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Well here goes!!!

  • 01-07-2009 12:08pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12


    after years of fad diets, buying a years membership for a gym and using it for 2 weeks and the infamous 'Im going on a healthy diet from monday' while eating a chinese or dominos I finally bit the bullet 6 and a half weeks ago after coming to the realisation that I am very very unhealthy. My lifestyle was 2+ take aways a week, little to no exercise. Chocolate, sweets, crisps rolls, bread, chips, fry ups and basically anything that could go in the deep fat fryer. All processed food and very little fresh fruit and veg got me to the stage where I am very obese and scared to go on a weighing scales for fear of reality!!! I am 23, 6'4 and 6 weeks ago after getting really out of breath while playing with my 3 year old son i took the step and stood on the scales at 20st 7ibs!!! I nearly died. I decided at that moment enough was enough! not a stupid diet or fitness routine because god knows the best made plans always fall by the wayside! So i started exercising. running, going to the gym, swimming cycling, Playing football and the likes. More importantly I started eating healthier, I am gradually realising through research that alot of the things I thought were healthier are still not brilliant. I havent recorded my diet or exercise but im going to start now because I want to keep losing weight consistently. Ive set myself a goal of 16st. I am down to 18st 10ibs as of monday just gone. I have been exercising 4-5 times a week between weights and cardio and i have been eating a lot of salad. Im drinking minimum 2 litres of water a day and probably 4 when im training. aprt from 2 nights on the beer in that 6 weeks nothing other than water has passed my lips. Im eating a lot of pasta but last week i changed to brown pasta. I would regularly get a tub of salad in dunnes or tescos for my lunch which would consist of loads of dry salad and then a spoon full of pasta with sauce or potato salad but im starting to wonder if that is defeating the purpose.Im going to give you a little run down of my diet and exercise just to see what people think. any help/ advice on exercise, diet or even recipe suggestions would be greatly appreciated. From what i have read I should be eating 5 small meals a day but im not sure how workable this is as i am a field sales rep out on the road all day so any suggestions must be manageable to eat in a car and dont have to be microwaved. If this is in the wrong thread please point me in the right direction.

    Mon
    Breakfast: bowl of porridge made with water and tea spoon of raspberry jam

    snack: innocent smoothie

    Lunch; ww tin of spaghetti on 2 slices of wholemeal brown bread with benecol spread

    dinner: brown pasta and chicken with half a jar of loyd grossman garlic and pepper sauce

    no cardio today as i have a swollen knee but did an hours weights training consisting of

    shoulders 3 exercises and 2 reps of 12 each
    back 2 exercises at 2 reps of 12 each
    triceps 2 exercises at 2 reps of 12 each
    biceps 3 exercises at 2 reps of 12 each
    chest 2 exercises at 2 reps of 12 each
    bench 30kgs 2reps of 12
    35kgs 1 by 12
    40kgs 1 by 10
    45kgs 1 by 8
    50kgs 1 by 5

    sorry dont know the names of the weights exercises im doing.

    Tue:

    Breakfast: scrambled egg on 2 slices of wholemeal bread

    snack: banana

    Lunch: rice cakes sambo with ww mayo on one and a small can of tuna.
    sml bowl of dry salad lettuce, tomato, peppers, scallions, onions with a
    vinegar dressing

    Dinner: ham salad with a teaspoon of salad dressing on it

    exercise: 20 laps of pool as my knee is still at me


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,114 ✭✭✭corkcomp


    your diet doesnt look bad .. just be sure to include lots of veg at lunch + dinner .. porridge and whole grain bread are good also! other posters may advise you to reduce pasta / bread / other carbs but i reckon there is no need if you are loosing weight .. try to avoid refined stuff like white bread / pasta ... well done so far .


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,878 ✭✭✭Burkatron


    tonyrich wrote: »
    Mon
    Breakfast: bowl of porridge made with water and tea spoon of raspberry jam

    snack: innocent smoothie

    Lunch; ww tin of spaghetti on 2 slices of wholemeal brown bread with benecol spread

    dinner: brown pasta and chicken with half a jar of loyd grossman garlic and pepper sauce

    no cardio today as i have a swollen knee but did an hours weights training consisting of

    shoulders 3 exercises and 2 reps of 12 each
    back 2 exercises at 2 reps of 12 each
    triceps 2 exercises at 2 reps of 12 each
    biceps 3 exercises at 2 reps of 12 each
    chest 2 exercises at 2 reps of 12 each
    bench 30kgs 2reps of 12
    35kgs 1 by 12
    40kgs 1 by 10
    45kgs 1 by 8
    50kgs 1 by 5

    sorry dont know the names of the weights exercises im doing.

