Excercise and Diet plan - Help needed

Mellor

First of all, this isn't one of the "I wanted to lose weight/build muscle, What do I do??" threads that appear the whole time. I'm familiar with the basics and i've read through stickies, as well as countless other threads here, I lurk here alot. But I do think i need help with my plans.

Basically, I have a guideline plan set out that covers most if not all of my goals and (hopefully) how to achieve them. But, to be honest, its the specifics where I get lost. I simply don't know enough to get the most from it. I am hoping that some of the more experienced users could help me out.

Goals:
At the minute I'm 82.5kg and just over 5'9". I'd like to shed some of the extra fat and generally tone up. I'm expecting this whole process to be a six month plan and for now weight loss is the priority. But towards the end hopefully my focus will shift more towards muscle building than fat loss.

I've always struggled with my weight, even when I was training 4 times a week I was never thin or toned, and once I stopped my weight jumped a bit. (I was 89kg about two years ago).

Gym:
I've been travelling around the world the last while, and will be for the next 12 months or so. So excercise wasn't exactly regular. But I have settled for a while here, with a job, so i joined a gym this week. Its a good gym, better than most in ireland. Plus, I have access to 50-100 other branches if i travel again.

I hope to get 3 sessions in the gym a week after work (maybe before at 7am. About 60 minutes each, slightly longer when I fit it in at weekends.

At the minute, I'm focusing on cardio. The other night I did:
15 mins/2.5km On the threadmill (hopefully the dist will increase overtime)
15 mins skipping (not sure if that one will stay)
20 mins stationary bike

5 sets/12 reps on the chest press

I general feel i'm lacking focus in the gym, and i'm not getting the most out of my time there.

Diet:
My diet is generally quite good, I don't tend to eat much, small portions, keep an eye on nutritional info. Keep carbs down, try to balance out fats/protein/carbs etc. But i'm concerned that my idea of good isn't good enough. Another thing that bothers me is my apparently ****e metabolism. Is there any way to improve this?

I'm often not hungry for extended periods of time, which results in me eating poorly, for example yesterday;

---

Breakfast
Cup of Coffee

Lunch
Steak sandwich+chips (not a regular choice, little other options where I was working)

Post Gym
Vitamin Water drink
two chocolate biscuits.

---

I suppose a typical dinner would be,
3/4 mug of pasta, small tin of tuna (100g), some tomato based sauce, or
Stir fried veggies, small chicken breast, soy or stirfry sauce

Supplements:
I'm not sure really, but don't intend to use any at the start, I may start on protein shakes later if fat loss goes well. I see alot of people are on p.husk fibre tabs or powder. Are there any benefits for me in this early stage?
I imagine those "fat absorbing" tablets are nonsense, I'll gladly be told otherwise.

I'm not completely sure how to keep track of progress, any advice here will be a big help.
Weight:Obviously I'll track my weight, this will be less important if I get to a stage where muscle gain is my focus.
BMI: Useless imo
Body fat:There is a machine in the gym that gives height weight and body fat for a few bucks a pop. Are these thing accurate? Height won't change, weight can be gotten from the normal scales, so is the BF measurement worth it?
Waist size:I'll try to measure my waist from time to time, is this a good idea, or are the losses so small, combined with swelling from food etc so as to make it a bit pointless


sorry if its a bit long winded, but any advice on any area is a big help.

corkcomp

Mellor wrote: »

First of all, this isn't one of the "I wanted to lose weight/build muscle, What do I do??" threads that appear the whole time. I'm familiar with the basics and i've read through stickies, as well as countless other threads here, I lurk here alot. But I do think i need help with my plans.

Basically, I have a guideline plan set out that covers most if not all of my goals and (hopefully) how to achieve them. But, to be honest, its the specifics where I get lost. I simply don't know enough to get the most from it. I am hoping that some of the more experienced users could help me out.

Goals:
At the minute I'm 82.5kg and just over 5'9". I'd like to shed some of the extra fat and generally tone up. I'm expecting this whole process to be a six month plan and for now weight loss is the priority. But towards the end hopefully my focus will shift more towards muscle building than fat loss.

I've always struggled with my weight, even when I was training 4 times a week I was never thin or toned, and once I stopped my weight jumped a bit. (I was 89kg about two years ago).

Gym:
I've been travelling around the world the last while, and will be for the next 12 months or so. So excercise wasn't exactly regular. But I have settled for a while here, with a job, so i joined a gym this week. Its a good gym, better than most in ireland. Plus, I have access to 50-100 other branches if i travel again.

I hope to get 3 sessions in the gym a week after work (maybe before at 7am. About 60 minutes each, slightly longer when I fit it in at weekends.

At the minute, I'm focusing on cardio. The other night I did:
15 mins/2.5km On the threadmill (hopefully the dist will increase overtime)
15 mins skipping (not sure if that one will stay)
20 mins stationary bike

5 sets/12 reps on the chest press

I general feel i'm lacking focus in the gym, and i'm not getting the most out of my time there.

