

Not sure if clenbuterol or t3 (cytomel) are illegal here but look into it coz there great.

Hope this helps u like its helped me and countless others.

best of luck

ice27

Nowler wrote: »

Cut out simple carb altogether, maybe a small bit b4 your workout for fuel.
Simple carb= potoatoes,white bread, batter on chicken fillets, cereal.

Exchange em with complex carbs.
complex carbs= sweet potatoes, oat meal, brown rice, hole wheat pasta, hole meal bread.

About 4pm cut out ALL carbs and eat as much vegs as you like.
If your a male and are wanting to hold onto the muscle you have i would definitly not drop the protein shake, you don't want to go catabolic now do you?

Eat about 1.5g of protein per lb of bodyweight.

Heres a typical diet.

Egg whites and oatmeal
Protein and oatmeal
6 oz chicken
Spinach
Protein and oatmeal
6 oz chicken
Spinach
8 oz lean ground beef
Green beans
Probolic whey protein

Now if theres somthing you dont like there u can swap it for some thing equally as good.

The key to cut dieting it to eat clen small frequent meals.

You could try supplements like and eca stack or ecy to help with the fat loss.

Not sure if clenbuterol or t3 (cytomel) are illegal here but look into it coz there great.

Hope this helps u like its helped me and countless others.

best of luck

That has been a huge help to me!

Thanks for that!

Also, thanks to everyone on this forum who replied, you're contribution has been very very helpful.
I am always amazed at the good nature of everyone on boards in general and to everyone who gave advice and more importantly took the time and effort to reply! I give you a big thank you!

Cheers!