    Tue:

    Breakfast: scrambled egg on 2 slices of wholemeal bread

    snack: banana

    Lunch: rice cakes sambo with ww mayo on one and a small can of tuna.
    sml bowl of dry salad lettuce, tomato, peppers, scallions, onions with a
    vinegar dressing

    Dinner: ham salad with a teaspoon of salad dressing on it

    exercise: 20 laps of pool as my knee is still at me

    Just looking at your diet dude.IMO Its working because its an improvement on before but it'll eventually be too hard to sustain! I'd be starving on that diet & I'm 11 stone! Try adding something extra to your snacks. Maybe an extra piece of fruit or Brazil Nuts are awesome. Also are you not eating anything after dinner? Your leaving a large gap between Dinner & breakfast,your body will start converting food to fat if you starve it like that so again you need to add some sort of PM(&/or PWO snack) snack. You shouldnt worry about slowing down the weight loss as the slower it is the easier it is to sustain! Fair play though,your doing well so far but you defo need to tweak your diet!
    Edit:In short you need to up your protein intake

    On the training side, how long have you being doing that programme? It should be fine for the moment,as again its an improvement on what youve being doing before & you should be easing yourself gradually into training! Did you get this programme from a trainer or did you make it up yourself? Is this the only weight excercises you do or is this just on a given day? I dont see any leg work at all so you'll need to add these in!Squats,deadlifts,Lunges are great for raising metabolism inturn fat burning! Just watch that knee!
    Edit:you should be looking to change your programme on average every 6 weeks to stop your body adapting to it.This is just a rough guideline though,if your still progressing another few weeks wont hurt!

    What type of running are you doing?Being a heavy guy just going straight into an unstructured running programme isnt a good idea, again it should be gradually built up and thats what the likes of the C25K programme is perfect for!

    On the knee problem, have you treated it with anything? general guidelines are the 1st 48 hours ice it 3 times daily x 20 minutes while its accute and then after the 48 hours heat it same time and intervals!

    Note:My brain is fried from chlorine at the moment so Im sure Ive missed plenty of things there.I'll have a look at this again but Im sure someone else will have better advice & explain it better


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 211 ✭✭messygirl


    Hiya Congrats on the weight loss! thats a fantastic start, there is a website www.calorie-count.com that you log on and you can do all sorts of things like find out how much you need to weigh for your height, how many calories you burn on avarage, and best of all a calorie counter where you enter in exactly what you eat and it calculates your calorie intake and gives you an analysis on how many rams of fat, protein carbs etc is in your diet. you can enter how much exercise you are doing and againit calculates calories you will burn. it also has a weight chart so you can track your weightloss. I am trying to eat healthier (im not overweight but am very infit) so i allow myself a pack of snax (less than 100 calories) and if i want chocolate its a mini bar of chocolate so im not denying myself anything. best of luck anyway sounds like you are off to a GREAT start! :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,824 ✭✭✭floggg


    I would agree with burkatron on the diet. You should be eating more, but of the right stuff. Fruit, veg, lean meat and nuts are good. Brazils are good, hazelnuts, cashews etc.

    I would stay away from the ww spagetti - wouldn't imagine tinned spaghetti is the best, lots of sugar and additives, and it is essentially cheap refined white carbs in sugary sauce.

    Again, not sure of its nutrtional value, but imagine rice cakes aren't ideal. (a) surely they taste like cardboard - just because it tastes bad, doesn't mean its good for you! and (b) again, its white carbs.


    To be honest, i think all that WW branded stuff is a gimmick - its fancy advertising with a WW points calculation, buts that it. there is not really much they can do to food to change its basic nutritional values, without some crazy chemcial engineering, which would be unhealthy for other reasons.

    Go for fresh fruits and veg, avoid carbs as much as you can, and try to avoid "white" carbs altogether. I know irish people aren't brought up to low carb, but it was the single biggest thing that helped me shed the weight.