Diet:
My diet is generally quite good, I don't tend to eat much, small portions, keep an eye on nutritional info. Keep carbs down, try to balance out fats/protein/carbs etc. But i'm concerned that my idea of good isn't good enough. Another thing that bothers me is my apparently ****e metabolism. Is there any way to improve this?

I'm often not hungry for extended periods of time, which results in me eating poorly, for example yesterday;

---

Breakfast
Cup of Coffee

Lunch
Steak sandwich+chips (not a regular choice, little other options where I was working)

Post Gym
Vitamin Water drink
two chocolate biscuits.

---

I suppose a typical dinner would be,
3/4 mug of pasta, small tin of tuna (100g), some tomato based sauce, or
Stir fried veggies, small chicken breast, soy or stirfry sauce

Supplements:
I'm not sure really, but don't intend to use any at the start, I may start on protein shakes later if fat loss goes well. I see alot of people are on p.husk fibre tabs or powder. Are there any benefits for me in this early stage?
I imagine those "fat absorbing" tablets are nonsense, I'll gladly be told otherwise.

I'm not completely sure how to keep track of progress, any advice here will be a big help.
Weight:Obviously I'll track my weight, this will be less important if I get to a stage where muscle gain is my focus.
BMI: Useless imo
Body fat:There is a machine in the gym that gives height weight and body fat for a few bucks a pop. Are these thing accurate? Height won't change, weight can be gotten from the normal scales, so is the BF measurement worth it?
Waist size:I'll try to measure my waist from time to time, is this a good idea, or are the losses so small, combined with swelling from food etc so as to make it a bit pointless


sorry if its a bit long winded, but any advice on any area is a big help.

not trying to be smart OP but chips, choc biscuits and sandwich dont really count as a good diet ... Also, you definately dont need to take protein shakes at the moment, you can get all you need from tuna, chicken, lean beef, pulses and even grains like oat bran + wheat germ etc ... You should also have something for breakfast, even if it is only a couple of pieces of fruit ..

Hail 2 Da Chimp

^ same as above really, you'll start to see the benefits once you sort your diet.
Try to get in some more protein into your diet - much more important than protein shakes. You should ideally be eating 6 small meals a day, you're currently eating 2 meals a day. Some suggestions -> open to critism from some of the posters who are more in the know than me.

Breakfast:
Eggs, scrambled or boiled.
Porrige / muslie
Snack:
Fruit & nuts
Lunch:
Some lean protein & low GI carbs.
Chicken wholewheat bread sandwich
Soup (decent Veg soupnot a cuppa soup) <- loads of complex carbs and fiber, great for weight loss.
Dinner:
Try for wholeweat pasta (if possible) loads of veg & lean protein (chicken, steak, tuna, fish)
PWO:
Tin of tuna, chicken breast, boiled eggs -> no need for shakes you'll get all the protein you need here.
Snack:
Nuts, almonds -> good fats & oils will help with weight loss too.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Also, on the gym side of it:
Have you had a fitness plan worked out by any of your instructors?

rccaulfield

Man the food side is very poor- wats your daily calore need?
Gym side-Dont take breaks between your cardios-pick 1 for that day do it keep doing and improving on it-when youir finished go home. In and out no messing. IMO at least 30 mins of steady state is needed to burn fat cells-mix in some hiit if you find this easy over time.

Mellor

corkcomp wrote: »

not trying to be smart OP but chips, choc biscuits and sandwich dont really count as a good diet ...

Oh I know its terrible, that wasn't a typical day it was anexample of a bad day that often slips in. Generall i'm far better. Biggest flaw is skipping breakfast because i'm never hungry in the morning

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

Breakfast:
Eggs, scrambled or boiled.
Porrige / muslie
Snack:
Fruit & nuts
Lunch:
Some lean protein & low GI carbs.
Chicken wholewheat bread sandwich
Soup (decent Veg soupnot a cuppa soup) <- loads of complex carbs and fiber, great for weight loss.
Dinner:
Try for wholeweat pasta (if possible) loads of veg & lean protein (chicken, steak, tuna, fish)
PWO:
Tin of tuna, chicken breast, boiled eggs -> no need for shakes you'll get all the protein you need here.
Snack:
Nuts, almonds -> good fats & oils will help with weight loss too.

I've heard that musli isn't as good as it appears because a normal bowl has much more in it in terms of weight compare to normal cereal

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

Also, on the gym side of it:
Have you had a fitness plan worked out by any of your instructors?

during the wekk is the next one

rccaulfield wrote: »

Man the food side is very poor- wats your daily calore need?

Mid 2000s i'd say, I'm under this most days during the week. Weekend beers wouldn't be great for the intake though.