    As for the weights routine, i imagine you were given that programme by [inert chain gym here]. are those exercises free weight or machine? if they are machine, i would ditch them and go to free weight if you can. i know it might be a bit daunting if you are starting out, but they are far more effective, and you are better to get into them now when starting. And add in leg exercises - squats are probably one of the best exercises you can do. legs are your biggest muscle group, so you will get more results in terms of weight loss by training them than smaller musccles like biceps.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12 tonyrich


    Hi guys, Broadband has been broken for the past few weeks so this is the first time i have been able to update, still working hard, I weighed in at 17' 11 on monday gone so im gettin there and my arms and chest ive noticed getting noticeably bigger. In answer to a few peoples comments. Ive started trying to take in more protein in my diet. Loads of fresh veg and fresh salad. THe missus is gettin a bit sick of chicken and fish seein as it seems to be all we are eatin. I have started working my legs doing squats and deadlifts aswell as i didnt realise that working my legs can actually lose me weight all over. Its a free weight programme i have been doing the whole time and last week i got myself a little notebook to keep track of my sessions,im really starting to get into the weights and im thinkin maybe i should take a protein shake or something after a heavy workout but would this not be good for the weight loss as i still have nearly 2 stone 2 shift. il post up my last 2 work out sessions and any feed back much appreciated, thanks lads an lassies

    Day 1
    CHEST
    bench- 4*10 30kg
    straight dumbell fly 4*10 12kgs
    straight dumbell press 4*10 12kgs
    incline fly 4*10 12kgs
    incline press 4*10 12kg


    LEGS
    squats 4*10 50kg
    leg press 4*10 120kg
    leg extension 3*10 100kg

    Triceps
    skull crushers 4*10 10kg
    pull down 8/6/7 at 15kg
    tricep kick back 2*10 12kg
    not sure wat its called when you put your legs on the bench in front and lower yourself down with your arms 4*10

    Day 2
    Biceps
    bar curls 4*10 20kg
    static curls 4*8 10kg
    hammer curls 4*10 12kg

    Shoulders
    straight press 15/8/8/5 14kg
    shrugs 4*10 25kg
    upward row 3*10 20kg
    lateral pull 10/8/8/5 5kg

    Back
    bent over row 4*10 14kg
    bent over bar lift 3*10 30 kg



    sorry if some of the names are wrong, i can describe the exercise if someone doesnt know what im talkin bout,


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,853 ✭✭✭ragg


    your workout is way too complex - you don't need to do complex split. It means you are only training each body part 4 times a month. A beginner needs to be hitting each part 2 times a week minimum.

    The amount of bi & tri work is crazy- In fact its all out of balance. 4 chest & only 2 back :confused:

    Full body workout -

    Squats,
    Deadlift,
    Overhead press
    Barbell Row
    Chest
    Dips

    Bit of high intensity cardio - go home.
    That workout is will do way more for you.

    A bit of reading for you.

    Building Your House
    a beginners guide insight into the gym

    By Steve Blades aka Toxictoffee, Personal Trainer and Muscletalk Mod


    After many newbie questions i have decided to write a small piece on some FAQs and mistakes made by the new trainer and how to overcome them in the initial period of training. take 10 minutes out and have a read

    I bought a new sofa and chair I had been saving up for ages, it really made my living room feel homely and comfortable. I had been saving for the pair for months and finally my house was complete, now I can enjoy it with knowing I had waited and earned my rewards. These two pieces of furniture were the icing on the cake to what has been a long road of hard work, sweat, grime, persistence and scrimping and saving to make the home of my dreams. Now I own my own house, with my own big TV, my own chairs and all my little gadgets to keep me happy. I am pleased to show it off to those who come round even though I have been struggling for years to pay for it. It makes me happy every time I drive home from a day working in the gym to know I have worked hard for it and it was all my own doing.

    I was speaking to a young lad a while back in the gym where I was working. He asked me as, the personal trainer, which supplements he needed to get big. As many of you will know I am a straight talking no bull sh1t kind of guy. I burst out laughing as this young 18 year old, 100lb wet through lad babbled on about all the supplements on the planet as if they were magic beans. I let him finish what almost sounded like a marketing speech straight off the shopping channel. I took my hand and placed it on his shoulder….”slow down” I said. He butted in with some comment about needing to know the answer. As I was dieting at the time I then stopped him abruptly and spent the next hour quizzing him, trying to work out the mentality that seems inherent in the newbie gym trainer in the 21st century.

    “What are you training today?” I asked politely, once I had regained my composure. I didn’t need to ask really, I knew, it was arms of course. I had seen the same young lad banging out the reps on isolation exercise after exercise the day before. “Bicepts” was the response. This young lad had probably never performed a compound movement in his life yet thought the way to the body of an Adonis was through curl after curl.
    I kind of knew this was where we were going and he continued to try and steer the conversation back onto the magic beans he could see on the shelf in the background. I tried to move him away, guiding him onto the gym floor, I proceeded to ‘load’ the Olympic bar with a 2.5kg plate either side. I suggested that if he gave me 20 minutes of his time I would buy him a shake from the fridge at the end. I rarely do anything for nothing in the gym but this was a lesson that had to be taught by myself and learnt by the young lad
    “20 minutes?” he asked, giggling thinking he was in for an easy ride. In my mind I already had the squats, deads, flat bench and bent over row laid out to finish him off. It was possibly not the best set up but I wanted to really ensure that these multi joint killers would put a stop to the theory that its all about bicep curls and potions and lotions being the be all and end all of getting big.
    I ran through the technique of each, performing a couple of reps myself and then ushering him into position and encouraging him as we went into each set. Watching someone deadlift for the first time is great, it simply tells a story, the story of building mass, the pain, the sickness but the joy of slamming the reps out to near failure. 25 kilos on this bar had little Tommy in a mess, 10 reps down and he dropped the bar quicker than you could say creatine. Ass to the grass squats with his legs ready to buckle under the ‘stress’ of 25 kilos, which ironically was the same weight he was swinging round the day before on his bicep curls.
    After 20 minutes, repping out squats, deads, bench presses and rows the poor lad looked like he had done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. Priceless
    “Fancy a shake?” I asked. His response was a little muffled but I think it was negative and somewhere along the lines of the ‘magic beans’ being the last thing on his mind.
    I sent him home “sans PWO” to have a think where this would take him.
    Next day Tommy come into the gym looking like he had been auditioning for a role in a John Wayne remake. “You ok mate?” I asked. The response was a little sheepish but with almost a sadistic smile he said “that was ace”
    “Too right it was Tommy” that’s bodybuilding. Four exercises, 20 minutes had done more for him than the last 6 months of isolation after isolation.
    I have taken Tommy under my wing. When he asks about the new powder on the market I take him back to my story about the chairs in my house and he soon realises where we are going.
    “Would you train me then?” he asked. I took a moment to think it through. This could be a great advert for my training as I could get this guy looking good if he nailed his diet and could get him lifting big over the next 6 months or so
    “Ok, I said” with a little hesitation “if I am going to do it you must bring in your diet for 3 days, in time form, what days you train and general info on your lifestyle”
    Tommy agreed to this, even though he was still looking over my shoulder at the glutamine on the shelf, I was sure I could change this mentality once we got going.

    Wednesday night, he came in, loads of paper in hand and passed me his diet. I sat down, had a look “it’s ok though I am taking those shakes with it” he informed me once he saw me looking like a parent who had just been handed the letter from the headmaster. I don’t expect everyone who trains to know about nutrition and the ins and outs of a mass building diet, but some appreciation would be nice seeing as he was clued up on all the brand supplements under the sun. When I scanned Tommy’s eating habits it simply resembled that of a Z list celeb on a famine like diet. The odd mars bar here and glass of milk to wash down the ready meal.
    These are the people I love to work with. They are so easy to make gains with because there training is so wrong, their diet is non existent and they are so malleable you can morph them into well built, strong lads in no time.
    I started talking EFAs, root veg, lean protein and he looked through me and I had the impression I was being ignored. He butted in “but which pills should I have?” I told him I had some, they were called reality pills and he was going to be fed them and fed them frequently. I started to become stern with him and explain at quality physique doesn’t comes easily. “Build your house and furnish it later” I shouted thinking of my two seats I had recently purchased, working months for in the process. ”lets get one thing straight” I bellowed “if you want to swing around doing bicep curls and eating fast food, go ahead, if you want the gains, shut up, sit down and listen”
    Over the next few months Tommy and I worked together. We changed the diet around to make it fun, sustainable but ensure adequate macro and micronutrients were being consumed at key times to facilitate growth and a healthy existence. Machines in the main were weeded out for the free weight alternative. The word isolation was something to describe a hermit living on an island, not something we would base our routine around. The word compound was flavour of the month, deads, squats, bench, dips, rows, SLDLs, pressing became second nature and the language we used from there on in. People would ask Tommy what he was up to when he was in and out of the gym in 40 minutes. Why wasn’t he here more than 3 times a week? What was he eating?
    Questions were being asked by his peer group and gym goers of all types. He must be on the steroid shake thingies. This turned into our personal joke between sets, sets Tommy wanted to push on with, I simply became gym monkey and spotter as he ploughed through the weights and the poundage went up and up. A few times in the early days he piped up with “have you seen that new supplement Ronnie has?” I didn’t respond and merely ushered him on to the next exercise with the look of a pissed off parent. The gym bag he brought in started to become rammed with Tupperware full of chicken and broccoli, pasta and tuna and the PWO shaker loaded with all the aminos and carbs his body craves. Gone were the glossy magazines with adverts galore. He knows what to do and simply writes down every session in a small book, watching the weights increase month by month
    Tommy is no longer a newbie, he has moved beyond the honeymoon period as I call it. This period is where the body simply loves to change shape, rapid gains appear and the crazy idea of the simultaneous cut and bulk comes in. people strip fat and build muscle. No pills, no potions, simply stimulating muscles and regulating their eating habits. People have begged Tommy for his training plan; they would love to know which magic beans he has. The answer is simple, none, quality eating habits, commitment and appreciation of hard training and understanding that the bodybuilding game is a long road. Unlike everything in today’s society the body cannot be bought. No 0% finance and pay sometime later. This is about the long hard road. Supplements that claim to add X% amount to your strength. So what if they do? Without the diet in place, without the training plan adhered to week in week out this means nothing. I didn’t just go and put my two new chairs on a building site and sit there did I? I called in the architects, I had the house designed, the labourers built it over a long period of time and then we decorated it. Then and only then were we ready for the TV and chairs. I can’t live with a chair alone, what use is a TV if I have to have it outdoors?
    Yes supplements help, but they are just that, they supplement a diet, don’t rely on them, don’t think they will get you the body you want, its not going to happen.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12 tonyrich