Gym side-Dont take breaks between your cardios-pick 1 for that day do it keep doing and improving on it-when youir finished go home. In and out no messing. IMO at least 30 mins of steady state is needed to burn fat cells-mix in some hiit if you find this easy over time.

could you go into a bit more detail here?

Mellor

Ok, to give a better idea of my average diet, this is what i'll be eating for the rest of the week.

Breakfast
A banana and a coffee

Lunch
Ham, cheese, tomato and onion on a wholewheat pitta or a white roll

Dinner
Lean steak medallions/Lamb Chops/Grilled chicken
with baked potatos/oven chips/steamed veg

Snacks
plain biscuit with the coffee
Mixed nuts
Crackers

Joe C

If you want to speed up your metabolism, AFAIK you should be eating six small meals a day, with minimal carbs.

Also a good weights routine will help in that regard too.

metamorphosis

Mellor wrote: »

Ok, to give a better idea of my average diet, this is what i'll be eating for the rest of the week.

Breakfast
A banana and a coffee

Lunch
Ham, cheese, tomato and onion on a wholewheat pitta or a white roll

Dinner
Lean steak medallions/Lamb Chops/Grilled chicken
with baked potatos/oven chips/steamed veg

Snacks
plain biscuit with the coffee
Mixed nuts
Crackers

Not a good breakfast at all. Ideally you should chuck protein and good carbs in there. For example some eggs, greek yogurk. nuts like almonds/brazils and for carbs try porridge. Good slow releasing carbs.

For lunch chuck the white roll

Other snacks: cottage cheese, diversify your range of fruits - all types of berries are excellent source of anti oxidents, 2 squares dark choc(70% above)

For dinner load up on the greens and keep the oven chips/potatoe to a minimum. Maybe try sweet potatoe too. Dont be afraid to changwe it up. Try other lean meats and fish too

Transform

ULstudent wrote: »

Not a good breakfast at all. Ideally you should chuck protein and good carbs in there. For example some eggs, greek yogurk. nuts like almonds/brazils and for carbs try porridge. Good slow releasing carbs.

For lunch chuck the white roll

Other snacks: cottage cheese, diversify your range of fruits - all types of berries are excellent source of anti oxidents, 2 squares dark choc(70% above)

For dinner load up on the greens and keep the oven chips/potatoe to a minimum. Maybe try sweet potatoe too. Dont be afraid to changwe it up. Try other lean meats and fish too

agreed with all of the above.

Small point here buttttttt - your attitude is fairly wishy washy e.g. you 'hope' to get into gym 'maybe 7am' etc get more focused and write down some serious goals or your just going to be back to square one all the time and more pissed off.

Finally, do more weights. All that cardio is just a reallllllly slow way of making progress when your in the gym just 3 days a week. On the 3 days you must do at least 30mins of weights 20mins cardio and the rest stretching to begin with. keep is simple - body weight press ups, lunges, step ups, squats, chins, dips etc just do it.

Cardio is good and all but its sh1te for getting into farrr better shape when done on its own.

Mellor

ULstudent wrote: »

Not a good breakfast at all. Ideally you should chuck protein and good carbs in there. For example some eggs, greek yogurk. nuts like almonds/brazils and for carbs try porridge. Good slow releasing carbs.

For lunch chuck the white roll

Other snacks: cottage cheese, diversify your range of fruits - all types of berries are excellent source of anti oxidents, 2 squares dark choc(70% above)

For dinner load up on the greens and keep the oven chips/potatoe to a minimum. Maybe try sweet potatoe too. Dont be afraid to changwe it up. Try other lean meats and fish too

That's just an example of what I bought this week. And my no means a reoccuring menu, but breakfast has always been minimal for me. I just don't be hungry.

i tend to vary meats for dinner between (in order of most to least) chicken, beef, lamb, fish, pork.
and to go with it I most often have pasta or veggies on their own, potatoes once a week or less, and the chips are in the freezer in case the rest run out. (Frozen veg would be better, but I'm not crazy about the taste)

Transform wrote: »

Small point here buttttttt - your attitude is fairly wishy washy e.g. you 'hope' to get into gym 'maybe 7am' etc get more focused and write down some serious goals or your just going to be back to square one all the time and more pissed off.

Finally, do more weights. All that cardio is just a reallllllly slow way of making progress when your in the gym just 3 days a week. On the 3 days you must do at least 30mins of weights 20mins cardio and the rest stretching to begin with. keep is simple - body weight press ups, lunges, step ups, squats, chins, dips etc just do it.

Cardio is good and all but its sh1te for getting into farrr better shape when done on its own.

The wishy washy part can't be helped at the minute. I'm on contract hours and never know exactly when I'll have to start or end.But i bring the gym bag every day to work and if I can fit it in, I go.


The main reason I'm doing so much cardio is because I don't want to build any more muscle right now. I know it's possible to do weights and only lose fat, but I just don't know enough at the minute. This is the area I'd like the most help to be honest, as the diet comes down to common sense alot more.