    well guys, still pushing on and feeling great, i tipped the scales at 16 st 11 ibs this morning. Ive noticed a big difference in the last 5 weeks to my core strength and frame and arms, much more of a change than the 2 and a half months previous to that and i can honestly say that its down to all the workout and diet tips i have got off this forum. Im still not perfect but im eating a hell of a lot healthier and doing proper training sessions.Im training everyday for at least 30 mins mostly do 4/5 days of weights and 3/4 days of cardio. Il give you guys an example of diet and training schedule for 2/3 days. Again any tips much appreciated

    day1
    Diet
    breakfast: Porridge with a teaspoon of maple syrup
    snack: pure fruit smoothie
    Lunch: 40g brown pasta mixed with brocolli and tuna and a tablespoon of garlic and basil sauce. apple
    snack: banana
    Dinner: Chicken fillet sprinkled with chilli flakes and plate full of brocolli,cauliflower,carrots and green beans
    Snack: fruit yoghurt
    drink: 2-3l of water over the day

    cardio on the beach
    light jog for 1km
    10 press ups then sprint straight up a 15ft sand dune 15 reps

    weights at home
    squats 4-12 30kg
    overhead press 4-12 27kg
    dips 4-12
    dumbell row 4-12 27kg
    press ups 4-12


    day2
    brekkie: scrambled egg on wholemeal toast
    lunch: chicken salad wrap. apple
    snack apple and banana
    dinner: 2 fillets of fresh cod, with brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, parsnips
    snack: slice of brown bread toasted with jam
    drink 2-3l water


    weights in the gym
    squats 4-12 40kg
    overhaed press 4-12 30kg
    dips 4-12
    bench 4-12 60kg
    bent over barbell row 3-12 1-7 35kg couldnt complete the last rep
    deadlift 50kg 4-12

    cardio 3.5km on bike


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12 tonyrich


    Just looking back at my 1st couple of posts, man was i arseways. I now have my diet down to a tee pretty much. loads of protein, carbs on hard training days. fresh veg or salad with every meal. Im doing a german composition training routine over 5 days at the moment and it is knocking the ****e out of me, its great!! Ive never looked forward to hurting myself so much before. my girlfriend thinks im weird. No pain no gain. I started last may at 20st 7ibs, god only knows body fat percentage. 38 inch waist in jeans an 40/42 in trousers, standard xxl in most clothes. I weighed in on monday at 16st 2ibs, 21.6% BF tested in gym. due to having no clothes, an i mean nothing, i had to go out and buy a few new pairs of jeans at 34in waist and a few new suits with 36in waist. size L in most t-shirts an shirts. I still have a bit of a belly which im working hard to shift. reckon i wanna drop down to about 15% BF. I might be able to root out a before and after photo from somewhere.


    Again a massive thanks to all the boardsies for all their advice and tips in this and other threads. I can honestly say, the amount of mispreconceptions and myths that were abolished through advice and info on this forum made the difference


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,738 ✭✭✭Naos


    Fair play dude - perhaps create a diary in the Training Log section of this forum(if you don't have one already) so you can write down and keep track of your numbers?


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